While Fang Yuan was strengthening his soul, Fang Zheng wandered over to the tavern to check up on it.
As he walked towards the tavern, the sights which were the fruit of the recent wolf tide greeted him all around.
The only reason that orphans were not more common was because they were usually eaten along with their parents. Many people were missing limbs as they trudged along, unable to afford a healer and their lost limbs being deemed as 'nonurgent' by the medicine hall which was always packed full. And truth be told, the medicine hall was correct- they just had even more urgent cases to deal with. Funerals were so commonplace that the weeping of the deceased's relatives could be heard constantly whether it was day or night.
These sounds were sometimes punctuated by the roars of the wolves which could be heard even from within the village, oftentimes causing people to wake up, screaming as they imagined the teeth of the animals wrapped around their necks.
Naturally many people had PTSD from their encounters with the wolves, though it was not called such in Gu Yue village. But, the 'thousand yard stare' that some of them gave off was unmistakable to any person from Earth. Such people found it hard to distinguish the real howls of wolves from the ones in their nightmares. It had gotten to the point where someone wearing a wolfskin coat had nearly been attacked by people thinking that a wolf had found a way to disguise itself as a human.
Above all was the general sense of tension and the veil of death that permeated throughout the village. This was all new to someone like Fang Zheng- there had been wolf tides before, but he had been a child back then.
'I guess I just hadn't noticed all of this,' he thought as he moved along. It wasn't that he hadn't noticed earlier, but just that this wolf tide in particular was rather nasty.
Fang Zheng was not like Fang Yuan and these sights deeply engraved themselves within his heart. Before, he had been occupied with his own worries and troubles, but upon seeing the condition that many of the other people were in he began to feel like his situation was not that bad.
Although people drank more frequently given the general air of misery that the village stank of, there were also fewer primeval stones to go around. It could be said that the wine tavern's business was still doing average- but that wasn't the main money maker for Fang Zheng.
It was selling Vitality Leaves. The Four Flavors Liquor Worm was currently sleeping in his aperture, but when needed, would change his Rank 2 Initial Stage primeval essence to Rank 2 Middle Stage, allowing him to easily grow several sets of Vitality Leaves. Selling medicine was the best business in a time like this, with near-infinite demand. What use was hoarding primeval stones if you were dead?
It was to the point that Fang Zheng could not keep up with the increased demand, despite his Rank 2 cultivation.
Jiang Ya walked in at the usual time.
"The usual?" Fang Zheng asked him as he sat down.
"Actually there was a small matter where..." Jiang Ya began before he was interrupted by someone who had walked in just behind him.
Fang Zheng had thought that this other person was another customer and so paid him no heed, but it looks like he had been tailing Jiang Ya.
"Senior greets junior brother," this man said. Fang Zheng did not recognize this man. Many people from his class had come to visit him, or had been sent by other people, simply to try to procure Vitality Leaves first or at a lower price. Naturally Fang Zheng rejected all such requests.
"Greetings," Fang Zheng said. He had not lost his basic manners, and could tell this man was at Rank 2 Middle Stage in cultivation. "Have you come to seek business with me? Please, take a seat."
"Thank you Fang Zheng," the man said. Despite his age, he did not show any air of dominance towards Fang Zheng. This was either out of the knowledge of who Fang Zheng's brother was, or because he wanted something from Fang Zheng. More likely than not, a combination of the two.
"You have me at a disadvantage."
"My name is Gu Yue Ye, I do not know if junior has heard tales of my feats in the past, but I used to be a somewhat famous back when I was a Rank 3 Gu Master. Unfortunately I sustained an injury which caused my cultivation to drop, and with age, its now only at Rank 2 Middle Stage," the man said.
Fang Zheng strained his mind- as a matter of fact, he might've heard of someone by that name before. "That's ah... rather unfortunate to hear about."
Gu Yue Ye nodded. "That would be acceptable, but tragedy struck after that. All of my children have lost their lives over time with the wolf tides. Now, I have nothing but myself and my honor. I've been called by the elders to help defend against the wolf tide this time, but as you can understand, danger lurks at every corner." The wolf pack threw out the weak and elderly to wander the forests and be slaughtered, and the clan did the same- only using words like 'duty' and 'sacrifice' to go in a roundabout way.
The truth of the matter was that Gu Yue Ye was being sacrificed to keep the clan safe. Were he to die, no one was even left to mourn him. What would the elders care in that regard? Gu Yue Ye knew this, but still could not refuse the order. That was the restriction of living within the system of the village. Back in the day, he had been quite brave and reckless- but with age he had become tempered, recognizing the limits of his ability.
Fang Zheng already had a feeling where this conversation was going.
"In such times, Vitality Leaves could be the difference between life and death," Gu Yue Ye said. "I was hoping that you could sell the first batch that you have to me preferentially..."
Fang Zheng said, "Done." It was not an issue- Jiang Ya would still have a number of leaves to sell, and it wasn't a problem so long as he was paid.
"Ah, thank you- but there was another matter," Gu Yue Ye said. "I've heard that the going price that you've put on them is sixty primeval stones per Vitality Leaf- this old man cannot afford such a price. If you could but have some pity upon me, please sell them to me at fifty-five stones."
Gu Yue Ye knew that he could not force Fang Zheng, and so tried to appeal to his sympathy in this way.
Fang Zheng's face was stone-cold, but this was a facade. Truth was that he was quite moved by Gu Yue Ye's story, after all, he was not Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan had only become how he was after 500 years, while Fang Zheng had only tasted a single misfortune. The loss of one's cultivation was something that he would empathize with, as well as the sensation of feeling that the clan had abandoned you.
However...
"These Vitality Leaves are not my property," Fang Zheng said. "They belong to someone else, and if I were to sell them at a lower price than instructed it would be equivalent to stealing from said person."
"Junior, but you-"
Fang Zheng could tell that the man was going to press him further, and so he said them. The magic words that could get him out of nearly any situation - the sentence that, the moment it was uttered, most people began sweating and abandoned any sort of hostility they might have towards him.
"Don't you know who my elder brother is- it's Elder Gu Yue Fang Yuan," Fang Zheng said coldly. He took a sip and then turned to Jiang Ya. "Brother Jiang Ya, could you please jog my memory- this wine, though delicious, seems to have caused my mind to become slightly muddle. Was the punishment for stealing from an elder exile, or death? I think it was death- but I could be remembering things incorrectly. With that said, exile is about as good as death in these circumstances..."
Beads of sweat instantly coated Gu Yue Ye's forehead.