C12 The Royal Palace Army

Zhan Tianming's laughter immediately attracted the curious gazes of two villagers who were passing by.

Upon seeing Wang Man's sorry state, even those two villagers could not help but laugh out.

Wang Man held onto the wooden barrel and did not dare to take it off. Right now, he didn't want to see all those mocking faces.

He turned around and ran.

Bang!

Just as he turned and ran a few steps, he bumped into a wall and fell back. The barrel fell down and revealed the true sorry state Wang Man's was in.

His face was covered in grime and filth; he looked disgusting.

"Wang Man, what are you doing?"

"This is too disgusting! Wang Man actually ate filth. Just how hungry are you?"

Wang Man was already so disgusted by the filth on his face that he wanted to faint. When he heard those two villagers point at him like a clown, his face flushed red. Unfortunately, his face was covered with filth, so none could see his embarrassed red face underneath.

After climbing back up, Wang Man did not say anything else and ran off.

"Haha! Wang Man, I admire your courage so much!" Zhan Tianming laughed and shouted.

After mocking Wang Man for a bit more, those two villagers also turned around and left.

Two hours later, the medicinal stew was finally ready.

Zhan Tianming used a big laded to fill up the bowls and then left for Dogegg's house. He arrived there and sneakily went to the backdoor.

After they exchanged their secret code words, it was basically bird calls, Dogegg opened the back door.

Dogegg's real name was Liu Yu, and he was born in the same year as Zhan Tianming. Their age difference wasn't in days; it was in hours. Yes, they were born hours apart.

Liu Yu looked sturdy, his height was about the same as Zhan Tianming, but his frame was much bigger.

Despite possessing the body of a bandit, he was actually a simple and honest guy. Innocent face, shiny black eyes, and ahead of hair — that's him in one sentence.

"Tianming, you're here. Look what I've got for you." Smiling, Liu Yu looked around to make sure that there was no one there. After that, he took out something wrapped in leaves and then revealed it to be a piece of freshly roasted rabbit meat.

"Here, take it while it's hot."

Liu Yu handed the meat over to Zhan Tianming.

"Huh?"

While giving it, Liu Yu could not help but be startled and stared straight at the bowl in Zhan Tianming's hands.

'There is still steam coming out of the bowl. Something freshly cooked? That faint herbal smell. A medicinal soup? Wait, I can smell the meaty aroma in it! This is a bowl of freshly made medicinal stew!'

Zhan Tianming grinned and received the barbecued rabbit from Liu Yu. Then, he placed the big bowl in his hand into Liu Yu's hands and said, "I also brought you some good things."

Looking at the big chunks of meat in the bowl, Liu Yu took a long time to recover.

"Tianming, where did you get this?"

"I hunted it."

"You did it?"

Liu Yu looked to be in disbelief.

In this village, who didn't know that Zhan Tianming couldn't even beat the Five-Colored Chicken?

Even the caterpillars in the back mountain valley could chase Zhan Tianming and make him cry for help.

Now, he was saying that he hunted the meat in this bowl?

Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be the flesh of a mouse.

Rats were much stronger than the caterpillar.

How did Zhan Tianming do it?

Liu Yu just couldn't believe it at all.

"Don't look at me like that; I'm not gay." Zhan Tianming laughed.

"Fuck off! Who would love you?" Liu Yu rolled his eyes at Zhan Tianming, then sternly said, "Tianming, tell me the truth, where did you get this meat? Did you steal it from that damn fatty's house? Also, I just came back from the mountains this morning, and I heard that you beat up that dumb fatty yesterday. Vice-Captain Wang is furious and says he's going to break your foot. You'd better be careful."

"Wang Sishi? That guy wasn't anything good either. If it wasn't for the fact that I couldn't beat him in the past, I would have already fallen out with him," Zhan Tianming said in disdain.

Wang Sishi was Wang Man's father, and at the same time, he was the vice-captain of the Nanqing Village Hunting Team.

In the Nanqing Village, other than the acting village chief and hunting team leader, Zhang Yong, Wang Sishi was the strongest.

It was said that he could lift a cauldron weighing 4,000 kilograms.

In other words, Wang Sishi already had the strength of an eight-star Martial Disciple. Moreover, he had the highest chance of breaking through and becoming a nine-star Martial Disciple.

Even in the other two villages, an existence like him would be deemed formidable.

Of course, as an ordinary villager, all he had was cultivation; he knew not a single martial arts technique.

"Hehe, I can't beat him either. Otherwise, I would have already fallen out with him for you," said Liu Yu with an honest smile.

"Good enough, brother." Zhan Tianming patted Liu Yu's shoulder.

The two of them began to eat.

As Zhan Tianming ate, he asked, "Oh right, Dogegg, what's up with those military tents on the plaza?"

Liu Yu was startled and asked, "You don't know?"

"I don't know." Zhan Tianming shook his head.

"Let me tell you, this is a big event for our village." Liu Yu's mouth was still stuffed with a piece of meat, so all his attempts to seem mysterious were for naught. "These people are all sent by the County Prince Palace. They said that they wanted to select a palace guard from a nearby village. Tomorrow, the selection process for our village will start."

"The County Prince Palace came to our village to select a palace guard?" Zhan Tianming was startled.

"Yeah." Liu Yu nodded his head, and swallowed down the meat in his mouth, and continued, "If someone is selected, not only would they become rich, but even their village would be showered in prosperity. Furthermore, I heard that the guards of County Prince Palace get fifteen silver taels per month."

Speaking of so much money, Liu Yu couldn't help but feel envy.

"Hehe. Today, my parents went out of their way to prepare delicious and nutritious food for me. They hope that the food supplements my body so that I can perform well tomorrow. However, this brother here will never forget about you, so I specially left that piece of meat for you."

"But I couldn't have expected that you would actually prepare so much meat for me. It's way more than even what I ate."

With that, Liu Yu fished out another piece of meat and stuffed it into his mouth, beginning to chew.

Zhan Tianming grinned and said, "Alright, your's is delicious too. I'll go cheer you up tomorrow."

"Of course. If you forget to come tomorrow, you will lose your right to treat me as your brother," Liu Yu said as he ate.

"Definitely." With that, Zhan Tianming got up and left.

After Zhan Tianming left, Liu Yu smacked his forehead and said, "Haish! I forgot to ask Tianming that guy. Where did he get this meat from?"

Liu Yu didn't believe that it was Zhan Tianming who hunted this game.

However, since Zhan Tianming was already far away, there was no way for him to ask.

'Forget it. Who cares anyway.'

Turning around, Liu Yu went back into the house.

After returning home, Zhan Tianming prepared another big bowl of meat and thought about sending it over to Mu Hai's family.

However, he knew that Mu Hai was not as easy to fool, so he placed the bowl at the doorstep of Mu Hai's house, knocked on the door, activated Nine Dragons Step, and disappeared.

When Mu Hai opened the door, he saw a big bowl of meat in front of him. Mu Hai scratched the back of his head as he did not know what was going on.

In the end, Aunt Mu still carried the bowl inside.

Returning home, Zhan Tianming released Little Purple, and the two of them began eating.

Not long after he finished eating, Mu Hai brought the half bowl of meat to Zhan Tianming.

Without batting an eyelid, Zhan Tianming accepted the bowl with a happy expression.

Only after Mu Hai left far away did he put down the bowl.

He just couldn't eat anymore.

He had already eaten way too much.

After resting for two hours, Zhan Tianming practiced a few moves in the courtyard. He practiced the Nine Dragon Fist, Nine Dragon Leg, and the other basic martial skills for a bit.

Although he had already learned all of these basic martial skills, he had to be proficient in them.

Moreover, only by improving his proficiency would he be able to better understand martial skills.

It was already late at night, but Zhan Tianming was ready for another practice session.

Right at this moment, a cold shout sounded from outside.

"Zhan Tianming, you little bastard."