Chapter Nineteen: How Wonderful Life Would Be, With Three Harvests a Year!

The bald, burly man threatened menacingly.
Granny Lin's face was etched with anxiety.
Her angry roar was tinged with tears: "Li Mao, don't touch my precious grandson! He's just a few months old—a tiny baby! Please, let him go. I'll do anything for you, work myself to the bone!"
At her words, Li Mao spat a thick glob of phlegm from his foul mouth.
"Bah! You old hag, what good is it for you to work yourself to death for me? If I sell this little thing, I could be a millionaire!"
"Today, I'm making this fortune and no one will stop me. Whoever tries, dies!"
Li Mao's mouth twisted into a cruel grin, his face radiating sheer brutality.
"Old Lin, don't be so ungrateful!"
"You're just a pauper, barely able to feed yourself. How can you possibly raise such a fine-looking child? It'd be better to sell him to some rich city folk, so he can live in comfort!"
Hearing this, Granny Lin became frantic with rage. She charged at Li Mao, teeth clenched: "You bastard! I'll fight you to the end!"
She knew she was just an old woman, her attack as futile as an egg against a rock.
But Granny Lin still flung herself forward, undaunted.
"Idiot! Get out of the way!"
Li Mao sneered, swinging his massive hand.
Granny Lin, well into her eighties, was no match for a thug hardened by the slum's brutal brawls.
With a single shove, she staggered backward, tumbling into a pile of junk.
Feeling utterly powerless, Granny Lin's tears streamed down her cheeks.
"My dear grandson! Don't take my precious child!"
Her wailing cries were heart-wrenching as she crawled and scrambled toward Li Mao.
Lin Qiye took two steps back, searching for the best angle from which to strike.
His eyes locked onto Li Mao.
Facing nothing more than a small child, Li Mao let his guard down completely.
He advanced on Lin Qiye, his massive shadow engulfing half the room.
A glint of murderous resolve flashed in Lin Qiye's eyes.
With his waist sunk in a Tai Chi stance, he quickly bent his knees.
As Li Mao drew near, Lin Qiye suddenly sprang up, like a cannonball defying gravity, and shot into Li Mao's chest with blinding speed.
Then,
His tiny fist hammered into Li Mao’s sternum.
Small as it was,
With three percent of his Dragon Elephant physique unleashed, the blow was devastating—enough to punch through a steel plate!
The instant the blow struck Li Mao's chest,
His breath stopped short.
A series of sickening cracks resounded from his chest!
A heartbeat later,
Every shattered rib was driven out of place by the force of the punch, piercing Li Mao's internal organs.
His heart ruptured in an instant!
Excruciating agony burst forth from his chest,
Becoming a torrent of metallic, bloody liquid that gushed from his throat.
Li Mao was left dumbstruck.
A baby, with a single punch, had shattered his chest?
Staring wide-eyed at Lin Qiye, Li Mao’s face turned deathly pale, a tangle of shock, terror, and regret twisting his features.
"You... are you really just a child?"
He was full of confusion.
But
Lin Qiye had no interest in answering him.
From beginning to end, he had not spoken a word.
He was simply waiting for a chance to strike lethally, to finish Li Mao in an instant.

After all,
He was only a three-month-old infant.
To drag out the fight would be to risk disaster; only a swift, fatal blow would assure victory.
That was why Lin Qiye had remained motionless at first.
And his choice proved correct.
He took down the unsuspecting Li Mao with a single punch.
Now,
Li Mao lay on the ground, barely clinging to life, too weak even to struggle.
Lin Qiye quietly locked the rusted iron door, then dragged Li Mao under the bed to hide him.
"Grandma, are you all right?"
Granny Lin, covered in dust, stood up, grabbed a handful of ash from the stove, and sprinkled it on Lin Qiye.
"Evil spirit, begone! Evil spirit, begone! Bring back my grandson! Hah!"
She transformed into a shaman, muttering incantations.
Lin Qiye offered a charming and innocent smile.
"Grandma, I am your grandson, not a monster. I was simply born strong and clever.
Look, I’m only three months old, yet I’m as tall as a three-year-old—isn't that remarkable? I must be destined for greatness!"
He stood with his hands on his hips, crafting his own legend.
At his words,
Granny Lin nodded vigorously.
"Yes, my precious boy will grow up to be someone great!"
Her smile was gentle and kind, filled with relief and hope.
But then,
Her expression turned grave.
"Child, you must keep your strength hidden. Wait until you’re a teenager before you reveal it. Don’t let anyone with bad intentions take notice."
Lin Qiye promised readily, "I will be careful!"
"Oh, Grandma, I found some treasure!"
With that,
Lin Qiye leapt down from the bed and fished a hundred Angel Coins and a set of keys from Li Mao's pocket.
"Look, these are the keys to Li Mao’s house. With them, we can move in. He must have supplies—enough for us to live worry-free for a long time."
However,
Granny Lin was still worried.
"Could it be dangerous? What if someone else comes after us?"
Lin Qiye simply raised his brows, unconcerned: "Then I'll just kill them all!"
At this,
Granny Lin was speechless.
She didn’t want Lin Qiye to fight—what if he got hurt?
But Lin Qiye was growing fast,
His appetite increasing daily.
It was becoming harder and harder for her to feed him on lizard meat alone!
If they could move into Li Mao’s house, their troubles would be eased for half a year, maybe longer!
Weighing everything,
Granny Lin agreed to Lin Qiye’s plan.
So,
That very night,
Lin Qiye and Granny Lin moved into Li Mao’s home.
Compared to Granny Lin’s pigeonhole, Li Mao’s residence was practically luxurious.
The outer walls were welded together from iron sheets—rusty and scavenged from the junkyard, but joined tightly enough to make Li Mao’s house resemble a small fortress.
Inside,
There were three bedrooms, a living room, a loft, and a storeroom.
When they opened the storeroom, they found it stacked with cans of beef, instant spicy chicken meals, potatoes, and other foodstuffs.
Even the cold storage held frozen ham, pork, and beef.

"So many supplies! Li Mao was rich indeed. These will last us a good six months,"
Granny Lin’s smile deepened the wrinkles on her face.
"How wonderful, my precious boy can finally eat some good meat!"
Her happiness and relief were obvious.
She’d felt guilty making Lin Qiye eat lizard meat all this time.
Thankfully,
Lin Qiye was born strong enough to seize supplies by force.
That was a blessing.
Granny Lin beamed at Lin Qiye.
"I don’t know how much longer I’ll be around, but with your strength, even if I die tomorrow, you’ll be able to survive! That’s a comfort to me."
She began to drift into the nostalgic musings all elders love.
Lin Qiye listened as he grilled a steak over the fire.
Soon,
The aroma of beef filled the house, making Lin Qiye’s mouth water uncontrollably.
Granny Lin also swallowed hungrily.
They devoured the meal, eating their fill.
Without doubt,
From this day forward,
Lin Qiye and Granny Lin’s lives had moved from the brink of starvation to modest prosperity.
In the days that followed,
They lived in Li Mao’s house, so content they had no thought of leaving.
Meat was plentiful, potatoes never ran out!
They never again had to worry about food.
During this time,
Any troublemakers who came calling were felled instantly by Lin Qiye’s ox-like strength—a single punch through the heart, death on the spot.
After a few thugs died this way,
Order returned to the slum, and Lin Qiye grew ever richer by raiding their homes for stores of supplies.
Life became comfortable and full.
Each day, after eating and drinking their fill, Lin Qiye would cultivate the Daoist Canon and patiently wait for his body to mature.
Time flew by.
Lin Qiye grew to a year old.
Though only one in age, his physique matched that of a six-year-old child,
His height reaching 1.3 meters.
The innate energy within him numbered three thousand strands! His growth had accelerated dramatically.
Lin Qiye sensed that when his body reached full maturity, his innate energy would increase to truly miraculous levels.
However,
It would likely take another five years for his body to mature…
Five years—a long time!
He knew that, in this life,
If he couldn’t defy fate, he’d only live to be twelve.
Which meant,
In five years,
Half his life would already be over.
"According to the original plot, when I turn eleven, spiritual energy will return to the world, and the Divine Clan will descend.
Those so-called Divine Clan members will likely all possess power at least at the peak of the Golden Core stage.
If I wait for my body to mature, I’ll only have three to five years to prepare for the awakening of spiritual energy.
If I want to defy fate, time is running short—if only I could mature three times as fast each year!"
Lin Qiye sighed softly.