PDLP Chapter 171 Grain Looting
Chapter 171 Grain Looting
The villagers rescued the person and found a wooden plank to place him on.
If a person sits there for a long time without moving, they are most likely already dead.
Lin Ziping squinted and craned his neck to look down.
"Chief Constable Qi...that's...that's the village head of this village." Lin Ziping pointed down and stammered, "The village head...how did the village head die?"
"What?" Officer Qi was also taken aback and craned his neck to look down.
"Damn it." Officer Qi punched the tree next to him hard.
Lin Ziping was at a loss: "What should we do, Officer Qi? Let's go back and tell Inspector Chai and County Magistrate Feng."
Officer Qi kept a straight face and didn't say anything.
Lin Ziping turned his gaze toward the village entrance.
The villagers knelt behind the village head's corpse.
Qi San and the others looked at each other, at a loss for what to do.
After a while, Officer Qi covered his mouth and let out three urgent bird calls.
"Officer Qi, shall we go?" Lin Ziping asked, not understanding what he meant.
Officer Qi sneered, "Why are you leaving? If you leave now, all the work done before will be for nothing. If we can't pay the grain tax, what will we use to pay off our debts?!"
Then, Qi San and the others made their move.
"Alright, a few people stay behind to collect the bodies, the rest of you take us to move the grain," Qi San said expressionlessly.
"You've already driven the village head to his death, are you going to drive us to our deaths too?" the villagers cried and cursed.
“I’ve had enough of this dead man’s show. Have you forgotten how we used to pay our taxes after a few years of peaceful New Year’s? Qi San stepped on the village head’s corpse. “Enough nonsense, pay your taxes.”
Lin Ziping felt a sense of unease. In this era, people valued respect for the dead. Qi San's reckless behavior was creating a blood feud with the village. Could he possibly leave safely?
Turning to look at Officer Qi, he saw him staring intently at the village entrance, lost in thought.
A commotion arose as the villagers clashed with Qi San and his group once again.
Looking at the scene below, Lin Ziping began to have doubts. Had he really made a mistake in suppressing the bandits and informing Magistrate Wei about the rising grain prices?
At that moment, a thick plume of smoke rose from the village.
Did Gousheng go burn down the house again?
Upon seeing this, Officer Qi smiled and then let out three long bird calls.
This scene has played out many times today, and Lin Ziping has already figured out that it is a secret signal from Constable Qi and Qi San.
Sure enough, Lin Ziping saw Qi San and the others fighting and retreating, gradually moving away from the village entrance.
Before the villagers could realize what was happening, seeing that Qi San and the others were not resisting so fiercely, they slowly stopped using their hoes, sickles, and other weapons.
"Great, they're gone." Smiles appeared on the villagers' faces.
Suddenly, a voice pierced the air from the village.
"Oh no! The grain has been stolen!"
"what?"
"The grain has been stolen?"
The villagers' smiles vanished, replaced by a frantic, anxious look, like ants on a hot plate.
"How could it have been stolen? Didn't they already leave?"
"I know, this is what Grandpa Village Head meant by feinting to the east while attacking in the west," a child's clear voice rang out.
An adult next to him slapped the child on the forehead: "Shut up! Go chase after these damned bastards!"
"Yes, yes, yes, chasing after someone."
The villagers snapped out of their daze and, armed with weapons, chased after Qi San and his men in the direction they had gone.
The village head's body was kicked and trampled under their feet, finally lying alone on the ground.
"Officer Qi, they've all gone after Qi San and the others. Should we wait here?" Lin Ziping asked as the villagers left.
Officer Qi sighed and got up to walk towards the village entrance.
"Come on, catch up." Officer Qi turned around and said to Lin Ziping, who was standing there dumbfounded.
Lin Ziping quickly followed in Qi's footsteps.
The two arrived at the village entrance. The village head's body lay on the ground, while the child who had spoken earlier hid behind the archway and did not chase after them.
Lin Ziping recognized him as one of the children who had given him fruit last time.
"Who are you?" a child asked, poking his head out from behind the archway.
Officer Qi replied, "They're from the next village, looking for food in the mountains."
"Oh, you should hurry up and leave. Our village has run out of food; it's all been robbed by those damned corrupt officials," the child said indignantly.
"Xiao Lin, come and lend a hand," Officer Qi said to Lin Ziping as he walked to the village head's body.
Lin Ziping walked over quickly.
Officer Qi then said to the child, "Child, pick up the wooden plank."
"What are you doing? This is our village head!" The child ran over and blocked the way, preventing anyone from getting close to the village head's body.
"No one, no matter who it is, can lie like this," Chief Constable Qi said, bending down to the child. "Go and get the wooden plank."
The child glanced at Constable Qi, then at Lin Ziping.
Finally, they ran over and dragged the planks over.
Lin Ziping and Constable Qi worked together to lift the village head's body onto the wooden plank.
Officer Qi even tidied up the village head's clothes, brushing off the dust and mud from his face.
"Waaah—"
The child was sadly wiping away tears.
"Child, how did he die?" Constable Qi asked.
"Hiccup~ Grandpa Village Head died for the village hiccup~ There wasn't enough food in the village, so Grandpa Village Head hiccup~ he used himself as food. He hanged himself last night, hiccup~ and people hung his name on the archway. Waaah—" The child hiccuped as he spoke, and finally burst into tears.
"Did you recognize what those corrupt officials looked like?" Chief Constable Qi asked while patting the child's back.
"No—I didn't recognize them—they were covered up just like you, so I couldn't see them—" the child said, growing increasingly upset.
Seeing that they couldn't coax the child, Lin Ziping and Constable Qi ignored him and carried the village head's body to the roadside.
The child, sobbing, followed closely behind.
Lin Ziping was overwhelmed with mixed emotions upon seeing the village head's body. The scene of his conversation with the village head when he first arrived in the village was vivid in his mind, and now—alas—
Moreover, Lin Ziping is inextricably linked to how things have turned out this way.
Thinking of this, a wave of sorrow washed over me, and my eyes gradually reddened.
"What's wrong?" Officer Qi asked.
Lin Ziping turned his head, silently wiped his eyes, and shook his head.
"We should go now," Officer Qi said to Lin Ziping, then bent down to the child and said, "You stay here and keep watch, we're leaving."
After saying that, he turned and left.
Lin Ziping took out a piece of malt candy from his sleeve, casually stuffed it into the child's hand, and hurriedly followed in Qi the constable's footsteps.
On the way back, I passed by the villagers.
The villagers grumbled and cursed, their faces full of distress.
They clearly failed to catch up with the person.
With his hands tucked into his sleeves and his back hunched, Chief Constable Qi stopped and nodded to greet the villagers.
The villagers also saw the two.
Lin Ziping's heart leaped into his throat as his eyes met theirs, worried that they might have noticed something.
Fortunately, they only glanced at it twice before looking away.
Lin Ziping left with Constable Qi, going in the opposite direction from the villagers.
When they returned to the county government office, Qi San and the others had not yet returned.
Lin Ziping took off his towel and found that his head was covered in sweat and his palms were bleeding from being pinched, and the wounds had already scabbed over.
"The amount of grain collected is insufficient; we will continue tomorrow."