Beginning With Max Enlightenment: I Confront The Immortals With Martial Arts - Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Leaving the City

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

In the afternoon.

After greeting Lu Chuanfeng and collecting a bottle of Tiger Bone Pills, Zhou You was about to leave.

Lu Chuanfeng pulled him back. He looked hesitant, but he still said, “You’er, in the next few days, I might arrange for you to go out of the city with the merchant caravan. Are you okay? If not, I can find an excuse to turn it down for you.”

Zhou You was stunned for a moment before he reacted.

“Master, I’ll do it. Master Cheng is getting on his age. I don’t have the heart to make him do it.”

What had to come had come.

He had long heard about this matter and was mentally prepared.

The merchant caravan was a joint caravan of the four dojos.

They were mainly in charge of purchasing food, meat, medicinal herbs, and other scarce supplies.

The joint merchant caravan was made up of people assigned by the four dojos. They would leave the city once every ten days or so, and each trip would take about three days.

In addition to the supervisor and the guards, he also needed an apothecary to accompany the team and be in charge of appraising and purchasing medicinal herbs.

Each dojo took turns providing the supervisor and the apothecary.

Master Cheng was the one who went last time. Logically speaking, it should be his turn this time.

Zhou You had no reason to refuse.

The matter regarding the joint merchant caravan of the four dojos started two months ago.

After the patrol inspector entered the city that day, he had been seeking pleasure in the city and did not do anything serious.

However, many changes had already happened inside and outside Mengyang City.

The patrol inspector’s group only stayed in the city, but it took up more than half of the Meng family’s energy. The experts were always on standby in the city and did not have time to care about the outside of the city.

The two gangs and four dojos took over the affairs outside the city according to their usual rules. They dealt with all kinds of unexpected troubles and maintained the basic order outside the city.

Among the two gangs, the White Sand Gang was already crippled. The Black Stone Gang was currently fighting fiercely with the Dark Shark Gang.

The responsibility of maintaining the basic order outside the city fell on the four dojos.

Coincidentally, at this moment, the Plum Mountain Bandits on Longmen Mountain broke their previous tacit agreement and brazenly descended the mountain.

Unintentionally or otherwise, they formed a pincer attack with the Dark Shark Gang forcing the Black Stone Gang to retreat. This completely cut off the trade routes of Longmen Mountain to the east and the waterway to the south.

Two of the three trade routes north and southeast of Mengyang City were gone. Many supplies in the city instantly became tense, and prices began to rise.

In more than two months, the price of food had increased by more than 30%, and the price of meat had doubled.

Due to the continuous bloodshed outside the city, the demand for medicinal herbs had increased greatly. In addition, the supply of goods had decreased, and they were already priceless.

Currently, the medicinal herbs accumulated in the apothecary were almost depleted. They could only brew one pot of pills a day and could no longer keep up with the consumption of the inner courtyard disciples.

In fact, Mengyang City was surrounded by mountains and did not lack meat and medicinal herbs.

However, the ones who collected the most meat and medicinal herbs were the towns and villages dotted across the mountains. Under normal circumstances, they would naturally send them to Mengyang City to sell.

Alternatively, traveling merchants would take the initiative to buy the stock and transport them back to the city to sell it to earn the difference in price.

His predecessor’s parents were in this business.

Now that the trade route was cut off, they could only organize their own merchant caravans and go to the villages to buy them.

One person was not enough to handle it.

The four dojos had formed a joint merchant caravan to take charge of this matter.

“Since you’ve already made up your mind, I won’t persuade you out of it. Don’t worry and just go. I’ll arrange everything.”

Lu Chuanfeng patted Zhou You’s shoulder and paused for a moment before adding, “If anything happens, remember not to resist. Report your identity as an apothecary immediately.”

“Although the Plum Mountain Bandits are ferocious, they won’t casually attack apothecaries. At most, they’ll be captured and brought back to help them refine medicine. I will find an opportunity to save you.”

“…Thank you, Master.”

…

Seven days later, at the

Four in the morning before dawn.

Zhou You got out of bed, washed up, and dressed. He put on his boots, tied two custom-made two-finger-long daggers to his calves, and tidied up his brass knuckles, protective gear, antidotes, medicines, and poisons.

Carrying a standard long saber, he pushed open the door and walked out.

There were already a few dojo disciples outside the door.

Eighth Senior Brother Luo Jin led the team, along with four other disciples. They were all Bone Forging martial artists.

Although there were not many people, it was a powerful combination.

The mission of purchasing from the countryside was quite dangerous. In the beginning, they had lost a lot of manpower, and there were many Body Forging martial artists among them.

The four dojos discussed and decided to send only martial artists above Bone Forging Stage to participate.

If there were fewer people, they would be more flexible. If they really encountered danger, they would abandon the convoy and enter the forest. It would not be a problem for them to escape.

Everyone was dressed in long boots and had long sabers at their waists.

Although the Ferocious Tiger Fist Dojo was a martial arts dojo, they were also involved in weapons. It was just that they rarely used them and were not as useful as the brass knuckles.

The greatest advantage of weapons was that they were more suitable for killing enemies, especially when there were many enemies.

They were far more efficient at killing people than using fists.

After confirming that everyone was present, Luo Jin took the lead and the six of them walked out in a line. They crossed the quiet and deserted street and arrived at the city gate.

The city walls in the east and west of the river were not ordinary city walls. Instead, they were formed by densely planted thorns. There was an empty area on both sides of the wall to set up thistles and obstacles before spraying insect and beast-repellent powder.

There was already a convoy waiting at the city gate. A middle-aged, plump man greeted them with a smile.

“Greetings, everyone.”

Zhou You knew this stout middle-aged man. His name was Yang Xiupei, and he was once a disciple of the dojo. Later, because of his limited Aptitude, he stopped practicing martial arts and turned to run his own Yang Merchant Group.

Later on, the Yang Merchant Group became affiliated with the Ferocious Tiger Fist Dojo and was one of their own.

He was also the supervisor of the joint merchant caravan this time.

After some small talk, the disciples of the other three dojos arrived one after another. There were five of them, and their strength was above Bone Forging.

Now that everyone was here, they chatted briefly before Luo Jin introduced Zhou You to the leaders of the other three dojos.

The leader of the White Crane Fist Dojo was called Zhao Yi. He was dressed in white and had a slender figure. He looked like a handsome young master.

The leader of the Iron Skin Dojo was called Wang Jinquan. He was as fat as a ball.

The leader of the Diamond Dojo was called Qin Hong. He was thin and lean.

All three of them were martial artists at the Purification Stage.

There were not many Visceral Tempering martial artists in the four dojos. They each had important matters to attend to, so they would not get assigned to such a drudgery.

The Plum Mountain Bandits had even fewer Visceral Tempering martial artists. They only had three heads.

They rarely participated in such raids which hinged solely on luck.

The merchant caravan quickly set off.

There were more than 30 people in the group. No one was riding a horse. Other than one person from each side who was sent to scout the way, the rest were squeezed into ten ox carts that carried a lot of salt, iron, and other goods. They slowly moved forward with an ox cart piled with empty boxes.

Their destination was Daliang Village, which was more than a hundred miles away.

Daliang Village was a clan village with more than 3,000 people. It was the most influential village within a radius of dozens of miles and was also a trade center in the mountains.

Ordinary bandits did not dare to provoke them at all. Even the Plum Mountain Bandits had no intention of fighting to the death.

Nothing happened along the way.

Everyone started chatting, and the topic gradually fell on Yang Xiupei.

Although there were many powerful martial artists in this group, in terms of experience, no one could compare to Yang Xiupei since he traveled extensively.

Most of them had never left Mengyang County. They rarely even left the city and spent most of their time in the city.

Yang Xiupei was good at socializing. He quickly got along with everyone and asked about their well-being.

From family, hobbies, and glorious deeds, they chatted all the way to their life’s ideals, marriage, spouse, and dirty jokes…

Everyone’s expressions gradually changed. Some people felt awkward while others listened with relish.

Until two female disciples from the White Crane Fist Dojo suddenly stood up with red faces and moved to the last ox cart. They instructed the coachman to slow down and distance himself from the convoy in front.

At this moment, Yang Xiupei and the male disciples of the other three dojos realized that there was actually a member of the opposite sex traveling with them this time!

It was because the two female disciples were too burly and wrapped themselves too tightly with their clothes. Their voices were also very rough, making it impossible for others to associate them with women.