Chapter 198 - 194: The Ruthless Person Extorting with the Earth God

Chapter 198: Chapter 194: The Ruthless Person Extorting with the Earth God

At the main entrance of Lin Xian Village, Xu Song, who had been selected for treatment, submitted his documents, accompanied by his mother, and entered the village.

Guo Fengxia asked softly, "Xu Song, can this place really cure your illness?"

When her son first developed depression, she and her husband thought he was just being dramatic, making a fuss over nothing because he had it too easy.

It was only after their son started self-harming that the couple finally understood the severity of the problem. Unfortunately, they had delayed treatment for too long.

This type of mental illness is unique. It typically affects those with perfectionist, competitive, and overly sensitive personalities who are prone to anxiety and self-doubt. After experiencing setbacks and pressure, they wear themselves down internally, leading to psychological trauma and physical ailments.

Xu Song had developed depression because he was under immense pressure at work and weighed down by his mortgage, with no outlet for his emotions.

That’s why it’s best to vent negative emotions instead of keeping them bottled up inside.

If you don’t dare to do it in real life, find a stranger online and get into a big argument to let it all out.

Bottling things up can make you sick. If you’re too embarrassed for that, even finding a deserted place to scream a few times can help.

"I’m sure it will, Mom."

Although Xu Song had mentally wanted to change ever since he realized he had a problem, the hormonal imbalances in his body were no longer under his control.

"That’s good, that’s good."

Guo Fengxia had clearly done some research on Lin Xian Village before their arrival.

"Xu Song, let’s go pay our respects to the Earth God first, and then we’ll go for your treatment."

"Okay, Mom."

After they paid their respects to the Earth God, the two went straight to the Mental Research and Treatment Institute next door.

Professor Quan held Xu Song’s report. "You’re Xu Song, correct? Take a look at this contract first. If there are no issues, go ahead and sign it."

’I’ve treated cases of depression before,’ he thought. ’They’re a bit easier to handle than other mental illnesses.’

Xu Song only gave it a quick glance before having his mother sign.

"According to the contract, you must first pay your respects to the Earth God. You can only begin treatment after that is done."

Guo Fengxia said, "Yes, we already paid our respects right after we arrived. Do we need to do it again?"

"Yes. You must be accompanied by one of our staff members."

Xu Song had no objection and followed the staff member to pay his respects once more.

He found himself in the Land God Temple, and as he smelled the fragrant incense, his mind felt considerably more at ease.

Many people online were following Xu Song’s treatment, eager to find out if Lin Xian Village could truly cure mental illness.

...

Hu Xia, phone in hand, found Lin Feng. Seeing how relaxed he looked, she was instantly furious.

"Boss, you really know how to enjoy yourself. Sipping tea, eating fruit... should I go get a couple of the girls from the dance team to give you a massage?"

Lin Feng quickly sat up. "What’s with all the hostility? Who pissed you off now?"

"Who do you think?"

"I only saw you once this morning. How could I have pissed you off?"

"Yesterday, you had Zhiming tell me about the hiring. I’d like to ask, where’s your proposal?"

"Huh? We need a proposal for that?" Lin Feng was dumbfounded.

Hu Xia glared at him. "You think this is like before? We’re hiring people, they need to know what they’re supposed to do.

And what about these three new buildings? What are they for?

If you don’t plan all this out, are we just supposed to hire people to sit inside and collect a paycheck?"

Lin Feng realized she was right; he hadn’t fully thought it through. These three buildings were different from the previous ones.

The older buildings all had clear, unambiguous functions.

Besides, they weren’t even finished yet, so the specifics were still unknown. ’Still, I have a few ideas,’ he thought.

"These three buildings will definitely involve interacting with tourists. For example, making small items or letting visitors participate directly, like a hands-on workshop.

We can also use them to craft things for the village itself. They definitely won’t go to waste."

"That needs to be in a written proposal. It would be best to plan out in advance what each building will be used to produce.

No, we have to hire people for this, and I don’t know anything about this stuff, either." Hu Xia was getting frustrated.

Lately, with Lin Xian Village’s rapid development, her workload had increased significantly.

People didn’t dare to bother Lin Feng, so they came to her with their problems. She was now effectively the general manager and part-time secretary of Lin Xian Village.

"Didn’t you hire Sun Lili?"

"I’m planning to have her handle staff recruitment, but she doesn’t know anything about these specialized fields."

’Thank goodness Zhao Shiyun is helping out from the Medicine House,’ Hu Xia thought, ’She’s taken a lot of work off my plate.’

After all, the performance troupe had the most problems since they interacted directly with tourists.

Wan Qianqian was handling the Restaurant, so Hu Xia didn’t need to worry about that. Right now, the most troublesome areas were the security and janitorial departments.

She had a plan for the janitorial department: once Lin Feng’s mother arrived in Lin Xian Village, she’d let her manage it.

"Didn’t you say you were going to hire some veterans? What happened with that? I haven’t heard anything."

Lin Xian Village is short on security staff right now, and the current guards aren’t very capable. We need to hire some professionals.

"Hold on, I’ll call Zhou Jun. He was the one who mentioned it last time, but then I never heard anything more."

"Hey, Zhou Jun, where are you? Can you come to the lounge for a minute?"

"I’m in the village watching a performance. I’ll be right over."

Zhou Jun had been watching a few internet celebrities perform, lamenting that you really couldn’t trust the beautiful women you see online.

With a few filters turned on, a 165-pound girl could appear on a livestream as a stunning beauty with a perfect pear-shaped figure and an air of innocent sexiness.

If one of her wealthy fans ever managed to meet her in person, he’d probably want to slap himself for being so foolish.

’Technology really has changed the world,’ he thought. ’The internet is full of handsome guys and gorgeous women. It’s great eye candy, as long as you never meet them in real life.’

When he arrived at the lounge and saw Hu Xia was also there, he was a little confused.

"What’s up?"

"What’s the status on hiring those veterans you mentioned last time? I haven’t heard anything.

I need more security guards, and if you can’t make it happen, I’ll just handle the hiring myself."

Zhou Jun quickly replied, "No, no, I have an update! I just saw you hadn’t posted any job listings, so I assumed Lin Xian Village didn’t need them right now.

Hold on, I’ll make a call right now. How many people do you need to hire?"

Lin Feng looked at Hu Xia. He honestly had no idea how many security guards they needed.

"Let’s hire twenty for now."

"Hey, Brother Zhao, I need twenty people over here for security work in Lin Xian Village."

"Got it. I’ll thank you on behalf of those guys."

The pay and benefits at Lin Xian Village were better than any government-assigned post, provided you could get in.

Besides, many of them didn’t even meet the standards for a government placement, so getting a job in Lin Xian Village was a huge win.

Of course, some "special personnel" would certainly be placed among this group.

The investigation into Lin Xian Village was continuous.

Hanging up, Zhou Jun said, "Alright, it’s done. The men will be here either this evening or tomorrow morning."

After the other two left, Lin Feng got ready to go check on the three new buildings.

However, when he got to the Land God Temple, he found someone making a scene—a man was sitting on the ground, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Compensate me! You have to compensate me! I broke my leg right here in your village!"

"What’s going on?"

"Boss Lin, you’re here. This man paid his respects to the Earth God, and as soon as he came out, he fell and broke his leg. Now he’s trying to pin it on us."

’I can’t believe someone is actually trying to exploit this loophole,’ Lin Feng thought.

He looked at the old man on the ground, who was in his sixties. You could tell just from his face that he was not a good person.

"Officer, what’s the story with this guy?"

"Petty theft, larceny... he’s been arrested multiple times. Just got out, in fact."

"Boss, he’s just a scoundrel."

Lin Feng opened the Land God Temple’s panel and quickly found the man’s name: He Daying.

His score wasn’t terribly low, only -51, but a score like that meant the guy definitely had some unpunished deeds under his belt.

Lin Feng applied a "Punishment" to him. ’Hopefully, he’ll use the time to properly reform himself.’

"This guy’s got some serious nerve, using the Land God Temple’s system to try and extort Lin Xian Village."

"You know, it’s a scary thought, but if a bad person wasn’t afraid of getting caught, this could actually work."

"That’s a criminally brilliant idea. The only question is whether the actual criminals are brilliant enough to pull it off."

Lin Feng said to the security guards, "Take him to the hospital first. As for compensation, let the lawyers handle it."

"Yes, Boss Lin."

"No! I’m not going! You have to pay me first!"

’This guy is something else,’ Lin Feng thought. His leg was genuinely broken, yet he could still endure the pain.

Thankfully, the police officers stepped in, forcibly placing him on a stretcher and carrying him out of the plaza.

"Brother Lin, Brother Lin! I heard someone was trying to run an extortion scam on us!" Hu Zhiming came running over in a flurry.

"That’s him over there. Guy’s got a screw loose. Refused to leave even with a broken leg."

Hu Zhiming ran over, and when he saw the man’s twisted leg on the stretcher, he sucked in a sharp breath.

’If that were me, I’d forget all about extortion. I wouldn’t be able to stand the pain.’

He suddenly had a thought and said to the police, "Officers, I suspect there’s something else going on with this guy. You should probably run a blood test on him when you get him back."

The two officers paused. They looked at He Daying on the stretcher. ’He might have a point.’

With an injury that severe, very few people could withstand the pain without some kind of painkiller.

Their eyes lit up as they stared at He Daying. Last time, with that Fengshui Master, they couldn’t do anything because the victim didn’t press charges.

"What blood test? I’m clean! Don’t talk nonsense! Everyone, look! They’re trying to frame me!"

The man started shouting, which confirmed the officers’ suspicions. They couldn’t hide their grins.

This clue might just lead to a major bust.

They immediately called the station to report in. Then, without even waiting for the ambulance to arrive, they started carrying the stretcher down the mountain themselves.

The onlooking tourists also began to realize what was happening.

"Holy crap! Maybe he really is high. Who would’ve thought of a scheme like this to extort Lin Xian Village?"

"Yeah, it’s like he felt his karmic punishment wasn’t severe enough and wanted to up the ante."

"Honestly, though, this loophole at Lin Xian Village is pretty easy to exploit."

After all, it’s a given that if a bad person pays respects to the Earth God, they’re bound to have an "accident" sooner or later.

So, as long as they stay in Lin Xian Village for a while after it happens, they can use this mechanism to extort the village.

The people who had gotten into trouble before simply never thought of doing this.

Hu Zhiming returned to Lin Feng’s side. "Brother Lin, do you think other people will try to exploit this system in the future?"

"It’s fine. Let them try. Lin Xian Village can afford the money. They can serve the prison time."

’If they take the money,’ Lin Feng thought, ’it’s not my fault if their bad luck continues.’

Seeing the expression on Lin Feng’s face, Hu Zhiming knew there was more to the situation than he was aware of.

Still, if spending a little money could help catch a criminal, it was a price Lin Xian Village didn’t need to worry about.

"So, how are those three buildings coming along?"

"Let’s go take a look. They should be just about finished."

The two of them followed the concrete path to the area behind the Barracks, where three sizable buildings stood.

Having learned his lesson from the cramped Land God Temple and Restaurant, Lin Feng’s first requirement for any new construction was that it had to be big enough.

If it were possible, he would have loved to tear down the Land God Temple and rebuild it, but circumstances wouldn’t allow it.

"Manager Wu, are these three buildings finished yet?"

"Boss Lin, Manager Hu, there’s just a little finishing work left. Let me take you inside for a look."

"Then let’s have a tour."

The Blacksmith’s Shop was made of stone rather than wood, mainly for fire safety.

Inside, there were twenty workstations, meaning it could accommodate twenty blacksmiths forging at the same time.

"It’s all built to spec. We just need to bring in the equipment and it’ll be ready for use."

Hu Zhiming asked, "Brother Lin, what will be made here in the future?"

"Farm tools, weapons, kitchenware... all of it. Have someone install the equipment tomorrow."

"Alright. The equipment’s already been purchased anyway. It’s just been sitting outside for a while."

Lin Feng looked at the mechanical equipment in his inventory. He planned to get everything set up tomorrow and then upgrade the three buildings.