Chapter 43: Li Qingyun Takes Another Beating—What a Sin!

The sun was shining brightly.
Yet some people felt as though they had plunged into an icy cellar.
Li Feng timely spoke up, "Village Chief, Uncle Clan Head, since my third brother has his suspicions, let people go inside and search. It will also put everyone's mind at ease!"
"This..."
The Clan Head hesitated.
Conducting a search was a shameful and unseemly practice.
He was afraid it would bring trouble to Li Feng.
"Listen to the second brother!" The village chief spoke.
"Since the third brother doubts the second brother, we will stand witness for the second brother. If the items lost by the Li family are indeed found here, we will show no mercy!"
"However, false accusations will not be tolerated either!"
The village chief looked at Li Qingyun, "If we don't find what you mentioned at your second brother's place, according to the clan rules, you and the group of people behind you will all receive thirty beatings with a stick. Have you thought this through?"
Li Qingyun was about to go to the prefecture city for his examinations.
Getting injured at this point would inevitably affect him to some extent.
The village chief was giving him a choice.
No matter what, he was one of the few scholars in Li Family Village. Making things convenient for others was also leaving oneself a way out.
How could Li Qingyun appreciate the village chief's good intentions? At this moment, he was practically convinced that the silver was right here with Li Feng.
"Alright!"
He gritted his teeth and agreed!
Li Raitou, who had just been beaten up not long ago, fainted on the spot upon hearing this.
It was over!
With the village chief and the clan head having spoken, several young men with good reputations in the village stepped forward. They nodded at Li Feng and then walked into the house.
In less than a quarter of an hour, everyone trooped back out!
"Why so fast? Did you people collude beforehand?"
Seeing them come out so quickly, Li Qingyun was instantly consumed by anger.
A bunch of self-righteous hypocrites!
Daring to deceive those above and hoodwink those below right in front of him!
The expression on the robust man's face was somewhat unsightly. He placed the things in his hands on the ground and said to the clan head and the village chief, "We have searched everywhere."
"The ground shows no signs of having been dug up, and the room doesn't have any storage spaces like a cellar. Everything capable of hiding objects has been brought out. Please take a look!"
The village chief and the clan head looked at the few meager items in the courtyard and couldn't help but sigh.
Apart from some grain, Li Feng had received absolutely nothing when the family split up.
There wasn't even a couple of decent tools, so where could there be any hiding place?
"Are you satisfied now?"
The village chief looked at Li Qingyun and remarked, "You've truly wasted all those years of reading books on a dog!"
"Someone, come here! Li Qingyun falsely accused his kinsmen, showing neither benevolence nor righteousness. Drag him to the ancestral hall immediately and give him thirty strokes with the stick!"
"Yes!"
A group of strong men surged forward, quickly pinning Li Qingyun, Li Raitou, and the others to the ground.
Some among them wanted to sneak away quietly, but they were reported by the onlookers and ended up being strung together and driven off to the ancestral hall!
"Let's go, let's go watch the show!"
Li Feng told Big Dog to put the things inside the house, and then led the crowd as they briskly walked toward the ancestral hall!
The ancestral hall of Li Family Village had been funded and built by a wealthy landlord from the Li family!
However, more than a century had passed, and the descendants of that landlord had all left Li Family Village to seek their fortunes outside.
Yet Li Family Village attached great importance to this ancestral hall, renovating it every few years. Li Feng had even participated in those renovations himself.
He was very familiar with this place.
"Creak!"
The heavy doors of the ancestral hall were pushed open.
The village chief and the clan head entered first.
The children and women waited outside.
Li Feng, Big Dog, and Second Bull stepped inside.
This was the first time Big Dog and Second Bull had ever set foot in the ancestral hall.
In the past, their grandfather had ruled the household despotically, and aside from bringing their father along, they had never been permitted to cross this threshold!
Now, they had separated from their grandparents, and as the eldest and second sons, Big Dog and Second Bull were fully qualified to enter.
"Bring them in!"
The village chief stood right in the center. He couldn't handle other village matters, but when it came to clan affairs, the power in his hands was much greater than that of the clan head.
He even possessed the power of life and death!
Li Qingyun and a pack of scoundrels from Li Family Village were dragged in.
The village chief looked at these unworthy kinsmen, took three sticks of incense from the incense basket, lit them, and inserted them into the censer.
"Respected ancestors, today there are unfilial descendants such as Li Qingyun, who lack benevolence and righteousness and have falsely accused fellow villagers. We come specially to report this to the ancestors and request punishment for them!"
With that, the village chief bowed respectfully.
The entire ancestral hall was pin-drop silent. Everyone held their breath and, following the village chief's lead, bowed in unison.
"Strike!"
As soon as the bows were finished, the village chief shouted harshly.
Several strong men of the village picked up stout wooden staves and stepped forward in unison.
Big Dog and Second Bull were also handed a staff each.
As the aggrieved party, they naturally had the right to administer the beating.
Except for Li Qingyun, whom they couldn't hit directly, the others all received a fair number of blows from the two brothers.
To deter the others, the two lads exerted all their strength, and the resounding thuds echoed as the staves landed heavily on these individuals.
"Ow!"
"Ah!"
In an instant, the entire ancestral hall was filled with wails of agony.
"I'm not even from your Li Family Village, why are you hitting me too!" someone cried out in protest.
The village chief ignored him and ordered the men to finish all thirty strokes!
Being punished publicly stripped Li Qingyun of both his dignity and his pride.
By the third blow, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted right then and there!
"Village chief, the beating is done!"
Amidst the chorus of ghost-like howls and wolf-like cries, the execution was complete!
The village chief instructed each family to take their people back. As for the outsiders from other villages, since they were summoned by Li Qingyun, they were sent straight to the old Li family household!
"Dad, that was so satisfying today!" Big Dog exclaimed!
"The ancestral hall is truly magnificent!" Second Bull chimed in as well!
The ancestral hall didn't contain many memorial tablets, partly because they couldn't afford to worship too many, and partly because Li Family Village had produced too few capable people.
If not for that wealthy landlord, how could Li Family Village ever have afforded to build an ancestral hall, and how could they have united the villagers?
An ancestral hall served to forge a cohesive spirit among the people.
Outside, Li Raitou wasn't afraid of being beaten to death by others, so his behavior was naturally quite rampant.
Yet back in Li Family Village, facing all the villagers, he didn't dare to go too far. After all, outsiders might not take his life, but once inside the ancestral hall, everything changed!
The clan rules could genuinely beat him to death!
Second Bull was deeply shaken!
Because he knew what kind of person Li Raitou was.
A slippery scoundrel like him didn't even dare to let out a single fart inside the ancestral hall—that alone spoke volumes!
"Then you must work hard and strive to have a separate page dedicated to you in the clan genealogy!" Li Feng said.
Second Bull halted his steps and said earnestly, "No matter when, Dad will always come first before me!"
Li Feng was quite pleased and laughed heartily!
"Alright, let's go home!"
The group of little ones followed closely behind Li Feng, every single one of them walking with spirited steps and smiles in their eyes.
At the old Li family homestead.
The sounds of wailing echoed incessantly.
Madam Wang was finally able to get out of bed!
In the past, with Li Feng taking care of her every need, she truly didn't have to lift a finger.
Someone would change her bandages, someone would bring her meals, and life had been quite leisurely.
Yet the moment the family split up, the third daughter-in-law, terrified of being left behind to wait on her, bolted the very next day.
The eldest son claimed there was an emergency in the county town that couldn't be delayed, sold off his plot of land, and high-tailed it away as well.
Although the third son was still at home, he was so infuriated that he nearly drove her to an early grave. Not only could she not get a hot meal, but no one even changed her bandages.
The old man's bone-setting ointment had long since run out, and the third son went to the township without even thinking to bring back a single packet for his father.
Now, sitting alone in the empty, desolate kitchen, Madam Wang couldn't hold back her tears.
What a cursed retribution!