Put away your magical powers now!.

Chapter 286 [Are there any immortals?]

Chapter 280 [Are there any immortals?]

Even if a bad person dies, they should still bear a bad name!
This is the principle that Chen Yan believes in!

·
Although the three members of the Li family are dead, their posthumous reputation is not bad. Before, the family lived a very prosperous life. Because they were in the tobacco planting business, they had established connections with the tobacco company. In addition, both father and sons were quite shrewd and good at building relationships, so they were actually quite popular in the village.

After this family died, when people in the village talked about them, the story was always the same: This family was living a good life. They got married and built a new house. It seemed like they were on the verge of becoming rich. Alas... what a pity!

What a pity!

Chen Yan felt that this posthumous reputation was wrong; they should bear the infamy instead.

Moreover, the eldest son of the Li family, the real culprit, is still alive.

He just went mad and was locked up in a mental hospital.

What if it gets better after a few days?

·
The next day, Li Guohua suddenly went to the village's security chief to report him.

He then went to the town's police station to report the incident again.

That afternoon, the police station sent a police car and several officers to conduct a thorough inspection and survey of the house next to Li Guohua's.

Even the police cordon tape has been put up again.

This scene immediately attracted the attention of the villagers.

On the same day, Li Guohua was taken away again by the police station.

Li Guohua's daughter was walking back to the village from school in the evening when people pointed at her and gossiped about her behind her back.

No one knows why Li Guohua went with the police car—in fact, the head of the community security was also taken away.

But because of past statements and reputation, everyone felt that Li Guohua had probably done something wrong again.

Li Guohua's daughter walked home, immediately closed the courtyard gate, rushed into the house, and then closed the front door behind her, as if shutting out the strange looks and gossip outside.

The girl leaned against the door, let out a long sigh, her thin face filled with deep worry, and sighed deeply.

It wasn't until after dark, when every household had closed their courtyards and doors, that the little girl opened her own door, quietly came out, and, carrying a basin, went to the water tap in the left corner of the yard to get water.

She didn't even turn on the lights in the room.

The girl carried the basin full of water with difficulty, threw in a few dirty clothes to soak, and then went to the chicken coop in the yard and sprinkled some food on them.

Suddenly turning around, the girl shuddered and almost screamed.

In the courtyard, right behind him, a tall, thin young man was quietly watching him with a smile on his face.

The girl's heart jumped into her throat, but she quickly recognized the person in front of her.

It was the young man who had been in the same car as her grandmother the day before when they were traveling back to the village.

The girl's heart was pounding, and she was scared, but her eyes darted around and she said, "You...you've come to the wrong door."

Chen Yan remained silent.

The girl simply gave up, speaking frankly: "My family has no money. If you want to make money, you won't find it in my house—my family is the poorest in the whole village."

Chen Yan remained silent.

The girl got a little anxious and quickly said, "Are you a child trafficker? I'm worthless... I'm too young. Even if you kidnap me and sell me, I can't be someone's wife. Besides, I'm not strong enough to do much work. I don't even get to eat as much as I do. It's not worth it."

Chen Yan finally sighed: "What a clever little girl."

After he finished speaking, he took a few steps closer, and the girl immediately stepped back, took a deep breath, and was about to scream.

Chen Yan pointed lightly, and the girl suddenly felt her whole body stiffen and she couldn't speak. She watched as Chen Yan approached her step by step, but she couldn't utter a single word.

Chen Yan smiled and said, "I remember that day you begged your grandma to buy you candy, right?"

As he spoke, Chen Yan waved his hand, and a large bag of high-end chocolates appeared out of thin air in his hand, which he then gently tossed in front of the little girl.

The little girl's eyes widened instantly!

Chen Yan waved his hand again, and the basin of dirty clothes soaking in water flew over as well. Chen Yan muttered a few incantations in a low voice, and then a beam of light dissipated.

The basin of clothes became completely clean and floated automatically onto the clothes rack—only the water in the basin became a little dirty.

Then a gentle breeze swept across the entire courtyard and then blew into the house.

A moment later, clumps of black filth flew out into the air and all fell into the basin of dirty water.

The dust and dirt that were originally on the ground in the yard have all disappeared and are now completely clean!

The little girl's eyes nearly popped out of her head as she looked at the cement floor in her dilapidated yard, now as clean as if a dog had licked it.

Chen Yan reached out and gently tapped her head. The little girl immediately relaxed and fell backward, but Chen Yan grabbed her.

The little girl held her breath for a moment before finally letting out a suppressed gasp as she stared at Chen Yan with wide eyes: "You, are you a god?!"

Chen Yan thought for a moment and said, "If we go by your standards, I'd be considered a god."

The girl's eyes darted back and forth as she looked at the man, her heart filled with a mixture of fear, excitement, curiosity, and joy.

"God? A deity? Is it really a deity? What is a deity doing in my house?"

Chen Yan smiled, then his smile faded, and he said seriously, "I've come to see you—your father asked me to come to your house to keep an eye on you."

"My dad? My dad... my dad has been taken to the police station."

“I know.” Chen Yan stared into the little girl’s eyes: “But I have to tell you that your father didn’t cause any trouble this time. He was taken away by the police, not arrested, but asked to cooperate with an investigation.”

You could say that your father did the right thing this time—you could even say it was a good thing.

The little girl was somewhat surprised, and her first reaction was disbelief—she couldn't believe that her father, who had been disliked by everyone for many years, could possibly do a good deed.

However, since these words were spoken by the "deity" in front of her, she had no choice but to believe them.

Chen Yan smiled, picked up the bag of chocolates, tore off a corner, and handed it to the girl.

The girl hesitated for a moment, but still took it, though her expression was full of doubt.

"Eat without worry. What's given to you is yours. I won't hurt you." Chen Yan waved his hand.

The girl finally brought the chocolate to her lips and took a bite, then frowned: "It's so bitter."

Chen Yan laughed: "Don't you like chocolate?"

"It's not that I don't like it, it's just... I've never tasted anything this bitter. I've had chocolate before, but it was much sweeter than this."

Okay, Chen Yan understands. This girl has probably never eaten real, good chocolate. She's probably only ever eaten those cheap, super sweet things made with cocoa butter substitutes.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Yan rummaged through his storage jade pendant and found some more things—White Rabbit milk candy and Ferrero Rocher chocolate.

He took out a few more items and stuffed them into the girl's arms.

When Chen Yan took out another bottle of juice, the girl's eyes no longer held fear, but only admiration.

Afterwards, Chen Yan chatted casually with the girl for a while. With his age and shrewdness, he quickly learned about her family situation from her.

The old lady who took the little girl back to the village from town the day before was the little girl's maternal grandmother.

She is also Li Guohua's mother-in-law.

After Li Guohua's wife died of illness, he had much less contact with his in-laws.

Li Guohua is a wild and unruly person, with some scoundrel tendencies. He ruined his family through gambling in his early years and also had a falling out with his parents-in-law.

His wife is clueless, but she's always been devoted to him, though she doesn't really get anything good out of it. Li Guohua squandered all the family's money, and his wife couldn't even afford medical treatment when she fell ill.

He took his medicine intermittently, and when he couldn't afford it anymore, he had to ask his parents for help.

Her parents still cared about their daughter. Even though their relationship had soured, they would still send her some money. However, they refused to visit her, not wanting to see that bastard Li Guohua.

Li Guohua's wife later died of illness, and less than two years later, his father-in-law also fell ill and passed away.

And this little girl became the old woman's closest relative in the world, and the only person she cared about.

The old lady used to work in Fuyang Prefecture as an ordinary teacher. Later, she returned to Taihe County and became an ordinary grassroots civil servant in the county education bureau, without much power.

When I got old, I retired.

He owns a two-bedroom apartment in the county town and lives a decent life on his pension.

Everyone says that civil servants have high pensions and good benefits, but that's only true for people in big cities.

The pensions of grassroots civil servants in small towns are actually quite low.

Moreover, most of their savings are probably nothing.

After all, they were people from the bottom of society. Their lives continued, and then their daughter married a gambling addict who came to their door every few days to borrow money and squander it all, then their daughter got sick and needed money, and then their spouse got sick and needed money.

Even though I had some savings before, I've spent it all on all these things over the years.

But in the end, she was still better off than Li Guohua.

The old lady had tentatively suggested to Li Guohua that she wanted to bring the child to live with her in the county town. After all, the educational conditions in the county town were better than in the township. Living with the old lady, her pension would be enough for both of them to eat and wear, and their living conditions would definitely be better than living in the countryside with Li Guohua, their biological father, where they often went hungry.

As Li Guohua grew older, he lost the arrogance and rascality of his youth and agreed.

But to everyone's surprise, the child himself refused!
·
“You should go live with your maternal grandmother, well, that is, your great-grandmother. It would definitely be better for you than living in the countryside. Why don’t you want to go?”
Don't you miss your father?

Chen Yan asked gently.

At that moment, the two sat side by side on the steps under the eaves of Li Guohua's house. The little girl held a box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates in her hand, peeling them one by one, and squinting her eyes for a while after each bite.

The little girl's expression was indifferent as she whispered, "No, I like my grandma. She's good to me, she never scolds me, and she buys me things..."

As for my dad, he doesn't hit or scold me anymore, but... he can't do anything, and I have to do so many chores around the house every day. I just hope he stops gambling.

"Then why don't you leave here with your grandmother?" Chen Yan asked.

The little girl fell silent.

Just when Chen Yan thought she wouldn't answer anymore, the little girl suddenly raised her head and stared blankly into the distance.

"Before my mother died, she told me that our family owed Grandma too much, and we shouldn't trouble her anymore. Grandma is old and needs to save some money for her old age. We can't make things difficult for her anymore."

Chen Yan was somewhat surprised by this answer. He looked at the little girl carefully for a moment, and then sighed.

"Do you... still have feelings for your father?"

The little girl remained silent for a while.

A minute later, she whispered, "Last month, I went to town to help people collect old books from graduating students at the school. I collected a lot and brought them back to the recycling station."

In the end, I earned twenty yuan.

I originally intended to use the money to buy workbooks. But after I got home, my dad found out and took the money away.

He then went to play mahjong with others and lost all his money.

I didn't have money to buy workbooks, so I could only copy questions from my classmates' workbooks using my own notebooks.

I copied it for a month, and my classmates refused to lend me the booklet anymore.

They all say I like to take advantage of others.

The little girl spoke calmly, but her eyes did not reflect the calmness of her words.

Chen Yan understood that although these words seemed to be irrelevant to the question, the answer itself was as if it had already answered it!
“Yesterday, I actually secretly followed you, and I saw you crying by the river.”

The little girl trembled, and her head drooped even lower.

"When my mother was still alive, she was sick and couldn't walk far, so sometimes she would ask me to accompany her for a walk around the neighborhood to get some fresh air."

She often took me to the river. Every time we went, she would teach me how to catch fish and watch me laugh.

Later, my mother died... When I missed her, I wanted to go to the mountain to see her, but it was too far away.

So, I could only sit by the river for a while and secretly cry.

Chen Yan already had the answer in his heart and slowly stood up.

"Go live with your grandma. Your dad won't object."

Moreover, while some of what your mother said makes sense, some of it may not actually be true.

If you stay with your grandmother, you might not become a burden to her; instead, you might become her only source of comfort.

The girl looked conflicted.

Chen Yan laughed and said, "If you really think your mother is right, then you should go and follow your grandmother."

Your grandmother is old and needs someone to take care of her. If you live with her, you can help her with chores and take care of her.

As for money, don't worry, you won't be a burden to your grandmother.

As he spoke, Chen Yan casually reached out and placed a heavy object into the girl's hand.

The girl looked down and saw an orange...

"This is...gold?"

"You're overthinking it! It's just gold coin chocolates." Chen Yan scoffed.

The girl's face immediately fell: "I thought you were a god, that you would give me..."

"You don't need to worry about money. Since I'm letting you go live with your grandmother, I naturally won't let her lack money."

The girl blinked her eyes: "Yeah, yeah."

·
Li Guohua returned home that evening. Although he didn't see many villagers, the news spread throughout the village very quickly, just the next day.

In the countryside, there are hardly any secrets—especially when it involves other people's affairs.

It's said that the wife of the security chief told the story while they were playing mahjong.

Soon, the people at the mahjong table spread the word.

In just one or two days, the whole village knew about the murder and body disposal case of the Li family father and son!

Actually, there's no more definitive outcome to this matter.

Although Li Guohua reported it, several years had passed, and there was no way to verify the facts.

Several years have passed since the Li family father and son harmed Li Xin, and the witnesses, physical evidence, and crime scene have all vanished.

Li Xin died, and so did Li Xin's maternal grandmother. Two members of the Li family, father and son, also died.

The investigation was completely fruitless, and there was virtually no hope of a conviction.

But Chen Yan doesn't want a legal judgment.

The male head of the Li family is already dead; we can't just revive him and execute him again, can we?

But once this matter got out, the Li family's reputation was ruined.

When villagers talk about the Li family, father and son, they no longer say things like "what a pity".

However, they all changed their story.

"Those men from the Li family don't look like good people!"

"Yes, yes, yes! That eldest son of the Li family, he stole women's clothes when he was a kid!"

"Yes, I heard that when he graduated from high school, he was arrested for being a hooligan!"

“I always thought there was something wrong with the way he looked at people! When he was sitting at the village entrance playing cards, he would always stare at the women passing by!”

"Of course, he's a rapist!"

"Oh dear, what a pity about Li Xin..."

·
Chen Yan stayed in the town for a few days, secretly observing the situation in Yang Er Village.

As expected, Li Guohua's whistleblower case ended up being unresolved after the police investigation failed due to the inability to collect evidence, becoming an unsolved mystery.

Without evidence, there is no way to convict, and naturally, no way to bring a public prosecution.

Moreover, the aggrieved party is dead, and the victims are either dead or insane.

However, the evildoers in Yang'er Village once again played a role in fueling the flames.

Chen Yan is not betting on the goodness of human nature, but on the evil of human nature here!
When it comes to a good thing, people are often too lazy to pay attention, too lazy to care, and even too lazy to believe it.

But a truly absurd and disgusting thing will be spread and talked about by many people with great interest.

Compared to stories like "Li Xin herself was an immoral woman who got drunk with a man and fell into the river and drowned,"...

So, "the eldest son of the Li family, seeing Li Xin's beauty, drugged her and forcibly took her home with the intention of committing adultery. He ended up killing her with the drug and, in the middle of the night, together with his father, dumped the body into the river..."

The latter story is even more disgusting and vicious.

However, many people are more willing to believe and spread it.

·
Li Guohua's daughter finally welcomed her maternal grandmother.

When the old lady came to pick them up, she had clearly changed into a new outfit. After helping the child pack his clothes, she carried a small bundle.

After saying goodbye to her father, the little girl followed the old woman and slowly left the house, the yard, and the village.

She didn't turn around, even though she knew Li Guohua was standing at the gate of the courtyard watching her.

At the village entrance, while the little girl was waiting for the bus with the old lady, she couldn't help but look around.

"What are you looking at?"

"Look... are there any gods here?"

·
(End of this chapter)