Chapter 2: Traitor.
After a while, the scout returns and informs the colonel about the village nearby.
When they arrive, the villagers, seeing the blood-stained men on horses, become restless, some of them already holding farming tools like axes, shovels, and forks.
“I am sorry to scare you. My name is Teng Da, and we are from an escort agency. Our merchant caravan was attacked by the bandit.” The colonel takes out a few silver taels and shows them to the villagers to let them stay.
Seeing the money, the villagers are at ease, and the elderly village chief welcomes them to the village.
“Excuse me, our client had a fever. Do you have a physician?” Asked Teng Da.
“Your luck is bad; the only physician here had just fallen from a cliff and is now recuperating.”
“When do you think he can recover?”
“Maybe tomorrow, when he wakes up, I will tell you. Don’t worry, we have some herbs that can help with the fever.”
“Thank you.” Teng Da cupped his hand.
“We have an empty house here where you can stay; we will bring the medicine and food.”
In the morning, Zou Jie walks up and slowly moves his body.
"It looks like nothing's broken.” Zou Jie checks his body to see if there are any problems. To his surprise, he only suffered a concussion and a light injury after falling from the high cliff. He is lucky; maybe he manages to grab something to slow down the fall. But he can’t remember it clearly.
“Physician Zou, it's good you already woke up here. I'll bring you some food.” The villager enters the room.
“Thank you for saving my life.”
“No, you had saved my life before. Eat first; I need to go to the forest.”
Zou Jie sat down and ate the porridge and steam bun. He didn’t say anything, but the food tasted bland. It reminds him of when he was a soldier and learning how to survive in the wild without food; he eats a lot of bland and digesting stuff.
He remembers that the system can let him purchase a hunter knowledge skill. Without modern equipment, he needs to relearn how to survive in the wild. Fortunately, he had this body's previous memory and knew some basic skills to survive.
Right now, he doesn’t care if life is real; he needs to move forward.
“It’s time to return home.” Zou Jie's house is not in the village but on the mountain, according to his memory.
Coming out of the house, the villager greeted him and gave him some fish and chicken.
Zou Jie at first refuses, but in the end, he takes them after they insist.
“Physician Zou, it looks like you are fine.” The village chief said
"Yes, thank you for taking care of me.”
“It’s not a problem; I need your help. A merchant gets attacked by a bandit, and their young master is having a fever. I already gave him the medicine, but the fever is still high.”
“Okay, let me check.”
Teng Da inside a room is anxious because their young master's fever has still not subsided.
“Sir Teng, the physician is here.”
After some pleasantries, Zou Jie checks the young boy's wrist pulse and eyes.
“Bring water and a towel.” After that, Zou Jie begins the treatment by putting the tower sock with water on the boy's head. At the same time, give the boy a lot of water. One of the reasons for a high fever is dehydration.
“Once he wakes up, give him some fish or chicken soup, and don’t forget to drink the herbal medicine.”
“Thank you, physician Zou.” Teng Da takes out a few silver taels and gives them to physician Zou.
After the village chief and Zou Jie left,
“Should we kill the villager tonight?”
“Not yet; we need to make sure the young master is fine first.”
“Yes, colonel.”
Zou Jie, with the bamboo basket on his back, walks up the mountain. His skinny body, although he had good stamina, was weak. First, he will try to hunt; if he fails, he can only wait until he purchases the hunter skill.
Suddenly, he stops walking. "Wait, I just helped a sick person.”
‘System.’ Zou Jie said it inside his mind. A virtual panel appears in front of him.
[Karma system]
[Karma point: 2]
[Bad Karma Punishment: (0/5)]
“Only 2 points?” It looks like it’s going to take time before he can collect enough karma points. "Wait, maybe because the patient is not yet healed.” Zou Jie can only wait for any changes.
-
Han empire.
Luo family's large courtyard house
Inside one of the rooms, a woman is crying.
“Don’t worry, I already sent someone to find our son.” The man said this while comforting his wife. He can only sigh in regret for agreeing to his son's request to travel near the border.
"Fourth, young master, there is a letter.” The servant enters the room.
After reading the letter, the man frowns. “I need to see my father.”
“What happened?”
“The situation is more complicated than we imagine; don’t worry, I will take care of it.”
-
Inside a study room, a middle-aged man is drinking tea.
The fourth young master enters the room and bows down. "Father, I need your help.”
“Don’t worry, I already know; however, you need to be prepared for the worst.”
The fourth young master wants to say more but decides to keep quiet. His father is a minister of justice for the Han empire. He is known as a stubborn and cold individual, even with his family.
“Thank you, Father.” After the fourth young master left,
“Have you found out who is trying to kill my grandson?” Although Minister Luo looks calm, his heart is in turmoil and anger. He had several grandsons and granddaughters, and the one that was missing was his youngest grandson, who had the potential to be trained to become a minister.
“No, there are too many suspects.” A voice comes out of nowhere. But the room is empty.
Minister Luo, because of his position, had offended many people.
“The last sighting was that they fled to Bai Kingdom to escape from the attacker.”
“Send a message to our people in the Bai Kingdom to help with the search.”
“Yes, master.”
-
In a secluded tea shop, a man wearing a bamboo hat enters a private room and sits down, waiting for someone.
A man wearing a Chinese fox mask enters the room.
“How is the mission?” I asked the bamboo hat man.
“They managed to flee to Bai Kingdom; don’t worry, my men will complete the mission.”
“I hope you don’t fail the mission.”
“Don’t worry, we won’t.”
After that, only the fox mask man is left in the room, and he makes some tea.
“Big families are complicated.” A woman wearing a fox mask enters the room.
“Even normal families will kill each other because of wealth. It’s not our job to understand; we just need to do our job.”
“Don’t you think this will put our organization in danger?”
“We had no choice. This is an order from the leader.”
“What why?”
“I don’t know.”
Both of them were quiet. Ever since they got this mission, they feel uneasy.
-
The bamboo-hat man walks on the street and enters the Luo family courtyard. The guards recognized him and let him enter. There are several courtyards connected. Every time the bamboo hat man walked past someone, all of them greeted him.
“Instructor Tao, how are you?”
Instructor Tao greeted them and walked past a few courtyards before reaching his destination.
"First, young master.” Instructor Tao cupped his hand.
“How is the mission?”
Instructor Tao explains what is going on.
“It's fine; once this is over, I will take care of your debt, and you can retire early.”
“Thank you first, young master.” Instructor Tao had no choice but to betray the family head if he didn’t do anything about his debt. His wife and children will be taken as collateral.
After that, the first young master gave a few more instructions. Instructor Tao bowed his head and left the room.
The first young master contemplated what to do next. Ever since his nephew started to learn to read Most people in the Luo family believe that their nephew has the potential to go far. Although it was good for Luo's family, it was bad for his future position as head of the family.
To prevent future problems, he hired people to kill his nephew. Even if the assassination failed, the only person who knows about this is instructor Tao.
Once everything is over, he needs to silence Instructor Tao to prevent his secret from being leaked.
When he remembers his son, he can only shake his head and sigh. Not only is he lazy, but he is also a playboy.
The last time his son tried to sexually harass a female martial artist, Fortunately, the guard quickly rescued his son.
His son doesn’t repent; instead, he tries to kill the female martial artist and her friend. When he tries to stop the fight, it is already too late; several guards die that day.
After some investigation, the female martial artist and her friend are from a martial alliance.
The martial alliance even sent a letter to the Han emperor. Causing his father's reputation to be in ruin. Furious, his father once returned from the court assembly and severely punished him and his son.
“First young master, the young master secretly goes out.” A male servant, perspiring, enters the room.
“Go and find him and bring him home!” The first young master is angry and still remembers the spanking punishment that caused him to lay in bed for a week. Because of his good for nothing, son.
