Chapter 35 - Hand Conditioning (1/2)

Hand conditioning, so it was called this particular training that Hei was undergoing. Striking ever harder materials, he would harden his hands to an incredible level.

Since it was the first time, Bao Bei poured some water on the part of the soil that Hei had to dig so as to soften it. She also made for him two thin silk gloves that would protect his hands to a certain extent, to give him more chances to repeat the exercise.

Leaving Hei to his training, she focused on Lian, who had finished her running laps. Before she could teach her dancing moves, she should have to increase the young girl's flexibility. So she began to make her stretching her arms and legs, and she would raise her exercises' intensity as she would feel less discomfort in performing them.

Stopping for a moment to see how she was going, He resumed his exercise. The ground had become soft because of the water, and when he stabbed it with his fingers, he felt no pain. He soon got used to the shape his hands had to take, but as he was continuing to dig, the soil hardened more and more.

After he had been continuing for several hours, his hands were starting to shake, especially his fingers.

'It's getting hard to keep my fingers together, but I have to keep going. Mother said I have to continue even if my bones break.'

Thus he continued again and again, and the pain of the fingers began to become unsustainable. With a slight moan, he stops for a moment to keep hitting the ground. His fingers were bent in a strange angle, and his whole hand was trembling visibly. Tightening his fingers to form a fist, he began using his knuckles to punch where he had to dig. However, after several hits that way, the pain became too intense again to continue with his fists.

'Damn, my hands hurt so bad. I can't close my fist anymore.'

Since he couldn't close his fist, he began to use his palms to dig. Until his mother said he could rest, he would continue his training in any way possible.

Fortunately, Bao Bei wasn't so evil as to make him go on forever, and when it was lunchtime, she freed her son from this agony. After she helped him remove the silk gloves, he could see the bad state of his hands. But even if he was feeling pain, Hei made a wide smile full of happiness.

”What do you think, mother, I was good?” Hei said aloud as he breathed heavily.

'You were excellent, my little one. Now come, it's time to eat. We must also heal those hands.'

So she brought Hei to the spiderweb house; inside, there were already Ye, Xing, and Lian. The two little spirit animals, seeing the terrible state of Hei's hands, approached him worried and pestered him with questions to know how he was. Hei smiled at them and replied that he was fine. Even if it couldn't be said that he was okay, he didn't want to make them worry.

When he finished calming the little spider and the little snake, he noticed a basin with hot water. Inside the water, some herbs were emitting a sweet fragrance. Smelling it, Hei immediately understood that those were the medicinal herbs that they had received this morning.

'Dip your hands in the water and leave them soaking. Don't worry about how to eat. I'll take care of it.' Bao Bei said as she masterfully lifted, thanks to her spiderweb, the bowl containing Hei's soup just above his mouth. By tilting the bowl slightly, she allowed Hei to drink the soup while his hands were soaking in the water.

The heat of the soup soon moved through his whole body as his hands began to show relief. The bath of medicinal herbs was having a surprising effect.

When they finished eating and also the herbs' medicinal effect had run out, Bao Bei gave them two hours of rest for an afternoon nap. Hei checked his hands for a moment - the wounds he received were noticeably better, but the pain persisted, although attenuated. After examining his condition, Hei let himself go to a sweet afternoon nap with everyone else.

When he woke up, he found Ye tangled around his neck like a scarf, while Xing had slipped into his clothes and was sleeping in the middle of his chest. Not far from him, Lian was sleeping in a crouched position.

Hei laughed to himself as he watched that scene. He wanted to get up and talk to his mother to learn how to continue training. However, with his two sisters sleeping on him, this wasn't feasible, and at the same time, he didn't want to wake them up. Another half-hour had to pass before they woke up from their sleep and released him. But since they still wanted to sleep, they went to Lian to fall asleep next to her.

”Sleepy and glutton, I hope your training is going well, or mother will get angry with you.”

Tickling their bellies for a few seconds, he let them sleep and left the spiderweb house. Their mother, due to the size she assumed, wasn't so visible in an open environment. But he could feel her presence - after all, she was his mother and unconsciously, he had developed the ability to perceive where she was.

'Did you sleep well, my little one?'

”Yes, mother. I slept well. Ye and Xing are still sleeping with Lian.”

'Those sleepyheads ... alright, another half an hour, but that's it. They have to keep training and Lian too. Anyway, I'll explain what you'll have to do for the afternoon.'

At that point, she led him to the field on which it had been spread the manure-slurry compound. His job was to activate his spirit power and do push-ups with his legs to strengthen his leg muscles and, at the same time, increase the duration of his spirit power, trying to keep it as active as possible.

Hei nodded his head, and as he began to take the required position and activate his spirit power, Bao Bei took out notes on dance styles for Lian's training.

After exactly half an hour, she sent a mental message to the three who were sleeping, urging them to wake up, and when they arrived, she assigned their respective tasks.

Meanwhile, Hei was sweating again dramatically. The exercise, even if it was nothing complicated, was really tiring for the body. Fortunately, he had his spirit power, but that could only be maintained for a limited amount of time.

Seeing that he was about to exhaust his spirit power, Bao Bei made him stop.

'Now you have to cultivate to recover your lost spirit power. Once you have recovered it, start training again. And when you are about to finish it again, cultivate yet another time. Repeat this cycle until I tell you enough. Now open your mouth and take this.'

Bao Bei threw something tiny that ended precisely in Hei's mouth that he had opened as his mother had requested. From contact with the tongue, it was something small and round, like a sphere. Thinking about what it might be, it occurred to him shortly after that.

”This are the pills we bought, right?”