Under One Person: One Person Goes

Chapter 6 July
Days pass one by one in this small water town.

Wang Yi, the strange man, settled down in this small town protected by the Sanyi Sect. The only person who kept him company was the beggar who had performed on the streets with him before. As for himself, he rarely performed on the streets. He would occasionally do some manual labor and run errands in the town to earn some pocket money.

Although the income was not high, it was enough to make ends meet, and from time to time he could help the beggars taken in by the Sanyi Sect and himself. Of course, Li Muxuan, who had seized the opportunity and returned another opportunity, would also come to trouble him, and behind Li Muxuan was always Lu Jin, the young master of the Lu family, one of the four famous families in the circle of extraordinary people.

Zuo Rutong just let the two little guys do whatever they wanted.

Just like Wang Yi said, he was a disciple of the Ghost Hand King Wang Yaozu, but not a so-called Quanxing disciple. He had no right to interfere if a formal disciple and a registered disciple of his went to visit an extraordinary person.

Every time Li Muxuan came, he was full of resentment and wanted to cause trouble for Wang Yi.

It's a pity that he didn't formally start practicing Qi, and only practiced boxing and kicking. Even without using Qi, Wang Yi could easily subdue him with the tricks he learned from the Ghost Hand King.

Every time after subduing Wang Yi, Li Muxuan would leave cursing, without saying whether he was convinced or not. After Li Muxuan left, Lu Jin would apologize to Wang Yi and look at Wang Yi with curiosity from time to time.

Unlike Li Muxuan's registered disciple who had not yet been accepted, Lu Jin had already passed the initial trial assessment and was taught the Three-in-One Magic Method of Reverse Rebirth by Zuo Ruotong. Although the method was difficult, it was not a big problem for Lu Jin, who was born in a famous family and had been influenced by it since childhood. Therefore, he successfully practiced Qi early and started to learn the Three-in-One Magic Method of Reverse Rebirth.

After practicing Qi and gaining entry into the art, Lu Jin discovered that this extraordinary senior brother in front of him named Wang Yi, looked ordinary, yet was just as unpredictable as his own master.

"Little Lu Jin, if you're still curious next time, just wait until your junior brother Li Muxuan leaves and we can have a quiet discussion. It's okay, it will be quick."

"No, Brother Wang, I can't beat you."

Little Lu Jin is not stupid. He has only been practicing Qi for a little over a year. No matter how good one's talent and physique are, if someone who has been practicing for a little over a year fights against someone who has been practicing for several years, you can tell what the result will be without even watching.

"Haha, you are quite sensible. Forget it, I won't tease you anymore. Hurry up and catch up with your junior brother."

Wang Yi smiled and waved his hand, watching the future big shot in the alien circle leave, and then he talked to himself.

"Master Zuo is using me as a whetstone to sharpen Li Muxuan's temper. When he is sharpened thoroughly, he can officially become the disciple of Sanyi Sect. Judging from the situation, Li Muxuan can no longer be a completely evil boy. I think Master Zuo should be able to avoid that death, right? Forget it, forget it. I don't want to think about it anymore. I have done what I can and should do. The rest depends on God's will."

Wang Yi could understand Zuo Rutong's approach. Since he lived in a small water town protected by the Sanyi Gate and had owed someone a favor, he should help with such a small favor.

Wang Yi returned to the room with his hands behind his back, looking at the Republic of China calendar hanging on the wall and the dates on it, remaining indifferent.

The next day, at Dongshan Academy in town.

"Mr. Dongshan, I need to ask for leave to go on a long journey."

"Yeah, sure. Come back as soon as possible."

"At the fastest, it will take half a month; at the slowest, it will take a month."

"The whole of July? Do you mind asking where we're going?"

"Jiaxing."
-
It is said that there is heaven above and Suzhou and Hangzhou below. Even in the years of the Republic of China when disasters occurred one after another, the areas around Suzhou and Hangzhou were still relatively peaceful.

Perhaps it was because the shadow of World War I had just disappeared, and the victorious nations were digesting the redivided pie under the established Versailles-Washington system.

But what is ridiculous and sad is that as a member of the victorious nations, the Republic of China was not on the list of those who ate the cake. She was the cake that was cut.

It's just that this time, due to the various protests that broke out in the past two years, this country, which was like a fish in the sea, had to struggle a little on the chopping board, making the great powers much more cautious when cutting, and also giving the poor people on this land a few more opportunities to catch their breath.

But as long as it is fish meat, it will eventually be cut by a knife. It’s just that the knife will change from cutting meat with a sharp knife to cutting meat with a blunt knife.

It's not that no one is aware of this, but some people stand by and watch, whitewashing the situation; some people are accomplices and become vassals of the great powers, sucking the blood of 400 million Chinese people on this Chinese land; there are also people with lofty ideals who are running around looking for a way to save the country.

Wang Yi is a man of the future. He knows that the earth-shaking changes will begin in the tenth year of the Republic of China.

He also knew that the road was bumpy and the result was beautiful, but this was a Republic of China that was the same but not similar. In this land and this world, there are minority groups called Yiren. Some of them hide in the world, some see injustice, but some are accomplices of the evil. After all, even in the 21st century where he once lived, there were bastards who collaborated with the enemy and sold out the country in those peaceful times. What's more, in this chaotic Republic of China where people don't know what will happen tomorrow, aren't there Yiren who are vassals of warlords and powers who are accomplices of the evil? Are there no scum in every Xuanmen orthodox school and Yiren school that hides in the city or the wild?

Wang Yi didn't believe it, so even though he knew the result early on, he couldn't help but go. If nothing happened, it would be fine, but if there were some blind people, he wouldn't mind seeing blood!

So when he knew the day was approaching, Wang Yi naturally had to make preparations first. He came to Dongshan College to seek Mr. Dongshan's permission for leave. After getting the permission, Wang Yi packed his luggage and left directly. He soon arrived at Jiaxing County, which was neither big nor small.

At that time, Jiaxing County was not yet the prefecture-level city it later became, but it was indeed not small. At least it was a bit of a pipe dream to want to walk around the county in a whole day by relying on foot.

Looking at the city gate building right in front of him, Wang Yi took a step forward, and walked in with anticipation, yearning, reverence, and a somewhat complicated pilgrimage mood.
-
July is a month of scorching heat and also the rainy season.

In this not-too-large county town, a scene that is common in this era is being played out.

People were coming and going on the crowded streets, and the hawking of vendors was heard constantly. Mixed in with the hawking were several beggars in tattered clothes, about eight or nine years old, with straw tags stuck in their hair. In front of these beggars was a woman greeting passers-by.

"Sell a child, a child who can run and jump. Take a look. If you take a boy back to do hard labor, a girl can be a good servant girl. Not expensive, one hundred copper coins each."

The passers-by were unmoved and only focused on what was happening in front of them. The girls who knew they were going to be sold either remained silent or burst into tears, which attracted the pointing and commenting of the prostitutes in the attics on both sides of the street, some of whom looked pitiful.

If young beggars are still likely to be wanted, then the old beggars who are almost naked and smelly are opposite the beggars who are being sold. Mosquitoes are flying around their heads, like vultures waiting for their prey to die. It can be said that the present of these old beggars is the future of the beggars who cannot be sold. The sad thing is that even as the future of the old beggars, these beggars may not live to that age.

The sudden downpour disrupted the chaotic yet orderly rhythm of the town.

Perhaps the people here are used to the rainy season. Before the rain gets heavier, they either put on straw raincoats or hold up umbrellas and cover themselves with oilcloth and rush home. The originally bustling market is deserted in this heavy rain.

Pedestrians were hurrying, vendors were walking and stopping, and shouts and scolding could be heard from time to time.

Suddenly, there was the sound of horse hooves coming from far away. It was a group of cavalry preparing to leave the city in the rain.

They wore conical hats and carried genuine Mauser rifles, with large German-made box guns and Mauser pistols on their waists.

Such a configuration is not something that any soldier can have. At the very least, only the guards of a regiment commander can have it.

The cavalrymen rode through the streets in the rain, waving their whips, sometimes hitting the air, sometimes lashing the unfortunate pedestrians on the side of the road, but never hitting the horses' backs.

No one would mess with these cavalrymen with guns. Those who were hit could only secretly cry out in bad luck, and kept moving their feet, dodging quickly, hoping that these plague gods would leave quickly. The already chaotic streets became even more chaotic under the disturbance of this team of cavalrymen. The fishmonger's car fell to the side of the road without dodging, and the fish in the bucket fell to the ground, which prompted the fishmonger to pick up the knife in his hand and stare at everyone who came over.

The buns that fell to the ground, were softened by the rain, and were crushed by the mud and big feet, almost becoming one with the earth. The old beggar who seemed dead lying on the street was awakened at this moment, pounced on it, picked up the bun that was rotten in the soil, and stuffed it into his mouth.

In a slightly wider square on the street, a well-dressed young man from a wealthy family was sitting in a car, eating a hot pancake through the car window, watching everything that was happening indifferently. The housekeeper next to him was carefully wiping his mouth with a handkerchief. Just across the window, they were actually in two different worlds.

Amid the heavy rain, there was a man holding an umbrella, swimming upstream among the crowds of people who were rushing around, frantically trying to hide from the rain and the soldiers.

Wherever he passed, there seemed to be an invisible force, an invisible hand sorting out the pedestrians who were hiding from the rain and the soldiers, but no one noticed anything unusual.

The pedestrians were no longer as panicked as before, and the cavalrymen also passed him sideways. There were not many obstacles ahead, and they did not need to whip again.

An old beggar who was picking food on the street had a fresh meat bun in his hand. The owner of the meat bun shop found three more copper coins in his bowl. The woman who was reluctant but had to sell her children was pushed aside by the crowd along with her children. While looking after her children who were about to be sold, she found a silver dollar in her pocket for no reason. She quickly put it away, pulled out the grass tag on the child's head, and hurried away with the child.

The live fish that the fishmonger had scattered on the street jumped back into the bucket at some point. The fishmonger didn't care whether it was a favor from the Dragon King or something else, and hurriedly pushed his cart out of the city.

The cavalry hurried out of the city, and the scattered order in the streets seemed to become orderly again, but the old beggar was still lying there waiting to die after eating the meat buns, the woman who sold her children and the children were gone, and the rich young master in the car was still watching this scene without any feeling.

Only a young man holding an umbrella, wearing a mandarin jacket and shorts appeared in this county town where the storm was about to gather.

(End of this chapter)