Trouble, Part Two

The Mengjin female cultivator trembled slightly, sensing something was wrong, and looked towards the door.

Wei He stood at the doorway, watching her with a calm expression.

"Speak, continue," he stared at the Mengjin female cultivator, his eyes faintly glinting with ferocity.

Upon hearing this, both the Mengjin female cultivator and Xu Chun trembled and quickly stood up, lowering their heads as they left.

If Wei He hadn't been there, it would have been fine, but with him present, they wouldn't dare to come to their door to proselytize so brazenly.

Originally, they saw that the Wei family seemed to have some modest wealth and was willing to sell pastries to everyone at almost no profit.

The two of them had planned that if they could draw Wei Ying into their cult, they might gain considerable benefits.

Who would have thought that Wei He would return so quickly after they had just left.

The two of them hurriedly squeezed through a small gap beside Wei He and practically fled, quickly disappearing around the street corner.

Wei He was silent for a moment, looking at the somewhat uneasy Wei Ying.

"Sister, don't interact with that Xu Chun anymore. She's not a good person; she's one of those who secretly proselytizes at night."

"I... I understand," Wei Ying clutched the corner of her clothes, feeling a bit lost, as if she had done something wrong.

"Alright, I'm going back to practice. If you encounter trouble, just shout. Huishan Fist Academy is nearby, and this is your home; your voice will carry. Remember?" Wei He instructed.

"Okay, okay," Wei Ying nodded quickly, feeling a bit flustered.

She had heard her brother mention the sinister and dangerous nature of the Incense Gathering Cult. Only now did she realize that she had been in some danger just now.

But upon thinking about it carefully, she always felt that Xu Chun wasn't a bad person. She had even given her a hand towel before. Would a bad person be so generous? How could there be bad people who give things away for free?

"Alright, I'm leaving now." Wei He's reason for returning was that when he wiped his hands earlier, he had smelled the incense scent of the Incense Gathering Cult on them.

In this day and age, many people couldn't even afford coarse grain porridge, so who would have the leisure to buy incense sticks and burn them all day?

Besides the people from the Incense Gathering Cult, who else would be so bored?

So, he kept a close watch. When he left earlier, he didn't go far before stopping to hide and observe secretly.

He had originally planned to watch for a while and then go back to practice if everything was fine.

He hadn't expected that as soon as he left, he would see the two of them approach his Second Sister.

He was afraid that his Second Sister, being inexperienced and naive, would easily be deceived.

After driving the two away, Wei He left the shop. He glanced back at his Second Sister.

She was still standing at the shop entrance, gazing at him from afar.

Wei He waved at her, signaling her to go back and rest.

Watching Wei Ying pause, then turn back and slowly begin to knead the dough and add yeast, he finally left the shop.

Following the shop all the way back, he soon arrived in front of a large black door.

He reached out and pushed; the door wasn't locked. He was stunned for a moment, then flashed inside through the opened door.

Xu Chun and the Mengjin female cultivator were standing in the courtyard, speaking in low voices. Beside them was a ceramic incense burner with a residual incense stick.

That's right, this was Xu Chun's small courtyard, not his home.

After Xu Chun and the other woman fled in panic, they returned to their own courtyard immediately. They hadn't expected to hear the door being pushed open as soon as they got back.

Then the two of them quickly turned around and looked towards the doorway.

Whoosh.

However, all they saw was a large cloud of white powder.

With a scatter of quicklime, Wei He darted forward, ducking low as he charged between the two of them.

He pulled a hard wooden stick from his bosom and proceeded to beat them soundly.

More than ten breaths later, the two of them were wailing incessantly, lying on the ground unable to move, their bodies bruised and swollen.

Wei He sprinkled another handful of quicklime on their faces. Making sure they hadn't seen his face, he silently put away the stick, then rushed into the inner room, took out two long, thin jerky strips, turned, and left the door, closing it behind him.

The Incense Gathering Cult was powerful these days, and it was best not to provoke them if possible.

But Xu Chun lived too close to him, and now she was trying to tempt his sister Wei Ying, so he had no choice but to deal with it.

He decided to beat her up every few days and steal some things, pretending to be starving thieves.

This way, after a few more times, she would have no choice but to move.

After all, with her head covered in lime, she couldn't see who he was.

Exiting the main door, it was the hottest part of the day.

There was no one on the street.

Wei He had deliberately chosen this time when no one was around to act decisively.

He then turned and went directly to the door of his own house next door, quietly opening it and going inside.

Not long after, in Xu Chun's place next door, a group of people heard the commotion and quickly rushed into the courtyard. Amidst the messy shouts, this group carried the two injured individuals to see a physician.

In his own courtyard, Wei He was bare-chested, practicing his punches against a sandbag.

A knock soon came from his own front door.

His heart stirred, and with a calm expression, he walked over and opened the door.

"Who is it?"

Outside the door stood several men and women holding sticks and cleavers. They had been wearing fierce expressions, about to question if anyone inside had heard or seen what was happening next door.

But as soon as the door opened and they saw the sturdy, muscular man standing inside, his sheer size was almost double that of their own scrawny frames.

The woman leading the group couldn't help but soften her attitude upon seeing him.

"Young man, excuse me, but did you happen to hear someone fighting next door just now? Did you see anyone run out from next door?"

"No. Is there anything else?" Wei He asked impatiently, giving off a vibe that he'd resort to violence if they wasted any more of his time.

The group outside was startled by him and hesitated to speak for a moment.

Bang!

The door was slammed shut forcefully.

Wei He closed the door without a word.

Outside the door, the group was startled but dared not utter any harsh words.

The leader had, in fact, immediately noticed the black belt uniform of the Huishan Fist academy drying in the courtyard when the door opened.

This was the key to her change in attitude.

The beginner disciples with black belts from these martial arts academies were all formidable fighters. Any one of them could easily handle five or six of these people.

Moreover, these academy disciples often had connections with wealthy and powerful families, frequently being invited to serve as security chiefs or temporary bodyguards.

Therefore, they were not to be offended lightly.

After a while, the group exchanged glances, unable to act, their emotions suppressed. They then went to knock on other doors.

Soon, the surroundings were filled with another commotion and noise.

Wei He ignored it and settled down to practice his martial arts.

After this round of beatings, More than ten days passed, and Wei He didn't see any sign of Xu Chun again.

Wei Ying's safety also felt more assured, and she continued her daily routine of running the steamed bun shop.

The days flowed by like water.

Gradually, the prices in the outer city seemed to stabilize. Some people began using mixed grain flour, made from grinding various coarse grains and beans, as a basic medium of exchange, with barter becoming widespread.

Mixed grain flour was traded for white rice, meat, and everything else, slowly forming a market.

Wei He noticed that regardless of what was happening outside, the food provided at the Huishan Fist academy remained consistently the same, with the same amounts of rice and meat each day.

A new rule was added: no taking food out.

Old Zheng still maintained his usual shrewd and unhurried demeanor.

He spent his days lounging in his armchair, gnawing on chicken feet. It was unclear where he got so many chicken feet from.

Winter was more than halfway over.

Wei He's Blood Essence advanced further, slowly progressing towards completion.

Although it was slow, it was steady. After all, he had already gathered enough Boundary-Breaking Pearls, and now he just needed to accumulate his Blood Essence to its peak to successfully break through the Ox Hide stage and advance further.

Hope was within sight, and coupled with the subtle progress he felt daily, it gave Wei He the same thrill he got from playing games in his past life.

In the blink of an eye, winter passed, and the weather showed no signs of winter's chill, remaining hot.

The strange weather had caused the water level of the Feiye River to drop by more than half. The river water became increasingly murky.

Grain in the market was becoming scarcer.

The monthly ration of grain and meat Wei He received from the Cheng family also began to decrease. It was clear that the Yonghe Escort Agency was also facing difficulties.

Cheng Shaojiu had explained the situation to him a few times. The escort agency used to take on escorts frequently, but mostly for escorting people, meaning transporting living individuals.

And they often settled payments with other goods. Now that the frequency had decreased, most of the people who wanted to leave the outer city had already gone.

Those remaining were either unwilling or unable to leave. Business had also declined.

However, what was rightfully theirs would not be reduced. Cheng Shaojiu had assured him of this.

Wei He also instructed his Second Sister to limit the daily supply of steamed buns and mantou, and to start stockpiling grain and meat.

But it seemed like every household was doing the same. Any grain and meat that appeared on the market was immediately snapped up.

Later, Wei Ying's steamed bun shop even stopped opening. As soon as it opened, its stock was sold out within minutes.

The wish of the newly opened steamed bun shop thus came to an end.

Every day, people could be found collapsed in corners and sewers in Shiqiao Town, motionless, and never to move again.

The stray dogs had also disappeared, likely having been beaten to death and eaten.

Splash.

With a splash, a large basin of murky river water was poured into an even larger wooden basin.

A thin cloth was placed in the wooden basin for filtering. Two strong women, one on each side, reached out and pulled up the cloth, letting the turbid river water drip slowly.

This was for filtering water.

The weather was dry, and the Feiye River was getting shallower and murkier. Without filtering, it was unusable.

Beside them, another person scooped the filtered water and poured it into prepared bamboo tubes packed with charcoal. The bamboo tubes, connected end to end, finally slid into another clean wooden basin.

The water obtained was the cleanest water.

Wei He picked up a freshly filled basin of water, poured in the prepared medicinal powder, stirred it, and then added some warmer hot water. It became a basin of hot water for skin conditioning.

He picked up the medicinal water basin and walked outside the house, returning to his practice spot.

He was no longer in the corner, but in the middle section along the left wall.

He wasn't next to Cheng Shaojiu either. Instead, he was practicing with a newcomer he had brought along.

That newcomer was a sturdy young man with naturally yellowish-brown hair named Ouyang Zhuang.

This person seemed to come from a well-off family and had a bit of a pampered attitude when he first arrived.

However, after being beaten up a few times in brutal sparring sessions, he was no longer so cocky.

Before, he didn't even know to call Wei He "Senior Brother." Now, seeing him from afar, he quickly rushed over to help carry the basin, fetch things, and so on.

Just like now.

As soon as Wei He carried the wooden basin out, he saw Ouyang Zhuang run over in a few quick steps and take it from him.

The two of them slowly walked towards their practice spots together.

"Senior Brother Wei, do you know that the number of people in the courtyard has decreased quite a bit recently?" Ouyang Zhuang asked in a low voice.

"Decreased?" Wei He had been fully focused on accumulating Blood Essence recently, preparing for a breakthrough. He hadn't paid attention to any other changes.

Hearing this from Ouyang Zhuang, whom he had brought along, he immediately scanned his surroundings and indeed found that both the older and newer disciples in the courtyard had decreased significantly.