Chapter 2: Learning in secret

Chen Yiming placed the packed food into the storage bag on the back of the bicycle, then cycled away.

The street was not far from the main road.

“One, two, one…”

Continuous chanting could be heard from afar as a group of East Lake City soldiers marched over.

They were dressed in dark green military uniform, each holding a rifle in their hands. Long bayonets were attached to the barrel of the rifles, shining with an unusually dazzling light.

Such a design was made to allow the rifles with bayonets to be used as spears near the space-travel passage. This was necessary as the rules governing the alien world caused advanced weapons to become ineffective.

Even though the soldiers were still far away, Chen Yiming moved his bicycle onto the sidewalk to give way to them. The people around him also did the same. No one was fool enough to block their way.

At the entrance of the convenience store, a middle-aged man looked at the soldiers marching past him and cried out,

“I just rented this shop! And it needs to be closed down again.”

The middle-aged man was the owner of the convenience store, and was wearing a blue uniform. At this moment, tears were streaming down his face as he stood rooted to the ground.

A middle-aged woman walked over to the shop entrance and asked, “Owner, can you get me three pots of oil, 10 packs of salt, and 50 kilograms of rice?”

Her expression revealed traces of anxiety. Before the owner could reply, she hurriedly took out the money from her pocket. It was as if she was afraid that the owner would reject her request.

At this moment, a young girl came along behind the middle-aged woman. As she walked, she grumbled, “Mum, we still have a lot of rice at home. Why are you buying so much?”

The girl was the daughter of the middle-aged woman. She wore a floral dress and her hair was tied up in a ponytail. She was pouting and mumbling, openly expressing her dissatisfaction.

“Okay, just a moment… Sorry, we’re closed for today.”

The middle-aged man came back to his senses and turned her down, then wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. He went back into the store and pulled down the shutters.

“Mum, this uncle is so strange. He clearly agreed to your request but went back on his word. How does he expect to get any business?” The young girl stomped her feet and pouted angrily.

“It’s alright, let’s go quickly. We’ll go to the farmers’ market to buy some things. If we’re late, there’ll be nothing left.” The middle-aged woman urged her daughter as she pulled her into a jog.

“Mum, slow down. I’m wearing a new dress…”

The middle-aged woman was in her forties. She had experienced first-hand the war more than ten years ago, where alien beasts had laid siege to the city. When she saw the assembled troops, her first reaction was that something big had happened.

Once the war started, transportation would be cut off easily. Common daily necessities such as oil, salt, firewood and rice may run out of stock. Taking advantage of the fact that not everyone would receive the news immediately, they should make good use of the time and stock up on these necessities.

Chen Yiming’s bicycle was parked just two to three meters away from the convenience store. He had witnessed everything that had happened in front of the store.

“I need to join the school soon!”

He felt a sense of urgency and silently urged himself to take this seriously.

Once the world was in chaos, being a trainee under the school would act like a talisman in the village. It could help his family by intimidating would-be thieves.

The troops disappeared quickly from the end of the road, and the pedestrians dispersed. Chen Yiming got back on his bicycle and resumed cycling along the main road.

Along the way, the entire city behaved as though it had received some news. It was filled with pedestrians rushing along somewhere.

It took him more than 10 minutes to reach the central business district.

This was where the headquarters of the major martial arts schools and corporations were located. Because of their strong combat ability, they were not afraid of ordinary flying beasts. Therefore, they built many tall commercial buildings of twenty to thirty floors.

The main target customer base of the Chen’s family restaurant was the ordinary employees who worked in the business district. Their salaries were not high, and it was not worth it to eat in the restaurants nearby.

The Chen’s family restaurant offered free delivery, and their food was cheap and filling. They also had a good reputation, and their business had always been good.

He paid a dollar and parked his bicycle in a demarcated area that was guarded by people. He then carried seven to eight takeaway packets in each hand, checking the address written on the takeaway boxes. He boarded the elevator to deliver the takeaway to the customers who had ordered the food.

After more than half an hour, Chen Yiming finally delivered all the food.

Instead of going straight home, he rode his bicycle to a courtyard that had been renovated from an old gymnasium.

This was the headquarters of Mantis Snake Sword School. As one of the 13 martial arts schools in East Lake City, it occupied a piece of land in the central business district.

Chen Yiming went up to the reception, intent on expressing his desire to register as a trainee under the Mantis Snake Sword School.

The receptionist was a young lady. Written on her badge was her name: Gu Manni.

She was wearing a pale yellow dress and had large, watery eyes, red lips and white teeth. She wore light makeup on her face. When she stood up, she was only half a head shorter than Chen Yiming, who was close to 1.8 meters tall.

Her figure and face were sufficient for her to debut as a celebrity in his previous world. It was no wonder that she was able to work at the headquarters of the school.

“Hello sir! Are you here to inquire about the registration of trainees?”

She cast an uninterested glance at Chen Yiming, who was dressed in ordinary clothes. He didn’t look young and definitely didn’t have much potential or talent. However, she had a job to do and still greeted him with a smile.

“Can you show me around?”

Chen Yiming pointed at the core disciples who were training at the center of the courtyard.

“Of course,” Gu Manni agreed with a smile.

She was wearing high heels and walked in front of him to lead the way. The two of them walked one after another and stopped about 20 meters away from the core disciples.

Along the way, Gu Manni followed the standard procedures and informed Chen Yiming of the school fees and various conditions for registration as trainees, such as the required level of swordsmanship.

At the center of the courtyard were three core disciples, two male and one female.

The two young men were busy competing with their sword-fighting skills. Their silhouettes were elusive — at one moment, they appeared in a corner, and at the next moment, they re-appeared at the center of the courtyard.

Chen Yiming’s eyes were fixed on the two men at the center of the courtyard. He wasn’t listening to the sales pitch of the lady next to him at all.

He had pretended to ask about the registration to secretly learn the sword-fighting techniques because his original body’s grasp of the basic techniques was unbearably bad.

In the first month after he had transmigrated, Chen Yiming had practiced the basic sword moves according to the methods he had used in his original body. This way, he had earned 1 skill point in a month.

In the second month, Chen Yiming would often find opportunities to watch the practices of the trainees in the school while delivering food. After correcting some mistakes that could be easily seen when performing basic sword moves, he managed to obtain one skill point in just 20 days.

From then on, Chen Yiming knew that his original body had not grasped the basic sword moves properly and his training speed was not at its maximum. Therefore, whenever he had a chance, he would secretly learn from the schools that were teaching swordsmanship.

The two of them stood at the side and watched for more than 10 minutes. Chen Yiming could find no reason to stay on any longer, and returned to the sofa in the reception area when Gu Manni prompted him.

Gu Manni poured a glass of water for Chen Yiming and sat down beside him. She placed a contract on the table and pointed at the promotion terms on the document.

“Mr. Chen, we are currently running a promotion. If you can pay the deposit today, we can give you another 3,000 yuan discount. This is a promotion for your first visit.”

“Why should I believe you?” Chen Yiming cursed in his heart. It wasn’t the first or second time he had gone to observe and learn the techniques. However, he couldn’t go to the same martial arts school too often. On his previous visit, he had been received by a lady called Shen Jia.

He finished the water in his cup in one gulp, and pretended to consider it.

“I understand the general situation, but I still need to go back and discuss it with my family. I’ll take my leave first.”

After he finished speaking, he pretended not to see the bitterness hidden in the lady’s eyes. He resolutely stood up and walked out of the main door of the martial arts school.