Martial Arts: I Have a Wilderness World-Chapter 38: Maternal Grandfather’s Home

Xu Ergou and his men breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Cheng Zongyang leave.

"Thank god we didn’t make a move. Otherwise, we would’ve all died here tonight," Xu Ergou said, a wave of fear washing over him.

His three followers nodded in agreement, not daring to object.

Cheng Zongyang had beaten up the four of them before.

But that wasn’t the real reason they feared him. It was because they had witnessed just how ruthless and decisive he could be.

The memory of that day was crystal clear—

Their group had gone into the mountains and spotted a medium-sized wild boar. Just as they were about to move in for the kill, Cheng Zongyang leaped down from a tree. He landed beside the boar, kicked it onto its side, then lunged forward, his movements a blur as he plunged his knife into the animal’s neck.

The whole thing was brutally efficient, with no wasted motion.

And as Cheng Zongyang drove the knife into the boar’s neck, he even turned to look at them.

His face was spattered with blood, and his cold eyes stared right through them.

It was a sight he would never forget.

But his old boss had been a fool, daring to try and rob someone so ruthless.

In the end, their group of seven—all of them sixteen or seventeen, the oldest nineteen—had been beaten to the ground by Cheng Zongyang alone. He’d taken all the mountain goods they had gathered, too.

Ever since then, he had been terrified of Cheng Zongyang.

That was why he’d instantly backed down the moment he saw him.

"Brother Ergou, are we... are we still going to wait?" one of his followers asked weakly, swallowing hard and clutching his stomach.

Trying to act tough just now had drained what little energy he had left, making him even hungrier.

Xu Ergou sighed and shook his head. "No more waiting. Let’s go home and sleep."

"But... I’m starving," the follower wailed.

"Then drink some water. After that, go to the Outer Mountain and find something to eat. Anything you can find," Xu Ergou said, feeling miserable himself.

The group trudged back to the village, heads hanging, completely dejected.

As Cheng Zongyang hurried along, he thought about Xu Ergou.

’I didn’t expect that kid to figure someone might pass the village entrance and set up an ambush.’

’If it had been someone else, the four of them might have actually succeeded in robbing them.’

’Of course, whether they’d actually get robbed would depend on the victim. Those four were rookies, and this was probably their first time trying something like this. The psychological barrier wouldn’t be easy for them to overcome.’

’If they’d been adults, and a little more ruthless, I might not have gotten away so easily just now.’

But it was a good reminder for him.

’Not everyone is a fool. There will always be people who think outside the box, setting up ambushes at night to rob passersby.’

’In this weather, you don’t have to worry about catching a chill or freezing, even if you lie in wait outdoors.’

’If you catch someone, it’s pure profit. If not, the worst that can happen is you spend a night sleeping in the open.’

Fortunately, Shuikou Village was just past River Pool, and he didn’t run into any other ambushes along the way.

His torch illuminated a two-meter radius around him, revealing the condition of the dirt road. After entering Shuikou Village, he followed the path from memory toward his maternal grandfather’s home.

His grandfather’s house was near the west entrance of the village, which required a short walk down a narrow northern path.

Cheng Zongyang’s arrival drew the attention of some villagers who were still awake.

But with the flickering torchlight, the distance, and the darkness of the night, all they could make out was the vague figure of someone walking with a torch. They couldn’t tell who it was.

Some watched the traveler with impassive faces, but the rumbling in their stomachs soon killed their interest, and they chose to go to bed early. Others stood in their own unlit homes with a look of longing, their eyes fixed on the bobbing point of light until it finally faded into the distance, and their world was once again plunged into darkness.

Cheng Zongyang walked along the uneven dirt road, kicking up dust. From time to time, he could hear the faint sounds of weeping coming from the houses, or low conversations, or the wails of an infant, or the sighs of an adult. But all these sounds were swallowed by the night.

A few homes still had the faint, yellow glow of an oil lamp, the light filtering through tattered, hole-poked window screens to cast wavering shadows, like a candle about to be extinguished by the wind.

The lights were few and far between. On the dirt road, his footsteps were steady, and he walked in silence.

After about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, Cheng Zongyang arrived at the entrance to a home with mottled, pitted, rammed-earth walls.

Cheng Zongyang peered through a finger-wide crack in the door.

It was pitch-black inside, and he couldn’t see a thing, but he could faintly hear a low groan of pain now and then.

Frowning, Cheng Zongyang knocked on the door and called out.

"Grandpa! Grandma! Eldest Uncle, Youngest Uncle! Open up!"

Inside, in the main hall, the two brothers, Zhou Hansong and Zhou Hanchang, were applying medicinal wine. When they heard the knock, their expressions changed.

But their alarm turned to joy when they heard the familiar voice.

"It’s our nephew!"

"Quick, go see if our brother-in-law is here."

The two brothers immediately told their wives to open the door.

Soon, the two elders emerged slowly from an inner room.

"Who’s here?" Elder Zhou asked casually, his eyes clouded with age in the dim hall.

"Father, I think it’s our brother-in-law."

Zhou Hansong pulled his clothes back on and quickly lit the oil lamp they had been reluctant to use.

As the small flame flickered to life, it brought a bit of vitality to the dark hall.

"Why would Guanghai come at this hour? Have you opened the door?" the old woman beside him asked, a little puzzled.

"Mother, Hanchang’s getting it," Zhou Hansong replied.

Zhou Hanchang opened the door, a happy expression on his face. He saw his nephew holding a torch, but then looked around behind him in confusion.

"Yang’Er, did you come alone? Where’s your father?"

Cheng Zongyang smiled. "Youngest Uncle, it’s just me. My father is watching over things at home."

With that, he walked straight inside, making himself at home.

Zhou Hanchang’s smile froze. He quickly shut the door and hurried after him. "It’s pitch-black out there, and the roads aren’t safe! What was your father thinking, letting you come all this way by yourself?"

"Grandpa, Grandma, Eldest Uncle..." Cheng Zongyang greeted everyone in the hall before setting down the basket he was carrying on his back.

"My dear grandson! What are you doing here? Where are your parents?"

The old woman, her back stooped with age, walked over happily. She reached out a hand, wrinkled and calloused, and took Cheng Zongyang’s, asking with concern.

Cheng Zongyang helped his grandmother to a stool and explained why he had come.

"...So, my father and mother were worried that something might have happened here. They couldn’t rest easy, so I came to check on you all. I brought some grain with me, too."

Hearing this, Elder Zhou was pleased, but he still shook his head.

"Nothing’s wrong. Everything here is fine, you don’t need to worry. We still have grain, so you shouldn’t have brought any. Tomorrow, you can go back with your eldest uncle and take it with you."

Cheng Zongyang listened without calling them out on their lie. ’The whole hall smells of medicinal wine,’ he thought. ’How could I not know they’re only telling me the good news and hiding the bad?’ He just smiled and said:

"Grandpa, it might not be much grain, but it’s a small token from your grandson. If you make me take it back, it’s like you’re pushing me away. Grandma, you still think of me as your grandson, don’t you?"

As he said the last part, Cheng Zongyang squeezed his grandmother’s hand. She immediately chided him good-naturedly. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"You silly boy, what nonsense are you talking about? If you aren’t my dear grandson, who else could you be!"

Cheng Zongyang nodded, then looked at Elder Zhou with a grin. "See? We’re family; we don’t act like strangers. Passing things back and forth is something you do with outsiders."

"You little rascal. I can’t win an argument with you," Elder Zhou said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"All right, let’s have Yang’Er wash his face and have a drink of water." His aunts, Mrs. Ye of the Zhou Family and Mrs. Xu of the Zhou Family, came over with smiling faces, one holding a cup of water and the other a clean strip of cloth.

"Thank you, aunts." Cheng Zongyang immediately accepted the items with both hands and asked with a smile, "Are all my cousins asleep?"