Chapter 12: 12 The Sprouting of Taboos

A heavy crossbow?

Having this thing in the village is simply a dimensional strike; whoever it's aimed at is bound to die, including him.

Song Cheng was stunned.

He scanned toward Ding Sigu again.

【Strength: 5~5】

【Affinity: 50】

The second and third brothers of the Ding family hurried over to stop the bleeding for their eldest brother.

The second brother was completely at a loss.

The third brother, however, was quite calm; his eyes rolled, he leaned over to the second brother and whispered a few words, then said: "Go quickly!"

Ding Siyan had no complaints about being ordered around by his younger brother and hurried out the door.

Song Cheng took one look and saw that he was actually running toward his own home.

He immediately grew tense.

Should he risk a fight? This thought had barely surfaced before he immediately suppressed it.

How could he fight? At this moment, Song Cheng only felt a chill wash over him; he returned swiftly, back into his physical shell. Then he moved his hand, grabbing the Young Mistress of the house beside him.

Tong Jia knew he had only been out for half an incense stick's time, so she hadn't slept; seeing him move now, she consciously pressed against him, using the warmth of her body to warm him back up.

Song Cheng said quickly: "The Ding family's second brother is coming."

Tong Jia immediately grew tense, reaching out to grab the sickle by the bedside.

Song Cheng said: "Cripple Chen went for revenge and stabbed the Ding family's eldest brother. But he was killed by the others. Now that the Ding family's second brother is coming, he should be asking you to treat the wound."

He did not mention the matter of "colluding with bandits."

His Young Mistress had a fiery temper; just keeping this one thing hidden was already a strain.

If he added the "not-yet-happened collusion with bandits," her expression would likely not be able to be hidden from the Ding family's third brother.

The Ding family's third brother was only fourteen, yet possessed a ruthlessness mismatched to his age.

Tong Jia said: "Then what should we do?"

Song Cheng said: "If there are many people, go; if there are few, don't. I will go with you. If a fight breaks out, kill the Ding family's third brother first."

Tong Jia was about to get out of bed to put on her clothes, but was held back by Song Cheng.

"You don't know yet."

Sure enough, before long, a knocking sound came from Huichun Hall.

"Doctor Tong, Doctor Tong."

The anxious voice of the Ding family's second brother, Ding Siyan, rang out.

"Doctor Tong!"

Slap, slap, slap.

He knocked on the door repeatedly.

After a long while, Tong Jia's voice finally came from inside the room.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Ding Siyan.

Doctor Tong, my eldest brother is dying; he was stabbed by a vicious thug, in the chest, you... you... please come with me quickly."

"It's too late," Tong Jia demurred, her tone clearly indicating she didn't believe him.

Ding Siyan immediately remembered what the third brother had said and hurriedly replied: "Doctor Tong, how about this: I'll go call the night watchmen first, and then I'll call all the fellow villagers over too. You... you can rest assured then, alright?"

Seeing that Tong Jia was still hesitating, a sound of someone kneeling suddenly came from outside the door, followed immediately by "thud, thud, thud" sounds, accompanied by Ding Siyan's pleading: "I'm kowtowing to you, I'm begging you."

In the darkness, Tong Jia put on her embroidered shoes and wrapped herself in a cotton-padded jacket; she tilted her head to look at the man beside her.

Song Cheng squinted as he looked at the information in the distance.

Ding Siyan's affinity was changing, from 50 to 60, and there was even a trend of it rising further.

Combining the various circumstances, Song Cheng judged... he probably wasn't lying.

The three Ding brothers were the roots of the village and were also the nephews of the village head; if Tong Jia didn't save him, it would bring great trouble.

Thus, he nodded.

Tong Jia said: "Fine, but you call more people. If your eldest brother was truly stabbed, you must call the village head as well."

Ding Siyan said excitedly, over and over: "Thank you, Doctor Tong, thank you, Doctor Tong. I'll go call them right now, don't you worry."

At this moment, his affinity changed directly from 60 to 80.

A moment later.

A large crowd of people gathered at the Ding residence in the middle of the deep winter night.

When Tong Jia and Song Cheng arrived, they could already hear all sorts of voices.

"Yun E, how could you collude with your lover to harm those three Ding children? We searched yesterday, didn't we? Could it be that you hid the money yourself, wanting to keep it all, and wouldn't give it to Shi Popo to use?"

"I didn't, I... I didn't at all."

"Look at the Ding family's eldest brother, his chest has been pierced through; what a cruel heart you have.

A child, and you could still bring yourself to do it, and even had your lover do the deed."

"Cripple Chen is not my lover, I have nothing to do with him."

"If he's not your lover, then why did he help you search the house yesterday, and why did he come to kill in the middle of the night? This is what a lover does."

"You slutty fox, born beautiful, you were born to seduce men!"

"You vixen, why don't you just go die!"

"Go die!"

Yun E had already been scolded into a daze.

She stared blankly at the corpse on the ground, suddenly let out a shriek, and turned to run, but was grabbed by someone who said viciously, "Wait for the Village Chief to come and handle this!"

And it seemed someone noticed Tong Jia and hurriedly said, "Tong Dafu is here."

The crowd parted, and Tong Jia hurried forward, taking a look at the youth who hadn't moved on the ground.

Song Cheng, however, glanced at Yun E.

Needless to say, this practiced inversion of black and white was once again the handiwork of the third Ding brother.

To the side, the Village Chief walked out; he was holding a leather bag in one hand, and with the other, he was tossing the confiscated crossbow into the bag.

He had just asked, and this crossbow was something the three children had picked up outside; it was likely left behind somewhere by mountain bandits after a fierce battle with grain merchants, and they had kept it thinking it was fun, only to end up killing Chen Quezi who had come knocking. However, it was ultimately no good to keep such a murder weapon, so he confiscated it.

As for Yun E's paramour, he was being dragged away by the villagers, who said they would bury him shallowly in a patch of wasteland.

This "partiality" was biased enough; Song Cheng only felt that if it were him, he wouldn't be surprised if the corpse were just thrown to the wild dogs. At this moment, the Village Chief said, "Tong Dafu, sorry for the trouble. Just treat Ding Siyu; as for the rest, it depends on the child's fate."

Tong Jia said no more and performed a quick examination. The Cripple's blade seemed to have stabbed crookedly and failed to pierce the heart, so although the injury was severe, it was not yet fatal.

After a long while, and then even longer, Tong Jia treated the wound and then looked at the blade.

The blade was very sharp and had no rust.

She tossed the blade aside and looked at the three Ding brothers, saying, "The injury is very severe; he must rest for at least two or three months before he can leave the bed. During this period, he also needs to take some medicinal decoctions to accelerate healing and remove the weapon's malevolence."

The Village Chief said, "Tong Dafu, just prescribe it; I will pay for the medicine."

His own son had also been press-ganged away and hadn't been able to return, so now he truly felt like treating this third child of the second branch as his own.

On the bed, Ding Siyu also said weakly, "Thank you, Tong Dafu."

Song Cheng looked over.

The favorability of the eldest Ding brother had actually risen from 50 to 80, the second Ding brother's had changed from 80 to 90, and only the third Ding brother's had only risen to 60.

The Village Chief clapped his hands and said, "Everyone go back to your own homes first."

Then he looked fixedly at Yun E and said, "You go back first to look after Shi Popo, and behave yourself!"

The crowd dispersed, and many villagers pointed at Yun E, poking and prodding, cursing her as a "seductive fox," "seducing a paramour to kill someone's child," "embezzling silver," and "should be put in a pig cage and sunk in the water pond."

Yun E trembled in fear.

The next day, early morning.

【You spent a harmonious night with Tong Jia and gained 6 spare points】.

【Add Points: 13 points】.

After Song Cheng got up, he silently continued to sharpen his blade.

His slender, weak fingers brushed over the blade, the rough rust making his skin ache.

*Shika, shika, shika*—he sharpened it with focus.

The rise in the three Ding brothers' favorability did not make him lower his guard, because he had discovered one thing: most of the people in this village were biased toward the three Ding brothers... perhaps the Village Chief was also a reason for this.

If one day, those three brothers did the same to him and Tong Jia, then the Young Mistress of the house would also be cursed as a "seductive fox"—who told the Young Mistress to also have such a beautiful face? In this village, those who are beautiful... are all seductive foxes, all seduce men, and therefore all deserve to be put in a pig cage.

Must leave this place!

But the Village Chief would not let them go.

Even if he and Tong Jia went to the county town, they would be unable to settle down or register as residents.

Tong Jia said, "Brother Cheng, I will go look into the matter of the cultivation technique for you again; Yun E is also quite pitiful."

Song Cheng nodded.

The rise in the three Ding brothers' favorability, as well as the eldest Ding brother being bedridden, would inevitably delay various events that would have otherwise occurred.

He still had time.

As for how to leave Tanghe Village... he began to ponder.

Around the afternoon, Tong Jia hurried back from outside, and following her were Yun E, as well as several people carrying Shi Popo on a wooden board.

Tong Jia leaned close to him and said quickly, "Shi Popo is not going to make it; the villagers say this was caused by Yun E. If Shi Popo dies, the people in the village are going to put Yun E in a pig cage and sink her in the water pond."

Song Cheng said softly, "You and I both know that is not the case at all."

Tong Jia said, "Who would believe that? If you say it out now, they will just think we are Yun E's accomplices."

Song Cheng did not turn his head, yet he could hear Yun E's miserable crying, and could also hear many curses; those words were more unpleasant than the last.

"Do they not believe Yun E at all?"

"Even the Village Chief doesn't believe her, who would?"

Tong Jia replied, then said, "I must hurry to treat Shi Popo."

Song Cheng turned his head to look in the direction of Yun E, who was being pointed at by a thousand fingers and insulted in every way, when suddenly... his pupils constricted.

In the ink-wash world, a spot of glaring, horrifying blood-red suddenly appeared; that blood-red looked like a firefly that had lightly landed where Yun E was.

Song Cheng recalled.

His heart began to shake violently.

*Holy shit*, isn't what Yun E is experiencing the way an "evil Ghost" is formed in certain horror movies? A beautiful woman from out of town, bullied in every way by narrow-minded villagers, finally killed while harboring a grievance, her resentment deep, thereby turning into a Ghost... Song Cheng looked at the blood-red firefly landing on Yun E's shoulder, listening to the villagers continue to insult her, and he understood... the villagers couldn't see this blood-red at all.

This is "Forbidden Programming."

And Yun E... is being programmed into this code... his body even began to tremble.

Compared to a Taboo, those three villains of the Ding family are nothing.

At this moment, he could no longer care about self-preservation; he hurriedly stood up and gave his Fine Blade a shake.

He did not want the Taboo to form.

The blade shook off the rust, revealing a sharp glint.

And the data beside him also changed from "2~2" to "3~3."

This meant that in a direct attack, he could defeat most people, but his stamina was insufficient, and he would be panting after a few strikes. If he encountered something like a crossbow, he would be pierced through the heart in one shot.

He returned the blade into its oiled scabbard, used it as a cane, and walked quickly toward Yun E.

"Sister-in-law Yun E, you've been tired all day, go back inside the room and rest."

Song Cheng leaned on his blade as he arrived at Yun E's side, blocked in front of her, and said politely, "Everyone, Shi Popo needs a quiet environment to recover from her illness. Sorry to trouble you all."

The villagers then slowly dispersed.

Song Cheng led Yun E into the room he used to sleep in and said softly, "Sister-in-law Yun E, don't take it to heart. Both the employer and I believe in your character."

Yun E, who was silent to the point of being somewhat eerie, suddenly raised her head and stared straight at Song Cheng.

Song Cheng suppressed the nervousness in his heart, revealed as sunny a smile as possible, and said, "Sister-in-law Yun E, get some good rest. I will guard the door for you, and no one will come in."

Saying this, he walked outside.

The door closed eerily.

Song Cheng sat on the threshold outside.

After a long while, a voice suddenly came from inside the room.

"I saw you sharpening your blade; Tong Dafu must have requested the cultivation technique for you. Then I will tell you the technique, and you kill Ding Siyu for me!"

Song Cheng was stunned for a moment.

Yun E really is kind; even now, she only hates one of the three Ding brothers.

"Alright."

He replied in a low voice.

Immediately, he felt Yun E leaning her back against the door from inside the room, and she began to softly recite the cultivation technique.

(End of chapter)