Chapter 112 Rumors

The two groups faced each other.

Liu Sheng advised: "You have attacked the county town and assaulted the officers and soldiers. These are serious crimes. Don't make the same mistake again. Otherwise, even if you survive this time, you will definitely be suppressed."

More and more people emerged from the crowd, including gentry and wealthy people.

Those who want to make a big fuss are not afraid of those wearing shoes. Those bandits and pirates want to take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune, but the gentry and wealthy families have land and property. After the water recedes, they will be rich again. How can they be willing to do anything extreme?

The refugees and the soldiers were in a standoff until the inspector came with the county magistrate's order, allowing them to enter the city, but only to move around the city gate. The soldiers would guard the main traffic arteries and would not allow the refugees to leave.

Liu Sheng finally led his troops to slowly withdraw from the alley. The inspector had already ordered people to set up various obstacles at the intersection to prevent refugees from running around in the city.

Zeng Fan looked at the ambitious people and landlords among the refugees and knew that the lives of the refugees could only be in their own hands.

Zeng Fan was originally a bandit in Yongkang County. Later, under the guidance of Gong Mengbi, he sent all his men to the Shen family to seek a way out.

Because his wife was a fox and he didn't want to be separated from her, he settled down outside Wuning County and became a hunter.

He was also a victim of the flood, so he took his wife and followed the refugees all the way to the county town.

Because he had some martial arts skills and had been a mountain king, he protected the weak and repelled the bad guys along the way. He gradually gathered a group of refugees by force and became one of the people who could make decisions.

The refugees settled down in the city, and the county magistrate summoned the merchants and wealthy families in the city to discuss how to deal with the refugees.

To put it bluntly, it means forcing wealthy merchants to bleed and pay money to avoid disaster.

On the refugee side, several leaders also gathered together to discuss how to deal with the situation.

In fact, by the time the refugees arrived in the city and settled down, they had already lost their power.

Ordinary people in the world are like this. As long as they can survive, they will compromise.

It’s just that they still don’t understand the intentions of the city’s officials, and in order to prevent them from taking extreme measures, they cannot give up these gathered forces.

Entering the city is only the first step, surviving is the second step.

Without shelter and food, the refugees will sooner or later rebel.

It is impossible for the officials not to understand this truth, and those who are in charge understand it even better.

Zeng Fan returned from the discussion and found his wife wearing a straw hairpin and a cloth skirt under the eaves.

He could always find her, no matter where she hid.

This wild fox girl with a scar on her face lived in seclusion with Zeng Fan and became a hunter's wife. She wore a thorny hairpin and a cloth skirt, and really looked like a woman.

The fox girl asked, "What did they say?"

Zeng Fan sighed, "We've been arguing for a long time, but no one can come up with anything useful. These bandits are desperate to turn the world upside down and rob all the wealthy families in Wuning County. But the wealthy families and landlords won't agree, so they started arguing."

"Those landlords can't recognize the scent of bandits and pirates, but I can smell them clearly. There's no hope if I rely on them."

The fox girl sighed, "I wonder what the rules of those officials are."

The fox girl didn't know what the county magistrate's rules were, but the priest was indeed confused at the moment.

"There was no fighting. How could there be no fighting?" asked the City God with a frown.

The civil and military judges of the Yin-Yang Division were counting the souls. Judge Wu, the civil judge, said, "There truly was no fighting. The souls we've extradited are only a few strong and healthy; the majority are old, weak, and sick. Using them as conscription is probably useless."

The City God snorted coldly, "I already boasted to the envoy that I would recruit 10,000 elite soldiers. How can I report this to these old, weak, and sick people?"

"I don't know what the tiger is up to. He promised to incite the refugees to invade the county town, causing casualties. Add to that the deaths from the flood, and it's more than enough."

Judge Wu said, "After all, the tiger and the master are not on the same page. If we rely on him, we'll probably be caught. In my opinion, it would be better for us to take action ourselves."

"The county's granaries are empty, and even if we wanted to provide disaster relief, we'd be powerless. If word gets out, the refugees will start a rebellion."

The City God nodded and said, "I'll leave this matter to you."

Judge Wu laughed and said, "This is easy. Just find a few souls and bring them to your dreams. Once the rumors start spreading, who can sit still?"

"There have been rumors these days, saying that the position of City God has been usurped by a demon, who deliberately brought down floods in order to capture human souls for war." The fox girl said to Zeng Fan.

Zeng Fan asked, "Madam, do you think it's true or false?"

The fox girl said, "I'm an outsider and haven't made many friends yet, so it's hard to tell whether it's true or not. But rumors are not without reason, so I'm afraid it's true."

Zeng Fan said, "He's not afraid of others destroying his City God Temple."

The fox girl shook her head: "It's hard to survive, who can care about this?"

As she spoke, the fox girl suddenly shut up and pulled Zeng Fan.

Zeng Fan stood in front of her, blocking her.

Zeng Fan asked quietly, "What's wrong?"

The fox girl said, "It's the ghost messenger who brought the little ghost with him."

Zeng Fan couldn't see it, but the fox girl saw it clearly. In order to avoid being exposed, she needed to use Zeng Fan's breath to block her own breath.

"The ghost has come to capture the soul?" Zeng Fan asked.

The fox girl didn't answer, so Zeng Fan turned around to look at her, and saw that she was looking straight to the side. Following her gaze, Zeng Fan noticed that there was another person beside him.

The man was holding an umbrella, revealing a red cloak with white fox patterns on the sleeves.

He raised his umbrella, revealing a face that was familiar to both the man and the fox.

"Fox fairy!" Zeng Fan was startled.

The fox girl called softly, "Master Fox Club."

Gong Mengbi laughed and said, "I originally just came to watch the show, but I didn't expect to meet an old friend. We haven't seen each other since we last met. How are you doing?"

The fox girl then told the story of her and Zeng Fan, up to the present day.

Gong Mengbi nodded and said, "So you guys are in such a situation. Most of the fox spirits in Wuning County are now hiding in Fox Hill to avoid the flood. Only you guys have run into the city."

The fox girl laughed and said, "If we had known that we could take refuge at Fox Hill, we wouldn't have gone through all this trouble."

Gong Mengbi said: "You have been doing justice and fighting for justice all along the way. You are truly heroes."

Zeng Fan laughed and said, "If I can help, I'll help."

Gong Mengbi sighed: "Even so, how many people can do it?"

Zeng Fan scratched his head and asked, "The fox fairy said she wanted to see a play? What kind of play can we watch?"

Gong Mengbi said, "What a wonderful show of self-destruction. Do you want to watch it with me, or do you want to go up and perform?"