Chapter 76 - 76 76 Not for Money but for Justice

Words : 2098 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

76: Chapter 76: Not for Money, but for Justice 76: Chapter 76: Not for Money, but for Justice Zhou Xi recounted everything about the Liu Family... The Liu Family contracted the mine more than ten years ago, while the villagers were very simple-hearted. Believing that everyone in the village was like family, they were sympathetic to others’ need to make money for their livelihood. Thus, the blasting of the mine and the flying limestone didn’t cause the villagers to be overly concerned with them. But while the villagers showed understanding, he didn’t return the favor. Five years ago, as the mine’s business expanded, Liu Yuanchang got an idea about a small mountain village at the foot of the mountain called Huai Shu ao. He wanted to flatten this small mountain village to build a stone material transfer station. But how could the villagers give up their ancestral lands just to accommodate him? Seven or eight households had their fields here, their land here; the graves of ancestors going back eight generations were here. They certainly wouldn’t think of selling their fields, land, or homes. Then Liu Yuanchang started to play dirty. Huai Shu ao thus welcomed a living nightmare... The pigs, cattle, and chickens they were raising died batch after batch inexplicably. Their fruit trees were chopped down, roads were destroyed, and just as the electricity was connected, it would be cut off... Huai Shu ao began to become uninhabitable. If the villagers had another place to go, they really would have left. However, they were too poor; they had nothing outside the village, and no matter how difficult life became, they could only endure. Then, the nightmare escalated. One night, several large rocks rolled down from the mountain, smashing two houses to pieces. The villagers couldn’t bear it anymore. Four or five of them went to the mine to confront the Liu Family, and in the resulting argument, the third son of the Liu Family, Liu Liang, stepped forward and beat the four or five men so badly that they couldn’t get out of bed for half a month. This event truly ignited the conflict between the Liu Family and the villagers. Afterward, the Liu Family stopped pretending. They committed an utterly inhumane act, and it was this act that let Zhou Xi realize that the Liu Family was capable of anything... At this point, Zhou Xi’s pale face turned faintly red; he took a sip of water and continued... It was in the dead of night. A family of three in the eastern part of Huai Shu ao was sleeping, their child only three years old. Their door was smashed open from the outside, and Liu Liang, the third son of the Liu Family, barged in with several men. His underlings held the man down, while Liu Liang pinned down the man’s wife. In front of her husband and child, he raped the poor woman, and it wasn’t just him; his underlings took turns... That night, the wretched cries of the women in Huai Shu ao circled in the night sky. The seven or eight households all heard it, but they dared not step out, dared not call the police, because there were men guarding every household’s door. Anyone who dared make a sound, men would be beaten to death, and women – raped... Before dawn the next day, that family fled Fengcheng with their child in the night. Because they were told that if they dared to report to the police, their son would be killed! Ten days later, all seven or eight households of Huai Shu ao had moved out, considering this place to be a real Hell. Now, Huai Shu ao was gone. The old site of small bridges over flowing streams had become the Liu Family’s stone material transfer station. Having finished, Zhou Xi’s hand trembled slightly as he held his teacup... Miao Ruolan’s face turned bright red with anger: “Did no one really report it to the police afterward?” “The police came, I don’t know if someone reported it in secret, but no one who dared to testify could be found. The family who suffered the greatest tragedy disappeared without a trace altogether, and they might never return to this place for the rest of their lives. Without the victims standing up, nor any witnesses, this human tragedy, which theoretically should be impossible in modern times, ended up unresolved.” Zhou Xi said: “When I first heard about this incident, I was determined to study law, to seek justice for the villagers, but little did I expect that before I had a chance to secure justice for the villagers, we had to seek justice for my parents first.” Studying law, administering justice. Based on the foundation of evidence. Without evidence, everything amounts to nothing. This is why Zhou Xi sought help from the Detective Agency. Miao Ruolan stood up: “Little Su, let’s take on this case!” In her eyes, there were flames of anger. As an Ancient Martial Inheritor, she inherently carried the Ancient Martial gene, and what she could not stand the most was those who leveraged their Ancient Martial skills to oppress the good, especially when this oppression reached an appalling level. To rape a woman in front of her husband and child, what sort of person does this? It was even worse than the act of a beast! Lin Xiaosu said: “We’ll take it!” Zhou Xi bowed deeply: “Detective Lin, Detective Miao, I only have three thousand yuan right now, I’ll give it all to you. For the rest, whatever the amount, I promise to deliver it within a year.” “We won’t take money for this case!” Lin Xiaosu said: “I’ll take something else.” “What?” Zhou Xi asked. “Justice and the will of heaven!” Two small electric scooters, one belonging to Miao Ruolan, carrying her and Lin Xiaosu. The other was Zhou Xi’s, and it was borrowed. The two scooters raced out of Fengcheng, heading up the road to the Northwest. To the left was Xiangxi. Xiangxi wasn’t directly on their route, and Lin Xiaosu had only visited once as a child. Although it was just once, he vividly remembered the clear waters and wildflowers on both banks of Xiangxi, as well as the mysterious fragrance spoken of by the older generations. But Xiangxi today was nothing like before. The river water was no longer clear, turning milky, and wildflowers at this time of the year seemed coated with a layer of dust. The sky in the Northwest was also shrouded in grey. The mine was not far away. After half an hour on the small electric scooters, they arrived at the foot of the mine. The upper part of the mine was halfway flattened, the lower part was green, but this greenness was off. Lin Xiaosu could tell at a glance that this was not the vegetation on the mountain, but a layer of green paint that had been applied. “They’ve painted it!” Miao Ruolan also noticed: “This shows there must be a problem with the mine itself; otherwise, there would be no need for them to paint it to evade satellite surveillance.” It must be said, Miao Ruolan has also matured by now. She has started to study various legal regulations and has learned logical thinking. Lin Xiaosu’s head gently nodded on her shoulder, acknowledging receipt. Miao Ruolan, ahead, continued: “Can we catch them on the illegal mining and truly shut down this quarry?” “That... is a bit too complicated, the process will be lengthy and very unpredictable.” Miao Ruolan said: “But this is the only breakthrough I can think of. The house has collapsed, and even if it really was some trick by them, it would be hard to find any clues.” This time Lin Xiaosu didn’t answer... Ahead, Zhou Xi stopped, and Miao Ruolan’s car also stopped. Parked in front of a store by the roadside. “There, that’s Huai Shu ao. Now there’s only one old pagoda tree left, and the ao is gone!” Zhou Xi pointed to a large open space ahead filled with various stones, with several vehicles loading and unloading. There was no longer any semblance of a village to be seen. Lin Xiaosu gently shook her head: “Online, it is said that dozens of natural villages disappear every day in Daxia. I’ve always interpreted it from the perspective of urbanization, but I never realized there was this new way for villages to disappear.” The new way is being forcibly flattened by the power of darkness! “Let’s go, go look at your family’s house.” “There!” Zhou Xi pointed towards mid-mountain. Following her finger, one could see the ruins next to the mine road; the outline of a house still faintly visible, but it was clear that once the bulldozer pushed, it would soon vanish. “Let’s go!” Lin Xiaosu said. “Detective Lin... those people are still at the mine...” Zhou Xi looked somewhat pale. “Don’t be afraid!” Miao Ruolan gently patted her shoulder. “I’m not afraid! My parents are already gone, what do I have to fear?” Zhou Xi said, “But you... This isn’t your business...” “Now it is!” Lin Xiaosu said: “Let’s go!” Following the mining road upwards, about two li of distance, stood the ruins visible from the roadside. The house was made of red bricks, topped with tiles, likely built twenty or thirty years ago—a very ordinary rural house. As for being sturdy, that couldn’t really be said, but if there wasn’t external destruction, holding up for forty or fifty years would be no issue, some even lasting over a hundred or several hundred years. The house collapsed seven days ago. It was only after Zhou Xi had finished handling her parents’ funeral that she had time to come to the Detective Agency seeking a result. For seven days, Lin Xiaosu, in fact, also secretly felt uneasy. The ability to Reverse Time also has its limits; previously, when he traced back the Qingyuan Temple Qu Taiqing case, the limit was four days. If it exceeded that time, then first-hand data could not be obtained, and the plan would need readjustment... He tried to activate his ability, and a miracle occurred; he easily crossed the seven-day timeline. Whether it was due to the frequent use of Reverse Time recently strengthening this Skill, or the unblocking of all his meridians enhancing it, in any case, his ability to Reverse Time improved significantly. Under the Reverse Time, the scene before him underwent a miraculous change. It was like a film rewinding; the collapsed house was restored to a small farmhouse. The yard was overgrown with wildflowers, and even though the house was dilapidated, it was clean inside. Two people in their forties or fifties were eating dinner inside when a middle-aged man strode in and kicked the door open, cracking the panels... Quarreling ensued... This was what the villagers mentioned, the quarrel between Liu Yuanchang and Zhou Xi’s parents. Liu Yuanchang pulled out a paper, slapped it on the table, cracking it. Zhou Xi’s father firmly shook his head. With a raise of his hand, Liu Yuanchang grabbed her father’s right hand, pressed it onto the ink pad, and then onto the paper, Lin Xiaosu watched as the finger joints severely deformed. Then, it was Zhou Xi’s mother’s turn to be pressed for a thumbprint. This was the origin of that agreement! When Liu Yuanchang walked out of the room with that paper, the real key moment came... He clapped his hand on several of the load-bearing pillars! Then he left without looking back. As he left, Zhou Xi’s mother was helping her father get up from the ground... Just as Liu Yuanchang stepped onto the mine road, he threw a stone onto the house, and the house collapsed with a thunderous crash! Lin Xiaosu’s eyes closed slightly, ending the Reverse Time! Everything, he understood clearly. “Little Su, what’s going on?” Miao Ruolan looked at the ruins, not knowing where to begin, then suddenly noticed Lin Su’s expression and felt a slight jump in her heart. Lin Xiaosu took three steps forward, picking up two red bricks from the rubble. On these bricks, traces of cement could still be seen. He handed one brick to Miao Ruolan: “Take a look, what’s strange about this brick?” Miao Ruolan took it, observing closely: “This brick...” Pop! The brick crumbled to dust in her hands.

Chapter 76 - 76 76 Not for Money but for Justice

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