Delivering Letters

The two horses seized from the Kai family had been well fed here and had both grown noticeably plumper. Wenlong had someone alter their appearance so the Kai family would not recognize them and cause trouble.

Early the next morning, Wenlong and Shitou mounted the horses, took the aunties' letters, and headed first for Wenlong's uncles' home. The journey went fairly smoothly, but everywhere they looked, they saw peasants in ragged clothes.

Clearly, most people were living hard lives. As they neared his uncles' home, the two parted ways. Shitou went to his own uncle's home, while Wenlong headed straight for his.

His grandmother lived in a dilapidated thatched cottage. The moment she saw Wenlong, she burst into sobs. She had heard what had happened to the Wen family: she had lost two grandsons, and the fate of her youngest grandson and her daughter had remained unknown.

Now that her youngest grandson had appeared before her, the old woman was so overcome that tears streamed down her face. Before long, his two uncles, who were doing short-term work for a landlord, returned as well.

Seeing that Wenlong had come, his eldest uncle swept him into his arms, hot tears spilling from his eyes.

His eldest uncle said he had planned to go looking for Wenlong and his mother once the spring plowing was finished. How could he not be happy to see Wenlong now?

At mealtime, his two uncles smiled awkwardly. The pot held nothing but wild greens, without a single grain of rice. Neither uncle was young anymore, yet neither even had a wife.

They were so poor, and the whole family was dressed in such rags that Wenlong could hardly bear to look at them. "Uncles, please deliver these letters to the addresses on them. I have something to take care of. I'll come back afterward."

Everyone was poor. The aunties' families were probably struggling too. He would have to make a trip to Wan Family Town and find a way to get some grain.

As soon as he left his uncles' village, he used Shadow Step and sped toward Wan Family Town. He avoided other travelers along the way, moving through the wooded hills.

By dusk, Wenlong had reached the outskirts of Wan Family Town and stopped to rest. To be safe, he found a large tree and climbed up to rest there.

Wenlong had barely settled himself in the tree when he heard a commotion below. Looking closely, he saw a group of men who appeared to be household servants and guards, searching for someone.

One of the guards shouted, "I heard a suspicious person came this way. Search carefully!" Wenlong's heart jolted. Had I been spotted?

He quickly held his breath, trying not to make the slightest sound. The servants and guards searched the area for quite some time, but finding nothing, they left amid a stream of curses.

Wenlong silently counted himself lucky, but he also realized that Wan Family Town was probably more dangerous than he had imagined.

After resting a little longer, he slipped into Wan Family Town under cover of darkness. The streets were deserted, and every shop had already shut its doors.

Wenlong carefully searched for somewhere he could get grain.

Suddenly, he spotted a grain shop, and an idea immediately came to him. He crept closer, planning to enter through the roof...

He jumped onto the roof, carefully removed the tiles, and drew his large black saber. He easily cut through all the wood blocking his way and slipped inside the shop.

From a roof beam, he scanned the place with his mental power and discovered that all the guards were asleep in the rear courtyard. Only then did he jump down into the shop and find where the grain was stored.

Wenlong did not stand on ceremony. He put all the grain into his storage space. He swept up anything else he could use as well, stripping the place bare until his storage space was full.

Only then did he leave the way he had come, satisfied, and quickly make his way out of Wan Family Town. Under cover of night, he hurried toward his grandmother's home. Everything went smoothly, without any mishaps.

If he happened to run into any members of the Kai family, Wenlong certainly would not mind spilling blood. His hatred towered higher than the mountains and ran deeper than the seas. One day, he would surely return to slaughter them.

Back at his grandmother's home, he found a room and put more than twenty sacks of grain inside. Then he called his uncles over and asked them to make another trip, distributing the grain to the aunties' relatives.

Shitou happened to arrive just then, so Wenlong had him take some grain and make another trip too.

Seeing so much grain, his uncles still worried that Wenlong might be in danger outside and be discovered by the Kai family. They had no time to ask where the grain had come from and hurried off to help deliver it.

He waited until they finished their work that afternoon, when Shitou also returned to his uncles' home to meet up with him.

"Grandmother, Uncles, come with me. You can't even get enough to eat here. At least we don't lack food or clothing where we live," Wenlong said to his grandmother and his two uncles.

His two uncles said nothing, merely staring intently at their mother. His grandmother sighed, then nodded her agreement. All this time, they had never managed to live comfortably; they could not even keep themselves fed and clothed.

Once his grandmother agreed, Wenlong took out twenty taels of silver he had looted the previous night and handed it to his uncles. He told them to buy two carts, since he already had horses. He reminded them not to complain about the price or haggle; they had to hurry.

Before long, his two uncles returned pulling two carts, still grumbling that they had cost several dozen copper coins more than usual.

Wenlong laughed. "Oh, Uncles, stop complaining about the price. Let's leave right away. Don't bother packing-there's nothing valuable here anyway."