Chapter 178: Civil Officials Are Nothing, Cripple Him!
As Qi Huang’s voice fell Silent, the surroundings fell into a dead silence once more. Villagers looked at each other, trying to confirm if they had misheard. All they felt was fear!
“Pfft! Are you sure your mental state is normal?” Huang Tian, as the clone, spurted out on the spot. Others might not know the main body’s situation, but he did. If she were truly a “rich patron,” how could she have dragged on until now?
“I don’t know if I’m normal, but my mental state has always been like this,” Qi Huang replied uncertainly.
“Immortal Madam! Are you telling the truth? Did I hear that right? You’re going to buy a house for every family? Including me?”
“If you are truly willing to buy a house in the county town for our family, I am willing to repay you with my life’s labor.”
“Wuwuwu, if we can live in the county town, we won’t have to live in fear like this. Ever since the Wang family was killed by vengeful souls, I haven’t slept a wink!”
…
The villagers, after they reacted, still couldn’t believe it was true. After all, most of them didn’t have a particularly good relationship with “Huang Qi”; at most, it was just neighbors.
“Immortal Madam… No… Daughter-in-law! Aren’t you joking with everyone? Do you know how many families are in our village? A house for each family, how much money would that cost?” Li Fen asked worriedly. She didn’t want her daughter-in-law to have bragged due to her youth and ignorance. Just because the Immortal Madam has high cultivation doesn’t mean she has high intelligence.
“Let me calculate it for her! There are still twenty-one households in our village. Let’s say a house in the county town costs 300 taels of silver, so the total would be over 6,000 taels of silver!” Qu Zhen, finally finding an opportunity to retaliate, eagerly began counting on her fingers.
“What twenty-one households, it’s twenty! Your family is no longer part of Huatian Village, do you still want my elder brother to buy you a house?” He Chao corrected with disgust.
“Even if it’s twenty households! That’s still 6,000 taels of silver. That’s equivalent to a year’s tax revenue for the Ping’an County Yamen. Can she afford it? What a joke.” Qu Zhen said with a disdainful curl of her lips.
“Whether I can afford it or not is none of your concern. I’m buying it for the other elders and folks. They believe in me, and that’s all that matters.” Qi Huang directly distanced herself. Since this family was determined to stand against her and had committed many evils, she no longer needed to consider any blood ties.
“We believe you! You’re an Immortal Madam, how could you not afford a mere few thousand taels of silver?”
“Yes, every time she returned to Huatian Village, she spent money like water! Would she dare to do that without some strength?”
“I heard that cultivators can sell just one pill for over a thousand taels of silver. The pill that Old Master Huang gave to his son earlier should have been refined by her. 6,000 taels of silver is nothing, just a matter of a few pills.”
…
The villagers voiced their opinions one after another.
‘Hey, hey, hey! Don’t brag too much! Especially that elder brother who said that cultivators can sell just one pill for over a thousand taels of silver, I don’t know where you heard that? Even in the Cultivation World, very few can refine such valuable pills. Besides, I’m not an alchemist.’
Qi Huang felt a wry smile mixed with amusement. However, she was quite happy that these villagers thought highly of her.
“Alright! I’ll wait for you to buy them houses. You said it yourself, a person without integrity cannot stand. Don’t slap yourself in the face then.” Qu Zhen still didn’t believe her.
“Your worry is truly excessive. I’ll use your own words to answer you. With my looks, even if I don’t reveal my face, begging somewhere will get me more alms in a day than you earn in your entire life. Next time you reincarnate, polish your eyes and don’t choose such an ugly vessel.” Qi Huang taunted mercilessly.
“Who are you calling ugly? Someone who can’t even show her face! How long have you been in Huatian Village? You don’t even dare to take off your veil, yet you have the nerve to call others ugly. You probably have a face full of pus.” Qu Zhen, like a dwarf, was hit where it hurt and immediately went mad.
“So what if I don’t take off my veil? Shall I ask everyone if we two are ugly?” Qi Huang shook her head pitifully.
“Of course Qu Zhen is ugly! Does this even need to be asked? Sister-in-law, you’re far superior to her just by your figure alone.”
“You woman are not only ugly but also stupid! Ask the villagers present, have they ever heard of an Immortal Madam from an Immortal Sect having a face full of pus?”
…
He Chao and Liu Keqian retorted.
“Yes, I’ve only heard that Immortal Madams are all extremely beautiful, chosen from a hundred!”
“That’s a cultivator! How could she get any skin disease? No one would believe that if it got out!”
“This woman is truly irremediably stupid. Knowing that the other person is an Immortal Madam, she still dares to argue here.”
“That’s what a frog in a well is like! She thought she could do whatever she wanted just because she’s a woman! Little did she know that the other person is not only a woman but also a cultivator, and she has more halos around her than she does!”
…
The villagers were in an uproar. Qu Zhen gritted her teeth in hatred but was powerless against the crowd. She could only turn to Huang Bo and say, “Husband! Husband, say something!”
Huang Kaiyou’s family looked at each other, but no one spoke. After all, there were few people in this world with thicker skin than Qu Zhen, who could argue with everyone without changing her expression even when she was in the wrong.
“Speak what? We didn’t come here today to argue with you all! We still need to grandly send the Wang family of three up the mountain. Whether you come or not is up to you!” Huang Tian, seeing his main body so imposing, also made a rare statement. After all, in the eyes of everyone, he was not a clone but the eldest son of the Huang family. It wouldn’t be right if he didn’t step out and say a few words.
“Big brother is right, I can’t be bothered with them! It’s more important to handle the important matters!” He Chao also agreed.
As the villagers were about to act, an accident occurred again. A clear sound of horse hooves approached from afar. Everyone went out to look in confusion, and four or five civil officials quickly arrived at the courtyard gate.
“I am Constable Cao from the Yamen. What are you all gathered here for?” The middle-aged civil official, dressed as a constable, who was leading the group, asked from his high horse.
“Has the Ping’an County Yamen changed constables again? It seems to be a high-risk profession!” Qi Huang thought with a slight start.
“Reporting to Constable Cao, someone in our village passed away, so we are planning to bury them!” Huang Kaiyou hurriedly explained, his expression extremely fawning, completely forgetting that he had already been expelled from the “village registry” by everyone.
“When did they die?” Constable Cao asked, frowning.
“They’ve been dead for five or six days.” Huang Kaiyou continued to answer.
“Has this matter been reported to the Yamen?” Constable Cao continued to question.
“No… no!” Huang Kaiyou stammered in reply.
“Why wasn’t it reported to the Yamen? Don’t you know that whenever someone dies in a place, it must be reported to the Yamen within three days?” Constable Cao dismounted with a dark expression, followed by his four subordinates. It seemed they were not going to let it go easily.
“I… I know, but… but this matter isn’t my responsibility!” Huang Kaiyou said in trepidation. He never dreamed that his fawning would make him the first to be targeted.
“Pa!” Constable Cao suddenly acted, kicking Huang Kaiyou to the ground, and then sternly questioned, “Then who is responsible here? Where is your village informant? Where is your village chief?”
‘Serves you right for fawning!’ Qi Huang muttered with a cold smile, feeling inexplicably relieved.
“My lord, spare me! Our village only has about twenty households left! The informant and the village chief are long dead! It’s my nephew Huang Qi who is in charge now.” Huang Kaiyou quickly knelt and begged for mercy. None of his family members, who were standing nearby, stepped forward to plead for him.
“Who is Huang Qi?” Constable Cao asked, looking up.
“I am Huang Qi!” Huang Tian walked forward without fear.
“You are the person in charge of this village? Why wasn’t the death reported after four or five days? Do you know this violates the law?” Constable Cao continued to question with a dark face.
“I apologize, my lord! This village needs me to protect it, and I really can’t get away!” As the saying goes, ordinary people shouldn’t fight with officials. Huang Tian still intended to use diplomacy first before force.
“I don’t care what your reason is! If you violate the law, you must be punished!” Constable Cao raised his leg and kicked towards Huang Tian again. Huang Tian was not a useless person like Huang Kaiyou, so he dodged nimbly. However, this was clearly not very damaging to him, but extremely insulting, so a trace of anger appeared on his face. However, without the main body’s permission, he did not dare to act rashly.
“Bold lowly ant! You dare to dodge?” Constable Cao, enraged, drew his long saber and began to chase and hack at Huang Tian. Huang Tian’s anger gradually turned into killing intent, but he was still waiting for Qi Huang’s command.
“My lord, don’t be impulsive! Let’s talk properly!” Li Fen, greatly alarmed, was about to go and stop them but was held back by Qi Huang.
“Mother! Don’t worry! Did you forget he’s a cultivator? How can ordinary people hurt him?” Qi Huang comforted her. Li Fen relaxed upon hearing this but then became worried again, “What if he hurts the other party? That’s someone from the Yamen!”
“Hurt the other party? Then he can go stay in jail! It seems like the feast today can’t happen. Heaven doesn’t want you to proceed!” Qu Zhen immediately sneered loudly upon hearing this, showing no concern for her father-in-law.
“Is that so? Don’t forget, in the Cultivation World, cultivators are superior to everything else. So what if they are civil officials?” Qi Huang sneered, then transmitted mentally to Huang Tian, “Stop hiding, and cripple him!”
