Chapter 1118: Chapter 897: Stone Bridge Village Turmoil (Part 2)

Li Suhua cried all day until her eyes were swollen. At dusk, before the wilderness descended, she came here to kneel and begged the High Priest to help them go to the wilderness to find the children.

Some villagers sympathized and pitied them; some were worried for them;

Some were gloating; more used this as a living lesson to teach their own little troublemakers.

"See? If you don’t behave and leave the village, you’ll be eaten by the Tiger Aunt!"

"These are lessons learned from the lives of our predecessors. If you disobey, you’ll end up like those two children, not even leaving a body behind!"

"The village is protected by the High Priest, so the Tiger Aunt doesn’t dare come. But if you leave the village... Hmph! You could be snatched away even in broad daylight!"

.....

Amid the clamor and noise, Liang Shizhen, having eaten his fill, picked his teeth and leisurely strolled out of the house.

"Please have mercy and help us find Danio and Meiwa’Er!" Li Suhua, her eyes swollen from crying, rushed forward, pleading bitterly, "They’re still so young, they don’t understand. Maybe they’ve accidentally crossed the boundary. Please, I beg you!"

Wang Wu also kowtowed like pounding garlic, pleading for the High Priest to consider that their ancestors had always worked diligently, and help them find the children together.

Liang Shizhen indeed could borrow the power of the Mountain Granny, but how could he help them find the children?

It had been a long time since such an event occurred in Shiliang Village, and he needed to use a significant example to maintain the Liang Family’s ruling status. Whether alive or dead, without seeing the body, only then could he deter those unruly types!

The ancestral teachings, all summed up experiences from predecessors—is to let the ignorant villagers see the horrors outside from time to time, so they would obediently work in the village for generations, never daring to step outside.

This year’s luck was relatively good; from spring to autumn, the three times the wilderness descended around the village, there were no formidable demon beasts.

Therefore, he would occasionally borrow the power of the Mountain Granny to go "hunting" outside, yet never found a good opportunity to shock the villagers. Now, a living example delivered to his door, without adding exaggerations to frighten the villagers, was already quite nice of him.

"Wang Wu, it’s not that I’m saying this, but how do you two act as parents?" Liang Shizhen started, throwing a big pot at them, "The kids are young and don’t understand, but you two adults also don’t understand? Everyone, take a look, this is the result of only knowing how to give birth and not how to teach!"

The High Priest set the tone for the matter, immediately a henchman jumped out, accusing, "Who says otherwise, generations have known how dangerous the wilderness is, neither the children nor the adults understand!

Your children are lost, why expect the High Priest to find them? The wilderness is so dangerous, filled with demons, if something happens to the High Priest, can you bear it?"

"You didn’t work all day, and the High Priest has spared punishment, which is already a great mercy."

"If you want to die, go yourself! Can’t even teach a child properly, go find them yourself if they’re lost!"

"Enough, enough, isn’t it just two kids? If they’re so foolish to get lost, it’s their bad luck. I say, you two are still young, have five or six more kids, losing one or two won’t feel as painful."

"Tsk! The High Priest is right, you really don’t know how to teach your children. My second son is the same age as your Danio, he can already work in the fields, while your Danio is still running around playing everywhere. Such an incorrigible child should just die, and have more children, then teach them properly..."

.....

Facing the accusations, some stood up for them, "This year’s harvest wasn’t good, the Wang Family is a small household with little land to divide, and two heavy rains have flooded it all.

The offering to the Mountain Granny can’t be short, the two children were wailing from hunger, running out to find food was an unavoidable thing."

"It’s just being too hungry, the Mountain Granny demands more every year, life is too hard to bear."

"Every time during the sacrifice, they say beautifully, the High Priest will protect everyone. He often goes to the wilderness to fight demons, it’s not too much to ask him to go and find the kids, is it?"

This immediately drew a retort, "Just with a slip of the lip, you want the High Priest to risk his life, who do you think you are? How can you be so shameless?"

"Exactly! If you want to search, go yourself, no one’s stopping you, right? Why beg the High Priest rather than going yourselves? Isn’t it because you know it’s dangerous outside, so you dare not?"

"During the four yearly sacrifices to the Mountain Granny, it’s promised to do the utmost when encountering something. They’ve never been short of sacrifice offerings any year, even if the whole family starved, they gathered up and submitted offerings. Now the kids are missing, why not help?"

.....

Liang Shizhen felt extremely smug hearing most villagers siding with him, blaming the Wang couple, feeling quite content internally.

The ancestral teachings were indeed correct—these ignorant minds, they’re like dogs, they need training!

They need to be kept hungry and beaten, and at appropriate times, a few need to be killed for deterrence!

"Enough, this matter ends here." He waved his hand, suppressing the noisy clamor, coldly stating, "During the sacrifice to the Mountain Granny, it was made clear, stay obediently in the village, and I naturally will ensure your safety.

Leaving privately, I haven’t held your family accountable for sneaking away privately, haven’t stripped you both and hung you on a tree, have been exceptionally lenient.

Everyone go back, if you two don’t go to work in the gold mine tomorrow, don’t blame me for dealing with it according to village laws!"

The onlooking villagers dared not defy the High Priest, and began to disperse, ready to go home.

Li Suhua wiped her tears, her voice hoarse, "Initially thought that begging the High Priest for help, would increase the possibility of finding them. The two kids were definitely still here last night, disappeared by morning, they probably went out at dawn.

There’s no time to delay now, the wilderness has just descended, perhaps they are still out there waiting, we must hurry to find them."

Wang Wu, starving all day, shivering, couldn’t speak properly, "Let’s go, in the village we’ll starve to death eventually anyway, might as well die with the two kids in the hands of demons, reunite as a family!"

The couple, supporting each other, had just walked a short distance when a woman’s shout came from above, "Where is the High Priest of Shiliang Village?"

The remaining scattered groups of villagers looked up at the sound, and were instantly in a commotion!

"Monsters! Flying monsters!"

"They clearly look like humans, and they’re two pretty girls."

"Ugh! Lost your minds seeing a pretty girl? Forget what the High Priest said? Monsters in the wilderness transform into beautiful women, lure us out, only to eat us whole!"

"Look, isn’t that Danio and Meiwa’Er?"

"Wang Family’s Danio and Meiwa’Er, brought monsters into the village! Everybody, run for your lives!"

"Damn those Wang brats, brought monsters here, want to kill us all! High Priest, save us..."

.....

Hu Zhile, seeing the chaotic villagers, furrowed her brow slightly.

"Hmph! With good intentions to bring back the lost children, they call us monsters." The Little Rabbit Demon, Feng Ling, puffed her cheeks in anger, "Indeed, the Human Race is weak, stupid, and particularly malicious!"

The two children stood on the demonic cloud, seeing their parents calling and waving below, immediately jumping and shouting for their parents too.

Meanwhile, Liang Shizhen, who had just returned to the house planning to roast another chicken to go with his drink, sensed something amiss, and immediately came out of his room.

Looking up, he shouted angrily, "Well well, the Wang’s two children have led the wilderness’ monsters here!

I’ll go tangle with those monsters, you tie Wang Wu and his wife, haul them to the fire. Once I capture those two treacherous little brats, we’ll burn them together to eliminate future problems!"

His confidence stemmed from recognizing one of the Little Demons among them—on the second day right after autumn’s descent, he had found a Little Demon’s lair while hunting outside, which surprisingly had some good stuff stored. He had intended to kill it, carve out the Demon Core, and exchange it for Spirit Stones.

Unexpectedly, the little creature was cunning and escaped!

During the battle then, that little female demon had shown her face. She was merely a rabbit brat at the Foundation Establishment Realm, not as formidable as the escaped one, yet he had never found where she hid.

Today, bringing another woman here, she seemed to wish to use the two kids as leverage, to regain face for the escaped Little Demon.

As for that little white dog... Liang Shizhen directly ignored it.

A pup not more than two months old, not worth mentioning!

"Eh? How can you be so vicious?" Hu Zhile was stunned upon hearing, "Finding your village’s children in the wilderness and bringing them back out of goodwill.

As the High Priest, without asking for explanations or who I am, you unjustly accuse innocent villagers, truly a heinous villain!"

She cast a cold glance at the giant stone statue at the center of the village, and snorted, "Bullying under this statue’s backing, I want to see what kind of monster you worship, that indulges your wanton slaughter of innocents!"