Chapter 708
Driving Out of Kaoshan Village
Li Erdan and his gang ignored Li Kanshan's explanation and shouted at him unreasonably, "We can't care about all that. Since we're from the same village, we can't treat each other differently! That's fair."
The other troublemakers chimed in, "Yes, yes, yes! We only want our share, so hand it over quickly."
Li Kanshan said in a deep voice, "Those things were all bestowed upon us by the old mountain god. They've all been distributed. Where do you expect me to conjure them up for you?"
The group persisted, saying, "Heh, the Mountain God? We've been in Kaoshan Village for over ten days and haven't seen the Mountain God appear. I bet you're just using the Mountain God's name as a shield to embezzle a lot of things! Now that you're handing them over to us, we'll let bygones be bygones. Otherwise... hmph, we'll come to your house and take your stuff!"
Hearing these words, Li Kanshan trembled with anger and said, "If you enter my house, how are you any different from robbers?"
The group looked at Li Kanshan with disdain and said, "If you won't give us anything, we have no choice but to go into your room and take it?"
Li Kanshan had patiently explained the situation to them, but they not only refused to listen but also tarnished his reputation. Now, even worse, they wanted to enter his house to take something—to put it nicely, take it, but it was practically robbery.
Li Kanshan, having reached his limit, immediately adopted the authority of the old village chief. His expression shifted from amiable to stern, and he slammed his cane heavily on the ground, saying authoritatively, "Old man, I've already explained everything I needed to. Since you're being so unreasonable, then I won't be polite anymore. I'll speak frankly."
You've been in Kaoshan Village for over ten days now. Aside from wandering around the village, you haven't done any work or made any contribution to Kaoshan Village. Kaoshan Village only took you in because you are refugees. With your lazy and gluttonous ways, if you hadn't come to Kaoshan Village, I think you would have already become beggars or starved to death!
The fact that Kaoshan Village has taken you in and is even providing you with refined wheat flour and rice is already a blessing from heaven. Yet you remain so unreasonable. I've already said everything I could to you. If you continue to be so obstinate and try to take anything from my house, I will immediately have you thrown out of Kaoshan Village. Kaoshan Village will never tolerate lazy, gluttonous, and unreasonable people like you! If you leave now and promise not to cause trouble again, I will show leniency. The choice is yours!
After saying that, Li Kanshan snorted coldly at the troublemakers.
As Li Kanshan spoke, a group of local villagers gathered around him, creating a solemn atmosphere that brought a moment of silence to the scene.
Upon hearing the words of the old village chief, Li Kanshan, and seeing this large group of people, Li Erdan hesitated for a moment. To be honest, he was still afraid of being driven out of Kaoshan Village. After all, he wouldn't starve even if he didn't work in Kaoshan Village, and he could eat refined wheat flour and rice. But if he were really driven out, in this chaotic era of war, he would either be hacked to death or starve to death.
But then I thought, it's only right and proper to protect my rights. If this continues, won't I be cut off from all those tempting foods? No way. Since I'm here, I can't back down, even if I get a little less. Otherwise, how will I ever live in the village again?
Thinking of this, Li Erhu compromised and softened his attitude towards the old village chief, saying, "Old village chief, look, we've been here for so long and haven't tasted any of those delicious foods. How about this, you give us a smaller portion and we'll leave right away!"
Hearing Li Kanshan's words, the group of troublemakers were now quite guilty, and they lowered their voices considerably as they echoed, "Yes, old village chief, please have pity on us!"
Because of this disturbance caused by these few people, quite a few people have already gathered outside Li Kanshan's courtyard to watch.
These migrants, who had only been in Kaoshan Village for a little over ten days, did nothing but laze around and never went to work. Everyone had witnessed it. They were already incredibly lucky to have anything to eat, yet they continued to cause trouble like this. At this point, the villagers could no longer tolerate their behavior.
The villagers from Kaoshan Village who were watching in Li Kanshan's courtyard heard the shameless words spoken by those people. Before Li Kanshan could even speak, everyone started to criticize them.
One of them said, "You bunch of scoundrels, it's a blessing from heaven that you've come to our Kaoshan Village, yet you still dare to act like scoundrels. You have no shame!"
Another person said, "That's right, Kaoshan Village doesn't need ungrateful scoundrels like you. Get out of here right now!"
Other onlookers chimed in, shouting, "Get out! Get out!"
The group of troublemakers were frightened by the situation. After all, there were only seven or eight of them, while most of the other side was on Li Kanshan's side. They were no match for the other side, who had the advantage in numbers.
Among the troublemakers, Li Erdan, the most clever of them all, felt a little scared upon seeing this scene. He was genuinely afraid that he would be beaten up by the poor men, which would be a huge loss for him.
Just as he was trying to slip away from the crowd, Li Wufu, who was standing to the side, kicked him to the ground and said, "Do you think Kaoshan Village is deserted, or what? You dare to bully the old village chief? You're really turning the world upside down, you're tired of living!"
After Li Wufu finished speaking, he suggested to the old village chief, "Old village chief, this is the first time such a thing has happened in our village. I think we should report this to the Mountain God and see how he handles it. This way, we'll know how to deal with similar situations in the future to please the Mountain God!"
Li Kanshan said, "You're right. At first, I was thinking of trying not to disturb the Mountain God's peaceful cultivation, but now it seems that we still have to ask the Mountain God to step forward and uphold justice!"
Xu Bo'an was having breakfast when he saw the lively scene in Kaoshan Village. He became even more interested and stopped eating, focusing intently on everything happening in the bonsai world.
So he clearly knew what was happening here, but he had just kept quiet. Now, when he heard that Li Kanshan and the others wanted to resolve this matter with him, before Li Kanshan could even speak, Xu Bo'an said, "What's going on so early in the morning? What kind of behavior is this, making such a racket!"
Upon hearing that it was the Mountain God Grandfather who had arrived, the children quickly knelt down, kowtowed, and said in unison, "Welcome to the Mountain God Grandfather's divine manifestation!"
After everyone finished their kneeling obeisance to the Mountain God, Li Kanshan addressed him, saying, "Reporting to the Mountain God, some refugees who recently sought refuge in our village accused me, the village chief, of unfair distribution. They even slandered me, saying I was hoarding food and demanded that I give them some beef, fragrant meat, and other delicacies. When I refused, they said they would come into my house to take them. Heaven and earth bear witness, I am an upright man and have never done anything so despicable as hoarding. I hope the Mountain God will investigate!" Xu Bo'an replied, "Li Kanshan, you don't need to explain anything. I know your character; you would never do such a despicable thing as hoarding. Recently, the number of refugees in Kaoshan Village has increased too much, and managing them has indeed been difficult for you. Thank you for your hard work! Don't worry, I will handle these matters!"
Hearing the comforting words from the Mountain God, Li Kanshan felt much happier and immediately nodded in the direction of the Mountain God Temple.
The refugees who had just arrived in Kaoshan Village heard the voice from the sky. They looked left and right in the crowd but couldn't see who had made the voice. Moreover, the majestic voice didn't seem to be made by an ordinary person. Seeing the villagers' devout expressions, they instantly guessed that it was the Mountain God appearing.
The group shuddered in fright. When they first started doing this, they never expected the Mountain God to appear. The main reason was that they had previously doubted the existence of the Mountain God, which was why they dared to act so recklessly. They never expected that the Mountain God would appear at this particular moment. They were truly unlucky.
The group of people, trembling with fear, knelt on the ground like the villagers of Kaoshan Village, trying to beg for the forgiveness of the Mountain God. They stammered, "Mountain God, we really didn't know you existed. Ignorance is no excuse, we hope you can forgive us this time. We will never dare to do this again, please forgive us!"
Looking at these scoundrels, Xu Bo'an thought of them as people who bully the weak and fear the strong in real life. He was furious and hateful. Old habits die hard, so how could Xu Bo'an believe their lies?
Moreover, the number of migrants to Kaoshan Village has increased significantly during this period, and he needs to restore their prestige. He needs to use a few outstanding individuals as a warning to everyone. Unexpectedly, these few people have run into trouble. Xu Bo'an will not only not let them off the hook, but will also impose the most severe punishment on them in order to make an example of them!
Thinking of this, Xu Bo'an said to Li Erdan and the others on the ground in a very authoritative voice: "You don't know whether I really exist or not, is that your reason for doing this! You have violated the rules and should be punished!"
When the mountain god heard that he would not forgive them, the group began to tremble. They knelt down and kept kowtowing, begging for forgiveness. The sound of their kowtowing was so loud that it was painful to hear.
Xu Bo'an saw that the men were kowtowing enthusiastically and didn't bother with them at all. Since they liked kowtowing, he would let them kowtow to their heart's content.
About twenty minutes later, Xu Bo'an saw that the men had kowtowed until their heads were bleeding and they were exhausted. He coldly said, "Have you realized your mistake?"
When the mountain god finally spoke, the group quickly stopped kowtowing, their eyes filled with hope. They thought the mountain god had changed his mind and was going to forgive them, so they hurriedly said, "We know, we know, mountain god, we will never dare to do such a thing again!"
Xu Bo'an said, "Heh, you know you're wrong! I think you don't know you're wrong, but rather that you know you're going to die."
Several people were stunned upon hearing this, and the others present were also somewhat shocked.
After all, in the eyes of these honest and simple farmers, although these people were annoying, they didn't deserve to die.
The scoundrels hurriedly begged, "Mountain God, spare us! Mountain God, spare us! We promise we'll never do such wicked things again. Please give us a chance!"
"Yes, we were blind to your greatness. Old village chief, please help us beg the mountain god. Although we went a bit too far, we don't deserve to die. Please put in a good word for us. I will always remember your kindness."
Li Kanshan hesitated for a moment, then finally said, "Mountain God, I think these bastards aren't worth getting your hands dirty. Otherwise, just drive them away."
In truth, Xu Bo'an would never actually kill them. But since things had gotten to this point, it was good to scare those bastards a little. That way, if the people in Kaoshan Village wanted to do something bad in the future, they would have to think twice about whether they could handle the consequences of how this was handled.
"Alright, for the sake of Village Chief Li, I'll spare your lives. However, while you may be spared the death penalty, you won't escape punishment. Given your actions today, this place is no longer welcoming you. It's time to get rid of you!"
Hearing the mountain god's sudden words, the group was stunned and speechless.
In these chaotic times of war, nine out of ten people would die if they tried to survive outside. Now that they've finally found a safe place to stay, they've really brought trouble upon themselves.
Before they could react, Xu Bo'an reached in and grabbed them all in his hand, then threw them into the forest. Whether they would be lucky or not was none of his business.
As Xu Bo'an moved, at first, the screams of several people could be heard in the air, but then the sounds quickly disappeared, and the figures in the air also vanished.
Before so many refugees entered Kaoshan Village, the village was a peaceful place. Therefore, Xu Bo'an's image in front of the villagers had always been one of tolerance, generosity, kindness, and charity. When there were conflicts between villagers, he would at most say a few stern words.
They had never seen the Mountain God so ruthless and resolute. The group was immediately terrified. Everyone held their breath, their voices ringing out in the silence; you could hear a pin drop. (End of Chapter)