All Heavenly destiny reduced to ashes

On an ordinary evening, a layer of fiery clouds arrayed in a line swept across the mountains, the golden red sun casting a dusky glow over the entire mountain range.

Having completed their training goals ahead of time, An Jing and his group were gathered together, playing marbles.

An Jing, Gu Yeqi, Zhang Ying, Cang Linzu, Ye Xiuyuan, and Zhan Feng, six people in total, were the core circle around An Jing. They were mostly his younger brothers and sisters and personal admirers. Their interrelationships were also good, and they would often play together during their spare time.

The marbles originated from the rewards An Jing regularly received from the instructor, but he himself did not play; instead, he used the marbles to teach his friends how to master their energy and accurately and skillfully exert it.

With lines drawn on the ground as boundaries, the other five held short sticks, using the sticks to propel the marbles and hit the marbles of others.

Hitting another person's marble scored one point, hitting two scored three points, hitting three in a row scored six points, hitting four was a grand slam scoring twelve points, and hitting out of bounds cost two points.

The game seemed easy, but in fact, only by steadily hitting two other marbles could one profit, requiring consideration for the force exerted on the marble and chain collisions. It was more challenging to use sticks rather than hands, which tested their precision and ability to calculate trajectories significantly.

Each person took a turn to shoot in one round, and after five rounds, the game ended. The one with the highest score would receive guidance on martial skills from An Jing. As for those with negative scores, An Jing would have them do extra training.

So far, Gu Yeqi was winning with the most points—her control was quite nimble, always able to reliably hit two marbles, and occasionally, she could even hit three.

Cang Linzu and Ye Xiuyuan followed after her; their skills were not inferior to Gu Yeqi, only too greedy at times, often hitting the marbles out of bounds with excessive force.

As for Zhang Ying and Zhan Feng, they were frequently selected for extra training—Zhang Ying couldn't grasp the correct angle of force, and Zhan Feng had too much strength to control properly.

"Nice!"

This time it was Zhang Ying shooting the marble, who got the angle and the strength right this time and managed to hit three marbles at once, instantly turning his negative score positive, immediately cheering in excitement.

Afterward, he turned his head around somewhat puzzled, sniffing the air: "Hey, wait a second, An."

"Do you smell that?"

"A bit." An Jing was playing with a marble with his thumb, bouncing it steadily up and down as a way to train his finger flexibility and control.

He looked up, thoughtfully replying, "But I don't know what it is."

"Huh?" Gu Yeqi, who was again in first place and eligible for An Jing's guidance, was handing a bottle of water to An Jing, then turned back and said, "Is it the smell of herbs?"

"It's Tie Nanxin... ah, and more!"

Having lived in a manor soaked with the scent of numerous herbs since she was young, Gu Yeqi could identify the types of herbs just by their smell. After closing her eyes and sniffing seriously, she confidently opened her eyes and declared, "There's also the scent of Ice Mang Flower Seeds, Soul Condensing indeed!"

"Wrong!"

Zhang Ying, equally confident, declared: "It's meat. And lots of it!"

"And…" After sniffing seriously, the young man confidently said, "It's not just one kind of beast meat!"

Zhang Ying's family were generations of hunters; before the Frost Calamity, hunters from the Northern Border were synonymous with danger and wealth. If a hunting team entered the deep mountains and came out alive, they would undoubtedly return loaded with treasures. They could not only harvest the fur and flesh and blood of fierce beasts but also gather enough rare Spirit Plant Treasures from the mountains.

Zhang Ying was very familiar with this scent, which was the smell of many wild beasts being slaughtered, their fresh blood flowing, and the vibrant muscles releasing their scent. He was certain about it.

"It's meat!" "It's herbs!"

As they spoke, the two began to argue, with Cang Linzu and Zhan Feng egging them on from the sidelines: "Fight, fight!"

Ye Xiuyuan and An Jing were shaking their heads helplessly.

"Alright."

Eventually, An Jing raised his hand to stop the two's argument: "It's not just these scents."

He turned his head, looking toward the loft on the side of the Martial Arts Field.

That was the Medicine Pavilion, where the Vice Envoy of Medicine and others lived and worked.

Hanging Fate Manor was like a sprawling boarding school that could easily accommodate a thousand people, and although there were quite a few refugee children gathered, their actual area of activity was not very extensive. Places like the Medicine Pavilion, the back hall, the back mountain, the Central Courtyard, and the Secluded Pool were all off-limits to them.

Hanging Fate Manor had too many secrets, yet the children were indifferent to them.

Except for the Medicine Pavilion.

Every five days, the Vice Envoy of Medicine would gather the children to the Medicine Pavilion for a physical check-up and to administer treatments, making everyone quite familiar with it

But today, An Jing also smelled something different coming from the direction of the Medicine Pavilion… It was a scent that was sickeningly sweet, with a hint of strange fishiness, feeling as if pork was being braised in mustard, brown sugar, and strawberry-flavored beer. Just a whiff was enough to shake one's soul.

"It's about time to eat."

He heard the bell ring and shook his head slightly, dismissing the bizarre analogy that had suddenly popped into his mind.

He rallied everyone together and led them to the cafeteria.

Today was indeed quite different.

Amidst the children's astonished gazes and amidst the rich scent of meat, each person received a large portion of meat.

Two or three pounds? Or four or five? There was so much meat. Some were ribs, others leg bones, all earnestly grilled and exuding a rich aroma.

It trembled mightily, giving the illusion that it might overflow from the plate.

An Jing furrowed his brows, unsure whether to be surprised or pleased, as he stared intently at the meat before him.

It was probably the flesh of some ferocious beast, for the shape of the bones was utterly bizarre, unlike anything he knew. The rich fragrance of fats mixed with spices and sauces made his stomach churn violently, his entire flesh and blood trembled with desire, urging him to devour the meat before him.

But perhaps because An Jing had eaten quite a bit of meat recently, he could suppress his body's instincts.

He swallowed the saliva secreted by his body and scanned the entire cafeteria.

Not everyone was eating the same meat.

Some, like An Jing, were eating the flesh of some ferocious beast, some were eating large wings or wing bases of birds, some were eating innards, and some were eating strange insects? Even seafood like fish and crabs was present in various amounts.

But undoubtedly, everyone loved the food before them immensely; no one had any desire to speak, all were entirely focused on tackling the meat on their plates.

Eating meat.

In the children's eyes, there were no other thoughts, only pure hunger and greed, this erupting desire made An Jing shudder, a nameless terror creeping up his spine.

"An Jing."

At that moment, an old voice came, and An Jing quickly turned his head to find the Master of the Medicine Manor had silently approached him: "You don't like it?"

The gaunt, ghost-like old man bent down to meet An Jing's gaze and gently asked, "Why aren't you eating?"

The young man gazed at the dark, profound eyes before him, grinned, and showed his white teeth as he said, "Master of the Medicine Manor, I'm afraid there won't be enough."

In fact, the meat in front of An Jing was much more than what other boys and girls had on their plates, even of higher quality.

This was perhaps a privilege of the 'Eldest Senior,' as the strongest among everyone, his treatment was not on the same level as the other young boys and girls.

So it made him feel uncomfortable instead.

"Heh heh…"

Hearing this response, the Master of the Medicine Manor stood up, his smile ambiguous, "Because you fear there won't be enough, you want to watch other people's plates before you eat?"

"Such a greedy boy... But don't worry."

The Master of the Medicine Manor said faintly, "One day, you will truly have enough to eat."

"Eat."