Ever since Zhou Yuan began his research into the arts of eating and sleeping, his reputation for being mad only grew.
You couldn't blame the villagers for being so shocked; Zhou Yuan's actions were simply too bizarre.
Before, though he had a foul mouth and a heavy hand, he could at least hold a normal conversation and seemed to live a respectable life.
But now, he treated steamed buns like priceless treasures. A bun he could have finished in a few bites, he would instead chew slowly and deliberately, as if he were dining on the rarest of delicacies.
If that were all, the villagers might have just called the boy simple and honest.
But he wasn't just eating one meal slowly. He would take a few bites at a time, eating twenty or thirty times a day.
This frequency terrified the village men assigned to watch over him. They thought his madness had worsened, that he had lost the ability to feel hunger or fullness.
"Shi Tou, don't do something you'll regret. If you stuff yourself to death, you'll be a laughingstock for the ghosts in the underworld."
"If you want to eat something nice, just say so. There's no need to keep scaring me with these new tricks of yours."
"Big Huang Uncle, you've lived a full life. You don't understand the heart of someone who hasn't."
"I'm just taking precautions. I'm trying to get in as many meals as I can before I join the army, in case I can't even get a steamed bun once I'm there."
"But you have a point. How about you whip up something good for me tomorrow? Maybe after a few good meals, I'll stop obsessing over these buns."
"Pah! What nonsense are you spouting, you little brat? What do you mean I've lived a full life? You're the one who's lived a full life!"
"Unbelievable, just unbelievable. If the army didn't even give you a single steamed bun, who in their right mind would go fight for those lords?"
"Even the King of Hell doesn't shortchange a hungry ghost. A big army camp like that won't be missing your share of food."
"That's not a given. If I were a general, I'd send out cavalry units specifically to burn enemy supply lines. I guarantee the other side would be howling with hunger."
"Where did you hear all this crooked nonsense? We're being conscripted for military service, not sent to war."
"Military service, you understand? It's about replacing old soldiers, hauling supplies, digging ditches, cutting lumber, and building walls. There's plenty of work. If you want to be a combat soldier, you have to be chosen."
"Then this is a disaster. I was wondering why an old man like you wasn't worried at all. It's because the village has plenty of young men, so you don't have to be at the front of the line."
"Heh heh, that's the benefit of being old. You young pups should take some notes."
Seeing that Zhou Yuan could still converse normally and hadn't completely lost his mind, Zhao Dahuang let out a huge sigh of relief.
This strange kid had a twisted way of thinking. It would be better to send him off to the army camp sooner rather than later, before he caused some real trouble.
The three villagers watching Zhou Yuan had thought Zhao Dahuang had talked some sense into him.
But to their surprise, the boy was a hypocrite who said one thing and did another, as if his brain had no control over his body.
The next morning, Zhou Yuan not only repeated his old tricks but became even more abstract.
"Brothers, I pondered all night and have grasped the true meaning of the martial way."
"The path of cultivation values a balance between tension and relaxation, between stillness and motion. We all get some dynamic training in, but the key is the static training."
"Think about it. You need to be still, and you need to rest. What do you get when you put those two together? Sleep, of course."
"From this day on, I will practice my saber and spear, and I will sleep whenever I can. I guarantee I'll build a fine physique."
The three villagers looked at each other, momentarily at a loss for words.
"This is bad, Big Huang Uncle. I actually think Shi Tou is making a bit of sense. Am I going crazy too?"
*Thump!*
Zhao Dahuang pounded the villager's chest, his eyes looking like he was about to eat someone.
"Nonsense! What crap are you talking about? That's called being wily, understand? You're just getting wily too."
"If you don't want to be known as the wiliest man in the ten-mile radius, then you'd better watch that mouth of yours."
"Oof... I get it. I'm the most honest man there is, not wily at all."
"Big Huang Uncle, how about we get someone else to watch Shi Tou? If this goes on, he's going to drag us all down with him."
"Let's wait and see. Shi Tou is just a bit wily, but his heart should be in the right place..."
Watching the three villagers deliberately keep their distance, Zhou Yuan knew he had laid it on a bit too thick.
His habits had changed too quickly and without any apparent logic. If it weren't for the looming military conscription, the villagers would surely be avoiding him like the plague.
"Sigh, this is just the beginning. You guys have to hang in there."
Having laid the groundwork of his excuses, Zhou Yuan officially began to abandon his humanity.
His daily rhythm became: run, eat, sleep; practice saber, eat, sleep; practice spear, eat, sleep...
If he had only trained during the day, the three villagers might have been able to endure it. The key was, he trained at night too.
The villagers simply couldn't understand it. Did wily people not need to sleep at night? It made them too scared to sleep as well.
They didn't know that Zhou Yuan, in his initial attempts at polyphasic sleep, was also unaccustomed to it. His mind was groggy, as if filled with paste.
But the existence of the attribute panel allowed him to monitor his health, and the pursuit of gaining skills filled him with motivation.
With his mind free from distractions, he quickly adapted his daily routine.
He gradually entered a peculiar state. It wasn't some kind of enlightenment, but a state of intense focus where he ignored all external things and single-mindedly pursued his goal.
His focus soon paid off. The first result came from his eating.
[You have comprehended 'Food Supplement', mastering a life skill.]
[Food Supplement, Lv1 (1/10)]
[Effect: Through refined eating, extract more nutrients from food. When ingredients are sufficiently nutritious, restore a small amount of health.]
"More efficient nutrient absorption and a small amount of health recovery. This is perfect."
"The path of turning life abilities into skills really does work."
The appearance of the 'Food Supplement' skill gave Zhou Yuan a way to regenerate health, providing a new layer of security for his training plan.
He looked at his health bar, which was only at 91%, and decided to find some supplements to repair the damage his body had sustained from the recent frantic training.
"Shi Tou, what are you doing going out this late at night?"
Zhou Yuan's completely erratic schedule was torturing the three villagers to no end.
In the end, they decided that the two younger villagers would accompany Zhou Yuan during his daytime running and nonsense, while the older Zhao Dahuang would rest during the day and watch him at night.
"Big Huang Uncle, I've had another epiphany. This martial training requires not just a balance of stillness and motion, but also an understanding that medicine and food share the same origin."
"If I don't eat something good to nourish my body, I'm just draining my own vitality."
"You promised to make me something good, but after all these days, all I got was a single chicken egg."
"I know you did your best, so I've decided to take matters into my own hands. I'll even get you a little something to soothe your stomach."
"You little brat, how are you having epiphanies every day?"
"Don't you go causing trouble. The villagers aren't well-off. Don't go making a mess for them."
"I know the villagers aren't well-off. But some people are, aren't they?"
"Come with me. I'll treat you to some meat tonight. We'll be robbing the rich to feed the poor, borrowing a bit of grease to relieve our hungry stomachs."
Zhao Dahuang licked his dry, cracked lips. The night watch was fine in every way, except that it was easy to get so hungry your eyes turned green.
His mind was still wrestling with the idea, but his body had already started following Zhou Yuan out the door in search of food.
It was only when they approached a courtyard with a tiled-roof house and earthen walls that Zhao Dahuang snapped back to his senses.
"Shi Tou, this is the Village Head's house! We can't cause trouble here."
"It's fine. Old Man Li is plenty rich. I'm just borrowing a chicken. I'll definitely return it in eighty or a hundred years."
"Eighty or a hundred years? Then isn't that just stealing?"
"How can you call it stealing when it's a matter of cultivation? This is borrowing."
"Think of all the things Old Man Li has 'borrowed' using his status as Village Head. If he can borrow, so can we."
Proofreader: Peter Pan