Zhang Yan's Backstory

//Updated on June 21, 2024

***

Liu Feng spent the next several minutes cultivating with his [The Eight Trigram Dao Convergence Scripture].

He examined his progress from time to time, but his cultivation never advanced. It remained at the same level at Qi Condensation Stage 2(1%).

'huuuhh…looks like it'll take more time to progress now…', Liu Feng sighed.

…

Zhang Yan returned sometime later after washing himself off. He wore a green shirt and appeared to be rather elegant. His pale complexion and pretty handsome face full of confidence gave off the appearance of a young master from a notable family. In this strange universe, his piercing golden eyes and medium-length jet-black hair pulled back made him rather normal.

"Boss", seeing Liu Feng's gaze Zhang Yan greeted.

"Good. Now that you've returned. Are you ready to leave?" Liu Feng questioned nonchalantly.

"Yes, I discovered a carriage in that direction; we can take some goods from here to sell in a nearby city," Zhang Yan informed him, waving his hand in the opposite direction.

'Smart!!!' remarked Liu Feng inside his mind.

He was curious to see how Zhang Yan would perform as his subordinate.

"Fine, bring the carriage, we'll pick up a few things and then go to rescue your sister," hearing these words from Liu Feng, Zhang Yan was visibly overjoyed. Taking a little pause Liu Feng asked him, "But first, are you hungry?"

"Let's have some food. I'm hungry for some meat," Liu Feng said as he picked up his saber.

Liu Feng chopped a piece of meat from the body of the dead python and carried it with his blade, then laid it on top of a thin slice of a clean stone slab. While wandering about the cave earlier, he had seen some cooking utensils and some wooden logs that could be used to cook and start a fire.

After washing the meat and chopping it into small bits, he began gently roasting it over a fire that he had just started.

Liu Feng intended to utilize fire qi to ignite a fire because it would look amazing, but he abandoned the plan due to his lack of proficiency with his new martial technique.

Zhang Yan had been silently watching him the entire time, and it looked like he was hesitating to ask something, but afterward, he quieted down.

Liu Feng saw this and said, "You look like you want to tell me something... go ahead with it. Let me hear your story now. We have nothing else to do now that the meat is roasting."

Hearing this, Zhang Yan breathed a sigh of relief. He began talking after recalling some sad experiences.

"I am a member of the Zhang family from Gale City..., well it used to be." Almost five years ago, our family was suspected of dealing with demonic factions, and as a result, our family was assaulted by the forces of the city's other two major families, and the city lord's Li family. The whole thing was led by the Chen Family to seize our control over the city."

Zhang Yan's eyes were filled with rage, gnashing his teeth and clenching his fists as he continued.

"During the event, my mother grabbed my sister and myself and fled secretly; we only made it because my mother was somewhat skilled in martial arts and managed to flee with us despite being hurt."

He calmed down after letting go of his clenched fists. He continued speaking.

"However, the city lord issued wanted posters and offered a reward for our heads. Each of us has been issued a bounty of ten gold coins. We'd been seeking refuge in a different village since then," Zhang Yan felt his throat close up.

"After almost three years my mother's injury worsened, and ultimately she died a few months ago."

As tears welled up in the corner of his eyes, he sniffled. A single drop of tear streamed down his cheek. He wiped his eyes while hiding his face.

"I attempted to discover the ones responsible for it ever since. Finally, a few weeks ago, I discovered the secret, but I was captured, and I've been imprisoned here ever since until I met you, Boss."

He looked gratefully at Liu Feng, who was focused on hearing his story. Zhang Yan was thankful to Liu Feng for rescuing him as well as promising him to assist in rescuing his sister.

"I overheard them chatting about my sister a few days ago while they were all drinking."

When it comes to his sister, Liu Feng noticed Zhang Yan always became anxious. He chuckled in his head while keeping a serious expression on his face. Zhang Yan went on to explain what had happened to his family.

Apparently, when Zhang Yan was out, some of these bandits kidnapped his sister and handed her to the Chen Family.

Liu Feng was paying close attention to him. He gathered various bits and pieces of useful information about the Zhang family, the Li family, the Wei family and its expertise in medicine and pills, and finally the Chen family, the real culprits of the unfortunate event.

'So, these Green Python bandits are subordinate to the Chen family...', Liu Feng learned from Zhang Yan about the secret of the Green Python bandits.

This gang is rather notorious in these parts of the country, and it was one of the major means by which the Chen Family earned money to establish themselves as one of the wealthiest merchants.

Meanwhile, the meat in front of them was nearly done cooking, a mouth-watering fragrance filled the air. Liu Feng took up a wooden skewer and offered some meat to Zhang Yan.

"Thank You, Boss," Zhang Yan expressed his gratitude to Liu Feng and grabbed the skewer from his hands.

Liu Feng took the first mouthful of some perfectly roasted meat chunks. Despite the fact that the meat was almost perfectly roasted with some charred edges, he anticipated a delicious meal that would leave a lingering taste on his tongue.

However, the reality was often disappointing. The taste was rather normal. It wasn't inedible, but if offered a better option, Liu Feng would never choose the current one. He was a little underwhelmed by the chewy and gamey texture.

'What did I expect?! Cooking in the middle of nowhere with no proper equipment!! And in a different world too!! Did I believe I was a MasterChef or something??!! Sigh~' With a disappointed sigh, he asked Zhang Yan to continue.

After some time, Liu Feng learned the truth that Zhang Yan was talking about earlier. Hearing this even Liu Feng was stunned.

"The Chen family is trying to set up a formation in the city where they would massacre hundreds of thousands of Gale City residents as a sacrifice during the upcoming festival," Zhang Yan concluded.

Liu Feng was taken aback by Zhang Yan's comments. He had just learned that the Chen family was involved in the so-called Demonic Factions, of which the Zhang family was accused. Although Liu Feng was uncertain whether actual Demons were involved in this matter.

Liu Feng felt that something was strange about Zhang Yan when listening to him.

'This guy, this kid's emotions are all over the place.' Liu Feng was concerned about the boy in front of him as his facial expression was changing every minute, expressing rage, calm, and concern at regular intervals.

But as Liu Feng thought about Zhang Yan's recent experiences, he didn't think much of it.

They had finished all of the roasted meat by this point.

"Let's pick up a few things from their stockpile, and we'll visit neighboring villages as traveling merchants," Liu Feng said after a few seconds of thinking.

"All right," Zhang Yan answered.

Liu Feng cut another piece of the python to create some food for their journey. He wanted to redo the procedure of roasting the meat due to his inner cook experiencing a crushing blow from the earlier incident.

After pulling the carriage around from the corner, Liu Feng and Zhang Yan started to look for valuable things.

Both of them loaded the wagon after taking several clothes, weapons, and a large amount of money from the bandit's stash.

Liu Feng didn't forget to grab some of the glowing stones from the cave's wall since he was fascinated by them.

After exiting the cave, Liu Feng inquired of Zhang Yan, "So, what's the nearest village from here?" as he was unfamiliar with the geography of this new world.

After thinking for some time Zhang Yan replied, "If we go south from here, we can reach Mint Village in about a day."

"If we travel east, it will take us about a day and a half to reach Zao village. From there Gale City is the closest.", Zhang Yan continued after pausing for a second.

To avoid any misinterpretation, Liu Feng requested Zhang Yan for further information about the settlements.

According to what Liu Feng learned, these settlements were ordinary villages. Their economy is not that great, and each of these village chiefs is subordinate to the lord of Gale City.

After significant thought and consideration, Liu Feng selected Mint Village as his first destination.

"Mint Village it is!.", Liu Feng exclaimed. "Let's head to the Mint Village.", he informed Zhang Yan.

Because Zhang Yan had not entirely recovered from his injuries, Liu Feng considered pulling the carriage by himself and asking Zhang Yan to focus on his recovery first, but Zhang Yan directly refused.

"No, Boss, you are already my benefactor, I cannot let you draw the carriage as your subordinate."

Zhang Yan said, "Please rest at the back of the carriage while I pull this."

"My wounds are almost healed, as you can see. This will not be difficult to accomplish", after flexing his biceps, Zhang Yan smiled brightly. Liu Feng was astonished to notice this.

'That's strange, I recall the wounds weren't that bad, but it's surely impossible to heal them this quickly', he thought.

'That weird behavior before, the outburst of different emotions, and this quick recuperation, his background is not as simple as it might seem.'

'Whatever the case may be, I believe he is still grateful to me. If he doesn't betray me, I'll assist him as quickly as I can, as much as I can, after all, having a 'Chosen One' as a subordinate doesn't seem that bad.', Liu Feng chuckled silently.