Chapter 579: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 579: Troubles (4)
Yang Bao sighed, “I naturally believe you will keep your word, and most of the villagers will understand as well. However, some people might use this incident to create trouble for your family. I’m worried that things might escalate and even end up being reported to the authorities!”
This was his real concern.
Mo Yan was puzzled and asked, “But the beast hasn’t harmed anyone in the village. Even if it were reported to the authorities, would they really intervene in such a matter?”
Yang Bao saw that she was genuinely unaware and explained the situation.
Years ago, there had been a severe snowstorm in the capital. The beasts on Yuhua Mountain, unable to find food and suffering from the cold, gathered together and ravaged nearby villages, causing significant damage to poultry and livestock. For ordinary villagers, their poultry and livestock were vital to their lives, and they couldn’t tolerate the beasts’ destruction.
The villagers banded together, armed with knives and sticks, to kill the beasts. Several beasts were killed, and their pelts and meat were sold, providing each village with a good sum of money.
But no one anticipated the beasts’ fierce revenge. They gathered more of their kind and attacked the villages again, killing not only livestock but also villagers who resisted. In just over ten days, five to sixty people from several villages had been killed or injured. The incident reached the court, and the late emperor was enraged, issuing a decree for the authorities to exterminate the malicious beasts…
“What happened next?” Mo Yan quickly asked. While she believed that the beasts, as living creatures, should not be decided upon by humans, their earlier actions of harming livestock and later innocent villagers made their situation understandable, even justifiable, if they were to be exterminated.
Yang Bao shook his head, took a deep breath, and continued, “The surviving villagers thought that once the authorities killed the dangerous beasts, they would be safe and avenged their families. However, those beasts, having lost their companions, retreated to the mountains and summoned even more beasts to seek revenge on the villagers. Even over a hundred soldiers sent by the authorities couldn’t withstand them, and dozens were killed or injured…”
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Mo Yan was shocked. This was a relentless cycle of vengeance.
Yang Bao seemed to sense her thoughts and nodded with a deep look of fear. “Later, the court sent a thousand elite soldiers to suppress the beasts, and none escaped back to the mountains. We thought it was over, but in the spring, a few villagers went into the mountains to set traps for wild chickens and rabbits, but none returned! For a long time, no one dared to enter the mountains. However, as people depended on the mountains for their livelihood, collecting firewood and rare fruits and vegetables to sell to city folks, they eventually gave in and started going back. But when they went to gather mushrooms in the evening, they didn’t return, and only one torn shoe was found.”
Yang Bao sighed deeply. At that time, he was only seven or eight years old. When he learned of the events, he was so frightened he couldn’t sleep, even if just for half a day, without an adult by his side.
At that time, the village had thirty to forty households and over a hundred people. Everyone was relieved that the beasts hadn’t reached the village but also felt unsafe living at the foot of the mountain. Those with some extra money tried their best to move away to avoid the beasts invading the village.
Eventually, Liuyang Village declined, with only a few poor households remaining. Fortunately, for decades, there had been no incidents of beasts entering the village. If such a thing had happened, there wouldn’t have been enough people to share the spoils among the beasts. Over time, the nearby villagers gradually forgot about the events and resumed going into the mountains, though they followed the advice of their elders and no longer ventured deep into the mountains.
“So, Uncle Yang, because of such incidents, any time a beast enters the village, it must be reported to the authorities for them to handle?” Mo Yan asked, somewhat distressed.
Thinking about the disaster that caused so many innocent deaths made her heart ache, and she was concerned for the three beasts. If the villagers found out she was harboring the three beasts, she could almost imagine the outcome—either the beasts would be driven away or her family would be forced to move.
Yang Bao nodded. “Yes, although it’s been decades, few people remember that tragedy, but the authorities haven’t forgotten the decree from the late emperor.”
Mo Yan frowned. The situation with the golden beast was indeed difficult to resolve. Even if she sought help from Yan Junyu to suppress the matter, the villagers would still be dissatisfied with her family. The only solution was to keep the golden beast in her space until its injuries healed and then release it back to the mountains.
But what about the other three beasts? Were they to remain hidden forever?
Da Bai was fine, having lived in the mountains, and if not for her, it probably wouldn’t have ever entered Liuyang Village. Xiao Hua and Mao Tuan were more troublesome. Even though they could survive in the wild, they had grown up with humans and were more attached to human life than to the mountains. It wasn’t just her reluctance to drive them away; they wouldn’t want to leave either.
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