Inside the thatched cottage.
Zhao Xuan wore a gloomy expression.
On the second day after the Hu family's arrival, Chen Ergou's parents were dead, their corpses hanging from the locust tree at the entrance of the village.
On the third day, the village chief and his entire family were hanging from the locust tree.
On the fourth day, reinforcements from the yamen arrived, searching house to house for clues.
After turning his house upside down, they confiscated the horn bow he had spent a hefty sum of one silver liang to buy.
Their excuse was that it was a suspected murder weapon and needed to be taken back for a thorough inspection.
They also conveniently seized the thirty-five copper coins on his person and his remaining dozen jin of dried meat.
Had he not prepared in advance by hiding his money in a secret place like beneath the stove, this incident wouldn't have just broken his bones—it would have bankrupted him.
The other villagers fared no better; anything in their homes of even slight value was stripped completely clean by the yamen runners.
This wasn't about investigating clues at all; it was blatantly coming to their doors to rob them.
On top of that, placed under virtual house arrest, he could neither go up the mountain to hunt nor practice his Savage Bull Strength at home, leaving him stir-crazy and deeply uncomfortable.
Sometimes he genuinely wanted to throw caution to the wind and fight his way out, fleeing to the ends of the earth from then on.
Yet the villager who had tried to sneak away, only to be caught and have his legs broken, restored his sanity.
The Hu family had joined forces with the County Yamen, dispatching men to seal off all the outgoing paths in shifts around the clock, weaving a net so inescapable that not even a bird could fly through.
The sun was high in the sky.
The investigators beat the gathering drum as usual, summoning all the villagers, including Zhao Xuan, to the village entrance.
The leader, just like yesterday, first dangled a hefty reward, telling the villagers that anyone who provided effective clues would be rewarded with one silver liang.
Then he resorted to intimidation, warning that if Young Master Hu Si wasn't found, the entire village would die, and Chen Ergou's family would be their fate.
It was an old and uninspired trick, but enough to terrify a group of bumpkins who had never seen the world.
This was why some people had risked sneaking away in the dark.
Clues? There were none. The fear of death? That was entirely real.
Before long, the crowd stirred as another troop arrived.
The two figures at the head rode side by side. On the left was an elderly man in lavish attire with greying hair and a robust spirit.
The burly man who had been making a spectacle of himself over the past few days served him attentively at his side, clearly a major figure from the Hu family.
On the right was a young man dressed in black martial attire, with the character "Constable" embroidered on his chest. He was flanked by several yamen runners, evidently a man of official standing and not of low rank.
With his sharp eyes and ears, Zhao Xuan watched from afar as the young man glanced toward their group, frowning as he asked, "Have they been found?"
A yamen runner beside him replied, "Reporting to the head constable, neither hide nor hair has been found."
The young man turned his head to look at the elder of the Hu family. "How long does the Hu family plan to keep investigating?"
The elder answered with absolute finality, "To the bitter end."
The young man let out a scoff. "Then the Hu family can go chase it themselves."
He turned to instruct his subordinates, "Go release the people. Leave two men to assist the Hu family in the investigation, and the rest of you head back to the County Yamen. Bandits have been roaming everywhere since autumn began, and there's plenty to do; we don't have time to waste in this godforsaken backwater."
Upon hearing this, the elder's expression shifted. "Head Constable Yu, you can't just say that. My Hu family..."
Before he could finish, Head Constable Yu cut him off. "These aren't my words; they're the words of the County Magistrate, and I hear it's the County Lord's own intent."
"If your Hu family has any objections, you can take them up with the Magistrate. Since his honor ordered us to accompany you, I have nothing more to say."
"Oh, and the County Magistrate also said this: Dishan Village has five hundred and eight residents, with spring and autumn taxes totaling one hundred and twenty liang."
"For every missing person, the Hu family will make up fifty liang, to be handed over before winter sets in."
The elder's face turned alternately green and white. "The tax for one person in a year isn't even three qian of silver. Why should the Hu family make up fifty liang per person?"
Was this not extortion?
Head Constable Yu sneered, "Do you think these people only pay taxes for one year?"
"To my mind, handed down from generation to generation, fifty liang is hardly enough."
"Of course, if the Hu family feels it's unreasonable, you are entirely free not to pay."
The elder's face flushed crimson. As the saying goes, "Even a county magistrate can ruin a family"—how could his Hu family dare refuse?
This newly arrived magistrate was utterly ruthless; the Hu family had never skimped on their holiday tributes, yet he showed no mercy at all.
Head Constable Yu didn't care what the elder was thinking. With a wave of his hand, he withdrew all his men, leaving behind only the two yamen runners who usually fraternized with the Hu family.
As for whether the Hu family withdrew or what became of the lives of the villagers in Dishan Village, that was none of his concern.
He was practically hoping the Hu family would act recklessly and incur the County Lord's thunderous wrath, resulting in the Hu family being wiped out and their estate confiscated so he could grab a share of the spoils.
Once the people from the County Yamen left, the burly man immediately asked, "Sixth Uncle, what do we do now?"
The elder scolded, "Useless trash. What else can we do besides leave? Slaughter them all? Fifty liang per commoner—can you afford to pay that?"
The Hu family had money, but they couldn't just cough up twenty-five thousand liang of silver.
Even if they could afford it, money didn't fall from the sky; how could they throw it all away just to kill a few villagers?
Despite being scolded, the burly man pressed on through gritted teeth, "So we're just going to let it go? What about the family head?"
The elder snorted coldly, "I'll speak to the family head. He couldn't keep his own son in check—was he going to drag the entire Hu family down with him?"
"As for this Dishan Village, we can't lay a hand on them ourselves, but if they happen to run into looting bandits one of these days, well, that's just their bad luck."
The burly man understood instantly. "I'll go make the arrangements right away."
The elder reprimaned, "Wait until the storm blows over first."
Zhao Xuan was left speechless.
How could the Hu family have people this stupid?
If you collude with bandits to massacre a village, will the officials not suspect you?
You say there is no evidence?
You are strong and they are weak—what evidence do you need?
Have they been tyrants for so long that even their brains have stopped working?
Alas, he had wanted to hole up in the village and live in peace for a while longer.
That being the case, once the Hu family people withdrew, he would have to consider moving.
...
In the afternoon.
The Hu family, having still found nothing, gradually withdrew their men.
Before leaving, out of sheer frustration, they put the tiled houses of the village chief and Chen Ergou to the torch.
After they left, some villagers cheered that the bullies were finally gone.
Others wept, as everything in their homes except their grain had been looted by the yamen runners.
Only Zhao Xuan knew that another disaster was awaiting them.
Yet he said nothing.
For one thing, even if he spoke up, no one would believe him; people are attached to their native soil, and who would abandon their ancestral hearths simply because of someone else's groundless speculation?
For another, once the Hu family found out he was the one who talked, they certainly wouldn't spare him.
When poor, tend to your own virtue.
For now, he was still no match for the retaliatory wrath of a behemoth like the Hu family.
The next day, Zhao Xuan saw Chen She.
Chen She had hired an ox cart to take his parents to live in the county town.
Everyone in the village praised him for being dutiful.
Only Zhao Xuan, having overheard the conversation between the two Hu family members, guessed that Chen She might have caught wind of something and was taking his parents away to escape the disaster.
He took the initiative to greet Chen She, "Fifth Brother, long time no see."
Chen She looked Zhao Xuan up and down for a moment, asking with some uncertainty, "Are you Little Second Zhao?"
His face looked similar enough.
As for this physique, however, they were practically like two different people.
Zhao Xuan smiled and explained, "I've been eating my fill lately, so I put on a bit of meat."
With that, he pulled Chen She aside and asked in a low voice, "Has Fifth Brother heard anything?"
Chen She scanned his surroundings and lowered his voice. "What do you know?"
Zhao Xuan gave a bitter smile. "Ergou's family is dead, the village chief's family is dead. Do I even need to ask?"
Chen She sighed. "There are some people we simply cannot afford to provoke."
"Let's not talk about that. What I mentioned to you last time—have you considered it?"
He was bringing up the old matter again: recommending him to be a sparring partner for the Wang family.
Zhao Xuan sighed, "Aside from becoming someone else's servant, is there truly no other way out?"
Chen She said solemnly, "There is."