Chapter 8: Damn It, My Appetite Suddenly Exploded

So heavy!

Only after picking it up did Cao Kun realize that the pages of this book were not made from ordinary paper, but from a type of parchment crafted from cowhide long ago.

Moreover, the pages had clearly hardened and yellowed with age, showing unmistakable signs of many years—at least several decades, possibly even a century or two.

After all, if preserved properly, such cowhide parchment could indeed last that long.

He hadn’t expected this to be such an ancient book. In front of Yang Ping, Cao Kun carefully leafed through it.

But the more he read, the more furrowed his brow became.

By the end, he was nearly ready to give Yang Ping a severe beating.

Because the book recorded a total of seventy-two movements.

Yet Cao Kun had only learned fourteen.

And among those fourteen, three were incorrect or improperly executed.

At that moment, Cao Kun felt his blood pressure rising.

In the previous life, over seven or eight years, he had asked Yang Ping countless times.

Each time, Yang Ping had sworn with certainty that these were all the movements there were.

Seventy-two in total, and Yang Ping called just fourteen “all of them”?

What was worse, among those fourteen, three were wrong.

No wonder every time he practiced, it felt incomplete, like something was off.

So for seven or eight years, what exactly had he been practicing?

Besides those seventy-two movements, the book also contained thirty-six special movements.

They were intimate movements for couples, akin to those depicted in erotic art.

And Yang Ping had never even mentioned these thirty-six movements.

Of course, Cao Kun did not blame Yang Ping for hiding these.

To be fair, their previous life’s circumstances had been unusual. They hadn’t even seen a female animal, let alone a woman. So even if Yang Ping had told him about those thirty-six movements, it would have been meaningless.

Seeing Yang Ping trembling before him, sweat dripping from his forehead down to his chin, Cao Kun finally restrained himself from beating him.

“Fine. Since fate has brought us together, I’ll give you one chance to make things right.”

“Remember, don’t mess with women anymore. They’re already pitiful enough, desperate for children. Taking advantage of them like that is despicable.”

“And I’m not just threatening you. If what you’ve done ever gets exposed, you’ll never come out of prison for the rest of your life.”

“That’s enough. I’ve said my piece. From now on, take care of yourself.”

With that, Cao Kun tucked the book under his arm and strode out.

Startled, Yang Ping hurried after him.

“Bro, bro, why are you in such a rush? Stay, stay a little longer.”

“By the way, I have two cans of good tea. I’ll get them for you.”

“I also have several thousand yuan worth of shopping cards. You can have them; I won’t use them anyway…”

…

“Damn it, I knew Yang Ping wasn’t telling the truth, but I never expected him to hide so many movements.”

At 10:30 p.m., in a five-star hotel room in Kun City, Cao Kun lay on the bed, cursing Yang Ping under his breath while flipping through that nameless book.

After practicing the physical conditioning manual for seven or eight years, he had finally obtained the complete version today. Naturally, he wanted to master it as soon as possible.

After all, he knew better than anyone the effects of this manual.

Moreover, ten years in prison had taught him that possessing great combat ability was sometimes more valuable than billions in wealth.

Perhaps because he had practiced for so many years, even though he had only learned the initial fourteen movements, the principle of mastering one to understand many meant that the remaining fifty-eight movements didn’t feel difficult to him.

Soon, after half an hour of familiarizing himself, Cao Kun got off the bed and began his first attempt.

Because so many new movements had been added and he didn’t always remember them accurately, the first round was clumsy and took nearly twenty minutes to complete all seventy-two movements.

The second round went considerably smoother, taking only about fourteen or fifteen minutes.

By the third round, it was even more fluid, clocking in at around ten minutes.

Ten minutes seemed to be the limit for these movements; any faster and some might be incomplete.

One must pursue quality, not speed.

After completing the three rounds, Cao Kun immediately sensed a difference from before.

His body was warm as usual, but this warmth was far more pleasant, as if his entire body were soaking in a hot spring.

His skin, muscles, and bones felt like a parched earth greedily absorbing this comforting energy.

Although the metaphor sounded odd, that was exactly how he felt.

At the same time, all his pores seemed wide open, completely unblocked and flowing freely.

Not yet midnight and feeling no drowsiness, Cao Kun was about to start the fourth round when a frown crept over his face, and his expression turned strange again.

He… he was hungry.

How could he be hungry so soon?

Before coming to the hotel, he had just eaten his fill—three jin of cooked beef!

How much time had passed?

“Damn, why am I hungry so fast?”

Cao Kun rubbed his stomach, puzzled, and opened the bag on the tea table.

After parting from Yang Ping, since he hadn’t eaten yet, Cao Kun had bought some cooked beef from a deli stall.

He had only intended to buy a small amount, but after tasting it, it was so delicious that he bought three jin and ate his fill.

He had even packed another three jin to eat the next day.

Now, he was opening that packed beef.

“This is strange. There’s no way this beef has some kind of high-tech effect, right? Why am I hungry again so soon?”

Munching heartily, Cao Kun muttered to himself, soon finishing all three jin of beef.

Not dwelling on it, he resumed practicing the seventy-two movements.

First round.

Second round.

Third round.

The movements grew more practiced, each round about ten minutes.

Just as Cao Kun was about to begin the fourth, his movements suddenly faltered, and his face twisted oddly again.

Damn it!

Hungry again???

Feeling his empty stomach, Cao Kun’s expression was as if he had seen a ghost.

How much time had passed?

Only half an hour!

He had eaten three jin of cooked beef just thirty minutes ago, and now he was hungry again?

“Damn it, could this be some supernatural effect?”

Cao Kun had always been an atheist, but today’s events forced him to entertain such thoughts.

After all, eating three jin of beef just half an hour ago and being hungry again was just too absurd.

“Wait!”

Suddenly, a new possibility struck him, and his expression grew grave.

“Damn it, could this be a side effect of rebirth?”