Chapter 173
"Don't be so arrogant, young man!"
Upon hearing Fan Xiaoxiao's request, Village Chief Fu was so angry that his beard trembled three times. The ginkgo tree at the entrance of Ginkgo Village was their village's permanent tree; for Fan Xiaoxiao to move it was tantamount to wishing their entire village lineage to die out!
Fan Xiaoxiao raised her eyebrows, ignoring his expression. After handing Xiaobao over to Aunt Wang, she strolled over to the ginkgo tree and said, "Oh, am I being presumptuous to want this tree?"
The village chief was no longer maintaining his nonchalant demeanor. He stared intently at Fan Xiaoxiao's every move, his eyes filled with vigilance.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm the anger in his heart caused by Fan Xiaoxiao's request.
"Yes, that's right. And you guys can't carry this tree away by yourselves! I advise you to give up now!"
Fan Xiaoxiao drawled out an "oh," then patted the tree beneath her, and a series of thumping sounds came from the tree trunk.
What if I say, "No?"
"you!"
Village Chief Fu choked, and this time he was speechless for a long time while pointing at Fan Xiaoxiao.
Seeing the wealthy village chief get the short end of the stick, the female disciple shrugged and almost burst out laughing. This village chief, relying on his kinship with the elders, had never really given them, the disciples, any face.
Bringing Fan Xiaoxiao and the others along this time even meant defying the Heavenly Venerable's wishes. However, this ginkgo tree looked to be about the size of two people's arms, so it would indeed be difficult for Fan Xiaoxiao and her group to move it.
Thinking of this, the female disciple took two steps forward with a smile on her lips.
“Miss Xiaoxiao, this tree is quite large. If you really want it, I will go back and report to the sect and ask my fellow disciples to come and help you.”
Fan Xiaoxiao chuckled upon hearing this. It seemed that Village Chief Fu had offended the Tianshan Sect's disciples quite a bit in the past. While the words sounded like a simple offer to help her move the trees, the other party was actually subtly warning Village Chief Fu, letting him know who truly held the power.
As expected, after hearing the female disciple's words, Village Chief Fu's face turned extremely ugly. His small goatee trembled, and it took him a long time to find his voice and speak again.
"This tree won't do. All you want is a house to house your family, right? I promise you, I'll give you a whole plot of land at the foot of that mountain! Is that alright?"
Fan Xiaoxiao found it amusing. Did this rich village chief think they were all fools? Judging from his words, it seemed that he originally didn't even intend to give them the land there.
That place is so far from the village, and all they wanted to give them was a dilapidated house.
Autumn is coming quickly; winter will likely arrive soon. The dilapidated house they gave us doesn't even have a roof, and there's no land to cultivate. They're preventing us from having food next year!
"Ha, I really don't want that place anymore. The Heavenly Venerables have said I can choose any place I want, so I'll just take this tree and choose a bigger place. Why should I be so fixated on that mud house?"
After saying that, Fan Xiaoxiao bowed to the female disciple: "I will have to trouble you to find some fellow disciples. I don't need to dig up this tree whole, just cut it down to build a house for me."
"Alright, since Master has promised my wife, I'll go find some of my fellow disciples to come over now!"
The female disciple turned to go find someone with a lighthearted tone, but the village chief panicked and rushed forward, shouting, "No!! Folks! Outsiders are bullying us!!"
Don't let the village chief's thin appearance fool you; his voice was so powerful that the leaves on the trees trembled slightly.
Before long, a large number of villagers dressed in various colored linen clothes, carrying hoes, sickles, machetes and other farm tools, angrily rushed towards this direction.
The leader, a burly, dark-skinned man, glared with fierce eyes, his strong muscles bulging under his gray linen clothes.
"Village chief, what's wrong?! Are these bastards bullying you?! Let's teach them a lesson!"
After saying that, he raised the machete in his hand, looking as if he was about to attack Fan Xiaoxiao and the others at any moment.
"Tiger Three, they want to move this old ginkgo tree at the entrance of our village! They're even going to call the disciples from Tianshan to come and cut it down!"
The village chief briefly explained the reason, which enraged the tiger-eyed man, who then pointed at Fan Xiaoxiao's nose and launched into a tirade of abuse.
"You old hag, you're so young but you've got a lot of tricks up your sleeve! We already gave you the land! And you still want to bully us just because you think you can take advantage of the Heavenly Venerable! Even if we take this to the Heavenly Venerable himself, we won't give you this tree! Don't even think about it! If you insist on taking it, you'll have to ask the sickle in our hands first!"
Fan Xiaoxiao sneered and pulled a dagger from her bosom. Gu Zhongtai had given it to her after they arrived in Tianshan. She had tested it; it wouldn't be as sharp as cutting through iron, but it could chop through stone in no time.
She picked up the dagger and played with it, occasionally gesturing at it on the ginkgo tree, seemingly trying to find a better spot to strike.
"You keep saying you won't allow this or that. When the Heavenly Venerable granted me my terms, he said I could choose whatever I wanted. But after giving me a place that can't even shelter me from the wind and rain, you still don't plan to give us any land, and now you've brought the whole village to stop me from cutting timber. Ha, who do you think you are? And who can make decisions for you?"
After hearing this, the female disciple's almond-shaped eyes turned icy cold. She glanced at the angry villagers and silently gripped the signal arrow hidden in her sleeve.
The wealthy village chief noticed the female disciple's actions and his heart sank. He realized that his reaction had been far too embarrassing. If he truly caused the Celestial Venerable to lose face, then his group would likely be in serious trouble.
After listening to Fan Xiaoxiao's words, his expression changed, and finally he stared at her with a gloomy look in his eyes, stopping Hu San from stepping forward with one hand.
"You can choose another tree; there are plenty of trees around here. If needed, we can even help you, as long as you change your conditions."
Fan Xiaoxiao rubbed her chin and hissed, drawing out her words: "Hiss, changing the conditions... isn't out of the question."
Village Chief Fu's expression softened slightly, and he lowered his hand from Hu San's grasp: "Tell me, as long as the conditions aren't unreasonable, everything is negotiable!"
Fan Xiaoxiao jumped down from the ginkgo tree and walked back to the Fan family in front of all the villagers: "We are new here. As you know, we don't have any land. So, my condition is that the village allocate four mu of land to me! One mu must include grain!"
Fan Xiaoxiao did this to ensure her family would have food to eat in the winter. With land to grow winter vegetables like radishes and cabbages, plus the dried wolf meat, they could manage to get through the winter.
Village Chief Fu had also considered this point, and didn't think her condition was excessive. After all, the land belonged to the Tianshan Mountains; if they didn't agree to this condition, they would seem rather unreasonable!
Just as Village Chief Fu was about to agree through gritted teeth, a sharp-tongued woman behind him glared fiercely at Fan Xiaoxiao and shouted, "No! We won't give it to her!"
(End of this chapter)
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