Chapter 62.3: Descent into the Ancestral Hall

Hearing the words "don't be polite," Runsheng's eyes widened instantly, and his breathing grew rapid.

Li Zhuiyuan added, "They are genuine murderers. You're going to arrest murderers. Citizens have a duty to assist the police in solving cases and maintaining social harmony and stability. This isn't illegal.

Besides, there’s even a slogan painted on the county wall that says, ‘Kill road bandits and highway thugs—no crime, and there's a reward.’"

Runsheng scratched his head, confused. “Uh, Xiaoyuan, why are you telling me all this?”

Li Zhuiyuan shrugged. “That wasn’t meant for you. Go on, Runsheng-ge.”

“Got it!”

Runsheng grabbed a steel pipe, opened the Ancestral Hall door, and dashed out.

Li Zhuiyuan leaned against the doorway, watching the scene unfold while toying with the red stone in his hand.

There was a smile at the corner of his mouth. He could feel it rising, even tried to suppress it with his hand—but couldn’t.

This smile wasn’t an act—he was truly happy.

The feeling was persistent, simmering steadily like a stew on low heat.

It was hard to imagine just how elated he’d be when it finally came to a boil.

Following rules, sticking to procedures—those held no challenge for him.

It was this dance along the edge of Heaven’s law, this back-and-forth on the brink, that truly thrilled him.

This was what he found fun—truly, genuinely fun.

“Bang!”

That was the sound of a door being kicked open.

Then came a woman’s scream.

Li Zhuiyuan saw it: under the moonlight, Runsheng was sprinting, carrying a woman over his shoulder.

Earlier, on the hill behind the village, he had only heard a woman’s voice but hadn’t seen her. Now that she was in front of him, Li Zhuiyuan—pleased—took a good look at her face:

She was in her thirties, freckled. Even though fear contorted her features, traces of flirtatious charm were still evident. It was a textbook Peach Blossom Fate—specifically, a rotten one.

People with such features, regardless of gender, would spend a lifetime suffering misfortune because of matters below the belt. If their overall physiognomy was one of wealth and stability, it might have counteracted it—but this woman clearly wasn’t that type. Beneath the rotten Peach Blossom Fate was an even more pronounced Legal Execution Fate.

This kind of face was common among serious criminals. The Comprehensive Treatise on Yin-Yang Physiognomy described such features as indicative of someone destined for official execution, the kind who’d be sentenced and executed post-trial.

In other words, even without their involvement, this woman was very likely to end up on the execution ground.

Or rather, most people in this village would.

As Liangliang-ge often said, the wheel of time would roll forward regardless. They were simply the ones doomed to be crushed.

But the question was, how many more people like Zhu Yang would fall victim to them before that happened? Zhu Yang’s wife was about to bring their daughter and money from Nantong to this very place.

“Xiaoyuan, I brought her.”

Runsheng tossed the woman to the ground.

“Help! Somebody help!!!”

“Smack!”

Runsheng slapped her hard.

His slaps were notoriously brutal—Liu Jinxia and Grandpa Shan could testify to that.

The woman’s teeth went flying, and one side of her face swelled grotesquely. She whimpered, too terrified to scream anymore.

Runsheng pointed at her, growling, “Shut up!”

She nodded frantically, clearly terrified.

Li Zhuiyuan turned to Runsheng. “Runsheng-ge, what are you doing?”

“Huh?”

“I wanted her to scream.”

“I…” Runsheng turned to the woman. “Start screaming again!”

The woman shook her head desperately.

“Smack!”

Another slap.

“When I tell you to scream, you scream!”

“Help… help… somebody… help!”

At first, her cries were subdued. But when she heard the distant stirrings from the village and barking dogs, her screams grew louder and louder.

In fact, the noise from Runsheng kicking open the door had already disturbed the village. But by the time villagers stepped out to investigate, he had already dragged her back into the Ancestral Hall.

It was pitch dark. It would take them a while to piece together what was going on.

“Was there anyone else in the house?”

“A man,” Runsheng replied. “But I glared at him, and he shrank back on the bed, didn’t dare stop me.”

Clearly, the woman’s husband was a coward. He wouldn’t even protect his wife—yet such people had no qualms being cruel to passing drivers.

Maybe it was from the husband’s account, or perhaps the woman’s screams, but finally the villagers realized what had happened—and where to go.

Soon, Li Zhuiyuan saw a group of people running over, flashlights in hand.

Runsheng lifted the woman again, pressing the steel pipe against her head and roaring, “Come any closer and I’ll kill her!”

It was a line straight out of a martial arts film, but with Runsheng’s booming voice and the presence of a hostage, it actually stopped the first wave of villagers in their tracks.

“Runsheng-ge…”

“Huh?” Runsheng blinked. “Xiaoyuan, did I mess up again?”

Li Zhuiyuan sighed. Whatever. Time to nudge the righteous path again.

The boy shouted toward the doorway, “What did you do to the truck driver Zhu Yang, who kindly gave us a lift? His license plate was Su-F, he was carrying steel cable, and there were letters in his cab that he wrote to his wife and daughter!”

Worried they wouldn’t remember, Li Zhuiyuan added plenty of details.

Someone in the crowd yelled back, “He’s dead! Didn’t he like reading? I stuffed all his books into his belly—now he can read to his heart’s content down below! Hahaha!”

The crowd burst into laughter.

Obviously, since the hostage wasn’t their own wife, they didn’t care much.

Of course, charging in now and letting the woman get hurt wouldn’t look good—it was still a small village, after all.

“So it’s you guys! The village chief told us to look for you. Didn’t expect you to be hiding right in the village!”

“Well, saves us the trouble. You came right to our doorstep.”

More and more villagers gathered—this village didn’t have many households, so nearly every able-bodied adult was now present.

And since they were confident the two outsiders couldn’t escape, they didn’t bother hiding their intentions. Their words were blatantly arrogant.

After all, who’s worried about the dead leaking secrets?

Then the crowd parted, and out walked the repair shop owner—the same one who’d warned them about the dangerous road ahead.

He pointed at Runsheng and said, “Let her go, and we’ll let you two leave unharmed. After that, we’ll have nothing more to do with each other.”

Clearly a lie meant for fools. No way would they let witnesses leave.

This village operated ruthlessly, always killing to keep their secret.

With drivers vanishing on rural routes—no cameras, no records—family members filing reports from other cities could barely even pinpoint the province, let alone the road.

Long-haul drivers didn’t call home often. Families wouldn’t even know what job they’d taken on.

Li Zhuiyuan shouted, “What you’re doing is illegal! The police uncles will come and arrest every last one of you!”

That line, coming from a child, made the crowd erupt with laughter again.

The village chief chimed in, “Be good. Let her go, and you can leave safely. We keep our word!”

“We don’t believe you. Not unless I see the police uncles arrive myself—until then, we’re not letting anyone go.”

Seeing their offer rejected again, the villagers began to press forward.

Li Zhuiyuan kept shouting, “Don’t come any closer! You’ve already committed so many crimes—don’t make it worse! Do you really want to add to your sins by hurting us too?”

This time, not just the villagers laughed—even Runsheng turned to look at the boy, puzzled. He didn’t think Xiaoyuan would say such naive nonsense.

“Agh, my throat hurts.” Li Zhuiyuan rubbed his throat but forced himself to keep yelling. “Don’t come closer! You’re making me feel endangered! If you try to hurt me, I’ll have to protect myself!”

He thought this line was a bit too contrived.

Still, Runsheng, not quite understanding, caught onto a certain pattern and bellowed:

“Do not advance further! Otherwise, it will constitute an illegal attack on civilians! Immediately come to your senses, cease your unlawful behavior, recognize reality, and turn back! Otherwise, bear the consequences yourself!”

Illegal attack on civilians...

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