Chapter 712: Chapter 205: Greatly Shocking! Could it be a Battle of Magic Between Daoist Priest Fan and the Evil God? (8000-word Chapter, Please Subscribe!)_5

She felt that there were hardly any adults shorter than herself!

Especially after entering this county town, of all the people she had encountered, there were fewer than ten adults who were shorter than her...

And all of them were women.

This was a massive blow to her self-esteem!

But she wasn’t completely disheartened.

At least...

She wasn’t the shortest!

Yun Jiuqing thought that if she were the absolute shortest person here... then in the eyes of these citizens of the Great Yan Dynasty, would she be considered a dwarf?!

Ah, this!!

While she was secretly sizing up the other patrons in the inn, the locals of the Great Yan Dynasty were also covertly scrutinizing their table. After all, it was quite an attraction for these people to have a foreigner arrive in such a remote county town. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

It couldn’t be helped, as their skin colors were somewhat different, not to mention their body types as well.

And there was another crucial point.

It was the accent!

Although the language between the different dynasties was actually quite similar, and as long as one spoke clearly and slowly, it was possible to understand what the other person was saying.

But the accent was different, and one could easily tell that it belonged to an outsider.

Suddenly!

A commotion erupted outside the inn, drawing Yun Jiuqing’s attention, "It’s bad! It’s... It’s the Magistrate’s tax collection team! Run! The dog meat Magistrate’s lackeys are coming to extort taxes again!"

With such an alarmed cry piercing through the inn, every face inside changed.

Dismay and panic was written all over their faces.

They hurriedly stripped off their clothing and dumped all the food from the table into it, tying the clothes into a knot as if they were packing the food away.

As they bustled around, their faces ugly with panic, they said, "Didn’t they just collect taxes ten days ago? Why are they collecting again?"

"I heard the dog Magistrate’s son is getting married. That bastard must not want to dip into his own pocket for the wedding feast!"

"Damn it! Sooner or later, I’ll slaughter that dog official!"

"Better keep your voice down. If his cronies come running over and hear you, you’ll reap what you sow!"

"Hurry, hurry, hurry, pack up the leftover food, don’t waste it!"

"Let’s go, let’s go!!"

"..."

They carelessly threw down a piece of broken silver or some copper coins on the table and then left in hurry.

Their movements were so practiced it was almost impressive.

Yun Jiuqing watched, utterly stupefied.

Then she watched as the shop assistants in the inn promptly collected the silver and copper coins from the tables. Next, they moved the good tables and chairs away and, panting, brought up several very decrepit ones to arrange in the inn.

They also poked holes in some of the paper-covered windows, making the inn that previously had a decent décor look extremely shabby, as if it had not received any guests for years.

The shop assistants inside the inn turned their gaze toward Fan Wu and the others, with one of them rushing over in great agitation.

Then, speaking to Fan Wu and the others, he said, "Our guests, you seem new here and might not be aware. Our Magistrate is extremely vile; he’s a money grubber who will stop at nothing to make a buck!"

"He’s raised the taxes in this county to an unthinkable extent. The frequency of tax collection is also more frequent than what the Imperial Court stipulates, nearly once every half month!"

"This time is even more outrageous; they collected taxes just ten days ago, and now they want to collect again! This is no longer tax collection; it’s no different from robbery!"

The shop assistant hurriedly advised, "You should leave, guests. If by any chance... you get caught by the dog meat Magistrate’s henchmen... even if gods descended from the heavens themselves, they’d still be stripped of a few silver taels!"

However, just as the shop assistant finished speaking...

The inn’s door was kicked open with a forceful blow.

The noise, "bam," was so loud it felt as though the door was about to fly off its hinges.

Following that...

A menacing voice rang out, "Hey! Hurry up and get your shopkeeper out here! Today is Iron Mountain County’s tax day, and you ain’t skipping out on it!!"

The shop assistants’ faces turned deathly pale upon hearing this voice.

About five or six men swaggered in from outside the inn, all dressed like wandering rangers or rogues. They wore their clothes askew, several bare-chested, exposing rippling muscles and tufts of chest hair.

In their left hands, they held large cloth bags that jingled with the sound of metal on metal, likely coins hitting one another as they moved.

Their right hands casually carried wooden sticks, the ends reinforced with metal.

Somewhat crude, if not for the lack of spikes: these were Wolf Fang Clubs without fangs.

"Doesn’t look like they’re the good sort," commented Xing Fengzi, watching the group. He was the kind of person who spoke his mind, and he did not keep his voice low as he made this observation.

...

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