South City, Wang's Martial Arts Hall.
"Excuse me, young man. Please inform Hall Master Wang that Cheng Guangshan from Chen's Clinic has made a special trip to deliver what he needed..."
East City, the Li Residence.
"Housekeeper Li, your esteemed son was looking for Reishi Mushroom and Huang Jing for his Body Forging. I have some today and have brought them over..."
East City, the Zhang Mansion.
"Master Zhang, I've acquired a top-quality Bear Gall today, one of the Medicinal Materials you required, so I made a special trip to deliver it..."
North City...
And so, Cheng Guangshan led Cheng Zongyang, who was pulling the wooden frame, all the way from South City to East City, and then on to North City. Cheng Zongyang was also fully armed, with his dagger, Bone-Cutting Knife, Firewood Knife, and Bow and Arrow all on display.
By the time they returned to the clinic, it was late afternoon.
Of course, while the trip was troublesome and tiring, the rewards were bountiful!
The Black Panther sold for fifty-five taels.
The Polygonum multiflorum, thirty taels;
The Reishi Mushroom and Huang Jing, one hundred and fifty taels;
The ginseng and Gastrodia, five hundred taels.
The Bear Gall, two hundred and twenty taels.
Total: nine hundred and fifty-five taels of silver!
This sum made Cheng Zongyang incredibly excited. Although there were many people eyeing them covetously on the road, his displayed weapons served as a deterrent.
For the common folk, the demand for meat couldn't compare to that for grain. To them, filling one's stomach was what mattered, and grain did that best.
Ordinary meat, though expensive, was something commoners could still afford if they gritted their teeth. But this beast meat was a different story.
The price of a single pound of this meat could buy two or three pounds of Old Rice.
This was especially true for the meat of wild beasts, which had certain nourishing effects for Martial Artists.
This Black Panther weighed around two hundred pounds and sold for fifty-five taels, which came out to two hundred and seventy cents per pound. The price was considered extremely high.
It was clear that only powerful families or Martial Artists could afford such fine goods.
His income from hunting over the past few years had only amounted to a hundred or so taels, not even enough to give him the financial backing to pursue martial arts training.
But over all those years, especially with the high expenses of the last two, there was almost nothing left at home.
Now, just two days' harvest in the Wilderness World had netted him nearly one thousand taels. The thought alone felt somewhat unreal.
At the same time, Cheng Zongyang knew in his heart that there was no comparison. After all, the resources in the Outer Mountain were constantly dwindling, and there weren't many opportunities to make money there.
He was glad he hadn't sold the Bear Gall to Zheng Yan.
However, he still needed that connection with Zheng Yan. He couldn't sever a potentially useful future path just for a bit of extra profit. In the future, he might even have to pay Zheng Yan just to get his help.
Inside the clinic, Cheng Zongyang handed one hundred taels of silver to his Second Uncle and said:
"Second Uncle, this is what we agreed on yesterday—your ten percent. The extra is for the medicine. I'm not sure if it's enough?"
Cheng Guangshan didn't refuse. Since they had already agreed on the terms, there was nothing to be modest about.
'With this money, my family can also stock up on more grain.'
"It's more than enough. Yang'Er, are you getting these herbs for a medicinal bath?" Mrs. Chen of the Cheng Family asked, bringing over the bundled-up package of herbs.
Many of the Medicinal Materials inside were quite valuable. As a Doctor herself, Mrs. Chen of the Cheng Family understood their properties and effects very well.
Cheng Zongyang nodded slightly and said without hiding anything, "There's an old man who knows Martial Arts, and I'm planning to learn from him. This way, I'll have the strength to protect our family."
Cheng Guangshan said with admiration, "That's the spirit! Take this money and use it. Learning martial arts is expensive. You always used to say you wouldn't practice because you had no money, but things are different now. With your aptitude, you might really be able to succeed."
As he spoke, he tried to give the silver notes in his hand to Cheng Zongyang. 'My nephew has Innate Divine Power; he should be excellent material for learning Martial Arts.'
'If our family had a Martial Artist, both our standing and our safety would improve dramatically.'
But he was politely refused by Cheng Zongyang, who said:
"Second Uncle, don't worry, I have money. Time is short, so I'll be going now."
Seeing his nephew's insistence, Cheng Guangshan didn't press the matter. He just nodded and said, "Alright! I'll stock up on more of these Medicinal Materials in the future. Come and get them whenever you need. And if you need money, just let your Second Uncle know."
"Okay."
Cheng Zongyang agreed, then left through the clinic's back door, pulling the empty wooden frame.
Carrying a huge sum of money, Cheng Zongyang wasted no time and immediately went to a rice shop.
But when he saw the prices posted at the shop, his expression darkened.
White Rice: ninety cents. Old Rice: sixty-five cents. White Flour: sixty cents. Cornmeal: forty cents. Sorghum Flour: thirty cents. Rice Bran: ten cents. Wheat Bran: seven cents...
'The price went up ten cents since yesterday!'
Cheng Zongyang sighed inwardly. It wasn't unexpected, but there was nothing he could do. He had to accept it.
So, he bought two hundred pounds of White Rice, two hundred pounds of Old Rice, one hundred pounds of white flour, one hundred pounds of cornmeal, and one hundred pounds of sorghum flour.
'For now, I'm just buying this to store in the Wilderness World. In the future, I could even take it out and sell it.'
The sheer quantity made the Shopkeeper stare at him for a long time. Only after confirming that he wasn't a competitor did he sell the goods to Cheng Zongyang.
After paying forty-four taels of silver, Cheng Zongyang tied the grain sacks securely, tucked in some leaves for camouflage, and left, pulling the heavy wooden frame with some effort.
On the way, many people gave him sidelong glances, but no one dared to try and rob him. Within the County Town, as long as chaos didn't break out, no one would dare to cause trouble.
Cheng Zongyang soon reached the back gate of a large, wealthy household. Seeing a moment when no one was around, he instantly stored all the grain in the Wilderness World. Then, pulling the now-empty wooden frame, he slowly walked out of the alley.
This way, even if someone had been watching him, they would only assume the goods had been purchased by the large household.
Using this method, he made purchases at three other rice shops that were still selling grain. Then he bought fifty pounds of brown sugar. The price of crude brown sugar, at least, hadn't gone up.
After that, he bought one hundred pounds of peanut oil, twenty pounds of soy sauce, one hundred pounds of salt, and ten pounds of vinegar.
These few trips cost him a total of one hundred and sixty-seven taels of silver.
But his grain reserves had increased significantly.
Thanks to the large quantities of grain he had bought in batches over the past two days, his family wouldn't have to worry about food for the next year. They could even eat to their hearts' content.
Next, Cheng Zongyang walked with a much lighter step toward the blacksmith's shop. He spent seven or eight taels of silver to purchase various tools for farming and digging, as well as for household use.
These included axes, shovels, Firewood Knives, hoes, hammers, iron nails, iron buckets, iron pots of various sizes, and hemp rope.
After that, he went to a shop specializing in pottery jars and urns. He bought several jars of various sizes for storing water and other items, followed by some wooden barrels. This round of shopping cost him another seven or eight taels of silver.
Before the city gates closed, he left, pulling his empty frame and carrying some water and dry rations.
After all his shopping, he still had over six hundred taels remaining from the money he'd made.
'I'll save this money for now,' he thought. 'Next time I'm in the County Town, I'll continue buying the supplies I need in batches.'
As he hurried along the road, he once again encountered many refugees heading toward the County Town.
The evening wind grew cool, but it couldn't reach the refugees' hearts, nor could it blow away the numbness on their faces. What sustained them was a single breath of hope—the belief that they would be saved if they could just reach the County Town.
"Young... young man... do you... do you have any water?"
A woman came staggering over, cradling a child with tightly shut eyes. Her voice was hoarse and dry.
Her clothes were tattered, her hair was dry, messy, and knotted, and her lips were cracked. Her cheekbones protruded sharply from her face, and her eye sockets were sunken.
If not for the fact that she had spoken, it would not have been an exaggeration to call her a walking corpse.
The woman showed no fear of the arm-length Firewood Knife and Bone-Cutting Knife in Cheng Zongyang's hands. In a pleading tone, she continued, "My... my child... hasn't... hasn't had water in so long. I'm begging you..."
As she spoke, the woman dropped directly to her knees. That single act seemed to drain the last breath of willpower that had sustained her, and she slumped powerlessly to the ground.