“Sigh, it’s hard to explain in just a few words.” Hearing Hong Dali’s question, the villager sighed and said, “Actually, the houses in this village were already quite old, plus the quality isn’t good, and we were in the center of the earthquake… It was quite normal for some houses to collapse. We just have to bear with it and it will soon pass. But that bastard Wang Xigui, he hired 40 plus hooligans who bully us in normal times, and seeing the situation this time, he not only didn’t help us rebuild our homes, he even ordered those hooligans to gather us together and tell us not to rebuild our houses. Otherwise, he will break our legs!”

Hearing his words, Tang Muxin and Ling Xiaoyi looked at each other. Both of them could tell that something amiss here.

However, they were women, it wasn’t suitable for them to speak up to prevent any problem. Luckily, Hong Dali instantly asked, “He stopped you all from rebuilding the houses in order to request for charity funds from the town?”

“Isn’t that so?” The villager helplessly shook his head and said, “The village chief and the Mayor are colluding together, how could they let go of such a good opportunity? Not only did they ask us not to rebuild our homes, they even asked those hooligans to push down some houses which didn’t have any big issues! Quite a normal of villagers objected to this, and even Liu Guaizi from Old Liu’s family intended to do a petition to stop him, saying that we shouldn’t cheat the country’s money, but not only was he prevented from doing this, he even accidentally broke his leg one time when he went out. He is still recuperating at home now and can’t do any work.”

“I see.” Hong Dali sucked in a deep breath.

It looks like in this poor and under-developed place, although it’s just a small village, things are quite complicated!

Although it’s said that Liu Guaizi broke his leg in an accident, everyone knows what really happened, just that they don’t dare to say it.

Since he had already started talking, the villager continued, “Our village is surrounded on three sides by mountains and one side facing the river. I studied for a period when I was young, I know that this place is a good spot to make into a tourist attraction. The problem is that the road is too hard to walk; it’s hard for even cars to drive in. The crucial thing is that there are no other villages nearby, so the town said that it wasn’t worth building a road for just one village. Over these years, everyone here already became used to this, so no one really cares anymore.”

“This time an earthquake happened, giving them the perfect excuse to ask for funding.” The villager’s wife continued, “That dog Xu Dezhi allocated funds to our village, but once the money entered Wang Xigui’s hands, he passed part of it back to Xu Dezhi—the villagers only obtained at most 100 yuan or so to keep our mouths shut. We can’t even reject this money. If not, those 40 plus hooligans will beat us up.”

“Then, didn’t you guys think of a way to sent word of this out?” Hong Dali softly asked, “Communication devices should be quite common nowadays, right?”

“We know about computers and smartphones, but the problem is that no one could get anything out of them. Wang Xigui purposely damaged the signal tower too.” The villager shook his head and said, “In such a desolate place, people don’t come here, there is no reception, and we also can’t easily get out. Who can send news of this out? Even if we sometimes go to the town’s market together, the hooligans would follow us there. Some people did indeed thought about running away secretly, but all of us have families. Even if one person was able to run away, what about his family? Wang Xigui has already let out word that if we listen to his arrangements, everything can be discussed. If we don’t, he can’t guarantee what will happen.”

Hearing this, Hong Dali finally understood everything.

Wasn’t there a saying that treacherous and wicked people were clever? Village chief Wang Xigui colluded with Mayor Xu Dezhi, he also hired a bunch of hooligans to enforce his rule, and those who dared to object would have their legs broken. There wasn’t any reception in the village even for smartphones, not to mention computers. The road was hard to work, plus the villagers all had families with them, so no one dared to escape. Therefore, this place actually formed into a small kingdom where this Wang Xigui became king and ruled over everyone!

Even the members from the Chamber of Commerce were astonished upon hearing this. “God, this Wang Xigui is really vicious. He is practically a king there!”

“That’s right, that’s practically a small kingdom. What the heck, he is really having a good life there!”

“Damn this bastard, he’s definitely dead this time. To view this simply, he’s just forming a mob group. To view this seriously, he’s forming a private army!”

“This time it was all filmed down, there’s definitely a good show to be view now, hahaha!”

In the Tianhai military, the officers said, “These assholes should all be shot to death! Even a small village chief dares to do such a thing, damn him!”

“That’s right, I can’t stand this. He’s practically a bandit lord!”

“It looks like there is really no solution to this.” Hong Dali sighed and said, “Then, they made use of this earthquake to keep the relief payments, and the village chief used the hooligans to control the villagers?”

“Isn’t that the case.” The villager nodded and said, “These 40 plus hooligans are all very vicious. If someone dares to oppose them, it won’t be just a simple case of being beaten up. Actually, we knew that reporters would be coming here too, but the problem was, Wang Xigui had already let out word that he if got in trouble, he would drag all of us down with him too! He has a few guns that he made himself, and he also has some old guns that were said to be used for fighting off bandits in the past. Although he can’t win against the military, killing us normal villagers definitely wouldn’t be a problem.”

What the heck! So exaggerated!?

“Seriously?” Hong Dali asked in shock, “They even have these kinds of stuff? In that case, don’t you guys have to follow anything he says?”

Alright, speaking of which, I have aircraft carriers too. I can even get fighter jets if I want. But I am a good man, I wouldn’t do such a thing.

Wasn’t there a saying that once a person could control other people’s life and death, they definitely wouldn’t have principles in doing things anymore and do whatever they liked.

“Do we have a choice?” The villager helplessly shook his head. “If we don’t listen, we wouldn’t be able to live on. We can’t run, we have no way of suing him, and even if we sued him in town, Xu Dezhi is on his side. When we come back, we will still be the ones who suffer. Those who petitioned were all blocked and returned, and they either got a beating or hid at home. Therefore, we don’t have any choice now but to listen to whatever he says. Luckily, he doesn’t dare to force us too much, he still gives us enough food to survive.”

Of course, he will leave enough food for you all. If not, wouldn’t he be forcing you guys to revolt?

“This is really…” Hong Dali touched his nose, not knowing what to say. He paused for a long while before coming up with these words: “One type of rice can feed a hundred kinds of people!”

“Isn’t that so.” The villager’s wife came over and sat down. While taking, she was making hemp twist ropes. “The three of you, listen to my advice, just settle down here and don’t think about leaving anymore.”

“Ah? Don’t leave?” Hong Dali asked in surprise, “Why would you say that?”

“Since you stayed in our house, you definitely have an understanding of the village now.” The villager’s wife said, “If you continue to act as beggars to cheat people of charity donations, Wang Xigui definitely wouldn’t do anything to you guys. But if you want to leave, do you think he will let you three leave now that you know what’s going on here? He will definitely stop you halfway. If you are lucky, he will just break your legs and throw you three back here, and if unlucky, he will directly kill you all in the mountains and no one will know of it.”

What the heck, this really makes my body go numb!

“If you didn’t tell me, I really wouldn’t think of this!” In fright, Hong Dali said, “Wang Xigui really dares to kill people? That’s a human life, after all. Even if the life of a beggar like me isn’t worth anything, he wouldn’t dare to just kill us like that, right?”

“Why wouldn’t he dare to?” The villager’s wife said, “Some time back, two beggars came to our village. They were just passing by here, stayed with a villager for the night, and planned to continue on their journey the next day. In the end, the next day, the five people from Old Zhao’s family who kept them for the night all received a beating, saying that they didn’t keep a tab on their mouths. Also, the hooligans brought back the beggars’ clothes with them—there was blood on them. Although they didn’t tell us plainly that the beggars were dead, but that was probably the case. In the mountains, their body would be eaten up in just two to three days, and no one would find out about it. Therefore, nothing will happen to you if you don’t leave the village. If not, you will definitely end up in trouble.”

Now that they had obtained the truth, the various officers in the Tianhai military directly rushed out. “What the heck, even if we cross the province borders, we shall definitely kill that bastard!”

“I can’t disregard this matter. Otherwise, I might as well just die!”

“Cross the province border, let’s go together!”

The people in the Chamber of Commerce were all completely angered. “This is really disregarding human life!”

“There’s actually such a person in these times, damn him. I can’t tolerate this anymore!”

“I shall make a call now to sent people there. If any of you knows people there, contact them!”

“This is really…” Hong Dali thought for a while and decided that they were probably speaking the truth. He decisively laid down and said, “In that case, I shan’t leave anymore. Just sleep now, let’s take a good rest first. I am really tired!”

I will remember this. As for the rest, I will settle it after I am refreshed after sleep. This matter isn’t over!

“Let’s all sleep first.” The villager looked at the three of them. “You three have only just eaten, take a good rest now, we can talk of other things later.”

Unexpectedly, just as Hong Dali laid down, Lai Fu suddenly shouted, “Help! Help! They want to kill me!”

What the heck, what situation is this?

Hong Dali instantly sat up and ran out. As he ran, he shouted, “Xiaoyi, Xinxin, come quick, Lai Fu is in danger!”* Lai Fu is my good friend, he is a professional photographer!*

Ling Xiaoyi and Tang Muxin instantly followed him without hesitation.

Out of the three of them, Hong Dali and Ling Xiaoyi’s stats were maximized. Once they started running, their speed became faster and faster, and soon came to where Lai Fu was. Just as they got close, Hong Dali heard a hooligan say, “This wild dog can really run. Damn, this kind of dog meat is the chewiest after it’s cooked!”