Chapter 59: Chapter 59: Cleaning The Tendons, Washing The Marrow
Time flew fast soon it was the time to rescue Jacob’s another from the hands of the Simon.
When night came, Nathan got ten men of his and stealthily departed from the city and moved toward Ashford Village.
Thanks to the instructions provided by Antonio, they soon reached the location where Jacob’s mother was imprisoned.
She has almost one leg in the coffin, when they reached there.
When they finally pushed open the decayed door, Jacob’s old mother lay weakly on a straw mat, her breath was almost gone.
She looked as though she might be blown away by a mere gust of wind.
Nathan charged over and supported her head, and supplied some water into her mouth. Then he fed her bits of food with outmost care.
After a while, the dim eyes of the old woman opened. Her weak body gradually recovered its strength.
During the famine, the night guards at city gates were weak.
Nathan took advantage of this situation to claim the old woman as his own mother and escort her past the careless guards without trouble.
————-
Back at the Hartwell family courtyard—
"Mother!"
Jacob fell to his knees the instant he hold her white, shriveled face. Sobs erupted as he held on to her shaking hands.
"You’ve endured so much..."
The tall man, two meters tall and to outsiders a cold-blooded martial artist, now wept like a child.
Alex signaled to Lucy. "I had food prepared. Take Auntie to eat."
"Thank you, young man. You’re such a good person... such a good person." The old woman’s voice was raspy and weak. She leaned forward her eyes at Alex. "Are you my son’s old friend?"
Her eyesight was too bad to tell faces.
"No, Mother, that’s not him," Jacob said hastily. He gestured to him. "That was John. This man here is Brother Alex—my Boss."
"Oh... forgive me." The old woman sluttered, blushing. "My eyes are not good anymore. So you’re my son’s new boss." She turned, looking straight at Lucy instead of Alex, and added with surprising cheer: "You’re surprisingly very handsome."
Jacob : "..."
Alex almost burst out laughing at that, but had the self-control to suppress it. "It’s fine. Lucy, take Auntie to eat."
"Of course."
Lucy led the old woman towards the table.
"Thank you... really, thank you."
Jacob’s voice trembled seeing his mother eagerly devour the plain dishes, he felt a weight in his chest that crushed him.
"All these years, she has eaten leftovers due to me. I never even allowed her to enjoy a good meal... and now she almost died due to me."
His fists were clenched. Shame burned like fire in his heart.
Alex put a hand on his shoulder. "Follow me from now on. I’ll ensure your mother is well fed every day. Allow her to live the remainder of her life in peace."
Jacob’s eyes became red.
He knelt on one knee, fists clasped together in respectful salute. "I am willing to follow you to the end of the Earth Boss!"
Alex smiled faintly. "Get up. Promises don’t really matter to me—actions do. I’ll judge you by what you do from here on."
"Good!" Jacob’s reply was firm, heavy with conviction.
"Uh... will anyone tell me who he really Is?"
Nathan leaned closer toward Lucy, whispering with a curious look in his eyes.
"That’s Jacob Stone," Lucy replied softly, her lips grazing his ear. "Yes, the same Madman who killed the six landowners in the city, the one in the news of the Ironhold City. The one they had labelled as a Butcherer."
"You’re kidding!" Nathan exclaimed. "So he’s that Jacob!"
Then, rather than being afraid, his face broke into admiration. "I think he is no way a butcherer. He’s an upright man through and through! Removing those greedy landlords from the city was the right thing to do."
He had long wished to encounter Jacob, to drink and converse with him, but the man had disappeared before he could be located after the killing.
Now he realized—it was because Jacob has been arrested and put into jail.
At this moment Alex seemed to recall something.
"By the way," Alex asked nonchalantly, "how did you exactly train your body to that extent? Can I do it too?"
Alex couldn’t shake the image off his mind earlier from that day.
Earlier that day, a kitchen knife had struck Jacob’s neck... only to left tiny markings on him.
Apparently martial arts are really true in this world.
Maybe I can be a Martial Artist too.
He can already imagine himself lifting boulders with one hand, destroying buildings with a punch.
Jacob rubbed his head, responding truthfully. "I’ve trained in it since I was a kid. It takes decades of brutal training to harden the skin like armor.
That’s why I’m able to endure a kitchen knife attack from you and remain standing."
Thinking of that day still gives him goosebumps, he doesn’t want to experience that strange thing ever again in his life.
He seemed to think of something, looking at Alex warily. "But if you’re willing to train, Boss, I’d have to examine your bones and muscles first."
In reality, he already knew that Alex is not suitable to be a Martial Artist. But he could only be certain after testing.
"Then test me," Alex said hastily, almost restlessly. "I want to know how many years it would take for me to become as strong as you."
"Alright."
Jacob put his big, calloused hands on Alex’s body, gently pressing at his arms, shoulders, chest, and back. His face became more and more awkward with each passing second.
Within barely two minutes, he stop examining him, lips shivering, trying hard to explain the situation.
Alex smiled, triumphantly.
"Well? So what’s my talent? Don’t tell me I’m such a prodigy that you can’t even put it into words?"
---
Jacob signed. "Boss... you’re not a prodigy at all. Your potential is very lacking in this regard. To be at my level, with strict training and no errors, you’d take... at least sixty years."
The grin stiffened on Alex’s face.
Sixty years?
By then he will be six feet underground! Dead!
"Pfft—!"
Lucy, who had been observing in silence, let out a burst of laughter. Her laugh sounded like silver bells in the night air, cheerful and playful, lightening the somber mood.
Alex glared at her, hand on his hip.
"Check me next!"
"Check me next!" Nathan jumped forward with child like excitement. "See if I have got the potential."
"Alright," Jacob nodded, making the same muscle-and-bone check.
After a moment, he nodded. "Not bad. Your body’s sturdy, your energy flows smoothly, joints are well aligned. If you train every day, you could reach my level in... about twenty years."
-----
"What?!" Alex almost collapsed on the spot.
He only needs twenty years? I need sixty?!
The injustice struck him like a hammer. His dream to become a Martial Artist collapsed in an instant.
"So... I can’t practice at all?" Alex complained.
Jacob’s expression softened. "Boss, if you really want to practice, there is a way. I can assist you in purifying your body—wash your tendons to expel your body impurities.
Although It won’t make you a genius, but it will enhance your talent."
The thing he did not tell was that he will be weak for a period of time after this.
But still there was no hesitation in his tone. For him, this was a form of payment to Alex who had saved his mother.
Serving his boss was a commitment that he could not reject.
There was excitement in Alex’s eyes. "Really? Then do it! Come on, purify my body at once!"
"Alright."
Jacob moved behind Alex, laying his enormous hands on Alex’s back, flat against his skin.
Immediately, a blast of blistering heat burst forth from Jacob’s hands into Alex body, raging through his veins like flames, gushing into the farthest recesses of his existence...