For the next five days, Cheng Zongyang did little else. He spent most of his time exploring the area around the Inner Mountain Pass, clearing out any unstable elements and spreading Seven Herbs Powder to reduce the dangers there.

He also brought something back with him every day.

The family had enough meat, so Cheng Zongyang didn’t bring any more back.

Instead, he brought back things like Tiger Bone, a Wild Boar King Hide, fruit and vegetable seeds, fish fry, and ducklings. Almost everything had been spawned from his item bar.

Cheng Zongyang brought back anything he thought his family could use.

For the Tiger Bone in particular, Cheng Zongyang’s excuse was that he had simply found a dead tiger and harvested its bones to steep in wine.

Cheng Guangshan was an expert at handling Tiger Bone. As long as there was wine, he could easily make dozens of pounds of Tiger Bone Wine.

Meanwhile, his maternal uncle had also reached Entry Grade two days prior, becoming the sixth Entry Grade Martial Artist in their extended family.

That day, sometime after Noon, Cheng Zongyang prepared to make a trip into the County Town. He told everyone to get ready to receive the new arrivals. Besides, his appointed time with Li Lu had come.

Cheng Zongyang traveled light, quickly leaving the Inner Mountain Pass and rushing toward the County Town.

「One hour later.」

In the woods outside the County Town, Cheng Zongyang entered the Wilderness World, retrieved a prepared burlap sack, and headed into the city with it.

However, he was baffled when he saw that the area outside the city walls was completely empty.

’Have all the refugees left?’

He used a fake Travel Permit to enter the city and discovered that the shops inside were still mostly closed, but the streets were in utter chaos.

Nearly all the refugees had entered the city.

They were either crowding the entrances of some shops or wandering about aimlessly. Some were even fighting in the streets and robbing people.

As some people passed by, Cheng Zongyang suspected that if not for the Bow and Arrow and Firewood Knife he carried, they would have tried to snatch his burlap sack.

"What’s going on?" Cheng Zongyang frowned, quickly heading for Li Lu’s house.

When he arrived, Cheng Zongyang knocked on the door.

"Uncle Li, are you there? It’s me."

A moment later, only the voice of Mrs. Wang of the Li Family came from inside: "Is that Cheng Zong... Cheng Yang?"

Inside, Mrs. Wang of the Li Family had been about to call out Cheng Zongyang’s name, but she remembered her husband’s instructions and quickly corrected herself, worried someone might overhear the name and cause unnecessary trouble.

Cheng Zongyang was confused, but could only reply, "It’s me. Is Uncle Li in?"

The door was then opened from the inside, and a nervous Mrs. Wang of the Li Family said, "Quick, come in and talk."

Cheng Zongyang’s confusion grew when he saw a Firewood Knife in Mrs. Wang of the Li Family’s hand, and he hurried inside.

As Cheng Zongyang closed the door behind him, he walked farther in and asked, "Aunt Li, what’s going on? I’ve only been gone a few days. How did the County Town get so chaotic?"

Mrs. Wang of the Li Family put the Firewood Knife aside and sighed.

"Your Uncle Li told me that to settle and treat the refugees, the County Magistrate let all of them into the city. He told them to find a place to live and wait for identity registration and so on. I don’t know the details. But as soon as the refugees came in, they started robbing people and breaking into homes. They’re even squatting in empty houses just so they can claim residency and get registered. Sigh..."

Cheng Zongyang began to understand. ’This is a deliberate attempt to sow chaos in the County Town.’

As he mulled this over, he handed the sack to Mrs. Wang of the Li Family.

"Aunt Li, I got this for you. Please take it. When will Uncle Li be back?"

Mrs. Wang of the Li Family paused, taking the sack. When she looked inside, her expression froze, and she immediately tried to refuse.

"No, no, we haven’t even finished the meat you gave us last time! And this is so much more. You should sell it—you could get more than three hundred cents a pound for this. Your uncle went out to handle some business; he should be back soon."

Cheng Zongyang smiled. "I hunted it myself, so it’s nothing valuable. If I wanted money, I wouldn’t have brought it here. Aunt Li, it feels impersonal to talk about money when giving a gift to friends. Please, take it. Otherwise, I won’t feel right visiting again."

"Oh, you... you dear boy. Alright, Auntie will thank you properly then. Goodness, come, sit down. I haven’t even poured you a glass of water." Seeing his insistence, Mrs. Wang of the Li Family couldn’t refuse any longer and began to bustle about.

Cheng Zongyang accepted her kind offer.

Just then, a knock came from outside, along with Li Lu’s shout.

"Open up."

Mrs. Wang of the Li Family said, "He’s back, he’s back."

With that, she hurried toward the door.

Li Lu entered holding a blade and closed the door. Mrs. Wang of the Li Family immediately told him that Cheng Zongyang had arrived and brought a leg of meat.

Li Lu’s face lit up at the news, and he hurried to the main room.

"Zongyang, you’re finally here. Come, let’s talk in the inner room," Li Lu said urgently.

Seeing Li Lu’s urgency, Cheng Zongyang said no more and followed him into the inner room.

A quarter of an hour later, after hearing everything Li Lu had to say, Cheng Zongyang remained silent for a long while before finally sighing.

"This Chang Younian is truly ruthless."

In just a few days, Chang Younian had let all the refugees into the city under the guise of providing them with shelter and treatment. He was giving them three free meals a day, a move that seemed calculated to either exhaust the city’s food stores or simply keep the refugees content for now. But when the new County Magistrate inevitably reduced the meals from three a day back to one, trouble was sure to erupt.

Then, he had secretly destroyed an incoming shipment of Medicinal Materials, used the excuse of "running out" to request more from the Commandery City, but conveniently forgot to specify which medicines were needed.

After that, he halted the well-digging projects, claiming a lack of manpower...

In short, all the relief measures that had been put in place were completely terminated, and the refugees were left to squat wherever they pleased within the city walls.

The new County Magistrate could surely see through these ploys, but Chang Younian’s official justifications were watertight: he was providing shelter, treatment, and food, but was simply short on manpower and had run out of Medicinal Materials. It would all just take time.

But one crucial fact remained: the plague had not yet been truly eradicated.

"Who is the new County Magistrate?" Cheng Zongyang asked.

"Luo Dingran, from Guang’an Commandery in Linchuan Prefecture," Li Lu said, his expression growing solemn. "He’s from the Luo Noble Family. By the way, I also found something out. The drought these past two years began in Linchuan, and later spread to cover the prefectures of Xiangyang, Xichuan, and Beiding—the entire Land of Four Mansions!"