15: Chapter 15 This matter is over

The next day, Xia Shaoxin was at home rolling strength pills when the voice of Liu Xinglong from the Gu Bureau suddenly came from outside the courtyard: "Boy of the Xia family, come out and speak."

Xia Shaoxin's heart sank; he had alerted the Gu Bureau, and he did not know if it was a blessing or a curse.

He lifted the curtain to look outside. Liu Xinglong was standing at the main gate with four or five men beside him, bows drawn and arrows nocked, aiming at his door.

In the distance, at the corner outside the courtyard, there were also people keeping watch.

He turned to look at the backyard, which was also filled with shadowy figures, surrounding him.

"Lord of the Gu Bureau, are you here to kill me?"

He quietly packed his gear for entering the mountains, preparing to rush out and hide in Dawu Mountain.

"If you do not run and can speak properly, I will not kill you."

Xia Shaoxin gripped a strength pill and lifted the door curtain, only then seeing that there were at least twenty people surrounding the place.

As soon as he poked his head out, all the arrowheads were aimed at him.

He could not help but gasp; running away was almost impossible, and even with the strength pill, it would not be enough.

"You brat, you actually dare to hold a sword while speaking to me?" Liu Xinglong was very angry.

"You have dozens of people aiming bows at me, I only have one sword, what is wrong with that?"

Liu Xinglong said mockingly: "Then what use is that sword? With one command from me, you will be shot into a hedgehog."

Xia Shaoxin's face darkened as he said: "We in the Xia family do not have the habit of surrendering without a fight."

"So you only know how to kill and fight, with no room for maneuver in anything you do!" Liu Xinglong said with disdain.

Xia Shaoxin gave up on the idea of forcing his way out, opened the door curtain, walked out calmly, came to the front courtyard, and opened the gate.

"There is no need for such a grand display just to kill me."

He stuck his sword into the ground and stood proudly.

Liu Xinglong laughed instead: "You brat, you really do have some guts; I underestimated you before."

With a wave of his hand, the twenty-plus archers lowered their bows and relaxed the strings.

"You have some cleverness. Originally, you couldn't even beat Li the Toad, but after running into Dawu Mountain, you killed him and his two sons. Tell me, how did you do it?"

Liu Xinglong's eyes were filled with bloodthirsty amusement.

Xia Shaoxin changed the subject: "Lord, Li the Toad stole my family's Five-colored Scorpion and killed my grandfather. You believe me now, don't you?"

Liu Xinglong nodded: "The Li family has already confessed, but you used excessive force."

"It was they who came to ambush me in the middle of the night; it was not me who went to ambush their home."

Liu Xinglong waved his hand, not wanting to hear this, and asked again with great interest: "How did you take out the three of them?"

"Inside, I held the advantage of the terrain." Xia Shaoxin casually bluffed, "It's hard to explain here. How about you come inside with me, and I'll show you."

Liu Xinglong snorted coldly.

They were unwilling to enter the Xia family's courtyard because there was a strange smell.

Xia Shaoxin had stayed there for so long he didn't notice it, but outsiders felt the smell was very strong.

"You killed the three of them, that's enough, right?"

"What does the Lord mean by that?"

"If they were to live back home, could you two coexist in peace?"

"If I said we could coexist in peace, would you believe me, Lord?"

Liu Xinglong spat on the ground: "Damn it, you Bug Catchers are really troublesome!"

Xia Shaoxin asked in return: "How does the Lord intend to handle this?"

"The Li family brought this upon themselves, but you are killing each other and too many people have died; that is absolutely unacceptable!"

Xia Shaoxin sneered: "If I were the only one who died last night, you wouldn't have these worries, right, Lord?"

"Correct!" Liu Xinglong answered without hesitation.

His eyes revealed an irrepressible contempt.

At this moment, Zhang Yan's words echoed in his mind.

In the eyes of the Gu Bureau, Bug Catchers are just lowly slaves; even if they earn more money than farmers, their status is far worse.

"Now that three of the Li family have died, their eldest son is a coward who dares not continue to fight you to the death, and has requested a transfer elsewhere."

"I intend to transfer him to the Black Miasma Mountain. Are you satisfied?"

This was also one of the several miasma-filled mountain regions under the jurisdiction of the Yue Kingdom.

"If his family goes to the Black Miasma Mountain, they will have to abandon everything here, rebuild their house, and explore the Black Miasma Mountain from scratch. They won't be able to recover for twenty or thirty years. I think this price is high enough."

"Most importantly, there will be no possibility of you and the Xia family meeting again. The matter ends here. I think you should be satisfied."

Liu Xinglong explained patiently. Xia Shaoxin did not answer immediately. Liu Xinglong scolded: "Brat, be forgiving where you can. The Li family has slave status; changing to a new place as Bug Catchers, perhaps they won't last many years before their population dwindles and they are automatically removed from the register."

Xia Shaoxin nodded indifferently. This was fine; from now on, the two families would have nothing to do with each other until death, which counted as resolving the problem.

"However, you killed Bug Catchers; it cannot be let go for nothing. You must be fined." Liu Xinglong continued immediately.

"A fine?"

"Fifty strokes for each side!"

Xia Shaoxin laughed: "I thought you were going to throw me in jail."

"Does our Gu Bureau have a jail?" Liu Xinglong snorted coldly. "If I lock you in a cell, who will catch bugs?"

That miasma-filled place of Dawu Mountain relies on Bug Catchers risking their lives to trade Poisonous Insects, contributing tax revenue to the imperial court and medicinal materials to the Sect.

"You Bug Catchers don't have so many twists and turns. Since life and death have already been decided, and the Li family has conceded and wants to avoid you, the matter is over."

Liu Xinglong extended one finger and shook it: "Let's make the fine this amount."

Xia Shaoxin breathed a sigh of relief: "Ten thousand, no problem."

"What ten thousand? One hundred thousand coins, to be paid off in three years."

Why extend one finger for a fine of one hundred thousand? Xia Shaoxin was speechless.

"Very well, I accept the punishment."

Liu Xinglong called to his subordinates and turned to leave.

"Lord, the removal fee is still one thousand taels of silver, right?" Xia Shaoxin shouted from behind.

Liu Xinglong was stunned, turned around, and laughed: "You are still thinking about that? One thousand taels of silver is almost one million coins. Do you think you can scrape that together just because you have no one else to feed?"

Xia Shaoxin pressed: "What if I can scrape it together?"

"Unless you don't marry or have children, live frugally, and toil for twenty years, perhaps you could scrape enough together. By that time, where would you even go?"

Someone next to him muttered: "Whether you can live another twenty years is another matter."

Everyone laughed.

"Fine. If you scrape together the amount of one million, you can naturally be removed from the register. Here at the Gu Bureau, I have the final say." Liu Xinglong said indifferently.

He ignored Xia Shaoxin further and, surrounded by soldiers, returned to the city.

Liu Xinglong of the Gu Bureau was very pleased. He had expected Xia Shaoxin to resist, but he did not expect him to be so cooperative.

With the matter ending here, the Gu Bureau could still keep it under control.

If the situation escalated, he would inevitably be reprimanded by his superiors.

Watching the backs of the Gu Bureau men, Xia Shaoxin understood a few things.

He had gained a huge advantage in the vendetta against the Li family, and the Gu Bureau had not investigated his crimes deeply, only taking the opportunity to fine him one hundred thousand.

This showed that the people of the Gu Bureau valued the strong.

The Li family had lost people, were forced to migrate, their family fortune was exhausted, and they had to change places to catch Poisonous Insects; it was actually quite miserable.

But the Gu Bureau just treated him as such; there was no talk of respect, he was just a lowly slave.

Xia Shaoxin exhaled coldly, turned back into his room, and continued rolling his strength pills.

Having sacrificed more than twenty types of Poisonous Insects, he actually did not need to go deep into Dawu Mountain.

However, he wanted to catch some live Poisonous Insects, then transform some into dried goods, using a two-pronged approach to earn money faster.

He had decided that if Zhang Yan could not handle that much stock, he might as well ask other people with official positions in the Gu Bureau.

He would scrape together the money sooner, pay that removal fee, and leave this place forever.