83 The Beginning of Everything
Jiang Ming walked into Peace County. The streets were much livelier than three years ago. There were all kinds of shops, from cafes to clothing stores. There were also many street vendors.
After the war, the country of Yan gradually became more prosperous than before, as if an illness had been cured. The emperor reduced taxes and built granaries to provide relief to the people. Even the villagers in Peace County had a much better life.
Jiang Ming sighed and walked to the bar. He went straight to the second floor and asked for a bright place by the window. He ordered some food and wine and began to eat and drink.
Now that Old Jiang had completely retired and was a hands-off shopkeeper, Ah Fei had somehow saved up some money and ordered people to renovate the bar. Now, the business was booming, and the atmosphere was new.
The customers at the other tables were all red from drinking. As usual, they were discussing the current affairs that had happened recently.
“Marquis Zhou is really a God. He shocked the world with one battle, and no one dared fight back.”
“He’s just a bloodthirsty butcher. If he doesn’t win the hearts of the people, he’ll get his retribution sooner or later.”
“Bullsh*t! Marquis Zhou massacred the city, not for the sake of killing, but to warn those who want to cause trouble.”
“F*ck you! Don’t you dare yell at me!”
In an instant, wine glasses and bar stools flew everywhere.
Jiang Ming quickly protected his food and wine and sat on the other side of the table to avoid being splashed with blood.
After a while, the two people who were fighting were thrown out of the bar by a red-faced man, which attracted a lot of applause.
The red-faced man went back to the second floor and sat opposite Jiang Ming. “Long time no see, Ming.”
“How did you become a thug in this bar?” Jiang Ming laughed. The man was Wang Dong, Jiang Ming’s good friend in Tiger Hunting Village.
Three years passed, and Jiang Ming’s strength had also improved to the level of an unranked martial artist, but Wang Dong still could only sense blood Qi and had not crossed into the realm of a martial artist.
“It’s just to earn some more money.”
Wang Dong took a big gulp of wine and smiled bitterly. “Only by practicing martial arts will one know how difficult it is to walk the path of martial arts. I’m afraid I don’t have the talent anymore, and I’m too lazy to be a dog in those big aristocratic families, so I inherited my father’s old profession and opened a butcher shop in Peace County. I got married last year and now we have a baby on the way. We’re a bit short of money, so I picked up a part-time job here.”
Jiang Ming did not interrupt Wang Dong’s long-winded speech and listened silently. Perhaps this was the final destination of most martial arts practitioners.
“From our batch, it seems that only you and Fang Lie have become martial artists now.” Wang Dong suddenly said, “Fang Lie also became a third-class martial artist a few days ago.”
“Is that so? I’d like to go and congratulate him when I’m free,” Jiang Ming said with a smile.
“I’m very busy now. I’ve not seen Master Guan in a while,” Wang Dong said in a low voice. His eyes were a little unhappy, as if he were recalling the days when they went up the mountain to hunt tigers together.
Jiang Ming patted him on the shoulder and asked for two bottles of hard liquor and a few appetizers. The two of them drank heavily before they left.
However, Jiang Ming did not go home directly. Instead, he went into a remote medicine shop.
The medicine shop was called the Hundred Herb Hall. It was not big and was located in a remote area. However, because it had a large stock of medicinal herbs, it was always busy.
Seeing Jiang Ming come in, several customers who were buying medicine greeted him, “Mr. Jiang!”
“Mr. Jiang, long time no see. What do you have this time?”
“Just some golden ginseng. I’ll clean them up. If you’re interested, come and see me another day.” Jiang Ming smiled and replied to them one by one. He was the one who opened the Hundred Herb Hall. With his background, it was not a big deal to open a medicine shop. Most of the medicinal herbs he collected on a daily basis were brought here to be sold. He could also buy some medicinal herbs from other people who collected medicinal herbs. He could still make some income.
“You went drinking again!” After Zhou Wenxiu sent away these customers, she walked out from behind the counter and stared at Jiang Ming with dissatisfaction.
Jiang Ming quickly poured out all the herbs in the basket, turned around, and ran away, “I’ll go home first.”
* * *
The next morning, Jiang Ming stood in his small courtyard, practicing a set of simple fist techniques and moving his body.
“Wow, Ming, you’re home!”
Outside the fence, in the small courtyard next door, a cry of surprise suddenly came.
Jiang Ming turned his head and saw a little girl who was not much taller than Master Si. She was leaning on the fence between the two small courtyards, holding a small wooden bowl filled with fried cicadas.
The little girl was looking at Jiang Ming with a face full of surprise. Her white coarse cloth clothes were covered with mud, and her red face was covered in mud as well.
“Tian Anan, you were playing with mud again!” Jiang Ming walked over, grabbed the hem of the little girl’s clothes, and pointed to the mud on it. “Your mother will spank you when she comes back!”
“Ah.” The little girl looked down and was shocked. “I was not playing with mud. These aren’t my clothes.”
Jiang Ming almost choked. “When I went out just now, I saw a little girl splashing in a muddy puddle. Was she a ghost?
Tian Anan giggled. She stuffed a cicada into her mouth with her dirty little fingers and chewed it. Then, she grabbed another one and handed it to Jiang Ming.
Jiang Ming was happy. He reached out to take it.
Tian Anan quickly retracted her hand and asked curiously, “Ming, do you think the stones on the mountain are nice?”
Jiang Ming laughed, turned around, and took out a few colorful cobblestones from his medicine basket. He put them in Tian Anan’s bowl, and then she handed the cicada to Jiang Ming.
“You little brat!” Jiang Ming said without mercy.
Tian Anan played with the cobblestones happily, then turned and ran away, leaving Jiang Ming alone.
Jiang Ming shook his head, too lazy to argue with this little girl. He chewed on the cicada and walked unsteadily toward the Hundred Herb Hall.
Zhou Wenxiu had already opened the door and was sorting out the medicinal herbs. Jiang Ming lay down on the bamboo chair in the inner hall with ease. He had some experience from working under Dr. Sun. It was quite comfortable.
“I am here to buy some medicine!”
Suddenly, a man wearing a bamboo hat, whose face could not be seen clearly, walked into the medicine shop and said in a deep voice.
Jiang Ming did not take it seriously and sent Zhou Wenxiu to sell medicine. There were too many people who hid their identities to buy things. Everyone had some secrets that could not be revealed, and he was too lazy to care.
However, the next few medicinal herbs that the man mentioned made Jiang Ming unable to sit still.
“I need some mountain dragon’s eye, snake flower grass root, cicada skin, dried leech, and some nine-fragrance worm.”
Jiang Ming’s memory suddenly went back to the time when he had just crossed into this world. The prescription from Old Ghost Huang was the beginning of everything.