Surviving in the chaos of war begins in the wilderness.

Chapter 95 Escaping the County Town

I must say, chatting with Du Juan was quite pleasant.

As for that business cooperation introduction? Anyway, Zhou Ye will need to break through to the Mingjin stage for most of next year, so he will have plenty of free time and can easily work as a private tutor a few times.

Therefore, Zhou Ye stayed at his home at the dock that night and slept very soundly. It was clearly a false alarm.

After a long-awaited long nap, Zhou Ye decided to stay in the county town for another day, or perhaps go to the mountains tomorrow!

At noon, Zhou Ye thawed a frozen fish, cut off its head and tail, and then simmered it with a few monster bones to make a soup base.

Add dried mushrooms, dried lettuce, dried potatoes, and so on. Then slice the fish and monster meat into thin slices, and finally wash some carrots and cabbage, ready to enjoy a delicious hot pot meal.

Just as we were enjoying our meal, we suddenly heard a huge commotion outside.

Zhou Ye jolted awake, hurriedly stuffing a few mouthfuls to make himself half full. Then he extinguished the stove and everything else, and quickly put on his full gear.

At this moment, Zhou Ye's expression was uncertain. He was somewhat regretful; he had been a little careless. If he had known it would turn out this way, he would have been better off staying at home in the outer city.

But why is this wretched county town in such a state of chaos? Why is there chaos again?

However, not long after, Zhou Ye heard a rapid knocking on the door: "Brother Zhou? Are you home? We're from the Canal Gang."

"Oh, I'm here."

With caution, Zhou Ye opened the door and found that it was indeed a few people dressed as members of the Canal Gang. They were all carrying weapons, and when they saw Zhou Ye, this "human armory," they couldn't help but be stunned.

"Oh! Brother Zhou, it's good that you're prepared. We're just maintaining order in this area. Don't worry, the rest of the gang are on their way. But it's best if you're prepared. Just stay home and don't cause any trouble. If even we can't hold this out, then we'll just have to accept our fate. Be smart, and if things get tough, you can escape with us."

"Oh! Thanks!"

See? Those two taels of silver a month weren't wasted; the canal guild's service is quite thorough. The outer city is definitely much better than the areas outside the city. The guilds here really do their jobs for money!

"What should I call you, brother?"

"Call me Xiao Wu." The leader was in the late stage of the Qi Refining Realm. Judging from the density of his Qi and blood, he was only slightly inferior to himself.

"Brother Wu, do you know what happened?"

"Damn it!" Mentioning the new chaos, the members of the canal gang couldn't help but curse. "We don't even know the specifics, but it seems like the Black Iron Gang is just fighting amongst themselves? Have all those mining bastards lost their minds? Can't they just focus on making money and living their lives instead of killing each other all the time? Damn it!"

"Um...can we leave the city now?"

"What do you think? If you're not afraid of dying, go out into the street. But once you leave this area, we won't bother with you."

After a moment's thought, Zhou Ye quickly asked, "Brother Wu, I have urgent business to attend to outside the city. Does your Canal Gang have any assistance?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Wu and his men exchanged glances. He pulled Zhou Ye aside and whispered, "There is indeed a ship preparing to leave the dock. It costs 30 taels per person. You can only bring your personal belongings. Brother Zhou, if you need it, I can use my influence to get you a ticket."

"Alright!" Zhou Ye nodded without hesitation. He took out all the money he had, including the silver from selling goods yesterday. "Brother Wu, this should be more than 40 taels. How about I treat you brothers to some drinks?"

"Alright! That's straightforward! Well then, Brother Zhou, you have fifteen minutes..."

"No need," Zhou Ye interrupted. "If possible, let's leave now!"

"become!"

Before long, Zhou Ye followed Xiao Wu and the others to the dock in the county town. Several ships were already waiting there.

As they were preparing to board the ship, Zhou Ye discreetly slipped a bottle of pills into Xiao Wu's hand.

Xiao Wu glanced at it secretly and immediately beamed with joy. The medicine bottle contained three low-grade Qi and Blood Pills. He immediately and quietly slipped them into his pocket.

"Little Zhou, I'll instruct the boatman to take good care of you. After leaving the city, the boat will stop at the shore for a while. There will be some people disembarking, so don't forget to get off with them. But you must leave as soon as possible and don't linger. Once you're ashore, our Woodcutter Gang will no longer be responsible for your safety. To be honest, many of the people who board the boat are of unknown identity, and some of them might be looking to pull off a heist. Because everyone knows that people usually carry their most valuables with them."

"Thank you so much! If we have the chance to meet again, I will definitely repay you handsomely."

You're too kind.

When boarding the ship, Xiao Wu exchanged a few words with the captain. The captain then arranged for Zhou Ye to sit in a position near the edge of the ship.

Zhou Ye, without making a sound, slipped two gold leaves to the boatman. The boatman immediately smiled and nodded warmly to Zhou Ye…

Sure enough, the chaos in the county town led to utter disorder. This amplified the greed in many people's hearts, resulting in no shortage of crimes of murder and robbery. Zhou Ye didn't even doubt that if it weren't near the county town, but in an uninhabited body of water, even the members of the canal gang would happily become river bandits.

Once on board, Zhou Ye noticed that there were already quite a few people on board. Most of them, like himself, were masked, unwilling to reveal their identities to outsiders. Of course, there were also women and girls who were masked, which had a different purpose.

And among strangers, almost everyone was wary of each other. Fortunately, they were still on the canal gang's boat, and these people were able to remain calm and did not immediately draw their weapons.

Meanwhile, people continued to arrive from the shore, quickly filling the cabin to capacity.

Seeing that the cabin was already full of people, the captain ordered, "Set sail!" As the boat departed, another empty boat quickly docked at the pier.

At this moment, many people were filled with worry, gazing towards the direction of the county town. Zhou Ye and his group soon discovered that, sometime earlier, thick black smoke had begun to rise from several locations within the county town…

However, the boat was traveling at a relatively fast speed. In about fifteen minutes, the boat had gone downstream and arrived at the outer perimeter of the city wall.

While directing the boat to shore, the captain shouted, "Those leaving the city, prepare to disembark here. Don't crowd, we won't be responsible if someone falls into the water."

At this moment, Zhou Ye realized that his location was indeed very good, and he could disembark almost immediately.

So before the boat had even come to a complete stop, when it was still seven or eight steps from the riverbank, Zhou Ye leaped ashore and then, displaying his exceptional agility, disappeared in the blink of an eye…

"Ming Jin? Is this Senior Ming Jin?"

Amidst the murmurs and discussions, some people on the boat, upon seeing this, also jumped ashore ahead of time...