Teach Me, Brother Jiang!

Inside the side room.

The brazier burned fiercely, driving away the winter chill.

Jiang Tu, Big Household Zhou, and Wang Congyun sat around a low table. Several bowls of hot tea sat on it—fragrant it was not, but at least it was warm.

Big Household Zhou and Wang Congyun had both just survived a calamity. They were exhausted, their faces waxy and the skin beneath their eyes dark, with minor flesh wounds on them as well. Yet neither mentioned resting. Some matters had to be made clear first.

Wang Congyun spoke first. "Master Zhou, Brother Jiang, I want to temporarily settle this pregnant woman and those four children in Xiaopei County. Their identities are still unclear, and I don't know whether they have any surviving relatives... Given the current situation, I'm not comfortable sending them elsewhere rashly."

"Master Zhou, you've operated in Dajiang County for many years, and you have an old residence here as well. Could you..."

Big Household Zhou was about to agree, but the words stopped at his lips as he instinctively looked toward Jiang Tu.

Jiang Tu did not state his position.

Big Household Zhou opened his mouth, then closed it again. Silently, he lifted his tea bowl and lowered his head to drink without speaking.

Wang Congyun froze. "Master Zhou? You need to look to Brother Jiang before you speak? Since when has your relationship become like this...?"

Big Household Zhou sighed. After a long silence, he said in a low voice, "Little Daoist Wang... The thing I regret most in my life is what happened five years ago... That year, the farmers of Dajiang County awakened their past-life wisdom. I was jealous when I saw it and thought that place was bound to prosper greatly. I sold off much of my land and property in Xiaopei County, then rushed there in high spirits with Manager Qian and a whole crowd of people."

"How proud I was then! I thought I had vision and courage, that I had seized an opportunity others could not. But what happened? Manager Qian died! Da Liu and Xiao Liu died! The three concubines I cherished all died too... And those old companions who had followed me for more than a decade, they were all gone."

"They were all killed because of me! I was the one who took them to that hellish place."

"But Brother Tu..." Big Household Zhou looked at Jiang Tu, his gaze complicated. "Every year, I tried to drag him to Dajiang County to make a fortune, and every year he refused me! For five full years, he never wavered even once... Back then, I even thought he was stupid. What future could there be in stubbornly guarding this poor backwater...?"

"Now that I think about it, I was the fool! This is what true wisdom looks like! And what was I doing? Seeking wealth and killing people! That's all there is to say! From now on, I'll listen to Brother Tu in everything... Whatever Brother Tu tells me to do, I'll do. If he tells me not to do something, then I won't dare do a thing!"

At this point, all the emotions he had been suppressing could no longer be held back. He lowered his head, covered his face with both hands, and sobbed quietly.

"Wuwuwu..."

Jiang Tu patted his back without offering any words of comfort. Wang Congyun also remained silent.

Nothing more needed to be said.

A moment later, Wang Congyun studied Jiang Tu carefully.

He had not seen his childhood companion for more than a decade. Jiang Tu had changed considerably. Now, seated across from him, he looked composed and unhurried, and he spoke and acted with clear order and purpose.

When the farmers of Dajiang County rose to prominence, countless people had been envious and desperately flocked there. Big Household Zhou was one of them, along with wealthy merchants, landlords, and even some disciples of the Daoist sect.

But Jiang Tu had not moved!

He was clearly skilled at farming and had spare money in hand. He might not have failed to make a name for himself in Dajiang County, yet he refused to go. Instead, he had guarded his estate in Locust Tree Village for ten years without change. Everyone thought he was foolish, but now?

Dajiang County had been wiped out overnight! The bones of those once glorious people could not even be found!

Yet Jiang Tu was still alive. His estate was still there, and he had even gained another two-courtyard residence and over a hundred mu of land!

All at once, Wang Congyun felt that this childhood companion possessed a strange sense of restraint—a unique wisdom for survival.

Big Household Zhou had cried for so long that he was perhaps exhausted. He actually fell asleep sprawled across the table. Jiang Tu helped him onto the nearby bed, covered him with a thick padded robe, then turned around and met Wang Congyun's gaze directly.

That gaze was meaningful, as though Wang Congyun were pondering something.

Jiang Tu's heart skipped a beat.

He had always been wary of Wang Congyun. This man looked like a good person on the surface, saving lives and tending the wounded, but his identity was what it was...

The disaster in Dajiang County bore the shadow of the Daoist sect everywhere. What role had this man played in that disaster? Jiang Tu did not know. He only knew that he could not lower his guard.

Without showing anything, Jiang Tu asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Wang Congyun forced a smile. "After hearing what Master Zhou said, there is something I would like to ask Brother Jiang about in private."

Jiang Tu's vigilance immediately reached its peak. "Stop right there."

Wang Congyun froze.

"If what you want to say involves some great secret I shouldn't know, then you'd better not say it! I don't want to get dragged into it."

Wang Congyun: "..."

Such a decisive refusal?! Brother Jiang... was he really this cautious? What happened to our childhood friendship of pissing and playing in mud together?

But after being silent for a while, he did not force the issue and merely nodded.

There really were too many things he wanted to ask. But he had not even figured out the Daoist sect's affairs himself. Saying them aloud would indeed only harm others.

"Fine, then I won't ask about those things... I'll only ask about what is before us."

"How should I deal with that woman, the child in her womb, and the four young children? To be honest, I've already realized that woman is also a 'farmer' who has awakened past-life wisdom. Other than the agricultural disciples selected into our sect, she is likely Dajiang County's last remaining spark."

"Should I leave her in Xiaopei County, or should I... take her back to the Daoist sect?"

Jiang Tu's brow twitched.

Take her back to the Daoist sect?

You still want to take that mother and child back to the Daoist sect?

Was Dajiang County's lesson not tragic enough? Are you truly stupid, or are you pretending to be stupid here? You want to wipe out the roots of the agricultural path completely, don't you!

But he could not say any of that directly. He had to preserve the agricultural path's last spark without exposing himself or getting entangled in trouble.

He pretended to consider the matter, pondering for a long while before reaching a decision.

"That would be inappropriate."

Jiang Tu chose his words carefully. "The strange disaster erupted without warning, and it came swiftly and viciously, yet it specifically targeted Dajiang County. Don't you think there's something wrong with that? Could those farmers who awakened past-life wisdom have been the targets? Could a large gathering of agricultural path cultivators attract the attention of strange creatures?"

Wang Congyun's eyelids twitched as he fell into thought.

This idea... coincided exactly with his own. He too believed the strange creatures had gathered because the agricultural path was rising.

Brother Jiang truly had foresight and wisdom for survival!

"If you leave them in Xiaopei County, what happens if that thing follows them here? Today's calamity in Dajiang County will become tomorrow's disaster in Xiaopei County! This is your homeland too. Would you really watch it turn into a sea of blood?"

His words were righteous and aboveboard, but Jiang Tu knew the reasons he did not want the mother and child to remain were more complicated. The danger of attracting another strange disaster was only one of them.

The agricultural path's sequence spread outward from point to point.

If this single seedling remained in Xiaopei County, then this land would become the agricultural path's new core. By then, no matter what happened, he would inevitably be dragged in. Exposing his secrets would only be a matter of time, so he had to refuse—firmly refuse!

"As for the Daoist sect, I know nothing about it, so I can't judge... If you truly believe the Daoist sect is a safe place, then you can take them back. After all, there are still many selected farmers on the mountain. They are all 'farmers' and can support one another, which would at least give them someone to rely on."

After saying that, he stared unblinkingly at Wang Congyun.

This was a test.

He wanted to see Wang Congyun's true attitude toward the Daoist sect.

Sure enough, Wang Congyun's expression changed.

Struggle, pain—his expression was exceedingly complicated, as if someone had touched upon the hidden matter he least wished to mention.

This time, he remained silent for a long time before saying softly, "...No. I won't take them back to the Daoist sect."

"I'll find a way to take them and the four young children to a secluded place far from Xiaopei County. The farther, the better—far from strange creatures, far from Dajiang County, far from human habitation. I'll do my best not to let anyone discover what is special about them... If they can live out their lives in peace and obscurity, that would be best."

Jiang Tu nodded.

That was the best solution for now.

Hide the visible "farmers" in the shadows, let them quietly take root and slowly develop. That was the safest approach. The reason Dajiang County had been destroyed, in the end, was that Chen Cun had been too ostentatious and conspicuous from the very start. The target he raised had been too large.

Only by hiding in the shadows and developing quietly could they survive longer. Besides, they had the blessing of "Endless Life."

As long as the spark did not die out, it would one day blaze across the plains.

It seemed Wang Congyun was not currently of one mind with the Daoist sect, but he had already inherited the Daoist sect's legacy. In the future, he would most likely end up in the same boat as them.

Jiang Tu still had to guard against him!

Wang Congyun let out a long breath. "Brother Jiang, there is one more matter I might as well say plainly. To be honest, I've already noticed that the Daoist sect nowadays is somewhat..."

"Stop!" Jiang Tu cut him off at once.

Wang Congyun: "..."

Jiang Tu said firmly, "Those matters of yours are not things I should know."

Wang Congyun's lips moved, and he swallowed the words back down. "All right... I won't talk about those things. But I have a question that I must ask Brother Jiang to teach me!"

He sat up straight, his eyes earnest and his tone more solemn than ever before.

From what Master Zhou had said earlier, as well as Jiang Tu's attitude toward the woman, he did not dare say anything else—but when it came to surviving, Brother Jiang was absolutely an expert!

He was a damn master of survival!

And he... happened to have no idea how to survive!

"What exactly should I do next to live safely and steadily within the sect? Please teach me, Brother Jiang!"