Martial Arts: I Have a Wilderness World-Chapter 55: Scouting

Cheng Zongyang didn’t stop them. It was better for them to vent their emotions than to suppress them.

Next, Cheng Zongyang repositioned Chen Jiang’s body and tidied up the funeral items in the main hall.

Chen Jiang had saved his life before. For reasons of both sentiment and duty, he couldn’t just turn a blind eye.

As for the final request Aunt Chunhua had made before her death, it wasn’t a problem for him.

It was just two more mouths to feed, and he had plenty of grain.

After the incidents with the refugees and the Jin Family, he had already decided to move his entire family to the County Town.

Although they had driven back one wave of refugees, more were sure to follow. It was only a matter of time before Golden Bridge Village suffered the same fate as Xu Family Village and the others.

Rather than have his family live in constant fear, it was better to choose the relative stability of the County Town for the time being.

The house there was large enough to temporarily accommodate three families.

Next, Cheng Zongyang asked his older maternal uncle to manage things at home while he found some large wooden planks and nailed together a simple coffin for Aunt Chunhua’s body.

When Mrs. Zhou of the Cheng Family heard of Mrs. Li of the Chen Family’s passing, she felt a wave of lingering fear, but she also sighed and agreed to take in the two children.

They had been neighbors for many years, and Chen Jiang had saved her son’s life. She couldn’t find it in her heart to abandon the two poor children.

Without any ceremony, Cheng Zongyang placed the two coffins onto a flatbed cart.

Then, taking some tools, funeral items, and the two sisters, Chen Zhaodi and her sibling, he lit a torch and headed into the Outer Mountain under the cover of night.

Cheng Zongyang found a relatively flat spot far from the mountain path, dug a pit, and buried the ill-fated couple together in the same grave.

He erected a wooden grave marker and let the two sisters say their proper goodbyes.

Perhaps due to malnutrition and being overwhelmed by grief, the two sisters had only been kneeling for a short while before they fainted amidst their heart-wrenching sobs.

Cheng Zongyang checked on them and saw they were fine. Filled with pity, he had no choice but to carry one in each arm, bringing the two girls, who weighed almost nothing, down the mountain.

Finally, he pulled the flatbed cart and returned home.

He didn’t take the two girls to their house, but brought them back to his own.

With the funeral arrangements for Chen Jiang and his wife concluded, the matter was considered settled for the time being.

Next, Cheng Zongyang asked his aunt to take care of the two sisters. After informing his older and younger maternal uncles, he left home with only his Ironwood Bow and Long Saber, heading toward the north of the village.

Since his uncle was worried about the situation at his home, there was no harm in going to take a look.

Of course, he had another purpose in mind as well.

Under the cover of night, he took a detour to the western part of the village.

’Might as well, it’s on the way...’

This area was the Jin clan’s territory. He planned to find out the location of the Jin Family’s greatest backer, Jin Fugui!

He was well aware that the Jin clan would inevitably seek revenge, but he couldn’t possibly kill every single one of them.

But from Cheng Zongyang’s perspective, as long as he eliminated their backer, what threat could this group of old folks, women, and children—now without their pillars of support—possibly pose to him?

Cheng Zongyang arrived behind Jin Detai’s house and listened quietly for any sounds from within.

Inside the house, wails of grief rose and fell in waves.

On the floor of the main hall, five bodies were laid out in a row.

The bodies were covered with white cloths.

These were the bodies of Jin Fumin, Jin Detai, Jin Deshui, Jin Yong’an, and Jin Yongmin.

The village headman, Jin Fumin, was killed when refugees stormed his home during the chaos. Jin Yong’an and Jin Yongmin were beaten to death by a mob of refugees during a counterattack as the Li and Chen families were retreating.

This was why the two brothers, Jin Detai and Jin Deshui, had charged to Cheng Zongyang’s home in such a rage, demanding an explanation and even wanting to kill him to vent their fury.

They probably never imagined, even at the moment of their deaths, that Cheng Zongyang would be so ruthless and decisive, killing all of their remaining able-bodied men.

If not for the two cousins, Jin Yongkang and Jin Yongsheng, staying home to protect their families, they too would have followed their fathers to the grave.

Kneeling before the bodies, the two brothers Jin Yongkang and Jin Yongsheng had bloodshot eyes and cold, grim expressions.

All around them were the sounds of their elders and younger sisters crying.

Jin Detai’s second son, Jin Yongkang, looked at his older cousin Jin Yongsheng and said with a cold glint in his eyes:

"Cousin, we have to tell Great-Uncle about this! The Cheng Family must die, and the Li and Chen Families must atone for what they’ve done!"

Jin Yongsheng was silent for a moment before replying:

"Do you really think it would do any good to make a move against the Li and Chen Families?"

Jin Yongkang growled, "They caused so many of our people to die! They must pay the price! As for the Cheng Family, we can have them arrested for murder. Their whole family must die!"

Jin Yongsheng, far more rational than Jin Yongkang, sighed and said:

"We can try to have the Cheng Family arrested, but forget about the Li and Chen Families. They didn’t directly attack us. Besides, in this situation, it’s debatable whether the County Town’s Government Office will even bother with matters outside its walls. If they did, they wouldn’t have let refugees plunder villages and kill people in the first place.

If we provoke those two families into fighting back, the rest of us will all be killed."

Jin Yongkang said angrily, "Cousin, I’m going into town tomorrow. You just stay here! I refuse to believe Great-Uncle will ignore this!"

"I’m afraid Great-Uncle can’t do much about it right now," Jin Yongsheng said with a grave expression.

Jin Yongkang was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"With this refugee unrest, the villages are in chaos and the County Town isn’t intervening. His position as Li Zheng is basically meaningless. Who’s going to be afraid of Great-Uncle now?"

"But he... he has connections in the County Town..."

"Connections are maintained with money. And when you use a favor, you have to repay it." Jin Yongsheng looked calmly at his younger cousin and said slowly, "Great-Uncle’s entire branch of the family moved to the County Town, and they’ve visited us much less in the past two years. Do you really think that even if he wants to get involved, his children will let him?"

"Cousin, my older brother was right, you think too much!" Jin Yongkang snorted. "I don’t care! I’m going to the county tomorrow to find him! I refuse to believe he’ll just wash his hands of this!"

Jin Yongsheng lowered his head and said no more, his thoughts unreadable.

Behind the house, Cheng Zongyang was having trouble hearing clearly over the sounds of mourning from the main hall. Still, he vaguely made out words like "go into town."

At this, a glint appeared in Cheng Zongyang’s eyes.

’The town gates would have been closed long ago, so there’s no need to worry about them going to the County Town tonight.’ He immediately left the West District and hurried toward Shuikou.

In a hurry, Cheng Zongyang jogged the whole way, reaching the entrance of Shuikou Village in less than half an hour.

Along the way, he saw a number of bodies and all sorts of miscellaneous items strewn about.

It was clear that many people had fled in a blind panic.

Upon entering the village, he saw many more bodies lying on the road, with no one to clear them away.

Flatbed carts were overturned, and clothes, pots, bowls, and basins were scattered everywhere, lining the entire village path.

Cheng Zongyang frowned, quickening his pace as he arrived at his uncle’s home.

He found the main gate half-toppled, with only one side left leaning precariously.

Inside, the house was a complete mess, as if it had been ransacked by thieves. Everything had been rummaged through.

Anything edible was gone.

Anything useful and easy to carry was also gone.

With no other choice, Cheng Zongyang could only gather some still-usable items, along with clothing and tools, and store them in his Wilderness World. He would take them out and sort through them to bring home later.

Although the house was still habitable, there was no point in staying. Unless the refugee problem was completely resolved, more trouble would surely come even if they returned.

He paid it no more mind, left Shuikou Village once again, and headed back to his own village.

At the entrance to his village, he took the items out and carried them home on a shoulder pole.