“You need to build up your vitality for martial arts, and it takes a lot out of you. You eat all these scrambled eggs—we’ll just do some light chores. We’re women, after all, and this is enough for us,” Bennett said.

“Yes, young master, your martial arts training is the most important!”

William Carter saw that Bennett and Eleanor Bennett both refused to eat the scrambled eggs, and he felt both touched and helpless, along with a deep sense of guilt and powerlessness.

He had been in this world for ten days now, and he already understood that martial arts training consumed a tremendous amount of energy. To truly strengthen one’s vitality, eating a few eggs was far from enough.

Those who trained with him and actually made progress—without exception, they all ate meat and medicinal herbs every day. In fact, the truly wealthy families could even supplement their diets with exotic beast meat.

But the Carter family had fallen on hard times. Even paying the monthly tuition for the martial arts school was a struggle, so how could there be any extra money for William Carter to buy meat or medicinal herbs for nourishment? As for exotic beast meat, that was out of the question.

Exotic beasts lived deep in the mountains and were extremely powerful and ferocious. Even experienced old hunters didn’t dare venture deep into the mountains to hunt them. Only martial artists who had reached the level of “Jinli” dared to go deep into the mountains to hunt exotic beasts.

But even for martial artists at the Jinli level, hunting exotic beasts in the mountains was extremely dangerous. Usually, it took a team of three to five people to dare enter the mountains for such a hunt.

“Sigh, without meat or medicinal herbs for nourishment, with the foundation and talent of this body, no matter how hard I train, it’s all for nothing!” William Carter sighed inwardly, though he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud.

No one knows a son better than his mother. Even though William Carter said nothing, Bennett seemed to understand his thoughts. She let out a soft sigh and said, “Ziling, I know you have high aspirations and want to master martial arts like your grandfather and restore the Carter family’s honor. But our family is not what it once was. Without meat or medicinal herbs to nourish you, it will be a thousand times harder for you to follow in your grandfather’s footsteps. If you think it’s impossible, it might be better to make other plans sooner rather than later.”

“Mother, I want to keep trying,” William Carter replied without hesitation.

Having been given a second chance at life, how could he resign himself to being a mediocre farmer in a small village?

Besides, this was a chaotic world where the strong preyed on the weak, where might made right, and bandits and warlords ran rampant. With war and chaos everywhere, without great strength, he wouldn’t even be able to protect his family—let alone his own life.

So, no matter how difficult this path was or how slim the hope, William Carter absolutely would not give up at this moment.

“Mm. As long as you have this determination, your mother will always support you,” Bennett said, nodding with mixed emotions.

“Thank you, Mother.” Looking at Bennett’s half-white hair and deeply wrinkled face, William Carter felt a lump in his throat and lowered his head.

As he lowered his head, his gaze fell on the bowl of thin porridge in front of him, and the image of that ancient well from his nightmare suddenly flashed through William Carter’s mind.

“Mother, is there a Taoist temple called Chixiao in this area?” William Carter suddenly asked, moved by a sudden thought.

“Chixiao Temple?” Bennett was momentarily stunned, then looked at William Carter in surprise and said, “Why are you suddenly asking about Chixiao Temple?”

Chapter Two: Chixiao Temple

William Carter was shocked when he heard this, to the point that he even found it hard to breathe.

He had only asked about it because he suddenly remembered the ancient well from his nightmare. He never expected that there would actually be a Chixiao Temple in reality.

“Ahem, I just happened to overhear someone mention it yesterday, so I got curious,” William Carter said, making up a lie—he certainly wouldn’t say he’d dreamed about it.

Bennett didn’t think much of it. “Oh,” she replied, then continued, “Chixiao Temple is located at the foot of Xiaolong Mountain, about fourteen or fifteen li from our village. When you were a child, there was still some incense burning there. That year, when your father was gravely ill, I happened to hear about Chixiao Temple and even made a special trip there.”

“But the world is very chaotic now. Bandits and marauders are everywhere, robbing and killing. Xiaolong Mountain is far from the county seat and the main road, so mountain bandits and horse thieves are especially rampant. The villagers living in that area have either been killed or have fled, and most of the villages have been looted and destroyed. Chixiao Temple has long since fallen into ruin.”

At this point, Bennett seemed to remember something, and she let out a soft sigh, unable to hide her worry.

Hearing this, William Carter felt a heavy weight in his heart. The world was truly in turmoil!

“Mother, Ranyue, I’m heading to the martial arts school now.” After asking a few questions about the location of Xiaolong Mountain, William Carter quickly finished his breakfast, picked up the lunch that Eleanor Bennett had already prepared for him, and got up to leave.

“Be careful on the road. I heard yesterday that there are bandits operating around the county these days. Just a few days ago, Li Family Village was looted,” Bennett reminded him.

“I will,” William Carter replied, nodding as he left, his heart growing heavier.

Li Family Village was only a little over ten li from the county walls, and not far from the main road. By rights, it should have been within the deterrent range of the county’s garrison, so its being looted still surprised William Carter.

“It seems the world really is getting more and more chaotic. Only by moving into the city can we be a bit safer. But right now, I have neither money nor strength—how could moving into the city be easy?” William Carter thought to himself as he strode along the main road, heading in the opposite direction from the county seat, a growing sense of urgency and helplessness in his heart.