51 Quietly Waiting for the Opportunity
Late at night, Jiang Ming quietly returned home.
He pushed the door open. However, he did not go inside. The sound of a teacup falling to the ground and shattering rang out.
A panicked voice cried, “Who is it?”
Jiang Ming was rendered speechless.
‘This is my f*cking house, and you’re asking me who I am?’
“Zhou Wenxiu, you’re really something else!” Jiang Ming said angrily.
* * *
After a long while, Zhou Wenxiu sat in front of Jiang Ming with a blushing face and mumbled, “Everything’s a mess now. I’m afraid that the rebel army will rush into the house at any time. You’re now a member of the Tiger Hunting Village. No one would dare break into your house. I was just thinking of hiding here for a few days.”
Jiang Ming was left speechless. However, he understood. No matter how the Green Mountain Army bragged about their principles, they were still a group of rebels. Who could take them at their word?
He glanced at the neatly arranged bed and the messy mattress on the floor beside it and sighed. “It’s not that I don’t want you to stay, but if you stay here, you might get a bad reputation!”
“I don’t care,” Zhou Wenxiu immediately said, “What’s the use of reputation? Last year, Qingqing’s reputation was good. However, if it wasn’t for that hero, Zhang Shan, who saved her, she would have been taken away and tarnished by the Shi family. I don’t even know if she’s still alive now.”
Jiang Ming was quiet. Then he said with a strange look, “You seem to have a lot of respect for Zhang Shan, huh?”
“Of course!” Speaking of this person, Zhou Wenxiu’s eyes shone. “He’s a man of good principles and abhors evil. He even helped me kill that b*stard, Shi Junhong. I’ll definitely become someone like him in the future, killing all the evil people I see and making sure there is justice for everyone!”
Jiang Ming sighed. What else could he say? He was embarrassed by the compliment.
“However, you can’t stay in the same house as me. I’ll find someone to build another house in the next two days,” Jiang Ming said casually.
He was no longer a poor herb gatherer. He was now Chief Jiang of the Tiger Hunting Village of Great Cloud City. He could easily assign a few people to the task.
“Alright, now tell me about the military camp outside the town. What’s going on?” Jiang Ming asked.
“Not long after you entered the mountain, all the soldiers of the Green Mountain Army set out to attack Great Cloud City,” Zhou Wenxiu quickly replied. “I heard that they all escaped from the prefecture. Half a month ago, the city gates were suddenly closed, and no one was allowed to enter or leave. Two days later, the Green Mountain Army arrived and set up camp fifteen miles away! As for Peace Town, I heard that there’s a supply camp in charge of managing rations, vehicles, and tools. These days, most of the time, it’s been peaceful. A few drunk soldiers made a scene in the town and raped civilian women. However, they were beheaded by their leaders. Now, there are very few people who make trouble.”
“Do you know how the war is going?” Jiang Ming nodded.
Zhou Wenxiu immediately shook her head and said, “I rarely go out now. I only heard that they started to attack the city two days ago, but I don’t know how it’s going.”
Jiang Ming did not ask any more questions. After all, Great Cloud City was one of the few big cities in the country of Yan. They would not fall so quickly.
However, he did not know if the Shi family and the Old Snake Gang would wait for an opportunity to strike and coordinate with the rebel army outside the city.
Jiang Ming did not think too much about it. As long as it did not affect him, it was fine. He would simply continue to practice martial arts in peace.
“However, I’m already a second-class martial artist now. The Leather Tiger Bone Technique is a second-class technique. If I want to break through to first class, I’ll have to find another technique.”
Naturally, Tiger Hunting Village had a technique to break through to the first class, but if Jiang Ming went to ask for it, he would be exposed. He had broken through to the second class in just one year of training. If this news were to spread, he would have endless trouble in the future.
“This matter can’t be rushed.”
Jiang Ming lay on the bed and thought to himself, “I wonder if this war will make a few first-class families fall and give me a chance to fish in troubled waters…”
Jiang Ming was now a bold man with great skills. As long as he did not encounter any of the few first-class martial artists, he could do whatever he wanted in Great Cloud City.
The next day, Jiang Ming got up early and practiced the Leather Tiger Bone Technique in the courtyard.
Now that he had stepped into the second-class realm, he mainly cultivated the internal breathing technique, using the intent of the fierce tiger to drive the blood Qi to temper his skin and muscles. He did not need to use his full strength for the external cultivation technique, so he was not afraid of being discovered.
Zhou Wenxiu started a fire in the corner of the courtyard to cook and also prepared the two medicinal soups for Jiang Ming.
After a while, a wave of dense footsteps came from afar, slowly approaching them.
A kind and hearty laugh could also be heard.
“I’m Li Yong of the Green Mountain Army. I’m sorry for disturbing you. However, the kitchen made a mistake today and made a lot of porridge. Don’t hold back. Come and get some.”
A handsome young man was directing a few soldiers to place the pots on the open space by the roadside, enthusiastically greeting the surrounding villagers.
“They’ve been like this every day for the past few days. But I’m too scared to accept it,” Zhou Wenxiu said in a low voice as she walked over.
“Everyone has already taken some. What’s there to be afraid of?” Jiang Ming looked at the people who came to get some bowls of porridge and smiled. “Let’s get two bowls of it too.”
As he ate the rebel army’s thick porridge, Jiang Ming thought, “It seems like the rebel army has sufficient food. They seem to be well-managed. Perhaps this non-violent method of garnering the people’s support works best for them.”
Of course, all of this was based on the premise that the imperial court had not yet made any response.
After eating the last bite, Jiang Ming gave the bowl to Zhou Wenxiu and walked to Old Jiang’s bar. He was going to get some information.
* * *
“They’re still attacking the city!”
“We didn’t manage to take it down!”
“A first-class martial artist appeared in the city and killed several soldiers. The rebel army has suffered a great loss.”
For the next few days, Jiang Ming received the same news, but he did not care. In ancient times, it was normal for sieges to last for months. There were even cases of people being besieged for more than a year and having to resort to eating each other.
In Peace Town, however, things were fine. After a few days of tension, the people went on with their usual lives.
Because Li Yong came to deliver porridge every few days, he had a good relationship with the poor people in the town.
Moreover, he had never visited any of the aristocratic families here. He even scoffed at them. Even Mr. Dong, who tried to get close to him, was coldly rejected.
One morning, Jiang Ming heard the footsteps of soldiers approaching, and he could not help but smile.
“Fellow villagers, come out!”
The sound of a bell suddenly rang out, making Jiang Ming frown. What was happening?