Cheng Guanghai chuckled at the sight. 'That boy has his mother wrapped around his little finger.'
He didn't press the issue. They could talk about it slowly during or after the meal; there was no rush.
Cheng Guanghai turned and went to the storeroom, and Cheng Zongyang immediately followed.
Opening the storeroom door, Cheng Guanghai casually picked up a shovel that was leaning against the wall.
"Dad, what did those men want just now?"
Cheng Zongyang, who had followed him in, took the shovel from his father's hands. He walked over to the earthen pit in the corner and started loosening the soil inside.
Cheng Guanghai didn't fight his son for the chore, simply smiling as he said,
"It's about you."
Hearing this, Cheng Zongyang stopped what he was doing, his mind racing to analyze the situation. Soon, he recalled the events of that afternoon.
"The Black Panther?"
Cheng Guanghai nodded. "That's right. After they heard you killed a Black Panther, they wanted to come and ask about it.
They know what your old man is capable of, so naturally, they have an idea of your skills too."
"So they're trying to recruit me," Cheng Zongyang said with a laugh. Then he went back to shoveling.
Shovel by shovel, he dumped the dirt onto the floor, to be gathered into a bamboo basket and discarded later.
"That's why I told them someone from another village killed it and just asked you to sell it for them. But I doubt they believed me."
Cheng Guanghai continued,
"I also asked around. They had a good haul in the mountains today. Although it was all small game, there was a lot of it. Every family that participated in the hunt got at least a pound or two of meat."
"What about casualties?" Cheng Zongyang asked. That was the crucial part. The environment in the Inner Mountain was like a primeval forest, extremely dangerous.
Cheng Guanghai's expression turned grim. "Three were poisoned. Two were saved, but one died!"
Cheng Zongyang paused, falling silent as he resumed shoveling.
'Just as I thought. It's like the Wilderness World—too many poisonous insects and snakes. Even someone like me has to clear a path with a stick and avoid grassy areas as much as possible.'
"Who died?" Cheng Zongyang asked without looking up.
Cheng Guanghai fell silent. After a long moment, he uttered a name: "Chen Jiang."
Cheng Zongyang's head snapped up, and he stared at his father.
'Chen Jiang!'
Cheng Zongyang's heart sank.
He was an honest, ordinary villager who never caused trouble or competed with others.
When the original owner of his body was six, he had fallen into a river at the foot of the mountain while playing with friends. A passing Chen Jiang had struggled to pull him out.
The water was chest-deep on an adult, which was well over the head of a five or six-year-old Cheng Zongyang.
But he had been discovered a little too late, and the body's original owner had already drowned. Then, in a case of a cuckoo taking over a magpie's nest, "he" had come back to "life" just as Chen Jiang pulled him from the water.
No matter how you looked at it, he owed the man a life debt.
However, the adults had handled the expressions of gratitude afterward, so he hadn't had much contact with Chen Jiang himself.
Now, hearing this terrible news, he had to consider how he could help the widow and her two daughters.
In a normal farming year, this wouldn't be such a catastrophe. But in these times of famine, one could only imagine the fate of a frail woman raising a thirteen-year-old and a twelve-year-old girl on her own.
'Even though I have the Wilderness World and no shortage of food, there's a limit to how much you can help someone. Besides, I have to discuss this with my parents to avoid putting them in a difficult position.'
"Dad, what's going to happen to Aunt Chunhua?" Cheng Zongyang climbed out of the pit and set the shovel aside.
Cheng Guanghai glanced at his son. He knew exactly what was on his mind. He said,
"Chen Jiang saved your life. So many years have passed, and our families have visited each other often; we have a good relationship. Out of both duty and decency, we can't just stand by and do nothing. As long as we can ensure our own family's needs are met, we will help her and her two daughters."
"Time for dinner!" Mrs. Zhou of the Cheng Family's voice called from the courtyard.
Cheng Zongyang nodded, content to let his father handle it. Still, he added,
"Instead of just giving them handouts, we should think of a way for their family to have a steady income. That way, they won't just live off their savings until there's nothing left."
Cheng Guanghai shook his head. "In times like these, you can't even farm the land. What kind of income could there be?
Many people in the village are in the same boat. Otherwise, they wouldn't have risked going into the Inner Mountain. This was only the first day, and I bet a lot of them have already been scared off."
Cheng Zongyang wasn't concerned with the village's affairs. 'Everyone has their own problems to deal with.' For him, the priority was to take care of his own family and provide what help he could to Chen Jiang's wife and daughters, within his means.
"I'll think about it some more," Cheng Zongyang said.
Soon, after the father and son washed up, they sat at the dinner table, eating and talking.
"Dad, have you heard anything about Linchuan?" Cheng Zongyang asked, placing a piece of fatty meat into each of his parents' bowls.
Cheng Guanghai, not knowing why he asked, replied, "No, Linchuan is so far away. What about it?"
Cheng Zongyang took a sip of chicken soup, his expression calm as he said, "On my way back, I ran into a lot of refugees. I heard they were from Linchuan."
At this, Cheng Guanghai's face darkened, and Mrs. Zhou of the Cheng Family, sitting beside him, grew flustered. "What? Has Linchuan Prefecture been struck by disaster too? People are already fleeing!"
Cheng Zongyang said, "Luoyang Prefecture borders the sea, but it hasn't rained in half a year. Xiangyang has been in a drought for two years and is also near its limit.
For things in Linchuan to be this severe without anyone knowing... something isn't right."
Cheng Guanghai's expression changed. "Is someone covering it up?"
Cheng Zongyang shook his head. "I'm not sure. Maybe. Or perhaps the refugees can't get through. Or rather, they can't make it to Xiangyang's borders. That's why no one here knows anything.
Dad, back when you and Grandpa fled from Beiding, did you run into any armies blocking the way?"
Cheng Guanghai thought for a moment before saying,
"No, but the journey was long, so many people gave up on fleeing across prefectures. We were close to the border, and your grandfather's branch of the family didn't want to follow the other clan members elsewhere.
The most suitable direction was Xiangyang Prefecture, so we just came this way. Fortunately, we had plenty of food saved up back then, and there weren't many of us, which is how our family managed to make it here."
Mrs. Zhou of the Cheng Family asked with a worried expression, "Yang'Er, if all the refugees are heading to the County Town, isn't it going to get chaotic?"
Even as an ordinary village woman, she understood the consequences of a large number of refugees gathering in the County Town.
Cheng Zongyang, however, wasn't too worried. He had enough grain stored to feed his family for more than half a year, maybe even a full year.
In that time, he could plant and even harvest crops in the Wilderness World.
'To put it another way, if I can still go hungry with the entire Wilderness World at my disposal, I might as well find a crooked tree and hang myself.'
"Don't worry. Once our family finishes digging the cellar, I'll store some more grain. We'll be fine."
And so, of the family, only the two little ones ate without a care in the world. The two adults, however, found their food rather tasteless.
At the dinner table, Cheng Zongyang held off on mentioning the Medicinal Materials. It was only after the meal was finished that he finally said to his parents,
"I met an old Hunter. He's a Martial Artist and the leader of a Hunting Team."
Cheng Zongyang slowly laid out the story he had prepared.
'Pursuing Martial Arts Training is something I can't hide forever. It's better to give my family a reason now than for it to seem abrupt later on.'
'Besides, there's nothing wrong with wanting to train in Martial Arts.'
"...After I got to know him, he said that if I join his hunting party, I can learn his Martial Arts Techniques. For free, of course. He even gave me a recipe for some Medicinal Materials, which I had Second Uncle prepare for me.
Dad, Mom, our family will only be truly safe if I become a Martial Artist."