Longzang

Chapter 959 Ruin of the Family
A troop of about a hundred soldiers escorted several carriages to an old, dilapidated county town. At that moment, the carriage curtains were drawn back, and a plump, white-skinned official inside looked ahead. He saw two large characters carved on the city gate: Ye County. The characters were already faded and worn, and the character "Ye" was missing two dots.

The man sighed and said, "It's gotten so dilapidated?"

The convoy then entered the city and went straight to the county government office, where they made the handover with the incumbent magistrate.

The formalities had just been completed, and the former magistrate hadn't even left the city yet, when this fair-skinned official summoned the county clerk, his advisor, the head constable, and the county lieutenant, saying, "The rebel Liu Heihu is at the height of his power, claiming to have a million men. What are your plans?"

The minor officials all said it was alright, as the rebel army was still far away. Besides, the county had suffered from disasters for years, and nine out of ten houses were empty. The rebels had no food either, so wouldn't they starve to death if they came?

Magistrate Bai Jing shook his head and said, "The main force won't come, but I expect they will most likely send some light cavalry to sweep through the area, which is something we can't withstand. So we should make preparations as soon as possible and raise some military funds and provisions."

The lower-ranking officials knew perfectly well that this Magistrate Yu was already planning to exploit the area as soon as he took office. Moreover, judging from his demeanor, he seemed poised to abandon the county and flee as soon as the rebels arrived.

According to the laws of Tang, local officials were responsible for guarding their territory, and if they abandoned their posts and fled, they would be executed immediately. However, over time, the laws of Tang became somewhat lax, and many officials developed countermeasures.

But these lower-ranking officials also had their own ways of surviving. If their superiors wanted to skim off, so be it; it wouldn't affect them personally. If a superior skimmed ten taels, surely they'd share one or two with their subordinates? As for the lives of the common people, who cared?

The advisor immediately presented a list of wealthy households in the county, saying that the common people were now destitute and had no food to last the next day, except for the wealthy households who still had some money to spare.

The county magistrate opened the register and saw that the first page read: Wei Youcai.

He read on: Wei Youcai, age sixty-one, has no children. His property includes two houses, 1,900 mu of land, and 120 guards... His total property is approximately 11,000 taels of silver.

The second page is about Liu Shounu, the third page is about Jia Tianci...

After reading it, the county magistrate laughed and said, "Before I took office, someone advised me that I should first obtain the Book of Hell. This must be the so-called Book of Hell, right?"

The clerk stroked his beard and laughed, "Exactly! As the saying goes, if Yama wants someone dead at midnight, who dares to keep them alive until dawn? Since they're registered, when those people on the register will die is just a matter of your word, sir."

The county magistrate patted the register and asked, "Are there any important figures' relatives missing from this list?"

"Where would we find important figures or their relatives in this poor, remote place?"

The magistrate nodded, then laughed and said, "This Wei Youcai has such a vast fortune, how come he doesn't even have any descendants? In the end, won't it all benefit someone else?"

"This man was born unable to have children and has never been adopted. It is said that many people have come to claim kinship with him over the years. However, although he looks wealthy, he only owns houses and land, and he also distributes porridge to the villagers every year. He probably doesn't have much money or grain."

The county constable snorted and said, "Adopted children are not biological children after all. Without blood ties, they are worlds apart! If I were Wei Youcai, I would rather spend all my wealth than give an adopted child a single penny!"

The magistrate pondered for a moment before saying, "My predecessor was quite generous and left me with some things... well, just about a hundred servants, which is a bit troublesome."

The county constable's eyes flashed with a fierce light as he said, "They're just a bunch of country bumpkins. The moment the armored government troops arrive, they'll wipe them out in no time! I have five hundred local militiamen under my command; they can easily sweep through this area. Sir, just give me the order: are we going to disguise ourselves as soldiers or bandits this time?"

The magistrate chuckled and said, "Do soldiers need to dress up? You've had them surrendered for so long, why haven't they changed their bandit ways? This time, we'll leave the city under the guise of training. We'll change clothes after we leave, and then..."

The magistrate made a throat-slitting gesture, and the county lieutenant understood immediately.

A day later, five hundred soldiers left the city, and a scattered force headed towards the countryside. Though said to be five hundred, a headcount revealed less than three hundred men. Fortunately, this unit was considered the most prominent in the county, so their armor was barely adequate.

As the county magistrate traveled, he saw houses collapsed, fields abandoned, and nine out of ten houses empty. Even the official road was overgrown with weeds, making it difficult for carriages and horses to travel. The magistrate couldn't help but shake his head and sigh, "This godforsaken place still has such heavy taxes. Even the Heavenly King himself couldn't survive here."

The officers all nodded.

After walking for half a day, the group gradually entered the mountains. The county magistrate looked at both sides and said, "Everyone, be alert! These two sides are obviously good ambush spots! Back in the day, before I met Lord Zhuang, I loved to ambush wealthy merchants passing by in places like this..."

The officers pretended not to hear.

Just then, a commotion suddenly erupted on the nearby mountain peak, and many heads appeared. Among a group of bandits dressed in extremely tattered clothes was a man with a pointed mouth and monkey-like face, who looked sleazy but was dressed like a scholar.

He glanced at the government troops below and said, "If these cannibals reach the countryside, who knows how many more lives they'll take! Since none of us can survive, why don't you rebel against me?"

A burly man standing nearby, as tall as an iron tower, seemed somewhat fearful: "I've heard that there are immortals in the Ji Kingdom. Wouldn't an immortal trample us to death like stepping on an ant?" The thin man dressed as a scholar sneered: "He can't see the drought year after year, he can't see the barren land, he can't see the cannibalism! Is he blind?! What use is such an immortal? Why bother having an ancestor to worship?"

"Since we're all going to die anyway, we might as well drag this immortal down from the heavens before we die! Each of us will utter a heartfelt curse before we die. As long as there are enough of us, even if he's an immortal, we can curse him to be childless!"

The burly man perked up and said, "My brother is absolutely right! Let's fight that damn immortal!"

The lewd scholar stretched out his hand and shouted, "Bow, come here!"

The burly man immediately presented him with a large iron bow. The scholar took it, and despite his slender frame, he possessed astonishing strength. He drew the bow fully and then fired an arrow, which emitted a faint glow, toward the county magistrate!

The government troops below, realizing they had been ambushed, were already in complete chaos. The county magistrate was unable to quell the unrest and was just about to leap up the cliff when suddenly an arrow struck and pierced through his chest!

The county constable was shocked, and in the end, all he could think was: How could there be a powerful being with a foundational Earth-level cultivation level in this place...?

Then dozens of bandits attacked from both sides, and the three hundred government troops immediately dropped their weapons and armor and fled. Those who could not escape knelt down on the spot and begged for their lives.

……

The Wei family mansion remained unchanged, with its old layout. Only the number of servants had decreased, replaced by many more guards and stewards. The large tree behind the courtyard was withered and yellow, with only a few green shoots remaining at its very top.

Wei Youcai was in the accounting room looking at the silver and grain stored in the house when suddenly the door was pushed open, and the sleazy scholar walked in, put the county magistrate's head on the table, and said, "Brother, this guy brought several hundred soldiers into the village, and he obviously had no good intentions! I gritted my teeth and killed him! Now several hundred soldiers are being held on the mountain, and I've sent four people to guard them."

Wei Youcai remained fair-skinned, his eyes slightly narrowed as he looked at the county magistrate's head. After a moment, he sighed and said, "Eighth Brother, is there really no other way?"

The sleazy scholar in front of me was actually the steward from back then. Ever since he finally learned to read and write, he had taken to wearing scholar's robes.

At this moment, he looked fierce and said, "Brother, as soon as the new magistrate took office, he sent this guy who is obviously a bandit, and he brought hundreds of soldiers with him! Don't you know what he wants to do? He wants to wipe us all out! Then he can push the blame onto the refugee rebels and wash his hands of it and continue to be the magistrate. Brother, don't hesitate, we have no way out."

Wei Youcai slowly got up, walked to the window, looked at the gray-yellow sky outside, and said slowly, "I've been guarding this place for decades, and I've survived so many hardships. I never thought that I would be driven to a dead end by a newly appointed county magistrate. Heh! Sending such a person to the local area, I really don't know what those guys upstairs are thinking. They don't give us a way out, but they don't know that if ordinary people are pushed too far, they can also drag them down from the sky."

The butler, dressed as a scholar, was taken aback: "Brother, what are you talking about?"

Wei Youcai shook his head and said, "It's alright. Let the third and sixth brothers come out of the mountains. Let's go into the county town first, and we'll talk about the rest later."

Throughout the afternoon, the Wei family mansion was filled with weeping. The maids, in their forties and fifties, wiped away their tears, carrying their bundles, and reluctantly left the mansion. The two ladies were too old to walk, so they were helped onto a donkey cart and bumped away.

Then a huge fire rose in the center of the Wei family mansion. The fire spread rapidly and quickly reduced several houses to ruins. The old tree behind the house could not escape the calamity.

In the dead of night, shouts of battle suddenly erupted throughout the county town, and the county government office was engulfed in flames. Every household in the town kept their doors tightly shut, and the officers and soldiers remaining in the military camp also kept their gates closed, extinguished all lights, and pretended that the camp was deserted.

Moments later, a group of bandits stormed into the military camp, seizing weapons. Upon entering, they saw over a hundred government troops standing ramrod straight. The two groups exchanged glances, then decided not to disturb each other. The bandits emptied the camp of weapons, left behind provisions, and departed.

The next morning, Magistrate Zhuang's head was hung on the city gate, marking his three-day term in office. Fortunately, the heads of his advisor, the county magistrate's assistant, and the head constable were there to keep him company, so his journey to the underworld wasn't too lonely.

After noon, a troop of cavalry appeared on the official road, their banners bearing the large character "Liu". The cavalrymen were dressed in a motley collection of colors, and many rode local mules. Leading them was a burly general who looked quite imposing.

He walked to the city gate, looked at the burned-out city tower and the row of human heads hanging on it, and said in astonishment, "I've tried to go to the most remote places, how could someone have gotten there first?"

A soldier standing nearby said, "Maybe the locals couldn't survive, so they simply rebelled."

The fierce general didn't believe it: "That head in the middle is at least at the late stage of Dao Foundation. Who here can suppress him? Besides, this year's situation is better than the previous two years. How come we could survive in the previous two years, but we can't survive this year?"

The military advisor sighed, “General, you originally came from the imperial court, so you don’t understand these things in the local area. In fact, whether the common people can survive has little to do with the harvest. Everyone was living well before, but maybe if a different official came to govern, they would all be unable to survive immediately.”

The general suddenly realized, squinted at the county magistrate's head, and spat out, "It's all blood and resentment, he's really no good! Those guys in the court send this kind of trash to the local areas, aren't they just forcing everyone to rebel? I really don't know what they're thinking."

The soldier said, "Maybe they don't have good intentions either."

(End of this chapter)