landbeastnovel Chapter 60 exposed
Chapter 60 exposed
Hot blood splattered out, covering Chen Ye's face and robes, giving him an aura of ferocity.
"you……"
Li Anye's eyes widened, his face filled with shock and bewilderment.
He couldn't understand why this seemingly ordinary young man would act so ruthlessly, leaving him no room to maneuver.
Chen Ye stepped on his chest and swiftly pulled the knife out of the flesh.
This was already the umpteenth time he had killed someone.
Despite being covered in sticky blood plasma, it reeked of a nauseating stench.
Yet, he experienced an unprecedented peace in both body and mind.
The Xie family's entourage appeared numerous, but many were merely temporary hangers-on.
Upon witnessing this scene, they scattered like birds and beasts, none daring to confront Chen Ye, let alone harboring any thoughts of revenge.
Chen Ye didn't have time to chase after them one by one.
After drawing his sword, he casually grabbed Li Anye's silk robe and carefully wiped the blood off the blade before sheathing it.
Then, he squatted down, rummaged through Li Anye's body for a moment, and pulled out a money bag and the indentures of the Han family mother and her two sons.
He then quickly searched through another corpse.
Then, Chen Ye took the silver and the indenture and walked up to Cheng Defu, who was still in a daze.
Cheng Defu took the silver and counted it briefly. It was about nineteen taels of silver, part of the rent that Li Anye had collected today.
He pondered for a moment, then sighed deeply, returned the contract to Chen Ye, and waved his hand, saying, "Li Anye has settled the previous debts for his family, so we don't need this contract anymore. Give it back to them."
Chen Ye never expected that this old guy, who usually had a terrible drinking habit, would actually show kindness.
At this moment, the woman from the Han family was still kneeling on the ground, not yet recovered from the sudden turn of events.
Her husband was curled up against the wall, coughing violently, while her two sons huddled in her arms.
The older boy suddenly broke free from his mother's arms, ran to Li Anye's body, squatted down, and under Chen Ye's slightly surprised gaze, stripped off the corpse's outer robe and boots, holding them one by one in his arms.
Then he ran out of the yard without looking back.
This scene left Chen Ye and the others stunned.
Chen Ye walked over to the woman and returned the indenture to Han Erniu's family.
The woman from the Han family finally came to her senses, pulled the remaining children beside her over, and forced them to kneel down: "Quickly, kowtow to your benefactor!"
The child, bewildered, had no choice but to do as instructed.
After kowtowing, the woman from the Han family wiped away her tears with her sleeve, turned around and ran into the house. She brought out two bamboo chairs and placed them in the courtyard, inviting Chen Ye and the others to sit down.
After moving the chairs, she quickly went back into the house, took out two persimmon cakes, and carefully presented them to Chen Ye.
"Sir, we don't have much at home. These are some freshly dried persimmons. Please have some."
Chen Ye took the persimmon cake, shared a piece with Cheng Defu, and asked, "Manager Cheng, what do we do next?"
"Wait here," Cheng Defu said with a smile as he took the persimmon cake.
Chen Ye picked another chair and sat down, glancing at it out of the corner of his eye.
The boy next to him was staring intently at the persimmon in his hand, swallowing hard.
Chen Ye beckoned and said, "Come here."
The boy was a little scared when he saw Chen Ye covered in blood, but he still timidly took two steps.
"Take this and eat it."
The younger children took the persimmons with both hands and immediately began to devour them.
Clearly, this child has been very hungry lately and hasn't been eating well.
Chen Ye ignored him and simply closed his eyes to rest.
Cheng Defu, who was standing nearby, became restless and turned to Chen Ye, asking, "You just killed a member of the Xie family. The Cui family might not protect you. Aren't you afraid they'll turn around and punish you?"
"If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up. We're just following the rules and doing things for the Cui family, what's there to be afraid of?"
Whoever takes my life, I will take theirs. Whether the Cui family protects me or not, there is no room for negotiation.
Cheng Defu looked Chen Ye up and down, as if he were seeing him for the first time, and was secretly alarmed by his calm and composed demeanor.
Before long, the neighbors heard the commotion and called the village head.
The other party was an old farmer in his sixties. When he entered the door and saw the two corpses of the Xie family members on the ground, stripped naked, his face turned pale.
Faced with Chen Ye and his two fierce demeanors, he could barely speak.
"Two...two sirs..."
Cheng Defu spoke directly, "Old Master Shao, you've come at the right time. There's been a bit of a mishap here, and I have to wait for Miss to arrive. Go and collect the rent from each of the Cui families first, and then I'll come find you."
The village head stood still, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
Cheng Defu frowned and asked, "What's wrong? Is something the matter?"
The village head said in a low voice, "There's something I need to report to the steward... The Cui family's harvest this year was rather poor, and everyone in the village... wants to farm the Xie family's land next year."
Cheng Defu suddenly stood up and said, "Why aren't you planting on this perfectly good land?"
The village headman said with a wry smile, "The wicked servants in Xie Family Village blocked the upstream irrigation canal, leaving only a narrow opening for the Cui family's fields to irrigate; the rest of the water was diverted to the Xie family's side."
"The fields around the Cui family's house are difficult to cultivate, and the villagers have argued about it several times."
Cheng Defu pondered for a moment and said, "The young lady from the manor will arrive in a little while. You can explain it to her in person."
Half an hour passed.
The dog at the village entrance suddenly started barking wildly, followed by the rapid sound of horses' hooves.
Upon hearing the commotion, Cheng Defu immediately stood up.
A group of people stopped in front of the Han family's house.
Cui Xijun walked at the front, dressed in plain riding attire, her long hair draped over her shoulders, looking dashing and capable.
Five or six attendants and guards followed her one after another.
To Chen Ye and Cheng Defu's surprise, Cui Yingtang, the second young lady of the Cui family, also came along.
She was still wearing her usual black short-sleeved shirt with a belt around her waist, her expression aloof.
After dismounting, the group went straight into the Han family's courtyard.
Upon seeing this group of elegantly dressed people, the Han family knew they were of high status and could not afford to offend them, so they all shrank back into the house, not daring to show their faces.
Cui Xijun glanced at the corpses in the courtyard, her gaze sharp as a knife as she fixed it on Cheng Defu, and said, "Explain yourself."
Cheng Defu stepped forward and recounted the whole story, especially embellishing the account of the Xie family's arrogant and domineering behavior.
Upon hearing this, Cui Xijun coldly replied, "So, they struck first?"
"That's right," Cheng Defu replied. "The Han family members in the house, as well as Hongling, can all testify to this. It's definitely not something we caused without cause."
"In addition, the village head of Shaojiawei also mentioned something: the Xie family has been secretly causing trouble by cutting off the water from upstream, which has led to a reduced harvest in the Cui family's fields this year. Now, no one in the village wants to rent our fields anymore."
"Is that so?" Cui Xijun's face darkened.
Cheng Defu glanced at the village head next to him, who quickly stepped forward and carefully reported the matter again.
"The Xie family is getting more and more outrageous."
"I'll handle this from now on. You all go do your work."
Cheng Defu breathed a sigh of relief: "Yes."
Just as Chen Ye and his companion were about to leave, Cui Yingtang, who hadn't said much, called out, "Wait a minute."
Cui Yingtang strolled over with interest, stood beside Li Anye's corpse, and kicked the severed arm with the tip of her boot.
"This knife, clean and swift." She turned to Chen Ye: "Did you kill him?"
Chen Ye didn't hide anything: "Yes."
"I've heard of this person. He's about the same level as Old Cheng, also at the fourth stage of the Transformation Realm. How could you possibly crush him?"
As she spoke, Cui Yingtang suddenly became interested: "Let's have a go, let me see how strong you are."
"Um... Second Miss..."
Before Chen Ye could finish speaking, Cui Yingtang struck him with her palm without warning.
Chen Ye instinctively raised his palm to meet the attack.
boom!
Chen Ye staggered back several steps before finally regaining his balance.
Cui Yingtang sensed a familiar trace in the colliding true energy, and a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes.
"Was that the Returning to Origin Technique you just used?"