Super Soldier in the City-Chapter 1394 - 1443: Seeking the Hermit Without Success

Li Yifei came out quickly and soon found the guide, who was eating a boxed meal. Seeing Li Yifei coming out, he quickly put down the meal and came over to greet him.

Li Yifei was a big client. This trip alone had earned him ten thousand, and he only needed to take care of him for a day or two, like money falling from the sky, so he naturally had to take good care of Li Yifei. However, he didn’t expect Li Yifei to come out so quickly; he thought it would take another hour or two.

"Mr. Li, you’re out so soon, have you visited all the spots?"

"I’ve seen them. Maybe I’m not too interested in Buddhism, so I walked quickly."

"Whether you believe in Buddhism or not, I don’t know. But I know one should believe in themselves. If you don’t, and still go to pray to gods and Buddhas, such a person is really dull."

Li Yifei chuckled, got into the car, and seeing the boxed meal, said, "Go ahead and eat. We can leave after you’ve finished."

"This... Mr. Li, are you hungry? I can go get you one."

"That works, thank you!"

After they finished the boxed meals, the guide turned the car around and headed towards Cang Village. On this trip to the Shaolin Temple, although Li Yifei didn’t get news of the linguist, he did understand Buddhist mantras. The Zen sounds of the White-Browed Old Monk affected him several times, and mantras and linguist go hand in hand. As the old monk said, Buddhism needs to be recorded in words, and words need to be spoken.

This seemed like guidance, but Li Yifei hadn’t realized it yet.

The car headed towards Cang Village, and on the way, the guide made two phone calls, arranging local reception. Li Yifei then realized that Cang Village was somewhat modernized. When they arrived and Li Yifei went inside, he was greatly disappointed. The village was still a village but had been repaired to look neither here nor there, and there were basically no tourists.

Due to road construction, Cang Village was divided in two, and the ancestral temple mentioned by the guide was moved and rebuilt.

The village’s population wasn’t large. When they saw Li Yifei, it wasn’t surprising, and no one came over to say anything.

Li Yifei walked on his own for a while, exuding his presence, but felt nothing. Probably no one else could sense him because this village was made up of ordinary people, with neither Buddhist aura nor other essences.

Rumor had it that Cang Village held several treasures. One is a relic of Cang Jie; said to be a soft stone used to create characters. Its material is unknown, but one could write and draw on it. However, it’s unproven, sounding more like today’s memory metals that can automatically regenerate. Another is the iron firewood, and there’s a tale that Cang Village hides a purely golden head. The story goes that long ago, a Cang family member was an official and was killed by rebel farmers, who took his head. The emperor, remembering the Cang family for their service to the country, gifted a gold human head. But no one knew where it was buried. Some say it’s in the Kitten Temple, with villagers seeing it glow at night, while others say it’s in the old cemetery. To this day, the golden head hasn’t been found.

On his way to Cang Village, Li Yifei saw two stolen pits, and the guide cursed for quite a while.

Walking by a household, Li Yifei saw an old man sitting at the entrance, seeming over eighty, perhaps older. The elder’s eyes were half-opened, half-closed, nearly asleep, nodding his head at the door. When Li Yifei approached, the elder merely glanced at him then closed his eyes again.

Li Yifei wiped his nose, approached, squatted down, and said with a smile, "Old man, sorry to disturb."

The elder opened his eyes again, glanced at him, said nothing, but this time didn’t close his eyes either. frёewebnoѵēl.com

Li Yifei said, "I’m here to find descendants of the Cang Family. Can I ask, who in this village is a descendant of the Cang Family?"

The elder’s cloudy eyes rolled upwards, glared at Li Yifei, opened his mouth to reveal a single front tooth, and replied hoarsely, "I am, why?"

Li Yifei was delighted at heart and hurriedly asked, "I’m looking for descendants of the Saint Master Cang Jie. Are you the one?"

Unexpectedly, the elder immediately shook his head and said, "No, Cang is Cang, Cang Jie is Cang Jie." After speaking, he gave Li Yifei a disdainful look.

When Li Yifei saw the elder showing hostility, he hurriedly explained, "But isn’t this Cang Village rumored to be Cang Jie’s hometown? Old man, are you teasing me? I mean no harm, just have some special matters, and need to find descendants of Cang Jie."

The old man spat, almost hitting Li Yifei’s foot, and waved his hand agitatedly, shouting to Li Yifei, "I don’t care if you’re good or bad. I’m telling you, this is indeed Cang Village, but there are no Cang Jie or treasures, just us old bones. If you want them, take them."

This... Li Yifei was somewhat taken aback by the old man’s sudden outburst. After a few seconds, he recovered. Li Yifei held his hands up, saying, "Old man, calm down, calm down. I truly mean no harm, and I don’t know about any treasures. I just need to find Cang Jie’s descendants for some reason."

The old man completely ignored Li Yifei’s explanation, grabbed a handful of dirt, and flung it at him, cursing, "Get out."

Just as Li Yifei was about to explain, he saw a teenage boy, around seventeen or eighteen, burst out of a nearby house. The boy, holding a shovel, ran between them, blocking Li Yifei with a face full of anger.

"Seventh Uncle, are you alright?" the boy asked before shouting at Li Yifei, "Get out quickly, Cang Village doesn’t welcome you."

Li Yifei frowned. He certainly wasn’t afraid of a kid with a shovel, but he wondered why the old man was suddenly so hostile towards him.

In a flash, a few more people rushed out, both men and women, all holding weapons and glaring at Li Yifei, making it seem like he had bullied the old man. With the support of the clan members, the old man got up and looked at Li Yifei, saying, "Even if it costs our lives, we will not let you succeed!"

This statement left Li Yifei even more confused. He still tried to explain, "Everyone, I mean no harm. I’m just here in Cang Village to look for the descendants of the Cang Family. It’s indeed an important matter, but if it can’t be helped, it’s alright. I can leave, there’s no need to be so upset."

A woman shouted, "Then hurry up and go. Cang Village does not welcome any outsiders now."

Li Yifei nodded and said, "Alright, I’ll leave then. But I truly have no ill intentions. I’m just here to find someone, and if I can’t, I will naturally leave. Please, don’t be angry, elder."

Saying this, Li Yifei turned around to leave. He had just taken a few steps when he saw a child running from outside, shouting as he ran, "Seventh Great Uncle, it’s bad, those people are back again! They brought excavators and bulldozers. There are many vehicles and a lot of people."

As soon as the child spoke, the men, women, old, and young behind him all changed their expressions simultaneously.

The old man, also known as Seventh Uncle to everyone, gritted his teeth, full of anger, and cursed, "Those damned people." After cursing, the old man snatched a stick from a child’s hand nearby, held it firmly, and shouted to the people in the village, "Everyone, follow me. If they dare to make a move today, we’ll fight them to the end!"

"Yes, fight them, those damned bastards!"

"Seventh Uncle, you should stay home; we’ll go reason with them."

"Seventh Uncle, I can protect the village; you stay home."

The people chattered eagerly, but their hostility towards Li Yifei did not lessen a bit. Li Yifei even felt that if he didn’t leave, he might be beaten with sticks by these people.

But precisely because there might be trouble, Li Yifei felt he couldn’t leave; he had to figure out what was actually happening.

Seventh Uncle pushed away the child supporting him and took two steps forward, telling the clan members, "I’m not going back. I’m an old bag of bones, long unafraid of death. If those people dare to make a move today, let me be the first to sacrifice my life for Cang Village, so I can face our ancestors when I’m underground."

After saying this, the old man headed outside the village, and immediately, the clan members followed. Some even ran out to call other clan members.

Most of Cang Village’s able-bodied adults had gone out to work. This was a very peculiar place in Central Plains City. The land was barren, with scarce rain, often months during the dry season without a drop. There was plenty of land, but it was mostly desert and couldn’t produce much grain, so the young and strong all chose to go out to work.

However, during the Qing Dynasty, Cang Village was quite extraordinary. The clan member from Saint’s Bloodline was exceptionally bright and studious from a young age, praised by the local community. In the 33rd year of Qianlong (1768), he passed the provincial exam, and in the 36th year (1771), he became a successful candidate in the highest imperial exams, being appointed as a compiler in the Hanlin Academy. During the Kangxi and Qianlong Golden Age, Saint’s Bloodline served as the chief proofreader for the "Complete Library in Four Sections," specifically the chief proofreader of the Wuying Hall.

Moreover, Cang Zhaoxiang served as the Inspectorate of Circuit Intendance, while Cang Zhaoduan, Cang Ershuang, and Cang Erzhuang were magistrates. Cang En’guan served as the county education director. Cang Erpin and others were also renowned scholars. Even the former principal of Capital Normal University, Cang Xiaohe, was a descendant of Cang Hanlin. Since the Cang family were officials, they were very prestigious. People from nearby ten villages and eight hamlets, when going far, only had to say they were from the village, and others would show respect, and no one dared to bully them. The firewood sellers in Central Plains City were unchecked, earning the saying "The poles of Cang Village can rule Central Plains."

It’s just that now Cang Village has fallen into decline, to the point of being almost completely overlooked.

Even bearing the identity of descendants of Cang Jie has not brought any improvement.

The people of the village all came out, whether elderly or children, women or infants, each holding a weapon. There were clubs, shovels, picks, kitchen knives, and even someone holding a hunting knife of indeterminate age, rusty all over. The knife holder was a child only seven or eight years old. The hunting knife was heavy for him, but the hatred etched on the child’s face was intense enough to shock Li Yifei.

Li Yifei was curious about what exactly had happened to cause such hatred among the entire village. These people gathered together, heading outside the village, while Li Yifei was instead ignored. He decided to follow them.

There were at least fifty to sixty people, making quite a formidable force in appearance, but they had no real combat power, mostly consisting of the old, children, and women. Following behind them, Li Yifei was actually the one with the highest combat capability.

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