Chapter 34: Master Zhou's Death
Jiang Ming walked into town and felt as if it had been a lifetime.
The street had widened a lot, and there were bright and beautiful houses on both sides of the street. The bustling scene was dense; occasionally, old, thatched houses could be seen in the middle, but they were blocked by the shadows of the tall houses as if they had disappeared.
"Everyone, you must work hard. When this place is developed in the future, we can easily earn a lot of silver."
"I'm talking to you, don't be lazy!"
On the construction site, the supervisor was loudly urging the laborers to work. When he saw someone tired and resting, he changed his expression and scolded sternly.
"My lord, can we really go in and work after this house is built?"
A simple, honest-looking old man with a hunched back was trying his best to move the marble floor tiles. The veins on his forehead were popping out, but he still grinned and asked, his eyes full of anticipation.
The supervisor's eyes flashed with ridicule and disgust, but he still smiled. "Of course, the city's lords can just casually throw away silver, and that's all shining white silver. You can pick up whatever you want, but I'm telling you, those sly and sneaky people will definitely not want it."
"Alright, I'll definitely work hard!" the old man revealed his yellow teeth and thought to himself, "It's the right thing to do by giving this land to the master in the city to build a house. Not only can I get one tael of silver, but I can also work at the master's house to earn money."
Jiang Ming looked at the scene expressionlessly and sighed in his heart, "The old men from the city came to the small town to build a grand and beautiful castle, but only the rich can live in it. However, if he were to rush up to the laborers and say these things, he would probably be drowned in spittle. They would say that he was jealous of them.
He shook his head and continued to walk forward. A group of people walked past the main road and soon arrived at the new branch of Tiger Hunting Village. It was a house that was already half-built, and a horse carriage was waiting outside.
Jiang Ming remembered the original place of the house. It seemed to be a deserted mountain. It seemed that Tiger Hunting Village had put in a lot of effort to clean it up.
"Mr. Peng, why are we building a branch here?" Wang Dong asked curiously after loading all his prey into the carriage.
Peng Lu glanced at him and was just about to scold him for being a busybody, but then he caught a glimpse of the other people's curious expressions. He helplessly shook his head and said, "These are all the manor lord's orders. Master Guan said that Cloudy Dream Mountain Forest was going to be lively in the future."
Everyone looked at each other. What was the meaning of this?
Jiang Ming was also suspicious. What kind of secret did Cloudy Dream Mountain Forest have? could it be related to the fire cloud grass? After all, Guan Feng had specially asked him about the fire cloud grass last time.
"Alright, stop guessing and do your job!" Peng Lu reprimanded.
After loading all the prey onto the truck, Peng Lu and the others left. On the other hand, Jiang Ming took half a day's leave, saying he wanted to go home and visit people.
He returned to his small courtyard. Due to the remote and difficult terrain, the old men in the city probably did not like this broken place, so it was not affected much. In fact, it was even cleaned up quite well.
"It should be Ah Fei's wife who helped clean it. Ah Fei can't do such meticulous work."
Thinking of this, Jiang Ming slowly walked to Master Zhou's house, but he was stunned.
He saw that Master Zhou's house was empty, and the weeds in front of the door were growing wildly.
Jiang Ming had a bad feeling.
"Ah, Ming is back!" One of Master Zhou's neighbors came back with two buckets of water. When he saw Jiang Ming, he quickly greeted him.
"Where is he?" Jiang Ming pointed at Master Zhou's house.
"Master Zhou? Oh..." The neighbor was stunned, then sighed with a complicated expression. "He was already in poor health. Some time ago, the Shi family wanted to build a mansion in the town and wanted to occupy his land. Master Zhou went up to argue with them and was kicked in the leg by a young master of the Shi family. A few days later, he died." The neighbor sighed, "After his granddaughter buried him, she disappeared. I heard that she went to the city to learn martial arts."
Jiang Ming's body stiffened, but he immediately relaxed and sighed calmly, "Life is hard."
"That's right, but Master Zhou was too impulsive. It's good for the development of our Peace Town if the rich men occupy the fields, right?" the neighbor nagged.
When he stopped talking, Jiang Ming had already gone far away.
* * *
"It's the Shi family's darling again." Jiang Ming walked slowly on the street, keeping this matter in mind.
He had all the time in the world to slowly take his revenge!
Unconsciously, he smelled the fragrance of wine.
Jiang Ming raised his head and looked around. Old Jiang's bar was still there, but the guests were still the familiar faces. The herb gatherers who smelled of sweat and the old farmers with stained fingernails were still there.
They were hiding in the shadow of the bar, slowly drinking their old wine as if they had nothing to do with the bustling scene outside.
Those rich men from the city probably would not come to this kind of place to drink and have fun.
When Jiang Ming walked into the bar, he was greeted by surprised people. Old Jiang, who was napping behind the counter, was also woken up.
That night, Jiang Ming, Old Jiang, and Ah Fei talked all night, and a bottle of warm wine was quietly placed on the table.
The next morning arrived.
"You should avoid them if she can. Don't get into a conflict with those people." Jiang Ming was about to return to the Tiger Hunting Village. Before he left, he said, "If anyone takes over my courtyard, just give it to them. Perhaps after a period of time, I will be back."
Ah Fei nodded to show that he understood. Old Jiang looked at Jiang Ming and said, "The Shi family is different from Uncle Ba. They are a family of martial artists."
"Mr. Jiang, don't worry!"
Jiang Ming cupped his hands at him. Both of them were smart people, so Old Jiang did not say anything more and watched Jiang Ming leave.
* * *
Back at Tiger Hunting Village, when Jiang Ming came back, he found that several people had left the small courtyard. Only he, Fang Lie, and Huang Xiaoying were left in the same group as him, and Wang Dong was the only one who came earlier than them.
"This group of cowards!" Wang Dong's shoulder was also wrapped in gauze. "I thought that Zhao Xiaoliu was a man. I didn't expect him to be a sissy too!"
Jiang Ming smiled. "Everyone has their own ambitions. Not everyone can put life and death aside."
"Oh right, Ming, go get the medicine!" Fang Lie quickly reminded, "This time, the village is kind enough to let all the newbies who participated in the hunt get a bowl. It'll be very useful for cultivating the Leather Tiger Bone Technique!"
"I feel like I'll be able to sense blood Qi tomorrow!" Wang Dong's face was also filled with excitement.
Huang Xiaoying was silent, but her dark face was also a little red, obviously excited.
Jiang Ming touched his nose. He could not say that he had already drunk a few bowls, right?
However, it was naturally more profitable to drink an extra bowl. Jiang Ming also changed into an excited expression, ran to Pharmacist Feng, took the medicinal stew, and gulped it down.
"I heard that you have sensed blood Qi?" Pharmacist Feng asked with a smile.
"I wonder what advice Pharmacist Feng has for me?" Jiang Ming quickly nodded.
Pharmacist Feng chuckled and said, "Do you know that there's a saying that medicine and martial arts cannot be separated?"