ASER – Chapter 7

Not to mention the rotten things the Old Daoist Priest was up to now, he had been quite good to A’Diao in the past. Because he often went out, A’Diao, a little girl, stayed alone in the deep mountains and old forests, which was somewhat unsafe. So, he had specially installed a camera for her safety. The wooden stick in her room was also for self-defense.

Previously, the government officers hadn’t needed camera evidence, so she hadn’t revealed it.

After she edited and organized the video footage, she quickly went into the house to pack her things.

She had to run away early tomorrow morning.

Firstly, she was afraid that after tonight, Jiang Chun would come up with some new tricks to torment her. Secondly, the people from the gambling den had just left dejectedly today, but in the afternoon, they had returned and turned hostile. Jiang Chun must have heard the news midway and contacted them. So, when Hu Xi and the others were at the Daoist temple, there must have been Jiang Chun’s people watching nearby. It was likely that person would come to watch her again tomorrow. Even if she left the Daoist temple, they would likely continue to follow her, and then she would never be able to get rid of them.

She had to leave as soon as possible.

A’Diao didn’t dare to take many things; she just took a small suitcase. But while packing her books, with a clatter, a gold necklace fell out from a pile of letters scattered on the floor.

It was an exquisite and small gold ingot charm, meant for good fortune.

No adult would wear something like that; it was for children, and she had worn it when she was little. These letters were also ones she hadn’t been able to send or that had been returned.

Her memories of those former family members were already somewhat vague.

Anyway, if she didn’t deliberately think about them, they didn’t exist.

After looking down at them for a while, she still bent down, haphazardly gathered the letters and necklace, and stuffed them into the suitcase.

While stuffing them in, she muttered indignantly, “Just wait, all of you wait. You all bully me like this. When I succeed in my cultivation in the future, able to fly through the sky and move through the earth, I’ll beat you all senseless! Those surnamed Jiang, those who run the gambling den, just you wait… I’ll bury you all alive!”

Once her personal luggage was packed, she ran to the storage room. Inside were miscellaneous items accumulated over the years. She rummaged through them and found some cylindrical and box-shaped things, put them into a waterproof bag, and then left the storage room…

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The next day at 5 AM, the sun hadn’t risen yet, and the sky was just beginning to show a hint of dawn’s fish-belly white. The small, dark figure, with red eyes, took one last deep look at the old Daoist temple, as if extremely reluctant to leave. But in the end, she still shouldered her suitcase and fled wretchedly down the cold forest path.

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At 8 AM, on the stone-paved path of Qishan, Hu Xi and his men, carrying fried dough sticks, milk tea, and bread, had already gone up the mountain early. Someone, feeling lazy, yawned and complained that a mere slip of a girl wasn’t worth them getting up so early.

“Be content. Compared to those debtors in the past, this little Daoist apprentice is the easiest to deal with. Besides, Young Master Jiang paid enough money.”

“Ha, I don’t even understand why Young Master Jiang has it in for this slip of a girl.”

“No idea. Probably in a bad mood. He sounded very gloomy when he called me last night. He just told me to squeeze every last penny out of her.”

The few of them had already reached the courtyard. While finishing their breakfast, they kicked the door and shouted for someone.

“Damn it, not here?”

“Damn, she actually escaped!”

“Search carefully, quickly!”

The men were genuinely caught off guard and felt extremely humiliated, unwilling to believe they had let a mere slip of a girl escape. So they frantically kicked down doors and searched.

But they didn’t find anyone.

Everyone came out, their expressions fierce.

“Looks like she really escaped.”

“We’ve had our eyes pecked out by a wild goose.”

Hu Xi suddenly narrowed his eyes and looked at the thatched hut to the side. He had noticed it yesterday. The washroom inside was used by the little girl; there were only a little girl’s things inside, and it looked very clean. But an Old Daoist Priest also lived here, so…

She was very likely hiding in there.

He kicked open the wooden door of the thatched hut.

It was indeed a washroom. The inside was actually quite modernly furnished, with tiles and a showerhead. However, it looked like it was used by an old man; there were some old and worn-out things. But in the corner, a large wooden plank covered something.

Could it be that underneath was a cellar or a secret room for hiding people?

Hu Xi shouted to those outside, then quietly lifted the wooden plank, and then…

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Also at 8 AM, the early bus stopped at the station in front of the county government office. After the bus drove away, the officer on duty saw a young girl dragging a suitcase, standing in the distance and looking over.

She looked hesitant, and also very lost and lonely. From time to time, she would lower her head to look at her phone.

She looked so pitiful.

It wasn’t A’Diao’s first time in the county town, but it was her first time at the government office. She knew that all government offices in the entire Tang Song Empire had the same architectural style: a black eagle with spread wings. The exterior and eaves were made of special wood.

The style was identical; the only differences were in size and the quality of materials used inside.

A small county town’s would naturally be the lowest grade of black eagle, but it still looked like the most eye-catching and imposing building in the county town, even though the county town already had many tall buildings.

The government was number one in might, of course.

So, everyone who came to the government office felt a little intimidated, let alone a little girl.

Therefore, the officer specially came out.

Seeing the officer running over, A’Diao happened to see on her phone’s surveillance feed that Hu Xi had entered the thatched hut, while the men from the gambling den were peering around outside it. She stuffed her phone into her pocket, and with her other hand, she fumbled for a remote control in her pocket and pressed the button.

As she pressed it, she thought to herself: They made the first move. I’m acting in self-defense. I’m definitely not maliciously plotting against anyone, nor am I doing this to farm Mental Energy points.

Speaking of which, I wonder if it will make Mental Energy points explode…………

Oh right, this remote control is usually used to set off fireworks.

After pressing it, not even two or three seconds passed.

From Hu Xi +80!

From Zhang Li +40!

From Xu Dali +45!

From…

Oh-ho, it really did cause an explosion of points, and a huge one at that!

Five people in one go gave over 260 Mental Energy points.

A’Diao felt as if she saw a large wave of Spiritual Energy surrounding her, but she controlled her surging joy because the officer had arrived.

“Little girl, what’s wrong? Do you need any help?”

“Huh, it’s you? A’Diao?”

Just as the old Daoist temple that had been her home for over ten years was being splattered and covered by certain indescribable substances from an explosion, A’Diao, already with a weak, tearful tone in her voice, said to the young officer, “Officer big brother, I really don’t know what to do. I… those people are too terrifying. My home, my home is gone.”

The ‘officer big brother’ felt that if he didn’t comfort her further, she might cry until she fainted right in front of the government office.

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Five minutes later, A’Diao was sitting in the reception room of the government office, holding a cup of hot milk brought by a female officer.

Her eyes were red, but she wasn’t crying.

She held the hot milk but hadn’t taken a sip.

Her fingers were very pale and trembling faintly.

Her voice was halting, but she still managed to let the officers know her situation.

“Forced you to sign a debt agreement?!”

Actually, she didn’t say much in her narration because the video explained everything; it even had audio.

Restricting personal freedom and coercing someone to sign an IOU, even if it’s transferring a debt, is illegal, not to mention the amount was considerable.

The tall officer’s face darkened, and he stood up without another word.

“Prepare for action.”

A mere gambling den dared to be so arrogant and domineering. They think they can reach the heavens, don’t they?

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The officers’ anger exceeded A’Diao’s expectations, but she soon understood why. From the interrogation rooms and registration office inside, there was a lot of commotion, with common people bustling in and out, and all sorts of wailing.

Clearly, the government office was extremely busy; they might have been handling cases all through the previous night.

Many officers were present, all with gloomy expressions. It wasn’t because of continuous overtime, but because they had been aggrieved.

In the various incidents related to the revival of Spiritual Energy, there were often some powerful and influential people involved. Many of them were influential figures from the provincial capital, who sent out numerous underlings to small places to search for Spiritual Vessels. These were people whom these low-ranking officers couldn’t touch.

Knowing full well who the perpetrators were, watching the victims report their grievances, yet being unable to help uphold justice, naturally made them feel terrible.

From inside, sounds of crying could be heard from time to time—miserable and helpless accusations of certain people’s crimes.

Being beaten, being bullied, family heirlooms being stolen, and so on.

A’Diao lowered her head and drank her milk, not looking at these people.

Because she was young and looked exhausted, the female officer arranged for her to rest in the break room first. Later, after they caught the culprits, she would have to identify them.

Compared to the other complainants, her case was considered a minor matter and could be resolved quickly.

Inside the room, A’Diao observed her surroundings and found no cameras. Evidently, as it was the officers’ break room, there was no surveillance here. So, fighting her exhaustion, she took out her phone, hesitating whether to use the software to check the situation at the Daoist temple. But in the end, she gave up the idea, lay down, and fell into a deep sleep.

People online said the food in the government office’s canteen was delicious; she wanted to try it.

Before falling asleep, she thought to herself: They have aircraft; the officers should be arriving soon. Yesterday, she had calculated their travel time to Qishan.

However, just as she was drowsily drifting off to sleep, the Toilet sent a notification: a critical hit of Mental Energy points +++. But the names contributing Mental Energy to her were more than just five. The names of villagers were also among them, including Zhang San.

Moreover, the list was continuously growing. Among them, she guessed, were probably the officers who were just arriving.

Er, it was her fault. Sorry to the villagers, sorry to Uncle Zhang, sorry to the officer big brothers.

If there’s a next time… she’ll do it again.