Young master, why not become a corpse immortal?

Chapter 74 I Want to Learn Skills

“Those bandits blocked the road, preventing the villagers from leaving. Outsiders also had to pay silver. They claimed they were helping us sell our goods, but in reality, they were taking our grain. They wanted to slowly boil us like frogs in water and raise us like pigs.”

The village chief pointed to a spot outside the village, but he was a bit short and the wall of their courtyard was a bit high, so he couldn't see clearly by pointing like that. The village chief simply climbed up the stone block in the middle of the courtyard and pointed outwards.

Still couldn't see clearly, so I shouted into the yard:

"Get me a ladder!"

The young man with shoe prints on his face quickly took out a ladder from the warehouse, and the village chief climbed onto the roof.

Lin Jiang also climbed up.

Once they reached the rooftop, the village chief pointed to the hillside next to them.

There's no wall blocking the view, so the view is very clear:
“Look, young master, there’s a fire on that mountain to the east, and there’s a dilapidated temple over there. Inside the temple, there are men with big knives.”

"There's a fire in the woods to the north. They built a shed there with wooden frames, and a dozen or so people were there collecting money. They would also occasionally go to nearby villages to kidnap women and children."

"We can't leave them here." Lin Jiang looked around under the cover of night. Both places were quite close to here. Although they weren't on the way, it wouldn't take too long to go around them.

“It is not advisable to leave, but this area is neither under the jurisdiction of Yuxiang nor Jianzhou. The mountain bandits have always maintained a certain level of control, so the imperial court has not sent troops here.”

The village chief pounded his leg hard:
“My knees are hard; I can’t kneel down in front of them. Everyone in the village has knelt, so I can’t kneel down either. But my fists are soft. There are only a few young men I can name, and they’re not very capable. Even if we rush to that outpost, we can only kill a few bandits at most.”

"I was thinking, could I let my grandson learn a skill? If he learns a skill, the people from these surrounding mountain villages will naturally not dare to come over, and at least he will be able to stand up straight."

"That's a good thing."

The two of them climbed down the wooden ladder from the roof.

Before the meal was even ready, the village chief mentioned that his son had difficulty walking and went inside to help.

Lin Jiang then found the young man who had been watching from the side.

The young man was also staring intently at Lin Jiang:

"Young master, judging from your elegant attire, you must be from a big city!"

"Not a big city."

"Young master, your skills are truly superb. If I give you some silver, will you teach me your skills?"

"What do you plan to do after you learn these skills?" Lin Jiang asked.

"I will protect our village," the young man said. "Although most of the villagers lack backbone, it's not their fault. As long as I drive the thieves away, I will eventually raise their backbone."

Lin Jiang thought about his own abilities.

The eating and drinking skills were taught to me by Gong Xuan. I didn't ask Gong Xuan beforehand if I was allowed to teach others, so I couldn't teach them.

Making soybean paste requires a solid foundation; teaching him won't be very effective.

The same applies to the Zeng brothers.

"It seems my skills are insufficient to help you."

"Then..." the young man continued, "Are you going to Ta Yunxia? I want to go there to learn skills, but there are too many bandits on the roads nearby. Can I go with you?"

"Do you know where Ta Yunxia is?" Lin Jiang asked, intrigued.

"I know, it's in Changyun Town to the north."

The young man went inside, took the map, and spread it out on the stone table.

This is a small map, somewhat roughly drawn, but it still marks the roads.

The young man pointed to a corner of the map:

"This is it, this is Changyun Town."

Manager Liu glanced at the map and said, "We were going to this town anyway. Young master, could you give him a ride?"

"It's not much effort, I'll just give you a ride."

"We can't let our benefactor do this for nothing."

The young man entered the house, took out a string of coins, and used it as travel expenses.

Lin Jiang took the money and gave it to Chen Dajiang, asking Chen Dajiang to teach the young man some basic skills. Chen Dajiang readily agreed.

For dinner, we had free-range chicken. There were many people in the family, so we prepared two chickens and also took out a piece of cured pork. Both the host and guests enjoyed the meal very much.

Before going to bed that night, Lin Jiang asked the young man his name.

"My name is Niu Man." The clean-cut young man had a name that was quite contrasting.

Thinking about Niujia Village and looking at this family, I felt they bore a resemblance to Niu Xiashui. So I asked:

Do you know Niu Xia Shui?

"Beef offal? That stuff we eat?"

"No." Lin Jiang recounted the story of the fisherman taking the cow offal into the water.

After listening, the village chief thought for a moment, then his face lit up with realization:

“Our family had some wealth in the first two generations. We tried to break out once, but a lot of people died. We thought no one had escaped, but now it seems that one branch of our family actually did manage to get out.”

The surname Niu is rare, so there's a high probability that they are related.

The dishes were in disarray, and Chen Dajiang helped clean up. Later that evening, the village chief specially reserved a superior room for the group to rest in.

After entering the room, Lin Jiang blew out the lamp but didn't go to sleep.

Lanterns floated out:

"My lord, the village chief's son has run away."

"I'd appreciate it if you could keep an eye on things, young lady."

"Don't mention it, you can just call me Jiaren Gui."

Lantern chuckled, its figure vanished in an instant, disappearing directly into the house.

Before long, lights floated in the night sky, and lanterns drifted by.

The lantern said nothing, but with a glimmer of light, the aura condensed above created a painting-like ink wash painting.

In the ink painting, Lin Jiang saw the village chief's son.

He was accompanied by two or three burly men, gathered around the tree.

This is the tree at the entrance of the village.

A gaunt old woman was pinned down at the entrance of the village.

The village chief's son limped over to the old woman, looked down at her coldly, and said:
"Grandma Guo, it's getting late, where are you going?"

Grandma Guo's arms ached from being pressed down, and her face turned pale.

But she was still cursing:
"You guys are really something, bringing trouble into the village like this. If those big shots up in the mountains find out their men are dead, they'll definitely come after our village for revenge! What are you going to do against that big knife? Run your head against it?"

"So you want to go up the mountain?"

"Why can't we go up the mountain? If we go up and tell the king, we won't have to pay more grain next year!"

The village chief's son looked at Grandma Guo and suddenly wiped his eyes.

It seems like crying.

"Grandma Guo, you used to hold me when I was little."

Grandma Guo didn't react immediately: "What do you want to do?"

"The bandits have come today, why are they killing you too?"

"you!"

Grandma Guo finally realized what was happening, but then her henchmen started swinging sticks at her.

One blow and the person is dead.

Seeing the person die, the village chief's son wiped away his tears a couple more times:
"Oh, why bother."

He then instructed his attendant:
"Go and investigate around the village. Don't let those spineless cowards get out. No matter what, we must get in touch with Ta Yunxia. In the future, no matter what, the village can no longer be called Cow Dung Village."

The henchman disappeared into the alley, and the village chief's son sighed as he looked at the corpse.

The image of the lantern ends here.

“My lord, this village chief’s family is not simple either.”

Lin Jiang remained silent, looking out of the village.

As the stars shift and the constellations turn, the mountains stretch endlessly.

How many bandits and how many villagers live in this mountain forest?

No one knows.

(End of this chapter)