From a refugee to a martial artist

Chapter 12: Enduring
On the second day, everyone got up before dawn.

Meng Yuan rested for a night. Although there were still bruises on his body, he had recovered a lot, and his sexual desire had subsided a little.

"When I was starving and freezing, my spirit fire kept feeding me. Now it seems that my spirit fire can slowly heal my injuries."

"I just don't know what would happen if it was a life-or-death injury?"

Meng Yuan reviewed what happened last night.

Last night's melee was completely random, without any order at all.

Meng Yuan and Tie Niu took advantage of the fact that they were stronger, so they could fight against more people at once, but when the lights went out, it was unclear who was beating whom.

Tie Niu, in particular, got into a lot of trouble and started punching randomly, not only injuring the enemy, but also giving Meng Yuan two hard hits on the back.

The main injuries on Meng Yuan were caused by Tie Niu!

Moreover, he caused a scene in the dormitory right after he came to learn the skills. Meng Yuan had already prepared for the worst.

Meng Yuan got up early and washed before dawn, and took the opportunity to give Tie Niu some instructions.

"Tie Niu, remember, if Master Nie comes to ask, just tell the truth. I am the main culprit in what happened last night, Master Nie can tell the difference. If he chases me away at that time, don't talk nonsense, you must stay." Meng Yuan said.

"What should I do if you leave?" Tie Niu was very confused. "My father told me to follow you closely. I will do whatever you do."

"Listen to me." Meng Yuan said.

"You are leaving, and it's meaningless for me to go alone. Let's just go together and go back to the village to shovel manure." Tie Niu didn't think far ahead.

Meng Yuan patted Tie Niu on the shoulder, knowing that he could not persuade him, so he said no more.

After washing up, it’s morning exercise.

The atmosphere today was slightly different. Male and female students looked at Meng Yuan and Tie Niu from time to time, but their expressions were different.

After morning exercises, everyone went to the canteen. Breakfast was hot porridge, pickles and steamed buns.

As soon as he sat down, Wu Changsheng followed suit.

There was no need to ask specifically, Wu Changsheng just blurted out everything.

The person who was beaten the hardest last night was Liu He, the son of Liu Zongguan.

The tall girl was called Hu Qian, the youngest daughter of the princess’ wet nurse.

These two were the most senior students in the group, and they were also the leaders of the male and female students. Especially Hu Qian, whose words always had an effect.

"What happened last night was not a big deal, but it's not a small matter either. That bastard Liu He will definitely file a complaint, and Sister Qian and I will plead for you then!" Wu Changsheng is very loyal.

Meng Yuan nodded slightly and looked at Liu He not far away.

Liu He was also looking at Meng Yuan. He stopped crying and said angrily, "Just wait, kid! I'll kick you out today after I tell Master Nie!"

Meng Yuan stood up, and Liu He was so frightened that he trembled and almost fell down.

After training for an hour or so in the morning, Nie Yannian finally arrived.

Seeing that the young men were bruised and swollen, he laughed and asked, "Did you fight for the most beautiful lady last night? Who won and who lost?"

"Master Nie!" Liu He stepped forward. There was a big cut on his lip, and his eyes were swollen to the point that only a slit remained. He said aggrievedly, "Master Nie, the newcomers Meng Yuan and Zhao Tieniu beat me last night. The reason was..."

"Stop giving me fucking reasons!" Nie Yannian interrupted Liu He angrily, walked up to him, and patted Liu He on the head with his big hand, "You came here to learn martial arts! If you lose, just fight back. Why are you complaining to me? I don't care if you are right or not! You are so old, and you don't understand this? Do you want me to lift up my clothes and let you suck some milk? It's because your mother is too old, otherwise I will definitely stuff you, a loser, back into your mother's stomach! Useless thing!"

Liu He didn't expect that Nie Yannian would ignore his complaint and mock him instead. He couldn't hold it in any longer and started crying again.

"Your crying sounds really nice!" Nie Yannian laughed, "If the little guy becomes a bunny god, he will definitely be the top star!"

All the young boys and girls were stunned.

Meng Yuan was also stunned. Not to mention how good Nie Yannian's martial arts were, just based on his ability to harm others, Meng Yuan knew that he would never be able to match him in his lifetime.

Nie Yannian walked up to Meng Yuan with his hands behind his back and asked, "I heard you are good at fighting?"

He had questioned Meng Yuan and Tie Niu yesterday and knew that Tie Niu was a stupid person. The fight must have been started by Meng Yuan.

"It's all my fault. Please punish me, Master Nie!" Meng Yuan did not answer the other person's question and directly expressed his willingness to be punished.

No matter what the punishment is, I will accept it.

"Master Nie..." Wu Changsheng was about to plead for mercy when he was glared at by Nie Yannian.

"You two should stand in horse stance on the plum blossom pile for a day. If you fall, climb up and stand again!" Nie Yannian gave the punishment.

Plum blossom piles are used to train body coordination and balance, and are divided into high piles and low piles. In order to prevent practitioners from falling, fine sand is laid under the piles.

This was hardly a punishment. Standing in horse stance for a whole day was certainly difficult for a novice, but Meng Yuan and Tie Niu were both strong young men, so at most they would just fall a few times.

Meng Yuan quickly pulled Tie Niu to accept the punishment, and the two of them stood on the plum blossom pile. In one day, the two of them fell off the plum blossom pile dozens of times, and their legs seemed to have lost all feeling. However, when the game ended at night, the two of them washed themselves and returned to the men's dormitory, no one dared to provoke them.

The two bundles were placed together, no one moved them, and no one even wanted to get too close to them.

Liu He had a gloomy expression and applied some medicine on his face from somewhere.

According to the rules, male and female students are strictly prohibited from leaving the training grounds, and are not allowed to contact anyone outside the training grounds.

When Liu He saw Meng Yuan and Tie Niu, he hummed twice in a pretentious manner, but he was afraid of the pain and did not dare to say a word.

Meng Yuan ignored him and went to sleep.

From then on, Meng Yuan only trained according to Master Nie's arrangements every day, building up his strength and eating heartily.

But Nie Yannian used to come twice a day, but after the fight he only came once a day. He didn't teach any moves, but just let the young men build up their strength, like herding sheep.

As the New Year was getting closer, the students were about to celebrate the New Year in the training grounds, but Nie Yannian not only refused to teach them real skills, he simply did not come.

Seeing that there was no supervision, these students couldn't help but have some thoughts.

At first, I just slacked off in training, but later I just slept in and didn’t even do morning exercises.

Liu He, in particular, was either used to a good life or had a grudge against Nie Yannian, but he actually took the lead in pulling together several people, getting up at noon every day. He was not serious during training, and often flirted with female students. Whenever the north wind was stronger, he would go back to the men's dormitory to sleep.

And they were not stupid. They even arranged spies to prevent Nie Yannian from coming to investigate suddenly, but Nie Yannian never showed up again.

Among the twenty-seven students, nearly half of them were just fooling around.

Meng Yuan watched coldly, but never thought of being lazy. He got up before dawn every day to practice, meticulously and without compromise.

Tie Niu is a simple guy with a pure mind. He has been instructed by Zhao Datou to just follow Meng Yuan in training every day.

In a blink of an eye, half a month has passed, and it is New Year's Eve, and snowflakes are falling from the sky again.

The princess was kind and sent people to deliver the new year rewards. Each student received a roast chicken and two pounds of pork.

But Nie Yannian still did not show up, and no one was allowed to go out.

Outside the parade ground, the sound of firecrackers could be heard, and the music of stringed instruments could still be heard.

It was supposed to be a day for family reunion, but everyone had to practice in the snow, and some children even cried.

Meng Yuan didn't take it seriously at all. He ate and drank as usual.

On the first day of the new year, Meng Yuan got up before dawn and called Tie Niu to go out together.

The howling north wind and heavy snow covered the ground added to the loneliness.

Meng Yuan and Tie Niu fetched water from the well, washed their faces and brushed their teeth, then started sweeping the snow before doing morning exercises.

First he did a set of boxing to warm up, then he picked up a stone lock to train his arm strength, and then he did horse stance punching.

Normally, even if some people are lazy, there will still be a dozen people coming for morning exercises. However, Meng Yuan and Tie Niu practiced for a quarter of an hour and no one else came.

"Brother, today is New Year's Day, and every family needs a good rest. If they don't come, why should we practice? They all say behind our backs that we are fools." Tie Niu asked innocently with steam coming out of his head.

"Master Nie once said, 'One day of practice means one day of progress, one day of not practicing means ten days of nothingness.' This means that you need to persevere in practicing martial arts, and you can only make continuous progress by practicing every day. If you stop practicing one day, you will lose the results you have accumulated before, and it will take more time to get back to your original level."

While punching, Meng Yuan said, "Tie Niu, I was born a refugee, and your father was originally a tenant farmer. To put it bluntly, we are both mud-legged. Learning martial arts is the only chance to change our destiny, so we must seize it firmly."

"But no one is here to see us. Master Nie hasn't come for several days. They all say that Master Nie doesn't care about us anymore." Tie Niu was puzzled.

"We practice for ourselves, not for Master Nie. Don't worry about what others think, just do our own thing." Meng Yuan said.

In fact, Meng Yuan has his own opinion. Judging from the princess's previous actions, it is obvious that she knows how to do things and can do things.

In this case, considering the princess's stern and ruthless attitude in dealing with Li Zhuangtou, how could she allow Master Nie to let him do what he wants?
The princess trained this group of young men and strictly ordered them not to leave the training ground or go home during the New Year. It was obvious that she had not forgotten about these people, after all, she had sent them meat yesterday on New Year's Eve.

In Meng Yuan's opinion, the princess probably wants to pick a group of people who are hardworking, honest, obedient, and patient.

Because practicing martial arts is the most difficult thing, it cannot be achieved overnight and does not allow for slacking off. It requires patience, perseverance and determination.

They were all teenagers around fifteen years old. They started learning martial arts a little late and were not gifted. They had to be self-disciplined and obedient to achieve something.

Therefore, Meng Yuan felt that the princess or Master Nie was testing people so as to select those who could be trained.

Of course, Meng Yuan didn't dare to conclude that his idea was correct.

But no matter what, having food and drink every day and building up strength are all beneficial to you.

If Master Nie still hasn't taught him real skills after the first month of the lunar year, Meng Yuan plans to jump ship. Whether he goes to Licking Xunmei or think of other ways, he will have to find a way out.

After all, the little girl Jiang Tang is still waiting at Muzhuang.

(End of this chapter)