The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

Lu Jing was chopping wood like crazy over there, attracting everyone's attention and even causing them to involuntarily stop what they were doing.

Finally, the man who had previously given Lu Jing guidance spoke again, "What are you all looking at? Have you finished your own work?"

Only then did the others regain their senses,勉强 trying to focus on their own tasks again, but they would still偷瞄 glance at Lu Jing from time to time, as if to see when this young man would finally get tired.

However, until the sun was about to set, they did not see Lu Jing slow down. On the contrary, he had chopped nearly a third of the wood in the shed by himself.

Lu Jing felt it was enough. After chopping the last piece of wood in front of him, he finally stopped the axe.

Although he wasn't so tired that he couldn't continue, he had just obtained the martial arts manual not long ago, and now his mind was filled with thoughts of going home to practice. He figured that his performance on the first day of work should be good enough, so he didn't continue.

However, just as he was about to find Ma Zhongbao to settle his wages, he found that Manager Ma was gone.

Lu Jing circled around the kiln but couldn't find him, so he had no choice but to go to the man who had given him guidance earlier and asked, "This friend…"

Upon hearing this, the man introduced himself very politely, "My surname is Bai, I'm a bit older than you, just call me Brother Bai."

"Oh, Brother Bai, do you know when Manager Ma will be back?"

Ma Zhongbao had been managing the kiln for so many years, so of course he knew that one person alone couldn't possibly chop so many pounds of wood, especially a greenhorn like Lu Jing who had no experience or strength.

Therefore, he didn't place any hope on Lu Jing at all. He hurriedly ran to the nearby villages to find someone, but even though he offered almost double the wages, no one was willing to work at the kiln.

Even if Ma Zhongbao was slow to react, he realized that something was unusual. Combining this with the fact that half of the people in charge of chopping wood at his kiln had suddenly left, it was clear that someone was targeting them.

Thinking of this, Ma Zhongbao's heart sank.

He was still worried about the future of the kiln, but when he returned, he saw a group of people standing there chatting idly instead of working, which made his anger flare up again!

But soon Ma Zhongbao noticed that a large portion of the wood in the shed was now gone.

He was stunned. Had someone moved the wood elsewhere?

Before Ma Zhongbao could take a closer look, he heard Lu Jing call out, "Manager Ma, come and settle my wages!"

Ma Zhongbao frowned, thinking that this newcomer was too insensible. He couldn't do much work, but he was quite eager to get paid.

However, after so many days of trouble, he wasn't in the mood to put on airs and lecture anyone. Upon hearing this, he still walked over there, while thinking about how to get the group led by the man surnamed Bai to work a little longer today.

But when he walked in front of the two men, he was stunned again when he saw the large pile of wood not far away, and asked, "Who chopped these? Why are they all mixed together?"

"No, these were all chopped by this little brother Lu alone," the man surnamed Bai replied.

Ma Zhongbao obviously didn't believe it. It wasn't like he hadn't seen people chop wood before. There was no way one person could chop so much.

However, he had known the man surnamed Bai for many years and had never heard the latter exaggerate. In particular, Ma Zhongbao also noticed that the other wood choppers didn't object, and they all had their own piles of chopped wood beside them.

Ma Zhongbao was truly shocked this time. Could it be that the large pile in front of him was really chopped by this young man alone?

Thinking of this, his gaze towards Lu Jing finally changed. His eyes were staring straight at Lu Jing, as if to see if Lu Jing had three heads and six arms.

So much so that Lu Jing had to remind him again, "Manager Ma, please settle my wages. I have other things to do."

"Alright, alright, alright!" Ma Zhongbao said three "alrights" in a row this time, the gloom on his face swept away. He looked at Lu Jing with shining eyes, like a hungry wolf seeing a piece of meat, "I'll settle it for you right away!"

Ma Zhongbao called someone over and weighed the wood that Lu Jing had chopped. The result was a total of 1,400 pounds. Not only did he complete his previous bet with those kiln workers, but he also exceeded it by 200 pounds. No wonder those kiln workers didn't surround him when he came back.

"Fifty 文 (wén) per hundred pounds, one thousand four hundred pounds, that's seven hundred 文 (wén)!"

Ma Zhongbao grabbed Lu Jing's hand, smiling so wide that his mouth almost couldn't close. He actually took out a tael of silver directly from his pocket and stuffed it into Lu Jing's hand, "You did a great job today. Thanks to you, this kiln can be fired on time without delaying things. The extra three hundred 文 (wén) will be your reward."

This was the reward Lu Jing earned through hard labor, so of course he wouldn't be polite. Upon hearing this, he accepted the tael of silver.

However, Ma Zhongbao didn't let go of his hand after that, but continued, "Tomorrow, tomorrow I'll have to trouble you as well."

"Oh, okay." Lu Jing was also very straightforward, "But let's make it clear first, I only work half a day each day."

He wanted to use the remaining time to practice his martial arts properly.

Ma Zhongbao frowned slightly, "If it's half a day, can you chop…"

"Still the same amount as today." Lu Jing thought for a moment, he had already mastered the basic requirements, and the more familiar he became, the faster his speed would only increase. Chopping 1,400 pounds of wood would probably not even take half a day.

"Alright, alright, alright." Ma Zhongbao's frown disappeared as soon as he heard this. This meant that Lu Jing alone could do the work of five people in half a day. At least for now, the kiln's difficulties were over.

Although Ma Zhongbao looked like he wanted to chat with Lu Jing more, the young man didn't plan to stay any longer after receiving the money and quickly ran off.

So Ma Zhongbao could only go back and continue to settle the wages for the others.

Earning a tael of silver in just one afternoon, this speed still satisfied Lu Jing quite a bit. As expected, everything became easier with internal energy. No wonder everyone in the martial world was busy practicing their skills.

But Lu Jing was thinking a bit too much from his own perspective. He was probably the only one in the entire jianghu (martial world) who had cultivated to the second-rate realm and was still willing to chop wood to earn money.

Of course, Lu Jing's situation was also special. He had just obtained the martial arts manual and hadn't started practicing yet. He hadn't yet unlocked the earning methods of people in the martial world.

And just as Lu Jing was running home while humming a little tune, he suddenly felt like he was being watched.

Lu Jing stopped and turned his head to look around, but he didn't see any suspicious people.