Chapter 641: Yamen

Chapter 639: The Yamen

"It's awful," Yang Hai said. "No one in the family has died, so why wear white?" He remembered that in the past, only families in mourning would wear white cloth on their heads.

"You don't understand, do you?" the old woman replied. "Once you wear this, the Bodhisattva of Shidu will protect us. You should wear one too."

"So, a piece of white cloth can bring a Bodhisattva's blessing? If it were that effective, there wouldn't be any poor people," Yang Hai sighed. Sometimes, he truly didn't know who was older between them.

Seeing five heads wrapped in white cloth in the carriage, Yang Hai said, "Let's get off here. This is the inn. We'll stay here tonight and leave tomorrow morning."

To the left of their carriage was an ordinary inn. The tables and stools looked as if they were coated with a sticky film, but this was precisely what Yang Hai wanted. Staying in a place that was too nice wasn't good; one shouldn't flaunt wealth.

The five of them sat around an octagonal table. When a dish of meat and three vegetable dishes were served, Yang Hai and Monkey Hai ate with great enjoyment. However, the old woman continued to suck on her stone.

"Auntie, please eat," Zhao Xiumei urged. "That won't fill you up."

"Oh, you eat your food," the old woman said. "This is good stuff."

Zhao Xiumei was about to say something else, but Yang Hai kicked her under the table.

Yang Hai had seen the old woman effortlessly smash other people's heads with stones. He suspected that her eating the stones might be some form of cultivation, similar to Senior Brother Li's practice.

It was better not to inquire about such private matters, lest he overstep his boundaries.

Next, Yang Hai changed the subject. "Elder, where are you going? We don't even know if our next lesson will be on the same path."

"Where am I going? I was originally coming here," the old woman said. "As for where I'll go after I'm done, only the heavens know. I'll take it one step at a time." As she spoke, she continued to eat, scanning the surrounding diners.

Just as they continued their meal, a wailing cry came from the inn's entrance.

Everyone looked up to see a long-haired woman, wearing a wooden cangue, being paraded through the streets by several constables.

A deeply tragic voice cried out, "Why?! I was clearly defiled in broad daylight, yet that villain filed a lawsuit and accused me instead! Oh, honorable sir, open your eyes!"

As the woman passed the inn's entrance, the shop assistant, the accountant, and all the other patrons turned their heads away, sighing.

Their indignant whispers reached Yang Hai's ears.

"Alas, how can she win the case?" one person murmured. "That scoundrel is the county magistrate's son. So many people saw it, but who dares say a word?"

"That fat-headed, big-eared corrupt official is truly detestable! He oppresses men and women, twisting right and wrong!"

"I heard he bribed his superiors and is about to be promoted," another added. "No wonder he's frantically trying to grab as much as he can while he's still in power."

Hearing these words, Yang Hai and the others stopped eating, their gazes turning in unison towards the ragged old woman.

The old woman made no move. She picked up her chopsticks, picked up a pebble, and put it into her mouth, then picked up another and put it in.

One after another, she stuffed all the stones from the clay pot into her mouth. Yet, her cheeks remained strangely sunken.

"Mmm, I'm full," the old woman said. "Child, help me put this pot away." She stood up, took her stick from beside her, and, leaning on it, walked out of the inn.

Yang Hai and Zhao Xiumei exchanged glances. When they heard the sound of swords being drawn and screams from outside, they quickly wiped their mouths and followed.

When they emerged, they saw that the constables who had been escorting the woman were all lying on the ground, lifeless. Blood slowly seeped from their heads, staining the earth.

The old woman was now pulling the hand of the woman in the cangue, her neck stiff as she walked towards the yamen's main gate.

This scene on the street was incredibly eye-catching. Soon, it wasn't just Yang Hai who followed; other townspeople, full of curiosity, also trailed behind.

"Thud!" The yamen gate's bolt burst open from a flying stone, and the entire gate, along with its plaque, collapsed with a crash.

"Good! It's good that it's torn down!"

"It's so satisfying! Someone finally dealt with them!"

The huge commotion quickly drew everyone out of the yamen, but it was all in vain. As stones pierced their skulls one by one, soon few remained alive in the entire yamen.

Everyone else was killed, except for the obese county magistrate and his equally obese son.

The two knelt, desperately kowtowing and begging the old woman for their lives. However, this time, the old woman turned around and looked at the crowd, who were three layers deep inside and outside the yamen.

"I am here today, and I am in charge!" she declared. "Those with grudges, take your revenge! Those with injustices, right your wrongs!"

"Kill the corrupt official! Kill the corrupt official!" As a powerful voice took the lead in the crowd, others, their blood boiling, also became agitated.

Soon, under the old woman's command, they found stones of various sizes and, shouting curses, hurled them forcefully at the two men.

A sharp-edged stone flew through the air, smashing into the magistrate's mouth. Before the dislodged teeth could even land, another stone struck him on the forehead, instantly creating a dent.

No living person could withstand so many stones. Before long, both men were crushed to death.

Watching the two bodies being increasingly mangled by the stones, and the enraged crowd around them, Yang Hai's face turned slightly pale. He swallowed hard. "Killing the magistrate... that's a capital offense, isn't it?"

"Corrupt official!" a white-haired, one-legged old man shrieked, lunging forward. "I'll eat your flesh and drink your blood! My daughter was only sixteen! You turned her into human wax!" He began viciously biting the corpse on the ground with his few remaining teeth.

This seemed to be a signal. Everyone in the county who harbored a deep hatred for the corrupt official rushed forward, pouncing on the corpses and gnawing at them.

Each person fought desperately, as if a moment's delay would mean someone else would devour it first.

Although the magistrate and his son were corpulent, they couldn't withstand such gnawing. Soon, only two blood-soaked skeletons remained on the ground, surrounded by hundreds of "common people" with bloodshot eyes and mouths stained with blood.

"It's not enough!" a voice roared again from the crowd. "Why should this corrupt official have robbed us of so much? Let's take it all back!"

"Yes, seize his mother's wealth!" another shouted. "Every wrong has a head, every debt has a master! This is all what the corrupt official owes us!"

"That's right! And his seven wives! Damn it, why should he have seven when I don't even have one!"

Incited by these voices, the people stormed through the yamen's threshold, rushing inside and grabbing anything valuable they could find.

As the saying goes, wealth moves hearts. When they saw chests of silver being carried out, and even the corrupt official's dog bowl made of gold, everyone's eyes turned red, their breathing became ragged, and they looked like maniacs.

"Ahhh!" With a scream, a beautiful woman was dragged out. As hands grabbed and pulled from all directions, she was quickly stripped naked and completely overwhelmed by the men.

Meanwhile, the woman who had been wearing the wooden cangue stood in the main hall, watching everything unfold. She saw the corrupt official's wife and daughter suffering a fate even worse than her own, yet there was no joy on her face. She stood there, bewildered and seemingly lost, as if her soul had left her.