บท 2: Chapter 2

Lin Feng finished chopping up the fallen branch as the sun set. Darkness comes in sooner in forests because of the abundance of tall trees. Lin Feng made haste in gathering the small pieces of firewood. He tied them using rope which he had brought along. He placed the corpse of the wolf in a cloth. He placed the two bundles of wood upon his back and the dead wolf above them. With this done he set off towards his home at a jog. He was not afraid of the noise he made. Delay would be more problematic at this time than catching attention of a few animals.

The part of the forest he was in did not have many dangerous beasts. Deers, wild buffaloes and chimpanzees were common but they did not attack if you left them alone. Occasionally he had come across bears, lone wolves (like the one he encountered today) and elephants but they were infrequent. Still over the years that he had been coming here, this was not the first wolf he killed. He was more afraid of snakes that came out of their holes in search of prey around this time. Many kinds of snakes could be found here. Not all of them were poisonous but Lin Feng hated them all the same.

He had been bitten by a snake a few years ago. He remembered the agony of the pain spreading throughout his body slowly from the wound. He turned and twisted in agony. His body spasmed from the pain. He wished to lose consciousness but it did not happen. He had to suffer from all the agony. His old man found him later and took him home. On being told about the snake, he was shocked that a boy his age could survive a bite of black viper. From that day, Lin Feng was afraid of snakes and ran at the sight of them. His devious old man once tried to get rid of his fear of snakes by a unique method. He locked him for half a day in a small shack with four snakes. On opening the shack Lin Feng came out with the snakes all dead. He had killed them with his bare hands. Later his old man told him that the snakes were not poisonous.

The snakes were not the only dangerous things that came out at night. Poisonous insects and mosquitoes also came out. Lin Feng jogged with a quick pace. Around fifteen minutes later, his house came in sight. It was a small hut at the edge of the forest. It had three rooms and two small shacks for storage. The walls were made with mud with thatched roofs. It had a bamboo fence two meters high all about the perimeter. There were no other houses nearby. The closest village was eight kilometers away where he made monthly trips for selling wild fruits in exchange for some living amenities.

Lin Feng opened the gate and entered. Darkness had settled in by now and the house was in complete darkness. Lin Feng banged the inner wooden door and shouted - "Old man, I got meat today."

Lin Feng kept banging the door until it opened. A large man with unkempt hair and beard opened the gate. His dress was shabby and dirty similar to Lin Feng. The wrinkles on his face were hardly hidden by his dense facial hair. He looked irritated and his eyes were red as if drunk. His right hand was in his pocket while his left sleeve drifted empty in the air due to absence of his left hand.

"I killed the old wolf that had been lurking near the lake," Lin Feng said as he stepped in and dropped his load in a corner.

The old man gave a grunt as he went slowly to his bed and sat down taking a half finished liquor bottle in his hands. His mood did not look to have improved on hearing the news. He replied with a grave face - "Do your training first. I will take care of cooking today. I have got something to tell you later."

Lin Feng looked greatly astonished at having heard more than a few grunts from his old man. He said, "Then I will train for another hour today. Don't sleep halfway and burn the meat."

The old man gave another grunt. Lin Feng went to the shack and came back with another axe. It was a head larger than his wood chopping one. The axehead and handle were forged from one piece of metal. It had a leather grip over the handle which was torn at places. The handle of the axe was bound with a thin rope to create a new grip. The edge of the blade was completely dull was puckered with marks. It must have looked quite intimidating when new thought Lin Feng as he brought it back held in his right hand.

He kept the heavy axe down and took his own wood-chopping axe in his hands. He began by practicing single strokes while stationary and with some footwork - while taking a step forward, backward and to the sides. He practiced making strokes from up to down, left to right, right to left, diagonals and every possible angle in between. This had been devised by him himself. The old man only asked him to practice in six basic angles. But in his fights with animals he found out that during fights he seldom got to strike with one of those basic angles. While he had the most strength in those angles, it would just go to waste if he could not manifest it during a fight. So, he began practicing in all possible angles. It slowed his progress but he also felt it more useful for actual fighting.

After practicing for half an hour, he began practicing his combos. First he began with two strikes: his second strike began as soon as the first one ended and the first strike flowed into the next one. He tried practicing all combos with all the angles too. But the combos were quite tiring and he could not get them all yet. He was panting and taking quick breaths by the time he finished with double combos.

He took a sip of water and watched the old man getting the meat ready while he took a short rest. The old man had skinned the wolf by now. He placed the firewood in a pit and tied the skinned wolf over it. Then he set fire to the firewood to roast it.

Lin Feng went back to his training as a slightly burnt smell began pervading the air. He practiced the three stroke combos now. One after another the three strokes seemed to meld into each other and would be difficult for any man or animal to evade from all three of them. But this practice was a short one. Lin Feng could not continue this for long. Placing his short axe to a corner, he took the larger axe in his hands. This axe was much heavier due to having a metal handle and a larger blade. He needed both his hands and even then he could not swing it well if held both hands on edge. He was forced to hold the axe with his left hand on the edge and the right hand on the middle of the handle. He began practicing with single strokes. His strokes were much slower now and were just meant for building strength. Although this axe might be much more lethal than his other one, it was useless if it was slow and could not hurt the enemy. So, as per the old man's instruction, Lin Feng used the heavier axe only for building strength for now. One day he believed he would have as much strength as the old man and even wield the axe with one hand.