Listening to the village chief recount the story, Lin Xing furrowed his brow and asked, "So, the villagers managed to take back the 300 taels?"
The village chief shook his head, "That Daoist was very cunning, and no one knows where he hid the 300 taels. At that time… At that time, the villagers searched the place he lived and still couldn't find it…"
Lin Xing looked at the other party, knowing that his words were definitely biased towards the villagers, and not a word about the village chief's own affairs was mentioned. It was clear that he had exonerated himself and pushed all the responsibility onto Daoist Bai Yun and the villagers.
But one thing was certain, there must have been a fierce conflict between the villagers and Daoist Bai Yun, which ended with the death of Daoist Bai Yun.
As for the specific situation, it was likely difficult to verify now.
Lin Xing shook his head and continued to ask, "Then, how did your family come to control the Mountain God afterward?"
The village chief replied, "My father taught me the method to communicate with the Mountain God, and what my father learned was taught to him by my grandfather."
"According to my father, the evil land in the mountain had already been suppressed by the evil-suppressing stone, and Daoist Bai Yun was killed, so the villagers wanted to kill the captured Mountain God as well."
"During that period, my grandfather was always guarding the Mountain God in the cage."
"My grandfather inadvertently discovered that the Mountain God did not seem to harbor any ill will towards him, and seeing the Mountain God's continuous wails, he gradually felt compassion."
"Later, when he saw the villagers calling for blood, unable to bear the slaughter of the Mountain God, he secretly released it…"
"Since then, the Mountain God only listened to our family, and devoured anyone else it saw."
"Initially, it was said to be the size of a regular person, but over the years it has eaten more and more, grown larger and larger, and became less and less obedient…"
Lin Xing had no comment on the village chief's reply.
He recalled the scenes in his mind, thinking, "The villager that the Mountain God last encountered and found familiar seemed to be one of the sons who originally took him into the mountain."
"Is it because of their blood connection that the Mountain God is willing to accept the feedings from the village chief's family?"
"If that's the case, did that son recognize his father?"
"Releasing the Mountain God, was it a consideration for profit, to use the Mountain God to make money? Or was it the influence of kinship, because he recognized his father?"
"The intricacies and hidden truths here may never be fully disclosed to posterity, not even by the village chief's grandfather, including his true inner thoughts."
Lin Xing casually shook his head; perhaps this was like countless other secret stories from history, leaving some mysteries which would be forever buried in the past.
Looking down at the odd wooden carving in his hand, Lin Xing didn't know what further use it could have, so he decided to put it away for now.
Next, Lin Xing looked down at the village chief, who had completely lost the ability to fight back, as conflicting thoughts of killing him gradually arose in his heart.
Logically speaking, given that the man trafficked in human lives and indifferently took them, commanding the Mountain God to take his life multiple times, Lin Xing had long wished to tear him limb from limb.
However, the law-abiding nature Lin Xing had cultivated from a young age kept suppressing the murderous intent in his heart, wanting to solve the problem through legal and proper means.
"Now that he no longer has the ability to harm, would killing him now be excessive self-defense? Intentional injury?"
"So, am I supposed to hand him over to the police of this world?"
Even as he thought this, Lin Xing felt the murderous intent in his heart was hard to extinguish for a long time.
The cat toy seemed to sense Lin Xing's agitation and asked, "Lin Xing, what's wrong?"
Lin Xing asked, "Master Bai, do you think I should kill this village chief?"
Upon hearing this, the village chief trembled with fear, immediately knelt towards Lin Xing, and kowtowed like pounding garlic, begging for mercy repeatedly.
Yet Bai Yiyi was slightly startled before laughing, "Of course you kill him; are we saving him for the New Year?"
For Bai Yiyi, killing in this world was as ordinary as eating and drinking, especially killing such an enemy.
Lin Xing questioned, "Shouldn't I report this to the authorities? That is, to this place's government."
"The authorities?" Bai Yiyi couldn't help but laugh again, "In these troubled times, the authorities can't manage such matters. Come on, Lin Xing, stop the chatter and just kill him so we can leave."
"Chaotic times, huh?" Lin Xing looked at the village chief standing before him, feeling as if the murderous intent within him was gradually becoming unrestrained, "Chaotic times mean that there are no laws, no rules to follow, right?"
"Is this a world without rules, where no laws have to be obeyed?"
He felt an unprecedented restlessness welling up inside him, calling forth his murderous intent, urging him to strike at the village chief without delay.
Memories of being brutally murdered in the countless instances of death rewinding kept resurfacing, stoking the fires of his murderous intent like kindling, making Lin Xing increasingly agitated.
But just then, a familiar voice echoed in his mind—the teachings of his father.
"Lin Xing, remember the words I am about to say."
"You must remember, use all your heart to remember the words I'm about to tell you."
"You must abide by the law, absolutely... absolutely do not cross the bottom line of the law."
As his father's teachings surged from the depths of his heart, the restless murderous intent seemed to be quelled by an invisible force, vanishing without a trace like ice melting into water.
Noticing that the murderous intent in Lin Xing had completely dissipated, Bai Yiyi asked in surprise, "What's wrong, Lin Xing?"
"According to our country's laws, I should abide by the law even if I am not within our borders."
Lin Xing turned around and, along with the three children, left directly: "I should find time to report this to the authorities, let the police of this world deal with him."
"Huh?" Bai Yiyi, filled with confusion upon hearing this, wondered, "Not even going to kill him? Why?"
Bai Yiyi found herself increasingly unable to understand Lin Xing—at times he seemed inscrutable, and at other times oddly perplexing.
Each of his actions appeared to be laden with deep significance, yet sometimes it seemed like he was just acting irrationally.
Bai Yiyi racked her brains but couldn't figure it out: "What on earth is he thinking?"
The village chief, watching Lin Xing leave, felt as if a heavy stone had been lifted from his heart, but looking around at the unfathomably deep forests and feeling the pain from his shattered knees, a sense of despair suddenly crept into his eyes.
Next, Lin Xing led the three children back to Jiang Family Village by traversing mountains and ridges.
Along the way, they came across the man with the scarred face lying by the roadside, but since Lin Xing had spared the village chief, he naturally did not deliver an additional blow to him.
Meanwhile, Bai Yiyi continually pondered why Lin Xing had not killed the village chief: "Could there be some profound reason I haven't considered?"
When they returned to Jiang Family Village, they found that many villagers had been waiting, and as soon as they saw Lin Xing, they wanted to crowd around him.
Leading them was Jiang Fang, whom Lin Xing had beaten to a pulp and knocked unconscious before.
Jiang Fang pointed at Lin Xing and shouted, "You rogue, where did you take my brother?"
Lin Xing calmly replied, "The Mountain God has been slain by me. The village chief and your brother are still in the mountains; you can find them if you want."
"However, the village chief has been accumulating evil deeds for years..."
Listening to what Lin Xing said, the villagers were first shocked, then exchanged glances before all turning to look at Jiang Fang.
"The Mountain God was slain?"
"The village chief was feeding the children of the village to the Mountain God?"
"Jiang Fang, is this really true?"
Jiang Fang's face changed color, and he finally shouted, "Today I will spare your life. Everyone, come with me to rescue the village chief and Jiang Wu..."
Nobody paid any more attention to where Lin Xing went—the villagers exchanged looks, and a strange atmosphere spread amongst them.
Lin Xing, along with the three children, walked through the crowd and soon heard the sound of arguing coming from behind, followed by what seemed to be an even larger conflict erupting.
As for Lin Xing, he simply found the yard of the little girl's home and quietly leaned against the wall, waiting for the door to open.
He was just too tired.