Chapter 374: It’s Good That You’re Back

When Feng Jun finished cleaning the battlefield, arranged the laborers, and returned once again to Heyang County Town, another day had already passed.

As he reentered the town, he discovered that the county town was filled with an unusual sweet fragrance, which seemed to be the smell of Egg Cake.

Every commoner was filled with joy.

Every shop owner by the street and every small eatery proprietor had a face full of smiles, as if celebrating a festival.

He was feeling annoyed, and seeing the commoners so joyful, he couldn’t help but feel surprised; this atmosphere made him feel out of place, and he casually grabbed a passing vendor: “Why is it so fragrant in the city?”

The vendor was startled and quickly bowed: “County Lord, during these past two days when you were at Qiachuan Port suppressing bandits, the county town suddenly rained Egg Cakes; Egg Cakes fell all over the city; according to Daoist Ma, this was food bestowed upon us by the Dao Xuan Deity, and we even had a ‘Deity Egg Cake Festival’ for a day, so that’s why the city is filled with this sweet fragrance.”

Feng Jun: “Huh? Rain of Egg Cakes?”

He had thought the vendor was crazy from overeating, but unexpectedly, an attendant from the county office nearby leaned over and cheerfully said: “I picked up two catties of Egg Cakes and went home; hey, I could eat for several days.”

Feng Jun was a bit dumbfounded: “So everyone on the street is laughing because of these Egg Cakes?”

“That’s not it.” The vendor said a little happily: “It’s because everyone made a profit.”

Feng Jun: “???”

The vendor said: “Yesterday, the people of Gaojia Village Militia returned victoriously, passed by our county town, and stayed here for two hours; they were very wealthy; every soldier had a lot of money; once they hit the streets, they shopped and shopped; the goods I had prepared yesterday were sold out instantly; everyone doing business on this street made a lot; yesterday was the best business day for us in several years.”

Feng Jun’s eyes narrowed slightly: “Bought? No looting?”

The vendor laughed: “Those soldiers looked fierce, but in reality, they were very disciplined; each one spoke courteously; they never relied on violence to get their way.”

Feng Jun felt a complex sentiment inside and didn’t know how to express it for the moment.

Was the Gaojia Village Militia more disciplined than the marauders and officials?

Needless to say about the marauders who were rotten, on the officials’ side, even the most disciplined elite troops couldn’t avoid some instances of demanding bribes or refusing to pay for things; not to mention the likes of Wu Zimian and Li Ying, those worthless martial ruffians.

Unexpectedly, the Gaojia Village Militia had achieved complete non-harming.

It really was a bit surprising to him.

Since his conversation with Bai Yuan yesterday, he had been hesitating whether to write a memorial detailing matters about the Gaojia Village Militia and submit it; now, after hearing the vendor and attendant’s words, he had temporarily decided clearly—don’t write the memorial for now.

However, not writing the memorial, there was one thing he had to do.

Feng Jun returned to the county office, removed his official garments, changed into plain clothes, dressing himself like a merchant; then he led a team of trusted servants, exited the county town, spurred on his horse, and galloped toward Chengcheng County Town.

He had to go see Liang Shixian!

……

Bai Shui Wang Er, bringing one hundred Wangjia Villagers, finally returned to his hometown.

Seeing the water pool outside Gaojia Fortress, at least half of the one hundred villagers behind him burst into tears: “The bond with Gaojia Village started from this water pool; Big Brother Wang Er brought us to Gaojia Village back then to steal water… and we were given flour…”

Thirty-Two came out to welcome them with a smile, accompanied by Gaojia Village’s management team; behind them were large groups of villagers from Zhuangjia Village, Zhengjia Village, and Wangjia Village; most of them were part of the first batch of labor offenders.

Both sides held hands, looked at each other with tears, and were choked up without words.

“Everyone has returned! It’s good that you’re back.” Thirty-Two smiled: “Brother Wang, Wangjia Village’s farmland has now received rain, and it has even been sown with seeds; you and your people only need to go through some formalities to get the farmland back, and you’ll soon be able to settle down and build lives.”

Wang Er looked back a bit awkwardly at the hundred Wangjia Villagers behind him, who after years of wandering and fighting officials everywhere, had long…

He shook his head, sighed: “Forget about the farmland; after so many years, others must be farming it; if we come back now, we’d just argue over ownership; that’s not good; let them join the militia! These people can’t farm anymore; they might be good at fighting, at least they won’t even blink when arrows fly.”

There was some truth to these words.

Thirty-Two smiled: “Fine!”

Wang Er said again: “I bear the title of the number one rebel in the empire; if I keep showing my face, it might bring trouble to Gaojia Village; I plan to change my name to Old Tiger Wang; what do you think of this name?”

Thirty-Two: “Pfft!”

Wang Er: “???”

Thirty-Two shook his head: “Your naming skills; the Deity has complained many times; can’t you come up with more creative names?”

Wang Er: “Isn’t this name pretty good? What is a Deity?”

Thirty-Two spread his hands: “If you stay here for a while, you’ll know; back then, the one who gave you flour was the Deity; the venerable one has been watching you all along.”

Wang Er was startled inside; he looked up but saw nothing.

“People do, heaven watches; the Deity has always been watching.” Thirty-Two said to Brother Wang: “What you did lives up to the conscience between heaven and earth; the Deity has seen it all; that’s why Gaojia Village has always kept a place for you.”

Although Wang Er didn’t know who the Deity was, he felt the meaning in Thirty-Two’s words, saluted the sky: “Wang Er is honored to be regarded highly by the Deity.”

Thirty-Two: “Brother Wang, first take your people to the barracks; look, that’s the barracks over there; Instructor He has been waiting for a long time; he will arrange for them to find their place in the barracks.”

Wang Er: “I saw Instructor He’s skills at Qiachuan Port; truly impressive; this time I go, I will be sure to learn well from him.”

He led the Wangjia Villagers, striding toward the barracks; at the barracks entrance, Cheng Xu had already been waiting for a long time; seeing the cloth mask on Wang Er’s face, Cheng Xu pointed to the cloth mask on his own face, then laughed heartily.

Wang Er instantly understood: “You too?”

Cheng Xu: “I am too!”

The two clasped fists in salute, everything unsaid between them.

On the other side…

Feng Jun, with a group of servants, discreetly arrived in Chengcheng County; he had originally planned to visit Liang Shixian directly, but unexpectedly, upon reaching the county office, he heard from the gatekeeper that the County Lord had gone to the City God Temple.

Feng Jun then led his servants and searched his way to the City God Temple.

When they were still a street away from the temple, they could see from afar a huge statue towering in the temple; the statue was taller than all the buildings in the temple; its upper half emerged over the sea of low structures, coated with a layer of gold powder, gleaming under the sunlight, dignified and solemn.