Chapter 384: Seeing Injustice on the Road, Drawing a Blade to Help

The joys and sorrows of the human world are not all the same.

Some people live in luxury, yet spend their days fretting over the seasons and feigning illness, or engaging in power struggles in one corner, or playing treacherous games in high halls; yet for others, even having a full meal every day is a luxury.

There are even worse types: those who have no capacity for sorrow or joy, who are lazy and hate work, who cannot empathize with the suffering of others and trample upon their pain to highlight their own mediocre status—commonly known as using a chicken feather as a token of authority.

When Long Qi and his group arrived at the village where Caiwei was, there was a tense standoff outside the village.

It was just an Outside-City Village; what kind of conflict could there be?

The group did not know what had happened, nor did they dare to approach rashly, so they tiptoed around the conflict and climbed into the village.

The village was very busy now; overnight, many infants had appeared, and the already insufficient manpower was now even more chaotic.

Most of the people in the village were young, and before being driven out of the city, most were weak and sickly. Fortunately, they met Caiwei, and under her diagnosis and care, they became full of vigor, and some even learned martial arts from Colonel Gan.

It was precisely because they were young that they did not know much about looking after children or the postpartum care of women; at most, they had only heard elders talk about it when they were children.

Moreover, as ordinary farmers, many women had to go to the fields to work a few days after giving birth—they were too busy struggling to survive to even talk about a full month of postpartum rest.

Because of this, the men in the village did not know the importance of postpartum care for women, and most of the women were first-time mothers who did not intend to observe the postpartum month, but only agreed to it one by one because Caiwei insisted.

Long Qi and the others snuck into the village and, after much effort, finally found Caiwei, who was overwhelmed, and only after asking did they learn the reason for the conflict outside the village.

It turned out that since that day, the Corpse Demons had gradually decreased, and the world had become relatively calm. Thus, the Imperial Court issued a decree ordering all localities to recruit and pacify the Outside-City Villages.

This was originally a good thing, but unfortunately, the local Commandery Magistrate was a muddled official.

The Commandery Magistrate's position in the city had been bought by his family; he was actually a good-for-nothing who relied on his private secretary for everything.

Originally, this Commandery Magistrate kept to himself, and his reputation was passable, but the trouble was that he listened only to his nephew, which not only chilled the heart of his loyal private secretary but also led to many absurd incidents.

That nephew was also a good-for-nothing.

At the time, the Imperial Court's intention was to wait until people died before sending them out of the city, but the Commandery Magistrate was greedy for life and afraid of death, terrified that the disaster would reach him. The nephew came up with a damaging idea: whenever a seriously ill person was discovered, they were driven out one by one to fend for themselves, and he even gave it the high-sounding name: "taking precautions before it rains."

Now that the Living Corpses had sharply decreased, various places received the Imperial Court's decree ordering the local authorities to pacify the people outside the villages and even dispatched officials to inspect, which panicked the Commandery Magistrate:

The current Emperor was diligent and loved the people, governing the world strictly; if the Imperial Court discovered what they had done, it would not just be the loss of their official positions, but their very lives might be at stake.

Because of this, the scene that Long Qi and the others saw outside the village occurred.

The leading officer was also a relative of the Commandery Magistrate's family; he was relatively reasonable and had studied for a few years. He knew deeply that the Commandery Magistrate was in the wrong, but due to orders, he had to make this trip. However, he ordered his subordinates not to clash with the people and kept stalling, only shouting a few times outside the village to let the people inside be on guard.

But somehow, this matter reached the ears of the Commandery Magistrate, who led that incompetent nephew, waddling over in a hurry, scolded the officer severely, and ordered the bailiffs to storm the village.

This worried the accompanying private secretary—they were already in the wrong, and to act like this, wasn't it just compounding their mistakes?

But with villains fanning the flames on the side, and the private secretary being of low status and little influence, he was scolded by the Commandery Magistrate and could not stop him at all.

The leading officer had no choice; he could have stalled for a while longer, but since his muddled Commandery Magistrate had arrived, he had to follow orders and attack.

The two sides began to fight, and Colonel Gan led the men in the village to resist with all their might. But firstly, even if the village men had learned some martial arts, they were no match for the bailiffs who patrolled for public order all day; secondly, the weapons they could produce in the village were nothing more than hoes and sticks, which could not compare to the sharp forks and blades in the hands of the bailiffs.

Before long, Colonel Gan's side was defeated; the people in the village were bruised and swollen, and those who weren't injured were pinned down by water-and-fire staves, unable to move.

Already at a disadvantage and now defeated, the village side had no morale left. Colonel Gan knew this was a great taboo in military strategy, but with people captured in front and women and children behind, he was truly in a dilemma.

The Commandery Magistrate was confident of victory, ordering his men to press the attack while calculating how to deal with the villagers, but just then, several figures flashed out. In the blink of an eye, there was a scene of chaos, and the bailiffs who had been holding the villagers fell to the ground, wailing and unable to get up for a long time.

The sudden change startled the Commandery Magistrate so much that he nearly fell, and it was only thanks to the support of his sycophantic nephew that he managed to steady himself.

"W-who is it! How dare you act presumptuously in front of this official!" The Commandery Magistrate was so scared he couldn't even speak clearly.

The newcomers included one with a flamboyant braid, carrying a large sword but moving with agility, and one with a fair face and an upright posture; they were none other than Long Qi and Liu Xia.

Seeing that the newcomers were young and seeing the two protecting the villagers behind them, the Commandery Magistrate was consumed with rage, scolding the fallen bailiffs on one hand and cursing Long Qi and Liu Xia on the other.

The private secretary was, after all, knowledgeable; although the two before him were dressed plainly, their brows and eyes were full of heroic spirit, especially the fair-faced scholar, who was filled with an air of nobility at a glance—he was clearly no ordinary person.

The private secretary was just about to remind the Commandery Magistrate, but the Commandery Magistrate was furious and didn't give him the chance, shouting for the bailiffs to quickly capture the two.

But as soon as the words fell, a slightly youthful voice came from the village gate.

"Let's see who dares!"

The Commandery Magistrate was stunned for a moment, then became even more incensed.

Damn it, someone actually dared to challenge him in front of the "Grand Duke," and they didn't even bother to find out whose territory this was!

"Who! Which little bastard! Why don't you come out and kowtow to your grandfather!"

These words were very harsh; Liu Xia couldn't help but want to step forward to teach the Commandery Magistrate a lesson, but was pulled back by Long Qi. Long Qi gave Liu Xia a look, and although the latter was unwilling, he understood his meaning.

The two retreated to the sides with the villagers, and a youth in a green Daoist Robe appeared, walking leisurely with his hands behind his back; it was Zhao Wuyang, and following behind him was Xin Yi, whose burly figure looked like a loyal guard.

The private secretary was shocked to see this; he had thought the previous person had an extraordinary temperament, but he hadn't expected that the one before him was even more remarkable, making one feel ashamed of their own inferiority.

Who is this person? How could he have such an imposing manner?

The private secretary was filled with shock and suspicion; although he didn't know who this person was, he was definitely no ordinary man!

But the Commandery Magistrate was unaware that disaster was imminent and continued to clamor.

The private secretary shook his head incessantly, knowing that the Commandery Magistrate would certainly not have a good end, so he pulled the officer back; the officer also understood the private secretary's meaning, and the two looked at their noses and hearts, not saying another word.

Heaven's sins may be forgiven, but one who brings disaster upon oneself cannot live.