Martial Arts: I Have a Wilderness World-Chapter 94 - 93: Return to the Mountain
「That day, mid-morning. The Golden Bridge Village section of Tianduan Mountain, Jade Peak County.」
"Yang’Er, how much longer?"
Cheng Guangshan, who had now woken up, supported his weary wife and looked toward his nephew leading the way.
"This path you chose is incredibly difficult. If ordinary refugees wanted to enter the mountains, they’d never be able to take such a hard route. You really know how to pick a spot."
Cheng Zongyang smiled and said, "It’s just ahead. Since we’re planning to live here, we certainly can’t pick a spot that’s easy to find or too obvious."
Hearing this, Cheng Guangshan asked, "Are we really not going to leave the mountains? Are we just going to settle down here?"
Cheng Zongyang continued walking forward, replying as he went, "We’ll definitely leave, but not now.
Second Aunt knows best what a desperate situation the County Town is in right now. There’s no telling how many deaths, injuries, and how much destruction the refugee riots will cause. Add the plague to that... unless there’s a medicine with immediate effects, the County Town won’t hold for a few months, let alone one or two years.
During this time, the people in the city will be in dire straits. Besides, this whole affair has blown up. Chang Younian will definitely be held accountable. Only after he’s gone will our family be a little safer.
For you to leave the County Magistrate’s Office like that... as the head of the county, it would be strange if he weren’t furious. Most importantly, there’s no water left outside the mountains!"
Cheng Guangshan thought it over and agreed, sighing.
"If I had known it would come to this... But after two years of drought, why is there still so much water here in the Inner Mountain? In the Outer Mountain, even the groundwater is almost gone."
Cheng Zongyang shook his head. "I don’t know about that either. Perhaps there’s something special about this mountain."
As for Chang Younian, when it came to his family’s interests and his own career, many things could be sacrificed—to say nothing of these refugees.
Just then, Cheng Guangshan suddenly said, "My father-in-law had experience treating plagues, so I was already prepared. I left the formulas at my clinic. If Chang Younian is resourceful, he might be able to find them.
Although they might not cure this plague completely, they could suppress it for a while, buying time for the people in the city."
However, his wife, Mrs. Chen of the Cheng Family, shot him a look and said irritably:
"Save your breath. You shouldn’t worry so much about this. If Yang’Er’s assessment of this county magistrate is correct, then he’s the type of person to let the refugees fall gravely ill before offering treatment. How could someone like that be a kind-hearted man?
Besides, if Chang Younian dared to let the plague run rampant like this, he must have considered the consequences of the city’s doctors being unable to treat it, right? Otherwise, wouldn’t he just be shooting himself in the foot? Is he really that stupid?
Also, if he knows how important you are, he’s probably searching all over the city for you right now. And if you fail to cure the plague, it’s not impossible that he’d kill you."
In an instant, both Cheng Guangshan and his nephew Cheng Zongyang were stunned into silence.
"You’re right! How could I have overlooked that!" Cheng Guangshan looked at his wife, his face full of astonishment.
After a moment of silence, Cheng Zongyang said, "If he has a backup plan and is still searching for doctors like this, it means he won’t use that plan lightly. Forget it, let’s not worry about it. Let’s go."
They continued onward for about the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea. Soon, they saw an area with smoke curling up from cooking fires.
Seeing this, a smile touched Cheng Zongyang’s lips. A weight seemed to lift from his heart, and he let out a sigh of relief as his shoulders unconsciously relaxed.
Ever since entering the County Town, his heart had been in his throat; he hadn’t relaxed for a moment.
Returning here, he felt incredibly at ease.
Home is the only place where one can truly set down their burdens.
For a long time to come, everyone would be living here.
They soon entered the riverbank area, where Cheng Zongyang saw his father and uncles building a new wooden house.
His mother and aunts were preparing a meal; his maternal grandparents were watching over the little ones; and his other siblings and cousins were helping sweep the ground or lending a hand to the adults.
Everyone had a smile on their face.
A sizable, clean, and spacious clearing had already been made in the riverbank area.
"Grandpa, Grandma, Father, Mother..."
Cheng Zongyang shouted.
Instantly, everyone busy with their tasks looked up.
When Cheng Guanghai and Mrs. Zhou of the Cheng Family saw their son and Second Brother return safe and sound, they were overjoyed.
Everyone dropped what they were doing and hurried over to greet them.
"Brother, Sister-in-law." Cheng Guangshan’s throat choked up when he saw his older brother, Cheng Guanghai.
Cheng Guanghai glanced over the three of them. Seeing they were all unharmed, he breathed a sigh of relief. He clapped his younger brother on the shoulder and smiled.
"It’s good you’re back."
Cheng Guangshan nodded. "It’s all thanks to Yang’Er this time. Otherwise, the two of us would’ve been done for in the city."
"Father, Mother!" His cousin, Cheng Zongwen, also came over with red-rimmed eyes.
Mrs. Chen of the Cheng Family was happy to see her three children were all right and nodded in contentment.
After that, everyone began to chat idly.
Cheng Zongyang, however, went over to his two maternal uncles and said:
"First Uncle, Second Uncle, has anything happened these past two days?"
Zhou Hansong and Zhou Hanchang both smiled, and the former said:
"Nothing at all. It’s very safe here. That stuff you sprinkled around earlier works great. The children noticed that all the snakes, insects, rats, and ants have fled and don’t dare come near us."
Cheng Zongyang smiled. "That’s good."
The adults continued to chat, discussing future plans for this area.
The women, all smiling, also talked as they prepared the meal.
The younger children continued to play, staying within the boundaries set by the elders.
The older ones kept cutting down trees to clear more space.
Cheng Zongyang stood on high ground, looking down at the scene below with a sense of satisfaction.
This was the home he was striving to protect.
’Alright, time to expand on multiple fronts. First, we’ll keep clearing trees. Once we’ve built a few more houses and everyone has their own place, we can arrange other things. The guardrail in the back also needs to be built... The adults need to start their Martial Arts Training, and the children’s medicinal baths for Foundation Establishment have to follow...’
Cheng Zongyang realized there was much to do, and no time to waste. He also had to find an excuse to go out and retrieve the items from the Wilderness World.
’Perfect. I still need to hunt things to earn Points. I can’t miss out on those two formulas.
It’s a good thing Second Uncle and Second Aunt are both doctors, which reduces the risk of illness.’
Cheng Zongyang didn’t want to waste the entire afternoon and evening.
So, he went back down and said to everyone:
"When I went to the County Town this time, I had someone hide a lot of things for me outside the town. I’m going to retrieve them in batches. It’ll probably take a day, so I likely won’t be back tonight. Don’t wait for me for dinner."
Hearing this, Zhou Hansong stood up as if to say something, but Cheng Zongyang cut him off with a smile.
"First Uncle, I can go alone. I’m already an Entry Grade Martial Artist. You’re all needed here to build the houses."
"You’ve reached Entry Grade?" Cheng Guanghai and the others were quite shocked.
It’s only been a few days, hasn’t it??
Is it that easy to become a Martial Artist?
Cheng Zongyang nodded. "I mentioned this to you all before. I also brought back plenty of Medicinal Materials, enough for everyone to use. As long as you can endure it, reaching Entry Grade isn’t difficult. We can talk more when I get back."
Seeing this, the others didn’t say any more. They felt much more at ease this time.
Of course, more than anything, they were excited. Having a Martial Artist in the family meant their ability to protect themselves had increased dramatically.
Cheng Zongyang then left the mountains once again.
This time, he needed to enter the Wilderness World to earn enough Points to buy the two medicinal formulas.
Once the time was up, the items would be gone, and he might not get another chance to buy them.
After leaving the mountains, he returned to Golden Bridge Village to check on his home.
He found the door kicked open and the contents of the house in disarray.
It was likely the work of other passing refugees.
Fortunately, almost everything of value had been moved into the mountains, and what was left was mostly nonessential.
Cheng Zongyang paid it no mind and walked into the mountain forest behind his house, then entered the Wilderness World.
Just as Cheng Zongyang entered the forest, four people arrived at the eastern entrance of Golden Bridge Village, rushing quickly into the village itself.
These men wore the uniforms of government officials and looked incredibly menacing.
Behind them, a man who looked like a commoner was slowly chasing after them. He had twisted his ankle from running all this way and now hobbled along with a limp. He was pale and gasping for breath. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚
But when they arrived in Golden Bridge Village and found it completely deserted, they were all stunned.
"It’s really empty..." one of the government officials muttered.
The one in the lead was Chief Wang. He grabbed the slow-moving man with the surname Jin who was following behind and ordered him to lead the way.
Soon, the limping man with the surname Jin led the group to Cheng Zongyang’s house.
When they saw the wooden door wide open, the inside in disarray, and not a single person to be found, their expressions grew even darker.
