Concerns in My Heart

Chapter 33: What Weighs on the Heart

"Wow, wow..."

As soon as Zhang Xianzhong announced the dismissal, Ai Nengqi jumped three feet high on the spot, excitedly waving his arms and legs as he hurriedly said to the members of his small team, "Wait for me here!"

"I need to go get my big red horse, grab my Spirit Weapon broadsword and bow and arrows, and then I'll take you guys out to stroll through the streets!"

With his youthful nature, he finally had a chance to show off. How could he possibly hold back?

He turned around in a hurry and darted towards the nearby stable like a wisp of smoke!

Liu Wenxiu and Zhang Huier had almost the same reaction. They each said a word to the members of their small teams, then turned and followed closely behind Ai Nengqi, sprinting towards the stable.

"Boss."

One of the fifteen team members looking eagerly at Li Dingguo, a tall, thin youth of about thirteen or fourteen, spoke up and asked, "Do you want to ride your big black horse too, bring your spear and bow and arrows before we go out?"

His name was Tang Guangqiang, and he was one of the two talented youths in Li Dingguo's small team.

His cultivation had now reached the Martial Dao First Level Early Stage Peak, just one step away from breaking through to the Martial Dao First Level Middle Stage.

He was also the best archer in this small team, besides Li Dingguo. Hitting a target a hundred paces away was easy for him.

"No need for such trouble!"

Li Dingguo calmly waved his hand and said, "We're just going out for a walk and a look around. Why do we need to be so flashy?"

"Hehe!"

He pointed at the several large horse-drawn carriages that had just been driven in from the courtyard entrance by over a dozen cooks, and looked at the backs of Ai Nengqi, Liu Wenxiu, and Zhang Huier with a bit of exasperation, chuckling, "Look at those guys. In their excitement, they forgot that they haven't even eaten breakfast yet."

"We're not in a hurry. Let's all line up first, eat breakfast, rest for a quarter of an hour, and then go out to the streets."

Having lived two lives, he wasn't the kind of naive youth who would get so carried away and forget himself when something good happened.

"Hahaha..."

The fifteen members of this small team looked at the large horse-drawn carriages that had just delivered breakfast, then looked at the other Martial Artist youths from other teams who were looking at each other in confusion. They couldn't hold back anymore and burst into laughter!

Their boss was still much more awesome. The other team captains were so giddy with excitement that they forgot they hadn't eaten breakfast yet!

Their boss was much calmer. That was the difference.

After a while, when Ai Nengqi, Liu Wenxiu, and Zhang Huier returned to the courtyard riding their Spirit Beast Warhorses and carrying their Spirit Weapon weapons, full of excitement, they were stunned to see the sixty-one Martial Artist youths here all happily eating breakfast!

Alright, they were only awkward for a moment, then they didn't take it seriously at all.

Immediately, they jumped off their warhorses, comforted their mounts for a while, and then went to the cooks one after another, received their portions of Spirit Rice Meal and Vitality and Blood Soup, and squatted on the ground to eat and drink heartily.

The Eight Great Kings had considered things very thoroughly, knowing that these little guys didn't even have a single coin in their hands. He specifically arranged for two trusted subordinates to bring two large baskets of copper coins in a large horse-drawn carriage.

These copper coins were strung together in strings of one hundred coins, with each string being one diao of money.

After these orphaned youths were full and had lined up to receive one diao of money each, they hurried towards the courtyard gate, led by their respective team captains.

Li Dingguo couldn't be bothered to look at the three guys who were eager to show off on the streets. He led his team of fifteen out of this large courtyard and onto the street outside.

Speaking of which, this was the first time he had walked out of the luxurious mansion courtyard behind him since he had transmigrated and been reborn.

Although he had the simple memories of his previous body and was not unfamiliar with this county town, the most prominent memories in his previous body's young mind were not having enough to eat or wear, and worrying about filling his stomach every day.

For Li Dingguo, who came from the 21st century of his previous life, this magical big world held too much curiosity for him.

Just this small border town was over ten li in circumference, not much smaller than some ancient commandery cities in Earth's history.

The population living in this Dingbian City was at least over a hundred thousand, more than the urban population of most county towns in his previous life.

Because in the wilderness, there were threats from Demons and Monsters everywhere, and it was difficult for ordinary people to survive in the wild.

Within the territory of the Great Ming Dynasty, in order to ensure the safety of planting and harvesting various crops, many fields were opened up within various towns.

Including the farms, Spirit Fields, and Spirit Beast Gardens of those wealthy gentry, they were protected by high city walls all around to ensure basic personal safety.

Even the manor forts built by those gentry families near the city were surrounded by sturdy city walls, protecting their fields, orchards, and other important facilities within.

Most of the large and small villages and towns where humans gathered were protected by city walls, and many fields were opened up inside. They also had relatively complete basic water conservancy facilities to maximize crop yields and ensure the city's food supply.

This was the biggest difference between this world and the history of Earth in Li Dingguo's previous life.

The reason for this, of course, goes without saying: because this big world was too vast, and the territory occupied by humans was only a minority. Most areas were still primitive terrain and landforms, occupied by those Demons and Monsters tribes.

As long as you were capable, you could claim land in the wilderness and grow grain.

As for whether you were capable of defending it, and whether you would be killed and eaten by those Demons and Monsters, that depended on your ability and luck.

Most ordinary people did not have this ability.

Only those with strength, such as officials, gentry, aristocratic families, wealthy merchants, and the government, had the ability to reclaim land in the wilderness.

After the founding emperors of each dynasty established their countries, they would distribute land to the common people. After the establishment of the Great Ming Dynasty, everything was reset, and it was naturally no exception.

Because officials and gentry did not need to pay taxes, they used various means of coercion and plunder, as well as purchasing with money, and through generations of accumulation, they merged a large amount of land, causing countless people to lose their land and become their tenants.

By now, natural and man-made disasters were becoming more and more severe, and the court's various taxes were increased again and again, all falling on the ordinary people who still retained their own land, making them unbearable.

In recent years, more and more people could not survive. When someone called out and raised the banner of rebellion, there were naturally countless Rebel Armies.

"Boss, where are we going?"

"Yeah! I have no idea where to go have fun right now."

"I say, let's just wander around the city and see what there is, then find a big restaurant and have a huge meal."...

By the time everyone left the Wang Family Courtyard and reached the main street, these young orphans, who had been so excited before, were all a bit stunned.

They had no homes now. Before being taken in by the Eight Great Kings, they were all little street beggars who lived hand-to-mouth and never knew where their next meal was coming from.

Now that they were going out to play properly for the first time, they naturally didn't know where to go first. Almost simultaneously, everyone's eyes turned to Li Dingguo.

To be honest, although these orphans had now become Martial Artists, the change in their status had been too sudden, and they hadn't adapted at all. They hadn't realized that they were no longer who they used to be.

"Boss, why don't we go back to the Earth God Temple in the east of the city where we used to stay, and see some of the brothers and sisters who were eliminated during the selection?"

At this moment, Cao Yongxiang, another talented young man standing beside Wang Qiang, suddenly looked a bit downcast and suggested this to Li Dingguo.

Li Dingguo's former small beggar gang didn't just have boys; there were quite a few girls as well.

They, too, had become beggars and wandered around due to their own tragic backgrounds and experiences.

Unlike other beggar groups in the city, Li Dingguo's original small group, which huddled together for warmth, didn't have any wrongdoers. They were all little beggars with kind natures.

Among them were not only over forty little boys but also over twenty little girls.

The oldest was no more than twelve, and the youngest was only six.

Just how miserable was their original life of begging and wandering?

These people had the most right to speak about it.

"Okay!"

"I also want to see Little Bean Sprout. I wonder how she's doing now?"

As soon as Cao Yongxiang finished speaking, a small figure flashed through Li Dingguo's mind. All sorts of memories from his original body suddenly surged up, filled with deep sadness and concern. So he said this to everyone and nodded.

After hearing what Cao Yongxiang said, everyone's faces didn't look very good, and they no longer had the desire to wander around the streets and play.

Following Li Dingguo, they hurried along the main street, walking quickly towards the Earth God Temple in the east of the city.