After sitting by the fire for a while, Tang Wen's anxious heart gradually calmed down.
That was really close!
If that Silver Wolf had chased after him, could he have survived?
Tang Wen's palms were icy cold, and he had no confidence in his heart.
From now on, he would never leave the camp again.
Practice martial arts, stand in stance!
First, he needed to improve his strength.
Having witnessed the power of the Mutated Beasts, he finally understood why everyone in the camp was terrified of them.
The previous move was indeed necessary; otherwise, with just the small shed at the camp entrance, a single paw from the Silver Wolf could have flattened it!
The guards had sent someone to notify the medical hall, and Old Li came swaying to pick up Tang Wen.
After warming up in the stone house for a while, the sweat on Tang Wen's body had dried. Before leaving, he took out a tied-up pheasant and handed it to the guard who had let him in.
The guard politely declined at first but then accepted it with a smile, telling his colleagues, "We'll have chicken tonight."
They were city guards, usually active on various sections of the city walls. Their treatment was good, and they were generally idle, but they didn't have much extra income.
"Tang Wen, right? Next time, if you don't have a token, just come!" another guard laughed.
"Haha, thank you, brothers."
Old Doctor Li watched this scene with interest.
After Tang Wen bid farewell to the guards, Old Li slowly led him inside.
"That's the academy, where children learn to read. Children from the inner city can attend classes for free during the day."
As they walked, Old Li casually introduced him to the locations in the inner city.
"Look, those small buildings ahead, you might like them."
Tang Wen saw a row of stone houses with red silk tied at their entrances.
Old Li's eyes sparkled as he said, "Hehe, the Pleasure House."
From the name and his expression, Tang Wen knew exactly what kind of place it was. A gust of wind brought with it the overwhelming scent of powder and perfume.
"Gentlemen, come and play!"
A woman wearing a fur coat but dressed rather lightly inside saw Tang Wen and her eyes lit up.
Tang Wen's face turned red: soliciting customers on the street was too aggressive!
The level of temptation here was not something the little technician under the street lamp in his previous life could compare to.
"Another day, another day," Old Li said with a smile, giving her hand a pat, showing his experience as a regular customer.
Walking along the street, they passed several shops, taverns, and martial arts halls. Old Li introduced them one by one.
In a daze, Tang Wen felt as if he were strolling through an ancient town, as if he had never experienced life and death.
Rustle.
The silly roe deer in the backpack behind him moved.
Alright!
He had indeed been hunting for his life earlier.
Looking down at the hard road surface, it wasn't dirt but a mix of sand and gravel, compacted and smooth, somewhat like the gravel roads in his childhood village.
Also, in the guard's stone house earlier, the fire seemed to be burning coal...
From this perspective, this world did have some technological civilization, though not much, but it was there.
The two turned into an alley and arrived at a courtyard. Old Li's home was here.
"Master! You're back!"
A crisp voice came from the house, and a woman with a beautiful face and figure walked out.
This?
She looked to be only sixteen years old.
Impressive! Truly impressive!
Old Li was like a pear blossom overshadowing the begonia!
Tang Wen didn't look too much, put down the backpack, and took out the shivering silly roe deer.
It had been scared out of its wits along the way.
"Not bad, this silly deer meat has its own unique flavor. Let's keep that pair of rabbits too!"
Tang Wen agreed and reached out to grab the wild rabbits, couldn't help but ask, "Today, I encountered a group of very powerful Mutated Beasts, the Silver Wolves, in the wild. Are there any experts in the inner city who can kill them?"
Old Li smiled indifferently, "Have you seen anyone in the inner city panicking?"
"Not really." They were even busy soliciting customers, no signs of panic: "But the Silver Wolves seem to come every year."
"That's because the Silver Wolf King is good at escaping! Besides, even if we kill it, another beast king will take its place. Do you think it's better to have a familiar enemy or an unknown danger?"
"Oh, I see now." Tang Wen suddenly understood.
"Don't worry too much, Mutated Beasts aren't that scary. Your street is relatively safe. But it's best not to go hunting recently. Practice the Stance I taught you well. I'll sign you up for the guard selection next spring. As long as you pass the test, I guarantee you can join the hunting squad!"
"Hunting squad?"
"You're a hunter, joining the hunting squad is just right for you."
Tang Wen nodded thoughtfully.
After bidding farewell to Old Li, he looked around to make sure no one was watching, then took out his money pouch and opened it. Inside, besides a pile of copper coins, there were several silver ingots, square in shape, like large cubes of sugar.
He picked up one, examined it carefully to ensure there were no marks, then tucked it into his pocket and headed to the clothing store on the street.
Cotton jackets, cotton pants, quilts, mattresses... The house was lacking everything, and soon two large sacks were filled with clothes.
At the counter, the shopkeeper weighed the silver pieces, calculated with a brush dipped in ink, and gave him a few silver granules in change.
"The purchasing power of silver is quite good!"
Money not earned through hard work is spent without a second thought.
Seeing that it wasn't dark yet.
He went to the butcher's shop to ask about prices.
"10 copper coins for a pound of good meat!"
Food prices have always been high. Just as Tang Wen was considering whether to get some fatty meat to render oil.
He suddenly thought of the beast pack he encountered today.
So many beasts, how many must have died today?
Would the guards bring them back to the city to sell?
If so, meat would definitely be cheaper tomorrow!
Thinking this, he turned and left, passing through another gate in the city, past a few shops on the outskirts of the camp, and returned home.
"Why did you bring back so much stuff?"
Two large sacks filled with quilts, cotton clothes, boots... new clothes in gray and black.
The sister who had never seen new clothes before was overjoyed, circling the bags twice!
"Did you trade meat for all this?" After the initial joy, Tang Tang felt something was off.
"Some people tried to rob me, but ended up giving me money instead."
"What about them?"
"Well, they can't bother me anymore," Tang Wen was certain, thinking of the Silver Wolf.
"That's good!"
The sister was happy again, moving the straw bedding from the kang, carefully cleaning off the dust, and then laying out the new bedding.
"Mutated Beasts are causing trouble outside the camp, so I won't be going hunting recently..."
As Tang Wen talked about his recent plans, Tang Tang nodded repeatedly, "We shouldn't hunt in winter, we have enough food."
The next day, Tang Wen took his medical clinic ID and brought his sister to the inner city.
Wearing new cotton clothes for the first time, Tang Tang was also entering the city for the first time, finding everything new and exciting, wanting to visit every shop, but once inside, everything seemed expensive.
The two arrived at the butcher shop to buy meat. After all, the Yellow Goat was meant as a gift for Old Doctor Li, and they might not have meat in their daily meals.
What kind of martial arts can one practice without eating meat?
"What kind of thing has such big legs?"
"Probably a moose."
Seeing the shop filled with meat everywhere, he smiled.
As expected, the price of meat had dropped to eight copper coins per pound.
"Eight copper coins with bones? That's too expensive." Tang Tang stepped forward to take a look, then pulled her brother away: "There's another butcher shop over there."
"Hey, hey, hey, don't leave! Let's talk, six copper coins per pound with bones."
"Can you give us more? Can you make it cheaper?"
"A hundred pounds," the shop owner said through gritted teeth. "If you can take a hundred pounds, I'll give it to you for five and a half copper coins per pound."
Tang Tang did a quick calculation, and a smile appeared on her face: "Alright! Four copper coins per pound, we'll take four hundred pounds."
"Uh, young lady, that's not how it works."
Tang Tang's smile gradually faded, and her big eyes stared expressionlessly at the owner.
"Fine, fine, four and a half copper coins per pound! I don't even get it for that price, let's just call it a deal. Do you really want four hundred pounds?"
The butcher chopped the moose's legs and a rack of ribs into smaller pieces.
Tang Wen showed his identity card, and the owner borrowed a donkey to help them carry the meat.
On the way, Tang Tang spotted some cheap white radishes, and Tang Wen also bought some chili peppers and seasonings.
The bags on the donkey's back kept increasing.
With f
ood in hand, there's no need to panic.
Next, Tang Wen was going to seclude himself to practice martial arts.
Besides cooking and tidying up the room, Tang Tang also planned to practice with her brother.
This time, she was particularly interested in the crossbow Tang Wen had brought.
(End of Chapter)