The Martial Lord of the Troubled World

Chapter 16 Peach Grove
Fu Juemin rode his horse, walking with a large group of people along a country road overgrown with weeds.

Behind him were more than forty strong men from the Civil Affairs Department, each dressed in a smart uniform and carrying a foreign gun. Two of them also had large, bulging packages on their backs, about half a person's height, the contents of which were unknown.

Fu Guoping didn't speak to him the whole way, keeping a sullen face as he rode at the head of the group. Occasionally, when people from the Civil Affairs Department came up to report something, he would just nod slightly.

However, Qian Fei and Ma Daikui, who had come with him, took the initiative to approach Fu Juemin, stay by his side, and talk to him from time to time.

"Young Master Fu, you really shouldn't have come."

Instead of riding his precious bicycle, Qian Fei helped Fu Juemin lead the horse. They walked quickly all the way, and sweat was visible on his forehead. "This is no fun thing."

“You knew the truth about what happened at the dock all along, but deliberately kept it from me.”

Fu Juemin, mounted on his horse, spoke calmly.

Qian Fei scratched his head awkwardly, "It was all Second Master's orders, so my brother and I can only obey him."

Besides.

Qian Fei said seriously, "If I told you this, most people might not believe it, and even if they did, it might not be a good thing. You agree, right, Young Master Fu?"

Fu Juemin thought for a moment and asked, "Is this the kind of thing the Civil Affairs Department has always handled?"

"right."

Qian Fei nodded, "Occasionally I help the county catch wanted criminals or something, but mainly I help Luanhe County deal with these strange and sensational things."

Why did the county turn a blind eye to Second Master's hiring of men to buy guns and build earthen forts? It was because they needed Second Master's help if something happened.

Young Master Fu, you probably don't know this, but all of our brothers' daily expenses, monthly salaries, gun purchases, and compensation for any brothers who are injured or killed are all paid out of Second Master's own pocket.

In the words of the Second Master, the Civil Affairs Office is like the county government's chamber pot; it's never even bothered to clean, only used when needed, and then left aside afterward.

Qian Fei was clearly a naturally talkative person. Previously, because Fu Guoping had instructed him to keep it a secret from Fu Juemin, he had never dared to say much in front of Fu Juemin. Now that he had no more worries, he could say anything to Fu Juemin.

"Have you encountered many villages like Taoxiang Village in recent years?"

Fu Juemin tugged at the reins, circled around a ditch in front of him, and asked.

"not much."

Qian Fei shook his head and said, "There were only five or six incidents in total. The most bizarre one was the water monster that roamed the dock this time. More than a dozen brothers were killed, and we still don't know what the water monster looks like."

Secondly,

"Shili Township".

Ma Daikui, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up, "Two years ago, when we were building a kiln in Shili Township, the gunpowder blew out an old white ape that had become a spirit. It would knock people's heads and eat their brains."

"Correct."

Qian Fei nodded, "That time, Second Master brought over a hundred of us brothers, with dozens of guns surrounding that beast. We ran out of bullets but still couldn't kill it."

That beast held a grudge. He ran away during the day, but came back that very night to seek revenge, and killed more than a dozen of our brothers.

"and after?"

Fu Juemin listened with a curious look in his eyes and couldn't help but ask further questions.

"In the end, it still managed to get away."

Qian Fei said helplessly, "But I also broke one of its arms and blinded one of its eyes."

Since then, Second Master has spent a fortune repairing our current earthen fortress. Who knows if that beast will suddenly come back one day?" The more Fu Juemin talked with Qian Fei, the more shocked and amazed he became.

He realized for the first time that the world was far more dangerous than he had imagined.

From the previous dynasty onwards, those so-called mountain demons and monsters were not only found in folk tales and legends, but they became even more rampant after the fall of the previous dynasty.

In Qian Fei's words, "Disorderly times breed monsters."

"Can those who practice martial arts deal with these mountain demons and monsters?"

After listening to Qian Fei talk for a long time, Fu Juemin finally couldn't help but ask.

Upon hearing this, Qian Fei immediately turned around and solemnly warned, "Young Master Fu, you must not have such thoughts."

Having followed Second Master for so long, I've seen my fair share of all sorts of strange and evil spirits. These things are simply beyond the capabilities of human beings to deal with.

Regarding that old white ape I mentioned before, the county government hired some kind of martial arts master who was said to be able to dodge bullets from foreign guns and shatter a stone slab a foot away with a single palm strike.
The results of it?
It was torn to shreds and eaten like a dish; its death was gruesome, leaving only half its body.
To deal with these scoundrels, we still need the guns and bullets of the foreigners.

Fu Juemin nodded, his eyes gleaming.

If what Qian Fei said is true, then these evil spirits and monsters that have become sentient are indeed terrifying. A martial artist who can dodge bullets should at least be at the Xuan level, yet he was powerless against an old white ape and was torn to pieces, showing the vast difference in strength between the two sides.

I wonder if a master of mental cultivation like Emperor Qianming could compete with these mountain demons and water monsters.

As Fu Juemin pondered, the outline of a village gradually appeared before his eyes.

Under Fu Guoping's command, the team immediately stopped, and two men at the front, carrying guns, ran quickly and carefully toward the village.

Fu Juemin waited quietly on his horse for a while. Not long after, the two men from the Civil Affairs Bureau who had been sent out to investigate returned. They reported something to Fu Guoping, and the group quickly continued on its way, but deliberately bypassed the village.

Another silent journey continued until around four in the afternoon when Fu Juemin heard Qian Fei remind him, "After passing the peach grove ahead, we'll reach Peach Fragrance Village."

The whole team visibly tensed up.

Fu Juemin saw many people take off their long guns from their backs and begin to cock them.

Qian Fei led his horse into the inner circle of the group, protected by armed men on all sides.

Taoxiang Village is famous for its peaches, and peach trees are planted all around the village.

September is the season for peaches to bear fruit. In this peach orchard, every tree is laden with fist-sized peaches, some of which are already ripe, but no one has picked them. The air is filled with a strange smell that is a mixture of sweetness and rot.

A group of people slowly walked through the peach grove. At one point, someone muttered, "This lousy grove, how come there isn't a single living creature in it?"

Fu Juemin was suddenly startled to realize that they hadn't heard a single bird call since they entered the forest.

As Qian Fei vividly recounted various evil events, they began to surge through Fu Juemin's mind one by one, causing him to become tense. He freed one hand from the reins and secretly gripped the revolver tucked at his waist.

As the sun began to set, sparse sunlight streamed into the peach grove, its rays fragmented by the intertwined branches and leaves, casting distorted shadows on the ground.

The woods were eerily quiet, and everyone was in a hurry to get out of the woods.

Just then, suddenly...

Fu Juemin heard a rustling sound as something ran past him.

He suddenly looked in the direction of the sound, and at the same time drew his revolver and gripped it tightly in his hand.

He wasn't the only one in the group who reacted similarly; many of them clearly saw a dark shadow darting past in the peach grove not far away.

(End of this chapter)