Murder and robbery? Counter-killing and severing the enemy's head

The time was still early.

After parting ways with Tian Xin and her group, Chu Feng continued along the outer edges of the mountain, searching for wild chicken nests.

However, his luck was not as favorable this time. After searching over a dozen nests in a row, he found them completely empty.

Glancing at the sky, he figured it was about time to leave. Picking up his bamboo basket, he looked at the dozen or so eggs and the single wild pheasant resting inside, and a satisfied smile crept onto his face.

The harvest for the day was quite substantial. Most importantly, he had these eggs. When building the brick-bed heating system at home, Chu Feng had deliberately reserved a small greenhouse area at the foot of the bed. It was essentially a sunken little platform where the hot air from burning the stove could naturally conduct. It was simply the most suitable place imaginable for incubating eggs.

Just as Chu Feng was about to head back, the sound of something tearing through the air reached his ears.

Almost instinctively, Chu Feng dropped flat onto the ground. An instant later, an arrow embedded itself deeply into the soil right in front of him.

Someone was shooting at him?

"Damn it, almost missed the target. Buddy, you alright?"

A burly, heavily scarred man emerged from the nearby bushes, a ingratiating smile plastered across his fierce face. Four other men followed closely behind him, each of them wearing distinctly sinister expressions.

Chu Feng got up to his feet. He shook his head and replied, "I'm fine."

"Good thing you're unharmed. Say, what's that you've got in your bamboo basket?"

With a smile, Chu Feng answered, "A wild pheasant and a dozen eggs."

As he spoke, he stepped forward and lifted the lid of his bamboo basket to show the other man.

A flash of cunning darted through the burly man's eyes as he peered into the basket. The exact moment he bent forward, Chu Feng raised his axe and brought it down fiercely toward the man's neck.

Chu Feng had carefully whetted this axe; it was exceptionally sharp. Backed by such a ferocious and weighty blow, the man's head was cleanly severed and dropped straight into Chu Feng's bamboo basket.

Before the four remaining men behind the dead man could react, Chu Feng charged forward, wielding the dripping axe and cutting down another one of them on the spot.

The last three men finally snapped back to reality. They turned tail and fled, running for their lives while weeping and screaming at the top of their lungs, thoroughly terrified by the horrifying spectacle they had just witnessed.

Indeed, no one could have possibly anticipated that the smiling Chu Feng of the previous second could become a ruthless executioner the very next, wielding an axe and calmly chasing down his targets without batting an eye.

Seeing that the men had run far off into the distance, Chu Feng finally came to a halt.

Did they really take him for a total fool?

"Missed the target," my foot. That arrow had been aimed straight at his skull. Once it hit, Chu Feng's little life would have ended right there.

He had no idea who these people were, but he knew for certain that they intended to rob him and take his life. Even worse, these scoundrels might have been eyeing him for quite some time.

It wasn't Chu Feng's first or second time heading to town, and every trip yielded a generous bounty of game. It was hardly surprising that he had attracted attention. What he hadn't anticipated was that they would harbor murderous intentions.

That being the case, Chu Feng had no intention of letting them off easily.

He hoisted his bamboo basket and turned to leave, but then paused. He looked at the bow and arrow clutched in the dead brute's hand, picked them up, and tossed them into the basket along with the man's severed head.

Crunch...

A flurry of hurried footsteps sounded nearby. Tian Xin swallowed hard as she watched from the side. They hadn't rushed to leave earlier. Realizing how perilous the deep mountains truly were, they had quietly trailed behind Chu Feng, hoping he would lead them safely down the mountain.

Chu Feng turned his head, his expression entirely composed. He was in the right here.

"Did you all see what just happened?"

Tian Xin nodded, too terrified to speak out loud. Yu Dachui, the man who had questioned Chu Feng earlier, was now meekly silent, not daring to make a single sound.

"As long as you saw it, that's enough. You're heading back to town, right? I'll go with you—it just so happens I need to report this to the authorities."

Since they had all witnessed the event, it saved Chu Feng a lot of trouble. Otherwise, killing someone would surely prompt the magistrate's office to conduct grueling interrogations. Having these people as witnesses made things much simpler.

Chu Feng led them down the mountain, returned to the town, and went straight to the yamen.

The official on duty was Liao Ziyang, an old acquaintance of his. Chu Feng had momentarily worried that the man might subject him to a brutal welcoming beating, but it appeared such measures weren't dealt out indiscriminately.

"Little Feng, what brings you to the yamen?"

"I'm here to report a crime. I've killed someone," Chu Feng stated bluntly.

Liao Ziyang froze: "..."

Chu Feng briefly recounted the events that had transpired up on the mountain. Liao Ziyang listened intently, nodding repeatedly.

"I suspect they were accomplices of those bandits. After roaming the mountain, they tried to rob me of my game. If I hadn't reacted quickly enough, my head would have been blown off by an arrow."

"These people can vouch for me! To save my own life, I had no choice but to strike first."

Chu Feng didn't know these villagers personally, nor did he know their exact backgrounds. However, that didn't stop him from slapping a convenient label on the dead men. At the same time, it provided Liao Ziyang with a clear direction for the investigation. Treating those men as bandits would allow the case to be resolved swiftly.

Tossing the scarred brute's head out of the basket and handing it over to the coroner, Chu Feng turned and left.

What Chu Feng didn't know was that the moment he stepped out, the village chief of Taoyuan Village arrived at the yamen to report a crime of his own.

...

"Are you alright?"

Just as he reached the village entrance, Chu Feng spotted Du Dahai.

If there was anyone in this village who genuinely cared about him, aside from Zhou Xiaoxiao, it was Du Dahai. Up until now, not a single villager in Yulong Village had starved to death, and that was largely thanks to Du Dahai.

Whenever the village faced a crisis, he would step forward, convene meetings, and rally everyone to weather the hardships together. Whenever a household ran into trouble, Du Dahai would do his utmost to help. It was precisely because of Du Dahai's past kindness that Chu Feng always held deep respect for him.

"I'm fine. A group of people tried to ambush me on the mountain, so I killed one of them and brought his head to report it to the yamen," Chu Feng said.

Du Dahai's expression instantly turned grim.

"The man you killed—did he have scars all over his face?"

Chu Feng was momentarily taken aback, asking in confusion, "Chief, you know him?"

"It really is him."

Du Dahai's heart sank instantly. He let out a heavy sigh and said, "We've got a massive disaster on our hands."

"What kind of disaster? Could that scarred face possibly have some extraordinary background?"

A shred of unease crept into Chu Feng's heart. Right now, he was merely a mountain ranger—he held no official status and possessed no renown. Even wealthy families like the Tian family in town were forces he couldn't afford to offend. That was precisely why he had dealt with Tian Zhuang right there on the mountain. After all, if you leave a powerful household with designs against you alive, they will find an opportunity to eliminate you sooner or later.

"Come on, follow me back first."

With night quickly approaching, the howling wind and blinding snow were growing fiercer. Standing out in the open and chatting was hardly a wise choice. Du Dahai led Chu Feng back to his home.

Du Cheng was inside weaving bamboo baskets. Du Dahai's family was relatively well-off in the village because they possessed a genuine trade: they knew how to weave bamboo baskets, and those baskets could be sold for cash. Du Dahai used to weave them in his youth, and now that he was older, he had passed the craft down to Du Cheng.

"What's this? Eyeing the baskets? I'll have Little Cheng send a few over to your place later."

"No, no, I couldn't possibly impose. Oh, right, Chief, have auntie cook this chicken."

With that, he pulled the dead wild pheasant out of his bamboo basket and handed it over.

"That won't do. I can't accept a chicken for no reason," Du Dahai hurriedly refused.

"What are you thinking? Xiaoxiao doesn't know how to cook chicken, but auntie does. Once it's stewed, the two of us can have a bit, and I'll take the rest back for her."

Sharing meals was a common practice in the village. Whenever home-cooked dishes felt too monotonous, families on good terms would often pool their efforts.

Du Dahai burst into laughter and called out, "Mother, go stew this chicken!"

The two men entered the main parlor and sat up on the heated brick bed. Du Cheng arranged a small table nearby, and the three men sat together.

Du Dahai's expression grew serious once more.

"Little Feng, this time you might really be in deep trouble. The man you killed wasn't some ordinary bandit. That fellow was... the son of the Taoyuan Village chief."