Chapter 15: Rapid Elimination

  An Jing’s exploration of Hanging Fate Manor ended fruitlessly, and he hadn’t slept well in quite some time.

  The roars of beasts, the sight of flesh and blood, the grinding of teeth, and the pounding of hearts caused him stant unease in his dreams; only that one clear, ringing sword cry offered him a measure of calm.

  Because of his restless sleep and the many thoughts weighing on his mind, An Jing appeared listless during his early practice. However, this did not arouse anyone else’s suspi, since most of the children who had eaten savage beast meat showed the same symptoms, and many were worse off than he was.

  Still, it wasirely a bad thing.

  A few days ter, everyone discovered the effects of the “savage beast meat” and the “medial solutions” they had been ing.

  First, their post-training fatigue lessened noticeably, and their strength indeed grew bit by bit.

  Movements and drills that had seemed difficult before, or that once left them exhausted, gradually became easier to manage. Of course, ohe instructors noticed, they immediately increased the training load—but the children rarely felt that former sense of being utterly drained or g nourishment.

  An Jihe same ges. Uhe harsh training at Hanging Fate Manor, coupled with ample supplies of food and medie, his body—inally somewhat depleted from his time as a refugee—had fully recovered.

  Moreover, because he received far more savage beast meat thaher boys and girls, the muscle and fat he had redeveloped, which still felt a bit shaky before, now pressed and solidified once again. They g to his increasingly sturdy bones in such a way that, oside, he did not look especially different.

  Only those who came into real tact with him would be shocked to discover just how strong his flesh and bones had bee.

  As time passed, the boys and girls experienced astonishing growth.

  But along with this passage of time, eliminations tinued, and the number of those sent away rose steadily.

  Those who ed the most resources yet did not improve satisfactorily were, naturally, eliminated.

  After Zhang Ying, Ye Xiuyuan was .

  Two ten-day periods ter, early one m, Ye Xiuyuan also left Hanging Fate Manor.

  This had already bee routi the manor: people stantly went down the mountain; people stantly departed.

  Gu Yeqi wiped away tears. g Linzu put on a show of indifference, but in truth, he cried i at the trine.

  Even Zhan Fe so low that he left his dinner unfinished, because Ye Xiuyuan had been the oo teach him to read and write. Without Ye Xiuyuan’s guidance, he couldn’t evehe Imperial Heaven Scripture smoothly.

  He had once been a beggar, only wanting to fill his belly, but still he dreamed of learning how to read because only those who could read could enjoy better things in life.

  Though Ye Xiuyuan was forever quoting cssical lessons and sighing over the days of his family’s former prosperity—seemingly lost iation—he had heless acted as something of a strategist for An Jing’s small group. Clever and flexible, he was well-liked by everyone.

  Some time ter, Zhan Feng also departed. This tall, straightforward beggar boy had still been muttering before bed how he inteo hold out as long as possible so he could eat more meat, knowing he wouldn’t get any once he left the mountain.

  One by one, more and more familiar faces disappeared—people whose names An Jing knew personally. Half of the “friends” who shared his dorm had gone, and of the inal two hundred-plus children at Hanging Fate Manor, only a little over a hundred remained.

  An Jing stayed quiet. He kept his posure and said nothing.

  There were those who whispered in private that An Jing was coldhearted; others defended him, saying he wasn’t heartless at all and that he remembered everyone’s name—he just khose people couldn’t keep up, so leaving was better for them.

  Some said An Jing must be the one deg who should leave and who should stay; others cimed he was simply a cold, unfeeling mae who knew nothing but practig martial arts and studying—a benius.

  He himself her agreed nor disagreed with any of it. He was not so detached as people imagined, but at the same time, he was not overly seal.

  Ever sihe first eliminations, he had uood that it was iable that many “familiar faces” would fail to keep pad would have to be removed. He merely accepted it and remembered them in silence.

  At that time, the children’s sorrow had been genuine and pure.

  But as the departures repeated, over and over, their hearts began to grow cold and calloused.

  Gradually, the children at Hanging Fate Manor came to see this as nothing out of the ordinary.

  Being allowed to remain proved their worth. It gave them pride and relief, whereas those who left—though once friends—had only been panions for a few short months.

  They might feel a sense of wistfulness, but it stopped short rief.

  Those who were deeply loyal, who had formed genuine friendships, looked forward to meeting again someday after leaving the mountain.

  But many more simply let the memories slip away.

  As the iy of training rose, each day ended in utter exhaustion. Everyone greedily devoured their meals and fell into dreamless sleep with bnk minds.

  No one could keep track of all who had bee away.

  Except An Jing.

  From start to finish, no matter who left, he silently watched and remembered.

  Though he said nothing, doubts roiled within him.

  Only he recalled every single face, and so he noticed that the vast majority—at least of ten—of those who left were the same ones uo restrain the impulses caused by savage beast meat, the ones who had publicly “roared” on that very first day.

  These were precisely the people who failed to absorb the beast meat effectively, who could not grow quickly enough.

  “What oh is in that beast meat and those medial solutions?”

  “And who was it that warned me not to approach the Medie Pavilion?”

  “Why did they caution me in the first pce?”

  These questions weighed heaviest on An Jing’s heart of te.

  Leaving aside that mysterious voice, once every ten days after the first time they ate savage beast meat, all the young trainees in the manor received another portion of beast meat and a medial solution.

  Fewer and fewer children succumbed to the meat’s overwhelmi and medial potency. And perhaps as a result, subtle ges in their personalities emerged.

  It was not obvious, but it was there—they all seemed to grow more steady.

  Yet calling it “steady” might be a bit off. It was more like extremes and iies.

  People who were calm became calmer; those who were quiet became even quieter; those who were outwardly warm showed a colder front, yet became all the more passioh their true friends.

  Even An Ji it. His retionships with Gu Yeqi and g Linzu deepened, but it grew harder for others to earn his genuine friendship.

  If he felt it, how much more did the others?

  —Was this the effect of the beast meat or the medie?

  An Jing wasn’t sure. He only knew his dreams were being more restless by the day.

  Several times he awoke in the middle of the night, disturbed by strange sounds: sometimes beasts gnashing their teeth, sometimes the g of bdes or swords, sometimes rivers of blood surging, provoking inexplicable fury.

  None of that was truly important. The real question was why Hanging Fate Manor was doing this at all.

  “Maybe it’s just puberty?” An Jing guessed. “Or maybe for ‘deathsworn’ or the awakening of Heavenly Fate, a heightened, more extreme temperament is necessary?”

  By age, most of the children collected by Hanging Fate Manor were entering adolesce—a phase of rapid growth.

  Savage beast meat could boost development, granting greater physical strength. The medial solutions might suppress impulses so the children wouldn’t, in their adolest frenzy, rebel and lose training time, thus missing out on this crucial growth spurt.

  An Jing was, after all, a martial family’s child; he uood his own body’s development very well. It was not strange for Hanging Fate Manor to employ such methods to maintain discipline.

  Everyone’s ging personality… Living in an isoted estate with daily instru from the instructors aurers might very well result iremes of behavior.

  As for his uling dreams, perhaps they were nothing more than side effects of his growing body?

  (End of Chapter)