Change in Situation (Part 1)

The sky was just beginning to brighten.

Wei He rolled over and sat up in bed.

His face was tired, his forehead covered in sweat, and the blood vessels in his temples throbbed.

"I haven't dreamed in a long time. I didn't expect to dream about the past again."

He recalled many things from his previous life, but now they felt like looking through a blurry glass, like flowers in fog or the moon in water, indistinct.

In contrast, the scenes of his current life were vivid, like a video recording, always accessible for recall.

He didn't know if this was due to his current abundant Blood Essence, which allowed him to retain more details, or some other reason.

He threw off the covers, got out of bed, quickly drew water from the basin, and splashed it on himself to wash. Then he changed his clothes.

Wei Ying was already making breakfast in the kitchen.

At Wei He's strong insistence, the two had established a routine of eating breakfast together every day.

It was worth noting that ordinary families didn't have the means to eat breakfast. In this era, most people were fortunate to eat their fill.

Having only one or two meals a day was common, let alone three.

Fortunately, Wei He's hunting expeditions occasionally yielded prey. The forest was strange; despite the continuous drought, it remained half-dead, with yellow-green grass and trees stubbornly standing.

Animals would also scatter and hide within it from time to time.

Wei He didn't know why, but it was precisely because of this that he could occasionally get some prey, so he was too lazy to think about it further.

"Today, Daoist Mingxian is giving a sermon. Many people plan to go and see. I want to go too, is that okay?" Wei Ying asked, holding a coarse grain bun she had made, looking expectantly at Wei He.

"That kind of sermon again? The one with a lot of people?" Wei He asked, grabbing a strip of meat and popping it into his mouth.

"Yes, but... there were many people last time. Now, maybe not so many," Wei Ying replied with a hint of emotion.

"Can you understand it? I can't understand anything that Taoist says," Wei He asked.

"I don't understand, but they give out food!" Wei Ying replied, her eyes wide.

"...Then don't go join the crowd for such a small thing. We don't lack that little bit at home now," Wei He refused.

"Alright. That's true."

After they finished breakfast, as Wei Ying was clearing the dishes, she mentioned something.

"Oh, by the way, Xiao He, I heard from Master Zheng yesterday that someone recently did something strange over in Hongshi Town."

"Something strange?"

"Yes, apparently, someone placed a large piece of iron ore on a pile of dried meat, saying that anyone who could lift the stone could take the meat for themselves." Wei Ying said in a casual tone, as if she found it interesting.

Wei He, however, was stunned.

"And then?"

"Then, many people tried, but they couldn't move it. The last person, named Xu Ran, stepped forward, lifted it with both hands, and easily moved the stone that everyone else couldn't, and then took the meat."

Wei Ying exclaimed in admiration, then added, "The person who offered the meat invited Xu Ran to their home for a feast. The next day, they returned to set up the stone-pressing-meat again, but this time it was even heavier. Whoever could lift it could take the meat. Xiao He, do you want to try?"

In Wei Ying's heart, her younger brother had been practicing martial arts step by step and was already a very, very powerful person. Lifting a stone should be no problem for him, right?

Wei He indeed felt differently.

He was not like ordinary people; his perspective and knowledge were different. As soon as he heard about this, he understood.

This was someone building momentum and fame for themselves!

What was the purpose of building fame? It was nothing more than to attract attention.

Whose attention?

The Seven Families Alliance, Hong Family Fort, and the attention of more ordinary people.

Only with fame could one have the opportunity to rally others and have many followers. Only then could one showcase their talents and be invited and valued by superiors.

This method was called self-recommendation.

Of course, there was also a possibility that it was a method used by major powers to screen civilian talents.

But if major powers were involved, it wouldn't be so crude.

Wei He suddenly had an impulse. He spent his days practicing martial arts, then going home, and hunting and killing people. He had almost no other recreational activities.

Now, hearing his second sister talk about it, he suddenly wanted to see how his second sister usually passed the time.

Although the nearby Huishan Fist Academy was helping to look after things, it was still better to thoroughly investigate any potential hidden dangers.

With this thought, he got up, quickly returned to his room, carefully put on all his gear, and then asked Wei Ying in detail about her usual routes.

Finally, he opened the door and strode out.

He didn't head in the direction of Huishan Fist Academy after leaving home, but instead walked towards the town market in the opposite direction.

The market in Shiqiao Town only opened for an hour in the morning. If he didn't go early, things would be quickly snatched up.

Wei He walked along the street, heading towards the market.

Along the way, he could see that the closer they got to the market, the more men and women in various clothes, carrying all sorts of items for sale, were hurrying towards it.

Some of these people were in rags, while others were relatively clean and tidy, but the common point was that none of them were dressed expensively.

The best they could manage was being clean with a few patches.

Wei He's clean and tidy fitted clothes actually made him stand out in the crowd.

However, he didn't mind. All along the way, he had never realized that so many living people could come out of these quiet, dilapidated-looking houses by the roadside.

He had almost thought there was no one in the outer city.

But the thin, malnourished people emerging now made him feel the unique desolation of this era.

Soon, after passing a small cluster of gray bungalows, some stone tablets stood in front, with the two large characters for "vegetable market" written in black.

The stone tablets, one after another, formed a line, blocking the large open space behind them.

There was only a very small entrance left for people to come and go.

At the entrance, a group of burly men in black clothes stood guard, holding short knives, quite intimidating.

"Line up, go in one by one, no pushing!" Shouts could be heard constantly.

Wei He approached, standing outside the stone tablets, watching the crowd enter little by little, and then begin trading at the various vegetable and meat stalls in the open space.

"Who are these people in black?" he asked, grabbing a thin young man.

The man glanced at Wei He. He initially wanted to get angry, but seeing Wei He's build and aura, he had to suppress his temper and said in a low voice.

"They are the good fellows of the Tongcheng Gang. It's free to enter, but when you leave, no matter what you buy or exchange, you have to give them one-tenth. This is the rule of this market."

"One-tenth?" Wei He understood.

Releasing the man, he didn't go in but turned and hurried to the next place.

Every day, Wei Ying would first come here to buy vegetables, then go to the oil shop to get oil, occasionally browse the cloth shop, and finally return home to filter water, cook, wash clothes, and clean.

Wei He followed the street, leaving the market, and soon arrived at the oil shop.

There were only two rooms in the oil shop, with many people queuing at the entrance. The shop also only had a small door less than a meter wide, allowing only one person to enter and exit.

The people buying oil here were much better dressed and had more spirit than those at the vegetable market.

There were fewer patches on people's clothes.

Wei He walked around, and wherever he went, people would lower their heads, not daring to look at him.

It was because he was 1.85 meters tall, with muscles all over his body, and having killed many people and prey, he clearly wasn't someone to be trifled with.

So, others didn't even dare to look at him more than a few times.

After looking around, Wei He headed towards the cloth shop.

Leaving the short street where the oil shop was located, the houses on both sides of the road gradually became cleaner.

It was obvious that they were often cleaned.

Occasionally, he could also see burnt incense sticks stuck in the dirt by the roadside.

Some doors were even pasted with new images of door gods and lucky generals, and some even had couplets written by themselves.

The street between the oil shop and the cloth shop was not long, but there were quite a few shops.

It was the time when the market was in full swing, and all the shops were opening.

This was the first time Wei He had seen such a lively scene. At this time, he was usually practicing his Skin Grinding at the Huishan Fist Academy, so he couldn't see such a lively scene.

The last time he saw such a lively scene was before he started practicing martial arts.

With a sense of novelty, Wei He looked around, observing the shops that were open at this time.

Although he hadn't counted carefully, only about ten shops were open, appearing sparse.

But it couldn't withstand the influx of people.

When there were many people, it looked lively. From jewelry to bamboo weaving, from chairs to medicinal materials, to farming tools, everything was available.

However, after looking around, Wei He found that the shops here were selling all sorts of miscellaneous items.

It seemed like they were bought cheaply from various households.

Many items showed traces of past life.

His heart stirred, and he also started looking around.

There were also people setting up stalls by the shops, selling what seemed to be items from their own homes.

On the stalls, large straw mats were spread out, displaying pots, bowls, chairs, stools, pillows, quilts, combs, hairpins, and so on.

Wei He walked up to a stall, stopped, squatted down, and reached out to gently pick up a small wine cup.

The wine cup was made of white porcelain, looked very clean, and had a red plum blossom painted on the outside.

"A set of twelve wine cups, take it for one jin of miscellaneous grain flour," the stall owner said weakly.

Wei He put down the wine cup and scanned the items on the stall.

Soon, he focused his attention on a pile of messy books and pamphlets.

The booklet seemed chewed to a pulp by mice or something, looking quite shabby.

He picked one up and flipped through it. It was all rules and textbooks for the Martial Examination to become a Martial Champion.

"These books were treasured by my father. Fifteen books in this pile. Although some are missing, how about ten pounds of mixed grain flour for them?" The stall owner, seeing Wei He reach for the books, seemed to sense a glimmer of hope.

These books were the most valuable items on his stall. If he hadn't been truly desperate, he would never have taken them out to sell.

But now, his wife and children were waiting for food, and if he kept hoarding them, they might starve, and these things would still end up belonging to someone else.

Wei He flipped through them. Although the books didn't teach any martial arts techniques or forms, they did mention some related experiences.

So, he haggled with the stall owner and traded the four small dried meat strips he had with him for this bag of books.

The four small dried meat strips were his day's rations, meant to supplement his nutrition. They weren't a staple food, and not even half a pound in total.

After all, these were difficult times, and he had to eat sparingly. Yet, even so, the stall owner was quite satisfied.

These dried, hardened meat strips, taken back and sliced a little at a time with a knife to mix into porridge, could last a long time.

Eating only mixed grains wasn't enough to stave off hunger.