Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 102: Regarding the Minor Issue of Disturbing the Peace Without Breaking the Law

Chapter 102: Chapter 102: Regarding the Minor Issue of Disturbing the Peace Without Breaking the Law

Zhang San had thought that upon arriving, even if finding people was a bit troublesome, there would still be clues.

But he never expected that upon arriving here, the trail would be completely lost.

What should he do now?

Recently, Xu hadn’t lost control much, but this was entirely due to Ling’s suppression and Xu staying awake every night to combat the wronged souls.

"Young brother, let’s arrange for you to stay on the north side of the manor, where there are fewer people and plenty of vacant houses; you can settle down there first."

Zhang San thanked him repeatedly and followed the man, driving the horse cart forward.

Once they arrived, Zhang San and the others drove the horse cart in, then began to unpack.

When Zhang San came out, he thanked the manor farmer who had shown them the way once again and asked, "Was there really not a single person who escaped from Ma Family Village?"

The manor farmer shook his head sorrowfully, "It was too tragic. By the time we heard the news and wanted to save people, it was already too late. When we saw flames reaching the sky from Ma Family Village, by the time we got there, the ground was covered with corpses, not a single survivor."

Zhang San, watching his former comrades in the Robe Marsh fall one by one, knew that the feeling was unbearable.

Meanwhile, from the neighboring courtyard, a few manor farmers came over, driving an ox cart, and called inside, "Master Ma, are the spear shafts ready?"

"Ready, ready, just waiting for you to come!"

The manor farmers immediately went in and carried out bundles of long spear shafts, placing them on the horse cart.

Zhang San watched this scene with wide eyes, noticing that the courtyard next to it seemed to be a blacksmith’s forge, filled with anvils, bellows, and lots of iron ingots and ores.

"Master Ma? Didn’t you say that everyone from Ma Family Village is dead?"

The manor farmer leading Zhang San was startled and said, "Yes, they’re dead! But what does the death of the villagers from Ma Family Village have to do with us in Shi Family Villa named Ma?"

Zhang San felt that the manor farmer made a lot of sense and really wanted to find a sack to bag him and beat him up in the evening.

Once the manor farmers had transported away all the spear shafts, Zhang San walked to the gate of the neighboring courtyard and knocked on the door, calling inside respectfully, "Is that Master Ma?"

The elderly man, who was busy inside, came out of the house immediately upon hearing someone calling for him.

"Yes, it’s me. Young brother, what would you like to have made? I can forge knives and sickles."

Zhang San bowed politely to him, very respectfully, "Excuse me, are you a carpenter?"

Master Ma was taken aback by Zhang San’s question and looked around.

"No, no! I’m a blacksmith, look, all this stuff is for blacksmithing, how could I possibly be a carpenter?"

However, Zhang San, who had just come into the yard while bowing, had already noticed the workbench inside, covered with various pieces of wood, small sticks, and some little saws.

"Master Ma, I have a letter for you."

Zhang San felt that the person he was looking for was right in front of him, so he took out the letter from Third Miss Gan from his chest and handed it over with both hands respectfully.

Master Ma frowned slightly, but still accepted the letter.

After reading it, Master Ma shook his head.

"This isn’t for me. This Third Miss Gan, I don’t even know her."

Zhang San, seeing the man’s unconvincing performance, knew immediately that there were several lies in his words.

"So, you refuse to help, is that it?"

Master Ma, hearing the determination in Zhang San’s voice and understanding that his own identity was surely seen through, simply laid his cards on the table.

"It’s not that I’m unwilling to help, but over the years, I’ve helped too many people. If I keep helping those among the living dead, I’ll attract the attention of that certain individual. I’m not about to risk my own neck to help you."

Zhang San wanted to plead further, but Master Ma turned and went back into his room to continue fiddling with those wooden parts and pieces.

Zhang San knew that nothing he said now would make any difference, so he had to give up and go back to think of another plan.

By now, it had already turned dark.

The manor farmers, who had brought Zhang San and his group inside, brought over a few bedding sets with several people.

On one hand, they were worried that these travelers would be without covers at night, on the other hand, they were concerned whether they might be spies sent by bandits or thieves, so they found an excuse to come over and check again.

After confirming that they were indeed normal travelers, the group left.

Before Zhang San drifted into sleep, he thought that tonight he should finally dream about the Eight Techniques of Hidden Ground that Wei had passed on to him.

However, in the dream, Zhang San met an old grandfather carrying a wooden case on his back. Seeing that Zhang San had an exceptional talent, he asked Zhang San to go to the bridge over the small river behind his home every night, and then started to teach him woodworking.

Yet, the woodworking he learned over the past eight years was somewhat special.

It involved not only the polishing, carving, and assembling of wood but also the application and combination of Techniques and Runes.

In the end, as the eight years were about to end, the old grandfather finally told Zhang San that what he had learned was not ordinary carpentry but a special ability under the Thousand Mechanisms Path, known as Woodcraft Making.

After waking up, Zhang San couldn’t help thinking about those wooden components he saw yesterday in Master Ma’s yard; they were exactly the same as the ones used for Woodcraft Making in his dream.

Could it be that the other party also excelled at Woodcraft Making?

During breakfast, Zhang San told the three companions accompanying him about how he had found Master Ma but that Master Ma was unwilling to help.

Xu and Wei both frowned, while Ling said with a cold face, "Then we should just take action."

Zhang San grinned and whispered, "Sister, it’s useless. Considering this person was recommended by Third Miss Gan to help Xu with his problem, do you think his strength is weak?"

Wei clenched his teeth and said, "I’ll go kneel and kowtow at his doorstep, I refuse to believe it won’t work!"

Zhang San immediately held Wei back, then realized that Wei was just talking big; although he had turned around just now, he hadn’t intended to actually get up.

Got it.

"How can we let an elder from our own family deal with such things. I’ll go, I’ll go," said Zhang San.

Wei showed a relieved smile.

Xu realized that Wei had done it on purpose just now and bowed his head to hold back a laugh.

After finishing the meal, Zhang San went out.

However, Zhang San didn’t rush to Master Ma’s yard next door. Instead, he started gathering intelligence about Master Ma in the villa.

At the Town Martial Office, Zhang San had also learned some lines and methods for gathering intelligence from others.

Soon, he had more or less figured out Master Ma’s background.

It turned out that Master Ma was originally from Longyou Road and had been called into the military to help with blacksmithing, so his blacksmithing skills were strong.

After Longyou Road became stable for a period, he took the opportunity to leave the barracks, got some money, returned to Chuan-Yu Road, and finally settled down in Shi Family Villa.

Because of his good craftsmanship, whenever households needed to repair farm tools or the like, they all sought him out.

Even the weapons of the militia farmers, organized to defend against bandits and thieves, were mostly forged by Master Ma.

This gave Master Ma a high level of respect in the villa.

Therefore, after everyone knew that Master Ma had a habit of taking a nap at noon, no one would come to find him then, and even those who needed to see him in the afternoon would come later, fearing that they might disturb his rest.

Zhang San laughed, wasn’t this perfect?

I’ve been reading the "Kaihuang Law" recently, and disturbing the peace in Great Sui is not against the law!

========

[Note 45]A little legal education

Surely there was no such thing as a "disturbing the peace" law in ancient times. But in modern times, there is!

According to Article 58 of our country’s public security administration punishment law: Violating the legal regulations regarding social life noise pollution control by making noise that disturbs others’ normal life will result in a warning; if not corrected after a warning, a fine of more than two hundred but less than five hundred yuan will be issued.

A noise level above 50 decibels in a first-class residential area and above 65 decibels in a second-class residential area at night is considered disturbing the peace if it goes beyond 10 p.m. or until 6 a.m. the following morning, and it constitutes noise pollution.