Chapter 78, Resistance

Chapter 78, Resistance

Chapter 78, Resistance

Hua Changxi followed Mao Yong to the river. Before they got close, they saw from afar a lot of people gathered by the river, some whispering to each other, some pointing and talking, and some of them were even laughing wildly.

Looking past these people, Hua Changxi's gaze fell on a man and a woman who were tied up hands and feet on the riverbank.

Aniu was beaten so badly that his face was bruised and swollen. In the middle of winter, he was only wearing a thin summer shirt and trousers that were patched up again. Most of his thin body was soaked in water. In the cold winter, his lips were frozen blue.

The woman was also in a very disheveled state, with her hair disheveled and her shirt buttons ripped open, revealing her fair neck, and her lower body soaked in water.

Although she looked in a mess, the woman was really good-looking with a graceful figure. What was even more eye-catching was that, unlike the delicate appearance of ordinary women, she had a unique wild beauty.

Just like at this moment, compared to Aniu's numbness and resignation, the woman's face was filled with humiliation and unwillingness. She was pushed down, struggled to stand up, was pushed down again, and struggled again, repeating this several times. Finally, she had no strength left and lay in the river mud without struggling any longer.

"Why doesn't this woman know how to give in?"

Mao Yong muttered angrily, feeling a bit disappointed and a bit unwilling to bear it. He glanced at Hua Changxi who was silent beside him and whispered:
"This woman's name is Cattail Reed. She was a poor person. Her mother gave birth to her alone in the reed bushes. Because there was no one around to help her, her mother fell into the water right after giving birth. Then she became ill and died within three years."

"After her mother died, her father quickly married a new wife. With a stepmother, Pu Cao's life was very difficult. Before she was ten years old, she was sold to Dongchi Village and became Li Liulang's child bride."

"Pucao is a capable person. After entering Li Liulang's house, she helped her mother-in-law make and sell tofu. In Dongchi Village, their family lived a pretty good life."

"Although Old Lady Li is a bit harsh, Li Liulang is still very kind to Pu Cao."

"Before Li Liulang died, Pu Cao's eyes were always sparkling. She looked especially beautiful when she smiled, making people want to smile along with her."

"It's a pity that three years ago, Li Liulang went out to work with people from the same village. He encountered bandits and was beaten to death by them."

"Pu Cao was pretty and had a good figure. Someone in the village saw that her husband had died and wanted to marry her. Then the matchmaker found Old Lady Li."

"Mrs. Li certainly didn't want her daughter-in-law to remarry. It just so happened that Pu Cao herself didn't want to either. She said she wanted to fulfill her filial duty on behalf of Li Liulang and take care of Mrs. Li until her death. She rejected all the marriage proposals that came to her."

"At first, the life of the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was relatively peaceful, but within a few months, rumors suddenly spread in the village that Pu Cao was unfaithful to her husband. Later, some people said that Pu Cao had a hard fate and would bring bad luck to her relatives. After that, Mrs. Li treated Pu Cao worse and worse, and would beat and scold her at any time."

Hua Changxi suddenly asked: "Why is the adulterer Ah Niu?"

Mao Yong, who was immersed in Pu Cao's tragic life, let out an "ah" and paused. He realized that Hua Changxi asked this because he understood the unfinished meaning of his words.

"Aniu was even more unlucky. When he was born, his parents were trampled to death by wild boars from the mountains. When he was five years old, his grandparents also died, leaving him the only one left in the family."

"He is still alive today because he is very good at herding cattle. He earns a living by herding cattle for a few wealthy families in the village."

"A few years ago, I was transferred to the medicine store as a manager. There were many cows in the farm. I saw that he could take care of the animals and was very pitiful, so I gave him a job working in the animal barn."

In short, Aniu has no one to rely on, and no one will speak for him even if he dies.

Hua Changxi listened silently without any reaction, but his eyes were cast towards a few people standing at the front of the crowd by the river who were obviously dressed much better than the others.

Mao Yong followed her line of sight and introduced them to her: "That's Chief Li and several elders from Dongchi Village."

At this time, several young men from Dongchi Village began to tie stones to Aniu and Pu Cao.

Mao Yong saw that Hua Changxi had not made any move and became anxious: "If we tie the stones to it, it will sink into the river."

Hua Changxi looked at him and said, "You seem very nervous about that woman named Pu Cao?"

Mao Yong choked and said awkwardly, "That's not the case."

Hua Changxi was puzzled: "The medicine shop is under the management of the Medical Bureau, and it can be considered an industry of the imperial court. If you really want to save people, the people of Dongchi Village should not dare to embarrass you."

Mao Yong's face was a little bitter: "The son of the chief of Dongchi Village is a seventh-rank warrior, serving in Jingzhao Prefecture as a seventh-rank military officer."

He was just a small manager of a medicine store, while they were officials with official positions. How could he dare to confront them head-on?

After hearing this, Hua Changxi's eyes flashed and he looked at Aniu and Pu Cao again.

She had come into contact with Aniu, and was timid, coy and timid. She didn't believe that he was an adulterer.

As for that Pu Cao, she had never met her. Mao Yong must have some special feelings for her. It was hard to say whether his introduction to her was true or false.

Hua Changxi couldn't stand drowning people in the river. Saving people was not difficult, but the subsequent wrangling was difficult.

Just as she was hesitating about what to do, she suddenly felt a wave of spiritual energy coming from the river.

Looking at the ripples on the river surface, Hua Changxi narrowed his eyes.

Monster?

Hua Changxi looked at Patriarch Li and others standing by the river, and an idea came to his mind. He decided to stay put for the time being.

"Clan leader, I was wrong."

"I don't want to die. Please give me another chance. I won't dare to mess around again."

At this moment, Pu Cao suddenly shouted at Patriarch Li.

Hua Changxi looked in the direction of the sound and saw the people of Dongchi Village tying stones to cattails. She seemed frightened and kept begging for mercy and admitting her mistake to the clan leader.

She clearly saw that when he saw Pu Cao begging for mercy, a gleam of light flashed in Chief Li's eyes, a look as if the prey was finally about to be in his mouth.

When Mao Yong saw Pu Cao begging for mercy, he was silent and looked a little disappointed.

Chief Li first talked with several elders for a while, and then stood up and said, "Pu Cao, let me ask you, did Ah Niu force you?"

Pu Cao glanced at Aniu, who had been tied to a stone and carried onto the bamboo raft, and lowered his head: "Yes, it was Aniu who forced me."

Hearing this, Aniu's wooden face finally showed some emotion. He seemed a little bit unbelievable. He stared at the cattail for a while and closed his eyes sadly.

Pu Cao did not dare to look at him, but stared at Chief Li: "Chief, it was Ah Niu who forced me to do this. I am not unfaithful to my husband. Please let me go."

Chief Li whispered with several elders again. After a while, he said to the villagers by the river: "Considering that Pu Cao was forced and was a victim, we should not sink her. Let's only sink A Niu, the instigator."

The villagers were whispering, and no one dared to stand up against Chief Li.

"Thank you, Chief Patriarch. Thank you, Chief Patriarch."

Pu Cao kowtowed several times in the direction of Patriarch Li with great gratitude, and then asked the villagers nearby to untie her.

Enduring the villagers taking advantage of her, Pu Cao trotted towards Chief Li after her hands and feet were free again, looking like a frightened person seeking shelter.

Chief Li looked at Pu Cao with a smile and thought that this woman deserved to be punished. If she obeyed him obediently, nothing would happen to her. She would only obey him if he had to use the clan law.

After Pu Cao stood behind him, Chief Li waved to the tribesmen by the river and said, "Push Ah Niu into the river."

Before he could finish his words, Patriarch Li felt a sharp pain in his neck, and then his neck was locked.

"Don't touch Ah Niu!"

Pu Cao locked Chief Li's neck with one hand and with the other hand he held a sharp wooden hairpin and stabbed it hard into Chief Li's neck. After a while, the flowing blood dyed Chief Li's collar red.

"Ah~"

The sudden scene shocked everyone.

"Pu Cao, quickly release the chief."

Seeing that Patriarch Li wanted to struggle, Pu Cao increased the strength in his hand again: "I advise you not to move, otherwise the hairpin in my hand will definitely pierce your neck."

Chief Li did not dare to move, but he was very angry: "Pu Cao, I will let you go out of my kindness."

"You'll let me go?"

"I bother!"

"How dare you, a thing worse than an animal, be the clan leader? Liu Lang is your nephew within five generations of mourning. After his death, you actually wanted to take possession of his wife. Are you still a thing?"

Pu Cao was a little agitated, looking at the villagers of Dongchi Village: "The day before yesterday, the tribe leader called me to his house, and he made a move on me without saying a few words. Ah Niu went to return the cow, heard my cry for help, and came to rescue me. Then, this old man held a grudge against me, and yesterday he designed a scene to catch me in adultery in order to force me to surrender and kill Ah Niu."

"Don't you know what kind of person Ah Niu is?" "Although I am a widow whose husband has died, I am not short of young men proposing marriage. There are so many young and strong men that I don't like, but I like this old thing with broken teeth. Are you blind, or am I?"

"You guys just watch the show. You'd better pray that you don't marry a beautiful wife. Otherwise, if you are favored by this old man, what happened to Ah Niu and I today will be your fate."

Hearing Pu Cao's cries, the villagers of Dongchi Village were unusually silent.

"Don't listen to Pu Cao's nonsense. She is an unfaithful whore who has a hard life and is unlucky in marriage."

An elder of the tribe stood up and pointed at Cattail with indignation.

Seeing that everyone remained silent, Pu Cao smiled sadly, tears welling up in his eyes. He raised his head to stop the tears from falling, and then said, "I know I can't survive, but A Niu is innocent. He is also from Dongchi Village. You watched him grow up. Let him go."

Aniu, lying on the bamboo raft, looked at Pu Cao who was fighting for his chance to survive. His expression was no longer wooden, but somewhat moved.

Seeing that no one moved, Pu Cao increased the strength of his hands and looked at Chief Li: "Old man, if you want to live, then give the order to release Ah Niu. Otherwise, even if I die, I will drag you, a thing worse than a beast, to hell with me."

Patriarch Li was really angry at this moment, and he shouted at someone in the crowd: "What are you waiting for? Kill this bitch for me."

As soon as the words fell, everyone saw a dagger flying out and shooting straight towards Pu Cao.

The dagger was moving too fast. Just when everyone thought Pu Cao was dead, with a "snap" sound, the dagger was hit by something and deflected, and happened to pierce the shoulder of Patriarch Li.

"Ah~"

Chief Li was stabbed, which was beyond everyone's expectation. Even Pu Cao was stunned for a moment, and then laughed: "Old man, even God doesn't like you."

Mao Yonghuan looked around and then at Hua Changxi, with a look of confusion on his face. This girl didn't move, so who made the dagger deflect?
Just then, a sharp-eyed villager pointed at the river and shouted, "Look, the bamboo raft has drifted away."

Originally, the villagers were supposed to paddle the bamboo raft to the middle of the river and then throw Aniu, who was tied with stones, into the river, but at this moment the bamboo raft floated away by itself.

Then, a strange scene appeared. Waves appeared on the surface of the river and a whirlpool appeared in the middle of the river.

The impact of the waves was quite strong and it hit the bamboo raft, directly overturning it, and Aniu on it fell into the water.

"Aniu!"

When Pu Cao saw Aniu fall into the water, he didn't even care about Chief Li. He ran to the river quickly, jumped into the water with a "splash", and then swam quickly to the bamboo raft.

"Oh my god, what is that?"

In the middle of the river, a fish fin wider than the gate appeared.

The fish fin was rushing quickly towards the place where Aniu fell into the water.

"It's a ferocious beast!"

Because Dongchi Village is near the mountains, the villagers are no strangers to ferocious beasts. However, they did not expect that there would be ferocious beasts in the river, and they were all scared.

You know, on weekdays many village women come to the river to wash clothes.

The villagers quickly moved away from the river, while Pu Cao swam desperately towards the place where Aniu fell into the water.

She was a good swimmer and she quickly swam to the place where Aniu fell into the water. Then she dived into the river and soon emerged from the water dragging Aniu with her.

At this time, the fish fin was only a few meters away from the two men.

Pu Cao was somewhat desperate. She gritted her teeth and swam hard. Even though she was extremely frightened, she did not abandon Aniu who had already fainted from choking.

Feeling the powerful push of the waves behind her, Pu Cao knew that the ferocious beast was about to arrive. She grabbed Aniu tightly and was about to die, but suddenly her arms tightened, and then she found herself flying.

By the time she came to her senses, she and Aniu had already reached the shore safely.

Pu Cao looked up and saw a petite figure.

It was a young lady who saved them!

Hua Changxi walked to Ah Niu and pressed on his chest a few times. Ah Niu spit out a few mouthfuls of water and slowly woke up. When he saw Hua Changxi, he was stunned for a moment: "Miss Hua."

At this time, the ferocious beast in the river showed up. It was a giant fish several meters long. Its wide-open mouth was like a black hole that could swallow a person alive.

The fish monster didn't eat anyone, so it became very angry and kept slapping the water with its tail, making a rumbling sound on the surface of the river.

Hua Changxi looked at the fish monster circling in the river, and looked at Chief Li who was so scared that he had to rely on others for support: "I can help you deal with this beast, but these two people have to come with me."

Before Chief Li could respond, several elders spoke up first: "We've sold Ah Niu and Pu Cao to you. Young lady, hurry up and kill this vicious beast."

Hua Changxi was worried that there would be trouble later, so he added, "I want their indentures."

Several elders said: "We will write to you immediately after we kill the beast."

After hearing this, Hua Changxi was not afraid that they would go back on their word. He kicked up a stone on the river bank. The stone, which was filled with spiritual power, flew through the air and hit the fish's head, directly bursting it.

"Boom~"

The fish monster sank into the river, and soon the water turned red.

The beast was killed so easily that no one in Dongchi Village could react.

Hua Changxi looked at the elders and said, "You can write me a personal contract now."

Several elders immediately ordered people to fetch pens and ink.

"Wait a minute~"

Chief Li suddenly spoke and called out to the villagers.

Hua Changxi narrowed his eyes slightly: "Are you going to regret it?"

Just as Patriarch Li was about to say something, the warrior who had thrown the dagger in the crowd pulled his sleeve and shook his head at him.

Mao Yong also walked over quickly and whispered, "Patriarch Li, this young lady belongs to Elder You."

After hearing this, Chief Li's face became somewhat gloomy. The severe pain in his neck and shoulders reminded him that he was almost harmed by that bitch Pu Cao.

"Pu Cao is the daughter-in-law of the Li family."

"She's not anymore."

An old woman with a haggard face walked out of the crowd.

The old woman looked at the cattail and said expressionlessly, "Today, in front of the whole village, I will divorce the cattail for my dead son."

As he said this, he took out the divorce document he had written long ago from his arms, walked up to Pu Cao, and threw it to her.

"Mother~"

Pu Cao looked at the old woman with a sad face.

The person who came was Pu Cao's mother-in-law, Mrs. Li.

Old Lady Li looked at Pu Cao coldly: "You are no longer the daughter-in-law of my Li family. Get out of Dongchi Village immediately and never show up here again."

After saying that, the old woman turned and was about to leave.

"Mother~"

Pu Cao shouted again, his voice filled with reluctance and pain.

When the old woman heard this, she trembled a little, but she didn't look back. Instead, she walked away without saying a word.

Pu Cao's eyes were red and he kowtowed three times to the old woman's back.

Hua Changxi looked at several clan elders. The clan elders had long been somewhat dissatisfied with Clan Leader Li because of Pu Cao's exposure of Clan Leader Li, so they ignored Clan Leader Li and asked someone to bring paper and pen, and quickly wrote the indentureship contract for the two of them.

"From now on, there will be no more Li Aniu and Li Miao in the Li clan."