After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 249: Chapter 248: A Guilty Deed

Village Chief Liang had a large and thriving family, but to entertain the honored guests, everyone else had been sent to the kitchen. Only Hee Lingchuan, Village Chief Liang, and Zhou Sefu were seated at the massive square table.

As for Shan Youjun and the other Personal Guards, they were also given a meal in the kitchen.

The Rock Wolf got a whole duck, and even the Monkey received two fruits.

Hee Lingchuan’s behavior was a classic case of an official living off a wealthy household. Not only himself, but his subordinates’ meals also had to be provided by the village—a common practice for village officials. In good years, the wealthy families in the countryside didn’t mind; they even considered it an honor.

He sat down and smiled. "I can see Village Chief Liang is an expert at hospitality."

On the table was a large basin of goose braised with potatoes, glistening with a golden sheen. The layer of fat was half a finger thick, and the goose meat was piled so high it nearly overflowed. Other plates held fish, stir-fried dried bitter greens, stir-fried bamboo shoots, and pickled beans. All were rustic farmhouse dishes, unrefined but hearty.

Village Chief Liang personally picked up a piece of goose with his chopsticks and placed it in Hee Lingchuan’s bowl. "This is a large goose we’ve raised for two years, weighing a full eight jin! Try it, it’s delicious!"

Hee Lingchuan went along with the local customs, not putting on the airs of a rich young master. He took a bite of meat, sipped the village chief’s home-brewed rice wine, and chatted cheerfully with the two men. When he heard an amusing village anecdote, he even slapped the table and laughed, as if their earlier conflict had never happened.

The village chief’s family had been eavesdropping from the side. Seeing how harmoniously they were getting along, they slowly began to let their guard down.

’After all, they’re from an Official Family, with proper names and backgrounds. Surely they wouldn’t just erupt into violence mid-feast?’

’Right?’

After three rounds of drinks, the Medicine Ape Ling Guang, who was sitting on the windowsill, let out two soft chirps.

To Hee Lingchuan, this secret signal had only one meaning:

’The coast is clear.’

The Rock Wolf, having finished gnawing on the duck, came over and lay down in the courtyard outside the dining hall, licking its fur.

With such a massive Demon lying there, which of the villagers would dare approach? At most, they could only stand outside the courtyard and observe from a distance.

Just as Village Chief Liang naively thought the Rich Young Master, having been treated to good food and drink, had no more trouble to cause, Hee Lingchuan clapped him on the shoulder again. "As the saying goes, what a child is at three, they are for life. Your grandson has fine features; he’ll surely have a promising future."

"Thank you for your kind words." Before Village Chief Liang could even break into a full smile, he heard the next sentence:

"He looks just like you."

Village Chief Liang’s smile froze. "What?"

"Your grandson. He’s the spitting image of you—the eyes, the mouth."

"He’s my grandson, so of course he looks like me."

"That’s not always the case," Hee Lingchuan said unhurriedly, chewing on a piece of goose. "Your son is outside, isn’t he? I’d say the grandson looks more like you than he does him."

The hand Village Chief Liang used to raise his cup trembled slightly. He forced himself to remain calm. "Eldest Young Master Hee, that’s a very rude thing to say. What are you trying to get at?"

"You want me to stop beating around the bush?" Hee Lingchuan moved his chair closer and leaned in to whisper, "What I’m trying to say is... you have three sons, but only two grandsons."

Village Chief Liang slammed his wine cup down with a CLACK. "What do you mean by that?"

"Shhh—" Hee Lingchuan held a finger to his lips. "Quieter. Don’t let your family hear."

He stressed the word "family."

Zhou Sefu was also stunned. With one hand behind his back, he tried to count on his fingers but couldn’t make sense of it.

’Doesn’t Village Chief Liang have two sons and three grandsons?’

’Could Eldest Young Master Hee be implying...?’

’No way, no way...’

"Liang Su is the spawn of you and your third daughter-in-law," Hee Lingchuan said with a flippant smile. "You old lecher. Do you enjoy your sordid affairs at home, or do you take it to the fields for some open-air action? Does your son know what a massive cuckold you’ve made of him?"

Village Chief Liang didn’t know what "cuckold" meant and had no time to think about it. The muscles in his face were contorted. "Eldest Young Master Hee, you’re spouting malicious slander! You’re ruining my reputation!"

He subconsciously wanted to slam the table but held back.

"Cut the crap. The way your third daughter-in-law looks at you is dripping with affection, tsk tsk. Not at all like how she looks at that blockhead of a husband," Hee Lingchuan said, clapping his shoulder again. "We’re all men here. Who can’t spot an affair?"

Village Chief Liang dodged his hand with a shift of his shoulder, his face flushing with anger. "Evidence? Without evidence, you’re just spouting nonsense!"

Although he acted furious, he didn’t shout, instead lowering his voice.

Hee Lingchuan beckoned, and Medicine Ape Ling Guang produced a bowl from somewhere, placing it on the table. It was filled with clear water.

He pulled out two Silver Needles from his robes, each with a translucent, soft sac attached to its base.

This was Lingguang’s tool for applying medicine, temporarily requisitioned by Hee Lingchuan.

Hee Lingchuan squeezed one of the sacs, and the fresh blood inside dripped into the bowl. Instead of dispersing, it sank to the bottom and contracted into a small ball.

He then squeezed the other sac, dripping more blood in, before gently swirling the bowl.

All three of them watched as the two drops of blood at the bottom of the bowl met and quickly merged into one.

Village Chief Liang’s expression changed. He understood.

A moment ago, he had felt a slight, numb sting on his arm but had dismissed it as a mosquito bite. So this was when the bastard had made his move!

Hee Lingchuan said, "This is the blood of your ’third grandson,’ Liang Su. Apologies, I had to prick him with a needle."

Village Chief Liang and Zhou Sefu finally understood why the child had been wailing earlier.

"As for the other needle... that was your blood," Hee Lingchuan said softly. "Liang Su’s blood merged completely with yours. This proves you share the same bloodline. This is the evidence. What else do you have to say?"

Both shocked and furious, Village Chief Liang hissed in a rushed, low voice, "Who knows what sort of concoction you put in that water!"

Hee Lingchuan eyed him askance. "Are you going to admit it or not?"

"Admit my ass!" Village Chief Liang cursed. "I am innocent, and my third daughter-in-law is innocent!"

Hee Lingchuan smiled. "Right. The two of you are innocent together."

Listening on the side, Zhou Sefu was dumbfounded. He felt this trip was well worth it.

"If you won’t admit it, I’ll call over everyone in the village, young and old, and we’ll do the experiment again right now." Hee Lingchuan shrugged. "It doesn’t matter if you disagree. We can argue it out then."

Village Chief Liang’s dark face, which had been flushed red from the wine, now turned pale. Beads of sweat formed on the tip of his nose.

’As long as this vicious young master gathers the villagers and brings this up, he won’t even need to do the experiment. As a village chief, a father, and a grandfather, I’ll already be utterly defeated!’

’If the experiment succeeds, my reputation will be in tatters. Even if it fails, there will still be rumors and gossip that will follow me for the rest of my life.’

’What will my son think of me? What will the villagers think?’

’Can I possibly keep my position as village chief?’

Having said his piece, Hee Lingchuan picked up the wine jug and poured another cup for each of the three men. Zhou Sefu didn’t move, too busy enjoying the sight of the dumbstruck Village Chief Liang.

’This village chief usually thinks too highly of himself and isn’t very polite to the village officials. Now, he’s getting what he deserves.’

After a moment, seeing that Village Chief Liang still hadn’t said a word, Zhou Sefu couldn’t help but interject, "Village Chief, it’s just a few land deeds. Just stamp them with the village seal and it’ll all be over. Why must we make things unpleasant for everyone?"

Only then did Village Chief Liang’s eyes move. He looked at Hee Lingchuan. "As long as I agree to stamp the documents, you won’t publicize this? You won’t spread it around?"

"Of course," Hee Lingchuan smiled. "If I didn’t have a mission, I would never have come to a place like Shuangyu Village in the first place. We have no past grudges, so there’s no need for me to go out of my way to make things difficult for you, is there?"

Village Chief Liang turned to Zhou Sefu. Before he could even ask, the latter thumped his chest and guaranteed, "I’ll definitely keep it a secret. I won’t breathe a single word of this for the rest of my life. You can rest assured, Village Chief!"

Village Chief Liang was silent for a long moment, then got up, went into the inner room to get a cloth bundle, and returned.

"The deeds. Take them out."

Inside the bundle was a seal. He breathed on it, then stamped the land deeds.

According to local custom, only with this stamp could the buyers of Shuangyu Village’s land rights collect rent from the tenant farmers.

Zhou Sefu inspected each of the deeds. Seeing the stamps were correct, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, nodded at Hee Lingchuan, and carefully put them away.

As for how Village Chief Liang would explain this to the village elders and the other villagers, Hee Lingchuan couldn’t care less. ’People are glib. If the man didn’t have some skills, how could he have become a village chief at such a young age?’

He then asked, "Elder Liang of the Cloud-Piercing Pavilion, has he already returned?"

Village Chief Liang’s face stiffened. "He returned yesterday."

"He went to the State Government today," Hee Lingchuan said with a smile. "To plead on your behalf, I suppose?"

Village Chief Liang said nothing.

Hee Lingchuan wiped his mouth. "Mission accomplished. I won’t trouble you any longer."

’Shuangyu Village refused to follow the regulations, adhering to its own private rules instead. So, they can’t blame me for not taking the proper path either.’

’Fighting fire with fire. Using one evil to combat another can sometimes lead to a just result.’

Just as he was about to stand up, Village Chief Liang suddenly asked, "You... where did you hear about this?"

Hee Lingchuan stared at him for a long time, until the village chief began to get the creeps. Only then did the Rich Young Master say, "It’s better that you don’t know."

"Please, explain yourself!" Village Chief Liang demanded. "Otherwise, when Elder Liang returns, I’ll tell him you got me drunk and coerced me into stamping the deeds."

Hee Lingchuan laughed. He beckoned, and the Medicine Ape Ling Guang leaped onto his shoulder and sat down.

He stroked the monkey’s head and said to Village Chief Liang, "My monkey here was born with a Yin Yang Eye. It can see things others can’t. Just now, when we were discussing matters at the village house, there was a well under the eaves out front. A seven or eight-year-old boy was sitting by the well. He was crying to my monkey, saying you drowned him in the river with your own hands."

Village Chief Liang froze, his mouth opening and closing without a sound, like a fish out of water.

’When this Eldest Young Master Hee approached the village house earlier, he did seem to stand at the entrance for a moment.’

After a long moment, he found his voice, which came out frighteningly hoarse. "What did you say?"

"I said, the child was crying to my monkey..."

Just as Hee Lingchuan was about to repeat himself, Village Chief Liang cut him off. "What did the child look like?"

"Small and skinny, with sparse hair, wearing yellow clothes that he said his mother bought him before the new year," Hee Lingchuan said quietly. "Oh, and he kicked off a shoe while you were drowning him. He wants you to give it back."

Village Chief Liang sucked in a sharp, cold breath, letting out a strangled "Er—" sound, as if someone were squeezing his throat. All the wine he had just drunk now seemed to be pouring out of him as sweat.

And perhaps as something else, too.

"Is... is it still by the well?" The village chief didn’t dare look toward the entrance, asking the Medicinal Ape directly, his voice trembling.

Lingguang shook its head.

"It’s high noon. Why would things like that be wandering around outside?" Hee Lingchuan said nonchalantly. "It most likely hid in the well. There’s water in there, isn’t there?"

Village Chief Liang nodded woodenly.

Hee Lingchuan stood up, patted his shoulder again, and said with mock sincerity, "Take care!"

Village Chief Liang grabbed his arm like a drowning man clutching at a straw. "What... what should I do?"

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