Great Hero of Qinghe's Reputation Reversed

The Iron Rod Gang had come to Xiaohe Village to cause trouble again.

Old Woman Wang from the eastern end of the village clutched her head and rolled on the ground.

"Are you Iron Rod Gang people going to leave anyone alive?

"We just finished paying protection money, and only two days later you've come to collect it again.

"When you collected protection money last time, you said you only collected it once a year."

A young thug said with a grin, "It was supposed to be once a year, but the money we collected last time was stolen.

"You all know that some Great Hero of Qinghe killed quite a few of our men and stole the protection money we collected last time.

"We had no choice but to come collect it again."

The young thug spoke loudly, and many villagers heard him.

The Iron Rod Gang could not hold on to the protection money they collected, so in the end they had to make up the loss from the villagers.

Of course, not every villager saw it that way.

Old Woman Wang lay on the ground and wailed, "That damned Great Hero of Qinghe—why did he have to steal the Iron Rod Gang's protection money?"

Some villagers nearby chimed in, "That Great Hero of Qinghe is a real piece of work. He's made the folks in our village suffer terribly."

"Exactly. Of all the people he could rob, he just had to rob the Iron Rod Gang."

"What Great Hero of Qinghe? I say he should be called the Qinghe Dog Bandit."

Great Hero of Qinghe's reputation immediately took a turn for the worse.

Lin Feng heard it and did not care.

He did not care whether he was a hero or not.

He only wanted to look after his own little family.

He had definitely done nothing wrong by ambushing and killing the Iron Rod Gang, and there was nothing wrong with taking their silver either.

Could he really kill every Iron Rod Gang member and then leave the silver behind? Wouldn't that make him an idiot?

If he had not intercepted the Iron Rod Gang, would they have stopped collecting protection money?

Since the villagers had made themselves into soft persimmons,

the Iron Rod Gang would squeeze them for all they were worth.

Whether they collected protection money again was entirely at the Iron Rod Gang's whim.

The young thug leading them this time was actually the one who had escaped last time.

The thugs who had come to Xiaohe Village last time had nearly been wiped out by Lin Feng.

This young thug was not very old, and he too was bald. Perhaps he had admired his former boss, Baldy Brother, and gotten the same hairstyle.

The kid was fairly capable too. Otherwise, why had he alone survived among more than a dozen men?

The bald thug waved his hand, and the thugs beating people immediately stopped.

The bald thug shouted, "If you don't have enough silver, I won't make things difficult for you.

"Just let us search around and take a few valuables.

"If you really don't have anything valuable, then forget it.

"As long as everyone cooperates honestly, we definitely won't hurt anyone."

The last time the Iron Rod Gang had come, they had already beaten into submission any villagers who wanted to stand up to them.

After the bald thug finished speaking,

Village Chief Zheng Fugui took the lead in shouting, "Baldy Brother is righteous! The Iron Rod Gang is righteous!"

A few villagers actually followed along, saying, "The Iron Rod Gang is righteous. At least they won't force everyone until their families are ruined and their people dead."

"I hope the Iron Rod Gang brothers catch Great Hero of Qinghe soon.

"Only by rooting out Great Hero of Qinghe, that malignant tumor, can everyone live in peace."

A small number of villagers said nothing.

Lin Feng found it absurd, but he also saw the helplessness in the common people's hearts.

What the Iron Rod Gang was doing was like beating someone lame, then handing him a crutch.

And when that person received the crutch, he actually wept tears of gratitude.

There were surely villagers who understood reason.

But what could understanding change? They had no ability to resist, so they could only thank them for showing mercy.

Sure enough, once the bald thug said that, the villagers became very cooperative.

Most households could not produce enough silver for the protection money, so they could only let the thugs enter their homes and search.

Many villagers were so poor that their homes had bare walls, and there was basically nothing to find.

The thugs indeed kept their word. As long as people cooperated, they would not beat them even if they did not have enough silver.

The villagers showered them with gratitude again.

Lin Feng tossed three taels of silver to Zhang Xiaoyu next door.

If he was helping, he might as well help to the end. When his family had been struggling, Brother Zhang next door had helped them plenty.

Zhang Xiaoyu was so grateful that he did not know what to say.

"Xiaofeng, don't worry. Brother Zhang will definitely repay you as soon as possible."

Lin Feng smiled. "No rush. Brother Zhang, you should take care of Sister-in-law first."

Lin Feng had his family hide inside while he and his brother-in-law stood at the courtyard gate, waiting for the thugs.

When the protection money collectors reached Lin Feng's home, Lin Feng took out ten taels of silver and handed them to the bald thug.

"This covers the protection money for my family and Mr. Hong's family."

The bald thug seemed somewhat wary of Lin Feng.

He said nothing, took the protection money, and left.

When they reached Zhang Xiaoyu's home next door, they only collected two taels of silver.

Having escaped death once, this thug seemed to have learned something.

Once the Iron Rod Gang thugs had collected the protection money, they left.

Lin Feng did not plan to intercept and kill them this time.

The Iron Rod Gang had surely made preparations this time. For all he knew, this was a trap.

He was still far from being an expert. Unless absolutely necessary, he could never put himself in danger.

With the system, his cultivation speed left others in the dust. As long as he kept a low profile and did not mess up, in less than a year he would be able to establish himself in Qinghe County.

After the thugs left, there was no news of them being ambushed.

Xiaohe Village returned to how it had been before. No one mentioned the Iron Rod Gang collecting protection money, nor did anyone mention Great Hero of Qinghe again.

People seemed to have gone numb, no longer entertaining unrealistic fantasies.

They all understood that no matter what happened, the ones who suffered in the end were still commoners at the bottom like themselves.

Two more days passed. Lin Feng spent one breakthrough point to bring Basic Swordplay to the beginner level. His vitality attribute increased by one point, reaching thirty-six.

He practiced swordsmanship in the mountains while hunting.

He wielded Basic Swordplay with considerable flair. Though it consisted only of fundamental moves like thrusting, chopping, lifting, and hanging, they flowed with great naturalness, as though he had practiced them countless times.

Lin Feng felt that once he cultivated Basic Swordplay to minor mastery, its power would surpass Beast Hunting Fist.

Of course, that was without activating Heart of the Beast.

If he activated Heart of the Beast and used Beast Hunting Fist, its power would multiply.

However, Heart of the Beast was a state of intent. When activated, it enhanced Lin Feng himself rather than Beast Hunting Fist alone, so it could likewise enhance Basic Swordplay.

Lin Feng tried many more times afterward, but he could not successfully activate Heart of the Beast.

This state of intent seemed to activate only when he faced a life-and-death crisis.

Hopefully, he would never need to use Heart of the Beast again.

Lin Feng decided that after becoming Mr. Hong's disciple, he would properly train his swordsmanship.

Good swordsmanship was highly valued throughout Longyuan County.

Whether the City Guards were recruiting or the yamen was selecting officials, they would prioritize those skilled with the sword.

Today, Lin Feng had been so focused on practicing his swordsmanship in the mountains that he only caught one wild wolf.

It had to be said that after Crimson Gold Glaze reached the beginner level, his hunting efficiency had improved fundamentally.

In the past, when he went hunting unarmed in the mountains, he had to work hard to chase down his prey.

If he used a bow and arrows, he had to carry a bow and quiver.

After cultivating Crimson Gold Glaze, he could hunt by picking up a small stone, and his prey could not escape.

Lin Feng had killed this wild wolf with a small stone. The stone had entered through the wolf's left eye and exited through its right, piercing straight through both eyes without leaving a single mark on its fur.

Even Six Arrow Hunter's Bow at major mastery could not achieve such an effect.

Lin Feng carried the wild wolf down the mountain, intending to clean it up and present it as a gift when he became Mr. Hong's disciple tomorrow.