Chapter 21: Cruel Elimination

Before dawn, Zhou You rose to practice.

He glanced at the empty room and let out a breath.

Ever since Song Fugui and Liu Bing left one after another, only he and Fang Guiqi remained in the room.

Subsequent new Apprentices had entered the Outer Courtyard, yet no one dared to become his roommate.

Zhou You's reputation for being ruthless and cold-blooded had already spread among the new students.

The day after Zhang Shu's leg was broken, he was dragged away by his family.

That day, he cried hoarsely, begging for one more chance to let him heal his injuries and make a dash for the Force realm.

However, no one paid any mind to his struggles and pleas.

With a broken leg bone, his vital essence and Qi were not even enough to heal his injuries, let alone have any surplus to charge toward the Force realm.

Furthermore, he couldn't even stand steadily now; how could he practice boxing?

"I told you not to learn bad habits, told you not to stir up trouble, wasting so much of the family's silver and delaying your older brother from taking a wife."

Zhang Shu's father's face was livid when he came to pick him up, looking as if he hated that his son hadn't turned out as expected.

Although their family wasn't poor, they weren't exactly wealthy either; the feeling of 60 taels of silver going down the drain was not easy to bear.

Upon learning that his son had caused trouble at the Martial Arts Hall and had his leg broken by someone, he had come immediately to drag him back.

Accompanying him was Zhang Shu's older brother, a middle-aged man with an honest appearance.

If it hadn't been for Zhang Shu entering the Martial Arts Hall to learn, the 60 taels of silver used for tuition should have been the bride price for his own marriage.

The family had been counting on Zhang Shu to become a Zhengshi Xuitu and, under his protection, help the family live better and better.

Now, everything had fallen through.

"Father, don't be angry, just take him back."

Although Zhang Shu's older brother was annoyed, he feared the prestige of the Jian Xiong Martial Arts Hall and was terrified of angering the big figures inside.

The consequences of his younger brother being expelled from the Martial Arts Hall followed one after another.

Originally, relying on the protection of the Martial Arts Hall Wooden Plaque, he had found a well-paying job, but now that had also gone up in smoke.

With this delay, in a few more years, he would become a bachelor in his forties.

The 60 taels of silver for tuition, including his marriage fund and his father's coffin money, were all gone now.

"Where is the cart? If there's no carriage, a donkey cart will do. I have a leg injury and cannot be jolted."

When Zhang Shu was carried to the entrance, he saw the empty scene and cried and shouted.

When he first joined the Martial Arts Hall, his family had specifically rented a carriage to send him over.

As it turned out, his departure was incomparably desolate; the father and brother had come empty-handed.

The treatment was like heaven and earth; the gap was too great.

"What cart do you want? Doesn't renting a cart cost money?"

"After all this trouble you've caused the family, where would there be any money left? We can't even afford to eat!"

Zhang Shu's father was in a foul mood; he took a rope and a wooden pole from behind him and assembled a simple... drag-frame.

Generally speaking, this thing was used for hauling cargo; it was too uncomfortable for a living person.

Under the gaze of the crowd, Zhang Shu struggled and cried incessantly, but he was forcibly tied to the drag-frame by his older brother and dragged away like a dead pig, disappearing at the end of the street.

Later, the Apprentices at the Martial Arts Hall heard that Zhang Shu's life after returning home was very miserable.

The 60 taels of silver for tuition had emptied the family coffers, and there was no money left to treat his broken leg.

It is said that it takes a hundred days to recover from a bone injury; Zhang Shu's leg bone was broken, and he should have been resting in bed for three months.

But his father and brother at home could no longer afford to support him, and a few days later, they forcibly sent him to the Horse and Cattle Market to learn how to shoe horses, learning a trade to make ends meet.

Because his injuries did not heal well, coupled with the fact that he was doing heavy manual labor, that broken leg became completely crippled.

Many years later, there was a master called 'Lame Zhang' in the city's Horse and Cattle Market who was skilled at shoeing horses.

In the Outer Courtyard, after this incident, no one dared to offend Zhou You anymore.

Everyone had seen Zhang Shu's end; he had racked his brains to spread rumors, only to end up losing more than he gained.

Although his aptitude was mediocre and he might not have been able to develop Force even after the hundred days were up, gaining the qualification to be promoted.

However, Zhou You had ignored the other party's pleas for mercy and kicked him into a cripple; his actions were far too ruthless.

A person with such a style was destined to be out of step with the masses, solitary and alone.

Zhou You, however, did not care about this; Zhang Shu's end only further strengthened his resolve.

Beneath the seemingly peaceful exterior of the Martial Arts Hall, there actually Zang a survival-of-the-fittest mechanism more sinister than the jungle.

If the hundred days were up and he still couldn't develop Force, would his end be any better than Zhang Shu's?

"The Martial Arts Hall is killing the chicken to warn the monkey with this move!"

Zhang Shu's miserable end finally stimulated the other new Apprentices.

They began to recall that they had paid a great price to join the Martial Arts Hall; once they failed, they would face the disappointment of their entire family.

Some even relied on the Martial Arts Hall Wooden Plaque to gain glory and the awe of their neighbors that they could hardly have harvested in half a lifetime.

The three months of protection gave them a certain illusion, thinking that their days at the Martial Arts Hall would continue forever.

It was only when they watched Zhang Shu being dragged away without any dignity that they were thoroughly awakened.

Once eliminated, perhaps one wouldn't die, but it was truly worse than death!

As Apprentices, they had already witnessed the status of those who practiced martial arts and could not accept their former mediocre fate and future.

Many Apprentices whose deadlines were approaching worked even harder, practicing day and night without rest, until their fists were beaten into bloody blisters.

However, without sufficient aptitude, no amount of effort could help; they could only watch helplessly as their companions left them in the dust.

Finally, one day, a certain new Apprentice took a desperate risk and plotted against his sparring partner.

"Luo Peng was also driven mad with anxiety; he had less than ten days left before he had to leave."

"Instead, his sparring partner's progress was faster, with hope of cultivating force ahead of schedule; jealousy combined with being driven to a dead end led to the grave mistake."

This Apprentice named Luo Peng, harboring the thought of breaking the pot since it was already cracked, launched a sneak attack during a sparring session and broke his sparring partner's lower back. No one knew what he was thinking at the time.

Afterwards, Big Senior Brother Lu Qiang flew into a rage, broke Luo Peng's legs on the spot, and expelled him from the martial arts hall.

As for his sparring partner, because his lower back was broken, he would be paralyzed in bed for the rest of his life.

A single wrong thought ruins both others and oneself!

Some people discussed in private that if it weren't for Zhou You dealing such a heavy hand to Zhang Shu, it wouldn't have led to Luo Peng's tragedy.

Perhaps Luo Peng only plotted against his sparring partner after seeing Zhang Shu's fate.

After hearing this rumor, Zhou You scoffed at it; absurd?

That Luo Peng was clearly incompetent himself and jealous that his sparring partner was more talented, which was why he gave rise to such vicious thoughts.

Even without the matter of Zhang Shu, this guy was a bad seed to the bone; what did it have to do with him, Zhou You?

Big Senior Brother Lu Qiang's handling of the matter intimidated the restless new Apprentices; after all, having one's legs broken was not a pleasant experience.

Zhang Shu had only broken one leg and could only spend his life wallowing in cattle and horse manure, limping while tending to livestock.

Breaking one leg is being half-crippled, but breaking two legs means being completely ruined; in the future, one could only kneel on the street to beg.

Even if one leaves the martial arts hall, if one still has the ability to work, one can always earn a living with their own hands, but if one is crippled, there is only the path of starving to death, as no family can afford to support a useless person.

The new Apprentices in the Outer Courtyard trembled in fear, never daring to let such a thing happen again.