Chapter 57: Human Nature

Although Little Wang Village had been uninhabited for a long time, as the refugees driven by wild animals fleeing the mountains were drawn toward the area, they would inevitably enter the mountains in search of prey.

And Little Wang Village happened to lie directly on the only path leading into the mountains.

As a result, those refugees were bound to notice the village.

Rather than sleeping out in the open day after day, they would surely prefer to find a place that offered shelter from the wind and rain.

When that time came, the secret of their secluded fishing life would be exposed to the refugees.

Although the refugees in Taiping County were in a much better situation than those gathered outside Haozhou City, their lives would only grow more difficult as autumn approached.

It would not be long before these refugees ended up just like the ones outside Haozhou City—turning from starving citizens into violent mobs!

By now, the desperate refugees outside Haozhou City had already initiated numerous riots.

While the imperial court was unwilling to disburse funds or grain to relieve these refugees, whenever riots broke out, they acted with lightning speed to mobilize numerous armies to brutally suppress them.

In truth, this outcome had long been anticipated.

The refugees outside Haozhou City alone numbered in the tens of thousands, and when all the refugees across the entire Great Qi Dynasty were added together, they totaled hundreds of thousands, if not millions!

If the court wanted to feed and care for so many refugees, the required funds and grain would undoubtedly be an astronomical figure.

However, if they simply let a batch of these refugees starve to death and suppressed another batch with force, the remaining number would naturally be reduced to a manageable size.

In this way, the saved funds and grain would inevitably find their way into the pockets of corrupt officials and unscrupulous merchants.

And the refugee problem would be neatly resolved.

The nobles of Taiping County shared much the same mindset as the grand figures in the imperial court.

What did it matter to them if refugees outside the city walls died by the tens of thousands?

After all, it wasn't they who were starving and freezing!

As long as the knife did not cut into their own flesh, they could afford to remain aloof and indifferent.

Once Zhao Mu finished explaining his concerns, Wang Wu and the others quickly understood the reasoning behind his words.

"I remember that about six or seven li downstream from Little Wang Village, there is another village, and it also sits right by the river. Let's pack up our things and move there tonight to settle down first," Zhao Mu said, seeing that everyone understood his worries, and immediately began making arrangements.

Having long since become the backbone of the group, his words met with no objections from anyone.

Their belongings were sparse anyway, and they soon had everything packed up.

The only problem was that they had only one wooden handcart.

And the items they needed to transport included not only the tiger, but also the fish they hadn't had time to pull ashore yet.

"Let's take the tiger first!"

After pondering for a moment, Zhao Mu decided to transport the tiger first.

After all, the value of this tiger was far greater than that of the fish.

Even if they sold a thousand fish, it wouldn't be worth as much as a single tiger.

Aside from the adult tiger, the tiger cub was also worth a fair amount of silver.

After walking for more than an hour, the group finally reached the village Zhao Mu had mentioned.

This village was similar in size to Little Wang Village. Selecting three courtyards, they quickly set about cleaning them up.

After a brief cleanup, Wang Wu found a couple of rusted shovels in the village and, together with Wen Zhi, dug a new pond.

Seeing that everyone was utterly exhausted, Feng Qin said with a hint of reluctance, "Master, why don't I take Tiger and Little Shi back to retrieve the fishing nets?"

Wang Wu, Wen Zhi, and the others had expended a tremendous amount of energy hunting the tiger.

Adding to that the exertion of dragging the beast's carcass back, they were now completely drained.

Among those present, he and Wang Hu were practically the least fatigued.

Zhao Mu thought for a moment and said, "Alright, take Tiger and the others back shortly to retrieve the nets and the fish."

It wasn't that he hadn't considered the possibility that Feng Qin might seize this opportunity to conspire with Shi Min to knock Wang Hu unconscious and make off with all the fish.

However, Feng Qin was a smart man. Even if he did steal the fish and nets, it would at most ensure they wouldn't starve to death for a short while.

Moreover, even if the nets were lost, Zhao Mu could simply weave new ones.

Even if Feng Qin could use the nets to catch fish, with no one to buy them from him, he would only be able to watch the fish spoil, unable to turn them into silver or grain.

Once winter arrived and the Fengshui River froze over, holding a fishing net would become entirely useless.

Instead, having witnessed Zhao Mu's capabilities, Feng Qin knew deep down that following Zhao Mu was his only path to a true future.

"Let's eat first, and go after the meal," Zhao Mu instructed, calling everyone to dinner before taking the opportunity to rest.

By the middle of the night, Feng Qin returned along with Wang Hu and Shi Min.

They did not wake Zhao Mu and the others, quietly depositing the fish into the newly dug pond before resting in silence.

As dawn approached, Feng Qin was up immediately.

Yet today, Zhao Mu seemed uncharacteristically lazy.

Yesterday, when selling fish, Zhao Mu had arrived at Taiping County long before daylight.

Right now, however, the sky was already bright, and Zhao Mu still had not gotten out of bed.

Indeed, Zhao Mu had been genuinely exhausted yesterday—first from the exhilarating battle with the tiger, and then from moving and traveling through the night—which made him sleep a bit longer than usual today.

Upon waking up, seeing Feng Qin waiting for him with dark circles under his eyes, Zhao Mu couldn't help but look startled.

"Feng Qin, why are you up so early?" Zhao Mu asked instinctively.

Feng Qin yawned and asked, "Master, aren't we going to sell fish today?"

"Ah," Zhao Mu replied, "we won't sell fish today. In a moment, take Little Shi and go into the mountains to bury the body of that young master surnamed Liu from yesterday."

Puzzled, Feng Qin asked, "Master, why is that?"

Zhao Mu smiled and said, "Think of it as avoiding trouble. Once the two of you go bury the body, I'll take Brother Wang and Brother Wen to sell the tiger's carcass."

Worried, Feng Qin asked, "Master, aren't you worried someone will rob you along the way?"

Zhao Mu shook his head. "Perhaps someone might harbor thoughts about this tiger, but a tiger is not a fish. Very few people would dare harbor greedy thoughts against people capable of slaying a tiger with their own hands!"

Only then did Feng Qin understand. If Zhao Mu were hauling a cart of fish, countless people would certainly try to seize it.

After all, snatching a single fish could buy them a few more days of life.

However, humans harbored a primal, ingrained fear of tigers. The fact that Zhao Mu and his men had managed to kill one was proof enough of their extraordinary martial prowess.

At that point, many cowardly individuals would shrink back in terror.

As for those bold enough to plot against them, even if they managed to seize the tiger, a single person could never hope to move such a massive beast alone.

And if too many people got involved, disputes over how to divide the spoils would inevitably lead to infighting.

In just a few brief sentences, Zhao Mu had dissected human nature with absolute clarity.