Immortality: Raising an Ant Queen to Cultivate by increasing stat points - Chapter 246

Chapter 246: Chapter 239: Women Eventually Leave Their Mothers_1
 

However, the criminal who killed Lord Song Zan remained at large, never captured by the Nine Insect Gang.

This was tantamount to slapping the faces of all the high-ranking members of the Nine Insect Gang.

Even the assassination of Song Zan put the Nine Insect Gang’s surprise attack plan on the Black Tiger Gang on hold.

Now that the silver notes Song Zan had left behind were being exchanged and used in Seven-Star City, the Nine Insect Gang was determined to dig three feet into the ground if necessary to find the person responsible.

Regrettably, their opponent was Qin Niu, a youth who was extremely cautious.

Having exchanged the silver notes and gold notes, he took flight the very same day, leaving Seven-Star City behind.

Needless to say, the high-level officials of the Nine Insect Gang mobilized a large number of soldiers to search for the suspected assassin. They arrested hundreds of people, yet failed to find the real culprit.

At this moment, Qin Niu had already reached the border between the Nine Insect Gang and the Shennong Sect.

Since both sects were in the honeymoon phase of an alliance, crossing the border between them was extremely easy.

There wasn’t even a need to smuggle himself across; after paying seven Wen Money, he was let through.

The border-crossing fee was cheaper than the fee to enter the city, which was also a result of the mutual friendly signals between the two gangs.

Once inside the territory of the Shennong Sect, Qin Niu didn’t hurry on his way.

Instead, he found an inn to stay in.

Then he bought two sets of local clothes to change into, also adopting the guise of an ordinary farmer from the Shennong Sect.

Looking at himself in the copper mirror, he saw no difference from the local people and only then did he pick up his basket and continue on his way.

“Hey, young man, need a ride?”

A horse-drawn cart loaded with cargo sped past; seeing Qin Niu carrying a large basket on the road, the cart slowly came to a stop.

Qin Niu glanced at the wagon.

It was an open-type, simple wagon.

Very similar to the carriages of modern tricycles.

Surrounded by wood planks to prevent the cargo from falling off.

Inside the cart seemed to be grain, somewhat resembling millet.

The driver, an uncle in his forties, had a forehead etched with deep wrinkles, his skin tanned dark, and his head wrapped in a turban.

The uncle was dressed in a black short robe.

It was one of the favorite attire of many farmers.

He had a quite honest-looking face.

“Uncle, may I ask where you are headed?”

“I’m off to Mai City to deliver a few bags of millet and wheat. Isn’t the frontline preparing for war? Now that the government is requisitioning grain, I hear the price is quite good. I’ll take a few bags over to check the market.”

The uncle obviously mistook him for a subject of the Shennong Sect.

It felt like the majority of Shennong Sect’s common people were very simple and honest.

Much easier to deal with than the barbarians of the Nine Insect Gang.

“Would it be convenient for me to hop on with so much grain you’re pulling?”

Upon hearing that the destination was Mai City, Qin Niu found it was on his way as well.

The Shennong Sect and the Black Tiger Gang were currently in conflict, so the Black River banks would definitely be under tight surveillance.

Taking this route from Mai City through Tian Shui, then crossing the border by boat, should be a relatively safe path.

Throughout his journey, he took countless risks and finally managed to accumulate more than ninety thousand Silver Money. As long as he safely returned to the Black Tiger Gang’s territory, he would instantly become a wealthy man at the top of the hierarchy.

Seizing the opportunity of the Black Tiger Gang’s wartime chaos and insect infestation, with the low cost of land, he could buy up big and never worry about the future again.

“Convenient, very convenient! If you don’t mind, you can sit on top of the grain.”

The uncle got busy, hopped off the cart, climbed into the back wagon, and moved the grain around to create a safe ‘seat’ for Qin Niu to sit on.

“Here, you can sit in here, and the basket can be placed next to you; there will be no problem at all.”

The uncle patted the sack of grain.

These coarse hemp sacks could hold up to a hundred fifty or sixty catties of grain at most.

“Then thank you very much, uncle!”

Qin Niu climbed onto the cart and sat in the ‘pit’ the uncle had made for him.

“Hey, being on the road, catching a ride is nothing! Sit tight now!”

The uncle moved with agility.

He easily settled back into the driver’s seat and then shook the horse’s reins.

“Giddy up!”

The horse broke into a trot, starting down the main road.

“Young man, where are you planning to go?”

“I’m heading to Tian Shui!”

“After I’ve sold the grain, I should be able to take you another leg of the journey.”

“Won’t you return home after selling your grain?”

Qin Niu asked curiously.

“I have a sister who married into Tian Shui over two years ago. The journey is so long, she hasn’t returned home for over a year now, sigh, I don’t even know if she’s getting along well over there. As her older brother, I’m inevitably worried about her. Normally, I don’t have the time to visit her. This time, after selling the grain, it would be perfect to check on her. In case she’s facing hard times, as her brother, I would be able to help out a bit,” the uncle explained.

The distance from Mai City to Tian Shui is about sixty to seventy li, neither far nor near.

Qin Niu and the uncle met at a place more than forty li from Mai City.

Which means, for the uncle’s sister to visit her family, she would have to travel at least a hundred li or more.

In an era with underdeveloped transportation, if her family’s economic conditions were poor, returning home would be quite difficult.

“The uncle is a man of deep sentiment and loyalty. I truly admire that kind of affection among siblings, but it’s a pity that I’m the only child in my family.”

When Qin Niu spoke of this, his tone carried a bit of melancholy.

Not even knowing his own heritage, let alone having siblings.

In these times of continuous warfare, natural disasters were also highly prone to occur.

Parents fleeing with their children could easily become lost or might consciously abandon them.

It wasn’t necessarily heartless; sometimes it could be a helpless act.

Children like Qin Niu, who were taken in and raised by others, were not few in number.

His maid, Xiao Qing, was also abandoned by her parents.

“Not having siblings might not necessarily be a bad thing. There are some siblings who, out of self-interest, become like enemies. In my family, there are only my sister and me. Now my daughter is about to be married off, and both my sons have arranged marriage plans. The one I worry about the most is still my sister,” the uncle said, seeing these matters with clarity.

“Your sons are married, and your sister has only been married for two years; that makes your sister’s age…”

“That’s right, my sister is almost twenty years younger than I am. She’s a very strong-willed and ambitious person. At sixteen, when many girls of her age were getting married, she insisted on making her way in the world. She initially went to Shennong City, but due to fierce competition there, she later chose to develop her life in Mai City.

The job she had was actually quite good, working in an elixir pharmacy, where she self-taught a lot of knowledge about herbs and worked hard to become an herb identifier.

When she was 19, she would often come back to have meals with us and stay at home for a couple of days.

She told me she wanted to work at a planting association or in an elixir pharmacy because she believed there were better prospects and higher income.

She even said that if she became successful in the future, she would let our parents enjoy their old age with her, and buy a house for me, her brother, in the city. Wishing for the whole family to move into the city.

Just later on, she met a man she fancied, whose conditions were not good, and he didn’t leave a good impression on me or our parents.

She was determined to marry him despite our objections, so we had to agree.

My father was so upset by this, he fell ill and passed away less than a year later. When we held the funeral, my sister only came back in a hurry, leaving right after the seventh-day rites and never returned home again after that.

That time she came home, I noticed she had become thinner and sunburned, wearing old clothes from before.

I’m guessing she must not have had an easy life over there.

Sigh, my sister is good in every aspect; it’s just that she’s too proud. She never tells us when she suffers outside, always presenting good news and withholding the worrisome,” the uncle lamented as he talked about his sister, shaking his head.

Everyone has their own thoughts, and daughters are beyond their mothers’ control.

He could only watch powerlessly as his sister married someone whom both he and their parents disapproved of.

Males fear entering the wrong profession, females fear marrying the wrong man.

If his sister could have married a good man, she surely wouldn’t be in her current state.