The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun.

After an unknown amount of time, a woman passed by. Judging from her attire, she was a woman from a nearby village.

"what!"

Upon seeing a person lying on the ground covered in blood, the woman instinctively screamed.

But when she saw that the person on the ground was not moving, she mustered up her courage and went forward to check. However, after seeing the person's face clearly, the woman screamed.

"My benefactor?"

Chapter 442: Grandpa Ghost, We Were Wrong

September.

Changliu Village.

In a farmyard.

squeak~

A young man carrying a bowl of chicken feed pushed open the door and went outside to feed the chickens.

The young man was dressed in plain clothes, but his face looked very pale and his body was thin, like a sickly person.

Upon seeing the young man, the chickens in the yard all took off running towards him, clucking as they went.

The young man scattered chicken feed on the ground, and the chickens in the yard gathered around him to peck at it.

Seeing this, the young man smiled, but his pale face made him look frail.

Just then, a woman walked over from not far away. Judging from the mud on her body and the tools in her hands, she must have just returned from doing farm work.

The woman was shocked to see the young man when she pushed open the courtyard gate. She quickly put down her things and ran over to take the basin from his hands, saying, "My benefactor, why did you come out? Didn't the doctor say you should rest and recuperate properly?"

The young man smiled and said, "I've been lying in bed for too long, so I came out to stretch my legs. I was thinking of all the trouble you've been taking care of me during this time, so I wanted to do what I could."

The woman's eyes reddened upon hearing this, and she said, "My benefactor, what are you saying? If you hadn't rescued me from those bandits' stronghold, I might never have come back in this life."

The woman continued, “My benefactor, I saw you lying on the ground covered in blood on the road. I don’t know who injured you like this, but you are a righteous and chivalrous person. Those who hurt you must be bad people. They will die a horrible death!”

The woman looked indignant.

The young man was Jiang Ning.

After being seriously injured and leaving the bamboo forest, he collapsed near this village, unable to hold on any longer. He happened to encounter this woman, who saved him.

Every sip and every bite is ordained by Heaven.

If Jiang Ning hadn't encountered this woman after falling into a coma, but instead someone else, he would probably have already lost his life.

When Jiang Ning was on the verge of death, he encountered someone he had once saved. Perhaps it was fate that he was destined to survive.

The woman brought him back when she found him lying on the road covered in blood. To save him, she went to the county town and knelt in every pharmacy before finally getting a doctor to come to the village to treat him. It was the woman's meticulous care that pulled him back from the brink of death.

To save him, the woman sold everything she could in her house.

Fortunately, Jiang Ning survived. Even the doctor who treated him exclaimed that it was a miracle, saying that anyone else would have died from such injuries, but Jiang Ning was able to be saved.

Jiang Ning was also quite moved upon hearing this.

He saved the woman in the mountain stronghold, and she saved Jiang Ning's life in return.

"My benefactor, are you hungry? I'll start a fire and cook for you right away."

The woman carried the basin into the house, and soon smoke rose from the chimney.

Jiang Ning, on the other hand, sat down on a rock in the courtyard to bask in the sun.

He has been rescued and is out of danger, but his injuries are too severe and he will not recover quickly. He needs to recuperate for a period of time, during which time he will stay with the woman temporarily.

Changliu Village is located in Shandong Province, and is a village near Jinan Prefecture. Jiang Ning rescued this woman from one of the mountain strongholds during his campaign against them.

The woman was a villager in this village. She was kidnapped by people from that mountain stronghold when they raided the village half a year ago.

She used to have a husband, but he was killed by a group of bandits. Her father-in-law couldn't bear the blow and fell ill. He passed away not long after, leaving behind her mother-in-law and her two-year-old son. When the woman returned, her mother-in-law had also died from overwork. Now, she and her son are left to depend on each other.

The woman was very strong. Even though life had ravaged her and left her battered and bruised, she still lived on tenaciously, supporting her family all by herself.

At this moment, another small figure walked out of the house.

The threshold of the door was high, and the small figure climbed over it and wobbled toward Jiang Ning, stretching out her arms as she walked.

"Brother...hug me."

The woman's baby has come out.

Seeing the child walking towards him, Jiang Ning hugged him and looked at the sun.

The child felt uncomfortable in the position and adjusted his position in Jiang Ning's arms before falling asleep again.

Jiang Ning looked at the child in his arms with a calm expression.

This child was much thinner and weaker than a normal two-year-old. Two-year-olds can already walk, but he still walked unsteadily and spoke unclearly.

The woman said that the child was born like this. The couple had consulted a doctor, who diagnosed him with congenital deficiencies, indicating that he was destined to die young. It was a miracle that he had survived this long, but it was hard to say how much longer he could live.

The woman's husband and his family were all good people. Even though they knew the child wouldn't grow up, they still took good care of him and didn't abandon him. It's just a pity that misfortune seems to befall those who suffer. Now, only the mother and child are left to depend on each other for survival.

Looking at the child in her arms who had quickly fallen asleep, Jiang Ning reached out and smoothed the dry hair on his head.

Just then, two farmers passed by and sneered when they saw Jiang Ning in the courtyard.

"Pretty boy".

The two spoke as if no one else was around, completely disregarding whether Jiang Ning could hear them.

"I wonder where this young man Liu brought back from. He's even living in her husband's house. It's a shame her husband was killed by those bandits because of her. It hasn't been long since then and she's already found a young man. I wonder if her husband would be so angry that he'd come back to life if he knew about this from the underworld."

One of them said sarcastically, raising his voice even higher as if afraid Jiang Ning wouldn't hear him clearly.

Another person chimed in, "Yes, Liu Changgui died unjustly!"

No one in the village knew who Jiang Ning was. After rescuing him, the woman was afraid that Jiang Ning's enemies would come after her, so she didn't reveal a word. When the villagers saw that the woman had actually run back from the mountain stronghold with a young man, there were some gossips. The woman had gotten used to it by now.

However, the two of them started saying increasingly outrageous things.

"If you ask me, this woman has probably been hooking up with this pretty boy for a long time. She's probably overjoyed that her husband and his family are dead!"

"Doesn't she have a sick son? Anyway, her son won't live much longer. Once her son dies, she'll run away with this pretty boy!"

The two were discussing loudly when Jiang Ning suddenly appeared in front of them.

The two looked as if they had seen a ghost when Jiang Ning, who had just been in the courtyard, suddenly appeared in front of them.

"You...you...are you a human or a ghost?"

One person stammered.

Jiang Ning's face was very pale, and even under the midday sun, he had no color in his skin. In addition, Jiang Ning looked at them expressionlessly and appeared in front of them like a ghost. The two of them were so frightened that they were scared out of their wits as if they had seen a ghost.

Is the daughter-in-law of the Liu family raising ghosts?

The two thought with horror.

Jiang Ning's voice rang out.

"If I ever hear you say that again, I will..."

Before Jiang Ning could finish speaking, the two men immediately knelt down.

"I was wrong, I was wrong, I will never say it again."

The two were so frightened that tears streamed down their faces, and they kept kowtowing.

"Grandpa Ghost, please let us go. We'll never dare to say it again."

Grandpa Ghost?

Jiang Ning never expected that these two people would mistake him for a ghost, which made him unable to continue speaking.

Chapter 443: Destiny (Bonus Chapter 7, 7/26)

These ordinary people, who have never been to school and have spent their entire lives in the village, are most likely to believe in ghosts and gods. Jiang Ning did nothing but show off his skills, yet they thought they had seen a ghost.

Jiang Ning, who had intended to give the two a stern warning, frowned slightly and changed his tune.

“If I hear such words again in the village, I will make sure neither of you has a moment of peace.”

Jiang Ning was expressionless, his tone ethereal, and his pale face made him even more chilling.

The two were so frightened they almost fainted and repeatedly said they wouldn't dare.

"roll."

Jiang Ning gave a soft shout, and the two of them scrambled away. Before running, they subconsciously looked back and saw that Jiang Ning, who had been blocking their way on the road, had somehow returned to the courtyard and was holding the woman's baby.

This scene made the two of them feel like they had seen a ghost, and they dared not linger any longer, wishing that their parents had given them two more legs.

Jiang Ning glanced at the two fleeing figures, then looked away and instead focused his gaze on the sleeping child in his arms.

After a while, the woman finally came out of the house.

"My benefactor, the food is ready. Please come in and eat."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning got up, picked up the child, and went into the house.

The food was very light, but it tasted quite good for Jiangning.

"Please don't mind the simple food, my benefactor."

The woman said.

Jiang Ning smiled and said, "This is the best I've eaten in a long time."

When Jiang Ning woke up, he found that the woman had saved him. Seeing that her family was in dire straits, Jiang Ning wanted to give her some silver, but he had lost his silver in the battle, and the place where he buried the gold and silver he obtained from the mountain stronghold was too remote and a place where wild animals roamed. It would be too dangerous for a woman to go to those places alone, so he put the matter aside.

Later, when Jiang Ning suggested that he would get some gold and silver to thank the woman after he recovered, the woman firmly refused, saying that she should be rewarded for saving Jiang Ning, and that Jiang Ning should give her how much he saved her.

Jiang Ning remained silent and never mentioned it again.

After finishing his meal, Jiang Ning returned to the room where he was resting, took something, and sat outside.