Killing Dao Fruit
Chapter 645 - 565: The Cunning Immortal’s Plot, Slaying the Saint!

Chapter 645: Chapter 565: The Cunning Immortal’s Plot, Slaying the Saint!

At the border of Jiangzhou and Daizhou, the Nanxiang County Government.

In the ceaseless drizzle, the short and fat County Magistrate Bai Jia, who had ascended to his position through nepotism with the local vassals, was presiding over a court session.

However, while most county governments display the placard "Justice Is Clear," what hung in his office was the seemingly unrelated "No Deceiving, Divine in Judgment."

The officials, clerks, and common folk here seemed to have grown accustomed to it.

"Liu Ada, you claim that Lord Song, a fellow villager, has unjustly seized ten acres of your family’s good farmland, do you have a written complaint?"

County Magistrate Bai, cradling a fine blue and white porcelain tea bowl, sipped leisurely from his expensive Yangxian Tea,

before carelessly lifting his eyelids to glance at the several people kneeling before the court.

An old peasant, whose honest face was weathered by the elements, quickly presented a folded complaint and earnestly begged with repeated kowtows:

"Yes, yes, yes, Your Honor, take a look!

My entire family depends on these few meager acres for survival. That Lord Song, taking advantage of his position, has seized our land simply because the water from his channel flowed into our field.

Not only did he take our land, but he also sent his house servants to hurt my two sons.

I beg the County Magistrate to seek justice for my family!"

County Magistrate Bai could not have cared less about his pitiable plea.

It was only after he unfolded the complaint, smeared with ink, and spotted a banknote with a value of ten silver coins tucked inside, that his expression softened slightly, and he looked somewhat amiable.

This banknote was not an obsolete Great Yan Treasure Note, but a draft issued by the "All Rivers Ticket," a business owned by his vassal.

Only by depositing the corresponding sum of silver into the ticket office could one issue such a note.

The plaintiff clearly had been advised by someone knowledgeable, who understood the rules of the government office.

However, before he could speak again,

the oily, well-fed Lord Song below also respectfully submitted his own complaint.

Upon unrolling it, it was found to be just a blank piece of paper, utterly empty without a single character, yet it too had a banknote enclosed within.

County Magistrate Bai nodded in satisfaction and compared the amounts written on both banknotes, then tucked them both up his sleeve.

He casually threw the two contrasting complaints—one black with writing, one white and blank—onto his desk.

Without so much as a glance at the content of the complaints, he seemingly reached a verdict about this "case of a Great Lord seizing a peasant’s land" in the blink of an eye.

Slap!

With a strike of the gavel, under the hopeful yet fearful gaze of the old peasant, he announced:

"Since taking office, I have been fair and impartial to all residents, divine in judgment without inquiry, convincing everyone without fail.

For this case... Liu Ada falsely accuses Lord Song. The allegation of land seizure is entirely fictitious, court dismissed!"

Hearing the verdict which differed so greatly from his expectations, the old peasant’s face turned pale as he hurriedly protested:

"Your Honor, didn’t you say that there would be no deceiving?

I scraped together so much with difficulty for this... ’fully justified’ cause!"

Although desperate, he did not speak rashly in such a crowded and public court, emphasizing the "fully" in his plea.

The previously content County Magistrate immediately dropped his pleasant facade upon hearing this,

and coldly said to the old peasant with a forced smile:

"Hmph, Liu Ada, you only have ’fully justified,’ but the Lord Song you accuse happens to have... ’even more justified.’

If it weren’t in consideration that you have some merit, I would certainly charge you with the crime of false accusation.

Come, guards, take him away!"

Clearly, this was the true meaning of the signboard: how much money you offered the County Magistrate determined how much "reason" you had in this courthouse, with actual right or wrong being utterly irrelevant.

Ten silver coins equated to "fully justified," and "even more justified" naturally meant twelve silver coins.

The old peasant trembled with rage, knowing before making his complaint that the official was exceedingly greedy and the courthouse doors faced south, implying that without money, one had no standing here.

Could it be that not only would he lose his land, but that he would also have to forfeit the ten silver coins he had scraped together?

Liu Ada lived long enough to have seen and endured many hardships, and still possessed some sense, restraining himself from cursing aloud.

Instead, he offered a smile and a bow, trying to salvage his loss:

"Your Honor, since there is no deception, about the silver that I presented earlier...?"

Not succeeding with his complaint, he naturally expected his money back, a simple notion in his view.

But the word "money" appeared to be a taboo for the County Magistrate, who became furious:

"How dare you bring up this vulgar matter in my dignified court!

You, a troublemaker falsely accusing others and creating a scene in court, are beyond the law’s forgiveness.

Guards, take this old fool to jail and let his family come and... discuss this matter further with me!"

If a Magician were present with their Dharma Eye opened,

they would see County Magistrate Bai’s eyes had begun to grow darker in the whites and the dark pupils turned lighter, revealing the "upside-down" manifestation of the person afflicted with the ’point-deer-make-horse’ plague.

"Please, I beg for mercy, Your Honor! I don’t want it, I don’t!" cried the old peasant desperately,

as his screams gradually faded into the distance.

Clap, clap, clap...

Above the rainy clouds outside the county government, that half-man, half-deer entity, invisible to the eye, applauded lightly as it looked down on the farce unfolding below,

"Excellent, most excellent, that’s how it should be!

In accordance with Old Buddha’s will, it took me a full month to traverse Qiongzhou, Huaizhou, and Jiangzhou, areas soon to be heavily targeted by the Ming King Army.

I spread the plague of cognitive infection at the spiritual level.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.