Aftermath

"Ah!" Liu Yuanzhou shouted and sat up abruptly.

Gasping for breath, he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. The memory of Lu Busha's staff strike in his dream still made his heart palpitate.

He was wide awake. He threw on a cotton coat and got off the bed. The night was as cool as water. He gently opened the door and walked to the stone table in the yard, sitting down and taking a long breath at the starry sky.

"Alas, I had another nightmare." He sighed inwardly.

Ten days had passed since Fatty Wang was killed that night. In these ten days, he was often awakened by nightmares in the middle of the night. Sometimes he dreamed of Fatty Wang's bloody head, sometimes Lu Busha suddenly appeared, and sometimes the Wang Family came with the yamen runners to arrest them.

"Hehe, compared to a Martial Master, my state of mind cultivation is still far behind." He smiled bitterly in his heart.

What happened that night was quite a stimulus to Liu Yuanzhou. In the past ten days, he began to think about some problems that he had not been aware of before. Is a Martial Master just about the strength of the body? No, there is also a strong heart.

Miss Qin, despite being seriously poisoned and facing strong enemies, traveled thousands of miles, and finally turned the tables and killed her opponent. What she relied on was not only her superb martial arts, but also her perseverance and extraordinary patience.

As for Lu Busha, well, he seemed like a murderous madman, but he also revealed a simplicity, a weirdo.

Looking back at himself, perhaps in another year or so, he would be able to comprehend Whole Strength and become a Martial Master, but in terms of state of mind cultivation, he was far behind. Usually, it was not obvious, but at critical moments, like that night when facing Lu Busha, he could not muster a trace of courage to resist.

Also, the anxiety and constant nightmares in the past few days all showed the weakness of his inner self.

"I can't go on like this." Liu Yuanzhou stood up, looked up at the deep night sky, his expression extremely firm.

In the morning, Liu Yuanzhou finished his practice and ran into the yard, seeing his elder brother Liu Yuanbo carrying a pole and preparing to fetch water.

"Brother, give me the pole, I'll go fetch the water." As he spoke, Liu Yuanzhou snatched the pole and put it on his shoulder, and then smiled: "You go and accompany your wife."

Liu Yuanbo blushed and scolded with a smile: "Go fetch your water, mind your own business."

Liu Yuanzhou laughed and walked away.

Liu Yuanbo also laughed, his younger brother had come back to life.

In the past ten days, Liu Yuanzhou's condition had really worried him. He was worried all day long, absent-minded, and ate very little. When asked why, he was always impatiently prevaricated.

Today, he finally saw Liu Yuanzhou's smiling face again, and the whole person was full of energy, and he even joked with him. He finally put down the big stone in his heart.

Of course, there was also a happy event. His wife was finally pregnant, and the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had returned to normal.

Liu Yuanbo felt that the morning sun had never been so bright.

He fetched water three times, filling two large water tanks, just in time for breakfast to be ready.

Porridge, steamed buns, pickles, and a stir-fried shredded potato, a normal breakfast, except that a plate of scrambled eggs was added for Liu Yuanbo's wife, Li Shi, because she was pregnant, carrying the third generation of the Liu Family.

The family happily finished breakfast. Li Shi got up to help her mother-in-law clean up the dishes, but was pushed away. "You just sit down and don't move the baby." Zhang Shi deliberately put on a straight face.

Li Shi was a little embarrassed, looked at her husband, Liu Yuanbo grinned and took his wife's hand out. He liked this happy atmosphere.

Liu Da finished smoking a pot of dry tobacco, knocked the pot on his foot, got up and said to his wife: "I'm going to work in the fields, Cui Er, remember to make something for the eldest family's wife at noon."

Zhang Shi said: "Understood, pick some Bitter Herbs when you come back." Bitter Herbs, a kind of wild vegetable, can be mixed cold or stir-fried after blanching.

Carrying a kettle on his back, Liu Yuanzhou followed his father out the door. Liu Da carried a pickaxe, and Liu Yuanzhou carried a shovel, heading towards the mountains. They planned to reclaim a piece of wasteland behind the mountain and plant fruit trees.

They didn't call Liu Yuanbo. Liu Yuanbo spent almost all day in the orchard, carefully taking care of the fruit trees he had just planted.

It was already late April, and crops such as millet, corn, and potatoes had been planted. The millet seedlings had just broken ground, and the crystal dew was shining in the morning light.

The father and son walked in the mountains, Liu Da couldn't help but sing a mountain song again.

Turning the soil, breaking it up, leveling it, the father and son shed their sweat.

They didn't go back for lunch, just gnawed on two corn breads with water. It wasn't until nearly the wei hour that the sun leaned westward that they stopped, having cultivated about half an acre of hillside.

Liu Da, leaning on his iron shovel, shouted to Liu Yuanzhou, who was still wielding a pickaxe in the distance, "Second Child, that's it for today, let's go back."

Liu Yuanzhou stopped what he was doing, dropped the pickaxe, took off his already soaked short jacket, and wrung out the water with force.

Liu Da quickly took the long shirt and draped it over him, scolding, "Put on your clothes quickly, be careful not to catch a cold."

"It's so hot, how could I catch a cold?" Liu Yuanzhou said, but he still put on the long shirt.

Liu Da said, "Hey, don't be careless, the combination of hot and cold is the easiest way to catch a cold."

The father and son rested for a while, drank some water, and then packed up their things and headed home.

"Dad, what are you doing this afternoon?"

"Nothing much to do, I'll go take a look at your brother's orchard."

"Oh, then I'll go find Hu Wa and the others."

Soon, the father and son walked into the village.

"Liu Da, wait a moment." Someone shouted from behind.

The father and son both stopped and turned around to see two people hurrying up, quickly reaching them. Liu Yuanzhou frowned slightly.

One of them, a man with a charcoal-black face, said in a rather unkind tone, "Liu Da, don't meddle in the Dragon King Temple repair in the village. You don't understand anything, what are you stirring up?"

The other man, with a rat-like mustache, said with a hint of grievance, "That's right, Master Li has assigned a few of us to be responsible for this matter, so don't worry about it, making us look bad inside and out."

Liu Da stammered, "Dong Zi, Brother Niu, I didn't meddle in anything. I just saw that the temple repair hadn't started for a long time, so I asked Fourth Master and Sixth Master with Man Cang and a few others."

The mustached man, Brother Niu, said angrily, "What do you know? There's a lot to the temple repair, choosing a date, hiring craftsmen, selecting materials, one by one. You don't know anything, so what are you stirring up, causing us to be scolded by the Clan Elders."

"But, you collected money from all of us, so we have the right to manage this matter," Liu Da argued.

"Stop talking nonsense, don't refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit. Do as I tell you," the black-faced man, Dong Zi, poked Liu Da's chest with his finger, impatiently.

"Watch your mouth." Liu Yuanzhou stepped forward, pushed Dong Zi away, stood in front of his father, and said in a deep voice, "You want to hit someone, right? Come on, hit me here, if you don't, you're a grandson." As he spoke, he stuck out his neck and pointed his finger at his forehead.

Dong Zi staggered back a few steps from the push, almost falling on his butt, and became angry out of embarrassment. He rushed forward and slapped Liu Yuanzhou's face, cursing, "Uneducated thing!"

Liu Yuanzhou didn't move, only his eyes calmly stared into Dong Zi's eyes, his pupils deep.

Dong Zi's heart suddenly trembled, and he couldn't help but feel weak. He just couldn't bring himself to slap him.

Just as he was feeling awkward, Brother Niu pulled Dong Zi's arm over and pretended to be angry, "Dong Zi, what are you doing? How can you be so knowledgeable with a junior."

Dong Zi took the opportunity to step back, snorted coldly, and turned his head to the side.

Brother Niu finally said, "Anyway, Liu Da, don't be nosy, we will repair the temple!" Without waiting for Liu Da to answer, he pulled Dong Zi away in a hurry.

"Second Child, you, alas." Liu Da sighed, not knowing what to say. He had always been honest, disliked arguing with others, and was clumsy with words.

He was angry about what had just happened, but he couldn't bring himself to argue with people red-faced or start a fight.

His son's intervention warmed his heart, but he was also worried that his son would get hurt as a result, so he couldn't affirm his son's actions, nor could he bear to blame him. He could only sigh.

"Dad, do whatever you want. Let's see what they dare to do to us," Liu Yuanzhou said, looking at the backs of the two people leaving, his tone quite firm.

"Alas, let's go, let's go back and have dinner." Liu Da was absent-minded, weighing whether to continue with this matter.

After dinner, it was still early, and the sun shone obliquely, casting long shadows.

The river beach, under the nameless big willow tree.

Liu Yuanzhou sat on a large rock, boredly watching four or five seven- or eight-year-old children playing in the stream.

Willows hung down thousands of silk ribbons, swaying in the wind. In the distance, apricot blossoms and locust flowers were in full bloom.

Before long, Liu Chuang and Zhang He came together, the three of them had agreed to meet here.

Liu Chuang found a stone to sit on, and Zhang He leaned against the trunk of the big willow tree.

"Xi Zi, what's the situation outside?" Liu Yuanzhou asked Zhang He.

The situation outside was naturally the progress of Fatty Wang's case.

Fatty Wang is dead. Although the three of them are not the murderers, they cannot escape the blame. Even if Lu Busha is identified as the murderer, it is obvious that neither the Wang Family nor the government have any hope of catching a passing Martial Master, so the greatest possibility is to use the three of them as scapegoats to appease the Wang Family's anger.

Therefore, the three of them knew clearly in their hearts that they must not let the government find any evidence that the three of them were present. The three agreed to send one person to Crouching Tiger Slope every other day to inquire about news, and then meet to discuss countermeasures. Although they didn't have any good countermeasures, it would be even more tormenting to do nothing.

Today it was Zhang He's turn to inquire about news.

"It's still the same, the streets are buzzing with rumors, everyone is saying different things, some say it was a Jiangyang bandit who robbed and killed him, some say it was because of a grudge, who told Fatty Wang to offend so many people usually? And some say it was a vengeful ghost seeking his life." Zhang He finished speaking about the news he had heard in one breath.

"What's the government doing?" Liu Yuanzhou asked.

Zhang He shook his head. He was just an ordinary fifteen-year-old mountain village boy, how could he find out about the government's news.

Liu Yuanzhou didn't have much hope either. Everything had been calm for the past ten days or so. No one from the government had come to the village to investigate, nor had they seen the government send out a large-scale arrest of the murderer. It seemed that as time went by, the chances of them being involved would become smaller and smaller.

"Hu Wa, what do you think?" Liu Yuanzhou asked Liu Chuang, who was beside him.

Liu Chuang was motionless, staring blankly at the river.

"Hu Wa, Second Child is asking you, what are you spacing out about?" Zhang He broke off a willow branch and threw it at Liu Chuang's head.

Liu Chuang suddenly shuddered, looked up at Liu Yuanzhou and said, "I, I'm nothing, I'll listen to you." After speaking, he looked unnatural.

Liu Yuanzhou didn't care, he just thought that he was too frightened that night, and he was occasionally dazed when they met these days, thinking that he might get better after a while.

"Anything else? If not, let's go." Liu Yuanzhou asked finally.

Liu Chuang and Zhang He shook their heads. Liu Chuang got up to leave, and Zhang He suddenly said again: "There is a rare thing, I heard that the charlatan Wang Wu was arrested by the government, it seems that someone accused him of selling fake talismans to harm people, alas, he deserves it."

"Good, this charlatan should have been arrested long ago." Liu Chuang echoed.

Liu Yuanzhou's eyes narrowed, his expression thoughtful.