Farming In The Eastern Cultivation World-Chapter 71: Meat, Martial Arts, and a Very Full Rumi

Bok Taejin didn’t have much of a martial arts foundation.

Watching the villagers pound meat, all he could perceive was a sense of powerful, overflowing physical beauty.

Im Beomhyeon kept shouting nearby—complaining one moment that someone was swinging their pestle with too much force, then that someone else’s stance was wrong, then that someone else should lift the pestle a little more to the left and strike a bit more to the right when it came down...

Jeong Daehu was the first one among the meat-pounders to put down his pestle and walk over.

After wiping the sweat from his face with a cloth that was tucked into his waistband, he pointed to a pot of meat that had just finished cooking.

"Beomhyeon, why don’t you come pound this batch a bit?"

Bok Taejin had a phrase pop into his head: You do it if you’re so good at it.

Im Beomhyeon chuckled and gave Bok Taejin a push. "I just walked all the way down the mountain and back. I’ve got no strength left. If you want someone else to help you, let Taejin do it. It might as well teach him at the same time."

Jeong Daehu laughed and smacked Im Beomhyeon on the shoulder. "Forget it. The meat you pound tastes good. If Taejin does it, it really won’t be strong enough."

While they were talking, another person took a break and turned their head with a grin. "Come on now. Even if Beomhyeon hadn’t gone to the market today, there’s no way he’d lift a finger on meat that wasn’t cooked by Second Uncle."

The sound of meat pounding gradually slowed as everyone chatted for a bit. Some even began asking Im Beomhyeon whether their own meat-pounding technique had any issues.

Surprisingly, Im Beomhyeon answered each question patiently.

He had truly watched everyone’s movements, so no matter who asked, they received a response.

The only difference was that some people were told they were fine, while others got roasted—told their whole set of movements was utterly useless.

Of course, there were very few in either extreme, maybe fewer than five combined.

Most had only partial issues. After hearing his corrections, they either thought it over seriously or hurried back to correct their form while practicing.

This time, Bok Taejin finally started noticing a few things.

There was a starting movement when villagers pounded the meat. Their feet shifted slightly throughout, and there were indeed specific techniques in how the pestle was lifted and brought down.

He nudged Im Beomhyeon with his elbow. "Don’t tell me this is some kind of martial arts routine?"

Im Beomhyeon scoffed. "Took you long enough to figure that out? It’s a staff technique. Great for pounding meat—or for pounding sticky rice cakes and New Year mochi!"

Bok Taejin hadn’t thought too much of it at first, but then Im Beomhyeon continued, "Back in the day, I learned this staff technique just to beat people more easily. Hah, never thought teaching it for pounding meat would work so well. If I’d known, I’d have learned more of it back then."

Evening was fast approaching.

Once all the meat that had been cooked that day was pounded down, it would be time to eat.

Except for two men still finishing up their assigned meat batches, the rest were setting up tables and chairs. The women, having more free time, were preparing bowls, dishes, and chopsticks.

Second Uncle brought Yoon Areum over to find Bok Taejin.

As dusk settled, it became harder for Yoon Areum to spot him from a distance. Only once she was standing right beside him did her unease begin to fade—but even so, she tightly clutched his sleeve.

Im Beomhyeon took a deep breath and wrinkled his nose. "Second Uncle, how much did you feed Rumi? Aren’t you worried she won’t be able to eat dinner later?"

Second Uncle looked a little awkward and, for once, started counting on his fingers. "It shouldn’t be that much, right? Just the meat porridge, the walnut kernels, some jujubes, and the dried duck meat. Just those four things, right?"

"That’s not much?" Im Beomhyeon stared at him. "How much dried duck meat did you give her? The moment she walked over, I could even smell chopi scent from her!"

Hwayang Village didn’t have any chili peppers—only chopi.

But the flavor of chopi was vastly different from chili peppers, so Bok Taejin had been wondering whether it was possible to get chili peppers from the spirit seed storage or perhaps find some in another area.

When he visited the market earlier that day, he’d kept an eye out for anyone selling young livestock or seedlings, but unfortunately, he hadn’t found anything he needed.

Second Uncle was even more flustered after Im Beomhyeon’s questioning. He lowered his head and muttered, "It wasn’t that much, really. Just half the bag of dried duck meat."

Im Beomhyeon sucked in a sharp breath. "Wait... was it the bag with the embroidered number five on it?"

Second Uncle glanced at him and gave a tiny nod.

Im Beomhyeon staggered back two steps and cried out, "That bag held an entire duck!"

Second Uncle couldn’t take it anymore. "Why are you yelling so loud? What if you scare Rumi? So what if she ate half a duck? You have a problem with that? That duck was Seo Sowoo’s, wasn’t it? If Seo Sowoo hasn’t said anything, why are you shouting? Just because you’re loud doesn’t mean you’re right!"

The more he talked, the more confident Second Uncle became, and his voice gradually rose.

From the words exchanged between the two, Bok Taejin more or less pieced together what had happened. He quickly turned around to face Yoon Areum, who had been following close behind him the whole time.

"Rumi, tell your master—did you eat a lot of food today?"

Yoon Areum shook her head.

Bok Taejin let out a breath of relief. What he was most worried about was that she might’ve eaten too much too quickly after long-term hunger and poor nutrition, which could upset her stomach.

But then Yoon Areum nodded.