New and dark light years

Chapter 181 I think you're quite envious of me

"Which village is it from?" Li Lin asked.

"Minle Village".

Li Lin knew that this village was indeed under the jurisdiction of Beiliu County, but it was actually closer to Yulin County.

In such a critical moment, a person's instinct is to run to the nearest safe point.

Therefore, it is indeed understandable that the villagers of Minle Village came to Yulin County.

But the problem is... Yulin County doesn't have a copy of the household registration for Minle Village, so they have no idea how many people live in the village. If there are spies mixed in, then the people of Yulin County might suffer.

Li Lin's gaze swept across the villagers below, each of them wearing a sorrowful expression.

His eyes held timidity, yet also concealed a hint of resentment.

This is quite normal. They are afraid of the government troops, but they have finally come to a place with city walls, but they cannot go in and are even being driven away. It's like sending them to their deaths.

Li Lin walked up to Jiang Jili and asked, "What do you plan to do?"

Jiang Jili said calmly, "Let them leave. Even if they don't leave, we won't let them in. These are people from other counties. If we let them in and something goes wrong, we'll be the ones who suffer."

Li Lin pointed down and said, "But I counted, there are at least thirty or forty children under ten years old, and some babies too. Can you bear to look at them..."

“County Commandant,” Jiang Jili said to Li Lin earnestly, “you told me that one cannot overstep one’s bounds in one’s duties.”

Li Lin frowned: "These are two different things. We are the local officials."

“Same here.” Jiang Jili sighed. “If something really goes wrong, how many of the hundreds of thousands of people in this county would die?”

Li Lin laughed and said, "No, you're not worried about how many of them will die; you're just worried that if something happens, it will affect your career."

Jiang Jili was stunned for a moment, then said angrily as if he had been insulted, "You look down on me."

“No.” Li Lin looked at the illusion of the peach tree high in the sky: “I’m just telling the truth. You’re not that kind of person, I can tell.”

Jiang Jili tried his best to portray an angry and hurt expression, with even a sense of loss and sorrow in his eyes.

But Li Lin simply looked at the other person quietly, looking into his eyes.

After a while, Jiang Jili's expression gradually returned to normal, and he asked, "So, you plan to save them?"

"right?"

"What if there really is a spy?" Jiang Jili asked.

"Just find them and kill them."

At this moment, Jiang Jili finally smiled and said, "Then go ahead and do it, but I will put it in the official documents and submit it later. I hope you won't regret it later."

"Whatever you say." Li Lin turned around and looked at the crowd below the city wall.

More than four hundred people—if he really ignored them and watched them die… Li Lin couldn’t do that.

After an incense stick had burned for a while, the city gates opened.

Li Lin led forty constables out, followed by Bai Zhiwei and several other spirit hunters.

The villagers looked at the open city gate with anticipation in their eyes, and some even wanted to rush in, but the archers on the city wall who were pointing their longbows at them made them dare not do anything reckless.

Li Lin walked up to them and said, “I am the county magistrate of this county. I know very well that you want to seek refuge in Yulin City, but... you are from Beiliu County. We do not have your household registration and do not know your background. If there are spies among you... you understand what I mean.”

Dressed in a red official robe, he stood in the darkness, appearing very imposing in the afterglow of the torchlight.

An elderly villager stepped forward, cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, and said humbly, "Sir, we are all from this village, there are no outsiders here. I can vouch for you with my own body. Please let us in. We don't have enough time to get to Beiliu County now."

The villagers also spoke up, pleading with Li Lin to let them in. "But what if there really is a spy among you? Then the hundreds of thousands of people in Yulin County will be in danger. Who among you can bear that responsibility?"

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.

The old village chief's gaze swept over the group of villagers, and he said, "Sir, I can guarantee that everyone here is from our Minle Village; there are no outsiders."

"I'll say it again: who can guarantee that what you say is credible!"

No one can answer that question.

There is only silence.

After waiting a while, Li Lin smiled and said, "I also want to save you, so let me make this clear from the start: I can let you in, but you must stay in the place I designate and are not allowed to leave. If you dare to leave the designated area, I will treat you as a spy. How about that!"

The villagers were immediately overjoyed and started chattering away, creating quite a commotion.

The old village chief suddenly looked up, and the more than four hundred people fell silent.

The village chief cupped his hands and said, "Sir, we will listen to you in everything and do anything you say. We will never cause you any trouble. If anyone dares to do such a thing, you don't even need to lift a finger; I will personally beat him to death with my wooden stick."

Li Lin nodded: "Very good."

He then looked at all the villagers and asked, "Is there anyone who is unwilling?"

No one answered.

Now that it was getting darker and there was the danger of foreign invasion, they desperately wanted to enter the county town for refuge.

“Since no one has spoken, I’ll take that you all agree.” Li Lin looked at the constables beside him and said, “Take them to the area next to the Tree Fairy Goddess Temple. There’s a quiet area there where few people are. Let them rest there.”

Upon hearing that Li Lin had agreed, the villagers breathed a sigh of relief, and some women even wept with joy.

The villagers thanked Li Lin repeatedly before obediently following the constables into the city.

After everyone had gone inside, the city gate was temporarily closed again.

Li Lin returned to the city wall, and Jiang Jili looked at him and said, "A man like you won't live long."

"How can it be!"

“My family has several books that record many extraordinary people and their stories,” Jiang Jili said with a smile. “Many of them are gentlemen like you, but their final fates were all quite tragic.”

"I think I'm pretty lucky."

"If you walk by the river often enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet eventually." Jiang Jili looked into the distance and said, "I'm starting to regret it now. If I had known you were this kind of person, I wouldn't have been willing to cooperate with you."

In the distance... the last fiery clouds are about to disappear.

Li Lin smiled, shook his head, and said, "I feel like you seem quite envious of me."

Jiang Jili didn't speak. He said, "I'll keep an eye on those villagers for you, but you also need to understand that I'm a cautious person. If they do anything wrong, I'll kill them!"

"Row."

We have to give him this much face, after all, he's the second-in-command of the county.

Jiang Jili nodded, then looked at the official road ahead.

Another group of people arrived, many of them carrying torches, forming a long fire dragon on the official road.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Jili took a deep breath: "The enemy has really come."

If those villagers had entered the city any slower, something really might have happened...

(End of this chapter)