Chapter 109

Chapter 109

The village head never knew he was so eagerly awaited; from way off, he could hear the village in an uproar, and the entrance was packed with people.

Somebody came running toward the donkey cart, wailing: "Village head! Village head, you're back, you gotta get justice for us!!"

"My third son died so miserably, his face was stomped into a pulp. If it weren't for everyone taking off his straw sandals and me seeing the mole on the sole of his foot, I wouldn't have dared to believe that was my Zhao Sanwang!!"

"Such a good-looking kid, died looking like nothing human. You watched him grow up—you gotta make this right for him!!"

An old woman came stumbling toward the donkey cart. The donkey got spooked and was about to kick, but luckily the driver was the village head's oldest boy, a fellow villager who wasn't about to let the old woman get hurt. In all the tugging, the village head, sitting in the cart, nearly got thrown to the ground.

He was already on edge, and that stumble let loose all the anger he'd been bottling up for days, and he started cussing up a storm: "What's all the racket, what's all the racket? I can hear the noise before I even get to the village! Not a minute's peace—was I in debt to you in a past life, having to be your pack mule in this one?"

The oldest boy finally got the donkey settled down, and seeing the old woman blocking the way with no sense, was about to blow his top when his dad banged hard on the cart boards. He quickly helped the old man climb down.

After a day of being jostled around, his whole body felt like it was coming apart. When his feet hit the ground, he could barely stand for a minute.

After a long moment, the village head shook his sleeves and headed into the village, walking right past the old woman without even a look.

"Village head..." The old woman began to wail again, but the oldest boy cracked his whip against the cart, scaring her so bad she choked back her cries.

Why was the village head's face so sour? Did he lose some silver?

The villagers gathered at the entrance noticed it too. Seeing the village head walking with his hands behind his back, his thick brows all scrunched up, he looked like he was worried about something.

"Village head, you're back. I, we..." A few women at the front, with eyes all red and swollen, were from families where their men had died or were barely hanging on. They'd been waiting day and night for the village head to come back and get justice for them. But faced with his dark look, they couldn't get out a full sentence.

Nobody dared to set him off.

"Mm," the village head grunted, not stopping, like he hadn't even seen the crowd at the entrance, and walked home without a word.

The spot where Zhao Dashan and his sister were hiding faced the village head's house, so they could see what was going on pretty clearly. The crowd moved like ants, slowly making their way from the village to the village head's doorstep. After he went in, the village head didn't come out. His oldest boy led the donkey into the yard, leaving the gate open, but nobody dared to go in. They just stood guard at the door like a couple of door gods.

"Big brother, the sun's about to go down," Zhao Xiaobao said, not too concerned about the situation below, pointing at the big egg yolk hanging low in the west, curled up in her brother's arms.

Zhao Dashan realized he'd been squatting for a long time; his legs were dead. He quickly shifted his position and stretched out his arms and legs.

Down below, it was quiet. The villagers hung around the village head's yard without breaking up. Some went to the village entrance to keep watch, probably waiting for the heads of the other villages.

He'd heard the earlier commotion loud and clear.

"Xiaobao, it's getting dark. You scared? Want me to let Blackie out to hang with you?" He smoothed down his sister's messy hair. She'd been clean and fair when they left, but now she was all grimy after a day on the road.

Zhao Xiaobao wanted to say she wasn't scared, but after thinking it over, she decided to be honest: "Big brother, Xiaobao's a little scared, just a little, not a lot. I don't need Blackie to keep me company; he likes to run off, and if someone finds him, we're in trouble. We're playing hide-and-seek right now."

Zhao Dashan smiled and rubbed her head. Worried that staring at the village below might make him forget about his sister, he said, "Xiaobao, we might have to stay here all night. Go to the Immortal Land now and talk to Blackie. If he's good, you can let him out to play with you."

Zhao Xiaobao nodded, being good.

Once she was gone, Zhao Dashan took the chance to shift his position again, stretching his stiff neck.

In the evening, time flew by in a blink. After the sun went down, one minute it was bright, the next it was dark.

He took off his straw hat to fan himself, popped a white bubble in his mouth, and kept his eyes glued to the village head's house. Having his sister with him was lucky—picking fruit, putting out a fire, and getting to Taoli Village. Before they'd even been crouched there for half an hour, hey, the village head was back!

So he really had been on a long trip. He'd thought it was just an excuse.

But his attitude seemed off. Zhao Dashan rubbed his chin. The village head, how to put it? Though he hadn't dealt with him much, he could get a read on his character: putting on airs with outsiders, but playing the good guy with his own folks.

Especially with his own villagers, he was good at winning hearts. Like when Zhao Sanwang and the others came to Taoli Village to find the village head, they couldn't get any information; the whole village was united, following the village head's orders, not leaking a word. It takes two to make a quarrel; the villagers obeyed, so the village head naturally gained their trust. But from that earlier scene, his dismissive attitude didn't match "gaining trust" at all.

In the past, he might not have thought so much. But since their father often boasted about being the smartest in the family, hearing it so much made him feel sharper. Following that uneasy feeling, he thought the normal situation should be: the old woman complains, the village head gets angry, then sends for the other village heads, and they discuss how to calm the villagers' anger and find trouble with their village.

Ignoring people? That couldn't be!

The mountains had many mosquitoes. Zhao Dashan swatted them while thinking. Unnoticed, it was completely dark. In the sky, a few stars shone brightly.

Below, a few households had cooking smoke rising. The crowd at the village head's gate dispersed and gathered, gathered and dispersed.

When a group hurried in from outside the village, torches were already lit below.

"Big brother, why is it already dark?"

A weight settled in his arms—Zhao Xiaobao appeared out of nowhere, with a dejected dog lying beside her.

Perhaps because they ate too much Immortal Dog Food, both black dogs at home were very intelligent. Big Blackie was raised to guard the granary, with a fiercer temper than Little Blackie. Zhao Xiaobao was young and not good at training dogs; she could only twist the dog's ears and repeat instructions until it whimpered in submission.

So, it took a while, and by the time they came out, it was dark.

When it was dark, it was time for dinner. Without waiting for her brother to speak, she brought out the half-basin of porridge left over from lunch: "Big brother, time for dinner."

"Xiaobao, big brother won't eat yet. Put the basin away. Let's move a bit lower and listen to what they're saying." Several villages had sent people; even darkness couldn't stop them, showing how anxious they were. He was afraid of missing something and wanted to move closer.

"Okay." Zhao Xiaobao patted Big Blackie's head. The dog licked her palm, then trotted lightly down the mountain, making slight noises to drive away snakes and insects.

Taking advantage of the darkness, the siblings were bold. They moved almost to the small slope behind the village head's house before stopping.

Fortunately, it seemed no one here kept dogs. Everything went smoothly. Though they couldn't see the yard, they could hear clearly.

"You were the ones who wanted to block the water, and now you're the ones causing trouble!" Looking at the crowd packed in the yard—people from several villages, a dark mass, some even wearing mourning clothes, crying as soon as they entered—one would think they were here for a condolence visit. How improper!

His mind already in a mess, their commotion made his temples throb. He lost his temper and spoke bluntly: "You banded together, several villages against one, and still got bullied. You have the nerve to come crying to me? You've caused me such a big mess, and I haven't demanded an explanation from you, yet you're the ones making a fuss!"

"Village head, you can't say that. You agreed back then. We only dared to cut off Evening Glow Village's water because you nodded."

"Exactly! You can't just abandon us now! The villagers are all causing trouble, refusing to leave my house, saying if there's no resolution, no one will have peace. My doorstep has been chopped to pieces with an axe, and I can't sleep at night!"

"There are still several men in our village clinging to life. If they don't make it, there'll be more graves on the back hill. Those are human lives! You said back then that if we united, Evening Glow Village couldn't cause trouble. That's why we dared to act. Otherwise, we wouldn't have had the nerve!"

"Now you want to wash your hands of it? That's not right!"

"Exactly! You can't just walk away!"

A cacophony of voices made it impossible to tell who said what.

Several old women in mourning clothes plopped down on the ground, wailing loudly.

"You all talked so nicely back then—'We have more people, Evening Glow Village has fewer, they can't outfight us for water.' We listened to you and sent our men to fight. But what happened? I don't know how many died in Evening Glow Village, I only know my son is dead! He's dead!"

"This isn't what you said! It's completely different! You tricked us into being your laborers, tricked us into fighting! Tricked us into dying!! My son struggled for days, drinking water day and night, spitting blood night and day. My husband and I prayed to gods and Buddhas, but we still couldn't save him! I still couldn't save my son!!"

"He's lying in his coffin now. My son is dead! You all should be held responsible!! Responsible!!"

The old woman started sitting and wailing, then rolled on the ground, howling heart-wrenchingly.

They knew nothing. Even the news that Yujiawan had cut off Evening Glow Village's water came from Yujiawan people running to their village to call them. The village head then told them: cut off the water downstream, and they could carry more buckets upstream to irrigate. Now the other side had come to fight, and they had to fight back.

They had no time to react. They were told that if they didn't go, they'd get fewer buckets in the future, watch others harvest while they had a poor yield, and go hungry the next year...

Once the village head said that, everyone panicked and called their men to grab hoes and follow.

But who would have thought? They said the villages had united, had more people, and would be fine!

And then? In less than half a day, men went out healthy and came back half-dead!