The Sealed Beasts of the Divine Realm, Part 14
"You're a villain, you're a villain," Xie Guijin repeated several times, his wicked humor kicking in.
The old man's face turned ashen.
“The imperial court has never strictly prohibited people from migrating. As long as there is a reasonable reason, people can move their households,” Xie Guijin said, bending down and staring intently at the old man. “Why do you not allow the Bai family members to migrate? Is it because without the clan members, there would be no arrogant clan leader like you? Are the clan rules you set above the law?”
The old man's beard trembled with anger, and he could barely speak: "Nonsense, utter nonsense."
The rich young master, who kept crying and demanding money to redeem his life, had two lines of tears on his face. He tried his best to shrink himself into a ball, his head hanging down to his chest. His mind raced, trying to think if he had done anything wrong. He felt wronged no matter how much he thought about it, but he dared not speak up to defend himself.
The beautiful woman spoke timidly, "I was forced into prostitution. Ever since I entered the brothel, I have been bullied. You two upright officials have brought me here to seek justice for me, haven't you?"
Seeing how pitiful she sounded, Xie Guijin sighed and said, "You are indeed a victim as well."
Upon hearing this, the courtesan's eyes lit up with hope.
Xie Guijin continued, "You are worthy of sympathy for being bullied and powerless to resist, but it is also wrong for you to vent your grievances on disabled people who are weaker than you."
The light in the courtesan's eyes gradually dimmed.
For a moment, the mountain god temple was completely silent.
Xue Linchuan blew on a tinderbox to light the cracked ceramic oil lamp on the altar in front of the mountain god statue.
By the dim light, Xue Linchuan moved a low altar table to another corner of the mountain god temple, cleared away the clutter, laid a thick layer of dry grass on it, and then put a layer of clothes on top before telling Xie Guijin to rest.
"To make it seem more real and to confuse Qiongqi, you must wake me up in the middle of the night, and we'll take turns keeping watch for half the night," Xie Guijin whispered in Xue Linchuan's ear, tugging at his sleeve.
“Okay,” Xue Linchuan turned his head to agree, only to realize that the two of them were very close, their breaths mingling. He felt his heart stop beating, his throat tighten, and he said in a hoarse voice, “You should go to sleep.”
The group of people huddled diagonally opposite the mountain god temple didn't see what was happening. They were starving and thirsty, and they couldn't figure out Xie and Xue's tactics. No one dared to ask for water and food, so they could only endure it in silence.
Finally, dawn broke.
Xie Guijin and Xue Linchuan got up, tidied themselves up, and went out of the temple. They took out the buckwheat pancakes and dried pork strips they had bought in town the day before, and ate them with relish while enjoying the scenery and hot spring water.
After saying this, he covered his face and went into the temple.
The young master couldn't bear it any longer and pleaded hesitantly, "Please, two heroes, have mercy and give me some food."
Xie Guijin held a bunch of wild grapes she had picked outside, and glared at them with a sneer, saying sarcastically, "Don't you often forbid your servants from eating, saying you need to 'cool them down'? What? You can't take it when it's your turn? It's only been a short time, it's far less than when you starve them for three days at a time."
Upon hearing this, the young master felt as if he had misheard. How could those servants compare to him, a dignified young master? The young master was filled with grievances and his face was full of resentment.
Xie Guijin held the thorny grape, aimed, and with a whoosh, threw it at the young master's forehead. The pulp exploded on the young master's forehead, leaving a splatter of rose-colored fruit stain on his face.
It's not very harmful, but extremely insulting.
Those who had similar experiences felt deeply sympathetic and closed their eyes, unable to bear watching any longer.
The others, however, were even more convinced that Xie Guijin and the other person would not cause them any real harm, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.
But the young master had never suffered such humiliation. He lacked the survival wisdom of a woodcutter or a courtesan, and he was far less adept at reading people and avoiding danger like the head of the Bai family or a minor official.
He felt like his lungs were about to explode with rage. He did often forbid his servants from eating and frequently beat and scolded them, but what did that matter? It was just a master disciplining his servants. If it weren't for the meddlesome Emperor Taizu who insisted on establishing a law that stipulated a master who killed a servant would pay with his life, what big deal would be the killing of a servant in the previous dynasty?
The young master was indignant and could no longer bear it, so he loudly insulted Xie Guijin.
Xie Guijin was momentarily stunned; the young master dared to resist so fiercely.
Xue Linchuan had already stepped forward and knocked the young master unconscious.
The mountain god temple fell silent once again.
Xie Guijin looked around and saw that everyone was avoiding her gaze.
She stood there for a moment, then pulled Xue Linchuan out of the mountain god temple and suggested, "Since we have nothing to do here and nothing bad can happen, why don't we go and catch some more?"
Xue Linchuan naturally agreed.
The system anxiously advised, "Host, it's already the sixth day. You only have less than two days left, and you haven't caught half of the ferocious beasts yet. Is your method of catching Qiongqi even going to work? And aren't you really going to go back to the manor to check on it?"
"Most of the evil people in the human realm are locked up in prison. If Qiongqi goes to the prison to eat their noses, that would be openly opposing the human race and would also reveal its whereabouts." Xie Guijin and Xue Linchuan led the carriage down the mountain.
While admiring the scenery, Xie Guijin said, "Once it leaves a trace, it will be noticed by the divine realm. Erlang Zhenjun's Temple of Justice is not just for show."
"Those heinous criminals who escaped capture by sheer luck, Qiongqi should have guessed that the Temple of Justice would be keeping watch around them. If it dared to show itself, it would be caught." Passing by a few loquat trees, Xie Guijin reached out and picked some.
Xie Guijin gave Xue Linchuan a few wild loquats, and took one for herself, peeling it as she said, "As for the people I captured, they are everywhere in the human realm and will not be monitored by the divine realm. With me and Xue Linchuan being two Jianghu people who can take the blame, how could it not come? When these people lose their noses, it can cast a spell on all of us and cover it up."
“These loquats are so sweet, I’ll pick some more when I get back,” Xie Guijin said to Xue Linchuan first, then to the system, “It has been suppressed for over ten thousand years, isn’t it normal for it to eat these people’s noses to satisfy its cravings? Don’t worry, it will come.”
Seeing that Xie Guijin had eaten several loquats in a short time and still seemed unsatisfied, the system was speechless and cried out in despair, "Don't think that just because you're greedy, Qiongqi is like you!"
"Well, but Qiongqi was defined as a ferocious beast precisely because it likes to eat people." Xie Guijin squatted by the river, washing the loquat juice off her hands with river water.
After washing it, she stood up, shook her hands, and concluded, "Regardless of what it eats, it must be very greedy. Control your cravings."
“Alright,” the system conceded, but then it had a new question: “Is the Minister of Justice really that capable? How could she collect such a complete list of petty villains and misdeeds in such a short time, when the southwest is thousands of miles away from the capital?”
“Because all laws need to be improved over time, I guess the Empress had long intended to reform them and arranged for relevant cases to be collected from various places and compiled into the Ministry of Justice, which is why she was able to provide them to me in such a short time.” After Xie Guijin finished speaking, she asked Xue Linchuan, the Empress’s confidant and former Prefect of the Capital, to confirm, and received the answer that this was indeed the case.
Upon arriving in the nearby villages, Xie Guijin and Xue Linchuan launched a new round of arrests.
Xie Guijin assured the system that there would be no problems at the villa, everything was arranged, and Chaos would definitely be caught, telling it not to worry unnecessarily.
After Xie and Xue left, the people in the mountain temple were all worried about the young master's life or death.
They looked at each other, and asked in unison, "Is he dead?"
It's obvious that you won't get an answer by asking.
With their hands and feet bound, the men were unable to move easily. In contrast, the muscular woodcutter and the minor official were young and strong, and could try to move over to check on the young master's life or death.
The minor official had a higher social status. In this small mountain god temple, only the muscular woodcutter managed to wriggle to the young master's side, bend down and put his ear to the young master's chest to listen, then raise his head and put his face close to the young master's nostrils.
Under the watchful eyes of the remaining people, the muscular woodcutter slowly straightened up and said, "He's not dead, he just passed out."
Upon hearing this, the scholar and his companions breathed a long sigh of relief. They were once again certain that Xie and Xue would not kill them, nor would they cripple them, or even truly injure them. At most, they would just scare them and let them go hungry for a few meals.
They encouraged each other: "Hang in there, you'll be put back."
They encouraged each other like this until Xie Guijin and Xue Linchuan brought back another carload of people.
Earlier today than yesterday, after dropping the person off, Xue Linchuan took Xie Guijin to hunt wild game.
Soon, Xie Guijin was enjoying fragrant bamboo rice, sizzling roasted bamboo rats, pheasant soup with wild mushrooms, and pickled vegetables dipped in chili powder.
This is truly a heavenly life.
Xie Guijin thought happily.
The system was extremely worried, as another day had passed and Xie Guijin had only been focused on eating.
As night fell, Xue Linchuan lit the ceramic oil lamp and made the bed.
Xie Guijin, surprisingly carefree, decided to go to sleep.
The system is really getting anxious and angry.
At 0:00 (the second quarter of the Zi hour), Xue Linchuan and Xie Guijin changed shifts.
Xue Linchuan got up and went to call Xie Guijin.
A gust of cold wind blew in through the broken doors and windows, extinguishing the ceramic oil lamp.
Xie Guijin, who seemed to be fast asleep, rolled over and sat up. Together with Xue Linchuan, some drew their swords and others drew their blades, shouting, "Who's there?"
The only answer they received was the sound of the wind.
The two men, weapons in hand, stood back to back on guard, and nothing happened for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
The system, initially tense by the two of them, deflated and said irritably, "Why are you two making such a fuss? You're practically sick."
Xie Guijin cleared his throat and said, "Senior brother, it seems you're alright. It's just the wind. I'll light the lamp, you can go to sleep."
“Okay,” Xue Linchuan said in a deep voice, then squeezed Xie Guijin’s hand tightly in the darkness before letting go.
Xie Guijin groped her way to the altar and blew on the tinderbox.
She leaned closer to light the lamp, but suddenly a monster with spiky horns, a face covered in white fur, and an eagle-like beak appeared before her.
"Ah!" Xie Guijin screamed, dropping the tinderbox in her hand to the ground.
The monster let out a wolf howl and grinned at Xie Guijin.
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