Chapter 692: Chapter 686, Chapter 687: Chaotic Evil

The reason for not bringing troops is the fear of alerting the Black Wind Stronghold bandits and scaring them away.

In fact, Chen Mo’s concerns were not unfounded.

When he climbed the mountain, he discovered several visible and hidden sentries. If a large group of people had ascended the mountain, they would have been discovered long ago.

Moreover, even without troops, Chen Mo alone was more than enough to annihilate those dozens or hundreds of mountain bandits.

It wasn’t even noon.

Chen Mo captured Hei Feng and all the major leaders of Black Wind Stronghold, descended from the mountain, and reached the "market area" of Hun County. After explaining their identities, he personally dealt with them, eliciting applause from the surrounding residents.

Meanwhile, the Personal Guard Battalion also entered the city, raided the Cai family’s home, and publicly tried them in the city.

After dealing with the Cai family, Chen Mo temporarily appointed someone to the position of County Magistrate of Hun County until the Court assigned an official.

The issues reflected by the situation in Hun County made Chen Mo realize that the appointment of vacant officials in County Government Offices across regions is urgent.

...

Later on the road, Chen Mo encountered another incident.

A young boy was being pursued, and he happened to bump into Chen Mo on the way. Chen Mo instructed Sun Meng to rescue the boy.

Chen Mo then asked the boy why he was being chased.

The boy saw that Chen Mo was a good person. After some hesitation, he revealed the details.

Turns out, a bully in the city coveted his family’s paddy field and wanted to exchange it for his inferior field.

His parents naturally refused, so they were retaliated against by the bully, who broke their legs and forced his father to press the hand seal on the land exchange agreement.

The boy couldn’t take it and wanted to avenge his parents, so he sneaked into the bully’s house at night and attempted to kill the bully, but he had never killed anyone before. At the critical moment, he hesitated, was noticed by the bully, freaked out, and cut the bully’s arm before fleeing.

After causing such a huge mess, the boy was in a state of panic, and with Liu Da’s people in pursuit later, he ran towards the outside until he met Chen Mo.

After listening, Chen Mo frowned and said, "Why didn’t you report it to the authorities? Is your county’s Government Office vacant too?"

The boy replied, "I... I reported it, but they said since we signed the contract, we must abide by the agreement. My father said he was forced to press the hand seal, but that corrupt official told us to provide evidence, and about my parents being beaten by Liu Da—they don’t acknowledge it either. The villagers who saw my parents’ legs being broken dared not testify against Liu Da, and the Government Office does not investigate. Since they don’t care, I... I did this."

As he spoke, the boy started to cry, feeling extremely aggrieved in his heart.

After all, he’s just a thirteen-year-old child.

The Liu Da mentioned by the boy is that bully.

Chen Mo’s brows furrowed tightly, "Did your slash kill Liu Da?"

"I guess... not, I... I only cut his arm, and the kitchen knife wasn’t sharp," the boy replied.

"That’s trouble," Chen Mo’s expression changed.

The boy asked, "What happened?"

"You injured Liu Da and ran away. Do you think he might take revenge on your parents?" Chen Mo said.

The boy rarely considered the consequences and acted on impulse. Upon hearing Chen Mo’s words, he was struck by shock like a thunderbolt on a sunny day.

After a brief daze, the boy wiped the corner of his eyes with his hand and hurriedly ran in the direction of home. Shortly after, he stumbled and fell to the ground.

But it seemed like the boy didn’t feel any pain, and he got up and continued running.

Chen Mo chased him on horseback, scooped him up, and asked, "Where is your home, point the direction, I’ll take you there."

...

Not long after, Jiyin County.

Old Mountain Village, the boy’s home.

Unfortunately, Liu Da did not kill the boy’s parents but didn’t spare them either.

Originally, the boy’s parents only had one leg broken by Liu Da, but now both legs were broken.

Liu Da, along with his henchmen, stood outside the boy’s house, flaunting his power to the villagers, warning that anyone who dared offend Liu Da would end up like this.

The villagers, seeing the scene, felt distressed and sympathetic but dared not step forward to intervene.

Until Chen Mo arrived on horseback with the young boy.

"You cheeky brat still dare to come back, huh, and bring reinforcements?" Liu Da said as he looked at Chen Mo on horseback, didn’t rush to act, and instead said, "Friend, this matter has nothing to do with you, don’t meddle."

"But I insist on meddling," Chen Mo replied with a cold smile.

"Then excuse me. Capture that brat; I want to slash his arm too," Liu Da said. He had been polite just because Chen Mo was riding a horse and dressed well, but seeing Chen Mo meddling, he showed no mercy.

"Bang bang bang..."

In just a few blinks of an eye, Liu Da and his henchmen were easily knocked to the ground by Chen Mo, looking very relaxed and leisurely.

The surrounding residents were astonished.

"I want to kill you..." Seeing his parents’ other leg broken, the boy madly charged at Liu Da but was stopped by Chen Mo.

"Let me go, I want to kill him, kill him, sob..." the boy yelled and cried, believing he had harmed his parents.

"Don’t worry, I’ll give you an explanation," Chen Mo said.

"How will you do it?" The boy, trusting Chen Mo after he saved him and helped defeat Liu Da, gradually calmed down, only glaring at Liu Da with red eyes.

"Go to the Government Office, beat the drum and demand justice," Chen Mo said.

Boy: "..."

Residents: "..."

Seeing Chen Mo’s serious demeanor, the boy said, "The Government Office... won’t care." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

And Liu Da, who was knocked down by Chen Mo, let out a sigh of relief.

Liu Da knew very well the current state of the Government Office.

The Chief Clerk Liu has some distant familial ties with his family.

The Chief Clerk Liu informed him that the County Magistrate and Lord of Jiyin County were appointed by Prince Chong’s Mansion, considered Chong’s people.

After King Chong was overthrown by King Wei, Lord He was always worried about being purged.

As the saying goes, a new emperor brings new ministers. Even if there’s no purge, it’s likely Lord He won’t be able to remain as the County Magistrate of Jiyin County.

So, from that moment on, Lord He gradually stopped handling matters, ignoring anything as long as it wasn’t a murder. Affairs in the jurisdiction were left attended only by the County Captain and Chief Clerk.

"If you arrive at the Government Office, I’ll make sure he won’t be able to come out unscathed," Liu Da’s eyes flashed with a hint of malice as he looked at Chen Mo.

"Rest assured, the Government Office will care," Chen Mo’s eyes flickered.

...

Back courtyard of the Jiyin County Government Office.

In the yard, there was a peach tree.

Peach blossoms covered the tree, though by April, they were gradually beginning to fall and wither.

County Magistrate He sat under the peach tree, clutching a book of scriptures, absorbed in reading.

County Magistrate He, who was nearly in his seventies, had poor cultivation talent, realizing he might never reach Middle Grade before dying, wasn’t worried about it, having come to terms with life.

In fact, County Magistrate He didn’t have deep relations with King Chong.

Though Jiyin County wasn’t located in Chongzhou, it was within King Chong’s sphere of influence.

Driven by a political ambition, County Magistrate He bribed someone reputable in Prince Chong’s Mansion, securing the post of County Magistrate of Jiyin County, holding the position for over a decade, satisfied despite no hope for advancement.

However, what he didn’t expect was King Chong’s downfall.

Since he rose through ranks running errands in Prince Chong’s Mansion, he was naturally seen as part of Chong’s faction.

Unpredictably, he’ll be subjected to King Wei’s purges, at best losing his official cap, at worst his life.

Hence, he simply stopped caring, indifferent to floods or disasters, with this official post being untenable, why concern himself with county matters? Whatever floods come, let them pass by.

He considered fleeing.

But being old, with little time left, he was unwilling to make the effort.

Additionally, if King Wei pursued him, the vastness of the world couldn’t hide him. Thus, he simply remained in Jiyin County, waiting for fate to take its course.