Chapter 108: Old Geezer, Trying To Run?
The little Daoist priests’ eyes all lit up. Right, how hadn’t they thought of that!
The silver earned over these years had been spent quite a bit on eating and drinking daily, so there probably wasn’t much left, but having some was better than having none.
Looking at Master now, even if he didn’t die, he probably couldn’t take them around performing rituals for people anymore. Before finding the next livelihood to make ends meet, having money in hand was extremely important.
So their gazes immediately turned fervently toward the He Clan Leader.
The He Clan Leader heard Lin Xin’s words clearly, and he was furious inside!
He immediately cursed without regard: “Lin Xin, you little wretch, your heart is black. No wonder your parents died early. I think you jinxed them to death, you jinx!”
Lin Xin indifferently dug at her ear. “Since you’ve said my heart is black, if I don’t act black this once, wouldn’t that make your words fall short? Anyway, I’ve already taken the scolding, so it’s better to make your words come true.”
With that, she turned to Mo Ziyuan. “Big Brother Mo, I wonder what the crime is for breaking into a private home, and what the consequences are? Once I have that clear in my mind, I can go to the yamen to file a report later.”
Mo Ziyuan was already burning with anger, and at her question, he immediately replied: “According to our dynasty’s law, anyone who enters another’s home without cause shall be caned eighty times. If the owner kills them on the spot, it shall not be pursued.”
Lin Xin translated the words in her mind before understanding his meaning, and couldn’t help exclaiming inwardly, good grief! Turns out in ancient times, the punishment for breaking into a private home was so severe!
Her thoughts turned, and she asked loudly: “So your meaning is, if he entered my home without my permission, he gets caned eighty times. If we fight and I accidentally kill him, I bear no responsibility, right?”
Mo Ziyuan nodded. “Exactly so!”
The He Clan Leader had always lorded it over the clan and acted arrogantly, but he hadn’t seen many officials, so he truly knew little of the law. Hearing this, he was scared almost to the point of wetting himself, and blustered weakly: “Impossible! How could there be such a law? You’re clearly talking nonsense!”
“Whether he’s talking nonsense, I don’t know, but the county magistrate definitely does. How about I report to the officials and let the county magistrate judge it, to see if what he says is right or wrong!”
The He Clan Leader didn’t dare argue further upon hearing about the county magistrate, but he also didn’t want to fork over silver, so he started stonewalling, neither speaking nor moving.
Lin Xin didn’t mind. First settling the crime was most important, and with Mo Ziyuan and the others there, there would be a time when he had to pay up.
But she didn’t like chasing people to collect debts, so it was better to let them dog eat dog.
Thus, Lin Xin turned her gaze back to the little Daoist priests. “In my view, you’re all in cahoots. I just want two hundred taels. How you split the cost among yourselves is your business, but if I see even one tael short, you’ll be waiting to enter the yamen and get the board! Or,” she narrowed her eyes, “would you prefer to be beaten to death by me?”
The little Daoist priests all shivered together. Finally, the little Daoist priest who had said he knew where Master hid the money tremblingly extended his hand. Under the old Daoist priest’s murderous gaze, he fumbled around in his pants for a long time, pulling out two crumpled silver notes, and said with a mournful face: “All the silver on Master is here. That’s all there is.”
Lin Xin looked at the two silver notes with disdain, really not wanting to touch them.
Mo Ziyuan chuckled lightly, walked over to look, and found the two silver notes added up to only one hundred fifty taels, still fifty taels short of the two hundred she demanded. He turned back to ask her what to do.
Lin Xin moved her fingers, and suddenly the little Daoist priests felt that the Master they were holding up in their hands had become much heavier, with a pulling sensation underfoot. They hurriedly looked down and saw that a transparent water chain was wrapped around each of their ankles, the other end embedded in the ground underfoot. Master had them on all four limbs.
Then came another muffled “bang.” The water chains on the He Clan Leader suddenly vanished. Without restraint, he fell straight from a man-height onto the ground, and it hurt so much he grinned and grimaced, unable to get up for a long time.
“The matter was handled jointly by your two groups, so naturally the compensation comes from both. I’m kindly giving you a chance to communicate. Once I have the remaining fifty taels in hand, you can leave on your own.”
The little Daoist priests looked over at the He Clan Leader upon hearing this, staring at the little old man until his body trembled. He stopped groaning in pain, crawled up from the ground, and tried to run outside.
Yan Yue acted faster. The water chain on one little Daoist priest’s foot suddenly disappeared. He was very obliging, jumping up directly to tackle the He Clan Leader down. “Old guy, trying to run? Where do you think you can run to!” With that, still not satisfied, he swung his fist and landed two hits on the He Clan Leader’s face, giving him a free pair of panda eyes.
“Ow~” The He Clan Leader felt his vision go black and let out a miserable scream.
“Let’s go to your home for the silver!” The little Daoist priest grabbed the He Clan Leader’s collar with one hand, trying to haul him up, but lacking the strength, he only lifted his upper body while staggering himself. As a result, the shoulder-off-the-ground He Clan Leader face-planted onto the ground again, screaming miserably once more.
Lin Xin watched this scene, not knowing whether to laugh or pity him.
In the end, the very unwilling He Clan Leader was dragged home by the little Daoist priest while struggling.
No one knew what happened at his home, but the little Daoist priest returned after an hour. His clothes were torn in several places, his face was smudged with dirt, and there was a fresh red palm print on his left cheek.
He walked up to Lin Xin and handed her four ten-tael silver ingots along with some loose bits of silver.
Lin Xin unceremoniously took them and turned to give them to Mo Ziyuan. “Those silver notes were too disgusting. Help me exchange them for new ones!”
Mo Ziyuan smiled as he took them. “Don’t worry, I’ll handle it for you tomorrow!”
The instant the silver was handed to him, the water chains on both the old Daoist priest and the little Daoist priests vanished.
“Right,” The little Daoist priests who had just lifted Master to leave stopped instinctively at Lin Xin’s voice and turned to look over in unison.
“I just want to ask, you won’t leave through the front door only for the He Clan Leader’s whole family to come knocking on my door right after, right!”
“Hmph, with your dad holding down your home, who would dare come make trouble?” The little Daoist priest who went to get the money snorted in response.
Lin Xin got a satisfactory answer and waved them off to leave. Suddenly remembering the little Daoist priest she had used as a “broom,” she kindly reminded them: “You seem to have one more person outside my courtyard wall. Remember to take him with you when you go.”
The little Daoist priests: “······”
The eldest disciple outside the door: “······”
Thanks to Luoye Zhiqiu-Ad, Yangzhi zhi Ge yu Yanjing de Gushi, Daoba Hong, Heping-aD, caroletu, Mmy Dang for their votes, thanks to caroletu for the tip, thank you all for your support, thanks!
