Chapter 10 - Come To The Government Office With Me!
As soon as Chen Chen reached the village, he saw a couple of men on horses.
Looking at the men on the horses, Chen Chen thought to himself, "They"re already here? So impatient." At the same time, his steps quickened, not taking him long to reach his house.
At this time, many people had gathered by the door of the house, including a few constables in uniforms.
The body of the killer from yesterday had been removed from the ancestral hall and placed in front of the door.
A constable with a moustache was checking the body with a knife on his back.
Chen Chen quietly blended into the crowd, watching the scene before him.
"The pig killed him? That"s nonsense. I have hunted for many years and I"ve never heard of domestic pigs killing anyone," the moustached constable sneered, touching the collapsed chest of the corpse.
Hearing his unkind tone, Chen Chen knew that these men did not mean well. Upon looking into the crowd, he immediately noticed an older man dressed in traditional clothes, pale and beardless. He was looking at the body with a gloomy expression…
Chen Chen knew this person: he was the steward of the w.a.n.g family. Named w.a.n.g Er, he was responsible for collecting land rent over the years.
"So the killer from last night was sent by the w.a.n.g family," Chen Chen thought to himself. He had just been guessing last night, but now he was almost certain.
It was easy to understand why w.a.n.g Er wore an ugly expression on his face.
In all likelihood, this man had come with the constables to collect his family"s bodies. He hadn"t expected to see the killer"s dead body when he arrived. His expression couldn"t have been very pleasant.
"I think this is a traveler who was pa.s.sing by. He probably just wanted to spend the night, but this family had evil intent and killed him!" w.a.n.g Er said in a strange tone.
Of course he had recognized the body; he had hired the man himself.
The job had cost him a few dozen taels. Now that the waste of s.p.a.ce was dead, he had to find some way to squeeze some value out of it.
The moustached constable"s eyebrows rose at those words.
Although he had already been bought off by the w.a.n.g family, w.a.n.g Er"s story sounded too fake.
Traveler? Were there travelers who wore ninja clothes?
"Steward w.a.n.g, if there are travelers pa.s.sing by in the village, they usually stay at my house. It"s much bigger."
Nearby, the village chief squeezed out a smile.
"Yes, Chen Shan"s family is in the middle of the village. It"s impossible for a traveler to go to his house. Besides, he is not dressed like a good person. He deserved to die!" Some villagers stated.
w.a.n.g Er"s face became uglier when he heard that, shouting angrily, "You fools, what do you know?! If you don"t look vicious when you are out, what would you do if there was a bad guy?"
w.a.n.g Er"s irrational words caused an uproar.
At that moment, a young man ran up from nearby, shouting as he ran, "Village chief, I found out the ident.i.ty of the dead man! His name is Wei Laosan! He worked for the gang leader in the county, he killed for a living!"
Upon hearing this, all the villagers looked at w.a.n.g Er strangely.
w.a.n.g Er felt his cheeks get hot but he maintained his tough stance.
"Can someone who specializes in murder be killed by this village? Or is there someone powerful amongst you pathetic lot? What a joke!"
The moustached constable quickly winked at w.a.n.g Er, pasting a smile on his face as he said to Chen Shan, "Chen Shan, you look like a decent person. How about this… Your family will go to the government office with me to clear up this mess. If the deceased really was a bad person, the county government could potentially even reward your family."
Chen Shan answered in a huff, "My son left home last night and has not returned. I won"t go anywhere until he returns."
w.a.n.g Er"s expression changed drastically at the words.
"That b.a.s.t.a.r.d of yours ran away?! How dare he!"
w.a.n.g Hu"s order was to kill this entire family, but now that one had run away! What should he do?
The next moment, he seemed to have thought of something, his tone suddenly becoming fierce.
"I think he killed this man, then ran away in fear! Why would he run out in the middle of the night otherwise?"
The constables nodded in agreement. w.a.n.g Er had finally said something that could stand scrutiny.
"You"re saying nonsense! My son is innocent! He wouldn"t kill a chicken in the village. How could he kill a person?!" Qin Rou shouted angrily as she tried to explain.
In her eyes, Chen Chen had always been good-natured ever since he was a kid. He was the most sensible child in the world. How could such a well-behaved child kill anyone?
"Innocent? Ha! Who knows what he is thinking? If he didn"t kill him, why did he run away in the middle of the night? Constable Zhou, now that the little b.a.s.t.a.r.d has murdered someone and escaped, I suggest we issue a warrant immediately. As for these two untouchables, since they protected the criminal and allowed him to escape, they should be arrested immediately and put in prison!"
As w.a.n.g Er spoke, he quickly bowed his hands at the moustache constable. This time, he was so confident, his sinister face actually looked a little righteous.
However, as soon as he stopped talking, a wispy voice spoke up.
"What? I left for a little while, now I"m a murderer? Steward w.a.n.g, I don"t deserve that charge."
When the villagers heard his voice, they realized that Chen Chen had somehow been standing amongst them.
The village chief also looked surprised.
He had watched Chen Chen grow up, but the young man"s temperament today was completely different from before, so much so that he did not notice Chen Chen earlier.
"You--! You--!"
The righteousness on Steward w.a.n.g"s face disappeared without a trace. He pointed to Chen Chen angrily, unable to speak.
Didn"t they say that he had left last night and hadn"t come back? Were they all fooling him?
Chen Chen ignored him. He quickly walked up to his parents and comforted them, "Father, mother, it will be fine."
"Little Chen, you shouldn"t have come back," Chen Shan sighed.
w.a.n.g Er may have been defeated now, but to a powerful family like the w.a.n.gs, having their entire family killed off was effortless.
He was just saving face and not pushing them to the edge yet.
"If I don"t come back, you"d have been left behind. I couldn"t do such a thing," Chen Chen grinned, as if he wasn"t taking this situation seriously.
Chen Shan and wife were touched, sighing at his response.
Seeing that w.a.n.g Er wanted to say something else, Constable Zhou interrupted the moment.
"Well, since all three of you are here, you can all come to the county"s government office with me. When we get there, everything will be cleared up."
He really couldn"t stand w.a.n.g Er as a teammate, he was too pig-headed. If he let w.a.n.g Er continue, he"d be ashamed of himself.
They were just tenant farmers; they"d be theirs to punish at the government office.
If they didn"t want to wait, the Chen family could even be killed on the road, and they could put the blame on bandits.
There was no point in trying to reason here anymore.
w.a.n.g Er understood Constable Zhou"s meaning, snorting coldly but not speaking anymore. He looked at Chen Chen"s family as if they were already dead.
These untouchables really didn"t deserve any more of his effort.
Qin Rou looked at her husband subconsciously when she heard the constable.
Chen Shan frowned, unable to decide for a while.
Chen Chen, however, smiled and said, "Okay, we will go to the government office with you."
Constable Zhou patted Chen Chen on the shoulder, praising him, "Young man, you"re quite reasonable. Your future is unlimited!"
He said this even though his mind was filled with contempt for Chen Chen.
"Moron... He has no future with this IQ. He deserves to be a farmer for life! Oh wait- Haha! Now he can"t even do that!"