A Will Eternal

Chapter 3: Six Lines of Truth

The motion of Bai Xiaochun sticking his head out of the window instantly attracted the attention of the sallow-faced young man. Enraged, he yelled, "So, you're the guy who took my spot!"

It was too late for Bai Xiaochun to duck his head back into the window. He immediately pasted an innocent expression onto his face and said, "No, it wasn't me!"

"Liar! You're so skinny and short, you're obviously a newbie here!" Xu Baocai clenched his hands into fists and stared furiously at Bai Xiaochun. He was so angry that he looked like he might explode at any moment.

Feeling quite wronged, Bai Xiaochun peeped: "It really had nothing to do with me!"

"I don't care! Three days from now on the southern slope of the sect, you and I are gonna have a fight to the death! If you win, then I'll have no choice other than to suck it up. If you lose, then I get my spot back." Xu Baocai shoved his hand into his robe and pulled out a blood notice, which he threw onto Bai Xiaochun's window sill. The notice was covered with countless versions of the character "DIE," all of them written in blood.

Bai Xiaochun looked down at all the "DIE" characters and couldn't miss the killing intent roiling off of them. His heart went cold. Then he remembered that Xu Baocai had just mentioned a 'fight to the death,' and he gasped.

"Elder Brother, this isn't that big a deal! Why did you have to go and use your own blood to write so many characters? Didn't it... hurt?"

"Not a big deal?!" Xu Baocai roared, gnashing his teeth. "Humph! I've been living frugally for ages. I saved up spirit stones for seven years! Seven years, do you hear me!?!? Only then could I afford to bribe the honor guard into getting me a spot in the Ovens! Then you decide to stick your foot into the door? This enmity will never be reconciled! Three days from now is the day you die!"

"I think I'll pass," Bai Xiaochun said, picking up the blood notice gingerly between his thumb and forefinger, and then tossing it out the window.

"YOU!" raged Xu Baocai. Suddenly, he felt the ground shaking, and he realized that there was a mountain of flesh standing there next to him. It was hard to say how long Big Fatty Zhang had been standing there, but there he was, off to the side, coldly measuring up Xu Baocai.

"Ninth Fatty," he said, addressing Bai Xiaochun, "you're on dish duty with Second Brother." Then he looked back at Xu Baocai. "As for you, stop causing such a ruckus! Get your ass out of here!" He swept his ladle through the air threateningly, causing a gust of wind to spring up.

Xu Baocai's face fell, and he backed up several steps. He wanted to keep arguing, but seeing the impatient look on Big Fatty Zhang's face, he shot a venomous look at Bai Xiaochun, then stalked off.

As Bai Xiaochun thought about it, he realized that considering the vicious look Xu Baocai had given him, he was certain to pop up again at some point. Therefore, the best thing to do in this situation would be to stay put in the Ovens. Most likely, Xu Baocai wouldn't dare to come back there and cause trouble.

Days passed. Bai Xiaochun slowly got used to working in the Ovens during the day, and cultivating the Violet Qi Cauldron Control Art at night. However, progress was slow. Eventually he got to the point where he could endure for four breaths of time, but no more, leaving him very frustrated.

On one particular night in the middle of his cultivation session, he suddenly heard a big commotion among the fat Elder Brothers.

"Close the gate, close the gate! Hurry up, Second Fatty Huang, close that gate!"

"Third Fatty Hei, check and see if anyone is spying on us. Quickly!"

Bai Xiaochun blinked in shock. Having learned from his previous mistake, he avoided the window and peeked through a crack in the door. What he saw was a bunch of fatties bustling around the courtyard so fast they were almost flying.