Castle of Black Iron

It was safe on the way to the fighting club. When he arrived at the fighting club in the afternoon, there were no guests in the LV1 service area; hence, Zhang Tie decided to use the special training instruments in the training area, which could not be seen at his school at all, as his body slowly recovered. Zhang Tie had intended to test his physical condition using fthe special instruments many times to discern the gap between him and Glaze; however, he abstained from doing so in the end. He was worried that it would bring him troubles once the fact that he was a LV 1 fighter was disclosed to the public. Additionally, he had killed two people last night and was also involved in an extremely large incident. At this important juncture, he should remain low-key, reminding him of an Eastern proverb that his dad had once told him—”Exposed rafters will rot first”. Glaze was a prime example of the negative consequences mentioned in the proverb. Having realized that there were many secrets hidden within himself, Zhang Tie didn’t want to repeat the same mistake that Glaze had; therefore, he was determined to hide his real identity as much as he could.

It took God 10,000 years to create an olive tree, but the life of a soybean sprout would end in a week.

“I want to be an olive tree,” Zhang Tie mumbled to himself.

As he had been in the fighting club for the entire afternoon, they had even provided him a meal at work in the evening. The meal at work provided for the ordinary staff was really substantial; it was even better than what he had enjoyed today at school for lunch.

Suddenly, Zhang Tie realized that he had eaten meat for three consecutive meals, which had been a humble dream that he has had ever since he was a child. Without knowing it, his dream was simply realized in one day.

Was this the legendary proverb “If one can avoid disaster, one will experience a wonderful blessing after”?

After finishing the meal provided at work, Zhang Tie felt that he had recovered a bit more. After resting for another hour, Benet finally arrived…

As usual, Zhang Tie was being fiercely beaten; however, this time, after having survived the terrifying life and death situation last night, Zhang Tie looked much calmer when facing Benet’s attacks. He didn’t even feel the slightest bit of nervousness this time and responded much quicker both physically and mentally. Zhang Tie could freely transition between movement and stillness. Having the mental advantage, Zhang Tie hid his physical disadvantage today and stuck it through to the very end. This time, he was neither knocked over nor did he pass out.

After another exhausting fight, Zhang Tie and Benet both threw themselves onto the ground as they panted. Seeing Benet’s arrogant air, Zhang Tie started to really admire him. Regardless of the kid’s family background and his character, Zhang Tie started to like this 12-year old boy simply because of his unyielding perseverance. Zhang Tie realized that those rich families might not be as extravagant, as arrogant, and as silly as commoners had thought; they must have some extraordinary traits to become wealthy.

“You are not bad” sitting on the ground as he drank from the water bottle passed by the kid, the sweat covered Zhang Tie praised. After a few times, Zhang Tie had learnt how to undo the damned head protector. Between him and the kid, there was also a slight understanding.

“Don’t expect me to go easy on you simply because you praised me!” The sweat covered Benefit smirked as he gazed at Zhang Tie. “I have been immune to this naïve trick a long time ago. In order to marry Mary one day, I will definitely defeat you. To me, you are just a stepping stone. Your miserable destiny was predestined!”

Motherf*cker! Hearing his words, Zhang Tie wanted to immediately beat him up ruthlessly. After a while, Zhang Tie stood up and glanced at him. “I will be attending the survival training next Monday, so you will not see me in the next two months. I hope your fighting strength can be as sharp as your mouth when I come back!

“Don’t kick the bucket; otherwise, I would not be able to realize the promise I made with Mary!” the kid retorted.

The two stared at each other fiercely before Zhang Tie had left. It was not until Zhang Tie had left the training room did Benet start to realize that Zhang Tie had recovered faster than him!

……

Leaving the fighting club, Zhang Tie didn’t immediately return home; instead, he had arrived at Donder’s grocery store that was near the railway station. The moment Zhang Tie arrived, Donder, who had been preparing to close the store, caught sight of Zhang Tie and harrumphed, seemingly as if he was still complaining about Zhang Tie’s verbal assault yesterday.

“Do old men really care about having their d*ck laughed at?” Zhang Tie laughed at Donder’s response.

Zhang Tie also didn’t say a word. He simply helped Donder close the windows and the door and cleaned the store. Afterwards, before Donder had been able to speak, Zhang Tie abruptly hugged him tightly, greatly frightening Donder.

“Bad boy, what are you doing!? Quickly let go. I am not interested in men!” Donder shouted loudly.

Letting go, Zhang Tie stared at Donder with a careful and sincere look. “Thank you…”

Without Donder’s two gifts, he might really have died last night, thus he was really grateful to Donder.

“Thanks for what? Didn’t you have a lot of fun the other night? How did the woman feel?” Donder pretended to be calm.

Feeling embarrassed, Zhang Tie scratched his head. “I’m still a virgin!”

“You didn’t look for a woman last night?” Donder became curious and immediately looked gossipy.

“I did!” Zhang Tie answered honestly.

“You didn’t do it?”

“Half way!”

“Soft?”

“Hard, very hard!”

“What happened…”

Zhang Tie was embarrassed and whispered to Donder about what had happened.

“Hahahaha…” The obscene fatty laughed out loudly, almost rolling on the ground. He felt so happy. After laughing for quite a while, Donder wiped the tears at the corners of his eyes and patted Zhang Tie on the shoulder. “Boy, what did I teach you before? Don’t be too arrogant! Otherwise, you will suffer from revenge! If you had asked me about that earlier, you could have discovered this problem in advance. It would be a shame if you died in the survival training as a virgin!”

“I won’t die that easily!” Zhang Tie confidently said. Feeling the confidence from his words, Donder could not help but stare at Donder for quite a while. “I came to tell you that I won’t be coming for the next two months!”.

Smiling, Donder waved his hand. “Actually, even after the survival training, you don’t need to come here. It will almost be time for you to start your new life afterwards, so there will be many things you will have to deal with. Not to mention that I’ve already taught you everything I can here. If you come here, you won’t be able to gain any more benefits. But! If you have time, you are free to come and chat with me!”

……

On his way home after leaving Donder’s grocery store, Zhang Tie suddenly felt that he had grown up a lot. That small grocery store and the Seven National Male Middle School seemed to have disappeared from his life all in a sudden. What was waiting for him was the mysterious, unknown world outside the lofty city walls…

“Let’s see what Huck and Snade have left for me!”

Thinking of this, Zhang Tie sped up and ran home…

As usual, it was late when he returned home, Zhang Tie pushed open the door and smelt an aroma of chicken soup.

Unknown whether his mom was still angry about what had happened last night or because she didn’t know what to say to Zhang Tie, when Zhang Tie returned home, his mom was in her bedroom. His father alone waited for him with a bitter look on his face.

“Chicken soup is in the pot. After you finish, quickly go to bed!” dad said coldly and left.

All the food was in the pot. After drinking a small bowl of chicken soup and finishing washing the bowls, Zhang Tie went back to his room.

The instant he returned to his room, Zhang Tie entered the Castle of Black Iron.

——Handsome and Magnificent Castle Lord, welcome to the Castle of Black Iron!

The familiar words gradually disappeared. Zhang Tie took in a deep breath and walked towards the two dead bodies. Ever since he had carried them in, he hadn’t carefully checked them. Since only a single day has passed, their bodies hadn’t begun to rot, which made Zhang Tie feel reassured.

Walking over to Snade’s dead body, Zhang Tie pulled the dagger out of Snade’s body. Yesterday, he was worried that blood would spurt everywhere if he were to pull out the dagger from Snade’s body, which would make it difficult to deal with. Since a day has gone by, blood would naturally no longer spray from the corpse.

Although both Snade and Huck were jet black, they did not look frightening. The powerful rat poison really took effect too fast. Before it was even noticed, the violent toxicity had already killed them; it was so fast that not even a frightened expression was left on their faces.

Huck had already closed his eyes. In contrast, Snade’s eyes were still widely open, seemingly as if he still had many questions.

“It was you guys who wanted to kill me first, so you can’t blame me for this. I just wanted to survive…” Zhang Tie prayed silently while feeling terrified. After praying, he started to search through Snade’s corpse first. He remembered that Snade seemed to have a purse filled with gold coins. After having seen it last night, Zhang Tie was no longer able to remove it from his mind.