Chapter 56

The village chief was taken aback by the question.

Shouldn't normal people run away as soon as they hear about demons and ghosts? Why were these people not only unafraid, but also enthusiastically asking about the demons and ghosts?

Could it be that they wanted to claim kinship with the demons and ghosts?

The village chief barely managed to suppress this absurd thought.

After some consideration, he decided to tell the truth: "We don't know the true identity of the leading demon. We only know that it calls itself the Mountain Lord, claiming that this entire mountain is its private property. It also keeps a group of ghost officials responsible for collecting rent from the villages in the mountains."

Zhu Xiuzai whispered in Qin Shaoyou's ear, introducing him: "Those who usually call themselves the Mountain Lord are often tiger demons. Of course, sometimes other demons, like fox demons, also like to call themselves the Mountain Lord to scare others."

Qin Shaoyou nodded slightly, thinking to himself: "Fox demons pretending to be the Mountain Lord to scare others? Could this be the origin of the idiom 'a fox borrowing the tiger's might'?"

At the same time, he asked, "Village chief, what do you mean by collecting rent? Does the demon want you to offer money and grain? And I remember you said that today is the day when the ghost officials come to collect the major rent. Is there a difference between major and minor rent?"

The village chief looked distressed and said, "Our money and grain have long been taken away by the tax collectors. How could we have any extra to offer to the demons? But what they want is not money or grain. The minor rent is collected monthly by the ghost officials, who take away our yang energy and essence to offer to the Mountain Lord. The major rent is collected every six months, and what they take away... is a pair of young boys and girls."

"Boys and girls?"

Qin Shaoyou recalled the two households he saw crying when they first arrived in the village.

He guessed that these two households were the ones who had to offer the young boys and girls, which was why they were so sad.

When he asked, it turned out to be true. Su Jianqing, hearing this, said indignantly, "The Mountain Lord drains your yang energy and essence every month and demands a pair of young boys and girls every six months, and you can tolerate this?"

"What else can we do if we can't tolerate it? We are just ordinary people, we can't fight against demons and ghosts."

"Why don't you report it to the authorities?"

"Report it to the authorities?"

The village chief smiled bitterly and recounted a piece of history.

It turned out that three years ago, when the Mountain Lord first appeared and caused trouble, they, along with the other villages in the mountain, had reported the matter to the county.

At that time, the county sent a few night watchmen, led by a minor officer.

After they arrived, they took turns patrolling the villages, but the Mountain Lord and its ghost officials seemed to know about their arrival and never showed up.

The night watchmen stayed in the villages for more than half a month without seeing the Mountain Lord or its ghost officials, so they withdrew.

The very next night after the night watchmen left, the Mountain Lord's ghost officials appeared and retaliated against the villages, killing many people.

After that, the villages were too scared to report it to the authorities again.

They were afraid that if the authorities sent people who couldn't deal with the Mountain Lord, it would only bring the Mountain Lord's retaliation upon them.

There was a village on the mountain slope that, unwilling to be threatened by the demons and ghosts, reported it to the authorities again last year.

This time, not only did the night watchmen come, but a nearby army unit was also mobilized to search the mountain for the demons and ghosts.

The result was still nothing.

In the end, when the army left, they looted the village, claiming it was for their hard work and travel expenses.

"Many people in that village didn't survive that winter..."

After recounting the story, the village chief spread his hands helplessly.

"You see, with these tragic examples in front of us, how could we dare to report it to the authorities? Not reporting it means losing a bit of yang energy and essence every month and offering a pair of young boys and girls every six months, but many people can still barely survive. Reporting it, if we're lucky, brings the demons' retaliation, and if we're unlucky, it leads to bankruptcy and quicker death!"

Hearing this, Qin Shaoyou could only think of the saying, "Harsh policies are more ferocious than tigers."

But here, harsh policies were even more ferocious than demons and ghosts.

The people here would rather be raised like livestock by the demons and ghosts than report it to the authorities.

Because reporting it would lead to an even worse outcome...

It was truly ironic!

He didn't ask why the villagers didn't run away.

Because he knew that running away would have the same result.

Staying here, though there were demons and ghosts, they could still manage to have a meal.

But if they ran away, they would become refugees or bandits... either way, they would die faster and more miserably.

Before Qin Shaoyou could speak, the village chief sighed again, "Actually, demons and ghosts are indeed terrifying, but compared to the increasing taxes and levies every year, they are nothing. As long as the taxes and levies remain, it doesn't matter whether there are demons and ghosts or not."

Su Tingyu frowned and said, "How can they be the same? The demons and ghosts eat people. Don't you have to offer a pair of young boys and girls every six months?"

The village chief said somberly, "Actually, it's the same... even without the demons and ghosts, these children would find it hard to survive."

Su Tingyu was taken aback and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

This time, the village chief did not answer Su Tingyu's question.

A look of shame flashed across his face, and he forcibly ended the topic.

"Anyway, you should leave before it gets dark. Otherwise, when the Mountain Lord's ghost officials come, you will also have to pay rent."

With that, the village chief turned and walked away.

Qin Shaoyou watched the village chief's back, his expression heavy. He turned to Su Tingyu and said, "He was too ashamed to answer your question, but I can guess the reason."

"What reason?"

"Do you remember when we were traveling today, we passed a river where we saw wild dogs and crows fighting over the bodies of several infants?"

"I remember. You had Monk Ma drive away the wild dogs and crows and bury the infants' bodies on the spot. At the time, someone in the group lamented that in the past two years, the number of abandoned and drowned infants has been increasing. I asked why, and he said the reason was simple: they couldn't afford to raise them..."

Su Tingyu suddenly understood.

"This village is the same. They can't afford to raise infants, but instead of abandoning or drowning them, they offer them to the demons and ghosts in exchange for a chance to survive?"

Qin Shaoyou nodded, "So the village chief wouldn't answer you because this is something no one would want to admit."

Su Tingyu fell silent.

Su Jianqing narrowed her eyes and said, "Actually, in their current state, they won't live much longer. Their yang energy and essence have already been drained by the Mountain Lord's ghost officials."

Qin Shaoyou sighed, "These villagers probably know this, but they have no choice, so they just live one year at a time..."

Su Jianqing turned to look at him, "Should we destroy the Mountain Lord and its ghost officials and bring peace to the villagers in the mountain?"