In the dense woods, the air was filled with the pungent smell of blood. "Puff, puff." The sound of flesh being cut continued.
As Gao Zhiming, panting, raised the bloody dagger, gritted his teeth and stabbed forward. The already cold blood splashed on his young face.
He was very tired now, and his arms were sore from the intense swinging of the knife.
But after Gao Zhiming glanced at Anna beside him, he did not complain at all and continued to stab the calf hanging on the branch in front of him.
This is not easy. The cowhide is very tough, the dead beef is very stiff, and the beef tendons are very resilient. Every time Gao Zhiming pierces the cow, he has to exert all his strength.
"Don't use brute force. Try to cut between two muscle groups with the blade. Remember the feeling of the blade cutting through flesh and blood. You must get familiar with it as soon as possible."
"Like the little thugs before, those who are stupid enough to cut their necks in front of you are always a minority."
"Yeah!" Gao Zhiming nodded and continued to sweat hard in the forest.
Anna was standing under a big tree, silently looking at Gao Zhiming in the distance.
Although she didn't express it in front of her husband, she had to admit that compared to studying, he was indeed more talented in these things.
After only such a short period of practice, he has already acquired preliminary combat capabilities. If he takes action now, there is a high probability that he can kill an adult with a sneak attack.
The most important thing is that Gao Zhiming has seen blood, and he can digest the fear brought by killing.
When it comes to killing one's own kind, doing it and not doing it are two completely different things.
Just as Anna was thinking about what kind of training she would give him next, a sound suddenly came from the woods nearby.
Anna turned around quickly and saw an old man with a sunburned face walking in from between the leaves carrying a fishing rod.
The old man's attention was instantly attracted by the short blade wielding in Gao Zhiming's hand and the bloody cow corpse.
Seeing the white old man's eyes wide open in shock, Anna shook her sleeves lightly, and the flying knife that Mask gave to Gao Zhiming appeared in her hand.
It was a familiar face, someone from town whom Anna had seen when she moved here.
The other party did not sense Anna's murderous intent at all. Instead, his eyes lit up and he walked over to surround Gao Zhiming and exclaimed in amazement. "Uh Chinese kung fu? Nice!"
After saying that, he took out his mobile phone, found a Hong Kong Shaw Brothers martial arts video from the 1980s, and asked Anna about it with great interest.
It seemed that the old man thought Gao Zhiming was practicing some legendary kung fu and was very interested in it.
Seeing that the other party didn't think of going anywhere else, Anna breathed a sigh of relief, put away her weapon, and began to speak along with what the other party was saying.
Through conversation, I learned that the old man's name was Mark Luke, and he could barely be considered a neighbor.
He used to be a chef. After retirement, his hobbies include fishing and watching movies, including martial arts movies, so he is very curious about this aspect.
"So everything in the movie is true? How is that done?"
"Excuse me, does this child practice Shaolin? If there are any taboos in Eastern culture, you can choose not to answer."
Anna tried to fool him with a few words, but Mark was particularly enthusiastic, like a fan meeting his idol, and he kept talking.
In the end, Mark even invited Anna to his home.
In order not to appear too abnormal, Anna agreed. After all, it was impossible to completely cut off contact with the outside world in a certain place.
Mark's home was not far away, just a few hundred meters from Anna's house. There was no one else in the house except an old lady.
The completely wooden building structure is very warmly decorated, and there are not many electrical appliances inside except for a TV.
After arriving home, Mark was not at all shy. He took out CDs with images of various martial arts stars on them and excitedly showed them to Anna.
It can be seen that Mark has a very cheerful personality, even a little childish, even though he is 73 years old this year.
"Sorry, are you feeling impatient? Haha, he is just like this and has been like this all his life." The kind old lady said with a smile as she brought the steaming hot apple pie to the table.
She took off her thick gloves for insulation and said to her husband, "Mark, stop talking. This is Miss Anna's first day as a guest at our house. Be restrained. They are still children. They are probably older than our grandchildren."
Everyone sat at the table and enjoyed the delicious food made by the old lady. The food was very rich, including roast chicken, pasta with chopped sausages, fragrant apple pie, mushroom soup, and a glass of homemade wine.
When they got to the dining table, Mark tried to say something, but he felt his wife Mary stepping lightly under the table.
Somewhat puzzled, he followed his wife's gaze and discovered that the girl had no left hand and was disabled.
His pupils suddenly shrank and his heart became heavy. He had seen the same kind of injury in a movie.
"My God, she's so young. Did they come all the way from Asia to here because they were kicked out of their school?"
Thinking of this, Mark immediately connected the less than enthusiastic attitudes between Anna and Gao Zhiming.
"I see. Damn it, I wish I had realized this earlier. Every time I talk to her I'm just rubbing salt into their wounds."
As he stopped talking, the atmosphere at lunch became a little dull.
"Mr. Mark, can you keep my brother and I's situation in the forest a secret for a while?"
"Of course, of course." Mark glanced at his movie discs, his face flushed with confidence. "I think I know a lot about some things in Eastern culture."
"Don't worry, your masters won't come to disturb you here. Is that how it's pronounced?"
"Master?" Anna frowned slightly. She didn't know what the old man in front of her was talking about. But it seemed that the problem was solved in a special way.
Mary's love for children made her cast a gentle gaze towards Gao Zhiming who was wolfing down his food. "Child, do you like watching TV? You can watch while eating. Don't be so reserved. My granddaughter likes to do this when she comes home during the summer vacation."
Gao Zhiming, who dropped out of elementary school, couldn't understand what the other person was saying at all and could only look at Anna for help.
But Anna ignored him at this time. She was chatting with Mark, learning about the short history of this lakeside town and the names of everyone in the town.
"Oh~ kid, there's no need to be so reserved. It's like being at home."
The TV was turned on. Mary put on her reading glasses and pressed the remote control, wanting to jump to the animation channel for Gao Zhiming.
Just as the screen switched, Anna, who was eating noodles with her hair lifted, glanced at the screen inadvertently.
(End of this chapter)