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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 47 Samoyan
The village chief recalled the night when Tang Dagang brought back Tang Congxue. It was a stormy night, dark and dreary, and Tang Congxue was found in swaddling clothes, covered in blood. The blood, of course, did not belong to her; it was the filthy remnants left by Tang Dagang and a group of bandits.
The village chief, along with a few villagers wearing straw hats and raincoats, encountered Tang Dagang near the village entrance. The rain poured heavily, turning the ground into a muddy mess. As the village chief raised his lantern to illuminate the scene, he saw Tang Dagang covered in blood. At first glance, it looked as if he had crawled out of a pool of blood, and the torrential rain had failed to wash away the grime completely.
Seeing such a bloodied figure shocked the village chief immensely. However, after a moment, he recognized Tang Dagang. He had left the village years ago to seek his fortune, and now he returned in such a state; how could the village chief not be both astonished and bewildered?
“Tang... is that you?” the village chief stammered.
The nearby villagers also recognized him. Their feelings mirrored those of the village chief. One villager exclaimed, “It’s Dagang!” His gaze fell upon the baby tightly held in Tang Dagang's arms. “Is this your child?”
Tang Dagang suddenly shouted, “Chief! Quickly call for the doctor! This girl has been soaked in rain and has a high fever!”
Upon hearing this response from Tang Dagang, the village chief understood that the child was not his own flesh and blood. He quickly removed his raincoat and draped it over Tang Dagang to shield the child from the downpour. “Come with me to my house,” he urged.
Turning to another villager, he said, “Mad Bull, hurry to the neighboring village and fetch the doctor!”
The simple-hearted villagers were immediately moved upon seeing such a young child suffer so much. One of them replied, “I’ll go right away!”
-
The village chief's thoughts drifted back as he sighed. “Dagang, I know you want to resist for her sake. I still remember that night when you brought her back.”
Tang Dagang reminisced about that night and sighed deeply. “I found her among a pile of corpses. It seemed her family had traveled from afar and were ambushed by bandits on their way. Those bandits were truly vicious; they not only robbed but also killed. Some of them were quite skilled; I had to exert great effort to slay them one by one.”
“At that time, Xue was crying loudly among the dead bodies. Seeing her so pitifully crying made me...”
The village chief sighed, "We should be grateful for the snow; it’s fortunate that you took her in."
Just as Tang Dagang was about to speak, a villager shouted from outside, "Chief, it's bad! The people from Purgatory Palace are back!"
The village chief suddenly stood up, his teacup shattering on the ground. He exclaimed angrily, "Why are they here again?"
Tang Dagang was equally furious. "These pests are insatiable! We just submitted our tribute; do they want our lives now?"
At this moment, Shangyu Village had not yet completely fallen into ruin. The people from Purgatory Palace surged into Shangyu Village like a red tide. There were fifteen of them this time, and it was neither Black Eyes nor Old Eight who had come, but Samoyan from Purgatory Palace. Samoyan was a black moth, but fortunately, he wore a mask and did not reveal his true form.
The drying yard remained unchanged despite the passage of time. Samoyan led his subordinates to the drying yard where the village chief Tang Dagang and many villagers had gathered.
Samoyan frequently visited Shangyu Village to collect goods, so everyone in the village knew his identity. Although the village chief felt anger rising within him, he dared not show it in front of Samoyan. He respectfully said, "Samoyan, we submitted our goods this season; why are you..."
Samoyan interrupted with a smile, "Don't be anxious, Chief. I'm not here for your melons this time. Tide Mountain is the poorest among you Shangyu Village. Look at the other villages; they either have mines or copper nearby. All you have here are melons."
The village chief replied, "Samoyan, you know that Tide Mountain is a peculiar place. Where crops can grow, there are no copper mines, and where there are copper mines, crops cannot thrive. This... is beyond my control."
Samoyan said, "Enough. I know what Tide Mountain is better than you do. I'm here to discuss our new terms."
The village chief was taken aback. "New terms?"
Samoyan continued, "We at Purgatory Palace have decided not to accept your crops anymore."
The village chief felt a flicker of hope. "Is that true?"
Samoyan coldly replied, "What do you mean by true or false? Do you think I would come all this way just to play games with you?"
The village chief sincerely thanked, "Then on behalf of everyone in the village, thank you, Samoyan."
Tang Dagang, with a serious expression, said, "Chief, don't be too quick to thank them. They don't want vegetables; they must be after something else."
Samoyan smiled and looked at Tang Dagang, saying, "Your mind is still working pretty quickly."
The chief, feeling anxious, asked, "Samoyan, what are your new conditions...?"
Samoyan replied nonchalantly, "Silver!"
The chief was taken aback. "Silver?"
"Yes," Samoyan continued. "We don't want any of the vegetables or grains you grow here; we only require you to pay us seven hundred taels each season."
Upon hearing this, the chief felt dizzy. "What! Seven hundred taels!"
Tang Dagang couldn't help but exclaim, "Seven hundred taels! You might as well just collect the vegetables! If we could have seven hundred taels each season, how could we still be this poor?"
Samoyan frowned and said, "I'm not here to negotiate with you. You need to understand this: you can't intimidate us. This year is a good year for Pickled Pepper; an acre yields several thousand pounds. If we ask for seven hundred taels from you, you're not losing out. Of course, we're not unreasonable; vegetable prices will fluctuate periodically. We'll determine how much you should pay based on market changes."
"What should we do?" The villagers were already in a state of panic discussing among themselves.
"That's seven hundred taels!"
"The merchants always haggle over prices; after all the deductions, most of the money will be gone."
"Exactly! We can't just set a fixed amount and expect them to pay that."
The village chief then said, "Enough! Stop it. At least we have food now. As long as we don't go hungry, we can figure out a way to solve any problem."
Samoyan chuckled and replied, "That's right! Village chief, this attitude of yours is just what you need. Well then, I still have to go to other villages, so don’t bother inviting me for a meal."
With a wave of his hand, he declared, "Let's go!"
"Wait!" Tang Dagang suddenly shouted.
The village chief's expression tightened as he hurriedly asked, "Dagang! What are you doing?"
Samoyan looked at Tang Dagang with interest and asked, "What’s on your mind?"
Tang Dagang gritted his teeth and said, "Seven hundred taels for a season? You’re making it difficult for us. Why not just sell the vegetables yourself? Wouldn’t that be better?"
One of the Purgatory Palace subordinates angrily retorted, "Sell them ourselves? Do you think we’re vegetable vendors?"
This subordinate raised his knife and swung it directly at Tang Dagang. The villagers were frozen in shock at the sight of the Purgatory Palace member ready to kill.
Samoyan did not intervene; he coldly watched as Tang Dagang faced death.
Having followed the escort team and learned martial arts, Tang Dagang was already prepared to resist. As the knife came down towards him, he swiftly dodged to the side in anger and grabbed the weapon back in one motion. With a fierce swing of the knife, he severed the head of the Purgatory Palace subordinate.
The head rolled on the ground with a loud thud, creating an exceptionally jarring sound. In that moment, everyone was stunned; the Purgatory Palace members did not expect Tang Dagang to dare kill someone, while the villagers were equally astonished by his unexpected skill.
The entire scene fell into silence.
Tang Dagang was also shocked after killing a member of Purgatory Palace. He hadn’t anticipated that in a fit of rage he would commit such a grave act.
But the head could not be reattached to the neck, and at this moment, what was the use of regret? Tang Dagang knew he could not escape death today. He raised his knife and pointed it at Samoyan, shouting, "Did you see that? Without any magical artifacts, we can still take them down!"
The village chief was both shocked and angry upon seeing this. He exclaimed, "Dagang! Put down the knife!"
How could Tang Dagang yield at such a moment? He declared sternly, "Samoyan! Come out! Let’s settle this once and for all!"
Samoyan was momentarily stunned, but then he began to laugh. "Interesting, interesting! I didn't expect there to be such an amusing person in Shangyu Village."
Samoyan laughed heartily.
Tang Dagang furiously retorted, "What are you laughing at?"
Samoyan sneered, "You think you can challenge me? Do you really believe you’re worthy?"
Tang Congxue heard her father's cries from inside the house and rushed out to the courtyard. When she arrived on the scene, she saw Tang Dagang had been kicked several yards away by Samoyan, crashing into the earthen wall. Tang Dagang's internal energy surged violently as he let out a loud gasp and spat out a mouthful of blood.
Tang Congxue cried out in alarm, "Father!"
Hearing Tang Congxue's voice, Samoyan glanced at her and smiled leisurely. "Ah, so you are her daughter?"
Tang Congxue's tears flowed like rain as she tried to run towards Tang Dagang. At that moment, Big Qi was by her side and suddenly grabbed her tightly. His face turned pale as he said, "Don't go! He will kill you!"
Seeing Tang Congxue, tears welled up in Tang Dagang's eyes. At that moment, he began to blame himself. He recalled the village chief's words: "For Xue's sake, you must live well."
Tang Dagang started to regret his reckless actions. If he died here, what would happen to Tang Congxue in the future?
Tang Congxue struggled in Big Qi's embrace, crying out in despair. "Let me go! I want to go to my father! Please let me go!"
Big Qi glanced at the village chief, who shook his head at him, signaling him to keep a close watch on Tang Congxue and not let her go.
Big Qi's arms were like sturdy iron chains, holding her tightly. Tang Congxue struggled, her voice filled with desperation as she screamed, "Let me go! Let me go! Otherwise, one day I will chop off your arm!"
"Congxue!" the village chief shouted sternly, and Tang Congxue was silenced by his commanding voice.
The village chief took slow, painful steps toward Tang Dagang, his heart aching as he said, "Dagang! Why must you do this? Why throw away your life for some pointless sense of justice? They want money; we can find a way to give it to them!"
As the village chief reached him, Tang Dagang shakily propped himself up against the wall. With a serious expression, he said, "Chief, remember this: if we don’t resist, we won’t have a way to survive."
Tang Dagang's gentle gaze fell upon Tang Congxue. He smiled faintly at her, a smile that seemed to carry a message. "Congxue, my dear daughter, you must live well. I'm sorry that I won't see you make your fortune."
With determination in his eyes, Tang Dagang gathered all his strength into his palm and leaped forward, aiming a powerful strike at Samoyan.
Samoyan coldly laughed. "You're seeking death!"
As Samoyan removed his mask, a pair of moth-like wings unfurled behind him with a rustling sound. With a flap of his wings, a cloud of moth powder burst forth.
The eerie green powder swirled like smoke toward Tang Dagang.
Having already unleashed his attack, there was no way for Tang Dagang to retract it. He suddenly inhaled a foul stench and felt his face turn pale before quickly darkening. With a thud, he collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
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