Chapter 884: Chop!

The tax officer was stunned for a moment, raised his hand to wipe the oily sweat from his face, his eyes bulging out.

He stared at Lin Jiang and asked, "Lin, what did you say?"

Lin Jiang sat on the ground, lifted his head to look at him, his voice calm: "I said we won't pay, because we simply can't afford it."

The fat flesh on the tax officer's face twitched, then he erupted like thunder.

He stepped out from behind a soldier, yanked a whip strapped to his lower back, spittle spraying: "You guys want to be whipped again? Was the last whipping not enough?"

Lin Jiang neither dodged his gaze nor stood up.

He slowly raised his hand, tore open his collar, revealing several old, crisscrossing whip scars across his chest.

"If we pay, we won't survive," he hammered each word onto the ground, "so no matter how much you beat us, it won't work."

Lin Jiang turned and pointed at the villagers behind him: "Everyone's right here; if you want to strike, go ahead—kill us, we still can't pay."

The villagers began shouting all at once, each voice overlapping.

"Right! We can't pay! Even ten out of four is this hard, now seven? Are we even alive anymore?"

"If we pay, my son will have no food! Either way it's death, we won't pay!"

More people shouted, "If you want to beat us, beat us! Even if you kill us, we still won't pay!"

The shouts grew louder, the chaotic clamor merging into one.

The soldiers couldn't understand Zhongyuan speech, but seeing the restless crowd, they instantly raised their flintlock guns.

Twenty guns with blackened muzzles aimed at the villagers on the ground.

The shouting was cut off like a sword slice, suddenly stopping.

Some people's faces turned pale instantly, others clenched the arms of nearby relatives.

Lin Jiang scanned the villagers, his voice still steady: "Probably useless, just sit there, no need to say more."

He turned his head, eyes fixed on the tax officer, finger tapping his exposed chest: "You can beat or kill, start with me."

"But even if you kill us all, we still can't pay."

The tax officer was drenched in sweat.

He lowered his head to stare at Lin Jiang's old scar, then lifted his gaze to the black, silent crowd behind him.

Kill him?

At this rate, killing one is useless.

Why aren't these villagers afraid today? Usually they shrink their necks and hide when they see me.

All killed? No one works; who will plant the sugarcane and pay taxes later?

Governor wants silver, not a pile of corpses.

He gritted his teeth, raised his hand and pointed at Lin Jiang: "You wait! I'm going back to tell the Governor!"

After speaking, he pointed at the crowd on the ground, shouted a garbled string of words at the twenty soldiers, then jogged to the village entrance, vaulted onto his horse, and galloped toward Relanzhecheng.

He barreled through the Governor's mansion gate, and before he could catch his breath, he saw several colleagues already standing in the first‑floor hall.

Kui Yi and Mei Er sat in chairs, faces ashen, brows tightly knit.

A tax officer was reporting: "They just sat on the ground and said they can't pay, they won't pay!"

A few tax officers nearby nodded in agreement: "Right! Same here!"

Mei Er asked: "Did anyone lead the disturbance?"

The tax officers looked at each other, then shook their heads in succession. "No, they aren't noisy."

"Same on my side."

Mei Er furrowed his brows, slowly began: "There's a saying in Zhongyuan speech, 'fa bu ze zong'—meaning if everyone breaks the law, there's no way to punish."

He turned his head toward Kui Yi: "Looks like they've already conspired; if they raise taxes, they'll use this method against us."

Kui Yi sneered a few times: "I think they don't know my strength until they see blood!"

He glared at the tax officers before him: "Aren't they all just sitting still?"

"Then chop off their heads! All of you go back, bring knives, not guns. If they don't pay, cut—one by one!"

He paused: "I don't believe they can actually hold out! Trying to scare me? Dream on!"

"Yes! Governor!"

The tax officers shouted in unison, turned and surged toward the doorway.

On the warship, Xiao Yuanhang held his daughter, stared forward tightly, urging, "Hurry!"

Tuan Tuan clutched her father's neck: "Dad, how much longer until we arrive?"

Nearby, Xiao Ze gripped the ship's rail: "Almost there!"

The tax officer returned to the village clearing, carrying a large cleaver.

He strode up to the villagers, handed the cleaver to a soldier.

"The Governor says, if you don't pay, behead! One by one, cut!"

The villagers stirred into a commotion.

Some huddled together, others turned back, looking toward their homes deeper in the village.

The tax officer looked at the fear on everyone's faces and burst into a smug laugh: "Ha ha ha, scared now?"

"Scared, go get the silver! Pay now and you can live; don't pay, you die now!"

Lin Jiang slowly stood up.

He brushed dust from himself, looked at the tax officer: "Fine, then start with me."

Lin Shan sprang up, one hand gripping his arm: "No!"

Lin Jiang patted his hand back, lowered his voice and asked: "How long until noon?"

Lin Shan looked up at the sky: "Less than half an hour."

Lin Jiang nodded slightly: "Sit down, don't move."

Lin Shan's face was tightly wrinkled, he slowly sat back down.

Lin Jiang turned to the tax official: "Tax Official Sir, I'm about to be beheaded by you; could you let me go back to take one look at my wife and children?"

"Just one look, I'll be right back."

The tax official furrowed his brows tightly, sizing up Lin Jiang up and down.

Lin Jiang just stood there, quietly watching him, neither urging nor dodging.

After a moment, the tax official waved his hand: "Go! Hurry back!"

"Thank you." Lin Jiang turned around and said to the villagers, "Sit tight and don't move; wait for me to come back."

Having said that, he lifted his leg and walked toward his own courtyard.

Everyone's gaze followed his back until his silhouette disappeared into the gate of a small courtyard.

The open ground was silent.

The tax official crossed his arms, tapping his toes on the ground.

He waited left and right, but still couldn't see Lin Jiang return.

The tax official finally couldn't hold back, shouting at the top of his lungs: "Lin! Come out! Lin!"

The courtyard gate opened, and Lin Jiang walked out.

He walked back to the open ground at an even pace and stood before the tax official.

The tax official gave him a sideways glance, mouth twisting: "Lin, aren't you going to pay up?"

Lin Jiang nodded, saying nothing.

The tax official snorted, waving his hand at the soldiers.

Two soldiers walked up to Lin Jiang, roughly turned him around to face the villagers, and kicked him in the back of the knee.

Lin Jiang fell to his knees with a thud.

The two soldiers pressed down on his shoulders, forcing his head down.

The soldier holding the broadsword aimed at his neck and raised the blade high.

The blade hung in midair, reflecting the noon sunlight, flashing with a piercing cold light.

Some villagers closed their eyes, some covered their mouths; Lin Shan's face turned deathly pale, his two fists clenched tightly.

"Clang—! Clang-clang—!"

From the harbor direction came the alarm bell's sound—one hadn't faded before another burst forth, madly clamoring without cease.

Lin Jiang suddenly lifted his head: "Has the Imperial Court's navy arrived?"

The soldier's blade halted in midair.

The tax official muttered under his breath: "What other cargo ship is coming to dock?"

He shouted at the soldier raising the blade: "Don't stop!"

The soldier's broadsword was raised high again.

Lin Shan couldn't hold back, about to rise, but Lin Jiang gave him a glare, and he sat down again.

The tax official shouted loudly: "Chop!"