Chapter 65: Patterns
"There was no Exorcism Tax before?" Xia Fan asked.
"That's right. It only appeared after Master Hu took office. He said Evil Spirits were becoming more frequent, and the allocations from above were no longer enough to handle them, so he had the county residents share some of the burden. Benefactor, could you perhaps speak to some important figure above? We truly can't afford this money anymore..."
By the end, the old man was trembling as he braced himself against the doorframe and rose, as though he intended to kneel. Xia Fan hurriedly stood and supported him.
"I'll think of something. Don't be anxious for the moment. By the way, when did the magistrate take office?"
"I remember it was... ten years ago, perhaps."
Ten years and eight years... the gap was not far off. Coupled with the Exorcism Tax that came later, could this be some kind of coincidence?
Wait! A flash of electric light suddenly streaked through Xia Fan's mind. If he followed this deduction, then those peaceful years from more than a decade ago, wouldn't they—
He lifted the bowl and drank a mouthful of icy well water, making his voice sound less dry. "Do you remember how many magistrates Gaoshan County has had in total?"
"This..." The old man hesitated. "I don't know about my father's generation, but over these past few decades, there should have been four or five. The short terms lasted three or four years, while the long ones lasted over a decade."
"How long did the magistrate before Master Hu serve?"
"Quite a long time. Around fifteen or sixteen years."
Fifteen or sixteen years—didn't that fit perfectly with the frequency of Evil Spirit appearances?
Xia Fan suddenly felt a chill down his back.
He had always wanted to find