Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 46 Deserted Village
From food and drink to daily necessities and entertainment, everything is in a very bad state.

Beijiwu got up to eat breakfast in the morning, and halfway through, he heard Xiaoxidan run in and shout.

"Sir, there are many people standing outside looking for you."

Arctic Martial remembered what had happened, "Let them in."

"Yes, sir." Xiao Xidan ran out to relay the message.

Kitada and the others entered shortly afterward.

Everyone watched as Beijiwu ate in the courtyard, and they all stood obediently two or three meters away, waiting.

While eating his steamed bun, Beijiwu sized up the thirty-odd people who had entered.

They were all men, young and old, from the village. Each household sent one to three people; basically, everyone came.

“There are 143 people in the village. Apart from those who can’t work, the rest of them came to build houses for me.”

"Today we're going to the river to dig mud and dry bricks. Each household just needs to bring a bundle of wheat straw."

Arctic Wu ordered around a large group of people without any courtesy, not to consult or ask for anything, but to order and enslave them.

Kitada looked at Kitakyubu's yard and asked, "How many rooms do you want to build? If it's two rooms, and more than a hundred people work, it can be built in two or three days."

When ordinary people build houses, their neighbors or relatives usually help out. Even people from the same village don't all come to help.

But Arctic Martial Arts has a big fist and can force more than a hundred people to come and work for him.

With more people, the work naturally gets faster. Stones, clay, wood, and other materials are readily available, making it simple and quick.

Beijiwu said, "Tear down the two sheds on the west side and build two rooms. Separate the toilet on the east side by two zhang and build three rooms. If it can't be horizontal, then build it vertically."

“Apart from the newly built room on the west side where I sleep, the rest are for storing things. The room near the door is built bigger so it can be used as a school for the children in the future.”

When Kitada heard that another school was to be built, he asked, "Didn't you say yesterday that a school was to be built a hundred meters away?"

Everyone else remembered this too, feeling that Arctic Wu was talking nonsense.

Arctic Warrior cursed, "Idiot!"

Kitada, despite his advanced age, was still somewhat upset at being scolded. However, a different expression appeared on his face. The spot where he had been beaten yesterday was still aching, so he obediently endured it.

Beijiwu reprimanded the crowd, "Listen up! One is a school for adults, and the other is a school for children!"

"From now on, we'll learn to read and discuss important matters when the adults are a hundred meters away."

"Children over six years old can learn to read, understand some culture, and learn some skills at my home, instead of just farming and grinning like idiots!"

The group of people who were insulted by Arctic Martial Arts subconsciously laughed awkwardly, but then realized what they had done and their faces turned red.

Kitada's face flushed red. He felt that working under Kitabu was ten times more humiliating than when he surrendered during the war!
Beijiwu stood up and looked at the large group of people.

"Ten people come with me to a nearby deserted village to fetch a stone mill and some junk to use. The rest of you can work on building a house."

Aunt Beigong asked, "Why did you bring the stone mill back?"

Arctic Martial arrogantly declared, "I want to grind flour to make noodles! What, you have a problem with that?!"

A group of people quickly shook their heads.

How could I dare to have any objections?

"Let's go! Let's go!"

Beijiwu picked up a wooden gun, put on his knife, and set off.

Of those who went with Arctic Martial, ten went with him, while the rest stayed behind to work with the women and build houses.

Building houses doesn't require much technical skill; most people in the village know a little bit about it.

Kitada Ne stayed behind to command. He was older and had served in the army for more than ten years, so he knew more than others.

After Beijiwu and his group left, Aunt Kitada whispered to Kitada Gen, "He scolds you like a dog's son every day, don't you think of anything to do?"

Kitada cursed, "Go to hell! Where don't you have to be a grandson?"

“In the military settlements and the county, anyone with power is a grandfather. You can treat him like a grandfather and everything will be fine. You won’t realize he’s a grandfather until he kills all your sons!”

"Let me tell you, shut up! If you want to survive, just behave yourself like a grandson!"

Kitada warned the troublesome woman.

It's true that we were beaten and scolded by Arctic Martial Arts, but at least Arctic Martial Arts provides us with a decent way to make a living.

It's true that they forced everyone to work and build houses, but at least they didn't use whips to supervise them, nor did they take people to work in some unknown place.

He helped pay the village's taxes, was willing to help everyone buy cattle and farm tools, and was also willing to set up a canteen and a school.

The current actions of the Arctic Military Academy are all within reasonable limits; at least Kitada and others do not want a lose-lose situation.

The wife, having been scolded by her husband, could only keep her work quiet and continue working, seeing that neither her son, daughter-in-law, nor husband were helping her.

Instead of resting at home in the sweltering heat, hundreds of men and women busily dug soil and mixed mud to build a new house for a young and wealthy man.

Gao Conglian was responsible for filling the wooden molds with mud, and then pouring the mud mixed with wheat straw into the molds to dry.

Several children from the neighborhood helped out, and Jiang Rong's son and Gao Conglian's two sons also played together, helping their mother with chores nearby.

The group of over a hundred people was already quite large. In addition to those in the courtyard, there were people outside digging for soil and stones, which were then transported back using oxcarts belonging to the Kitada and Kitamiya families.

Beijiwu led ten people to a nearby deserted village. Because the road was difficult to travel, they did not ride horses or pull oxen, but instead carried ropes and sticks.

After walking for more than half an hour, the group finally found an abandoned mountain village in a secluded valley.

The mountain village must be deep in the mountains. It's several kilometers away from the main road, and there are no roads to walk on nearby. The whole way is overgrown with weeds and rugged rocks.

Beiji Wu discovered this place because he had nothing else to do. When the others followed, they found that there were many things on the ground.

"Master Wu, there are human bones all over the ground. They must have died many years ago."

Ai Dake nervously looked at the nearby bushes, fearing that a skeleton monster might run out from the bushes, which were as tall as a person.

Arctic Warrior cursed, "You dog brain! You said you'd call me chieftain!"

Bei Gong Dingbian quickly said, "Clan chief, there are many dead people here, the yin energy is too heavy, we should leave quickly." Bei Ji Wu strode forward, "With grandpa's yang energy in front of us, what are you afraid of? If a female ghost comes, grandpa can kill her! Follow me!"

Young Arctic Warrior is more manly than anyone else.

The sun in the sky was not as strong as the yang energy of the Arctic Warrior. The ten grown men looked at each other and quickly followed the Arctic Warrior.

The village was clearly massacred; the houses showed signs of burning, and human remains were found near a charred fire on the ground.

There are a dozen or so houses in the village, about ten meters apart, neither too far nor too close.

Every dilapidated house was overgrown with weeds, and most of them had lost their roofs.

Human bones are easily found on the ground and in the grass. A group of people carrying knives and sticks carefully followed Arctic Martial.

Arctic Martial stopped in front of a house. In the yard, there was an abandoned stone mill, and the weeds were taller than a woman.

Just as everyone stopped, a gray object suddenly flew towards them.

"Gah!"

boom!
Arctic Martial raised his long stick and smashed it down, killing a wild bird in the grass.

Everyone was startled, but breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Beijiwu pick up a wild bird.

The wild bird looked quite large, even bigger than an adult hen.

Beijiwu said, "These weeds are really in the way. Let's take a stick and beat them. If we find any alive, we can kill them."

The group began to move, scaring away some insects in the grass.

After confirming that everything was alright, Beijiwu said to Ai Dake, "You, go in and check."

"Me?" Ai Dake looked at the bushes in front of him, then at Beijiwu.

Although it was broad daylight, the several dozen square meters of grass in front of him still gave him a sense of danger, and Ai Dake had no intention of crawling into the grass.

Arctic Martial retorted, "If it's not you, then who else would it be? If you don't want to go, just point to someone, and I'll send them!"

The remaining nine men all looked at Ai Dake with hostile expressions, their eyes full of threat.

The coward dared not offend anyone, and under the coercion of the crowd, he could only obediently suppress his fear and venture into the bushes to explore.

Ai Dake's heart was pounding; he was extremely nervous.

They were terrified of encountering snakes, rats, ghosts, or other strange creatures that might suddenly appear.

Fortunately, the courtyard, which was only a few dozen square meters, was not large, and it took less than a minute to find the stone mill of Beijiwu.

"Grandpa... Chieftain! We've found the millstone!"

Beijiwu shouted, "Alright, got it! You guys move the millstone out!"

Everyone looked at Beiji Wu and found that he had already entered the house.

Bei Gong Dingbian and the others dared not venture into the deserted village and old house to explore. The ten of them carried the stone mill outside to warm it in the sun, hoping to dispel the chill in their hearts.

Not long after, Beijiwu came out carrying a large wooden box.

Beijiwu put down the wooden box and looked at the stone mill that had been disassembled into several parts on the ground.

“I remember there’s also a stone pig trough used for raising pigs and cattle. I’ll go and move it over. You guys wait for me here.”

"Yes, Chieftain!" the group of people replied happily.

After Beijiwu left, a group of people looked at the large boxes that Beijiwu had brought.

"This looks like it can be opened?"

What's inside?

"It's definitely empty!"

As everyone was talking, Kitada Biao took it upon himself to open the box.

The box had clearly been opened before, so it was very easy to open it a second time.

As the box was opened, a small, mummified corpse with its head tilted back and facing the sky stared blankly at the people entering.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!"

"Ahhhh!"

Caught off guard, a group of people frightened a coward into fainting.

This coward wasn't Ai Dake, but another man who usually had little presence.

Bei Gong Dingbian kicked the lid shut, closing the eerie box.

Everyone was so frightened that they broke out in a cold sweat and were unable to calm down for a moment.

After a long three to five minutes, Beijiwu returned carrying a stone trough used for feeding pigs and cattle.

Kitada Biao quickly said, "Clan chief! There's something in here..."

"There are dead bodies, right?" Beiji Wu said nonchalantly. "Get the stuff out of here, let's go!"

As Beijiwu spoke, he carried the stone trough, which weighed about 100 pounds, forward. Seeing this, the people behind him quickly lifted the top and bottom parts of the millstone, or carried the person who had fainted from fright home.

Finally, the task of organizing the box was handed over to Ai Dake. Ai Dake, sweating profusely, dumped the contents onto the ground and then, as if haunted by a ghost, quickly grabbed the box and chased after the ghost.

"Wait for me! Chieftain! Wait for me!"

A group of people followed closely in Arctic Martial's footsteps and escaped from this gloomy place.

Beijiwu led everyone back to the village, laughing and saying, "It's not good to start a fire in the summer. I'll come back after autumn to set a fire and clean up that place."

Kitada Biao wiped his sweat. "That place has a lot of yin energy, it's not good to live there. Cleaning it up won't help."

Beijiwu didn't care. "I have strong yang energy, so I'm not afraid of this. I'll just use that box as a lectern for meetings from now on!"

(End of this chapter)