Water Ink Panel: Starting with Bow Technique to Hunt the Sun and Patrol the Skies
Chapter 82 - 6 Tax Officials Enter the Village, Harsh Governance as Ferocious as a Tiger

Shen Qing walked out of the house and took a look at the book Zhang Shuyuan had given him.

The yellow cover had been worn out, and on it were four large characters, "Mountain and River Chronicles."

Shen Qing flipped through it and roughly understood that it was a geographic chronicle with numerous introductions to cultural and historical stories.

Some records could be traced back five thousand years.

Although a bit vague and exaggerated, for someone like Shen Qing, it was perfect for broadening one's horizons.

It was a good book.

Besides this book, Zhang Shuyuan had also given him a novel storybook.

Inside were chapters involving many supernatural stories about martial masters fighting evil.

It had a bit of the feel of Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio.

There were also many small illustrations.

For this type of storybook, Shen Qing inexplicably developed a great interest.

Just as he was about to read, a clang interrupted his thoughts.

Immediately followed by a shrill scream.

Shen Qing put away the two books and rushed in the direction of the sound without thinking.

Silhouettes flashed in the village, and by the time he reached the source of the sound, many villagers had already arrived.

Shen Qing recognized this as the home of the village hunter, Chen Yixiang.

At this point, one wall of his clay house had collapsed, and the ground was covered with blood. Upon closer inspection, half a length of intestine was trailing on the ground.

"What happened?"

The hunter holding the gong said with a pale face, "I just saw six or seven wolves rush in together and took away Chen Yixiang's whole family. That wolf was as big as a calf... I've never seen such a wolf before, its expression was like a human's... I almost thought I was going to die..."

A strange wind appeared on the distant mountain, causing the trees to rustle.

The villagers instantly became as skittish as startled birds, each pulling out the bows and arrows they carried.

The atmosphere was solemn.

After waiting for a while, seeing no further signs, everyone slowly let out a sigh of relief.

An experienced elder, still apprehensive, said, "Dragon follows Cloud, Tiger follows Wind. The tiger is the king of beasts, it must be that demon tiger causing the trouble."

"The demon tiger is here!"

As soon as these words were spoken, they stirred waves of panic.

The ominous tidings loomed over Hongshan Village like a dark cloud.

The hunters still living in Hongshan Village were even more terrified.

Zhang Baqing saw Shen Qing was present, hurried over, and asked, "Qingzi, what do you think about this matter, what should we do?"

Shen Qing replied, "I'll go to the county town immediately and ask Hall Master Linfeng and the county government to decide. This matter is obviously beyond what we can handle."

Now he had already stepped into the Bone Refining Realm, his whole body's Qi-Blood surged like rivers.

Even if a dozen or twenty hunters in the village teamed up, they were no match for him.

Despite this, facing such a strange matter, he still felt uncertain and did not intend to take risks personally.

"Alright." Zhang Baqing sighed and said, "That's the only way."

At this moment, the sound of hooves suddenly came from the village entrance.

Shen Qing looked up to see two tax officials from the county town riding two large donkeys, barging into the village aggressively.

They wore official attire and headcloths, with an air of arrogance.

The villagers hurriedly stepped aside.

"Whoa..."

The two tax officials reined in their donkeys as they reached the villagers, looking down upon them.

One of the tax officials took a tiger head knife from the donkey's back, held it in his arms, and shouted, "Where's Leader Chen, come out and talk."

These two were tax officials.

Familiar faces, they came to collect taxes every year, to plunder.

Seeing the two of them made all the hunters in the village realize that the spring prohibition had started and it was time to pay the spring tax.

In the past, these matters were always handled by Chen Yuan's family.

The village information was closed, and the two tax officials were evidently unaware of the demise of Chen Yuan's family.

At Shen Qing's suggestion, Zhang Baqing braced himself and stepped forward, trying to be as courteous as possible, and said, "Leader Chen's family met with an accident in the mountains."

"All dead?" The two tax officials exchanged glances, each seeing disbelief in the other's eyes, "Who is in charge of Hongshan Village now?"

Zhang Baqing instinctively glanced at Shen Qing, who timely averted his gaze.

He understood and said, "I am a humble man, entrusted by the people in the village to take up some responsibility."

"Good, then by the old rules, lead the way."

The two tax officials dismounted, leading their donkeys as they walked forward.

Passing by the gathered villagers, one of them curiously asked, "What are you all looking at?"

A hunter saw it as a good opportunity and quickly stepped forward, saying, "There's a demon tiger in the mountain, it took away Chen Yixiang's whole family. Honored officials, please think of some solutions, or else everyone in our village won't be able to live peacefully."

"Hahaha..." The two tax officials laughed heartily, "You call yourselves hunters, if there's a tiger on the mountain, shouldn't you be happy? A tiger is full of treasures, enough for you all to live well."

"But... that's a demon tiger, sirs!"

"Enough, stop this nonsense. Do you think with this trick you won't have to pay taxes? A tiger is just a tiger, not a demon tiger..."

The two tax officials evidently did not believe the villagers' words.

Traveling on tax collection duties, they had encountered all sorts of tactics.

Some jumped into cesspits, played crazy, or acted foolish.

Some claimed to have plagues.

Some said their village was haunted, and a sow climbed trees.

Some even castrated themselves, selling their wives.

The list was endless.

They had long since grown used to such antics.

They had come out with great difficulty, relying on this moment to make their earnings. How could they believe these ghost stories?

Zhang Baqing dared not say more and hurried to invite the two tax officials into his wooden house, where he lit a fire and boiled water.

Then he instructed the village to prepare good food and wine to entertain them.

However, the two tax officials showed no gratitude. They looked around with dissatisfaction.

"Is this your home?" one tax official pointed at the shabby wooden house and sneered, "What a shabby place! Looks like you folks in Hongshan Village will need to pay more taxes this year."

Zhang Baqing felt a sudden tightness in his heart, knowing these two tax officials were starting to make things difficult.

He suppressed his anger, forced a smile, and said, "Honored officials, my house can't compare to the connections of the Chen Yuan family, please forgive us."

The two tax officials ignored him, chatting amongst themselves.

Zhang Baqing did not dare to interrupt.

Anyone from the official court had nourishment from the Martial Mechanism, making them martial masters with generally high realms.

They were not people small households like them could provoke.

After a while, each household contributed, and a decent spread of food and drink was arranged.

Shen Qing was not stingy either, providing some of his own for them.

The two tax officials saw the food and beverages on the table, but their brows furrowed.

Zhang Baqing watched their expressions and explained, "This year's harvest wasn't good, we've done our best."

The tax officials remained unmoved.

They snorted coldly and began eating.

Zhang Baqing stood by, smiling apologetically, probing, "Sirs, there really is a demon tiger in our village, everyone is in a panic. Does the government office have any way to manage it? If not, the little hunting we do won't make much, soon there's the spring prohibition, and we still have to pay taxes. This can't keep on, we have no way to live."

"This matter is simple. Besides the forest tax, household tax, leftover woman tax... you just need to pay a tiger tax."

"The tiger tax doesn't need to be much, one tael silver will do."

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