Chapter 8: The Border Town

  The next morning, Yang Fu got up early to prepare breakfast. He wanted to prepare some things for the two children's trip. Actually, there was nothing that could be prepared. In the mountain village, there were no valuable things, only some medicinal herbs or fur, and Yang Fu was a blacksmith, without those things, only with some copper coins given by the villagers. He rummaged through his boxes and found 45 copper coins, planning to let Yang Erwu accompany the two children on a trip, while he himself was old and didn't want to move, besides, the materials for forging could still be found nearby, no need to go outside to buy.

  Lei Meng and Yang Tian had actually woken up early, but they deliberately lingered in bed, savoring the affectionate and pampered feeling. When Yang Erwu had everything ready, Lei Meng and Yang Tian finally got out of bed with a stretch. At this time, Yang Erwu also rushed over, he had already agreed with his old father to take these two extraordinary young masters out for a walk.

  After having breakfast, the sun had already risen to three poles. Lei Meng and others carried knives and bows on their backs, tied daggers, Yang Erwu carried dry food and a large package of herbs on his back. Under Yang Fu's reluctance to part with them, the three set out on a distant journey.

  Along the way, there were small hills and forests. Leiming and Yang Tian walked on the winding path, listening to the chirping of birds, feeling comfortable in their hearts. However, as they walked, only Leiming and Yang Tian felt comfortable, for they had deep internal strength and long breaths, and were in a great mood, unknowingly walking quickly; Yang Erwu could barely keep up at first, but soon became tired, watching the two children happily walking ahead, not wanting to say he was tired as an adult. As a result, Yang Erwu's footsteps became heavier, his smile gradually disappearing from his face, sweat dripping from slight to profuse... Finally, there were loud gasps for air.

  Lei Meng walked for a while, and after the excitement had passed, he turned his head to glance at Yang Erwu, only to find that he was still barely keeping up, not having fallen behind. So, they didn't stop to rest. After walking for another period of time, it was already noon, and Yang Tian's excitement had also passed. At this moment, he heard the heavy panting sounds from behind and found out it was Yang Erwu. He hastily called out to Lei Meng to stop together. Yang Erwu hurriedly caught up with them, stood in front of the two, his hands on his waist, panting heavily as he said: "Master... can you... please... slow down a bit? I... I... can't keep up..."

  Yang Tian rolled his eyes and said, "We're not going fast either, we haven't even run yet." Lei Ming also joked, "Yeah, just right for some exercise. Hehe~" After saying that, seeing Yang Erwu still panting and unable to speak, he continued, "Let's take a break here." As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Erwu plopped down on the ground, grabbed the water bottle and gulped it down. Yang Tian shrugged at Lei Ming and sat down in a cleaner spot.

  Lei Meng glanced around and walked to the side, saying: "Erbu Zi, after drinking and calming down, try to circulate your Qi, gather it in your legs, and loosen up your meridians, you won't feel so tired."

  Yang Erwu finished drinking water and took a short rest, then crossed his legs, closed his eyes, and started practicing the qigong that Yang Tian had taught him. At first, he couldn't calm down well and was unable to muster up his energy, but after trying several times, his breathing became smooth and his energy flowed freely throughout his body, dispelling his fatigue; as he focused his energy on his legs, the tense muscles also relaxed after tensing up more than a dozen times. Yang Erwu felt that his internal strength had increased, and when he opened his eyes feeling refreshed, two dark little faces approached him, startling him into retreating two steps and hastily asking, "What are you doing?"

  Yang Tian said in a low voice: "Look at the sky."

  Yang Erwu only then noticed that the surrounding trees were all ablaze with a fiery red glow, and realized that the sun was about to set. He lowered his head, scratched his hair with his hand, and said with embarrassment: "Sorry, I didn't know what time it was while practicing."

  Lei Meng said: "Actually, it's not bad. After this practice, your qigong can be considered as entering the door. From now on, you'll know how to use it. Now go collect some dry branches and let your master start a fire in that empty space over there. I'll go hunt for some birds and beasts." Lei Meng pointed to a nearby clearing by the stream, jumped lightly twice, and then darted into the thicket, leaving Yang Erwu staring after him in awe.

  "What's wrong with you? Go quickly!" Yang Tian shouted.

  Not long after the thunderstorm left, he brought back three unknown large birds with long tails. Yang Tianqi had already lit a fire and was waiting, while Yang Erwu was still busy collecting dry branches. The three of them worked together in an orderly manner, and by the time the stars were scattered across the sky, they had roasted the three birds. However, due to the lack of seasonings, all they could smell was the aroma of roasting, without any salt, and the sweetness of the bird meat was slightly off, causing Yang Tianqi to sigh and mutter to himself that he would definitely bring seasonings on their next trip. The three of them took turns keeping watch and rested for a night around the fire pit, eating dry rations for dinner.

  The second day, just after dawn, the three of them set off amidst the noisy chirping of birds. The effect of resting in the wilderness was really not great; Lei Meng and Yang Tian were okay, occasionally yawning once or twice, but Yang Erwu yawned continuously all along the way.

  After rushing for a whole morning, they finally arrived at the town at noon. Listening to the familiar sounds of roosters crowing and dogs barking, as well as the warm shouts, Lei Meng San stepped onto the stone-paved streets, excitedly looking around in all directions on this sparsely populated town.

  The small town is located in the center of a small basin, with about fifty or sixty households. On its west side, there is a five-meter-wide river that flows slowly from the north and winds its way through the western edge of the town towards the distance. The surrounding area is dotted with patches of farmland, planted with rice and vegetables, and on the ridges of the fields, a few tall old trees have been preserved. A three-meter-wide dirt road runs from southeast to northwest through the town and extends into the distance. It was here that Lei Meng and his two companions entered the town from the southeast and merged onto the dirt road.

  Yang Tian saw a two-story restaurant not far away with the words "xxxx" - no way, I don't recognize the characters here - excitedly pointing to the restaurant and saying: "Let's go eat at that wine building."

  Lei Meng's mouth twitched as he said, "I reckon we can't afford it. We only have forty-five copper coins left. After eating, everything else will be just for show."

  "Alright, let's just buy some buns to eat then. We still have some dry rations on hand." Yang Tian patted his forehead and sighed.

  It's okay, there is a baozi shop next to the restaurant. Speaking of food, the three people's stomachs started rumbling in unison, they were busy rushing on the road and didn't eat much, now they are starving. So the three of them walked towards the baozi shop with their hands on their stomachs.

  The man selling buns was a short, stout old fellow with gray hair and a smiling face. He stood in front of the steamer on the stove, peering through the swirling steam to see three men approaching with swords slung over their backs, dusty from traveling, and shouting enthusiastically: "Freshly baked hot buns! Two for one copper coin!"

  As they walked in front of the baozi shop, smelling the aroma of the buns, the three of them couldn't help but swallow their saliva. Yang Tian said: "Boss, give me six buns."

  "Alright!" The old man lifted the lid, and in a swirl of hot air, he took out six fist-sized buns and piled them onto a coarse brown ceramic plate on a small side table. The buns were all earthy yellow, with four distinct cracks on top, as if they were smiling with their mouths open. "Thanks for the three copper coins," the old man continued to say.

  Lei Meng took out three copper plates and handed them over. Yang Tian hurriedly stretched out his hand to grab the buns and started eating them in big mouthfuls, mumbling "Delicious～, delicious～". Lei Meng and Yang Erwu didn't want to fall behind, so they also quickly grabbed their own buns and started eating. The buns were soft and sweet when bitten into, without any filling. They were actually just slightly fermented mantou with some brown sugar added, but for an era that hadn't popularized fermentation technology, especially for three starving people who had just taken them out of the oven, this was a delicacy!

  After wolfing down the buns, the three of them were still savoring the taste. But in a moment, Yang Erwu's face turned red with rage and he shouted: "Old man! You cheated us! These buns used to be one cent for three!"

  The old man calmly explained, "This bun was still three for a penny half a year ago. It's just that sugar became expensive two months ago, and recently I invented a technique to apply to this bun. Now the bun is softer than before. Don't you think it tastes better now?"

  "It seems to be..." Yang Erwu recalled for a moment and had to say affirmatively, then asked: "Why did sugar suddenly become expensive?"

  The old man sighed and said, "Alas, the war has begun. Our Huangpu Town is a small border town, and few people dare to transport goods here. As a result, supplies are becoming increasingly scarce, and prices have also risen."

  "What? How did fighting suddenly break out? Weren't we getting along with our neighboring country?" Yang Erwu asked tensely.

  "I don't know why they have to fight. Young man, you'd better leave here quickly, the war hasn't spread here yet, everyone has started fleeing elsewhere, only some old, weak and sick people haven't left yet." The old man kindly advised.

  Yang Erwu heard, as if falling into a cloud of fog, bewildered and unaware where to go. Lei Meng and Yang Tian exchanged a glance, smiled in unison, both feeling that the opportunity had arrived, as the saying goes, "A hero emerges in troubled times."

  Lei Meng and Yang Tian took the dazed Yang Erwu to sell medicine, earning 40 copper coins. Afterwards, they strolled around some more, finding that there were indeed very few pedestrians, and couldn't find a place to go. Just as they were about to make other plans, Yang Tian saw that Yang Erwu was still worried and got annoyed: "I'm not worried, what are you worried about?!" Yang Erwu heard this and panicked, not knowing how to respond, when Lei Meng spoke up: "Erwu, you should go back. The martial arts you've learned now are enough for you to practice for five or six years. Your internal energy has no limits, just slowly grind away at it. When you get back, tell the villagers to stockpile more grain. As long as the war doesn't stop, I'm afraid there will be a greater and greater shortage of grain in the future. Old Man Yang is going to rely on you to take care of him, we're not going back."

  "How can this be? You two are still so young, I cannot leave you behind..." Yang Erwu was getting anxious.

  "Go back and organize the young men in the village to practice martial arts; let Old Man Yang temper some more weapons, who knows when they might come in handy." Lei Meng interrupted.

  Yang Erwu lowered his head, feeling like he was somewhat useless.

  Lei Ming continued, "Don't worry about us, we're doing great. Take good care of yourselves and live well. In two years, we'll come find you. Tell Grandpa not to worry and take care of his health." After instructing them, he exchanged a glance with Yang Tian, and the two leapt away together, leaving behind Yang Erwu, who was left standing there in a daze, stretching out his hand as if trying to hold someone back but seeing no one. Before long, Yang Erwu also let out a sigh and hurried towards the village.