Zijing Village (33)

Zijing Village lay on the border of the Heaven Dou Empire, where it met the Star Luo Empire.

Because of its unique environment, the village produced a rare plant known as the Zijing Flower. Like Blue Silver Grass, this plant was also a Soul Beast.

Its petals could be picked and pressed into floral dew, while its dried fruits could be brewed into tea. Both were beneficial to soul masters' cultivation, and thus the village received its name.

Yet although it possessed the treasure that was the Zijing Flower, it had brought Zijing Village neither prosperity, wealth, nor happiness.

On the contrary, the Zijing Flower had brought Zijing Village nothing but suffering and exploitation!

"Is this Zijing Village?"

In a dark, shadowy forest, a young man dressed entirely in black stopped beside a crooked wooden sign along a somewhat muddy road. He had short golden hair, blue eyes, a high nose bridge, and deep-set eye sockets.

Three crooked words from Douluo Continent were written on the sign: Zijing Village.

Just as the young man was about to pass the sign and continue down the road, the sound of hooves and faint voices suddenly came from behind him.

Soon, several carriages came racing up from the rear. Their wooden wheels crushed the damp soil of the road, while the horses' hooves splashed up large clumps of mud. In no time, they vanished from the young man's sight.

"What a coincidence."

Though quite a few mud splatters had landed on him, the young man remained calm. He raised his right hand to wipe the mud from his face with his fingers, narrowing his eyes as he watched the carriages ahead.

He had clearly seen a young man dressed in fine clothes sitting inside the foremost and most luxurious carriage.

That young man was obviously a noble.

And for him to appear in a remote village like Zijing Village...

Based on the information he had investigated, this noble was most likely the lord of Zijing Village.

Perhaps he had arrived just in time to catch a good show?

With that thought, the young man quickened his pace and headed down the road.

Meanwhile, at Zijing Village at the end of the road.

Though it was called a village, Zijing Village had once been quite wealthy due to its abundant production of Zijing Flowers. Its population was large, and its scale was no less than that of an ordinary town.

At the entrance to Zijing Village, as several carriages came to a stop outside the village.

The villagers' expressions changed drastically. Those with wives and daughters hurriedly had their wives take their daughters into hiding inside their homes, while they themselves quickly carried out buckets upon buckets of Zijing Flower petals and dried fruits, placing them outside.

After the carriages stopped.

From the foremost and most luxurious carriage, a young man dressed in fine clothes and reeking of powder and perfume lifted the curtain.

At the same time, the servant driving the carriage hurriedly climbed down and lay flat on the ground, allowing the young man to step on his back and descend to the ground.

As the young man got out of the carriage.

Two fully armed guards stepped down from the other carriages and took up positions beside the noble youth.

One servant after another, tall and burly, with vicious, ferocious faces and armed with clubs, whips, and other weapons, also got down from the carriages and gathered behind the young man.

After getting down from the carriage, the noble youth waved toward the village before him.

The servants behind him immediately filed out, grinning maliciously as they headed for the nearest houses and began collecting territorial taxes door to door.

"My lord, this is our family's territorial tax for this month."

Outside one house, an extremely thin young man with sunken cheeks, clearly suffering from malnutrition, spoke with a fawning smile to the servant who had come to collect taxes.

"Why is there only this much? Didn't we say you needed to hand over one hundred and thirty pounds of Zijing Flower petals and dried fruits this month?!"

Outside a house, a burly servant holding a thick wooden club saw only nine buckets of Zijing Flower petals and dried fruits before him. The flesh on his face twitched, and a vicious gleam flashed through his eyes.

"W-what?! One... one hundred and thirty pounds? Wasn't it only one hundred and twenty pounds last month?"

Hearing this, the gaunt young man in ragged, patch-covered clothes turned pale and cried out in alarm.

"It was only one hundred and twenty pounds last month, but the price has gone up this month!"

The burly servant sneered, tapping the thick club in his right hand against his left palm with unmistakable threat and warning.

"But you never notified us in advance! And how many times has it increased already? We really can't hand over that much anymore."

"To pay so many Zijing Flower petals and fruits, we've already converted all our farmland to grow Zijing Flowers. If we keep converting more land, we'll starve to death!"

The young man clenched his fists and roared in despair.

"Quit talking so much bullshit. You'll hand over however much we tell you to hand over. If you don't have enough, you can pay with money—or use your wives and daughters to settle the debt!"

The burly servant sneered, then swung his club at the young man, instantly knocking him to the ground. He then planted a foot heavily on the young man's body.

"You're short ten pounds of Zijing Flower petals and dried fruits. Tell me, will you make up for it with money or what? If you pay with money, ten pounds of Zijing Flower petals cost three Gold Soul Coins, and ten pounds of dried Zijing Flower fruits cost five Gold Soul Coins."

"I don't have that much money!!"

The young man struggled desperately but could not break free. Tears streamed down his face as he howled in grief.

"No money!"

Upon hearing that he had no money, the burly servant's expression changed, and he immediately roared.

"No money? Then we'll take things from your house to settle the debt!"

With that, the burly servant kicked the young man away, turned around, and kicked open the door to the young man's home. He strode inside menacingly and soon saw a similarly malnourished young woman clutching a little girl in terror.

"Haha! A little girl? She looks pretty good. Since your family owes taxes, you'll be used to settle the debt!"

The burly servant's eyes lit up at the sight of the little girl in the young woman's arms. After throwing back his head in wild laughter, he stepped forward, intending to take the girl away.

"Let her go!"

But at that moment, the young man charged in furiously. He grabbed a small wooden stool nearby and roared as he tried to smash the burly servant with it. Unfortunately, he was no match for him and was sent flying by a single blow from the servant's club.

"Courting death!!"

Similar scenes were playing out all across the village.

Because the territorial tax had suddenly risen, most villagers had not prepared enough Zijing Flower petals and dried fruits. The tax-collecting servants barged into their homes one after another.

Whenever these servants saw anything valuable, they took it. Whenever they saw a little girl, they prepared to forcibly abduct her.

Perhaps Zijing Village had good feng shui, for the women of the village were often quite attractive.

And if the little girls of Zijing Village were raised properly, they could often be sold for a good price.

Thus, all this time, just as though they were raising pigs.

Whenever the Viscount discovered that a girl in Zijing Village had reached a certain age and was good-looking, he would bring people to seize her.

For a time, cries of grief and furious roars echoed throughout the entire village.

Though this was not the first time such things had happened, quite a few men and women still tried to resist, hoping to take back their children.

But unfortunately, their long-term exploitation had left them malnourished, and they were no match for these burly servants.

Many men were beaten so badly that they suffered serious injuries, vomiting blood as they collapsed to the ground.

"Ah..."

At some point, the golden-haired young man had finally arrived at Zijing Village. Seeing the miserable scene before him, he shook his head and let out a sigh.

Though he had long known what was happening in Zijing Village and had come here deliberately, seeing such misery with his own eyes still made it hard for him to bear.

In a world like Douluo Continent, where bloodlines were closely tied to supernatural power, class solidification was even more severe.

These nobles were even less human!

As he watched everything unfold, a burly servant tucked a little girl beneath his arm to abduct her, kicked her father to the ground, then took out a long whip and lashed him viciously, beating him until he was barely alive. At last, the young man made his move.