Gray pulled his cart along the forest path and eventually arrived at his mine by mid-morning. He was eager to start making money but his good mood was ruined by the sight that greeted him. There were people at his mine, uninvited people. He even recognized the skinny young man sitting at the entrance.

Gray rushed up the hill towards him. The man saw and tried to run but tripped in his panic. Gray caught up and kicked him hard in the side. The man tumbled to the ground and curled up.

“Ahhhh! Boss, mercy! Boss!”

Gray kicked him again, “Who the hell is your boss? What are you doing here, Little Hu? Speak quickly!”

“Gray…” Little Hu groaned while kneeling on the ground in submission, “I didn’t know… I didn’t know. We’ll leave right now. Please, let us go!”

Gray squatted in front of the sniveling man. “Do you know how many times you’ve robbed me in the past? Three times! Do you even remember them?”

Little Hu looked up fearfully and shook his head.

“First time was at the Old Rag Iron Mine.” Gray said and then slapped him hard.

“Second time was the abandoned coal mine near Three Man Falls.”

He slapped Little Hu again.

“Third time…”

Slap!

Little Hu groveled on the ground, covered in dirt, crying and begging like a dog.

Gray stood back up and glanced at his enemy from the past dispassionately. Seeing Little Hu so pitiful and spineless caused his anger to dissipate. He wasn’t interested in wasting energy on such a person.

He brushed his hands and said, “Didn’t you see the signs I put up? You better be careful next time.”

Little Hu looked around in confusion. There weren’t actually any signs. Gray didn’t know how to read or write but it didn’t matter. He was stronger and therefore, he was right.

“Yes, yes!” Little Hu exclaimed, “I was blind… Ming, come on, we’re going! Ming! Get out!”

His voice traveled down the mining tunnel and soon, three dirty and rough-looking young men emerged. They looked around in confusion as their eyes adjusted to the sunlight and then glared at both Little Hu and Gray.

“Which demon spawn is this?” One of them spat.

“Your daddy, that’s who.” Gray retorted.

 “You!”

Little Hu got in between them and pushed his side back, “Ming, don’t! This is that Gray I told you about. We should just leave. It’s not worth it!”

“Cheh… I thought you were describing some crazy warrior or cultivator, not some fat ass. Big Ear, Third Brother, get him!” Ming commanded.

The other two approached Gray menacingly. One had slightly large ears and the other was thin and younger. They looked like farmers with their sunburnt skin and terrible manners. They were obviously newcomers and didn’t take Gray’s infamy seriously.

The one named Third Brother was the first to act and swung a wide punch at Gray’s face. To Gray, it was as slow as a turtle and he dodged easily. Big Ear followed and tried to tackle Gray but he also missed, stumbling past and almost falling face first.

Gray laughed and ignored these two. He rushed up to Ming and before the man could react, a hand, thick and strong from gripping a pickaxe for years, connected squarely with the unfortunate man’s face.

Ming spat a mouthful of blood and was sent flying into the dirt.

“You dare hit Big Brother?” Someone yelled, Gray couldn’t tell who.

He felt a presence approach from behind and whirled around. The back of his fist made contact and Big Ear was sent flying. A causal kick followed, sending the third brother to the same fate as the others. All three were defeated easily. They were left moaning in pain on the ground as if they had been slaughtered.

They were only a few years older than Gray. They weren’t even cultivators yet so they stood no chance in front of his unnatural strength. These three farmers were new to his valley so they had to learn. He was simply teaching them a lesson they would never forget. They wouldn’t mess with him anymore after a good beating, nobody did.

Gray kicked each of the crying figures a few more times and laughed, “Little Hu, get them out of here.”

“Yes!”

Little Hu dragged his party away from the hill in a random direction. They seemed eager to escape as quickly as possible although the one named Ming shot some nasty looks that were filled with dissatisfaction. Gray wasn’t worried, if they wanted another fight, he was more than willing to teach them another painful lesson.

After they disappeared, Gray sat down and enjoyed a quiet snack. Two loaves of bread and a kilogram of dried meat disappeared into his stomach before he was satisfied. He felt full and lazy and decided to take a nap.

He laid down on a dry patch of dirt. He yawned and started daydreaming about juicy steaks and shiny ores. He was about to fall asleep when he saw something flash across the sky.

It was a ball of searing white light. It streaked horizontally like a heavenly spear and disappeared over the tree line.

Boom!

An explosion shook the ground beneath his feet and echoed across the entire valley.

“A meteorite!”

Gray knew about it from Old Li’s stories. It was a special treasure that fell from the heavens, an extremely expensive and rare type of metal. Such a precious metal was worth many times its weight in gold. There was only demand and no supply and it was coveted by every cultivator in the world.

He had to get it. A meteorite would instantly turn him into a rich man. He would be set for life. He would be able to leave the mountains, visit the cities, and even find a wife!

He abandoned his cart and rushed forward with pickaxe in hand. He was lucky, the landing site had to be close. He traced the direction to the foot of a steep hill and saw smoke rising from an area near the top.

There were numerous fresh footprints on the ground, indicating some people had already arrived. He hastened and charged up the hill. He was like a mountain goat and climbed as if on level ground. He soon caught up to the group that was in front of him.

It was the group of four that he had just beat up. They were struggling hard against the muddy and slippery hillside. They held onto grass and bushes and anything else they could to pull themselves up.

“Holy shit, it’s Gray!”

“Stop, fuck! That’s our meteorite!”

“Don’t go, you fat bastard!”

They yelled furiously as Gray blew past them.

“Damn it, keep going! He can’t possibly take all of it!” Big Ear cried out, “Come on brothers, climb!”

“I swear, if he steals my meteorite… I’ll kill him!” Ming yelled hatefully.

Gray laughed and ignored them. The strongest and fastest survived, that was the rule of the mountains. In the past, he was robbed countless times. Now he was the one doing the robbing.

He arrived at the top to find trees blown apart and a huge ring of devastation around the impact site. The air was filled with white smoke. At the center, there was a circular crater at least twenty or thirty strides across.

He only had a short time before those idiots caught up. He wanted to gather up the largest pieces of meteorite and make a clean getaway, before more people showed up.

He peered into the crater from the edge but couldn’t see much. He leaped down, searching the ground left and right for possible fragments. He found nothing and approached the center where there was a sizable mass came into view.

He couldn’t believe it; such a huge piece of meteorite would be worth an absolute fortune!

He ran to it excitedly and touched it, only to find that it was soft and squishy. It wasn’t metal. It was a person… a woman?

Gray’s hand trembled as he turned her over to get a better look. The woman wore light yellow robes which were covered in blood. She still had a pulse but it was extremely weak. Her long black hair stuck to her dust-covered face and he couldn’t see clearly if she was pretty or not. At least with such a youthful and perfect figure, she was not an old grandma.

He was excited yet conflicted at the same time. This matter was strange and could lead to many complications. He preferred to live a simple life and his instincts told him this woman would bring with her a multitude of trouble.

He recalled Old Li’s boastful stories of rescuing beautiful maidens and marrying them. He was pretty sure they were bullshit. But… wasn’t this in front of him such a scenario? If he saved this young woman, she would surely want to marry him. His new wife would be able to cook for him and he wouldn’t have to pay Old Li for meals anymore!

Gray burst into laughter.

He felt this was completely reasonable and there was no one to tell him otherwise. He discarded his doubts and picked up the unconscious woman. She was surprisingly heavy for being so slender but he could handle it with his massive strength.

He climbed out of the crater and ran in the opposite direction from the way he came. He didn’t want to run into the teens or any others for that matter. He wanted to avoid unnecessary attention and stray questions about the prize in his arms.

As soon as he got to the ravine, he heard voices nearby. Some more people had arrived in search of the meteorite.

He veered off sideways to avoid them and chose a hidden path. This didn’t work either as he had close encounters with several other groups. He even had to cut a path directly through the thick underbrush.

When he finally made it back to his mine after many detours, he discovered to great dismay that his cart had disappeared. The wooden cart, his bags of food, everything was gone and he had a suspicion of who it was.

“Damn it! Give me back my stuff!” Gray yelled into the forest.

There was no one around to reply, which made him even angrier. His prediction had indeed come true and frighteningly quickly. This woman already caused him to be robbed for the first time in many years.

What other trouble would she cause?

Gray let out a huge sigh. There was only one thing to do now.

He made sure she was secure in his arms and ran off towards his secret mountain refuge. He was taking his future wife home.