Forced
The village chief of Shanyang Village had been bitten, but he couldnât care less at this moment. He immediately raised his voice and said, âHu Changzhu, you want to report this matter to the officials? You have to think carefully!â
The word âofficialâ stunned the people from the two villages. Even though they had caused such a huge commotion, they had never thought of reporting it to the official.
When the people saw an official, they would lose a layer of skin.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Moreover, this was a big matter of eating children. If the officials came, wouldnât the entire village be implicated?
The people of Shanyang Village did not dare to meet the officials.
Actually, the people of Hu Family Village also had relatives and friends there. Naturally, they would not think of reporting this matter to the officials. That was not harming people. That was ending their own line of descendants.
However, Little Ah Yuâs words reminded the people of Hu Family Village. They remembered the friendship of the neighboring village, but the other party did not.
Didnât they just come here to snatch their children away?
Even the vicious bandits did not come down the mountain to snatch the villagers. They usually kidnapped the passing merchants only.
Robbing a village was something only someone who had lost their virtue could do.
âWretched girl, are you courting death!â An uninjured man from Shanyang Village widened his eyes, looking like he wanted to teach her a lesson.
She actually dared to mention the official.
âI think youâre the ones courting death!â Village Chief Hu was originally still considering it. Now that he saw the other party was still being so arrogant, he immediately made up his mind.
âWeâll report this matter to the officials tomorrow!â
The people from Shanyang Village panicked. âYou canât report this to the officials, you canât report this to the officials! Are you people from Hu Family Village crazy? Huh? Is it so easy to meet an official? Even if you donât die, youâll be skinned alive!â
They knew that their own villagers would keep this matter a secret and would forget about it in two years. But if they reported it to the officials, would there still be a single woman who would marry into their village?
Without the women, there would be no children. What would happen if their family line was cut off?
Old Madam Wangâs face was also ashen. When she thought of the wound on her second daughter-in-lawâs back and how Ah Yu had almost been snatched away, she gritted her teeth in hatred.
âDonât do it tomorrow. Weâll do it today! Third Brother, Fourth Brother, go to the official immediately! Donât delay! You bunch of beasts, are you still fit to be human? Even the King of Hell has probably never seen someone more vicious than you!â Old Madam Wangâs face was terrifyingly gloomy, and her fingers were trembling non-stop by her side. âYour children are precious, but other peopleâs children are not. Only your own lives are important! Itâs just a few days of hunger, and you can lose your conscience like this. If youâre so hungry that youâre about to die, Iâm afraid youâll even have to eat yourself!â
The people from Shanyang Village were unconvinced. âHow noble is your Hu Family Village? Do you think we want to eat the children? Those are our own children! But if we donât eat them, our village will be finished!â
âThatâs right. If thereâs a way out, who would choose that path? Your village is lucky to have food. We were more unlucky, thereâs nothing we can do.â
Someone even said fiercely, âThose brats originally couldnât live through the winter either way. Now, theyâre just returning the favor of us giving birth to them! If they donât return it, we wonât be able to live either!â
The person who spoke was lying on the ground. It was obvious that he had been poisoned by a snake. His lower body was paralyzed, but his mouth was still functioning.
Old Madam Wang snatched the shoulder pole from Wang Dalang and struck the personâs shoulder.
Everyone heard a cracking sound as that personâs shoulder was shattered!
âYouâre telling me that you canât live? Not a single one of you here dares to say that youâre so hungry that you canât live in front of me! Your village is really so hungry that you canât find a single blade of grass or cut off a piece of tree bark? Are you so hungry that you feel like youâve eaten a stomach full of stones and mud? Pfft! You still have the energy to come and snatch our children away!â Old Madam Wang spat on the wailing personâs face. âYou havenât even reached the end of the line, but youâre already doing something that even beasts canât do! Now that your tails have been stepped, you know how to feel pain? We canât judge you, but there will naturally be someone to judge your crimes!â
Old Madam Wangâs eyes were red, and her eyelids were wide open. She gritted her teeth and looked at the people from Shanyang Village. âAll of you here, as long as youâre here today, it doesnât matter if youâve participated in the cannibalism or not. Not a single one of you is innocent! Today, weâre going to report to the officials that you came to our village to cause trouble, snatch children, and injure people! As for the rest, the heavens are watching. You should think about whether killing people is against the law or if you have to pay with your lives!â
Perhaps it was because the old ladyâs gaze was too sharp, or perhaps it was because everyone thought that Old man Wangâs family had fled here from the wastelands back then. Those who were old still remembered that their family was all skin and bones back then, and all of them were not far from death.
They had escaped here and survived by eating grass along the way. Their family had fainted at the entrance of Hu Family Village.
The old madam was the weakest. She was indeed the most qualified to say this.
When Wang Chuanfu saw his mother like this, he knew that his mother had recalled that matter again. His heart ached slightly, and he immediately went forward to support Old Madam Wang. He turned his head and said to his two younger brothers, âThird Brother, Fourth Brother, listen to Mother.â
Wang Chuanyuan and Wang Chuanman turned around and wanted to leave. The people from Shanyang Village immediately wanted to stop them.
âCao Hua!â Village Chief Hu shouted the name of the village chief. âAre you really going to continue rotting this? The sky is clear and the snow has melted. What about you? Are you still holding on to the rotten flesh in your hearts?â
The village chief of Shanyang Village sighed. Just because he didnât eat the childrensâ flesh didnât mean that he wasnât guilty.
He was the one who brought the villagers here. How could he escape responsibility?
If they reported this to the officials, the entire village would be destroyed!
Seeing that the village chief did not say anything, the people from Shanyang Village did not retreat.
Both sides were in a deadlock.
A woman from Shanyang Village suddenly rushed out and looked hopefully at Little Ah Yu, who was hiding behind the adults. âThose snakes listen to you, right? Do you know how to treat snake venom?â
Only then did everyone remember that more than half of the men from Shanyang Village had been bitten, and a few had already fainted!
If the snake venom acted up quickly, people would die in less than half an hour.
Little Ah Yu pursed her lips and said nothing.
She vaguely felt that her water seemed to be able to treat illnesses.
However, she did not want to give it to these people. They were baddies.
Liu Shi hugged Ah Yu and said coldly, âI donât know what youâre talking about. The snakes came on their own. It has nothing to do with my daughter!â
She was too nervous, making the people of Shanyang Village suspect something.
Yes, that snake was ordered around by the little lamb, but the little lamb listened to her.
This child was not simple.
The woman ignored her and said, âIâm willing to have this matter reported to the official, Iâm willing! But please save my father. Heâs old and canât stand the snake venom!â
âDonât make things difficult for the child,â Village Chief Hu said. âIf you behave yourselves, weâll agree to let Doctor Hu take a look at him. As for whether you can take care of him or not, that will depend on your fate! That child is from our village. She is now, and will be in the future. Donât think that just because our Hu Family Village is small, we can be bullied by you!â
The people from Shanyang Village were speechless.
Who was bullying who now?
But Village Chief Huâs words did remind them.
Someone with sharp eyes said softly, âDid you notice? Those who were bitten by the venomous snakes have all eaten childrenâ¦â
...
Not everyone in the village had eaten children. Most of them had not.
They were also afraid of those who had eaten human flesh, and silently remembered who they were.
âThatâs true. Could it be that the heavens have really sent punishment?â
âThen is that child of Hu Family Villageâ¦â
Old Madam Wang poked the shoulder pole in her hand onto the ground. âHave you thought it through?â
âWeâagree to let you report this to the officials.â The shoulder of the village head of Shanyang Village fell fiercely, and his voice was especially ancient. âHowever, please try your best to save the injured.â