Chapter 24

This is a high slope, and at the top of the slope, a new wooden house has been built. It can be seen that this house covers an area of at least three to four hundred square meters, is two stories high, and stands solidly and stably. This was the former residence of the village chief of Nangjiao Village.

The greatest advantages of this residence are two: first, whenever the village chief wakes up early in the morning, he only needs to push open the door of the second-floor balcony to see the people below the slope starting their new day's work in the morning sunlight; second, even if a flood inundates the entire village, this house will still remain unscathed.

However, the new village chief of Nangjiao Village, Yang Shenghua, has no leisurely disposition. More importantly, every morning when he pushes the door and steps out onto the balcony, all he sees is dirty mud and all he smells is the stench of mold. It would be good enough if it didn't make him lose his appetite, let alone talk about any interest. On the other hand, the almost bankrupt new village chief is now preoccupied with how to increase revenue and cut expenses.

At this moment, he is waiting somewhat impatiently in the office on the first floor.

Yang Shenghua is a middle-aged man in his forties, approaching fifty, with the most distinctive feature being the two meticulously groomed mustaches above his lips. Of course, the subordinates often flatter him, saying that these mustaches match the village chief's heroic appearance, but no one dares to honestly tell him that he already looks anxious, and with the mustaches, he looks even more sinister.

While waiting, Yang Shenghua has the habit of pinching his mustache. He gently pinches the edges of the mustache with two fingers and carefully rubs them upwards. This way, he can both pass the time and make the mustache appear more curled. However, at this moment, he is indeed somewhat impatient, and the ends of his meticulously groomed mustache are almost being rubbed apart.

His eyes are fixed on the two financial officers in front of the table, who are concentrating on tallying the income and expenditure. Due to excessive attention, his eyes seem to be bulging out like a goldfish's, and his throat is rolling up and down, a sign of swallowing saliva. From this, it is not difficult to judge how anxious Yang Shenghua is, even more so than a high school student waiting restlessly outside the operating room while his girlfriend has an abortion.

Suddenly, one of the financial officers stopped his actions but kept his head down, estimating something. In fact, he was waiting for his colleague to finish the calculations. Soon, the other financial officer also stopped, and the two exchanged a quick glance, both looking rather grim. The older one raised his head to meet the village chief's gaze.

The village chief not only had a burning gaze but also a voice that sounded urgent, "How much did we lose?!"

The financial officer, intimidated by the intense gaze, dared not look directly and secretly moved his eyes away.

The village chief noticed this and his face gradually turned a dark green. He gritted his teeth and asked, word by word, "I'm asking you, how much did we lose?!"

Sighing inwardly, the financial officer decided to take the plunge. He stood up, bowed slightly, and respectfully and carefully handed a paper that looked like a bill to the village chief. Then he stood with his head bowed and said softly, "About a hundred gold coins, to be precise, ninety-eight gold coins."

What?! The village chief's hand involuntarily twitched, and he pulled out a hair from his mustache, but he remained dazed, as if he had forgotten the pain. His face changed colors rapidly, from red to white to purple to black. After a full ten seconds, he finally let out a惨叫, and others might have thought someone had cut a pound of flesh from his body.

"These imperial maggots, the lowest of the low, the peasants who face the yellow earth all their lives, actually spent ninety-eight gold coins of mine! Ah, I'm going crazy, I really am going crazy!"

Actually, it's no wonder the village chief lost his composure; the purchasing power of gold coins is quite substantial.

In the Central Continent, the monetary system is based on gold, silver, and copper, with an exchange rate of one hundred. That is, one gold coin is worth one hundred silver coins, or ten thousand copper coins. What can one copper coin buy? Four yellow millet steamed buns. One gold coin is equivalent to forty thousand steamed buns. Eating four at a time, it would be enough for ten thousand meals, which is about ten years' worth!

Seeing the village chief's bad mood, the other financial officer stammered, "Actually, a loss of ninety-eight gold coins is already quite small. Look, dredging the river requires money, rebuilding houses requires money, and cleaning the roads also requires money..." He kept calculating, not sure if he was showing off his arithmetic skills or deliberately trying to impress, but this foolish financial officer clearly didn't notice the village chief's nearly collapsing expression.

The financial officer's fate was relatively tragic. First, he was kicked out of the room by the village chief, and then he was thrown into the muddy field by four members of the self-defense team, each grabbing an arm or a leg.

After dismissing the annoying financial officer, Yang Shenghua fell into a comfortable and spacious chair. It seemed that even the heavens were against him. The large chair, which had been fine, suddenly had a small nail fall out, and with Yang Shenghua's considerable weight, he sat down and broke the backrest, falling backward.

"Even you are bullying me?! How outrageous!" The enraged village chief got up and started punching and kicking the chair, not stopping until it was completely shattered, which finally calmed his anger.

Not long after, a man pushed the door open and entered. Yes, he didn't knock first, wait for a response, and then bow and enter respectfully, but rather entered as if he were at home. This man was very thin, and the occasional glimpse of his arms and legs through his cloak revealed that he was indeed very thin.

However, this thinness was not like a bamboo pole's emaciation but a lean, taut build. His steps were neither too large nor too small, giving a sense of precision and naturalness. His gaze always moved subconsciously, lingering on corners, behind doors, and other places with cover—instincts honed in battle, instinctively seeking cover.

This man was the village chief's newly recruited security officer, a man named Bayonet who had served in the border defense army for a long time. Bayonet was not old, only thirty-five, and he was not unattractive, just particularly cold.

Pushing the door open, Bayonet saw the battered and broken chair and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, but it was unclear whether it was a sneer or some other emotion. Standing straight, Bayonet said calmly, "Yang Shenghua, I have three things to tell you."

For Yang Shenghua, the fiscal deficit was already a source of great distress, and Bayonet's nature was to never visit without important matters. This made him even more restless, with a desire to pull out his mustache. However, he knew Bayonet's status and did not dare to show his anger. Yang Shenghua took a deep breath and forced a smile, "Just tell me what it is. I'll do my best to help."

Bayonet pulled the corners of his mouth in a perfunctory response and then said, "First, since the day before yesterday, three members of my self-defense team have gone missing. Although these three are just village bullies, they usually patrol together and would never leave the team and be absent for a long time. I think you should take this seriously."

"Second, in the past two days, strange things have been happening every night." Bayonet's calm tone carried a faint hint of sarcasm, "According to those who have witnessed the strange events, it was a mysterious white fox."

Yang Shenghua's curiosity was piqued, and he couldn't help but ask, "How mysterious?"

Bayonet said, "It can speak. Everyone who has seen this white fox says it can speak. The fact that the white fox can speak is not the key; what it says is the key!"

Before Yang Shenghua could ask, Bayonet continued, "The white fox said that the reason Nangjiao Village suffered a flood disaster is that someone in the village has committed a heinous act that has angered both humans and gods. This is heaven's punishment on Nangjiao Village, and the disaster will not stop until the village is completely destroyed. It also said that soon, an outsider will pass through here, punish the sinner, and eliminate the village's misfortune."

Yang Shenghua couldn't help but laugh, "Such a strange thing?!" His expression suggested that he was dismissive of the white fox's story and didn't take it seriously.

"I'm not finished yet," Bayonet glanced at Yang Shenghua, who immediately shuddered and fell silent. "The white fox said that to solve the villagers' problems, it has already chosen a place of prosperity for everyone. Once the outsider punishes the sinner, everyone will know where this place is."

At this point, Bayonet took out two small black fruits from his pocket, "This is a very magical fruit. When dried and ground into powder, it easily burns with a blue flame when placed in the air. When the white fox appeared, there was such a flame beside it, yes, the person behind it is very good at pretending to be a deity."

Pretending to be a deity? Yang Shenghua was least worried about this. After all, with Bayonet here, who could undermine Nangjiao Village? This shows that Yang Shenghua is not entirely brainless and can see through the true purpose behind this trick.

Unexpectedly, Bayonet sneered, "Not necessarily! The last thing is that since the carpenter's family fled two days ago, and after the white fox incident, the villagers are now disheartened and I think it's very easy for problems to arise."

Yang Shenghua laughed coldly, "What to fear! You are a first-class, one-star armorer. Two ordinary half-trained people can't beat you. As for the person behind it, humph, if they had any real strength, they would have come out and caused trouble directly, instead of using such low tactics."

Bayonet pulled the corners of his mouth, neither confirming nor denying. After a pause, he said, "They will definitely appear tonight, and I will catch them!"

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