Martial Arts: I Have a Wilderness World-Chapter 61: Discussion at Home (Part 2)

In response to his father’s question, Cheng Zongyang didn’t rush to share his own thoughts. Instead, he said,

"Second Uncle’s idea is for everyone to move to the County Town. Compared to the other two plans, the County Town is relatively safer and more convenient.

Of course, I just mentioned the downsides as well. So, I’d like the three of you to share your thoughts first. This concerns everyone’s safety, not just mine. I must consider everything carefully before making a decision."

The three elders fell silent.

Just then, a bewildered-looking Zhou Zhennan suddenly spoke up. "We should go to the County Town! It’s so much safer there."

Zhou Hanchang shot him an irritated glare. "Are you itching for another beating? Just listen and keep your mouth shut."

Zhou Zhennan was speechless.

Cheng Zongyang didn’t think much of it. ’This cousin of mine is quite a character,’ he thought. ’He’s incredibly resilient—you could say he was raised on beatings.’

When they were young, he had a habit of pilfering things in the village, causing a lot of trouble. His Second Aunt always had to bring gifts and a freshly beaten Zhou Zhennan to people’s doors to apologize.

He cleaned up his act later, but then he wanted to take up Martial Arts Training and become a Martial Artist. That idea was beaten out of him, too.

Instead, he took to waving around swords and sticks. He’d carry a wooden club carved to vaguely resemble a sword and enjoy wreaking havoc on the family’s vegetable patch.

He carried himself with the magnificent air of a hero who’d once vowed to conquer the heavens, but had settled for decapitating a field of cabbages.

Then he’d go home to another vicious beating. It was only in the last two years, because of the disasters, that he’d finally settled down a bit.

"Zhennan, so you think we should go to the County Town?" Cheng Zongyang asked with a smile.

Zhou Zhennan glanced at his own father. Seeing that he wasn’t saying anything, his spirits lifted and he nodded vigorously.

"Yes! The County Town! Nowhere outside is as safe as the County Town. I hear there are Martial Artists there. Brother, have you seen a Martial Artist before? Are they all..."

"Are you ever going to shut up?" Zhou Hanchang cut in, glaring at him with an expression that screamed, ’Say one more word and I’ll beat you.’

Zhou Zhennan immediately backed down and fell silent.

Cheng Zongyang gave a helpless smile, then turned to his oldest cousin, Zhou Zhenyuan. "Eldest Brother, what about you? Any thoughts?"

Zhou Zhenyuan thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I don’t know about this. But I was thinking we might have a bit more freedom in the mountains? The problem would be food and water."

After a moment of silence, Zhou Zhendong, who was sitting to the side, couldn’t help but ask, "That’s it?"

Zhou Zhenyuan nodded. "That’s it. I don’t know what else to say."

Zhou Zhendong was long used to his quiet and honest older brother. Before Cheng Zongyang could even ask, he began to speak.

"I also think we should go to the County Town! Building houses and clearing land in the mountains would take at least a month or two. We’d also have to worry about finding water. There are no water sources left in the Outer Mountain unless we go searching in the Inner Mountain! But that’s no different from suicide."

Cheng Zongyang nodded. "Anything else?"

Hearing this, Zhou Zhendong felt his words were being validated, and his heart pounded with excitement.

"In the County Town, we can find work, so we won’t have to worry about earning money. We won’t have to fear refugees attacking the village, or worry about refugees seeing our cooking fires in the mountains and rushing in. Also... uh, that’s all."

Zhou Zhendong had been speaking with great enthusiasm, only to realize he had run out of things to say.

Zhou Hanchang, however, looked at the young man, quite pleased.

’He spoke well! Though his ideas about making money are a bit naive.’

Zhou Hansong, for his part, felt a little helpless.

’It can’t be helped. Among my own children, only my third son, Zhou Zhenqi, is clever, and he’s only eleven. The two older ones are both honest to a fault.’

’Of course, my youngest daughter, Xiaoxiao, is quite mischievous, influenced by her third brother and her second cousin, Zhou Zhennan. But what’s a little liveliness in a girl? It would be so much better if she learned to be quiet and gentle like her cousin Xiaomei.’

"Not bad." Cheng Zongyang didn’t hold back his praise. "Second Brother, you have your own ideas and pointed out some real problems. Impressive."

"Hahaha, not at all, not at all!" Zhou Zhendong scratched his head, a little embarrassed, his face turning red.

"Yang’Er, tell us what you’re thinking. Stop beating around the bush," Cheng Guanghai said then.

Cheng Zongyang fell silent for a moment, then looked at his first uncle, gesturing with his eyes toward his two older cousins and his younger cousin. The uncle understood his nephew’s meaning and immediately said to the three young men:

"You three head out for now. Keep an eye on the little ones and make sure there’s no trouble."

"Oh," Zhou Zhenyuan replied obediently and started to walk out.

Zhou Zhendong and Zhou Zhennan didn’t question the order either.

After Zhou Hansong went out and closed the door, he came to the bedside and asked, "What is it?"

Cheng Zongyang then gave a rough account of the matter concerning the Noble Families. His expression was grave as he said:

"This is my concern. The County Town was originally my first choice. But after this incident, I know the County Town isn’t as safe as we common folk imagine.

You only learn about the dirty little schemes of a social class once you’re high enough to interact with it.

If I hadn’t stumbled upon this matter by accident, common people like us would never have known this kind of danger existed.

Father, First Uncle, Second Uncle, I cannot agree to knowingly risk our family’s lives by taking them into the County Town when there are unknown dangers.

My idea is to settle in the mountains temporarily. Although building a new home will be difficult, the village is still relatively safe for now. I propose that I take my cousins and uncles into the mountains, clear out a spot, and build three wooden cabins for temporary shelter. We can gradually improve them later. We can get the basic structures built in less than a month.

Don’t worry about water. I’ll find some time to go into the Inner Mountain and look.

There are certainly many restrictions in the mountains. But if we can find a water source, we could create our own secluded haven for our family.

Without intelligence, without strength, without confidence, everything we do is like an ant trying to shake a tree."

"In the mountains?" Cheng Guanghai murmured. Seeing how earnestly his son spoke, he didn’t question it further.

"Yes!" Cheng Zongyang said. "There are many things we can do in the mountains. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

As for the house in the County Town, we’ll leave it for now. It can serve as a foothold for when we need to go into town on business. As long as Da Liang hasn’t collapsed, our ownership of the house is legal. And even if it does collapse, I can get it back!"

"There is one more thing, the most important of all." Cheng Zongyang looked at the three elders, his gaze burning, and said:

"I’ve obtained two recipes for medicinal baths. One is for building a foundation, and the other is a Martial Artist’s Cultivation Technique. I can’t be the only one in the family to pursue Martial Arts Training.

My plan is this: once we’re settled in the mountains, I will begin to train our own family’s Martial Artists!"

This time, Cheng Zongyang held nothing back, revealing his entire plan.

At this, all three men stared at Cheng Zongyang, utterly horrified.

Training their own Martial Artists!!

"Yang’Er, do you have any idea what you’re saying? You’re not even a Martial Artist yourself!" Cheng Guanghai’s expression was grim.

But he knew his son never made empty boasts and was always practical.

Yet now they were hearing someone who hadn’t even begun Martial Arts Training talk about training Martial Artists himself?

"I’m close!" Cheng Zongyang said. "I’m almost an Entry Grade Martial Artist."

At that, the three men fell completely silent, speechless for a long time.

The two brothers, Zhou Hansong and Zhou Hanchang, also wore solemn expressions.

’If the family had a Martial Artist, our situation would be completely different. But is that really possible?’

"Alright!" Cheng Guanghai finally nodded. He had no intention of arguing the point to death.

"Since you’re confident, I’ll leave the family’s arrangements to you."

To him, as long as the family was together, anywhere was home. Then, he returned to another question.

"Yang’Er, when did you acquire this house?"