Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Forced Grain Levy Arrives (Request for Yue Votes, Follow for Updates!)
The village had more than 200 people, and the grain was purchased under the village head’s command in batches by different people, and each purchase was not particularly large, otherwise, before the war even began, the officials would have shown up.
But even so, the villagers had managed to acquire a substantial amount of grain. On average, each person had about 300 jin. This was after the Evil Flood Dragon wreaked havoc, destroying many fields; otherwise there would have been even more.
To buy so much grain, the cost was that the village head took the chrysanthemums that had been planted over the years, and Wang Sheng had savings, as did others.
Because of compensation previously paid for goods not delivered due to the Evil Flood Dragon and the current grain purchases, the people of Qingshan Village basically had no savings left.
However, most people didn’t care anymore. After the war came, there was no place they would want to spend their money anyway.
With over 60,000 jin of grain, Wang Sheng and the Mountain Lord had to run around in the mountains for nearly three days to get all the grain delivered.
But after the final delivery, Wang Sheng looked at the cave filled with grain and was somewhat at a loss.
Moving it was not simple. As long as the army didn’t force their hand, it would take a not insignificant amount of time to prepare. A day or two would be manageable, but any longer, and the grain couldn’t be left unwatched.
In the end, Wang Sheng looked towards the Mountain Lord.
“Mountain Lord, how about moving your den here?”
There was no better guardian than the Mountain Lord.
Some sects had Guardian Mountain Beasts, so there shouldn’t be a problem with having a Guardian Tiger to protect the grain, right?
When the Mountain Lord heard this, it looked at Wang Sheng, staring at the place where Wang Sheng often took out Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pills.
“Roar~”
The implication was pretty clear.
Just give it Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pills!
Looking at the Mountain Lord’s massive body, Wang Sheng suddenly felt that keeping the Mountain Lord around was not a bad idea.
It was strong and could be used as a mount. Even in terms of appearance, it had no shortcomings.
As his medicinal plant cultivation progressed, he had a surplus of Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pills. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to take out so many to induce the Mountain Lord to transport the grain this time.
With the surplus of Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pills, feeding the Mountain Lord was not an issue at all.
So he directly agreed to the Mountain Lord’s request.
“I’ll give you one Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pill every day if you guard this place, is that alright?”
The Mountain Lord nodded in agreement.
Such a good deal! To receive pills just by staying there was quite exhilarating!
It had no fixed den anyway, so it wasn’t inconvenienced in the slightest.
Seeing that the Mountain Lord agreed, a hint of a smile appeared on Wang Sheng’s face. It was good that it agreed.
Now that he had put some thought into it, sooner or later he would have to coax the Mountain Lord into becoming a Guardian Beast. The Mountain Lord’s current strength was also for his own benefit – no matter how you looked at it, it was a good deal.
Thinking about this, he jumped onto the Mountain Lord’s sturdy back to lie down.
“I’ve given you so much, a free ride back shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
“Roar!”
Of course there was no problem.
One must secure a long-term meal ticket.
Each with their own thoughts, man and tiger did not take long to arrive near Qingshan Village.
After setting Wang Sheng down, the Mountain Lord returned; it had to guard the grain. If any went missing, Wang Sheng had said it would deduct from the pills.
So, except for meal times, it stayed by the stash!
Meanwhile, on the other side, Wang Sheng returned to the village to find the village head still at the grain storage location. The village head immediately approached him when he saw Wang Sheng.
“Yun Sheng, I forgot to tell you earlier; we need someone to guard the grain. People will be going inside soon, and I just wanted to confirm that if you aren’t there, the Mountain Lord won’t attack them, right?”
Zhou Zhengwen felt uneasy. He originally planned to have the people guarding the grain accompany him on the last trip but forgot.
It wouldn’t be good to trouble Wang Sheng to make another trip.
As long as the Mountain Lord wouldn’t attack people, it would be the same if those guarding the grain went alone.
Wang Sheng said with the village head’s prudence, how could he forget about guarding the grain—it turned out he just forgot.
But now, there was no need for that.
“No worries, village head, I’ve already left the Mountain Lord to guard the grain, and there won’t be any problems.”
“The Mountain Lord is guarding it!”
Zhou Zhengwen felt like Wang Sheng was overturning his worldview step by step.
Is this how all martial artists think?
But it was good news.
The Mountain Lord’s protection was likely even more effective than human guards.
He trusted Wang Sheng’s words. A martial artist had been helping them left and right; if he didn’t trust him now, he’d want to slap himself twice.
After confirming the security of the grain, the village head dispersed the people and then came up with a cloth bag.
“Yun Sheng, you’ve helped us transport so much, the village can’t show no gratitude. This is a bit of silver the villagers have collected as your reward.”
Zhou Zhengwen’s voice sounded somewhat embarrassed and anxious.
For Wang Sheng the martial artist, this amount of silver was nothing.
But the village had nothing better to offer in thanks.
Wang Sheng smiled and accepted the cloth bag.
“Then I’ll accept it, village head!”
A bag of silver wasn’t much, but it proved he hadn’t helped in vain.
Seeing Wang Sheng accept the silver, the village head breathed a sigh of relief, visibly relaxed.
After a brief conversation, they parted ways.
The next day, while Wang Sheng was practicing Ba Duan Jin, the village head came to him with some news.
“Yun Sheng, Lijiang Town was taxed for grain yesterday. It was still in the form of extortion. The Sun Family fared better because they have a martial artist and only paid the regular amount of grain. I reckon it will be our turn in the next couple of days.
I know we can’t avoid paying grain, but I’ve heard that some of those grain collectors like to bully the men and overrun the women. So, I hope you can step in. You don’t need to do much, just intimidate them a bit!”
The grain collecting troops were all ordinary people.
If there were a martial artist to intimidate them, they wouldn’t dare to overstep.
Wang Sheng didn’t immediately agree after hearing this.
He didn’t want to expose himself as a martial artist to the officials, not even to ordinary folks.
Forced grain collection, but leniency towards martial artists, might very well be a ploy by the ruler of the rivers to flush out hidden martial artists. After all, war was fast approaching, and the ruler might not have enough martial artists.
This possibility was slim, but it existed.
However, the village head had indeed raised a valid concern.
Suddenly, Wang Sheng had an idea.
“Village head, it may not be appropriate for me to show myself.”
Hearing this, the village head looked a bit disappointed but didn’t say anything. They had already troubled Wang Sheng too much. Just as he was about to walk away, Wang Sheng spoke up again.
“I may not be suitable to show myself, but village head, have you forgotten that we have another martial artist in our village?”
Xu Qu had been in the village for quite some time.
Since no one had come looking for him until now, he could make an appearance.
Just the person to help Qingshan Village take care of some trouble!
When the village head heard this, his eyes immediately lit up.
Yes!
Their village was not limited to just one martial artist!