Martial Arts: Start by Obtaining the Wild World

Chapter 123 0122: Persuading the refugees; saving Li Ze

Half an hour later, when everyone was holding their bowls and sipping the fragrant meat and vegetable porridge, Cheng Zongyang was also sitting somewhere.

He warned me not to eat too much, lest my stomach could not take it and I get sick.

Because of Cheng Zongyang's power, although everyone was anxious, they could only drink the porridge obediently and quietly, but their eyes would drift towards the big iron pot from time to time.

If Cheng Zongyang hadn't pressed them, they would have swallowed the porridge in their bowls in just a few mouthfuls, no matter how hot it was.

A quarter of an hour later, Cheng Zongyang saw that everyone had finished eating and were still staring at the meat porridge in the big pot, and sighed:

"Don't worry, the porridge will still be yours tomorrow morning. Next, listen to what I say."

Seeing that everyone was quiet and didn't dare to speak, looking timid, Cheng Zongyang's tone slowed down and continued:
"The chaos in the county is beyond your imagination. If you continue to stay here, you will either die or be driven out of the county again. Because the county cannot accommodate so many refugees.

I am not from the county either. This time I came to take some people to a place where our family is based.

When you get there, you will have enough food to eat, meat to eat, a house to live in, and fields to farm in the future.

When you get there, you will have your own home and live a better life than before. You can even learn to read and become a warrior. There are warriors to protect you, and you will not be bullied by refugees.

There is also a requirement, that is, you cannot leave at will after arriving at the place. If you follow me tomorrow, it means that you agree with what I say, and you can't regret it at will.

If you enter our family's territory and then want to go back on your word and leave, don't blame me for turning my back on you."

Everyone listened to Cheng Zongyang's words with expectant looks on their faces, but no one dared to speak. They just watched timidly.

Cheng Zongyang shook his head slightly: "You should rest early. Save this porridge for tomorrow morning. After the city gate is opened, I will take you away. Of course, if you don't want to leave, you can stay here and wait for death. I won't stop you. Rest well so that you will have the strength to travel tomorrow."

After saying that, Cheng Zongyang stood up and walked out, but at this time he reminded them: "Don't go to the backyard, just find a place to sleep in the front yard."

As soon as Cheng Zongyang left, the ninety people present all breathed a sigh of relief.

The pressure from Cheng Zongyang was so overwhelming that they didn't dare to say a word, or even breathe.

Now, most of the ninety people present were looking at each other, not knowing what to say.

Some people have already stood up and found a place to lie down and rest.

There were two cooks watching over the porridge. No one could eat more without Cheng Zongyang's order. But there were still many people staring at it.

"The adults said we can't eat it because it's for our own good."

One of the old cooks said with a relaxed look on his face, "We haven't had enough to eat for how long, and we haven't had oily food for how long. The adults sympathize with us, and are afraid that we will die of overeating, and that our stomachs can't take it, so they cook thick porridge instead of dry rice. Also, the meat they give us is only lean meat, not fat, otherwise we would all have diarrhea tonight."

"Old man, so you are leaving with the master tomorrow?" The middle-aged cook was lying on the ground, with a relaxed smile on his face after leaving his hometown, traveling through mountains and rivers, and witnessing all kinds of tragedies in the past few months.

"Hahaha, if the lord wants even an old man like me, it means he really needs someone." The old cook smiled, revealing his face with high cheekbones.

"Then, does that mean we become slaves?" A weak male voice sounded from the crowd.

"You don't have to think too much about these. Just think about whether you want to live or die. That adult is right. There are too many people in the county. I can't compete with those young and strong people, so I can only hide here and go to the soup kitchen every day to get some food and barely survive. I'll live as long as I can. Who wants to die when they can live..."

The old cook finished his last words, sighed deeply, then walked to the door of the room and lay down in the corridor.

The crowd suddenly fell silent.

At this time, there was a boy in the crowd, about twelve or thirteen years old. He took the hand of the girl next to him and whispered, "Sister, are we going with him tomorrow?"

The voice was very low, but it seemed a little abrupt in this quiet environment. Many people looked at the two of them.

The girl didn't wash her face, nor did she dare to. Although she was skinny, she was only sixteen or seventeen years old. Although her face was not particularly pretty, she was tall and short, and if she didn't disguise herself, she would only hurt herself. So she could only uglier herself and make herself look like a boy.

But when she heard her brother reveal his identity, she quickly covered her brother's mouth, not daring to speak. She looked at the people around her nervously and carefully, and then pulled her brother to a corner to sit down.

Seeing that no one else paid attention to them, the girl breathed a sigh of relief, hugged her brother, and whispered:

"You let it slip again! Call me brother! Also, go with the adults. We have no one to rely on in the city, and we are afraid that we will be killed by others one day. Even if we become a slave, we can live well. Dad and Mom told us to survive."

"..."

In the west of the city, in front of Li’s Winery.

Cheng Zongyang looked at the gate that had been damaged, repaired and then hung again, took a detour to the back door, and knocked on it.

Such cases of shops being vandalized are common and there is nothing surprising about them.

Seeing that there was no movement inside and considering the time, Cheng Zongyang didn't dare to shout loudly.

He looked around and easily jumped over the wall into the backyard. The next moment, he saw several people in the backyard holding axes and sticks, nervously and quietly looking at the back door, as if they were on guard against refugees breaking in through the back door.

But when they saw someone actually climbed over the wall and entered, their faces changed. When they were about to rush towards Cheng Zongyang with the weapons in their hands, Cheng Zongyang spoke first:

"Is Li Ze here? I'm his friend."

After hearing the familiar name and the word "friend", the men stopped and the middle-aged man in the lead asked in doubt:
"Who are you? What do you want from my son?!"

The leader was a relatively wealthy middle-aged man holding an iron fork in his hand, and he asked vigilantly.

Cheng Zongyang sighed and said, "You don't know me, so there's no point in explaining. Just ask him to come out and talk to me."

However, the middle-aged man said coldly: "My son has an epidemic and is not here!!"

Cheng Zongyang paused, "He is not here because he got the disease. Where did he go? Or did you chase him away somewhere?"

Although Li Ze was born to a concubine and was the third son in the family and was not given much attention, he never thought that he would be so cold and indifferent.

Since I met Li Ze, I knew that he had been working in the winery. He was very hardworking. However, he could understand these people's actions, seeking good fortune and avoiding danger. Anyone would probably do the same.

"Hmph, if you get the disease and don't get away from it, are you going to kill your whole family?!" a young man snorted.

Cheng Zongyang pointed the sword at the other person and said, "Tell me where he went. Otherwise, I will kill you first!"

The young man was startled and quickly retreated behind the crowd.

"He and his mother went to the old house, which is at No. 17, Lane 11, Nantang, in the south of the city." At this time, Li's father sighed.

Cheng Zongyang stared at the other person, without saying anything, turned around, took advantage of the force to jump, climbed over the wall and left.

"He is indeed a warrior!"

Father Li wiped the sweat from his forehead. He had guessed this just now, so he told him directly.

After Cheng Zongyang left, he turned back and rushed back to the south of the city.

But this time, he found some time to go back to his residence and took out ten large bags of Lotus Qingwen Powder from the Wilderness World warehouse, which he had asked his second uncle to prepare as backup.

Everyone in the yard fell silent again after he came back.

He looked at the people in the courtyard and asked, "Who has the plague or a high fever? I have medicine here."

Suddenly, five people appeared in the crowd with their hands raised. At this point, the faces of the others who were not injured changed, and they all moved away, staring at those who raised their hands with anger. If Cheng Zongyang hadn't been here, I'm afraid they would have killed someone!

Instead of running away from the disease, he actually ate and lived with them!! Are they trying to kill everyone!?

Cheng Zongyang took one pack and gave the remaining nine packs to the old cook, saying:

"Put cold water in the pot, bring it to a boil and continue to cook for about a hundred breaths. Then, those who are not sick can drink a small bowl of it, which can prevent and treat the disease. Those who are sick can drink a large bowl of it, which can cure the disease. They should all be drunk while it is hot."

The old cook showed a delighted expression and asked quickly, "Sir, how much water should I add?"

"Just add the amount I just mentioned. The dosage of these medicines is ten people per pack. It's enough."

"Yes, thank you, sir!" The old cook bowed quickly.

Cheng Zongyang shook his head slightly, turned and left.

A moment later, Cheng Zongyang followed the address and came to the old house that Li's father mentioned.

I knocked on the door, but there was almost no response.

Cheng Zongyang's face darkened, and he climbed over the wall again, and immediately a musty and foul smell emanated from inside. This made Cheng Zongyang feel uneasy.

He reappeared from the kitchen into the wilderness world, holding a torch in his hand.

I lit the torch and went into the main room to look around. It was a mess and no one was there. I went into the inner room with the light of the torch and the stench instantly became stronger.

But it wasn't the smell of a corpse, it was the smell of feces and urine.

Holding his breath, he came to the bedside and saw Li Ze, who was almost unrecognizable due to the outbreak of the epidemic. He looked so skinny that he was almost like a candle in the wind.

There was almost no reaction to Cheng Zongyang's coming in.

Cheng Zongyang frowned and immediately went to another room to check. It turned out that Li Ze's mother was almost in the same condition and was about to die.

"How did this mother and son survive!" Cheng Zongyang frowned and returned home, bringing a couple with him.

"There's water in the yard. Please help clean it up. I'm going to give them medicine later."

As he spoke, Cheng Zongyang personally boiled water and cooked medicine.

He is not a doctor, so in this situation, he can only leave it to fate.

He went to Li's Winery originally to buy wine, but after hearing that Li Ze was kicked out, he realized that his purpose was to take him back!
Li Ze knows how to make wine, not only grain wine, but also fruit wine. He is almost the only one in charge of the Li Family Winery. It's a pity that he is not taken seriously.

In the future, wine became an extremely important commodity for Cheng Zongyang.

He can not only make rice wine from wine, but also make strong wine, alcohol, etc. Alcohol can not only be used for disinfection, but also as fuel and perfume.

Of course, more importantly, medicinal wine requires more wine!
Then Li Ze, who understands winemaking techniques, is more important.

The couple brought by Cheng Zongyang couldn't resist and cleaned up the situation for themselves.

After Cheng Zongyang prepared the medicine, he fed it to them in several doses with some difficulty.

Perhaps it was the temperature of the medicine, or perhaps it was the water content of the medicine, that made Li Ze more alert. But he was still dazed.

After doing all this, Cheng Zongyang did not intend to let the couple go back and continued to take care of them. Although the couple was worried about the two children in the courtyard, they did not dare to say much and could only stay here to take care of them.

When it was almost midnight, Cheng Zongyang went back to his residence and waited for Li Lu to come over.

Li Lu also arrived on time.

He brought a new yamen runner with him, who pulled a cart to the door.

"This is my nephew, he's new, don't worry." Li Lu explained when he saw Cheng Zongyang.

Cheng Zongyang nodded slightly. It was normal for Li Lu to become a constable and train his own people.

It was just that Li Lu was a little confused when he saw so many people in the yard, but seeing that Cheng Zongyang had no intention of explaining, he did not ask any more questions.

"Four nines, two eights." Li Lu whispered, "The clothes are color-coded. By the way, my men checked what you told me. It was indeed a mother and her son, but when we looked it up on the roster later, we found that they were already dead. They were beaten to death by the refugees, who then occupied the house. I have dealt with them all."

"clear."

Cheng Zongyang nodded slightly. He had expected this news. Li Lu's family was in trouble, let alone the two of them who were orphans and widows.

You can tell Ma San about this later.

So the three of them carried the bodies packed in sacks to the backyard.

When the refugees saw that it was actually two officials who came, they were so angry that they dared not even utter a word.

After the bodies were placed in the room, Cheng Zongyang took out the medicine powder he had prepared long ago.

These were all medicinal materials for the medicinal bath, but Cheng Zongyang had pounded them into powder using a stone mortar and mixed them together. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find out what the ingredients were.

"Here are thirty packets of medicinal powder. Take one packet a day for the medicinal bath. This is enough for a month. I have written the method in the booklet. Follow it strictly. Remember, you must follow it strictly. Otherwise, if you fail, it will be your problem."

Seeing Cheng Zongyang speaking so seriously, Li Lu nodded solemnly: "Don't worry, I will read the contents of the booklet carefully before proceeding."

"I'll come back and check the situation in a month." Cheng Zongyang said.

"Okay!" Li Lu didn't stay long and left with his things.

Cheng Zongyang was also excited when he looked at the six corpses.

The three soul crystals in the market hut were already prepared, just waiting for the corpse.

He took them into the market hut and then rushed to Li Ze's house again.

The bodies were still warm, indicating that they had died not long ago. As for the body that he had left behind, although it had been preserved in the hut, he didn't know if it could be used after such a long time.

If it is feasible, I'm afraid... I will have to take on another business of collecting corpses.

"Sir, the young man is awake. I fed him some porridge and water as you requested. He fell asleep again. But the woman is probably dead."

After entering the house, Cheng Zongyang heard the couple's respective reports.

"Thank you for your hard work. Your children are safe. I have assured you so."

"Thank you, sir." The couple felt relieved and came to express their gratitude.

Time passed quickly and it was the end of the Yin hour. Cheng Zongyang, who was practicing basic swordsmanship in the yard, suddenly heard some noise coming from inside.

Cheng Zongyang stopped the knife in his hand, turned his head to look towards the door of the main hall, and walked in immediately.

The couple who were dozing off in the yard were also awakened and hurried in.

(End of this chapter)