The thick stench of blood permeated the air in the dense forest.

Slash.

Rip.

The wet, sickening sound of flesh being sliced apart continuously echoed through the trees.

Panting heavily, Gao Zhiming raised the bloodied dagger in his hand. He gritted his teeth and charged forward. Cold, congealed blood splattered across his youthful nine-year-old face.

By this point, he was overwhelmed with exhaustion. The high-intensity, relentless swinging of the dagger burned his arms muscles; they throbbed with an aching pain.

Gao Zhiming took a glance at Anna standing nearby. Swallowing every bit of complaint he might have, he steeled himself and, once again, plunged the dagger into the calf carcass suspended from the tree branch.

Driving the blade deep into the calf was anything but easy. The cow's hide was thick, and having been dead for a long while, its flesh had turned extremely stiff. Its sinewy tendons also contributed to the resistance.

Every single time, Gao Zhiming had to muster every ounce of strength within him to be able to drive the blade all the way in.

"Don't rely on brute force," Anna instructed. "Try to aim for the gaps between muscle groups. Remember the sensation of slicing a blade through flesh. You need to get used to it as soon as possible.

"That street thug who offered you his neck from before? Enemies as stupid as him are few and rare."

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Understood!" Gao Zhiming nodded. He tightened his grip on the dagger and pressed on with the training session, his sweat mixing with the blood staining his skin.

Anna leaned against the trunk of a tree with a huge canopy and watched Gao Zhiming silently from a distance.

She hadn't voiced her opinions directly in front of her husband, but deep down, she had to admit that compared to his struggles with studying, he was undeniably gifted in this field.

Despite his short period of training, he had already acquired rudimentary combat power. If he were to make a move now, there was a high chance that he could successfully assassinate an unsuspecting adult.

However, the most important matter was that Gao Zhiming had seen blood. He had taken that crucial step of negating the fear of killing a human.

When it came to killing one's own kind, there was an undeniable difference between those who had never taken their first kill and those who had already crossed that line.

Just as Anna was contemplating the next phase of Gao Zhiming's training, a rustling sound came from the nearby woods.

She rapidly turned around to see an old man emerge from between the trees. His face was flushed, evidently sunburned, and he had a fishing rod slung over his shoulder.

The moment Anna and Gao Zhiming came into sight, the old man's attention went straight to Gao Zhiming. He stared at the bloodied dagger in the young boy's hand before his gaze landed on the mutilated cow carcass hanging from the tree.

His eyes widened in shock.

Anna's sleeve twitched ever so slightly, and in an instant, the throwing knife that the Mask had given to Gao Zhiming appeared in her hand.

She recognized that face. He was a town resident, and she had seen him when she and Gao Zhiming first moved in.

However, the old man didn't seem to sense the killing intent radiating from Anna. His eyes lit up with excitement after his initial shock. He took a step forward and circled Zhiming as he exclaimed in admiration, "Uh, Chinese kung fu? Nice!"

With that, he fished out his phone and quickly scrolled through his gallery before clicking on a snippet from an old Shaw Brothers martial arts film from the 1980s. He held the screen up to Anna with an eager expression and bombarded her with even more questions.

Anna blinked. She realized that the old man had completely misinterpreted the situation. She let out a quiet sigh of relief and stealthily kept the throwing knife.

Since he wasn't a threat, she began to exchange small talk with him. Soon, she learned that his name was Mark Rook, and he was, technically, a neighbor of sorts. Ɍ₳𝐍𝐨ꞖĘs

Before retirement, he had worked as a chef, but now that he had retired, his time only revolved around two things: fishing and watching movies. Of course, he was particularly fond of martial arts films, and as such, he was fascinated by what he had just witnessed.

"So, are the moves in those films real? How is it done? This kid, he's training moves from Shaolin, right?" The old man asked, his expression evident with curiosity. "Oh, if there are any Eastern cultural taboos about this, feel free not to answer."

Anna had intended to brush Mark off with a few vague answers, but the latter was particularly enthusiastic and passionate about Chinese kung fu. He talked non-stop with overflowing passion, like a fan meeting their idol.

By the end of their conversation, Mark even warmly invited Anna and Gao Zhiming to visit his home.

Not wanting to appear overly out of the ordinary, Anna agreed to the invitation. After all, it was impossible to completely isolate herself upon coming to a new place. Moreover, building a good relationship with her neighbors could help her to blend in better with the town.

Mark's house was near—just a few hundred meters away from Anna's. There was no one at home apart from his wife, an elderly woman with an amicable smile.

The all-wooden structure gave off a rustic charm. The interior was also decorated with a touch of familial warmth. There weren't many electronics aside from a single television.

As soon as they entered the house, Mark put aside all sense of formality. He eagerly pulled out disc after disc—all featuring various martial arts stars—and showcased them to Anna with childlike excitement.

It was clear that Mark had a bright, in fact, almost boyish personality, even though he was already 73 years old this year.

"I'm so sorry. Is he too annoying?" the elderly woman asked with a gentle smile as she placed a steaming apple pie on the table. "He has always been like this."

Taking off her thick oven mitts, she turned to her husband and said, "Mark, enough talking. This is the first time Anna is visiting us; show some restraint, will you? They're still kids and probably even younger than our grandchildren."

Everyone took their seats at the table and began to indulge in the meal prepared by Mrs. Rook. It was a sumptuous spread with roast chicken, spaghetti with sliced sausage, rich mushroom soup, and freshly baked apple pie. There was even a glass of homebrewed wine for each of the three adults present.

Just as Mark was about to start another conversation, he suddenly felt his wife, Mary, discreetly step on his foot.

Confused, he cast a glance at Mary before following her gaze to look at Anna. It was then that he noticed—Anna's left arm was missing.

His pupils shrank as a heavy stone weighed down on his chest. He had seen injuries like this before in the martial art films.

My god… She's so young yet…Did they travel all the way from Asia to our town because they were expelled from their sect?

Everything suddenly clicked into place. Mark finally found the reason for Anna and Gao Zhiming's reserved attitude.

Ah, I see. Damn it. I should've realized earlier. Every time I talked to her, I was unknowingly rubbing salt into their wounds.

Mark's newfound discovery erased all his excitement in an instant. Without his lively chatter, an uncomfortable silence hung over the table.

"Mr. Mark, about what happened in the forest, can you keep it a secret for us?" Anna asked, breaking the silence.

"Of course, of course!" Mark agreed readily before casting a brief glance at his collection of martial arts DVDs. His face turned slightly red before he straightened up with newfound confidence.

"I consider myself quite knowledgeable about certain aspects of Eastern culture. Don't worry. Your

shimen

won't come here to find trouble with you. Is that how you pronounce the word for 'sect'?"

Anna's brows furrowed slightly. "

Shimen?

Sect?"

She had no idea what the old man was talking about. But regardless, it seemed like the problem had resolved itself in a special way.

Out of a natural fondness for children, Mary turned her gentle gaze toward Gao Zhiming, who was devouring the food on his plate.

"Child, do you like watching TV?" Mary asked. "You can eat while you watch. There's no need to be so formal. My granddaughter does the same thing whenever she comes home for summer break."

Gao Zhiming, who had dropped out of school after only attending a year, couldn't understand a single English word that Mary spoke. With a blank expression on his face, he turned to Anna with a pleading gaze.

However, Anna didn't notice his gaze. She was too engaged in her conversation with Mark, trying to understand the town's brief history and also learn the names of its residents.

"Oh, child, there's no need to be so rigid. Just treat this place like home," Mary chuckled as she put on her reading glasses and picked up the remote.

The television screen flickered to life, and Mary flipped through the channels in search of one of the cartoon channels for Gao Zhiming.

While Mary was browsing through the channels, Anna tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear and took another bite of her pasta. She looked up just then and took a casual glance at the screen.

Then she froze.