I Become a Martial Arts God in the Chaotic Demon World-Chapter 91: Neither Great Good Nor Great Evil (Extra for Alliance Hierarch who doesn’t care or pay attention)

With arrest officer Feng in tow, Han Zheng and his companions made straight for Li Family Village.

However, after half a day's ride, Feng suggested that everyone temporarily leave their horses at a post station.

"Gentlemen, to reach Li Family Village, we must traverse a winding mountain path. It's rough and difficult, and the horses could easily sprain an ankle or fall off a cliff. It would be a pity to lose such fine horses; we'd better proceed on foot. After entering the mountain, it's not far."

Ye Liuyun nodded.

After all, for them, walking was no different from riding; they just needed to keep pace with Feng arrest officer. Although he had trained in martial arts, his strength seemed to be only at the early stage of the Postnatal Realm, having opened no more than three meridians.

At this point, Han Zheng suddenly asked, "Arrest officer Feng, you've been to Li Family Village before; have you ever heard of them making sacrifices to demons?"

Ye Liuyun gave Han Zheng an astonished glance, not expecting such thoroughness from the newcomer, knowing to gather intelligence ahead of time. Indeed, Ye Liuyun was planning to inquire about the same matters in a while.

Feng shook his head, "I've not heard of such a thing. Li Family Village is quite large; if there were truly demons nearby, wouldn't everyone have been eaten by now?"

"What is your impression of Li Family Village, then? Don't worry about other factors; just tell the truth."

Feng thought for a moment, carefully replying, "Honestly, I've only been to Li Family Village that one time, so my understanding isn't deep. But if we're talking about impressions, then it would be of its wealth. Ning'an County, where we are, is remote without any special products—even the county town is quite poor, as you've seen. Although I am an arrest officer, it's not every day that I can afford to eat meat. Yet in Li Family Village, almost every household can have meat daily."

Yang Tianqi, who was beside them, expressed his surprise, "Why is Li Family Village so wealthy? Could there be a gold mine nearby?"

"That's not the case," Feng replied. "If there were a gold mine, the Court would have surely claimed it. As the saying goes, 'Rely on the mountains to eat from the mountains, rely on the water to eat from the water.' Li Family Village is close to Liyun Mountain, so nearly every household is a hunter. Liyun Mountain is rich in resources, and the hunters from Li Family Village are known for their excellent skills. Besides the common game, sometimes they even hunt some rare creatures to bring to the county town to exchange for cash. I heard of Li Family Village's capabilities and went there specifically to see if I could find something interesting. As it turned out, I actually came across a White Tiger pelt. So over the years, Li Family Village has lived comfortably on their hunting, trading some of the rarer game at the State Mansion, exchanging them for essential goods like grain, salt, and cloth."

"What about the people of Li Family Village? Especially the village chief who was accused of sacrificing to demons?"

Feng hesitated before Han Zheng said, "Don't worry, just speak your mind."

Scratching his head, Feng replied, "The village chief of Li Family Village is called Li Youde, and to be honest, he seems like a decent person to me. You're from the State Mansion; you might not know what it's like in the lower villages. Most village chiefs come from the larger, influential families—if your family has many sons and strong fists, you become the village chief. It's common for them to oppress the villagers and act tyrannically, and it's not rare for this to result in fatalities. But Li Youde was elected by the people of Li Family Village. He only has a son and a daughter, and the daughter passed away in recent years; he doesn't have much power himself. Whenever Li Family Village comes to the county town to sell game pelts, Li Youde personally leads the team. No matter how much he earns, he keeps none of it for himself and distributes all to the villagers. The mountain paths are dangerous. I heard that once he fell off a cliff and broke his leg, becoming crippled, but even then, he paid for his own medical expenses without taking a cent from the village."

With urgency, Feng continued, "These aren't just what Li Youde himself said; they are what the local villagers and hunters told me. Last time I came to buy the White Tiger pelt, I found it at a hunter's house. Li Youde wanted to please me and offered the pelt for free without asking for any money. But behind the scenes, he gave the hunter fifty Silver taels, saying that while he needed to give face to the Shangguan, he could not let the man suffer a loss. The hunter was a simple man and actually came to find me at night, asking me to return the Silver to Li Youde. He said that the village chief had done so much for everyone, and it would be inhuman to still take his money. I heard all this from the hunter himself."

Ye Liuyun and Han Zheng exchanged glances, revealing a hint of oddness in their eyes.

Not to mention whether the village leader had actually made sacrifices to demons, there was something about his actions that just felt off.

Li Youde was just too nice, even excessively so.

In these times, such a person was either a truly selfless saint or a cunning, wicked villain with an impeccable disguise.

In any case, they would have to ascertain whether or not the other party had engaged in sacrificing to demons.

To the Demon Cleansing Bureau, even if you were a saint, if you sacrificed to demons, you had to be executed.

The journey to Li Family Village was indeed difficult. After trekking through mountainous paths for most of the day, they finally saw a rather large village at the foot of the mountain.

The Southern Mountain had many hills and mountains, and Liyun Mountain was one of the branches of the largest mountain range in the area, the Tiancang Mountain Range.

Although the terrain of Liyun Mountain wasn't particularly imposing or treacherous, its dense and deep forests ensured that few besides the hunters in Li Family Village ever ventured into the mountains.

R𝑒ad latest chapt𝒆rs at freewebnovёl.ƈom Only.

Ye Liuyun spoke solemnly, "Although I have not heard of any reports of demons appearing in Liyun Mountain, looking at it, it certainly seems like a place where demons could easily breed."

Han Zheng's attention, though, was focused on Li Family Village.

"This village is actually quite large."

Previously, when Han Zheng accompanied Shenghe Hall's trade convoys, he had seen many villages in Jingzhou Prefecture.

But those villages were extremely miserable, basically stacking up straw and clay to make a house.

Some of the local villagers didn't even have a full set of clothes, and their faces bore a pallid look.

Moreover, most villages had small populations, with the larger ones housing a hundred families, and smaller ones just a few dozen.

The Li Family Village before them was different; from the size of the houses, there must be at least a thousand households, with the buildings all properly constructed of bricks and stones.

Many households even had dried meat and pelts hanging in their courtyards, and all the villagers had ruddy complexions, seemingly even better off than the people in Ning'an County.

However, Li Family Village rarely saw outsiders; upon seeing Han Zheng and the group, the villagers immediately showed wary expressions.

Some villagers even directly took up knives, spears, and bows.

Agricultural land was scarce in Li Family Village, and nearly all the men were hunters, which spoke to the fierce nature of the people.

"What's going on? Put away your swords! Do you want a revolt? This is arrest officer Feng from the county town; he even visited our village three years ago. Have you all forgotten?"

A somewhat portly, limping old man in his sixties scolded the villagers as he approached Han Zheng and the group.

"This old man is Li Youde."

Arrest officer Feng explained to Han Zheng in a low voice.

Han Zheng carefully examined Li Youde and found no demonic aura about him; the man wasn't even a martial artist.

Ye Liuyun also shook his head slightly, indicating that he had not detected anything unusual.

"Arrest officer Feng, please forgive us, the mountain folk don't get out much. Our little village rarely has visitors, so they're a little sensitive."

Li Youde said as he apologetically smiled, "Arrest officer Feng, what brings you here this time? Are you looking for some good merchandise?

I've got some stock right here, caught a white deer a few months back, and the hide is top quality.

And there are three jars of Tiger Bone Wine—one for you, and I'll send one to the magistrate."

Arrest officer Feng coughed, "Enough with the nonsense! Today we come to Li Family Village because these officials from the Demon Cleansing Bureau have some questions for you."

Arrest officer Feng didn't dare to mention the matter of the demons directly, since he was just there to guide the way.

Ye Liuyun stared intently at Li Youde and asked gravely, "A woman from your village went to Kai Ping Prefecture claiming she was wronged, accusing you, the village leader, of sacrificing to demons. Is there any truth to that?"

Li Youde's face showed neither shock nor surprise.

He simply sighed upon hearing this, "Ah, I didn't expect this matter to trouble the esteemed officials of the Demon Cleansing Bureau to make a trip in person, truly a sin.

Sacrificing to demons, all that is madness. If the officials would follow me, you'll see for yourselves."