Before Feng Ju could finish speaking, Feng Mu interrupted: "No need, I've already promised a classmate that I'll start working at the incinerator in a couple of days."
Feng Ju's brows knitted into a knot, and he was about to retort with a cold laugh.
Beep beep.
A text message arrived on his phone, urging him to return to the team. He was just passing by on patrol today and stopped at home to grab some clean clothes.
"I've eaten outside, I'm a bit tired, going back to my room to rest. I'll give half of my monthly salary to the family, don't worry."
Feng Mu wasn't in the mood to argue with Feng Ju, and offering half his salary was a way to avoid escalating conflicts and completely angering Feng Ju.
That wouldn't be wise; it wouldn't help his current survival situation. It was just a way to repay living in this body, covering room and board for three years.
When the day comes that he can pay it all back, he believes that day is not far away.
After finishing his reply to the team, Feng Ju was about to lecture Feng Mu again but saw that the latter had already gone back to his room and closed the door halfway.
Feng Ju's face twitched, and he cursed: "Rebellious son, still won't obey without ability."
Wang Xiuli quickly comforted him: "Okay, okay, aren't you in a hurry to return to your team? Let's talk about it later."
Suppressing his anger, Feng Ju gave a few instructions: "Keep an eye on him at home, don't go out much at night these days, it's not safe anywhere, some dangerous elements from the Extremely Evil Organization have infiltrated Zone 9 as well."
In his haste, Feng Ju gave a few more reminders, and as he was leaving, he glanced at the wrinkled diploma on the coffee table out of the corner of his eye.
Wrinkled.
Wait, wrinkled?
Something's not right. It's not the diploma, it's something about Feng Mu that's noticeably different from before.
Feng Mu stood behind the bedroom door, his motion to close it paused slightly, then slowly closed it.
"The Extremely Evil Organization, dangerous elements, could it be....."
Feng Mu lowered his head, and his dark eyes reflected the daily reminder — [Current inheritance progress 1%, reward has been sent, please check!]
A bizarre and horrifying thought popped into Feng Mu's mind: "Could the organization have sent a delivery man to me~"
Feng Mu shivered violently, praying in his heart: "Please, don't let it be delivered to my door, damn it!!!"
Walking to the window, he pulled open the curtain and looked at the narrow alley, dirty water flowing, with shadows coming and going. Suddenly, he felt that all of them were lurking sinisterly, with suspicious faces.
All of them seemed like extremely evil criminals hidden in the crowd.
Yes.
My identity is that of one lurking too.
Feng Mu knew he was being a bit paranoid, but still, the unease in his heart was inexplicably strong.
"I still lack a sense of security, so I can only improve by practicing." He thought.
Feng Mu drew the curtain, turned on the computer, clicked on the video, and followed the instructions, quickly immersing himself in the Body Forging Exercise.
Fatigue, monotony, and pain yet fulfilling.
Bones moaned as they were stretched, muscles were soaked in repetition, bones deformed as they consumed iron, and time flowed with the clock hand, round after round.
The stretching movements were still not in place, the posture was still difficult to standardize, and the stiff fascia still hadn't improved.
However, in the slow motions, the air occasionally let out muffled sounds, very weak, drowned by his heavy breathing, which Feng Mu did not notice.
It was the bones shouting fiercely at the world through the flesh.
[Iron Eater: Tier 1]
[Edible Iron Types: 1]
[Extractable Metal Traits: 1]
[Current detection of edible iron types — Ordinary Pig Iron, edibility 10.5%.]
[Traits Extracted: ??]
Faster.
Even faster.
The growth today is 4.2%, faster than yesterday, almost double the first day.
"Day after day, uninterrupted practice, the daily fatigue accumulates, so the consumption also accumulates, leading to the edibility's growth getting faster each day."
Feng Mu collapsed onto the bed, unbearably sore as if he had been torn apart, but the corners of his mouth stretched into a satisfied grin,
"For others, fatigue and pain are debuffs best cleared with rest, but for me, I hope the debuffs can endlessly stack."
The chill in his chest had already spread from a single point to the surrounding area, from the length of a finger to several ribs, even the exhaled air was slightly cool.
At 4 a.m., Feng Mu fell asleep.
In his dreams, his bones pierced through his flesh, turning into a cold iron helmet covering his body, leaving only a pair of dark eyes exposed.
He was killing, blood was everywhere.
One by one, uniformed Chief Constables besieged him, Feng Ju among them, roaring fearfully and angrily, scolding him for becoming a monster.
Suddenly, his chest caved in abruptly, cracking and transforming into jagged sawteeth, and his head blossomed into petals.
He died and turned into a ghastly Calamity Corpse.
Feng Mu opened his eyes angrily, seeing a gray ceiling instead of the incinerator's fiery furnace.
"Grass, a kind of plant."
Feng Mu picked up his phone to check the time, 08:33.
He had slept for more than four hours, and the drowsiness had been chased away by the nightmare.
"No need to go to school today, and no hurry to go to the incinerator, so today, I can practice from morning till night without wasting a second."
Feng Mu's eyes shone, anticipating how much his edibility could soar when undisturbed by schoolwork and trifles, using all his time for practice and digestion.
First, he had to go out and buy Iron Beads.
Without checking his stock, there were only less than 2 pounds left.
"Originally thought it would last for four days, but it turned out to be only two, it's both exciting and vexing," Feng Mu quickly got dressed and went out.
He went to a new grocery store, spent all the remaining money, and stocked over 5 pounds of iron.
Returning home, he resumed practice.
Besides going to the bathroom and bringing food into the room, he never opened the door again.
Standing at the door, Wang Xiuli listened to the extended beats of "one, two, three, four" coming from the room from morning till night, and her expression grew somewhat grave.
"Isn't he giving up on the citizen exam and already graduated?"
"Why is he still doing Body Forging Exercise?"
Wang Xiuli several times wanted to knock but refrained, finally taking out her phone to send her daughter a text.
[——Your brother seems a bit obsessed, locking himself in the room doing Body Forging Exercise all day, you should come home to comfort him over the weekend.]
Eighth Academy, freshman Martial Arts advanced class.
A few pretty girls with confidence between their brows gathered together chatting, Feng Yuhuai was among them.
With extremely excellent Root Bone, good looks, and a sweet mouth, Feng Yuhuai quickly integrated into the group and seemed poised to become the central figure.
"You're amazing, Yuhuai, you don't know how strict our martial arts coach usually is, always with a stern face, didn't expect him to praise you for two consecutive classes, smiling like a flower."
"Do you think, Yuhuai and Zhang Xi are both the martial arts seeds handpicked by the coach, with the finest Root Bone, we mere mortals can only envy."
"Oh come on, it's not as good as you say, I'm still far from it."
Feng Yuhuai smiled, lightly smoothing her hair, her beautiful eyes full of proud charm.
Suddenly, her phone beeped.
She pulled it out, slid open the message, and her delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed, with a trace of melancholy crawling into her bright eyes.
"Did something happen?" Lu Yazhi asked with concern.
Feng Yuhuai's tone was a bit annoyed: "I don't know what madness has taken my brother at home again, my mom is worried and wants me to go back and check."
"Oh, Yuhuai has a brother?"
"Who is it, is he in our school? Yuhuai is such a genius, her brother must be impressive too, right?"
A few female students were curiously chattering.
Feng Yuhuai shook her head and generously showed the phone's message to everyone, sighing: "My brother doesn't have any talent, he's sensitive and insecure, often making our parents unhappy."
"Oh, I see, it must be tough having such a brother, Yuhuai." Lu Yazhi empathized understandingly.
Feng Yuhuai tossed her head, flipping her high ponytail, and laughed: "So, I must work harder, I have to stand out. I carry not just my own, but also my parents' expectations and a drag of a brother."
"Wow, Yuhuai is so mature."
"No wonder she's Yuhuai, I wish Yuhuai were my sister."
...