75: Chapter 75 Who is it that dares to disturb this official?

The roof of the temple in Zhou Family Village.

Qin Ling's split soul stood on the eaves, overlooking the scene below.

He saw Zhou Ping lift up the mass of flesh still dripping with black blood, and he saw the anger on the faces of those villagers.

He withdrew his gaze, his figure gradually dissolving.

He knew Zhou Ping could accomplish this matter.

...

A few days later.

In the inner hall of the county yamen, the doors and windows were tightly shut.

Clerk Liu sat in the grand master's chair, with an account book spread out in front of him, a celadon teacup placed on his right, and a dish of osmanthus cake on his left.

He flipped through a few pages of the account book, moistened his fingers with saliva, and flipped through a few more pages, his brows furrowed.

An abacus was placed to the side; he did not use it, but instead tapped his fingers on the table one by one.

As a clerk, it was naturally impossible for him to live solely on his monthly salary; he definitely had to line his own pockets a bit.

Right at this moment, rapid footsteps came from outside the door.

Clerk Liu's hand paused abruptly. He quickly closed the account book, stuffed it into his sleeve, picked up the teacup again, and pretended to be drinking tea.

The door was pushed open, and a yamen runner stumbled in, nearly tripping over the threshold.

"What are you doing?!"

Clerk Liu slammed the teacup down onto the table. The tea splashed out and burned his hand. He endured it without shouting, only glaring with a livid expression.

The yamen runner panted heavily, pointing outside, unable to speak smoothly.

"Lord Clerk, someone is causing trouble at the entrance!"

Clerk Liu's brows furrowed even tighter. He pushed the account book deeper into his sleeve, stood up, dusted off his robes, and spoke in a sharp and shrill voice.

"You come to ask me about such trivial matters? Drive them away! Blast them out!"

The yamen runner did not move, standing in place with a flushed face, stammering,

"We can't drive them away... there are too many people..."

Clerk Liu's hand stopped in mid-air. He stared at the yamen runner for a moment before asking,

"How many people?"

The yamen runner swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

"There are already over a hundred people, and people from various villages are still coming one after another."

"What?"

Clerk Liu's expression changed. After rolling his eyes, he still headed toward the entrance of the county yamen.

After all, the County Magistrate was absent, the assistant magistrate position was vacant, and the main clerk had retired due to old age. He was the second-in-command in this yamen; if he didn't go, no one else would.

The yamen runner followed closely behind Clerk Liu.

Soon, Clerk Liu walked out of the yamen entrance.

Upon seeing the scene outside the county yamen, his expression changed from surprise to stiffness, and from stiffness to lividness.

Before his eyes, over a hundred villagers packed densely into the open space in front of the county yamen, blocking the entire street completely.

Outside the crowd, even more onlookers stood watching.

People carrying burdens, pushing carts, and holding children stretched their necks to look inside, whispering to each other, buzzing like a disturbed hive of hornets.

Parked at the entrance of the county yamen were several ox carts and mule carts, piled high with divine statues.

Clerk Liu's throat moved as he recognized those statues.

Those statues were precisely the Yellow Immortal statues that the county yamen had previously distributed to various villages, which had also been requested by the County Magistrate.

"Who is below the hall! How dare you disturb this official!"

Clerk Liu's voice was sharp and shrill, and his expression was ominous.

Seeing the clerk emerge from the county yamen, a man in the crowd jumped onto a cart.

It was Zhou Ping, who had grown thin due to recent worries, but his back was held very straight.

Standing amidst that pile of statues, he cupped his hands toward Clerk Liu and spoke out,

"Lord Clerk, this humble commoner Zhou Ping, head of Zhou Family Village, has brought the folks from various villages here today not to cause trouble, but to seek justice."

Clerk Liu's mouth twitched.

Justice?

What justice?

"Audacious!"

Clerk Liu raised his voice, pointing at the statues on the cart as he said,

"These statues were personally ordered to be replaced by the County Magistrate! Bringing them to the entrance of the county yamen like this, are you trying to defy the County Magistrate's orders?!"

Zhou Hu in the crowd cursed in a low voice and was held back by the person next to him.

Zhou Ping showed no intention of backing down. Standing on a cart, he looked at Clerk Liu with bright eyes.

"Lord Clerk, this humble commoner is not defying the County Magistrate's orders; this humble commoner wants to ask the County Magistrate and all the villagers to see what on earth it is that he made us enshrine."

After finishing, Zhou Ping reached out toward the bottom of the cart.

A villager from Zhou Family Village handed over an axe, its blade polished to a bright shine.

Zhou Ping took the axe and stood before a statue.

The noisy crowd quieted down.

Everyone looked at Zhou Ping, looked at that axe, and looked at those Yellow Immortal statues with eerie expressions.

Clerk Liu's pupils contracted sharply.

"What are you going to do?!"

Zhou Ping ignored him.

He swung the axe, the blade cutting an arc through the air and smashing into the chest of the statue.

With a bang, the wood shattered, and splinters flew everywhere.

Clerk Liu was startled into taking a step back, bumping into the yamen runner behind him.

The yamen runner steadied him, and the faces of both men turned pale.

Zhou Ping struck it once more.

With a bang, a crack split open across the chest.

Another strike, bang, the entire chest burst open, and broken wood flew all over the ground.

The wood chips scattered, revealing the contents inside.

It was the same thing Zhou Ping had chiseled out in the temple of Zhou Family Village previously.

Inside was a clump of dark red flesh shaped like a weasel, curling up inside the chest cavity of the statue and writhing.

The surrounding crowd of onlookers instantly erupted.

Those villagers who had rushed over from various villages—some had already seen the things inside the statues, while others were seeing them for the first time.

Their eyes widened, their mouths hung open as they looked at the writhing flesh.

The onlookers gossiped even more, their voices growing louder and more chaotic.

"What on earth is that?!"

"Why does it look like a skinned weasel? It looks so eerie!"

"But it doesn't quite look like a weasel either. Look, that piece of flesh is still twitching!"

"How could this thing be inside a divine statue?"

Clerk Liu stood on the steps, his face as pale as paper.

Looking at that mass of dark red flesh still writhing, a surge of sour liquid churned in his throat.

Zhou Ping lifted that piece of flesh high so that everyone could see the writhing meat.

"Lord Clerk, this is the 'divine spirit' you had us enshrine."

"Flesh and blood shaped like a weasel—is this really not some sort of sorcery?"

"How can this ever look like something that should be inside a divine statue?"

Zhou Ping's voice carried across the entire venue.

Clerk Liu did not answer; at this moment, he couldn't speak at all anyway.

He simply stood there, watching that writhing mass of meat, his entire body stiffening.

Right at this time, Zhou Hu also walked out from the crowd and jumped onto another cart, holding an axe in his hand as well.

Standing before another statue, he swung his axe—once, twice, three times.

The chest of the other Yellow Immortal statue burst open, revealing the exact same thing inside.

A clump of meat—curled up, dark red flesh and blood.

Zhou Hu lifted the upper half of the statue high, letting everyone see the writhing flesh.

The noise in the crowd grew even louder. Some shouted "Sorcery!", some shouted "Demon creature!", and others shouted "Burn that thing!".

Several bold villagers jumped onto the carts, brandishing axes, hammers, and iron rods, smashing the statues one blow after another.

The Yellow Immortal statues were smashed open, exposing the flesh within—statue after statue, cart after cart.

Clerk Liu stood on the steps, his legs trembling.

He watched those smashed statues, and he watched the writhing flesh thrown upon the ground.

This was the first time he regretted becoming a clerk!