They Are Still Anti-Human

They Were Still Crimes Against Humanity

The matter was actually quite simple. Lin Wen had twice insisted on treating everyone and distributing supplies ahead of schedule, directly emptying what little stock they had.

They could not go without food. That would mean broken promises and diminish the settlement's hope.

If unrest arose because of it, the blame might end up on Lin Wen's head. And if it caused even the slightest increase in bad karma, Lin Wen would absolutely chop himself to pieces.

Old Xie, the deputy director of the Finance Department, was responsible for procuring supplies. His enthusiasm was running high now, so he ought not to delay.

But that was not enough. Lin Wen decided to dangle a carrot in front of him.

"Send someone back to Huai Town immediately. Tell Old Xie, the deputy director of the Finance Department, that if he can transport part of the supplies back before noon tomorrow, I'll promote him to full director. If he can bring back all the supplies within three days, I'll make Old Lei his deputy to work under him."

Judging from Huang Mingxiao's expression, Lin Wen felt this should work.

Huang Mingxiao stood dumbstruck for ages, unable to squeeze out a single word. The previous county magistrates had practically wished they could erase words like "promotion" and "transfer" from the dictionary. Meetings discussing personnel matters were like meetings about aliens—they would rather hide in a bunker to hold them.

Even when something was already set in stone, they still had to leak hints for a year or two beforehand.

Yet having a third party relay a discussion of transfers involving two sensitive positions to the people concerned was like telling Old Wang to streak out of Old Li's house while yelling, "Old Xie is here! Run!"

So in the end, Huang Mingxiao did not manage to say half a word. He even completely forgot what he had originally wanted to tell County Magistrate Lin.

All he could do was sigh in admiration. As expected of County Magistrate Lin—his methods were unfathomable, unconventional, beyond imagination. Looking at it this way, those astonishing executions in broad daylight had also been prepared long in advance. There was no need for him to meddle further.

After Huang Mingxiao left, Fang Yaobo came in with his head hanging low.

Lin Wen sighed. It looked like he would not get a chance to study spells tonight.

"County Magistrate Lin!"

The moment Fang Yaobo opened his mouth, he nearly burst into tears.

"So many people... how am I supposed to write their case files?"

"What's so hard about that?" Lin Wen asked blandly.

"Nearly eighty death-penalty case files, and over seventy of them don't even have known charges! You... you directly declared them guilty and shot them dead, without even an interrogation! How am I supposed to write them?"

Fang Yaobo truly felt like he was about to claw his own head open. In the past, he would never have dared speak to a superior like this.

But he had been driven into a corner. In the Empire, immediate execution of the death penalty was subject to strict rules. Generally speaking, even when a crime had been established, execution had to wait until after the autumn harvest.

The intervening time was left for the Review Council to examine and verify the case.

What County Magistrate Lin had done could only be called execution on the spot. It was not the same category as the Empire's standard immediate execution. Trying to dig up legal grounds for it in Imperial law was harder than scaling the heavens!

Worse still, the people shot were Imperial officials!

The review process for officials was even stricter. Orders and reminders had been issued again and again: not the slightest flaw could be allowed. But here with Lin Wen, they did not even have specific crimes, let alone the criminal process, key evidence, or credible testimony—not a single hair of any of it could be seen.

Besides that, there were more than three hundred cases involving convicted criminals. Every single one required detailed investigation, careful interrogation, evidence collection, and determination of charges.

With all of that piled together, merely thinking about it made Fang Yaobo want to die on the spot.

"Idiot."

Lin Wen truly felt frustrated by his failure to live up to expectations.

"Watch carefully!"

He reached out, pulled a case file from Fang Yaobo's hands, scribbled twice, and finished it before handing it back.

Fang Yaobo looked at it and saw:

text
Criminal: He Zaiju.

Charge: Crimes against humanity.

Crime: Crimes against humanity.

Process: Crimes against humanity.

Outcome: Executed on the spot.

Fang Yaobo was utterly dumbfounded. He did not even notice saliva dripping from his mouth.

"Just write them according to this template."

"Okay, okay, okay..."

Trembling, Fang Yaobo threw the case file to the floor with a smack.

"Okay my ass!"

He sprang to his feet, but when he met County Magistrate Lin's gaze, he shrank back again.

"I... I can't write that."

He hugged his head like a bullied little fat boy.

"You... you should dismiss me."

"Fang Yaobo, you're far too stupid. Haven't I taught you already?"

Lin Wen pressed a hand to his forehead, feeling as though his balls were about to split. This man was too dull. It was not that Lin Wen did not want to replace him; he simply did not want to waste good karma.

Besides, although he did not possess an SSR aura, he had still served as chief of the Tribunal for so long without any black aura around him. He could at least be called thoroughly tested. Replacing him casually without spells would likely bring in someone worse than him.

It was only a paperhanger's job, after all. A little training would be enough to make him competent.

"Think carefully about what I told you yesterday."

Lin Wen could only gather himself and teach him personally, doing his best to make him more useful. If he relied on spells and spent good karma to solve everything, he probably still would not break through one thousand points even after reincarnating next year.

Fang Yaobo froze for a moment, then began recalling what Prefect Lin had said yesterday.

"Y-you mean they all wanted to murder the prefect... and murder three hundred thousand disaster victims?"

"That's right."

Lin Wen slapped his thigh.

"See? That's pretty smart, isn't it!"

"Just steer everything in that direction, then casually gather some of the specific bad things they've done. That'll do."

"It's very simple. As long as you go among the disaster victims, you'll understand—they all deserve to die."

"Remember, laws, at their root, exist to serve the people."

"You've spent all year perched high above, burying your head in piles of cold paperwork, pulling out every law, every regulation, every word to dissect with a scalpel and examine under a microscope. Over time, you've become a cold legal baguette. You only understand cold laws; you no longer think like a human. You don't even know what the people at the bottom are like."

"That's called separating yourself from the people and forgetting the law's fundamental intent. You're practicing dead strength—it's no good."

"You only focus on learning the form, yet forget the spirit. You don't understand how to grasp the intent, so you can't act as your heart wills—no move triumphs over having moves."

"You're the classic bookworm. You definitely won't get things done like this."

"Enough. Saying too much would be disharmonious. Just do as I said."

"The case files for those three hundred-odd people are all the same. Once you walk among the people, you'll know what kind of scum they are."

"Go on. Go back and think carefully about what I said."

Fang Yaobo left in a daze, just as he had arrived in a daze. He did not so much as wave his sleeve, nor did he take away a single cloud.

Yet something extraordinary seemed to have left with him.

Although he had suffered some disturbances, Lin Wen still slept extremely well.

He had another beautiful dream.

He dreamed that he had become the sect master of a small sect tucked away in a mountain ravine. One day, demonic beasts attacked the mountain gate.

A disciple brought word. Lin Wen leapt down from his white jade bed, and garments of every kind flew over and dressed him automatically. Last came an incredibly handsome cloak. Lin Wen donned it with an equally handsome motion, and at that very moment, the dream's view shifted behind him, revealing several large characters written upon the cloak.

Lin Wen had already forgotten what those characters were. In any case, they were extremely fierce, extremely handsome, and extremely domineering.

Then he stretched out a hand, and a divine sword glinting with cold light flew into his grasp.

Divine sword in hand and cloak around his shoulders, he flashed a few times and arrived outside the village. A demonic beast resembling the Nine-Tailed Fox was wreaking havoc, while innocent civilians scattered in all directions.

Lin Wen charged forward and battled the demonic beast for three hundred rounds. They fought until heaven and earth darkened, until sun and moon lost their light. Members of other sects watching from nearby repeatedly sucked in cold breaths, causing the temperature to plummet in a straight line, and the world was soon frozen over.