Martial Arts: I Have a Wilderness World-Chapter 71: Mrs. Chen of the Cheng Family’s Decisiveness

Chapter 71: Chapter 71: Mrs. Chen of the Cheng Family’s Decisiveness

"This... this water! So much water...!" Zhou Zhennan was incredibly excited.

The others were just as excited. They hadn’t heard the sound of flowing water like this in two years.

"Be careful, everyone. Stay away from the pit—it’s about fifteen feet deep. You don’t want to fall in," Cheng Zongyang reminded them with a smile.

The women looked after the children while organizing their belongings. The men began clearing a spot for the elders and children to rest.

"This is a good spot. The ground is fairly level," Zhou Hansong said with satisfaction after a brief look around.

"Wait until you see it in the daylight tomorrow. You’ll like it even more," Cheng Zongyang said with a smile.

After that, the small talk died down.

They started by lighting several bonfires to provide light and warmth for their camp.

At Cheng Zongyang’s direction, he had his two older cousins lead a few of the children with torches to scorch the ground. This would kill or drive away any surface insects and prevent them from crawling around and biting anyone.

Taking out the tools they had brought, his two uncles prepared to fell some trees.

Cheng Zongyang spoke up, "Chopping down trees now will take too long. I left some bamboo on the other side. I’ll go drag it over. The two of you can just focus on clearing the ground and digging holes."

"Alright!" The two Zhou brothers agreed without another word.

So Cheng Zongyang went to the other side and retrieved the pre-cut bamboo from his Wilderness World.

Many hands make light work.

With the help of six or seven people, they erected a simple, sloped-roof bamboo house of about two hundred square meters in less than an hour.

As it was only a temporary shelter, looks weren’t important. It just needed to provide basic protection from the wind and rain.

Cheng Zongyang took out a bag of Insect Repellent Medicine and sprinkled it around the inside of the house, driving out all the insects hiding in the ground.

By now, it was the dead of night, sometime between one and three in the morning.

With a plentiful supply of clean water, everyone quickly washed up. A few adults remained outside while the others went to rest inside the bamboo house.

Cheng Zongyang briefly outlined his plan for the near future to the group.

In short, he would be responsible for moving all their belongings, while the others would clear the land and build proper houses. This would speed up their return to a normal life.

He would bring up necessities like rice, flour, grains, and oil as soon as possible.

Everyone agreed to Cheng Zongyang’s plan.

Afterward, Cheng Guanghai volunteered to stand the first watch, and the others went to sleep.

「The next morning.」

After a quick wash, Cheng Zongyang warned the adults and children not to cross the river, then headed down the mountain alone to move more of their things.

Zhou Hansong surveyed the area, very pleased with what he saw.

"I have to admit, the place Yang’er found is incredible. Once we clear it out, it’ll be a fantastic spot for both living and farming."

Even though he had been up all night, Cheng Guanghai didn’t feel sleepy.

He had also surveyed their surroundings. Once the trees were cleared, this would be an excellent new home.

"Alright, brother-in-law. You go get some rest. Hanchang and I will start on the trees.

Zhenyuan, Zhendong, you two use the bamboo brooms your aunt made to sweep the ground clear. Pay attention and watch out for bugs."

"Yes, Father," and "Yes, Uncle," Zhou Zhenyuan and Zhou Zhendong replied in unison.

They assigned a few more tasks and then everyone got to work.

Cheng Zongyang took a shortcut down the mountain.

The path they’d taken yesterday had been chosen for the sake of the elders and children.

Now that he was alone, he didn’t need such a gentle path. He reached the entrance to the village in less than half an hour.

He looked at the quiet village. Even the occasional wisp of cooking smoke from days past was gone.

As he walked down the village path, the only sound that echoed through the streets was his own footsteps. Other than that, there was only silence.

The silence was chilling.

He made his way to his house, went inside, and bolted the door.

Next, he had to organize everything for a single, convenient pickup.

「In the South City district of the County Town, inside a home tucked away in an alley.」

A weary-looking Li Lu walked through his front door.

He took off his government official’s uniform, draped it over a chair in the main room, and sat down beside it in silence.

"Husband, how are things?"

Mrs. Wang of the Li Family, who had been on edge all night, shut the door and hurried into the main room to ask.

Li Lu didn’t speak for a long moment.

"Go to the clinic and find Mrs. Cheng. Tell her I can’t get in contact with Doctor Cheng right now, but from what I’ve been able to gather, he should be alright."

Mrs. Wang of the Li Family said anxiously, "Is this really the time to be worrying about them?! We need to be thinking about what to do about this plague! Why don’t we leave the County Town? We could go south to Furong County, or even north to Bowan County..."

"That’s enough!"

Li Lu, his heart fraught with anxiety, cut her off with a shout:

"Go to another county town and starve? Do you think anywhere else is better? There’s no safe place in times like these! At least here, I have my government post and we won’t go hungry!

And another thing! If you don’t want our entire family dragged away, then you’ll keep your mouth shut! If you get our son involved in this, I swear... I swear I’ll... I’ll divorce you!"

At his roar, Mrs. Wang of the Li Family was frightened into silence.

For a moment, his shout chased away all the fear and anxiety she’d felt through the night. Finally, with reddened eyes, she stammered, "I... I know. It’s just, at a time like this... instead of worrying about outsiders, shouldn’t we be making plans for our own family?"

Li Lu sighed, his voice softening. "Did you not hear the rest of what I said last night? As long as we’re in this County Town, we’re going to need a doctor.

By helping his family now, I’m also helping our own!

If the plague really spreads, a doctor will be our only hope for survival. If we get infected, at least we’ll have built up some goodwill with the Cheng Family. They’ll be more likely to help us.

In any case, we do what we can and leave the rest to fate. The Cheng Family aren’t the type to be ungrateful." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

This time, Mrs. Wang of the Li Family understood. She spoke in a low voice,

"I... I’ll go right now."

Li Lu then asked, "How much money do we have left?"

"We still have thirty-two taels, five mace, and eighty-five cash," Mrs. Wang of the Li Family replied immediately.

Li Lu nodded slightly at her words. After accounting for his official and unofficial income, subtracting the costs of his martial arts practice and household expenses, what they had saved was quite decent.

"Give me twenty-two taels this afternoon. I’ll pull some strings to get a better price and buy more rice and flour to stockpile."

Mrs. Wang of the Li Family nodded in agreement.

She then hurried out of the house and made her way to Cheng’s Clinic.

「Cheng’s Clinic.」

"Mother, what are we doing?" Cheng Zongwen asked, watching with some confusion as his mother bustled around the room all morning.

Mrs. Chen of the Cheng Family hadn’t told her children what was happening. After a sleepless night of worry, she had made her decision.

In response to her son’s question, Mrs. Chen of the Cheng Family looked at the worried faces of her three children and forced a smile:

"Your father has gone to the Government Office to treat a patient. I don’t expect he’ll be back anytime soon. Things are very busy at home, and we’re closing the clinic for a few days, so I’m taking you all to stay at your uncle’s house for a little while. Your father will come get you when he returns."

"Oh, good!"

Ten-year-old Cheng Zongyan didn’t overthink it. Unaware of the situation in either the County Town or the village, she was simply overjoyed at the thought of going to the village to play with her cousins.

’But the two older children could see that the family was in trouble and that they were being sent to the village to take refuge.’

"Mother, I don’t want to go," Cheng Zongwen said with a frown.

"Be good. The carriage has already been hired. We’ll be leaving shortly," Mrs. Chen of the Cheng Family said in a tone that brooked no refusal.

’She had to do this.’

’The village might be in chaos, but it’s far safer than the County Town!’

’The first signs of plague had appeared, and her husband had been taken away by men from the Government Office, his situation unknown. She couldn’t risk leaving her children in the County Town.’