I become a god in another world

Chapter 328: Death of a Confucian Scholar
Chapter 328

The beaten woman, who was sitting on the ground, finished her complaint eloquently, and the dark-faced sturdy man's face was visibly filled with anger.

"Is this Qiao Yuesheng?" Zhao Fusheng widened his eyes and exclaimed in surprise.

She had seen the clay statues in the wild temple.

The clay statue had a peaceful and elegant look. She had thought that Qiao Yuesheng himself had been a gentle-looking man when he was alive, but she had not expected him to be such an extremely strong and dark-faced man.

Zhang Chuanshi shrank his shoulders in fear when he heard her speak, fearing that the people around him would discover the existence of the five people.

But he soon discovered that no one around him paid any attention to them, and everyone's eyes were on the two people in the middle.

Some people sympathized, some felt sorry, and some were disdainful. They looked indifferent and stared at the two people in the middle with disapproval.

"How dare the Luo family do such a thing?" Qiao Yuesheng was furious and shouted:
"Where is the Luo family? Come out and confront them."

After he finished shouting, there was a moment of commotion in the crowd, but no one answered him.

Some villagers looked at each other, but just stood there with their hands in their pockets.

"What about Luo San's family?"

After Qiao Yuesheng finished shouting, he didn't get a response from Sun Sanniang, so he became even angrier:
"That's against the rules. Find Luo Sanjia!" He took off his outer garment to protect the crying woman, and then ordered:
"I'm fair in my dealings. I won't just listen to my second sister, I'll also listen to what the Luo family has to say."

After he said this, a few villagers looked hesitant but did not move.

Only then did Qiao Yuesheng realize that something was wrong.

"What's wrong with you?"

He turned his head to look at the villagers behind him, but no one dared to look him in the eye.

"Wang Qi, Zhou Lin--" He took the initiative to call out two names, but the two villagers' faces turned red, they took two steps back and hid in the crowd.

Qiao Yuesheng widened his eyes:
"Where's Luo Kaiqi?"

He looked at an old man who was about sixty years old. The old man had a yellowed sweat towel wrapped on his head and wore a earthen jacket, exposing his chest and abdomen. His chest was shriveled, and the marks of his ribs were clearly visible, pushing up the dry and yellow skin.

"Luo Kaiqi, my second sister is your daughter—"

"Mr. Qiao, this matter——" The old man looked embarrassed when he was called by his name:

"Why don't we just forget about it—"

"Dad!" the woman let out a long, sharp cry.

The old man didn't look at her, but looked at Qiao Yuesheng with a flickering gaze:

"It's not a good thing to say, and it's not a glorious thing. Women are quarreling—"

"Mr. Qiao, we will explain it to you later." With someone speaking up, the other villagers breathed a sigh of relief and began to persuade him:

"These are the gentlemen who came to collect the incense—"

"What uncle?" Qiao Yuesheng said angrily:

"We sell incense, not smiles—"

His words made many villagers frown.

"Do you think that you are only selling women when you sell smiles? You are selling your self-esteem!" Qiao Yuesheng was heartbroken:

"People look down on us, so they despise us villagers. If the money from selling incense is not used to support our families and lives, why do we make incense? Why do we risk our lives?"

He spoke at length, but the villagers around him gradually became impatient, and many of them showed forbearance on their faces.

"I have to find Luo San's family. I want to find out what happened. How could Niulan Village be like this—"

He was still shouting for people to look for Sun Sanniang, but many villagers had fallen silent.

The villagers were vaguely divided into two factions.

One group stood behind Qiao Yuesheng, while the other group consciously stood on the other side and disagreed with his words.

As time went on, the people behind Qiao Yuesheng gradually couldn't stand anymore and moved to the other side.

There were fewer and fewer people behind him, and he actually felt alone and powerless.

At this moment, Sun Sanniang's voice rang out:
"Stop looking, I'm here."

Perhaps Qiao Yuesheng was pressing her too hard, Sun Sanniang stopped dodging and walked out of the house twisting her waist.

"Catch her for me!"

Qiao Yue was so angry that he yelled loudly.

He still had prestige in the village, and at his command, some villagers came forward to hold Sun Sanniang.

Sun Sanniang was pinned to the ground, but she was not afraid. She just looked at him and sneered.

"Let me ask you, is what Second Sister said before true? Did you trick her out under the pretext of picking vegetables and force her to serve others?"

"Yes!" Sun Sanniang also made up her mind at this time, and agreed with her head held high:

"I did it, so what?"

"What?!" Qiao Yue was surprised by her frank admission.

"Many people in the village have done this. Why is she the only one who dares to speak out when everyone else is not clean?" After being held, Sun Sanniang seemed to have given up and cursed loudly:

"Why are you pretending to be a good person at this time?"

"I--"

Qiao Yuesheng was speechless after being asked by her. He was at a loss for a moment and shook his head.
"I have no idea--"

"Of course you don't know." Sun Sanniang scolded:

"You are the one who invented the spices. Your Qiao family got rich first, made a lot of money, and never had to worry about food and drink. You can be rich for generations, and you don't care about the lives of other villagers."

Qiao Yuesheng shook his head:
"No, I also -"

Sun Sanniang did not give him a chance to speak, and continued to scold him sharply:
"How many people died in the village fighting for incense? This is all your fault. My husband also died because of it. My husband died that year, and his body was still warm. I became a widow, and the sky seemed to fall. My parents-in-law, the old couple, forced me to go out to entertain guests."

She put her hands on her hips:
"A widow is not a human being. She can't even close the door when she sleeps, right? Where was you, Qiao, when I was forced to meet the guests?"

"I--" Qiao Yuesheng's face turned pale.

Sun Sanniang cursed again:
"I cried, made a scene, and begged, but my parents-in-law beat and scolded me. I couldn't live or die. I tried to hang myself twice, but they snatched me away and sent me away. I was like a toy. There was no one to cry to. At that time, you, Qiao, said you wanted to run a clan school, help the townspeople, and repair the earth temple and the village. Bah! You were so hypocritical."

Her words uncovered the dirty secrets of the village and exposed many dirty things to the world.

"Do you think I did this alone? You can kill me, I'm just a weak woman, but all the things I did were ordered by the big men behind you!"

"The price of spices is getting higher every year. It's not your fault, but my fault as well. When you guys divide the money, what you eat and drink is my blood. You claim to be fair, but I also contributed a share of the money you divide."

Sun Sanniang's words were like sharp knives, stabbing into Qiao Yuesheng's body.

"This is a rotten village, and the walls are made of mud. So what if you kill me? Can you kill all the people in the village? Look behind you, who supports you?"

Sun Sanniang was still cursing:

"You're using all that money for nothing. Why are you building a clan school? You're just using it to raise an unrelated child. You're using your own seedlings to plant in someone else's land—"

Qiao Yuesheng was so confused by the scolding:

"Nonsense, nonsense - I am doing this for the future of Shilipu -"

"What future? I can't even take care of it now, and what about the future? Pah!"

After Sun Sanniang finished scolding, she twisted her shoulders again:

"Get out of the way, get out of the way."

The person who was holding her down actually let go of his hand. Qiao Yuesheng cursed:

"Hold her, I—"

"Mr. Qiao, forget it——"

One of the villagers who was pressing down Sun Sanniang said with an embarrassed look on his face.

"You, you actually——" Qiao Yuesheng looked incredulous and whispered:

"You also know about these disputes?"

No one dared to look him in the eye.

Sun Sanniang climbed up from the ground with a sneer, twisted her wrist and looked at Qiao Yuesheng.

"Our village doesn't do these dirty things. I didn't know about it before, but now I know I can't ignore it. This year I won't sell spices to these people. After this matter is settled, I will go to Wan'an County in person to find other merchants--"

Qiao Yuesheng said angrily:

"I don't believe there are no fair and honest transactions in the world."

The villagers whispered to him:

"Mr. Qiao, forget it——"

"Master Qiao, forget it."

"forget it."

"forget it."

The villagers gathered closer and closer, and their voices gradually converged into one, surrounding Qiao Yuesheng in the middle.

The power of these voices drowned out his shouting. Zhao Fusheng could only see his red and purple face, and the blue veins on his forehead bulging from shouting so hard. He was very excited, but the villagers worked together to hold him down.

“Forget it, forget it—”

The shouting became increasingly low, shattering the ghost's dream.

The ghost dream shattered silently.

……

"This village is sick, and the root of the problem is the spices at the back."

Zhao Fusheng’s eyes went dark, and then he heard Qiao Yuesheng’s voice in the darkness.

His voice was weak compared to his earlier rage.

Then he seemed calm because of extreme disappointment and said:

"I thought we could all make money together, but now it seems I was wrong. Poverty is not scary, but the poverty of people's hearts is scary."

The people of Niulan Village have gone crazy because of the dispute over spices.

"I don't blame Luo Sanjia, she is a miserable person." He seemed to shake his head, "People die every year, and so many young people die. The two villages were old friends and were very close before, but now they fight and kill each other when they meet."

The villagers of Niulan Village had gone crazy at this time.

They would not hesitate to kill in order to fight for spices, they believed that village fighting was an honor, they no longer protected their families and children, pushed out women, and trampled their self-esteem and face to the ground.

Most of the money was spent lavishly and wastefully on buying coffins at high prices.

He was extremely poor during his lifetime and could not afford to eat or drink. After his death, he was given a grand funeral and considered it a lifelong honor.

The higher the price the coffin merchants charge, the more valuable the coffin is, and the more face they feel.

“Why is it like this?”

Qiao Yuesheng felt like crying but had no tears.

"The Dragon Blood Incense started because of me, and it should end because of me. You guys are my most trusted children, and you have a conscience. Let's go together tonight to eradicate the root of this evil." He planned:

"Afterwards, I plan to sell my property and land, distribute them to the villagers, and then find other ways to help everyone survive."

As his voice sounded, Zhao Fusheng listened to his instructions:

"Lü Yi, go home and prepare a bundle of dry firewood."

"Liu Laoba, you..."

He gave a few instructions, and finally said to someone:
"Luo Liu, prepare some axes. We will cut down the trees first and then set them on fire."

He planned carefully.

"Everyone swear to heaven that this news cannot leak out." Qiao Yuesheng said.

Then several voices sounded:
"I swear to God that what I said today will never be spread to anyone else."

"I swear--"

"——cut down the sacred dragon tree and restore peace in the village——if I violate the contract, I will die a miserable death and my head will fall off." Luo Liu made a solemn oath.

Everyone conspired in Qiao's house and swore to keep the secret.

Qiao Yuesheng announced his plans one by one: he would first burn the Dragon Tree to destroy the root of the evil, then send the Luo family's daughter away to avoid the villagers' anger, and then sell the land to appease the villagers.

……

When Zhao Fusheng heard this, he couldn't help but sigh.

The Shilipo forest fire occurred two years ago. Judging from what happened afterwards, Qiao Yuesheng's plan was completed, but for some reason he died mysteriously in the end.

After his death, Shilipu did not recover as he had expected due to this "strong medicine". Instead, it became more corrupt and degenerate, and eventually died from a ghost disaster.

Gradually, light can be seen in front of me.

The five people from the Demon Suppression Division saw a group of people climbing up the mountain in the dark at night and stopping when they reached a dense forest.

"Mr. Qiao, why don't we go back——"

One of the villagers holding a knife began to back out, his voice already filled with tears:

"Don't do this anymore."

"Yes, Mr. Qiao." Another person advised.

Qiao Yuesheng was very determined:

"No way. I must destroy this evil."

The few people who came with him were unwilling to take action, so he chopped down the tree alone in a rage.

The big tree is towering into the sky and extremely thick.

He swung the knife 'bang bang', but the knife had difficulty cutting into the bark.

The other figures stood a few steps away, watching his actions coldly.

His anger made him feel even more sad, so he picked up the oil bag he had prepared earlier and poured it into the woods.

"Never leave this evil behind—"

A pungent smell of tung oil spread, and he raised a lit tinder.

"Mr. Qiao——"

Several others tried to persuade him and even knelt down, begging him to stop.

Qiao Yuesheng remained unmoved.

At this moment, a tall, strong figure slowly stepped forward:

"Master Qiao, let me help you cut down the tree."

When Zhao Fusheng heard this, he couldn't help showing a hint of surprise.

This is Luo Liu's voice.

Qiao Yuesheng seemed to trust him very much. After hearing what he said, he turned around with a smile.

He held a lamp in his hand, and the light illuminated his turned face.

His face was completely different from the dark-faced, burly man that Zhao Fusheng and others had seen in the other village before.

Qiao Yuesheng had a thin face, a beard on his chin, and a gentle look.

He was about to speak when he saw the tall and strong black shadow holding the knife high!

The knife flashed and pierced his abdomen.

Luo Liu was determined to kill him and held a machete that was half the length of his arm.

Qiao Yuesheng was caught off guard and was brushed by his blade. He cried out in surprise:
"Luo Liu——"

Perhaps it was because he couldn't believe it, he wasn't even that scared, but rather a little confused.

Luo Liu failed to kill with the knife and was afraid that Qiao Yuesheng would settle the score with him.

This thing has to be done, there is no room for retreat, he shouted in a low voice:
"Lü Yi, Liu Lao Ba, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and hold him down."

"We can't let this happen tonight. Even though this old dog is acting in a pedantic way, he still has many followers in the village. We can lock him up, but we can't kill him. If the news gets out, we'll all be dead!"

The villagers are brave and fierce, and act impulsively and without thinking.

They could stop Qiao Yuesheng, but they could not kill him. Once they killed him, they would be sinners and would be executed by slow slicing by the angry villagers.

"Why, why?"

Qiao Yuesheng was puzzled and was pushed to the ground.

The fire starter in his hand fell to the ground, and sparks of fire flew out.

Luo Liu and his companions were planning to commit murder and did not notice this.

"Because you're blocking everyone's path to wealth." Luo Liu hesitated for a moment, not daring to look Qiao Yuesheng in the eye.

But soon after, he gritted his teeth, looked fierce, and spat into his palm twice, then grabbed the machete and chopped it down on his neck with force:
"You should never, ever, cut down the forest. The Shenlong Tree cannot be destroyed. You will be the only one to die."

Blood splattered everywhere, and the sound of a blade cutting through flesh and bones could be heard.

Qiao Yuesheng's head fell off.

After his death, his eyes could not close and were still fixed on the direction of the tinder.

Qiao Yue died with his eyes open. He had too many concerns, many things he had not done, and too many regrets that he had not completed.

The dragon tree has not been cut down yet, and Sun Sanniang doesn’t know where to go in the future.

What will happen to Luo's second sister in the future if she doesn't have his protection?

And his clan school, who will teach those children after he dies? Will these children have to go back home to farm and live a life of hard work, poverty and ignorance like their parents?
If the dragon tree is not destroyed, the spices can still be harvested this year. How many people will die in the fight between the two villages?

It’s just a bargain for the coffin seller!
Ugh--

He widened his eyes unwillingly and wanted to let out a long sigh, but he was unable to do so.

But at this moment, the wind suddenly blew up on the flat ground, as if to make up for his regret of not being able to sigh.