A Clash of Gods - Chapter 81

Chapter 81 A Beast from the Mountain
Yang Ning was young but experienced. “Most of the time, what you hear is far less than what you can see. What you see might not be true sometimes but is more comprehensive than what you hear. We are in the capital, far away from here, and what we know about the fiefdom is heard from others. Since we are here, what we see is more accurate than what we will hear in the old house.”

Gu Qinghan couldn’t help but nod. “Ning, you are right. It’s my negligence. If it weren’t for you, I would be kept in the dark now.” There was anger in her beautiful eyes. “Tomorrow I will ask the chief steward why Jiangling became like this.” Suddenly she thought of something and rolled her eyes. Staring at Yang Ning, with a faint smile, she asked, “Ning, I ask you. Where did you learn your capability?”

“What capability?”

“Don’t play dumb,” Gu Qinghan stated crossly. “Who taught you the martial arts? Did Duan Canghai and the others teach you in private?”

Yang Ning feared most that Gu Qinghan would ask such a question, so he had to be perfunctory. “I am from a military family. It’s no big deal that I know some martial arts.”

“But why didn’t I know?” Gu Qinghan furrowed her brows. “In the past few years, I told you to learn martial arts from the guards in the mansion, but you didn’t take it seriously. Why do you have marital skills now?”

Yang Ning was wondering how to give Gu Qinghan a reasonable explanation. After all, it was not easy to cheat such a woman. At this time, Han Yi happened to come to invite them to have dinner and get Yang Ning out of trouble.

There was a rule in the village that with guests at home, the women couldn’t sit by the dining table. Fortunately, Gu Qinghan was dressed in a men’s suit, so she sat with them. It was not particular on the table in a peasant’s house, but the table was full of dishes, and Han Yi asked some people who had prestige in the village to have dinner with them.

On the table, they inevitably expressed thanks to Yang Ning and drank home-made rice wine, which tasted good.

All people had seen Yang Ning’s martial skills and naturally praised him. Then they talked about Steward Luo and his men and thought that he wouldn’t give in.

“Don’t worry. Steward Luo would be frustrated soon.” Yang Ning sneered. “I hear that the marquis’ mansion has sent people to Jiangling. As long as they report to the marquis’ family on what happened here, Steward Luo would suffer a lot.”

Han Yi shook his head. “Young man, even if some people from the marquis’ mansion come, would they speak for us? Steward Luo works for the Qi family. They wouldn’t take actions against their servants because of some poor peasants.”

Gu Qinghan expressed seriously, “Han Yi, I have said that the Qi family wouldn’t play the bully. Marquis of Honor couldn’t have known what happened here. If he knew it earlier, it wouldn’t go on like this.”

Seeing that Gu Qinghan defended the Marquis of Honor with certainty repeatedly, Han Yi was surprised and finally asked, “Why are you so sure? I think Steward Luo said something right. Without the permission of the Qi family, they don’t dare to act recklessly.”

“Han Yi, you are the head of this village. Do you send the grain to the Qi family in person every year?” Gu Qinghan asked.

Han Yi nodded. “Right. We have a harvest of a certain amount of grain from our farmland. As long as there is no natural or man-made disaster, we have a fixed harvest every year.” He paused for a while and then continued, “Then, we will send the grain that we should pay to the old house of the Qi family and weigh it to check.”

Gu Qinghan asked, “As far as I know, the one who is in charge of collecting taxes in the fiefdom in Jiangling is the chief steward in the old house of the Qi family. I heard from you earlier that Marquis of Honor collects forty percent of the crops as the tax in the fiefdom now. Wasn’t it twenty percent all the time in the past? You have to pay so much more all of a sudden. Did the chief steward tell you personally?”

“Steward Qi?” Han Yi glanced at Gu Qinghan in doubt and asked, “Do you know Steward Qi?” But he thought, “This man has justified Marquis of Honor for several times and seems to know well about the tax in Jiangling and the chief steward of the Qi family. Do these two men have something to do with Marquis of Honor?”

Although the chief steward was in charge of the old house of the Qi family, it was not something that everybody knew. Most of the common people just needed to work at daytime and rest at night and pay the taxes in time. Nobody was worried who was in charge of the Qi family. Han Yi was the village head and would lead some people to send the grain there every year, so he was certainly clear about the chief steward’s existence.

Since he doubted that Gu Qinghan had some connections with the Qi family, he started to speak with caution.

At this time, they heard a scream from outside. “We have found it. We have found the beast which stole chickens. It hides on the mountain.”

The voice was harsh. Han Yi stood up all of a sudden, and some other men also got up. Han Yi stated, “Young men, please go ahead. We have something to do.” Without explaining more, he walked out quickly, and the other men followed him out, with only two aged men left.

Yang Ning heard the noises outside and couldn’t help but ask, “What happened? What did they find?”

An old man replied, “A beast which stole chickens. Recently, the chickens in the village are missing frequently for no reason and we have lost about ten of them. There is no beast on the mountain behind and we haven’t found wolves. In the beginning, we thought that somebody stole the chickens, so we specially sent people to guard at night in the past few days and hide in the dark to check what was going on. That night, they finally found that a figure entered the hen house, so a group of people tried to catch it, but that beast ran quickly, and they didn’t see clearly if it was a wolf or a wild dog.” He took a sip of wine and then continued, “That beast had black fur all over, and all people couldn’t catch up with it. After they came back, somebody said that the beast ran faster than a rabbit, and somebody said that the beast ran with two rear legs like a person.”

“Ah?” Yang Ning was stunned. “It ran with only two rear legs?” He thought it was strange. As far as he knew, there were many animals in the natural world which could stand with two rear legs, but the old man said that the beast ran rapidly. Yang Ning pondered for a long time. The animal which could run with two legs at a high speed like a human was rare. He thought that it couldn’t be an ape.

The other old man stated, “They were dazzled. I have lived for so long but have never heard that an animal can run with two legs.”

The first old man argued, “It’s hard to say. A few people saw it and it couldn’t be that they were all dazzled.” Then he explained to Yang Ning, “After several days, the beast came to our village sneakily again. This time, all people were well-prepared, but the beast ran away again. Fortunately they saw the beast run to the mountain behind. The young men in the village searched in the mountain for a whole day but didn’t find any clue. It is a huge mountain, and they can’t seek everywhere.”

Yang Ning asked, “There is no beast on the mountain?”

The old man explained, “In the early years, there were wolves and wild boars, but when there was no good harvest, the villagers went to hunt in the mountain to seek food. The mountain is not small, but it’s not big, and all the wild animals have been hunted long ago. In the past ten years, we haven’t found wild animals on the mountain except snakes, insects, mice or ants. So when a beast came to steal chickens from the mountain suddenly, everybody wouldn’t let it go. There are not many chickens in the village and they are valuable, but the beast has stolen more than ten of them, so all people feel sad. If we don’t kill the beast, maybe the bulls and goats in the village would be missing in the future.”

Yang Ning got excited and told Gu Qinghan, “Au… Brother, wait here. I will be right back.”

Gu Qinghan wanted to stop him, but Yang Ning ran more quickly than a hare and rushed out of the door in the blink of an eye.

More than twenty young men gathered at the entrance of the village and lit five or six torches. Somebody talked to Han Yi excitedly, “This time, that beast can’t escape. We had some people lurk under the mountain and follow it secretly as soon as they saw it enter. That beast thought it was safe after entering the mountain but didn’t expect that some people kept a close watch on it. Now we have found its den, which is in a cave on the mountain. I have told some people to guard outside the cave, so it can’t escape.”

Han Yi ordered, “Young and strong men, follow me to the mountain. That beast runs rapidly and can escape if we are careless. We will surround it. I am going to see where it can go.” He waved his hand and led a group of people to the back of the village, heading to the mountain behind. The villagers grabbed hoes or wooden sticks aggressively.

Yang Ning was curious and wondered what that rare animal was, so he followed the group.

They came to the foot of the mountain, and the messenger took the lead in the front. The mountain was not high, but it was rough, with withered vines and ancient trees all over. All people scattered and walked for quite a while. When they reached the mountainside, the one who led the way shouted, “It’s over there.”

They approached and saw three people waiting there, one of whom shouted happily while seeing the group come, “It’s in the cave. We have been guarding here and the beast doesn’t dare to come out.”

Yang Ning stepped forward and saw a cliffy mountain wall covered with withered vines, which were split in the middle, and a dark cave was shown. It was silent inside.

“Is there another entrance? Would it run out from another entrance?” Han Yi moved closer to check the cave’s entrance. He couldn’t hear any sound, so he asked with doubt.

The one who guarded at the entrance responded immediately, “We have checked in the neighborhood. There is only one entrance. It’s a dead end. We have thrown some stones into it and heard screams.” He squatted, picked up a stone with the size of a fist and threw it into the cave. Then they heard a strange voice. The man laughed. “You have heard it. It’s right inside.”

“Find some wood.” Han Yi was experienced. “Set fire at the entrance. The beast inside would be unable to stand the smoke and might run out.”

There was strength in numbers. Only in an instant, there was a pile of wood at the entrance. Han Yi ordered, “All of you, surround in two circles. The beast is ferocious. After it comes out, don’t get injured. But you can’t let it go.” He received a torch from somebody and lit the wood pile.