Chapter 92

An hour later, I finished setting my things in a corner of the cabin. It wasn't dusty so that's a plus. Mr. Huang gave me a thin cushion as a makeshift bed, a pillow and a blanket to sleep with. It may not sound like much but it made a comfortable bed.
After I finished getting settled, I stepped out of the cabin to meet Mr. Huang in the middle of the empty land. Trees surrounded the place and there was no trace of civilization nearby; perfect for some intense training for a couple of weeks. The sun was shining brightly over us since it was still 9:00 am.
I had tied my hair up and I changed into some black leggings and an oversized sleeveless shirt that I tied up just above the waistband of my leggings. I was barefoot and was praying to God that there were no sharp twigs or thorns that were going to pierce my foot.
"There are 6 things that you have to master. The first thing is the faith you need to keep within you. Believe in yourself because you're the only who can change your faith. You need to want this more than anything else. Second is focusing. Let's get started." Mr. Huang took out a foreign paper money from his pocket.
"You're going to drop this money and I am going to catch it with just my forefinger and thumb, midair." He gave me the go and I did as he asked. Two seconds after the money left my grip, Mr. Huang's fingers caught it mid-fall.
Well that was easy.
"Now, it's your turn." I shrugged and readied my fingers, moving them like a crab's pinchers. Two seconds after it left Mr. Huang's grip, I snapped my fingers closed. I smiled in triumph before he clicked his tongue and pointed towards the ground. My smile faltered and I could feel a frown taking its place.
I could've sworn I caught that piece of shit.
"Again," Mr. Huang declared and this time, I took it more seriously than the first time. Still, I missed catching it by a millimeter every time.
"Focus, Xiăo Fu!" I groaned. He made it look so easy. This is so unfair.
"You just need practice. Now, take a deep breath and set your eyes on the paper." I followed his guidance and did as he instructed. When the paper didn't touch his fingers anymore, I snapped my fingers closed. I felt it graze my hand and almost squealed in excitement before it slipped right through from the small gap between my fingers and fluttered to the ground.
Mr. Huang had a small smile on his face, looking entertained by what was happening before him. I almost stuck my tongue out but bit it instead. "Again," he declared sternly.
After a few hours of repeating the same thing over and over again, I was finally able to snatch the paper before it touched the ground. No words can describe the joy and how satisfying it was to feel the paper rustle between my fingers.
We took a small break, drinking small sips of water before getting back to it. Next, Mr. Huang took out a candle and a matchbox. Frowning, I pictured myself blowing the candle. But after those hours simply trying to catch paper money before it fell to the ground, I was a bit traumatized and I knew better than to expect anything easy.
This time, he ushered me into the cabin and placed the candle on top of a small plate on a table that was as tall as my abdomen. He closed all the windows and lit the candle. ‘Okay now we're going to do some spiritual summoning. How nice.' My conscience remarked silently.
I rolled my eyes internally at the voice in my head, snarky as always. Mr. Huang walked 5 meters away from the table and turned to face it. His eyes were slightly narrowed and before I knew what was happening, he parted his legs shoulder-width apart and formed his hands into a high-four with his thumbs folded in. His back was straight and his hands were placed against either side of his waist. With one deep breath, he threw his hand forward, fingers pointing towards the candle and all of a sudden, the dim light that came from the lit candle died.
I gaped at the scene before me. He just extinguished the small fire from about 5 meters away from the candle itself. He didn't even blow it out, he hit the air in line with the fire.
‘He's a wizard. There's no other explanation.' My conscience concluded and this time, I didn't argue.
"It's your turn. Start with 2 steps away from the candle and then 4 steps before going to 5." I looked at him wide-eyed.
"You seriously think I'm capable of doing that? With all due respect, Shi Fu, but you are completely nuts if you think I'm some type of kung fu master. I'm humanely normal and no normal person can do that. What do you have up your sleeve, huh? Dark magic? Charms?" To my surprise, all he did was laugh at me while I ranted about how it wasn't good to meddle with those kinds of things.
"Xiăo Fu, that wasn't magic of any sort. This is one of the best ways to learn how to keep and enhance your focus. It is not a matter of ‘being able' or ‘being unable' to do it; it's simply a matter of your willingness. If you want to do it, ‘being able to' will follow. When you want to, you make extra effort in practicing and that is where 'being able to do it' comes in." There was some sense in what he was saying and I found myself nodding.
"I want to be able to do it. I want to be able to do whatever you are capable of doing." I told him wholeheartedly. He flashed me a smile and pulled me to the spot where I should start. He lit the candle and stepped aside to let me start trying.
I breathed in and tried to imitate the pose Mr. Huang did a while ago. I used my right hand and thrust it forward, fingers pointing towards the candle. To my dismay, it didn't even flicker. I huffed in annoyance and stole a glance at Mr. Huang who was watching me intently.
‘Come on Case. You can do this.'
I emptied my thoughts and looked at the fire on the tip of the candle. Narrowing my eyes, I focused on the orange light and thrusted my right hand forward again in the same angle I did it the first time.
It didn't waver. Not even the slightest bit.
I growled in annoyance and looked at Mr. Huang. "Shi Fu, I look stupid!" I whined.
"You look like someone who's making an effort. Now, again," Mr. Huang rebutted sternly.
After half an hour of doing the same thing again and again, my arms started to ache and sweat started trickling down my temples.
Hours passed and I was finally able to make it flicker. It flickered for a bit. Okay, it might be the wind that passed through one of the opened windows in the cabin that we cracked open because it got too stuffy inside but it flickered and that's the important thing.
Mr. Huang announced that it was dinner time then, so I excused myself to take a quick shower. The water was freezing cold and every time it touches my skin, a shiver broke out through my body. My teeth clattered noisily and I tried gritting them together to keep it in. The cold seemed to seep into my bones; it was complete hell.
The second I was done putting on some clothes, I rushed to the living room where a small fireplace was lit to keep the cabin warm and sat there. The sun had set a while ago and the air has gotten a bit chilly outside.
I waited for Mr. Huang with the fire as a constant companion. It wasn't helping with keeping me stay awake and I feel my body swaying a bit so I scooted over to where the rocking chair was to lean on it for a while. The fire's heat enveloped me and it caressed my face softly.
When Mr. Huang arrived, he brought two plates with him and offered me one. I took it and started eating. It was a simple meal; meat, potatoes and some vegetables.
"You have a farm," I muttered softly. "But you don't have any animals, just plants."
"Describe how you came to that conclusion for me." Mr. Huang challenged while eating his food.
"Well, you can't possibly buy these things. That'd be too much of a hassle since you'd have to go all the way down that hill. Besides, buying ingredients requires money and you don't work so that crosses buying things out. For the absence of the animal farm it's because I haven't heard anything from any animals except for the birds that flew by once in a while." I ticked them off with my fingers, chewing on my bottom lip once in a while to think it over.
"And where do I get the meat that you're eating then?" He inquired, chewing on the spoonful he had.
"The wild. Rabbit or squirrel meat maybe. I never paid attention to what a rabbit's meat tastes like so I can't be sure. It might be a snake but please don't tell me if it is."
He nodded. "Good, you're using your eyes," He approved. I patted myself mentally for remembering the things Bryant taught me.
"I supposed Bryant taught you well enough. I've always told him that people see things but they don't actually see things. They do not make use of their eyes enough and same goes for the other senses they are given." I listened tentatively.
Mr. Huang sported that faraway look after giving me the short lecture. We ate in silence and after we were done, he took my plate and told me to rest up because tomorrow won't be less draining than today.
I have a feeling this was just a warm up. The feeling of my body hurting told me I was in for a ride if tomorrow was going to be worse.