Chapter 106: Life 62, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1
The next morning, we were woken up early and marched outside.
Each of us was given different chores. I was led to a kitchen where I was forced into hard labor scrubbing pots and pans for the entire day. I didn’t get back until late in the evening.
When I returned, my three roommates were just sitting around playing cards and having fun. This slightly bothered me because I knew we were supposed to be spending this time cultivating. If we weren’t careful, there might be someone like my old instructor from the Su Clan who came and started killing people to make a point.
I entered the room silently to not make a scene, quietly sat on my bed, and picked up the cultivation technique scroll I’d been given. Just as I was about to open it, Ko spoke up to stop me.
“Put that down for a while and come join us,” he said. “Don’t worry about that thing.”
“Aren’t we supposed to be cultivating?” I asked. “We need to be careful, or the boss might get angry. We need to try and advance to Martial Disciple 4 like he wants, right?”
Ko looked at the other two boys and they all simply nodded their heads. They all stood up as one, and Ko looked at me. “Stay here for a moment,” he said to me. Moving furtively, the group snuck out of the dormitory.
Less than a minute later Ko carefully opened the door and slid back inside alone. He walked close to me and started talking in a quiet voice.
“Listen, you’re new in the city, right? I’ve not seen you on the streets before. You must’ve come in from some farm somewhere. You don’t know how things work around here, so I need to give you a few warnings. Don’t read that technique. Don’t cultivate. No matter what they tell you, don’t do it.”