Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 502 Helpful
Outside the misty, rain-shrouded cave, a pack of wolves stared intently at the villagers who refused to come inside.

The villagers were tense and anxious, fearing that the wolf pack would suddenly charge at them.

Apart from the alpha wolf, the other wolves were all smaller in size, but they still looked quite fierce, unlike ordinary wild wolves.

The alpha wolf slowly walked towards the cave, its slightly open mouth exhaling a hot, fishy odor.

Some villagers were horrified and quickly said, "Everyone, gather together..."

The villager who was speaking tried his best to remain calm, but his voice still trembled slightly.

After all, the wolf in front of them was almost bigger than an ordinary tiger, so it was obviously a demon wolf, which was something that ordinary people like them could not handle.

The rudimentary weapons they possessed were utterly ineffective against the monster's defenses.

If these wolves really charge, no one can stop them.

The alpha wolf looked at the group of frail humans with disdain in its eerie green eyes.

It bared its teeth, its limbs suddenly exerted force, and it pounced straight into the crowd.

Seeing this, the other wolves followed suit, swarming towards the cave with their nimble limbs.

The villagers were immediately horrified; the arrival of the wolf pack terrified them.

Faced with a powerful and ferocious pack of wolves, these ordinary people appeared weak and powerless.

Under the alpha wolf's imposing presence, many people even briefly lost the will to resist.

However, it only took the blink of an eye.

The wolves that were pouncing on the villagers froze in place, some even hovering in mid-air, motionless.

This sudden change caught both the humans and the wolves off guard.

When the villagers saw the pack of wolves standing there, they were all stunned, their faces blank and filled with surprise.

Some children, who were hiding behind the adults and were almost scared to death, tilted their heads and stared wide-eyed at the scene, equally puzzled.

Some villagers moved their arms stiffly and realized that they could move, unlike the wolves.

"This……"

Someone opened their mouth, but for a moment didn't know how to express themselves.

Just then, three figures appeared in the heavy rain.

Everyone looked closely and saw a young man and two girls slowly walking over with paper umbrellas.

Upon seeing the villagers in the cliff cave, Lu Zheng smiled and said, "I am a scholar passing through this area. It's raining heavily in the mountains. I wonder if I could borrow this place to take shelter from the wind and rain?"

The group glanced at Lu Zheng and his two companions, then at the wolf pack still standing there, and remained silent for a moment.

Upon seeing this, Lu Zheng said, "I did it. I just happened to see some wolves here, so I stepped in to stop them."

As he spoke, Lu Zheng raised his hand and took out a piece of paper.

A blank sheet of paper was thrown out, and the words on it appeared before the villagers' eyes.

Soon those large characters transformed into streaks of brilliant sword energy, instantly slashing towards the wolf pack.

The wolves, which had been held in place by an invisible force, were suddenly chopped into pieces. The mangled wolf carcasses rolled on the ground, with foul-smelling blood seeping out, and the smell quickly spread.

The villagers were astonished by Lu Zheng's methods.

They had heard of people who could use magic before, but they had never seen it with their own eyes.

Seeing Lu Zheng kill the demon wolf with a single piece of paper, everyone was amazed and couldn't help but think that Lu Zheng was a very capable scholar.

Lu Zheng pointed to the wolf carcasses again and said, "We can't waste this meat. You can cook it and consider it payment for our shelter from the rain here."

The quick-witted villagers immediately realized what was happening and eagerly said, "Please come in, three distinguished guests!"

The man then turned to a woman and said, “Quickly go and clean a place for the three noblemen.”

Lu Zheng walked to the edge of the cave and said, "There's no need for such trouble."

With a gentle wave of his sleeve, Lu Zheng sent a righteous aura that swirled through the cave.

The filth and dust inside the cave were all swept away.

The villagers felt a gentle breeze, which invigorated them and made them feel much more energetic.

Some villagers who had caught a cold immediately felt better and were no longer in so much pain.

Suddenly, the villagers looked at Lu Zheng with even more unusual eyes, as if they had encountered a divine being and that they had just been touched by his divine aura.

Lu Zheng looked at the villager he had just invited and asked with a smile, "What's your name, sir?"

Upon hearing this, the man was taken aback by Lu Zheng's address and stammered, "Reporting to the Immortal Master, I am Wang Fu."

Lu Zheng waved his hand and said, "I am neither an immortal nor a master. I am just a scholar who knows a little magic. My ancestors were farmers and small business owners. I am no more noble than you. If you feel that you are not friendly enough with me, just call me Young Master Lu. I really cannot bear the titles of master or immortal."

Wang Fu naturally dared not address Lu Zheng as a brother, so he said, "Yes, young master."

Lu Zheng turned to Qing Wan and said softly, "Go and deal with those wolves for them, and make some meat soup."

Qingwan nodded upon hearing this and took Xiaoqingyi to do her work.

We should cultivate Xiao Qingyi's willingness to help others more, as she has already reached the Tongxuan level.

Lu Zheng sat on a rock and said to Wang Fu, "Brother Wang, please sit down. I have some questions to ask you." Wang Fu quickly replied, "I'll just stand."

He really couldn't sit down when he encountered such an important person.

Lu Zheng laughed and said, "If you're standing, I have to look up; if you're bowing, I have to hunch over. In this wilderness, there's no need for such formality in front of me..."

This isn't a formal occasion, so Lu Zheng wouldn't follow all those rules and etiquette rules with ordinary people.

Upon hearing this, Wang Fu obediently sat down to the side.

Lu Zheng asked, "I saw a village flooded down the opposite mountain earlier, was that your village?"

Wang Fu nodded emphatically upon hearing this and said, "Yes! It's been flooded for quite a few days?"

Lu Zhengdao: "When did it rain here, and when did you arrive here?"

Wang Fu thought for a moment and replied, "It started raining about seven days later. At first, the rain wasn't too heavy, so we didn't pay much attention. But then the rain got heavier and heavier and just wouldn't stop..."

"Two days ago, the rainwater in the village was knee-deep, making it uninhabitable. So, several groups of people from our village took their belongings and went into the mountains to take shelter from the rain."

“We’ve been here for two days, and the rain still hasn’t stopped… Young master, when will this rain stop? We common folk are waiting to go home…”

Wang Fu couldn't help but ask when the heavy rain would stop.

Looking at the heavy rain outside, Lu Zheng said, "It'll probably rain for at least another three to five days."

Upon hearing this, the villagers' faces turned extremely grim.

One villager complained, "If it rains for so many more days, not only will the grain in the granary be destroyed, but our houses will also be flooded and ruined. Where will we be able to live then?"

The other villagers also looked worried; they didn't want to become homeless and landless vagrants.

Farming is a barely enough way to make a living, but if you become a refugee, there's really no way to survive.

Lu Zheng pondered, "It's been raining for quite a while now. Has the government sent anyone over to check on the situation?"

Wang Fu was taken aback, then shook his head and said, "No, in this heavy rain, how could those officials possibly come here?"

The villagers would occasionally go out to look around, but they never saw any officials or constables coming.

In this kind of weather, they didn't expect any officials to come.

Wang Fu paused for a moment, then added, "However, we just sent some people to the town to inquire about the situation, and they only left an hour or two ago."

At this moment, someone muttered, "Those officials in the county are probably still busy refining pills, they don't care about people like us."

The local people are well aware of the character of the local officials in this county.

It would be truly strange if those officials cared whether they lived or died.

"Do they like alchemy?" Lu Zheng asked.

Wang Fu nodded and said, "Yes, I heard our county magistrate comes from some Taoist temple and is most fond of alchemy. He even issued a notice before, saying that anyone who could offer rare and exotic medicinal herbs would be rewarded. Locals could get tax exemptions and so on..."

"It is said that someone offered a precious medicine and received a magic pill made by the county magistrate. I wonder what it would be like to eat it."

“Some of our people have tried to offer some things to the government office before, but unfortunately they didn’t want them. Our village is a poor place, it doesn’t produce any treasures…”

Lu Zheng then asked, "Does the county usually not handle these matters? How are land taxes and corvée labor calculated here?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Fu wondered why this young master liked to ask such questions.
His mind raced, and he couldn't help but think of one possibility.

I've often heard that some high-ranking officials go on incognito visits. Could this person in front of me be an official from above?
For a moment, Wang Fu's expression flickered, unsure whether he should speak or not.

Seeing the change in Wang Fu's expression, Lu Zheng couldn't help but guess what Wang Fu was thinking.

He couldn't help but smile slightly. "I'm not an official, just a scholar who plans to write some articles, so I want to learn more about things."

Wang Fu blinked. "Make a fuss about it? They won't write me into it, will they?"

He was afraid that his words would cause trouble; if he left his name, the officials would come after him and hold him accountable.

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "Probably not."

"That's good..." Wang Fu was relieved but also disappointed.

I feel like I've missed something because I can't be written about in the article.

Wang Fu's eyes flickered slightly, and he said in a low voice, "If you wish to know, young master, I will tell you..."

Wang Fu didn't hold back and shared what he knew about the local situation.

On the other side, Qingwan and Qingyi almost single-handedly prepared a meal.

In each earthenware pot, wolf meat with a rather peculiar aroma was being cooked.

Some of the children were already drooling over the meat broth.

Upon seeing this, Qingwan asked everyone to bring their bowls over, and each person received a bowl of thick soup with some warming herbs added to it.

Some villagers slurped up the hot meat soup, looking completely satisfied.

The stew made from wolf meat wasn't exactly a delicacy, but these ordinary people might not get to eat any meat for three to five days at a time.

Being able to drink such a full bowl of meat soup is almost like celebrating the Lunar New Year.

(End of this chapter)