Chapter 41: I Love You But Not You
As he spoke, the scarred man raised the knife in his hand and was about to chop at Dazhu.
"stop!!"
A cry of great sorrow came from the back of the crowd, and the next second everyone saw the village chief and his granddaughter Cui'e rushing over.
The village chief, clutching the money he had saved over the years and the only food his family had, ran to the scarred man and pleaded, "Let my son go, and I'll give you all the money."
Upon hearing this, the scarred man put down his knife, looked at the money and food in the village chief's arms, and grinned: "See, these people won't cry until they see the coffin. If I don't kill a few of you, you will continue to play dead."
After saying that, he tilted his head towards the younger brother beside him. The younger brother understood what he meant and walked up to the village chief, snatched the money and said, "Here you go!"
After the younger brother grabbed the money bag and counted it, he said in shock: "Brother, this old man really has some money, enough for us brothers to have a drink."
The scarred man grinned, reached out his hand and patted the village chief's face, saying, "Since you are so sensible, I will let you go today."
Hearing this, the village chief was about to breathe a sigh of relief when the scarred man changed the subject: "But... if the others don't want to die, please give them your money too!!"
The village chief was stunned. In a panic, he grabbed the scarred man's arm and said, "You promised to let us go!"
The scarred man hated being touched the most, so he immediately used his crutch to push the village chief, causing him to stagger backward and fall to the ground.
"Damn it! I only promised to let your family go, but I didn't promise to let the others go. If you keep whining, do you believe I'll massacre the whole village?"
The words "massacre of the village" exploded in the hearts of the villagers like a thunderbolt. Dazhu was furious when he saw his father being treated like this. He immediately cursed at the scarred man, "You beast! You have lost all conscience! God will take you away one day!"
The scarred man, who had originally intended to let Dazhu go, was so angry when he heard the insults that he swung his knife and chopped down, "I'll take you first!"
"don't want!!"
Blood spurted out in an arc. The village chief and Cui'e watched their son (father) die in front of their eyes and were stunned.
When many villagers saw that the village chief's son was dead, they dared not disobey and went home to get valuables and handed them over to them.
The fate of those villagers who really couldn't come up with the money can be imagined, and for a while, wailing echoed throughout the valley.
The scarred man looked at the corpses of the villagers lying all over the place, licked his lips and said, "God is merciful, and I will let you go today out of kindness."
After wiping the blood off the knife on the body, he continued, "We are not unforgivable villains. There is a common belief among the underworld: if someone has died before, I will not do it again."
"But..." He deliberately dragged out the last word, looked at the trembling villagers, and smiled grimly: "Those of you who haven't lost a soul, remember to prepare money well when I come next time."
After he said these words, he left with his younger brothers.
After they left, the village chief led everyone to bury the body and held an emergency meeting overnight.
"Village chief, the robber said that if someone dies, they won't do it again. How can we prevent this?"
After hearing this, the village chief thought of the white lanterns, so he said to everyone: "Go back and hang white lanterns in front of your house, regardless of whether anyone has died there or not..."
After listening to the village chief's story, Tan Tai Lie and Tang Xiaoyun finally understood the origin of the white lanterns.
But Tang Xiaoyun thought of a possibility: could the robbers believe it so easily?
The village chief seemed to see through his confusion and said with a wry smile, "Those bandits came back not long after. They naturally didn't believe us when they saw white lanterns hanging in every household. But I had those who were nominally dead hide away first, so the bandits naturally believed us when they couldn't find anyone."
"Although they stopped killing people, they didn't spare the livestock. When they couldn't get money, they stole chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep. Even the cows used for plowing were taken."
"Over time, they realized that our village was not profitable, so they stopped coming after a few visits. I don't know why another group of robbers showed up today."
After hearing what the village chief said, Tang Xiaoyun angrily slammed the table and cursed, "These damn bandits, even if I cut them into pieces, it wouldn't be enough to vent my anger!"
Seeing him slamming the table so angrily that his palms turned red, Tan Tai Lie frowned and said helplessly, "Be gentle, you're not afraid of hurting your hands."
Tang Xiaoyun didn't care. He patted him again and said, "This little pain is nothing compared to the death of those villagers."
Seeing that he wouldn't listen, Tan Tai Lie reached out and grabbed his hand, which was about to slam the table, and said in a firm tone, "I know, so stop it!"
Tang Xiaoyun was startled, looking at him in surprise, thinking, "Strange, my hand hurts from slamming the table, that's my business, it doesn't hurt you."
Hearing this, Tan Tai Lie curled his lips and smiled, nodding slightly: Yes, yes, my hand doesn’t hurt, it’s just my heart that hurts, okay?
The village chief slowly looked at the two men's tightly clasped hands, coughed lightly and said, "But with the help of two heroes today, I believe that group of robbers will not come for the time being."
"That's better."
Tang Xiaoyun muttered something, not realizing that his hand was held by Tan Tai Lie.
Tan Tai Lie gently stroked the back of Tang Xiaoyun's hand with the tip of his thumb. Although his skin was a healthy bronze color, it was delicate and smooth, like a peeled egg.
Seeing this, the village chief coughed lightly, turned away, and called out to the outside of the house: "Cui'e, are you not ready yet?"
“Here it comes!”
As soon as she finished speaking, Cui'e walked into the main room with the food. The food was not rich, just a big bowl of tofu soup, a basket of boiled potatoes, and a multi-grain pancake.
The village chief said a little embarrassedly: "The food in the countryside is simple, please don't be disgusted."
As if to create atmosphere, Tang Xiaoyun's stomach growled twice. He smiled awkwardly and said, "No, no, it's good enough to have something to eat."
After saying that, he was about to raise his hand to take the pancake, only then he realized that his hand had been held down by "Mo Yu".
[No, what hobbies does this big brother have? ]
He pulled away subconsciously but couldn't pull it out.
"Um, Brother Mo..."
"Well, what is it?"
Tan Tai Lie was still immersed in caressing his smooth and delicate skin, unaware that several pairs of eyes were staring at him.
"Um, hand, let go of your hand." Tang Xiaoyun pointed at the hand he was holding down.
【What's so good about touching a man's hand? I don't know what's wrong with this world.】
Tan Tai Lie finally reacted, a hint of disappointment flashed across his eyes, and then he took his hand away: "Sorry."
Cui'e's eyes swept back and forth between the two of them, as if she had discovered something remarkable. Just as she was about to speak, she was interrupted by the village chief: "This tofu soup is cooked very well today. You should have some too."
After all, the village chief is a very old man, so how could he not see the relationship between these two people.
Tang Xiaoyun felt embarrassed being stared at by the grandfather and grandson, and hurriedly picked up the bowl and pretended to drink the soup.
Seeing him pretending to drink from an empty bowl, Tan Tai Lie said jokingly, "The bowl is empty, what are you drinking?"
Tang Xiaoyun was startled and looked down. The tofu soup in the bowl had been finished.
"Come, I'll serve you some." Tan Tai Lie stretched out his hand, a hint of doting in the corners of his eyes and eyebrows.
"No, that's not necessary..."
"You're so polite." Tan Tai Lie snatched the bowl from his hand, scooped him a full bowl of tofu soup, and placed it in front of him, saying, "Be careful, it's hot."
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