Martial Arts: I Have a Wilderness World-Chapter 43: Accident
’Are Martial Artists going to cause trouble in the County Town?’
Cheng Zongyang walked absentmindedly down the sparsely populated street, still thinking about what the shop assistant had said.
’Trouble. Martial Artists.’
He couldn’t help but associate those two words with something terrible.
If you couldn’t prepare for the best, you had to plan for the worst!
It was better to assume the worst, even about something that seemed good, than to do nothing at all.
’Then again, maybe the problem is with the Celestial Fragrance Tower, and that’s why Zheng Yan is preparing to leave?’
Before he knew it, Cheng Zongyang had reached an alleyway beside a wealthy residence.
Snapping out of his thoughts, he glanced around. Seeing no one, he stepped inside.
A moment later, he emerged, dragging a wooden frame. He happened to run into someone passing by.
The person only glanced at Cheng Zongyang, thinking nothing of it.
Cheng Zongyang paid him no mind and continued dragging the wooden frame toward a grain shop.
After setting aside the four hundred taels for buying a house, the remaining one hundred and ninety-five taels were for purchasing supplies.
And so, he spent the entire morning, aside from a break to eat, shuttling between the various grain shops and general stores in the County Town.
This time, he bought five hundred jin of White Rice, five hundred jin of Old Rice, and five hundred jin of white flour, totaling one hundred and fifty taels!
Next came oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar, which cost him twenty taels.
The last twenty-five taels were set aside to pay for the Medicinal Materials.
In an alley behind a large estate, Cheng Zongyang stored everything in his Wilderness World and heaved a sigh of relief.
After a morning spent running errands, he had finally used up all the money he’d allocated for grain.
The grain stored in his Wilderness World now totaled around five thousand jin. This amount was more than enough to feed his family for one or two years.
It was even enough to feed his second uncle’s family and his maternal grandfather’s family for a whole year.
For the next year, he wouldn’t have to worry about running out of food.
Of course, that didn’t mean he was done. He would continue to buy more if he had the chance.
There was no harm in hoarding grain; you never had to worry about a lack of buyers. At worst, he could just keep it for his own family.
Cheng Zongyang dragged the empty frame out of the alley. Just as he reached the entrance, he was startled by an angry roar:
"If you don’t stop right now, don’t blame me for striking you down where you stand!"
Cheng Zongyang followed the sound, looking to his right. He saw two people in tattered clothes, their faces sallow and gaunt, fleeing for their lives up ahead. They were desperately trying to escape several men in official uniforms who were in hot pursuit.
’What’s going on?’
Cheng Zongyang took a few steps back, a sense of confusion rising within him.
’Those two up ahead are as thin as skeletons, but they don’t seem weak from hunger.’
’Their speed is... unnatural.’
’They look more like refugees or beggars who just ate and now have the energy to run.’
The few pedestrians on the street had already scattered, as if afraid of getting involved.
Seeing the two men, Cheng Zongyang recalled his second uncle mentioning that the County Town was expelling refugees and beggars to prevent any trouble.
’Could that be why?’
But he wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, he saw a look of pure terror on their faces.
This wasn’t just apprehension; it was an expression of pure dread.
’Fear of being caught probably wouldn’t make them run beyond their physical limits! There’s no need to run this desperately, is there?’
’If you’re just being expelled, you can still survive. Fleeing like this, only to be killed on the spot by the officials, isn’t worth it, right?’
’Only terror—fleeing in a state of terror—could unlock the kind of incredible Power and speed they couldn’t normally muster.’
’How could people that starved and emaciated, even after a few full meals, have the physical strength to run like this?’
’Otherwise, that man calling himself a Chief Constable would never have taken so long to catch them!’
’What are they so terrified of?’ Cheng Zongyang frowned, retreating a few more steps back into the alleyway.
Whatever was happening, he didn’t want to get involved.
Just as Cheng Zongyang retreated into the alley, the two seemingly crazed individuals collapsed as if their strength had suddenly given out. Their forward momentum sent them sprawling, leaving them with bloody heads.
With their hair already a mess, the fresh blood covering their faces made them look even more horrifying.
Cheng Zongyang watched the two fallen figures with a calm expression.
Just then, the two people on the ground struggled to raise their heads. Upon seeing Cheng Zongyang, their eyes lit up with a spark of hope. They abruptly reached out toward him, mouths agape, but no words came out.
This was likely due to their superhuman sprint; the intense exertion had left their bodies tense and their brains deprived of oxygen, temporarily robbing them of the ability to speak. Or perhaps they were mute.
Both of them were reaching for Cheng Zongyang, as if pleading for help.
But Cheng Zongyang acted as if he hadn’t seen them, showing no intention of helping. On the contrary, he took a few more steps back.
But just then, one of them suddenly threw something at him. It was tiny, almost like...
A small ball of paper?
The object landed at his feet, rolling until it stopped at the base of the wall behind him. After this act, the two of them seemed to lose all their remaining energy, and they lay on the ground, still as death.
Cheng Zongyang glanced at it but just frowned, not moving. The next moment, he put on a terrified expression, dropped the wooden frame to the ground, and backed away until he was pressed against the wall, looking as if he had nowhere to run.
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP...
The next moment, a flurry of footsteps announced the arrival of several officials.
Two of the men stepped forward, gasping for breath as they seized the two people on the ground.
The Chief Constable leading them was a middle-aged man. His breathing was slightly hurried, but he wasn’t gasping for air like his subordinates.
He hadn’t expected to find a young man in the alley, and the boy was clearly frightened.
When Cheng Zongyang saw the Chief Constable, he noticed the man’s temples were slightly bulged and he had an imposing aura even without being angry. ’He must be a Martial Artist.’
The Chief Constable glanced at his two targets, who were pale as ghosts and barely breathing, then turned to Cheng Zongyang and asked:
"Where do you live? Your Travel Permit?"
Cheng Zongyang feigned a startled jump. He shuffled his feet nervously, subtly covering the small ball of paper at the base of the wall with his shoe. His face a mask of panic, he frantically patted himself down before finally pulling a small plaque from inside his clothes.
The Chief Constable took the plaque and examined it. Seeing that it identified the boy as a villager from Golden Bridge Village, which was under the jurisdiction of Jade Peak County, he nodded, handed the Travel Permit back to Cheng Zongyang, and asked another question:
"What’s your name? What are you doing here? Did they do anything to you?"
Hearing this, Cheng Zongyang pressed his foot down slightly, his expression still tense as he said:
"I—I’m Cheng Zongyang. I came to buy grain... food. I was hiding from them... then I saw... saw them fall on the ground and stop moving. Right after that, you arrived."
The Chief Constable stared at Cheng Zongyang for a moment, but seeing his reaction, he didn’t seem suspicious. He nodded and said, "You’re fine."
With that, he led his men away.
Seeing this, Cheng Zongyang no longer made a point of stepping on the paper ball. Without making any other suspicious moves, he followed them out to the entrance of the alley.
He watched the nearby crowd that had gathered, all pointing and staring as the Chief Constable led the prisoners away.
Cheng Zongyang let out a sigh of relief. ’My acting skills are getting more and more refined.’
Only then did he turn back. As he bent down to pick up the wooden frame, he simultaneously swept the flattened ball of paper into his palm. He then quickly left, heading toward the South City.
