"Son, go report this to the authorities immediately! This kind of unscrupulous merchant must be reported to the authorities. He dares to sell anything. I'll make you pay until you're bankrupt! Just refunding the money isn't enough now. You have to pay compensation, ten taels of silver for each candle! Otherwise, I'll smash your shop!"
"Taoist priest, please, could you sell me a few talismans? My children have all turned pale after smelling this candle."
Upon hearing the old Taoist priest's words, the customers who had come to return the candles all dropped them.
They were cursing and swearing, but the shadow in their hearts was immense.
Two of them had bad tempers and even laid a hand on He Chuwei.
He Chuwei took several punches.
He lay sprawled on the ground, like a dead dog.
Many people surrounded the old Taoist priest, wanting to buy some talismans to take home.
Unfortunately, the old Taoist priest had been wandering for a long time, and only three talismans remained on his person.
He doesn't sell it for money.
He gave the remaining two cards to the two women who were most tainted by the corpse's aura, and then left.
Before leaving.
He also left behind a sentence.
"You don't need to pester me to buy talismans. Just follow my instructions and everything will be fine in a while. If you're really scared, go find a temple and have a monk chant some sutras for you."
The old Taoist priest was very carefree. He knew that there were no Taoist temples around Shuxian County, so he simply told these people to go directly to the temples to find monks.
After all, if we follow his method, nothing will go wrong.
Fear is nothing more than a feeling within oneself.
The temple will surely put their minds at ease.
After everyone watched the old Taoist priest leave, the officials arrived.
The man who had reported to the authorities directed the crowd to make way, shouting, "The officials are here! Make way, make way!"
Everyone obediently moved to both sides.
Five government officials swaggered through the crowd and arrived at the entrance of He's incense and candle shop.
"Someone came to report to the authorities that your shop sells corpse oil candles?"
The leading officer lowered his head and asked He Chuwei, who was lying on the ground. He saw that He Chuwei's face was bruised and swollen, and he looked like a pig's head from being beaten.
The two waiters also ran away in the chaos and disappeared, so no one helped him.
"I don't know. I bought these candles from someone else. I didn't know they were made of corpse oil. Sir, please investigate thoroughly. It really has nothing to do with me. I don't know anything."
He Chuwei is not even twenty years old.
I've never seen anything like this before.
After being beaten, he became completely dejected.
Upon hearing the official's question, he quickly distanced himself from the matter.
His voice was trembling terribly.
"That's good, you guys, shut down the shop and take this guy back for questioning!"
The head constable gave instructions to his four subordinates.
The two men shut down the He family's incense and candle shop, and the other two men put shackles on He Chuwei, fearing that he would run away.
The crowd cheered with joy.
"Good riddance! Sir, please torture him severely. Such a heartless person should not live in this world!"
"Yes, it would be better to kill him. No, let's not kill him. Let's return the money to us first before killing him."
"I have to hurry home. Luckily, the old Taoist priest gave me some talisman paper. I'm going to burn it into talisman water so that everyone in my family can drink a sip. Otherwise, I'm really scared."
"Yes, yes, I'm going home too. I'll bury that candlestick right away. The thought of corpse oil dripping on it gives me the creeps."
“Oh dear, I’m so stupid. I didn’t use a candlestick. I lit it in the yard and put it directly on the stone table. What should I do? I can’t just bury the stone table, can I? Fine, I don’t want this stone table anymore. I’ll have my sons carry it outside the city and throw it away.”
"I don't even want these hands anymore. The thought of those corpses keeps haunting my mind. It's all because of that despicable bastard. I curse you to have sons without an anus!"
He Chuwei was escorted by officials.
Even after walking more than ten meters away, he could still hear the guests behind him cursing him.
His legs were shaking like a sieve.
When he heard that he was going to be taken back to the county government office, his heart was pounding in his chest.
I've heard that officials interrogate prisoners using torture and forced confessions!
He Chuwei had never suffered like this before.
He felt as if he were in the sweltering heat of summer, his undershirt soaked with cold sweat.
"Chu Wei? What's wrong? What did you do wrong?"
Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out beside him.
He Chuwei looked up and saw his biological father.
He Wanjiang.
He saw his own father standing on the side of the street, looking at him with a puzzled expression.
"Father, Father—"
"Help me! Help me! Go home and call my grandfather! Tell him to come and save me! Come to the county government office! I've been framed! Tell my grandfather to come quickly!"
He looked at He Wanjiang pleadingly.
Knowing that his biological father was unreliable, he urged his father to go home and inform his grandfather.
After all, only his grandfather could save him.
He was so flustered that he stammered and his sentences were incoherent.
"Let's get going!"
The officer shouted and kicked He Chuwei.
That finally shut him up.
Seeing this, He Wanjiang took off running home.
His only son is in trouble; no matter how irresponsible he is, he can't just abandon his son.
"Father, hurry, hurry, hurry to the county government to save Chu Wei!"
Fifteen minutes later, He Wanjiang ran home.
He knocked on the door and ran into He Shanhu's house.
He said, panting heavily.
"Save Chu Wei? Quickly drink some water and speak properly. What happened to Chu Wei?" He Shanhu had never seen his own son so anxious.
He picked up his teacup and offered it to He Wanjiang's lips.
He Wanjiang took a big gulp and then took several deep breaths.
That relieved the situation considerably.
"Chu Wei, Chu Wei has been arrested by the officials! I don't know what happened. I just came back from the brothel and happened to see the officials escorting him to the county government. Chu Wei asked me to come back and tell you to hurry to the county government to save him. The officials are extremely fierce and even kicked my son. Father, stop dawdling and let's go quickly! If something happens to Chu Wei, our He family line will end!"
He Wanjiang was sweating profusely with anxiety.
He didn't return home all night. He woke up in a brothel in the morning, had breakfast, parted ways with his friends, and prepared to go home. On the way, he encountered his son who had been arrested.
"A brothel? You brat, didn't you sleep at home last night? How come you went to a brothel again? I'll settle the score with you later. Hurry up and help me put on my shoes, I can't bend over."
He Shanhu was furious when he heard that He Wanjiang had returned from the brothel.
But the most important thing now is to rescue my grandson.
Let's put our son's matter aside for now and deal with it later.
He was so worried that his grandson would be beaten by the officials that he became stiff with anxiety.
They couldn't even bend their backs.
He could only ask He Wanjiang to put shoes on him.
After an incense stick had burned, the father and son left the He family's house and headed straight for the county government office.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Shuangqiao Town's streets...
Yan Xia and Xiao Ji were shopping with Zhao'er.
Zhao'er has recovered enough to get out of bed. Since she didn't have any clothes to wear, Yan Xia took her to a clothing store to buy a few sets of clothes to change into, and also took her shopping so that she wouldn't feel cooped up after lying in bed for so many days.
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