The gong and drum troupe didn’t know who to listen to. If they followed the hosts, the person paying the bill had just fainted. If they listened to the outsiders, well, the outsiders weren't paying.
But people are easily swayed by their surroundings. Once the crowd understood what this father-and-son pair had done, and heard the cheers of the villagers celebrating the removal of this scourge, the leader of the troupe felt as if he, too, had become a hero upholding justice.
It didn’t matter that the hosts had effectively changed; what mattered was blending into the atmosphere.
Chapter 175