By noon, it was Owen Bertram's turn.
Abbott clearly still remembered him and glared at him with an unfriendly face. Owen took out two pearls. Abbott's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, "This little bastard has gotten lucky recently, such a big pearl!"
He grabbed one and stuffed it into his pocket.
There was only one left on the scale.
Owen calmly said, "It's two."
Abbott sneered, "Look carefully before you speak. How many is it?"
Uncle pulled Owen from behind, but Owen lightly shook him off and calmly looked at Abbott, "Two, you stole one of my pearls."
Abbott suddenly pulled out his waist knife, "You ungrateful dog, daring to falsely accuse the bailiff, I'll give you one last chance: how many is it?"
The Scholar Bailiff looked pained but was silenced by the Team Leader's fierce stare.
Owen shook his head lightly, "Coming to our Extinct Village to collect taxes is undoubtedly the most inferior task in the County Government Office. You can imagine your status in the county being in charge of this matter.
We are all pitiful people here, so why should you continue to oppress us, who are even more pitiable?"
The Team Leader and Abbott's faces changed drastically at being hit where it hurt. Abbott kicked out, "You little bastard, looking for death! I'll show you who's the real dog today..."
As he kicked, he had already drawn his waist knife.
The set of movements was very skilled. It didn't matter if he killed such a lowly dog. He would spend some money to bribe officials later and blame Owen for violently resisting taxation and being killed on the spot.
He would be innocent and even meritorious!
The bribe money would come from these two pearls, and there would still be a surplus.
The surrounding villagers closed their eyes, sighing in their hearts. People of the Extinct Village never had any good fortune. Owen's death would at least save him from further suffering and be a relief.
But when they opened their eyes again, they were surprised to see Owen's hand grabbing Abbott's ankle.
Owen secretly shook his head: this movement was too slow.
Abbott was in an awkward position, unable to wield the knife in his hand, but it only made him angrier. Pointing the blade at Owen, he cursed, "F*ck your mother, let go!"
Owen sneered, clenched his five fingers, and Abbott's ankle bone cracked.
"Ah--" Abbott cried out in pain, tears streaming down his face.
Owen casually threw him a few meters away.
Owen didn't want to expose his strength, at least not yet. But he had promised his sister that he would bring meat home today. If Abbott and the Team Leader just took a handful of rice, Owen would tolerate them this time.
But Abbott had to provoke him and directly swallowed one pearl, which wasn't enough to exchange for meat now.
Since he was seeking his own death, Owen would oblige him.
The Team Leader reacted the fastest, shaking the chain lock, and it opened with a clatter. The chain lock rose to meet the wind, and the chain head, like Strange Snake, actively sought Owen to pounce on him.
This was the standard magical instrument of the Wood Dynasty's government.
Although it was the lowest level, it was more than sufficient for ordinary people, and even posed a great threat to ordinary cultivators.
The Team Leader's face was filled with ferocity, "You little bastard, wait till you're locked up in the county jail; I'll make you regret being born in this world!"
The chain lock circled and swooped down.
The Team Leader was extremely confident, having seen many like Owen.
There were countless cultivation methods scattered across the world, and many unfamiliar cultivators suddenly emerged with these side practices, relying on them to act violently against the law.
This standard Chain Lock Magical Instrument was specifically designed to deal with them.
Although these side practices seemed powerful to ordinary people, they were considered worthless to true cultivators.
The Team Leader had personally caught four rogue cultivators with this chain lock.
The chain lock fell in front of Owen, and Owen secretly shook his head, even the rigid Flying Sword was better than this.He reached out and grabbed it, accurately seizing the snake's most vulnerable point as if he was an experienced snake catcher. The chain rattled as he took hold of it.
The team leader stared, dumbfounded.
He had no idea what to do next.
In the past, everything had always worked out once the chain came out; but if someone had easily captured the chain... what should he do next?
He had never experienced a situation like this.
At that moment, Owen Bertram was thinking: if I feed this to Little Loach, will it protest? After all, if you used to give it shark fin and abalone every day, and suddenly offered it a steamed bun, it wouldn't be happy, right?
Owen Bertram casually pulled, and the chain that was originally looped around the team leader's arm tightened as the team leader tried to yank it back, resulting in a tug of war.
He never expected that an irresistible force would come through, and he felt a chill on his shoulder as his arm and chain were ripped from his body along!
"Ah!" The team leader, like Abbott, let out a pig-killing scream.
The villagers surrounding them stared, dumbfounded, at the bloody severed arm, feeling somewhat surreal. Was it made of paper, that a light pull broke it like that?
The scholar bailiff was the first to react, and quickly tried to advise: "Young man... you've caused trouble."
Owen Bertram looked at him. The scholar bailiff was a pitiful person. He hadn't lost his conscience, but he couldn't do anything in such a world. The internal struggle and pain he must be feeling was evident.
The other bailiffs hurried over to the team leader. He was covering his severed arm; blood spurted out. They didn't know what to do either.
Owen Bertram went towards Abbott.
Abbott lay on the ground, and seeing Owen Bertram holding the chain and dragging the team leader's severed arm behind him, he was scared, kicking his legs to crawl back: "You, you, don't come any closer! If you dare kill an official, the imperial court won't let you go..."
Owen Bertram scoffed disdainfully: "In our village, there are already a dozen people wanted by the imperial court."
Places like Extinct Village were where criminals hid, and nobody wanted to go in and capture them.
After all, they would all die in three years anyway. Why take the risk?
If they ever came out again, it wouldn't be too late to arrest them.
Owen Bertram came up to him and reached out: "Give it back."
Only then did Abbott understand and hurriedly return the pearl to Owen Bertram.
Owen Bertram went to the side of the balance scale and put the pearl back on, then said to the scholar bailiff, "Pay the tax. Apart from food, I want to exchange it for some meat."
The scholar bailiff stared blankly, but Owen Bertram called out to him: "Whether or not the imperial court will issue a warrant for me, I'm paying the tax now, so you do your job and don't worry."
The scholar bailiff looked at the team leader, who gritted his teeth and said: "Give it to him!"
How dare he do such a thing and still want to eat in peace? It's all just a dream! The team leader thought bitterly.
The trembling scholar exchanged the grain and a piece of pork belly for Owen Bertram. Owen Bertram took the grain, shook the chain, threw the team leader's severed arm away, and took the chain himself.
He still planned to feed it to Little Loach.
It was because there wasn't much to feed it lately, and even if it wasn't satisfied, having something to eat was better than starving.
The village entrance was silent, and many villagers were stunned by Owen Bertram's action. Only after he left did they disperse in a commotion.
Hopefully, today's events won't bring trouble to them.
The team leader's painful cold sweat drenched his head. He cursed the officials as he wrapped his wound with a cloth strip, picked up his severed arm, gritted his teeth, and said: "Let's go!"
"I'll make this bastard wish he was dead!"
From a distance, Vanessa Thoughts of Shadow watched all of this silently, with a complicated mix of emotions in her eyes.
Had the corruption of the Wood Dynasty's lower bureaucracy reached this point?
But as a military officer of the Horizon Bureau, her duty was to arrest Owen Bertram and enforce the code of law.
She felt extremely conflicted in her heart.