Chapter 66: Chapter 66 Village School and Golden Sore Medicine
Although they knew some of the people, it was still necessary to probe where probing was due, and intimidate where intimidation was required, lest anyone get confused about their status and start causing trouble.
Zhou Gu clearly wasn’t the only one with this idea; when he stepped forward, two other men did as well.
One was Zhou Yong, and the other was Li Yongfeng.
Zhou Yong had just been standing next to Village Chief Zhou Zhengwen, so it wasn’t hard to guess that he had been signaled to step forward. Li Yongfeng, on the other hand, likely acted on his own initiative.
When the village chief saw three people stepping forward, he instantly grasped the reason, even though he originally intended only for Zhou Yong to do so.
However, the effect was better with three martial artists, so he said, “Mr. Zhang, Qingshan Village is not our territory, and at the moment it can still accommodate people. You are naturally welcome to stay, but I hope we can coexist peacefully and avoid any unpleasant incidents. Although our village is small, it also has several martial artists and will not suffer in silence.”
…
The three men stood in front of the village chief, exuding the aura unique to martial artists.
After such long training, although they hadn’t reached the level of Second Grade Martial Artists, they had certainly developed some aura.
The refugees who had just arrived were clearly intimidated, quiet and dare not speak up, with the exception of one person—the same “Mr. Zhang” who had stepped forward to communicate, Zhang Ze, also the master of Li Yongfeng’s escort agency.
Wang Sheng had heard that, when Zhang Ze was young, he had consumed one of the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures and accidentally became a First Grade Martial Artist, later establishing an escort agency.
Confronted by the pressure from the three martial artists, he managed to maintain his composure.
Zhang Ze had not anticipated finding martial artists in the village, let alone three at once.
Taking a deep breath to calm his emotions, he said, “Don’t worry, Village Chief. We just want a place to take refuge from the warfare.”
These people, except for the recently encountered scholar, had been traveling together for a while and had built a basic level of trust.
“We naturally trust you!”
Seeing the positive effect, the village chief smiled, clearly pleased with the outcome.
“You may settle in peace, but the extra houses might be somewhat dilapidated, so you may have to spend some time repairing them. Of course, we will help if time allows.”
The exchange concluded swiftly, and the refugees began looking for suitable houses. Meanwhile, Wang Sheng found Li Yongfeng.
Initially intending to chat, Wang Sheng, noting Li Yongfeng’s excitement, simply patted him on the shoulder instead of saying much.
“I’d better go back and work on my own skills!”
Li Yongfeng seemed to be in an excited state lately, and it would probably take some time before he calmed down.
Since his rest period had passed, it was better not to gossip and to return to focusing on his skills, which seemed just right.
…
Several days had passed since the group of refugees arrived.
The village chief had kept his word; villagers helped fix up houses when they had spare time and were willing.
Most people had done only simple repairs, enough to make the houses livable.
Only the scholar’s renovated house stood out as particularly well done.
The village chief had also been frequently visiting the scholar, and after a week someone notified Wang Sheng that there was an important village announcement and discussion taking place, if he was interested, he could go to the cave that originally served as Qingshan Village’s council hall.
But Wang Sheng had no intention of going. He had learned about the matter a few days earlier.
The village chief wanted to establish a village school.
This idea had formed in the chief’s mind after the death of the old scholar. Back then, scholars had a certain status, and no one was willing to come to the small Qingshan Village, so it hadn’t come to fruition.
Now that an opportunity had arisen, the village chief would not let it pass by.
Of course, the chief’s aim was not just to improve the children’s knowledge but to enlighten them, considering the state of the world outside where learned skills might not even be applicable.
That was how the old scholar had operated, not teaching complex knowledge but still having a significant impact on the village.
The village chief had been going back and forth to the scholar’s house, more to discuss the teaching methodologies.
Nonetheless, establishing a village school was not so straightforward, so it required further discussion. Moreover, the village’s main priority at the moment was to plant crops, and they were mostly just drafting a charter; there was nothing particularly interesting to see.
From all perspectives, the conditions for starting a village school were not yet met, and if the school did begin, Wang Sheng might be interested in taking a look.
Even though he didn’t attend, the village chief would keep him informed of all significant village matters. People would tell him the proceedings, and everything was going smoothly overall, with the village school expected to start once the crops were all sown.
The scholar wouldn’t ask for tuition fees, but the village would cover his meals.
The lack of tuition fees was the main reason the villagers agreed; otherwise, even with the village chief’s proposal, not many would have responded.
After all, their own food supplies were just barely sufficient, who would want to spare extra food to learn something of uncertain utility?
The scholar himself was very understanding and had no objections. Having arrived as a refugee, just surviving was considered fortunate, and having enough to eat was something he hadn’t dared to hope for after his previous ordeal.
Overall, the establishment of the village school went smoothly and was decided upon.
However, the village chief seemed to have other plans on his mind. He stopped visiting the scholar’s house and instead sought out Xu Qu daily, asking about various matters.
Wang Sheng, however, didn’t pay much attention to this.
He had been busy with his own matters: crafting medicine.
Of course, he wasn’t making Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pills, but golden sore medicine.
The ingredients for the golden sore medicine had been prepared long ago, but because it wasn’t essential, he hadn’t started making it. Now, with some extra time, it was the perfect opportunity to try.
By “try,” he meant that he was unsure if the formula he remembered was reliable.
He recalled that some golden sore medicine recipes required “Dragon Bone.”
So, until he successfully crafted it, he couldn’t guarantee success like the Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pill, which had clearly written directions for both the formula and the method, leaving no room for doubt.
“Dandelion, rhubarb…”
The golden sore medicine formula he remembered used readily available ingredients, so sourcing the medicinal herbs wasn’t a concern.
Of course, devoid of an exact method, he had to rely on the knowledge progress bars for dosing the ingredients.
“I recall that most golden sore medicine is in powder form, so I should start by grinding the ingredients into powder…”
The trial process took several days, and finally—
“Golden Sore Medicine Configuration: 1 (1%).”
That’s right, he had ground out the progress bar.
In fact, after several unsuccessful attempts, he repeated each method many times, directly using the progress bar to confirm…