Edward Wood praised him without the slightest hesitation, “You’ve already reached this level today. Practice a few more times on your own, and we’ll come back tomorrow.”

After speaking, he let go, dropping off the cliff like a bird, and was quickly swallowed by the clouds and mist.

“Master, wait…”

Samuel Bennett was instantly dumbfounded. Master just left like that—how was he supposed to get back?

……

It took Samuel Bennett a full two hours to climb up the cliff, using every vine and crevice, having to return to the starting point three times, and nearly falling off the cliff.

It wasn’t until noon that Samuel Bennett finally struggled to the top. As soon as he touched a rock at the edge, he felt someone grab his wrist and pull him up.

It turned out to be his eldest senior brother, Charles Clark. Samuel Bennett sat on the ground, exhausted, and said, “Thank you, senior brother.”

Charles Clark scratched his head, a bit apologetic, and said, “There’s something I forgot to tell you. I hope it’s not too late.”

“What is it?”

“A few days ago, Master asked me to tell you that there’s a cave thirty zhang to the far left of the cliff. The cave leads directly to the back mountain, so you could have climbed up from there. But I was busy reading scriptures and forgot to mention it. Little junior brother, is that okay?”

Samuel Bennett collapsed to the ground, weakly saying, “It’s fine. This news is really ‘timely.’ Thank you, senior brother.”

……

Taking advantage of his senior brother’s guilt, Samuel Bennett ate two big bowls of rice at lunch and even extorted a pair of old shoes. Only then did he feel a bit more balanced inside.

“Senior brother, I’ll go fetch water?”

Samuel Bennett called out, then carried two wooden buckets down the mountain. In the past half year, he had grown at least seven centimeters taller and was strong and sturdy. Although only eight years old, he looked no different from a twelve-year-old boy.

More importantly, he was mature in mind, harboring the ambitions and dreams of an adult man.

Fetching water didn’t require going all the way to Tan Zheng Lake; there was a mountain spring right by the Ascension Bridge halfway up the mountain, about a li away.

Samuel Bennett quickly walked down a small path, faintly hearing the gurgling of the spring in the distance. Further down was a small pond. Rounding a big tree, Samuel Bennett saw the emerald green pond, and by the water’s edge was a young Daoist fetching water—he should be from Jing Le Temple.

Jing Le Temple was one of the two Daoist temples on Xiangshan, located in the other direction from the Ascension Bridge, about two li from here. According to fourth senior brother, the conditions there were much better than at Qingxu Temple, with dozens of acres of land and more than thirty Daoists.

Samuel Bennett saw that the young Daoist had already drawn water and was limping back with great difficulty. Suddenly, Samuel Bennett felt that the boy’s back looked familiar, and he blurted out, “Xiao Wu!”

The young Daoist stopped and slowly turned around. Samuel Bennett immediately recognized him—it was his only good friend in the Reception Hall, James Foster.

Samuel Bennett was overjoyed and ran over. “Xiao Wu, it’s me!”

James Foster also recognized Samuel Bennett, and a faint smile appeared on his thin face, but he quickly lowered his head, a look of unspeakable misery flashing in his eyes.

Samuel Bennett rushed forward and hugged his shoulders tightly. “Xiao Wu, I was just thinking of visiting you at Jing Le Temple!”

James Foster forced a smile. “Samuel Bennett, you’ve changed so much. You’ve grown so strong, I almost didn’t recognize you.”

“So what happened to you?”

Samuel Bennett looked him over and saw that he was even thinner and smaller than before, seemingly weaker than when he was first selected for the Daoist path.

“You… are you not doing well at Jing Le Temple?”

“It’s okay. I’m in charge of growing vegetables, and Master takes good care of me.”

“What’s wrong with your leg?”

Samuel Bennett suddenly noticed something wrong with his leg and immediately squatted down to lift his Daoist robe. James Foster was so startled he quickly backed away, nearly falling.

Samuel Bennett steadied him and squeezed his left leg. The shin bone was bent, and the muscles had atrophied—signs of a poorly healed fracture. One leg was longer than the other, leaving a lifelong disability.

“Xiao Wu, what happened? How did you break your leg?” Samuel Bennett looked up at him in shock.

James Foster could no longer hold back, and tears streamed down as he sobbed, “They beat me.”

“Who did it? People from Jing Le Temple?”

James Foster shook his head, choking out, “It was William Bolton and his gang.”

Chapter 0012: A Gentleman’s Revenge

Half a year ago, on the third day after Samuel Bennett went with Ethan Clark to sell firewood, James Foster also went with his master to deliver game. He too ran into William Bolton and his group of Daoist novices. They vented all their hatred for Samuel Bennett on James Foster, pinned him to the ground, and gave him a savage beating. William Bolton broke his left leg with a stick.

The Daoist novices scattered, and no one admitted responsibility. Xuanhu Temple flatly denied any involvement, insisting that James Foster had broken his leg due to his own mischief. His master had no choice but to swallow his anger and carry him back to the temple. Due to lack of medicine and doctors, the leg didn’t heal properly, leaving him disabled.

Samuel Bennett listened, his hair bristling with rage. He gritted his teeth and said, “We can’t just let this go, Xiao Wu. I’ll take you to confront them—Xuanhu Temple must give you an explanation.”

Samuel Bennett grabbed his wrist and started to walk, but James Foster pulled free and shook his head. “It’s useless. They didn’t admit it back then, and now, after half a year, they’re even less likely to. Besides, Jing Le Temple can’t afford to provoke them.”

“Then what will you do? Just let them break your leg for nothing?”