Chapter 21: Truly a Good Person

The pen and paper were somewhat peculiar, a style Zhou Shan had never seen before, but given the current circumstances, they were certainly convenient to use.

However, his drawing skills were truly limited, so he could only describe things orally from the side.

Wen Gu drew a map by the light of the fire.

As he spoke more, his emotions were stirred, and he chatted about some of his own affairs.

After all, having served as a County Lieutenant, he had experienced plague outbreaks in the villages under his jurisdiction before; at the beginning of the chaotic times, he still had a bit of experience with precautions.

It was just too sinister; the world had become increasingly difficult, and many of the masters above him in the county had failed to escape it.

Seeing that the situation in the County Town was not right, Zhou Shan took his parents, wife, and children, called upon a few brothers with whom he had good relations, left the County Town, and went to the neighboring Town where his father-in-law lived.

But as the days passed, things became chaotic there as well.

Food and firewood decreased day by day; firewood could be managed by chopping up furniture, door panels, and the like, which could be found in the unoccupied houses in the Town.

Food, however, could only be sought and replenished periodically.

Precisely because of this, the number of survivors around him was also dwindling.

This time, it was because the food in the vicinity had all been scavenged by them, so everyone discussed going to a nearby Village together, where they found more grain.

It was just that Zhou Shan was accidentally injured during the retreat; although there were no obvious external wounds, it affected his mobility, and before half a day had passed, he was told by those few brothers that an Evil Spot had appeared on his arm.

At the time, he did not suspect anything; he had long been mentally prepared for every outing, but he was worried about his family at home, so he expressed his willingness to cover the rear to buy time for everyone, and also hoped that his brothers would send food to his home.

He killed quite a few monsters alone, then came to this post station, feeling desperate and sorrowful, drowning his sorrows in wine.

He had intended to fulfill his duty of eliminating evil and bringing peace one last time before he turned into a monster.

What was depressing was that even the evil things would not enter the post station.

However, Zhou Shan did not associate this with the wine, only thinking that he was gradually turning into a monster. Those monsters treated him as one of their own; even when they smelled his scent, they did not want to come in and eat him.

"When evil monsters are not interested in a living person, it means this living person can no longer be considered a normal human."

This was his thought at the time, even more sorrowful, with too many people and things in his heart that he could not let go of.

Yet he did not expect...

He had been deceived!

Those he thought were brothers as close as hands and feet—who among them had not been cared for and promoted by him?

Thinking of the hypocritical, reluctant expressions those people had at the time, Zhou Shan's facial muscles tightened, his fingers gripping the knife tensed, suppressing his emotions: "In this world, the most unpredictable thing is the human heart!"

Xiao Liu did not feel it deeply; although he had seen similar things, the villagers of Ge Village had not yet acted so ruthlessly.

Listening to the County Lieutenant Zhou's account, he became a bit bolder and couldn't help but ask: "Three days have already passed; have you never thought that you might not have been struck by evil?"

Zhou Shan shook his head: "I don't know how long it actually takes to turn into a monster; I only feel my head getting more and more muddled, thinking I am not far from becoming a monster."

Before Wen Gu and the others arrived, he had already thought of committing suicide right there.

Xiao Liu: "Muddled head? Could it be that you drank too much wine?"

Zhou Shan: "..."

Xiao Liu did not mean to mock him; he was considering this question very seriously.

Even the County Lieutenant master gets muddled; it seems drinking too much wine really makes one stupid... cough, to use the words of Second Brother Wen, it affects decision-making ability.

By the time the map was mostly drawn, the night was already deep, and they all needed to rest and build up their energy; even if Xiao Liu wanted to chat a bit more with this County Lieutenant, he could only stop for now.

The donkey was not led to the stable; leaving it outside alone was too dangerous and easily attracted evil things, so it was better to lead it into the main hall; there was no one else anyway.

It had eaten grass outside, and after being fed some of the remaining fine feed and adding a little cloudy wine, it was much better behaved.

Even though it had drunk quite a bit of good wine from Wealthy Man Li at the manor, it did not have high requirements regarding the quality of the wine, whether it was clear or cloudy.

Even if it did have high requirements, Wen Gu would force it to change.

In this world today, one cannot afford to be picky!

The next day, just as the sky brightened a little, the road surface was barely visible.

Zhou Shan poured some cloudy wine over his body.

He did not know if those "good" brothers had kept the last bit of their conscience and had delivered the share he was entitled to back to his home.

But one cannot rely entirely on conscience.

Since wine could ward off evil, he thought about a small village he would pass on the road to see if he could scavenge more food to bring back.

Holding his knife and carrying two jars of wine—carrying more would be inconvenient for movement—Zhou Shan greeted Wen Gu and the others, endured his injury, and left impatiently.

Wen Gu looked in the direction where County Lieutenant Zhou had left and opened the simple map he had just drawn.

Previously, when County Lieutenant Zhou was describing it orally, he had only sketched it roughly, and it was even somewhat abstract. County Lieutenant Zhou could not understand it, but seeing that the important lines and the locations of the villages, towns, and the County Town were drawn correctly, he did not ask further.

Now, Wen Gu revised and supplemented the draft, converting some symbols used for shorthand into detailed drawings and text.

After thinking for a moment, he said to everyone: "Let's stay in the post station for another half day. I will finish the map and set the route before we set off; we should try our best not to spend the night in the wild and must have a place to rest."

Xiao Liu had no objections and thought Wen Gu's considerations were thorough.

Tietou had no opinions of his own and followed orders completely.

Qingyi Daozhang, however, took a few extra looks at Wen Gu, always feeling that this Gou Shusheng was hiding something. But he did not refute him.

During the time Wen Gu was drawing the map and setting the route, Xiao Liu and Tietou were also rummaging through the post station for useful things. They looked for changes of clothes or clean cloth, organized and bundled firewood, and drew some well water to boil two pots for backup.

There was a scent of wine in the inn, so no evil things approached; the past night and the first half of the day were a rare moment of relaxation.

After resting at noon, the four of them packed their things and prepared to set off.

There were still quite a few jars of cloudy wine in the inn; Wen Gu only put a few jars on the cart, as he could not carry more.

The rest were left in the post station.

"Wine can ward off evil; this point can be told to survivors who come here in the future."

Wen Gu tore off a piece of paper and used a Charcoal Pencil to write down a few lines of brief advice.

There was no showing off of skill; the handwriting was quite neat, stroke by stroke. The language used no obscure characters or complex vocabulary; it was all very down-to-earth descriptions.

Xiao Liu could understand it as soon as he saw it.

Wen Gu said: "In the event that other survivors come here like that County Lieutenant Zhou, and they lack the martial prowess of County Lieutenant Zhou, the advice on the paper might just turn the situation around and save their lives."

"In this chaotic era, the primary conflict is between humans and evil spirits."

"For every person who lives, it adds an ally to our side and reduces the number of enemies."

Xiao Liu nodded repeatedly upon hearing this, feeling a sense of respect arise.

People who read the books of sages are just different!

After Wen Gu finished writing, his brows furrowed slightly: "I will add a drawing, in case someone is not fully literate."

Xiao Liu continued to nod: Brother Wen is truly a good person!

In his Village, there are many people who are illiterate, and even some of the martial masters with official posts in the county—don't look at how they spout flowery language, they might not know more characters than he does.

Wen Gu considers everything thoroughly for everyone, just like those scholars with noble character in Storybooks.

Xiao Liu's gaze turned to admiration.

Watching this scene before him, Qingyi Daozhang felt no emotion at all, and even found it strange.

Precisely because he knows the nature of this Gou Shusheng, looking at what the other party wrote and said again, it seems... overly pretentious.

This Gou Shusheng, his goal isn't just this, is it?

This is being done specifically for someone or some people to see, right?

He isn't trying to bait someone, is he?!

Second half of the chapter