When the Tyrant Fell, the Whole Village Celebrated the New Year

The next morning, Lin Feng slept in for half a shichen.

Now, the first thing Lin Feng did after getting up was practice martial arts in the courtyard.

When he walked into the courtyard, he happened to hear his mother chatting with someone at the gate.

"Xiaofeng's mother, did you hear? Old Feng's family, the village tyrants, caught fire last night."

"Really? How badly did it burn?"

"It didn't start burning until the latter half of the night. Old Feng's neighbors probably saw it, but they didn't go put out the fire.

They say rabbits do not eat the grass by their own burrow, but the four tyrants of Old Feng's family bullied their nearest neighbors the worst.

This time, it served them right. Their neighbors saw it and pretended not to. No one went to put out the fire.

The house burned to nothing."

Mother Lin's eyes lit up as she asked expectantly, "Were the people all right?"

"How could they be? The four Feng Brothers were all charred beyond recognition. No one could even tell who was who.

Gou Shengzi, who had always been bullied by the Feng Brothers, finally got his chance.

He took a stick and beat the four Feng Brothers' corpses all over, smashing them into a pile of ash and scraps."

Hearing this, Lin Feng was completely relieved. Someone had destroyed the scene, so no one would be able to spot anything suspicious.

The person chatting with Mother Lin was Aunt Lin, a member of Lin Feng's clan.

Aunt Lin said with a smile, "This is truly evil reaping evil. With those scourges gone from Xiaohe Village, everyone can finally live in peace."

Mother Lin asked curiously, "Do they know what caused the fire?"

Aunt Lin shook her head. "Everything burned away, and it happened in the middle of the night. Who could know the cause? The Village Chief brought people over for a look, then left.

Xiaofeng's mother, I won't chat any longer. I need to go home and make something tasty to celebrate.

Today, every household in Xiaohe Village is eating well, like it's New Year's."

"All right, then hurry along, Aunt Lin. I'll head inside and make something tasty too."

Mother Lin was old and slept lightly. She knew Lin Feng had gone out last night and guessed that he had set the fire.

However, she certainly would not tell anyone. She would simply pretend she knew nothing.

At breakfast, Mother Lin mentioned the fire at Old Feng's family.

After hearing it, Zhou Chunlan ate an extra corn bun, and her condition improved even more.

Mother Lin looked at the children and said, "The children aren't so little anymore. It's time for them to begin their schooling. In a few days, send them to Mr. Hong at the west end of the village to learn to read and write."

Zhou Chunlan agreed, "Mother is right. Mr. Hong is an outsider. He may not necessarily spend his old age in Xiaohe Village; he might leave one day.

While Mr. Hong is still here, we should let the children learn to read and write as soon as possible."

Looking at the children's tattered clothes, Lin Feng said, "Since they're starting their schooling, we should get them some decent clothes too. Otherwise, it won't look good for them to go out."

Only then did Mother Lin notice the children's clothes. Calling them tattered did not begin to describe it. Dabao, Sanbao, and Sibao each had only a pair of pants, their upper bodies bare.

Erbabao, Lin Yuxuan, cared the most about looking good. He had both clothes and pants, but they were covered in either patches or holes.

Xiaoyueyue had the best clothes of them all. At least hers had no holes.

In the past, the Lin Family had struggled even to eat their fill. How could they spare any thought for clothes?

"They really should have some decent clothes."

Erbabao, Lin Yuxuan, said with eyes full of expectation, "Zheng Xiaobao's clothes are so pretty. I want a set just like his."

Zheng Xiaobao's father was the Village Chief, so his family was somewhat better off.

Mother Lin said, "His outfit isn't cheap. We'll buy one for Erbabao once our family has money.

Be good, Erbabao. We'll first buy you a set of coarse cloth clothes. As long as you can wear them outside, that's enough."

At those words, Erbabao pursed his lips, somewhat unhappy, but he still nodded obediently.

Lin Feng rubbed Erbabao's head. The little fellow was young, but he really did love to look good.

After taking a sip of thin porridge, Zhou Chunlan said, "But we can't go empty-handed. To take a teacher, we need to offer tuition gifts. We have five children, so we'll need five shares."

Lin Feng set down his chopsticks. "Tomorrow, I'll go up the mountain to hunt. I'll catch some wild game and bring it to Mr. Hong."

The moment Mother Lin and Zhou Chunlan heard Lin Feng was going hunting in the mountains, they both grew worried.

Father Lin had met with an accident while hunting. Once he went into the mountains, he never returned.

The mountains of this world contained not only wild beasts, but also demon beasts that had gained spirit.

Most demon beasts hid in deep mountains and vast marshes. There generally were no demon beasts along the edges of mountain ranges.

But demon beasts sometimes came down from the mountains.

If hunters encountered a demon beast, they would almost certainly die.

Zhou Chunlan pressed her lips together and said, "Husband, don't we have silver? Why not buy some pork and send it to Mr. Hong instead?

If you go up the mountain, Mother and I will be on tenterhooks at home."

"Using pork as a tuition gift would seem far too perfunctory. I'd better go into the mountains and catch some wild game.

You and Mother don't need to worry. I'll only set some traps along the edge of Big Black Mountain to catch small animals."

Mother Lin and Zhou Chunlan said no more and began clearing the table.

After eating, Lin Feng summoned his status panel, intending to raise Beast Hunting Fist to the perfected realm.

Yet he found that it could not be upgraded. The words Beast Hunting Fist were still gray, not the green that indicated it could be upgraded.

Lin Feng tried tapping it, and the system informed him that he needed two Breakthrough Points to advance.

Sure enough, the farther one progressed in martial arts, the harder breakthroughs became, and the more Breakthrough Points they consumed.

This was within Lin Feng's expectations.

Still, two Breakthrough Points was not much. It was acceptable.

For an ordinary person practicing Beast Hunting Fist, going from major accomplishment to perfection would require at least six or seven years of bitter training.

He could break through in two days, so there was nothing for him to be dissatisfied about.

From the twenty-five taels of silver he had obtained last night, Lin Feng took out eight taels, intending to go into town and buy clothes for the children.

The children's clothes certainly would not cost all eight taels.

He also intended to buy a set of clothes each for his mother and wife.

The bedding at home was not enough either. Several people shared one quilt, making it easy for them to catch a chill and fall ill.

When Lin Feng left the house, he went to take a look outside Wang Shanxiong's courtyard next door.

A large lock hung on the courtyard gate. Wang Shanxiong was not home.

When Lin Feng had beaten up the tyrants yesterday, Wang Shanxiong had not been among the crowd of onlookers.

He might have already left by then.

It was good that he had gone. Better yet, he should never come back, saving Lin Feng the trouble.

Lin Feng went to Lin Hu's home and called him out, asking him to go to town with him.

The town was much closer than the County Town. The round trip took only two shichen.

The two brothers did not wander around after arriving in town. They went straight to a clothing shop.

Inside the clothing shop, two young thugs carrying iron rods were making a racket.

"Boss, it's time to pay this month's protection fee."

The middle-aged owner, wearing a small melon-rind cap, came out from behind the counter.

"But we already paid this month."

"Then you definitely didn't pay it into the hands of our Iron Rod Gang.

The former Small Knife Gang has been replaced by our Iron Rod Gang. Starting this month, the two of us are in charge of this area.

Your protection fee has to be paid to us."

"Two sirs, could you collect it next month instead? We paid it already this month, and we truly have no spare money left."

Bang! The leading thug smashed his iron rod down onto the counter.

"Stop fucking talking nonsense. If we tell you to pay, then pay.

If you can't pay, then don't keep this shop open."