Chapter 436
Fang Zichen didn't dare delay. As soon as he entered Jizhou, he headed straight for Jihe County. That area hadn't fallen yet, but the enemy had already reached Xinghe County, and the three armies were currently battling there.
Any later, and Fang Zichen feared Xinghe County would fall too. He rode hard the whole way, refugees fleeing outward lining both sides of the road. Fang Zichen gave them a casual glance, then his gaze suddenly froze.
He thought he must be seeing things. The other party was covered in dirt, clothes torn and ragged, face barely recognizable—but this was a child he'd raised for years. He wouldn't go so far as to say he'd recognize him even in ashes, but he could still recognize his build.
He tried calling out, "Xiao Feng?"
The other snapped his head up and looked at him.
It really was him, damn it.
Fang Zichen jumped straight off his horse, glanced left and right, grabbed a wooden stick, and started whacking him. Xiao Feng leapt up, trying to run, but Fang Zichen held him fast. He couldn't dodge, and took two solid hits before Fang Zichen stopped. Then he threw himself into Fang Zichen's arms, crying, "Uncle Fang."
He'd been terrified — he'd nearly died yesterday, and even now he was still shaken, his heart heavy with dread.
Seeing Fang Zichen was like seeing his own father — it made him feel steady again.
"How did you end up here?" Xiao Feng was crying buckets. He was, after all, his eldest son, so Fang Zichen didn't dare scold him for risking his life. Seeing snot flying everywhere, he hurried to look him up and down: "Are you hurt?"
Xiao Feng shook his head.
Fang Zichen swatted him: "Then what are you crying for?! You scared me to death."
Xiao Feng sniffled, a look of terror surfacing on his face. "I was scared."
When the fighting first broke out over in Luohe County, Xiao Feng knew about it. The merchants here had sent word that they'd stockpiled a lot of spices and didn't dare stay long—they were selling cheap and asked if Xiao Feng wanted them. If so, come haul them away; they didn't have enough carts.
Having spent so long with Fang Zichen, Xiao Feng couldn't pass up a bargain—especially one delivered right to his door. He brought his people over right away. It wasn't that he had no brains; he just figured Longxing County was close to Hezhou, and with the army fighting in Xinghe County, it'd be months before the fighting reached Longxing. If anything looked off, he'd head straight back. No problem.
After finishing the handover, though, he ran into Ji Xiaodi.
Back before he'd established ties with the merchants here, he'd bought spices from Grandma Ji several times and visited their home often. He was on fairly good terms with the Ji family — there was some history between them. So Xiao Feng asked Ji Xiaodi how Grandma Ji and the rest of the family were doing.
Ji Xiaodi said through tears that Grandma Ji wasn't going to make it. Xiao Feng decided to go see her, and told the caravan to head back to Hezhou first.
Grandma Ji was overjoyed to see Xiao Feng. Clinging to her last breath, she talked to him about all sorts of things. After Xiao Feng came out of the room, he didn't see Aunt Ji or Grandpa Ji, so he asked Ji Xiaodi. Ji Xiaodi said his mother and grandfather had both passed away.
Refugees had passed through their village. Some were desperately hungry and started looting the moment they entered. In the chaos, they broke into the Ji house to steal things. Aunt Ji tried to stop them and was beaten. They sent her to the medical hall, but they didn't have enough silver, and the physician refused to treat her. She died the night she was sent home. Grandpa Ji was overcome with grief and passed away not long after.
Grandma Ji had aged overnight. A few days ago, Ji Daya went to get medicine for her — and never came back.
Xiao Feng and Xiao Li changed clothes and fled with the Ji family.
But Grandma Ji's body was frail, and they were slow getting out. Two days ago, she passed away on the road.
Xiao Feng had silver and wanted to hire men from the escort agency in town, but the agency was empty—the merchants had hired everyone, and there were no horses either.
He'd had four men with him before. Xiao Feng sent them on ahead—all four were lower-level managers from the factory, from the village, with no real martial skill. If four grown men were guarding him, even a blind man could probably tell he was "someone important"—a nice fat sheep. He didn't want to be a target, so he split off from them. He and Xiao Li traveled together, not daring to flash their money, relying on their own two legs—so of course they were slow.
"Yesterday some — some people were looting. That old granny wouldn't hand it over, and they just — just beat her to death. That man used a rock — this big — and smashed her head in."
Brains splattered everywhere, her whole head flattened, half sunk into the mud.
Xiao Feng had been nearby and witnessed the whole thing. He was scared out of his wits. The man spotted him and figured he might as well finish the job—would've done him in too, if Xiao Li hadn't been there. Otherwise he'd probably be dead by now.
He didn't have Guaizai's nerve. He'd never seen anything like this. It was a miracle he didn't wet his pants on the spot. Young women and gers were both rather timid by nature. Fang Zichen patted his back: "It's alright now."
That old woman had also flashed her money and had no one to protect her—that's how she met such a fate.
It was still a day's journey from Hezhou. Fang Zichen wanted the guards to take Xiao Feng back, but Xiao Feng was clinging to him now, saying he wanted to go with him.
Fang Zichen was skilled and bold, and he could see Xiao Feng seemed very down. Xiao Feng was sentimental and remembered kindness. The Ji family had been fine—and in such a short time, the dead were dead and the scattered scattered. He must be feeling terrible. Zhao Ger was busy back home too. Fang Zichen thought it over and took Xiao Feng with him, heading toward town—but on the road, they saw Ji Daya's corpse.
A girl in her teens, clothes barely covering her, her whole body bruised purple and swollen beyond recognition. She must have been brutally beaten before she died—her face was completely unrecognizable. But the torn clothes on her body—Xiao Feng recognized them...
She'd just been thrown by the roadside.
With the times in chaos, the old order and laws were completely ignored. Beasts in human skin mingled among the crowds, running wild everywhere—more hateful than the enemy soldiers.
Xiao Feng was beside himself. After burying Ji Daya, he went quiet for a long time.
Along the way, Fang Zichen tried to comfort him: life and death are fated, so he should learn to accept it. There was nothing wrong with chasing a bargain, but next time, if he could avoid it, he should. He regretted it now.
Xiao Feng regretted it too—but he figured Fang Zichen was all talk and no follow-through. A dog can't change its habit of eating shit! His Uncle Fang said he was turning over a new leaf, starting fresh, never chasing bargains again—hell would freeze over before he believed that.
"Don't look at me like that." Fang Zichen said righteously: "I've really washed my hands of it. After all, I'm now a man worth hundreds of thousands of taels. Chasing after small bargains would be beneath my dignity."
Everyone around them: "..."
This flaunting of wealth really made people want to hate him.
Qin San glanced at Fang Zichen. He believed him—after all, the entire Qin family was his now. Before coming back to Hezhou, Old Madam Qin had given him another hundred thousand taels, plus what Qin Hengxuan and Meng Ruqing had given him earlier—definitely more than a few hundred thousand taels. He could do nothing at all now and just eat and wait to die, and he probably still couldn't spend it all. If he had that much silver himself, he probably wouldn't stoop to chasing after such tiny scraps either.
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