Chapter 67 of 100

Chapter 67

16 min read4,053 words

Lu Qi let out a cold laugh: "What crime did he commit, don't you all know?!"

Lu Qi's words left many people stunned for a moment before they finally reacted, realizing that it was likely that Bu Ye had killed Yang Yuanda and Yang Zhaocai, and the secret had leaked!

However, everyone had already reached a consensus earlier. Bu Ye had done a great favor for the entire village. If not for him, not only Yang Yuanda and Yang Zhaocai, but everyone would have been killed by the Mang Mountain bandits. No one could speak out about this matter. Clearly, someone had told Lu Qi behind everyone's back.

Seeing everyone's reaction, Lu Qi felt more confident and became even more aggressive: "Bu Ye disregards the law. He unjustly killed Yang Yuanda of Dongmang Village and then took advantage of the chaos to harm Yang Yuanda's uncle, Yang Zhaocai. When the Mang Mountain bandits chased us into the mountains, he maliciously left the village elder Chai Ren behind, causing Chai Ren to die from fear. These three crimes, is there anyone willing to take the blame for Bu Ye? From now on, anyone who dares to speak up will be arrested and treated the same as Bu Ye!"

They say the people do not fight against the officials, and Lu Qi's group was even more tyrannical than officials. When he listed Bu Ye's crimes and threatened everyone, the entire scene fell silent, and no one dared to speak up for Bu Ye anymore.

Everyone was anxious, thinking that things shouldn't have developed this way, but they couldn't find a good reason to defend Bu Ye.

But...

Not including Bu Ye.

Bu Ye looked straight at Lu Qi and smiled: "Commander Lu, if I'm not mistaken, your only task in leading this unit to Dongmang Village was to pursue the Mang Mountain bandits and ensure the safe return of the villagers."

Bu Ye paused, giving the villagers time to react. They felt they had caught a hint of something.

Without waiting for Lu Qi to respond, Bu Ye continued: "However, the fact is, before Commander Lu even led the troops into the mountains, I had already brought the villagers back to the village. I believe Commander Lu already knows the reason: I was entrusted by Hong Duizheng and others to lead the villagers in killing the three leaders and many bandits of the Mang Mountain, saving the lives of over a hundred villagers. All the villagers can vouch for me, and this is a great achievement no matter where you look."

"Let's not even mention that Yang Yuanda had been oppressing the villagers, Yang Zhaocai had been distorting the truth, and Chai Ren had tried to escape in a crisis and deceived us to buy time. I just want to ask, in our country, we always reward those who have done good and punish those who have done wrong. Even if I killed those three without cause, could the fact that I killed the three leaders of the Mang Mountain bandits and saved over a hundred villagers' lives not outweigh the crime of killing those three?"

Everyone understood. Indeed, the accounts should be settled as Bu Ye suggested! How could they only count the crimes and not the achievements?!

But, Bu Ye wasn't finished.

"Furthermore, Commander Lu and your unit are part of the military, not the police. If I understand correctly, your tasks and responsibilities are only two: one, to fight on the front lines; and two, to complete the tasks assigned by your superiors. You have no other authority. So, even if I killed Yang Yuanda and the others, arresting me is not within Commander Lu's jurisdiction. Is that not correct?"

Everyone realized the logic in Bu Ye's words!

"Commander Lu, you are so eager to overstep your bounds and take on the responsibilities of the police, while ignoring the great achievement I accomplished in your jurisdiction, which is to eliminate the Mang Mountain bandits. How can this be justified?"

Lu Qi's people also changed their expressions. They belonged to the military, and their authority was indeed not that broad. To be more specific, this time they came to Dongmang Village, their only authority was to pursue the Mang Mountain bandits and reward those who contributed in this battle.

However, Lu Qi was not an ordinary person. The two deputy commanders and the squad leader behind him were also seasoned veterans. At this moment, a tall, thin deputy commander with a small mustache on the left side of Lu Qi sneered: "Since you killed people and we found out, we cannot ignore it. Even if you have done good, you have also committed crimes. The final judgment of your merits and faults will be made by the Magistrate of Muyuan after we hand you over to him."

Bu Ye smiled: "I can accept this. But, even if the merits and faults are balanced, or even if only the faults are considered, I don't care. I just want to ask, in the matter of eliminating the Mang Mountain bandits, I did indeed help you a great deal. And when you want to arrest me, this is your attitude?"

"Exactly! Your unit came to eliminate the Mang Mountain bandits, but it was done by Ye alone, and you didn't even enter Dongmang Mountain! He helped you so much, and even if you're afraid he might run away, you should have spoken to him nicely, not with such an attitude! Truly ungrateful!" An old man in the crowd shouted angrily. In the battle against the Mang Mountain bandits, his son and daughter-in-law were killed, and he had already lost hope in life, but Bu Ye had avenged him.

"Exactly! You can't treat Ye like this!"

"Even if he killed Yang Yuanda, we can speak up for him!"

"We've always disliked Yang Yuanda. Ye killing him was a service to the people!"

The crowd became chaotic again, and Lu Qi's face turned red and then white. He had thought that by bringing his men and setting up an array, he could easily arrest Bu Ye with just a few words, but he didn't expect Bu Ye to be so eloquent, and a few words had completely put him in the wrong.

His gaze passed through the ten meters of space and stopped on Luo Xiu. He saw the beautiful young widow looking at Bu Ye with concern, her heart aching...

Lu Qi felt the fire in his heart flare up again!

If he couldn't arrest Bu Ye today, this young widow would surely continue to sleep with Bu Ye. But he had been thinking about her all day! Tonight, he had planned to subdue Bu Ye first and then take action against this young widow.

No matter what!

No matter what, Bu Ye had committed a crime, and today he would only consider the crime, not the merit!

"Shut up!!!" Lu Qi suddenly roared!

This time, Lu Qi even activated his Heart Cloud Blood Star, and the twelve stars in his body lit up, shaking the ears of those nearby.

Everyone fell silent, all looking at Lu Qi, who seemed to be extremely angry.

"Bu Ye has done good, and if he doesn't accept the reward, no one will blame him. But he has committed a crime, and if he doesn't accept the punishment, and if he escapes from my camp, the Magistrate will hold me responsible! Moreover, I heard that when he killed Yang Yuanda, the villagers in Dongmang Village believed that Bu Ye was possessed by evil spirits. How do you know he isn't still possessed?" Lu Qi said coldly.

"Impossible!"

"It can't be!"

"Ye has always been normal."

"If Ye were possessed by evil spirits, how could he have saved us?"

The crowd defended Bu Ye, but this time their words lacked the confidence they had before. They all knew that Bu Ye's personality had changed, and they couldn't deceive themselves.

At this moment, Lu Qi added fuel to the fire: "Moreover, if he weren't possessed, how could a newly awakened person like him kill the leader of the Mang Mountain bandits, who has the Heart Cloud Twelve Stars?"

"..."

Seeing the crowd fall silent, Lu Qi knew that today's matter was settled.

At this moment, a slightly fat, ugly deputy commander on his right leaned in and whispered to Lu Qi: "Brother, why not take this opportunity to... take care of that young widow as well?"

"Hmm."

Lu Qi understood the concept of accomplishing everything in one go. After agreeing, he said loudly: "I also heard that Li Luoshi in your village has been in mourning and has been adhering to the rules of widowhood, avoiding contact with men. However, from what I've seen in the past few days, Li Luoshi has suddenly become very close to Bu Ye. How do we know she hasn't been bewitched by Bu Ye? Therefore, today, not only will we arrest Bu Ye, but we will also detain Li Luoshi."

Luo Xiu was completely stunned. What was this all about!

How could she be bewitched by Bu Ye!

"Sir, I and Ye have been neighbors for many years. These days, Ye has been very kind to my son and me, which is why we have become closer. It's not because I'm bewitched by Ye," Luo Xiu said urgently.

"Right! Xiu's eyes are clear, she doesn't look bewitched at all."

"Absolutely impossible!"

"Xiu and Ye have always been good friends."

Lu Qi clearly underestimated Luo Xiu's influence among the men of Dongmang Village. This time, more people came to her defense. The men understood that having a crush was one thing, but being with Luo Xiu was another. In this situation, the only person in Dongmang Village who could match Luo Xiu was Bu Ye. If Bu Ye had feelings for Luo Xiu, they had no chance. And everyone could see how good Bu Ye was to Luo Xiu and her son, so they had already turned to blessing Luo Xiu and Bu Ye.

However, there was no turning back. Lu Qi was determined to capture Bu Ye tonight and take Luo Xiu away. In fact, their unit was a defeated army from the front lines, with very little sense of shame. After their defeat, they had even committed arson and murder in the villages along the way to vent their frustrations.

"Li Luoshi, don't worry, with me here, Bu Ye won't dare to do anything to you. Tell me, have you been coerced by Bu Ye?" Lu Qi looked at Luo Xiu and said gently.

"Sir, no," Luo Xiu said urgently.

"Are you afraid that Bu Ye might hurt you? Don't worry, I'm here to protect you. Come over here, stay away from him, and speak the truth boldly," Lu Qi said again.

At this moment, Bu Ye and Luo Xiu were indeed very close. If everything was as Lu Qi had deduced, Luo Xiu really wouldn't dare to speak the truth.

But, what had Lu Qi deduced?!

Luo Xiu was at a loss. She had never seen such a situation before and could only look at Bu Ye for help.

Bu Ye had already guessed Lu Qi's intentions. It was simply that he had taken a fancy to Luo Xiu and wanted to use this opportunity to take him down.

In this world, if a bandit has evil intentions, they will directly rob; if a powerful person has evil intentions, they will use their authority to rob...

That's all there is to it, in any world.

Bu Ye wanted to see how this would play out, so he met Luo Xiu's gaze and said: "It's fine, go over and speak."

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