Becoming a Saint From the Iron Armor Skill

Chapter 403: Chapter 206: Deep Brotherly Bond

Beneath the moonlight.

Chen Cheng sat leisurely at a stone table, a cup of plain tea in his hand, quietly listening to another "Do You Know" True Inheritor tell him about Chen Family Gully in Qingxi Town.

He Xingwen, a "Do You Know," stood respectfully, talking nonstop:

"Lord Chen, I have thoroughly investigated the matter you assigned me.

I specifically tasked the County Yamen’s Chief Constable, He Xingyao, with handling this.

Lord Chen is a man of great wisdom, so you have likely guessed He Xingyao’s identity from his name. He is, in fact, my cousin.

My cousin’s Martial Arts Power is quite formidable, and more importantly, he is diligent and reliable in his duties.

You can see a hint of this in his actions: he rushed back from Qingxi Town to Moshan County Town overnight, not even stopping for dinner, just so he could deliver the news to me at the first opportunity and I could report to you, Lord Chen..."

He Xingwen seemed to be rambling, but his speech was actually clear and logical, with a very specific goal.

He was trying to win praise for his cousin, He Xingyao, in front of Chen Cheng.

"Your cousin is quite good! If the opportunity arises in the future, I will certainly help his career." Chen Cheng interrupted him with an approving smile.

He Xingwen looked overwhelmed by the favor and bowed respectfully. "Thank you for your praise, Lord Chen. If my cousin knew that you hold him in such high regard, he would surely be ecstatic..."

"Just give your report for now." Chen Cheng waved his hand, cutting him off. After a moment’s thought, he added,

"Be brief. Get to the point!"

As a True Inheritor of Shen Zhiming’s ways, He Xingwen had clearly not only learned to be long-winded but was also skilled at reading people’s expressions—in other words, he knew how to see the big picture in the small details.

"Yes." Seeing that Chen Cheng was growing impatient, he quickly and respectfully replied, "Qingxi Town is quite remote, located one hundred and twenty li from Moshan County Town.

And Chen Family Gully is another thirty li from the town, on the edge of the Moshan Mountain Range, near the Great Wilderness Mountain Range..."

The man was once again spinning a tale, but his account remained clear and logical, containing much useful information, so Chen Cheng chose to listen attentively.

Although He Xingwen had the pedantic air of a scholar, he was, as he’d claimed, quite reliable. The information he had gathered was extremely detailed.

Chen Cheng had asked him to investigate the situation in Chen Family Gully in Qingxi Town, mainly to find out about the recent circumstances of his uncle, Chen An.

The Chens’ family came from Chen Family Gully in Qingxi Town.

In his grandfather’s generation, they were mountain villagers who made a living from a few acres of poor farmland, as well as by gathering herbs and hunting in the mountains during the off-season.

Although life was hard, it was also peaceful and uneventful.

Like other villagers, Chen Cheng’s grandfather married early and had two sons. The eldest was named Chen Ping, and the second was named Chen An.

The names were chosen with the hope that they would live in peace and safety.

Unfortunately, fate had other plans. The eldest son, Chen Ping, contracted a serious illness and died young, leaving only the second son, Chen An.

Later, when Chen An was ten, the couple had another boy. They named him Chen Ping as well, still hoping for their two sons to live in peace and safety.

When Chen An was sixteen and Chen Ping was six, their parents fell ill and passed away, one after the other.

The two brothers were left to rely solely on each other for survival.

In this world, life for the common folk was already hard. With the lack of doctors and medicine, even a simple illness like a cold could prove fatal.

For ordinary people, living to the age of fifty was considered a long life.

So for Chen Ping’s parents to fall ill and die in their thirties or forties was also considered normal.

With Chen Ping still young, the heavy burden of providing for the family fell upon sixteen-year-old Chen An.

Chen An, however, was quite capable and supported the Chen Family all by himself.

Chen An took great care of his younger brother. Since Chen Ping loved to study, Chen An used the silver coins he had saved for his own marriage to let Chen Ping study with a teacher in town for two years.

Because of this, he never had the money to take a wife and became the village bachelor.

In a village where most married at fifteen or sixteen, this undoubtedly made him the subject of much ridicule.

After all, in this world, literacy was damn useless for a poor family.

But Chen Ping made his brother proud. After learning to read, he spent four years as an apprentice to an old physician, learning to identify medicinal herbs and treat injuries.

At a young age, he became a physician himself, and the villagers would come to him for any sprains or bruises.

In less than a year, he saved up enough silver coins for Chen An to finally get married.

It was an inspirational tale of two brothers struggling and fighting to survive.

The year Chen Ping turned fourteen, a severe drought also struck the Linji Prefecture region.

Chen Family Gully, being near the Great Wilderness Mountain Range, also suffered a demon calamity. A Wolf Demon appeared in the nearby mountain forests, and several villagers who went hunting were killed.

Fearing the Wolf Demon would attack the village, the people fled to hide in caves on a nearby cliff, only daring to come down and work the fields in groups during the daytime.

The Government Office sent no one to slay the Wolf Demon, and this went on for over a year.

The villagers’ harvests were already insufficient to support them; they had to rely on hunting and gathering herbs in the mountains to trade for money and grain.

With a Wolf Demon haunting the forests, they couldn’t enter the mountains. Many families couldn’t hold on any longer; they either sold their children or chose to flee as refugees.

Because the two brothers, Chen An and Chen Ping, were capable, the Chens’ had enough money and grain saved up to last for a year or two.

But Chen An had two sons in succession. With new mouths to feed, their expenses increased significantly.

Left with no other choice, Chen Ping joined the refugees and fled Chen Family Gully. After a long journey, he eventually reached Linji City where, by a twist of fate, he became a Prison Guard in the South City Prison.

By this time, several years had passed, and the Wolf Demon of Chen Family Gully had long since been slain.

Afterward, Chen Ping entrusted someone to deliver a letter back to Chen An in Chen Family Gully to let him know he was safe, and the two brothers finally reconnected.

But in this world, for ordinary people, travel by horse and carriage was extremely slow.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!