Starting from a peasant family, he mastered the profound art of martial arts.

Chapter 37 Autumn Night

Meng Chen ate red date cake while trailing behind Yan Zhao and the others.

The scholar in white was clearly of low status; after following for a while, he was dismissed by Gao Yuan.

As for Yan Zhao's three guards, Meng Chen had met two of them when he returned to his hometown before, and knew that they were quite capable, so he did not dare to follow them too closely.

It was evening, and the streets were crowded. Although Yan Zhao and his companions were traveling on horseback, they couldn't go much faster.

After finishing the jujube cake, Meng Chen saw a clothing store on the street, so he went in and bought a blue long gown and a pair of new shoes.

Without being picky, he wrapped up his long gown and shoes, bought a few meat pies, and then chased after them.

Yan Zhao and his men were riding horses, making them easy to spot, so there was no fear of losing them.

After leaving the city and passing the market in front of the city gate, Yan Zhao and Gao Yuan rode their horses at full speed, with the three guards following behind.

Another high-ranking follower had no horse to ride, so he could only run fast behind him.

Meng Chen had heard Qi Yun mention that Gao Yuan had a trusted follower named Bi Qing, who was the son of Gao Yuan's wet nurse.

The master and servant grew up together. Bi Qing had always been trusted by Gao Yuan. Although he had no talent in martial arts and had not even succeeded in knocking on the gate, he was clever.

It was Bi Qing's idea that led Gao Yuan to lead the two constables, Xue and Dong, to break into the Du family's martial arts school.

When Meng Chen was at the martial arts school, he never went out and never met Bi Qing, but he thought that this servant boy must be Bi Qing.

It was already dark, and the crescent moon hung halfway up in the sky at the end of September, its light pale and often obscured by clouds.

At this moment, Yan Zhao and the others rode their horses at full speed, with Bi Qing following behind. Meng Chen dared not get too close, so after a short while, he could no longer see Yan Zhao and the others.

Meng Chen was not in a hurry and proceeded steadily.

The grains and beans in the fields on both sides of the road had already been harvested, but the wheat seedlings had not yet sprouted. The fields were very empty, just like in June after the wheat harvest.

It was unbearably hot and humid back then, but now it's rather cool and refreshing.

Meng Chen quickened his pace, and when he was still six or seven miles from home, he changed direction, bypassing Laolongtan and taking a long detour back to Niujia Village.

As the first watch of the night was drawing to a close, no one in Niujia Village dared to light a lamp, so it was pitch black, with only the occasional barking of dogs and honking of geese.

Meng Chen reached the front of his house, but instead of opening the door and going in, he climbed over the wall and entered the yard.

Upon arriving in the kitchen, he groped around in the dark, shoveling out the ashes under the stove, then lifted up the mud bricks underneath, dug down another foot, and pulled out a cloth bag.

There were ten taels of loose silver in the cloth bag, which he had obtained from Yan Bao.

Beneath the cloth bag was a sheathed steel knife, which also came from Yan Bao.

After Meng Chen ambushed and killed Yan Bao, he originally intended to keep this knife for when he was on the run, but he never expected it to come in handy today.

The sword, once drawn, was already showing signs of rust.

I scooped up some water, wet the whetstone, and was just about to sharpen my knife when I heard a noise from Old Chen's house next door.

Then they heard someone draw a bucket of water, followed by the sound of a donkey drinking. Then they heard Qingyu say, "Grandpa, the persimmons are almost ripe, and the walnuts are cracking open. What did my brother say when you went to see him last time? Why isn't he back yet?"

"He didn't say anything, just told you to wait at home," Old Chen said.

"Then why aren't you back yet? It's almost October," Qingyu said.

"I bet he got married somewhere else," Old Chen said, quite reasonably. "Yan Long only spent half a year in the county town and got engaged to the Zhang family, right? I think Meng has become much more talkative since the wheat harvest; who knows which girl he's won over!"

"I don't believe it!" Qingyu said, but her tone was somewhat downcast. She changed the subject and said, "Grandpa, you see, the donkey's hooves need to be trimmed."

"Bring me the sickle!" Old Chen said.

"The sickle is so thin, what if it breaks?" Qingyu made a good point.

"Then use a kitchen knife," Old Chen said again.

"Donkey hooves step in poop and pee every day, how can you use a kitchen knife on them? Won't you feel disgusted when you cut dough pieces?" Qingyu disagreed.

"Then what should we do?" Old Chen was exasperated. "You have good teeth, why don't you gnaw on the donkey's hoof? That way I won't have to do this!"

"I can't bite that!" Qingyu clearly had a plan. She said, "My brother studies martial arts; who knows, he might come back with swords and knives next time. Let's have him cut off the donkey's hooves!"

"That's fine then," Old Chen laughed. "I've seen where he practices martial arts. It's not like he's learning any real skills. A bunch of people are just endlessly practicing like idiots. I doubt he'll find a proper way to make a living in the future. He might have to make a living by cutting off donkey hooves and castrating pigs and sheep."

"Go to sleep already!" Qingyu yelled angrily.

After a short while, the donkey finished drinking, and then there was a rustling sound. It must have been the bluefish feeding the donkey with hay. Then the grandfather and grandson fell asleep, and there were no more sounds.

Meng Chen waited another quarter of an hour before slowly sharpening his knife again, full of energy.

Sharpened by the whetstone, Yan Bao's previously undrawn blade now exuded a murderous aura in the chill of the autumn night.

Meng Chen sheathed his sword, took off his clothes, put on the new clothes and shoes he had bought, and then covered his face with a cloth.

After waiting for another quarter of an hour, Meng Chen finished eating the meat pie he had bought, put on his old clothes, picked up his knife, and headed east.

After going around in circles, we finally returned to the main road leading to the county town.

This place was about seven or eight miles away from the Yan residence. Meng Chen was wary of the Yan family having experts, so he continued walking. He stopped when he was about ten miles away from Qingshui County.

It was already night, the countryside was empty, the moonlight was dim, and the world was desolate and gloomy.

The occasional cry of a crow only amplified the chill of the autumn night.

Meng Chen carefully hid the clothes he had changed out of, and then hid himself behind a tree.

After waiting quietly for half an hour, Meng Chen kept his eyes fixed on the way he came, but he didn't see a single person.

"Could it be that Gao Yuan has changed his mind and is planning to spend the night at the Yan family's house?"

"Or perhaps, while I was at home getting my knife, Gao Yuan had already returned to the county town?"

But since we're already here, we might as well wait a bit. Just like when we ambushed Yan Bao, we waited for several days before the opportunity finally came.

Meng Chen also wanted to openly confront them, but the situation forced him to act against them, as they were stronger and he was weaker. This was the only option he could have.

Moreover, he had no power or influence and had to diligently practice martial arts, making it difficult for him to find out Gao Yuan's whereabouts. However, Gao Yuan was able to send people to keep an eye on him at all times.

Therefore, this opportunity today is extremely rare.

Meng Chen went over his plan several times and became more and more confident.

Meng Chen waited until nightfall before finally spotting a bright spot slowly approaching in the distance.

The countryside was barren and desolate. A cold autumn breeze blew gently, and the faint light flickered and moved slowly, like a will-o'-the-wisp.

At this moment, Meng Chen felt no nervousness whatsoever; on the contrary, he was extremely eager for what was to come.

In the past, I drew blood with a sickle; today, I finally hold a knife.

After another quarter of an hour, in the silence of the world, the faint sound of horses' hooves could be heard.

The sound of hooves was slow, and the person approaching seemed to be walking slowly, not urging the horse to gallop.

Meng Chen looked intently and, by the light of the lantern, saw one person holding a lantern and leading a horse, while another person rode on the horse.

The country road was quiet, and the two people's voices were exceptionally clear.