novelraw Chapter 36: Take It All With You
Chapter 36: Take It All With You
County Lieutenant Zhou assembled his personnel.
He Da and the others were curious. Before County Lieutenant Zhou could approach, they eagerly crowded around to see the piece of paper given by Wen Gu.
There was no need for County Lieutenant Zhou to explain. Even if they couldn't read, they understood just by looking at the drawings on the paper.
"Is this a map of the town entrance area?" He Da stared at the paper.
He thought, is this the capability of educated scholars!
Where to enter the town, which house to go to, what shops and residences are nearby, what items might be found, where to focus the search, where to stay for the night, if there are any wells, the road conditions... it was all drawn out.
With simple strokes, information was conveyed.
A subordinate whispered to He Da, "Brother Da Qiu, from now on, we don't need to think about anything else. Eat, drink, and just listen to Scholar Weng. Scholars are truly amazing!"
He Da nodded in agreement. Of course, scholars were amazing. Otherwise, why would their families go to great lengths to support their younger brothers' studies? It could change their destiny!
Just like now. If it were them, they would have blindly charged in, searching house to house. Time would have passed, their strength would have been depleted, and they might not have found much even until dark, and they would have had to hastily choose a place to stay.Scholar Weng, however, could arrange everything while chatting.
He Da and Yu Er looked at him with admiration.
However, Zhou Shan's attention was not on this.
He assembled the reconnaissance team and re-entered the town.
This time, they were not fumbling in the dark. Following the map, their efficiency was very high.
There were not many evil creatures in the town. After killing two, they followed the map to the peddler's residence.
It looked ordinary from the outside, while the pastry shop next to it was much more conspicuous.
However, it was obvious at a glance that someone had already searched the pastry shop. The peddler's house, on the other hand, had received little attention.
County Lieutenant Zhou took out a small bundle of fuel he had brought, made of dry grass, twigs, and bark, ignited it to create thick smoke, and threw it into the house.
There was no movement of evil creatures being smoked out.
"Clear it out. We'll stay here tonight."
"Then shall we go in and search now? There's a wheelbarrow over there!" He Da said excitedly.
"The peddler's wheelbarrow can carry a lot of things!" someone echoed.
County Lieutenant Zhou merely glanced in that direction without looking further and said in a deep voice, "First, look for any hidden compartments, cellars, and those concealed places where things are hidden."
"What can a peddler hide..."
"Salt!"
The few people who were about to head towards the wheelbarrow quickly changed direction and rushed into the house.
...
Wen Gu, waiting outside the town, did not wait long.
Soon, the signal came from "Ma Tuaner" in the sky.
"Let's go, enter the town!"
At the entrance of the small town, Uncle Yu Wu and Little Liu were waiting, both with obvious excitement on their faces.
Seeing Wen Gu, Little Liu quickly walked over and said, "We found salt!"
County Lieutenant Zhou still had professional experience when it came to searching for things.
The peddler's residence was simply cleaned and tidied. A bonfire was lit, and some interfering miscellaneous items were burned in the fire. The courtyard was filled with smoke.
The animal shed was not large, but three livestock could squeeze in.
The person responsible for mixing the feed was absent-minded, their eyes constantly darting towards the house.
Salt!
Without food, people would starve. Eating salt gave them strength!
Salt and food were both important!
Under the current conditions, there was no talk of overconsumption. How many people couldn't afford it.
Inside the house, County Lieutenant Zhou had already moved out two large bags of salt.
"There should have been four or five bags stored here before, but now only two are left. The peddler must have moved two or three bags when he left. He was in a hurry to escape and also had to pack food and supplies, so he hid these two bags."
In the border areas between urban and rural areas, smuggling was rampant.
This peddler's merchandise was limited, and he sold it at a reasonable price. Who would have thought that he didn't make money from those small commodities at all, but used them to cover up his real transactions!
The town was too conspicuous, so the peddler's trading partners were always in the nearby villages. It was unknown how many subordinates he had developed.
County Lieutenant Zhou pointed to the two bags of salt and said to Wen Gu:
"It's all coarse salt, with a distinct bitter taste."
He had experience with this.
"It doesn't seem like salt produced by large salt producers by the sea. Those large salt producers have more mature technology, and their private salt is usually not transported to such small places."
"The private salt produced by small salt producers is bitter and astringent. The technology is insufficient, and the salt production is inferior. However, for us now, having coarse salt is already very good."
County Lieutenant Zhou couldn't help but smile.
He Da and the others also nodded repeatedly.
Why be picky at this time? Even before, the salt they ate was similar to this, and it was more expensive. They usually ate it sparingly.
Wen Gu, however, frowned with a serious expression:
"Coarse salt? With a distinct bitter and astringent taste? This is not acceptable! Eating inferior salt for too long will harm the body. We have to travel for a long time, and our bodies collapsing is not an option!"
Then, he looked at Daoist Master Qingyi.
The Daoist priest's vigilance instantly went on high alert: Why are you looking at me?!
Wen Gu strode over: "During my travels..."
Daoist Master Qingyi's face stiffened, his eyes sharp: You dare to say another word!
Wen Gu: "Cough, please trouble the Daoist master to refine this coarse salt."
They would search for supplies in this town for a day or two. During this time, Daoist Master Qingyi could set up a furnace to refine salt. Anyway, this "dog Taoist priest" had nothing else to do.
"I heard that a wealthy family here has a cauldron, and there are also iron pots in the town. Daoist master, what other tools do you need? We'll go and find them."
Before Daoist Master Qingyi could refuse, Wen Gu lowered his voice, with a mysterious air of "I understand everything":
"During my trave... I heard that refining coarse salt might also yield Glauber's salt, brine, saltpeter, and other substances."
Daoist Master Qingyi was silent.
Although he didn't know what this "dog scholar" had "understood" during his travels, judging by his appearance, did it have uses that he didn't know about?
The Daoist priest quickly weighed the pros and cons in his mind.
No matter what, he needed certain things when performing rituals for others. His materials were scarce, and some of the substances obtained from refining coarse salt would indeed be useful to him.
Moreover, there were many people in the team now, and many miscellaneous tasks could be assigned to others, which would not take much effort.
After contemplation, Daoist Master Qingyi assumed his expert demeanor and said loudly, "Working for the benefit of all, why speak of hardship."
Wen Gu, giving him due respect, bowed publicly: "The Daoist master's heart is benevolent, and his virtue shines brightly!"
Then, he immediately asked County Lieutenant Zhou to set aside some of the coarse salt. These two large bags did not all need to be purified; some coarse salt should be kept for external use. Salt could also serve as a currency for trade, and it was even more precious in chaotic times.
No one was concerned about whether it was private salt now. This coarse salt did not need to be hidden.
After arranging where the salt would go, leaving the child and a few people to guard the courtyard, Wen Gu selected a few more people and turned to Cheng Zhi, saying, "Let's go to the place you mentioned for sacrifice. Is there a large cauldron there?"
Cheng Zhi was referring to a wealthy family in town that had a small courtyard for worshipping gods and performing sacrifices.
It was not far from the peddler's house, and everyone found it soon.
Daoist Master Qingyi followed, as he wanted to find more useful items for himself.
In the small courtyard of the wealthy family, where they worshipped idols, a large cauldron was placed.
Daoist Master Qingyi was somewhat envious, and somewhat disdainful.
He was envious because a cauldron of this size was beyond his reach at the moment, and he couldn't take it with him.
He was disdainful because he had seen better.
The Daoist priest's discerning gaze was fixed on the cauldron, while others first looked at the idols.
The idol was nearly half the height of a person and made of bronze.
"So rich!"
"It looks so opulent!"
He Da and Yu Er exclaimed, about to go and worship the gods.
County Lieutenant Zhou and Little Liu, however, first looked around for any remaining food.
They could worship the gods later; the most important thing was to find food!
They had learned their lesson!
Cheng Zhi pointed to a spot: "Glutinous rice was found there."
Wen Gu said, "This family is considered wealthy in the town. Sacrifices not only use grains but should also include dried fruits and maltose candy..."
Before he finished speaking, He Da and Yu Er, who were about to worship the gods, immediately changed their targets.
Food?
Maltose candy?
Quick, let me see where else there is candy!!
As for worshipping the gods...
Alas, it's not that they don't respect the gods. They'll worship later.
The gods surely wouldn't be angry with them for such a small matter.
County Lieutenant Zhou had his professional experience, and He Da and Yu Er also had their social experience.
Soon, the overlooked food was discovered one by one, and two jars of hard maltose candy were also found in the cellar.
The opening of the jars was sealed with oiled paper. County Lieutenant Zhou opened one and looked at it, saying joyfully, "It's edible!"
He Da and the others breathed rapidly.
The valuable items had been taken away by the owner when they fled, but there must have been some left behind, and they might not all be in the storeroom.
Later, they found some syrup in another room, but unfortunately, it had gone bad and was inedible.
Everyone sighed with regret.
Cheng Zhi felt even more heartache. He and his family had been here before but hadn't found it! Perhaps that syrup was still edible then!
Besides food, they also searched for incense and candles.
Cheng Zhi's family had taken some of the incense used for worship, but they hadn't taken it all.
Incense and candles were not stored in just one place; looking in a few more places yielded a considerable amount.
This incense was not the medicinal incense refined by the Daoist priest, so it couldn't drive away evil spirits, but it could mask odors.
Useful!
Take it away!
Even the paper money used for sacrifices was packed up and taken away.
They also found two small incense burners in other rooms of the residence.
There was also a lot of food that had severely spoiled, making everyone very distressed.
At the beginning of the chaotic times, not many people remained in the town. Without organized cooperation, those who came here searched in a hurry and might not have known the habits of wealthy families in storing things, making it difficult to search thoroughly.
Now, after clearing out the evil creatures in the surrounding area, everyone searched carefully.
Master's room, servant's room.
Salt, sugar, dried fruits, medicinal herbs, cloth, clothing, weapons, tools...
The more they searched, the more excited they became.
What about worshipping gods?
Who are they worshipping?
Put it all aside for now!
Their minds were now filled with food, salt, sugar, dried fruits...
A lot of food had already spoiled and rotted here. If they didn't find it, the rest would all go bad.
Wasteful!
Too wasteful!
They had to find it all and take it away!
Although they were eager to search, time was limited.
Wen Gu looked at the sky and said to them, "We will stay here for one to two days. There's no rush tonight. Let's go back and rest well and continue tomorrow morning."
He Da wanted to say, it's still light now, I can search for another hour.
But then he heard Wen Gu say, "Everyone has been tired these past few days. Let's distribute one of the two jars of maltose candy found to everyone first, eat some candy to replenish yourselves."
He Da immediately followed.
Although the two jars of maltose candy were found by County Lieutenant Zhou first, they had also contributed during this process. It was fine to get a little less; at least they were getting some.
How long had it been since they ate maltose candy!
He Da thought: My brother helped with the records, can he get a few pieces too?
Our family's share will definitely be more than Yu Er's!
We must keep an eye on it!
While others were excited, Cheng Zhi's expression was dazed.
Cheng Zhi and his family had visited this residence before. His mother and brother-in-law had visited more times, but now he had the illusion that "they were not searching the same residence."
Were there so many things hidden here!
Wen Gu seemed to have guessed his thoughts and said, "What one or two people can do is limited, but what five or ten people can do is several times or even dozens of times the result."
Wen Gu's voice was neither high nor low. Besides Cheng Zhi, everyone around could hear him.
"The ancients said, 'A single reed breaks easily, but many together are hard to bend.' 'Accumulated feathers sink a boat, many light things break an axle.' In common terms, there is strength in numbers."
Several people pondered this.
Wen Gu secretly thought: So, this number of people is far from enough! It needs to increase by five, or even ten times!
Three or four are not too few; accumulating small amounts leads to a large amount.
They did not immediately return to the peddler's residence.
Wen Gu said to Cheng Zhi, "Let's take you back on the way. After so long, your family must be very worried."
(End of this chapter)