Chapter 76: Playing Dead
Terrifying!
A corpse actually opened its eyes and even spoke?
Is this a corpse coming back to life?
The many hunters in the room all looked at the “revived corpse” with extreme tension.
In the end, Old Yang spoke with a trembling voice: “You… are you human or ghost?”
Ji Qing glanced at the many hunters.
He roughly guessed what happened.
It must have been these hunters who saved him.
Back then, when the avalanche burst, he was buried in the snow, could only use the Turtle Breathing Technique to stay alive, and was unaware of everything outside.
“Who saved me?”
Ji Qing asked.
The hunters looked at each other.
Old Yang looked down and saw that Ji Qing had a shadow.
He breathed a sigh of relief: “Don’t be afraid, he’s human. He must have been crushed by the snow and appeared dead, but now he’s come back to life.”
The explanation was reasonable.
But when they dug him out, his corpse was so stiff— was that really just faking death?
“Since the distinguished guest is not dead, then we overstepped and shouldn’t have rummaged through the distinguished guest’s things. Please forgive us, distinguished guest.”
The Village Chief must have read books, as he took the initiative to apologize to Ji Qing.
Ji Qing glanced at his belongings.
Though they had been rummaged through, not a single item was missing.
“Ignorance is no sin.”
Ji Qing shook his head.
These people thought he was dead, so they “looted the corpse,” which was normal.
Seeing that Ji Qing was alive, the hunters couldn’t help but show some disappointment on their faces.
Several hundred taels of silver.
That could let the village live well for a few years.
And it was gone just like that?
“Old Yang, he’s just one person, should we…”
A hunter asked softly.
They say poor mountains and treacherous waters breed cunning folks.
Hunter Tiger Village was barely managed by the government, truly in a remote gully, and everyone made a living by hunting, so it was normal if they harbored evil intentions.
“Shut up!”
Old Yang shouted angrily.
“Though Hunter Tiger Village is poor, our ancestors were all good folk. Do you want to violate the ancestral precepts?”
Old Yang scolded the young hunter.
The young hunter’s face flushed red as he retreated to the back, head down and not daring to speak.
Though their voices were low, Ji Qing could discern positions by sound and heard everything clearly.
His gaze turned to Old Yang.
Old Yang took a deep breath, stepped forward, and said: “Young brother, rest assured in Hunter Tiger Village. Your things are yours, no one can take them! Hunter Tiger Village has always been good folk across generations and would never do such despicable things.”
Ji Qing gave Old Yang a deep look, then put away the silver, banknotes, and other items.
Old Yang had great authority.
No hunter dared to defy his words.
Thus, even though the hunters were very envious, none dared to make a move.
“Forget staying, do you have food?”
“Yes, yes, quickly get some jerky for the distinguished guest.”
Soon, an old woman brought some jerky.
The jerky was very tough, but Ji Qing had been hungry for days, so he ate it with relish.
At this time, a middle-aged hunter in the crowd finally couldn’t hold back.
He stepped forward a few paces to Ji Qing.
“Pong!”
The middle-aged hunter knelt before Ji Qing.
“Yang Shitou, what are you doing?”
Old Yang’s expression changed.
But Yang Shitou gritted his teeth and “bang bang bang” kowtowed three times on the ground.
“Can you leave fifty taels of silver to buy my Niu Niu’s life? I, Yang Shitou, will work like an ox or horse to repay your great kindness!”
After speaking, Yang Shitou continued kowtowing.
He even broke his forehead, blood flowing, but he still didn’t stop.
Ji Qing frowned.
“Stop!”
“Explain clearly, what do you mean ‘buy life’? Why does your Niu Niu need fifty taels of silver to buy her life?”
Yang Shitou raised his head, his face covered in blood. He explained through gritted teeth: “There’s a band of strongmen in the mountains who built a fort, gathering over a hundred desperados, calling themselves Pan Shan Fort.”
“Pan Shan Fort doesn’t rob chaotically; they just make dozens of villages within a hundred miles pay tribute each month with food and silver. But they have one requirement: each village must contribute a young boy or girl each year, said to be offered to the mountain god master.”
“This year, the draw in the village fell on my family. I only have Niu Niu, and she’s only six years old…”
Ji Qing understood.
Offering young boys and girls to the mountain god?
Was it ignorance, or… was there really a so-called mountain god?
“If you give silver, you don’t have to offer a young boy or girl?”
Ji Qing asked.
“Not exactly. Each village must provide one person per year, but with fifty taels of silver, you can buy a life, and Pan Shan Fort will get a young boy or girl from another village to make up the number…”
Ji Qing’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Even giving silver, they still buy people to make up the number.
This showed Pan Shan Fort wasn’t after the silver.
“You never resisted Pan Shan Fort? The surrounding villages should all be hunter villages, with everyone strong and powerful. Pan Shan Fort has only about a hundred to eighty strongmen—can’t dozens of villages handle them?”
Ji Qing asked again.
“We’ve resisted more than once. The strongmen in Pan Shan Fort all know some martial arts. The most successful time, we attacked Pan Long Fort, but suddenly a great fog appeared inside Pan Long Fort. When the fog cleared, all the experts from the villages were dead… It’s said that was the mountain god worshipped by Pan Long Fort making a move. After that, no village dared resist Pan Long Fort…”
Ji Qing pondered upon hearing this.
Mountain god, great fog…
If there really was a so-called mountain god demanding young boys and girls, it was probably not a real mountain god, but a demon!
Ji Qing hadn’t expected to find clues about a demon in this remote village?
This was truly a pleasant surprise!
“Bang.”
At that moment, the courtyard great door was fiercely pushed open.
A half-grown boy ran in, panting and shouting: “Village Chief grandpa, Pan… Pan Long Fort people are here. The leader is Lai Tou Ba.”
Yang Shitou’s expression darkened.
Pan Long Fort people had come. If there was no silver, his Niu Niu would have to go into the mountains…
“Let’s go, I’ll meet the Pan Long Fort people.”
Ji Qing said.
“The silver…”
Yang Shitou looked at Ji Qing expectantly.
“I have fifty taels of silver here. If the Pan Long Fort people can catch it, giving it to them is no problem.”
Yang Shitou was overjoyed upon hearing this.
His Niu Niu was saved!
Only Old Yang vaguely felt something off about Ji Qing’s words.
What did he mean by “catch it”?
Fifty taels of silver was heavy, but even a child could catch it, let alone Pan Long Fort people?
However, as everyone went out, Old Yang didn’t think much and quickly followed.
Soon, Ji Qing saw three Pan Long Fort people at the village entrance.
The leader was Lai Tou Ba.
Rumor had it this Lai Tou Ba was a rogue from a neighboring village, stealing chickens and dogs since childhood, despised by all villages.
Later he ran to Pan Long Fort, became a bandit, and even rose to a small leader, strutting around in all the villages.
“Quickly call Yang Shitou out. This year it’s his family that drew the lot, right?”
Lai Tou Ba said from horseback, looking down imperiously.
He knew the situation in all the villages below like the back of his hand.
Perhaps that was why Pan Long Fort used him.
“My Niu Niu won’t serve the mountain god this year. I’ll pay the buy-life money!”
Yang Shitou said loudly.
“Buy-life money? Hahaha, buy-life money is fifty taels of silver. Probably your whole village couldn’t scrape it together. Where’d you get buy-life money?”
Lai Tou Ba laughed loudly.
“Fifty taels of silver, I have it!”
An unfamiliar voice rang out.
Lai Tou Ba followed the voice and saw a man in tattered black clothes, with a long saber at his waist and a conical hat on his head.
The man held a large silver ingot in his hand.
It was clearly a fifty-tael silver ingot.
“Out-of-towner?”
Lai Tou Ba immediately became alert.
But this was fifty taels of silver—if he really collected the buy-life money, he’d make a fortune.
That was why coming down the mountain was a lucrative job.
“Bring the silver over!”
Greed showed on Lai Tou Ba’s face.
“Then catch it well! If you can catch it, this fifty taels of silver is yours…”
After Ji Qing spoke, he circulated his internal energy and lightly flung it with his hand.
“Whoosh.”
The fifty-tael silver ingot shot like a streak of silver light straight at Lai Tou Ba’s face.
