Chapter Twenty-Eight: Reaping What One Has Sown

Taiyang City.

Lu Tianxing galloped his horse all the way until he finally reached the city. As soon as he arrived at the gates, he saw a massive crowd of commoners surging into the city. They looked anxious, as if they feared that arriving even a moment late would cost them entry. The crowd was so agitated that the soldiers tasked with maintaining order at the gate were being pushed aside.

Driven by curiosity, Lu Tianxing stopped a passerby and asked, "Old man, may I ask what everyone is doing here?"

The passerby replied, "I heard that the Great Virtuous Teacher of the Taiping Dao has been locked in the county magistrate's jail. We are all heading to the government office to petition for his release. If the Great Virtuous Teacher is truly set free, he will be able to treat our illnesses immediately."

Lu Tianxing was taken aback. He had not expected that even after the heretic was captured, he would still possess such strong influence. He hurriedly asked, "Has the government office not distributed any effective medicine to treat your illnesses?"

The passerby cast a disdainful look at Lu Tianxing, as if looking at an idiot. "If there were effective medicine, why would we have traveled so far? Let me tell you, it is not just Taiyang County that lacks medicine for this plague; even the neighboring counties have nothing. People from many nearby counties are rushing here as well."

Having said this, the passerby ignored Lu Tianxing and hurried into the city. Lu Tianxing stood dazed for a long while before finally leading his horse into the city. He did not head straight to the government office; instead, he went to the Xu family residence. As one of the two main leaders who had betrayed the Taiping Dao, he only wanted to find his counterpart, Xu Gui, to discuss the situation.

Soon, he arrived at the Xu estate. No sooner had he entered the courtyard than he heard a clamor coming from the bedroom. Xu Gui’s wife was screaming at her husband: "I am telling you, if anything happens to our children, I will not live, and you shall not have a good life either! Their condition had clearly improved after drinking the talisman water, but were you possessed by a ghost to make us take the medicine you brought back? Look at them now! Their condition gets worse by the day, and our youngest son has already fallen into a coma! You go and find a way to get some talisman water back, or don't bother coming home!"

The bedroom door flew open, and Xu Gui was shoved out by his wife. With a deafening slam, the door shut behind him. Lu Tianxing hurried over, only to see several scratch marks on Xu Gui’s face. It was clearly not a good day for a visit. Unable to wait any longer, Lu Tianxing asked, "Master Xu, those medicines we took from the government office..."

Xu Gui looked up, his mouth opening, but he could only release a long, heavy sigh. Lu Tianxing’s heart sank; it seemed Xu Gui also realized there was something wrong with the medicine. "Let’s go to the government office and ask," Lu Tianxing suggested. Xu Gui nodded, his brow furrowed and his spirit crushed. The two of them then prepared to leave the estate together.

However, just as they reached the gate, they were blocked by a group of people wielding clubs and looking hostile. The burly man in the lead grabbed Xu Gui by the collar. "Xu Gui! You thousand-times-cursed profiteer! You said your medicine could cure the plague, but my mother took it and died anyway! That was medicine I spent fifty taels of silver to buy!"

Lu Tianxing understood immediately. Xu Gui had sold the medicine, but because it was ineffective, the buyers had come to settle the score. Sure enough, those behind the leader began to shout: "You dog of a merchant! You swindled me out of two taels of gold for that medicine! My wife hasn't improved in the slightest. How dare you cheat us out of money meant for saving lives!"

"I exhausted my family's savings to buy medicine for my brother. You are a beast!"

"Refund our money! Refund our money!"

The crowd was overcome with emotion. Many had already raised their fists and clubs, striking at Xu Gui. He curled up, fleeing back into the house. Lu Tianxing initially tried to intervene, but the mob assumed he was in league with Xu Gui and attacked him as well. Lu Tianxing screamed as he was struck: "I didn't sell any medicine! Don't hit me! Ouch! You’ve got the wrong person!"

But the crowd was blinded by rage and ignored his pleas. Fists rained down like raindrops. Unable to defend himself, Lu Tianxing could only follow Xu Gui’s lead and scramble for his life.

After a long while, the people demanding refunds finally extracted their money from Xu Gui; some even forced him to pay extra compensation. Only then did their anger subside enough for them to leave. Lu Tianxing and Xu Gui were left in a miserable state, sitting on the ground with bruised faces and torn clothes. Every movement caused them to groan in pain. Lu Tianxing felt like weeping; he had been dragged into this entirely by accident. It was a grave injustice. "You have ruined me!" he complained to Xu Gui.

Xu Gui’s eyes were vacant. The money was gone. Only a short while ago, he had been making a fortune, living a life of sudden wealth. But who could have predicted that such immense prosperity would turn out to be nothing more than a reflection in the water, a fleeting dream? Now, his wealth was gone, and he had even lost a significant amount of his own savings.

He had no choice but to refund the money, or he would have been beaten to death. Yet, this beating had slowly brought him to his senses. "Let's go!" he said, suddenly standing up. "We are going to the government office to find Secretary Zhang and get to the bottom of this! He is the one who gave us the medicine; he must be held responsible!"

Seeing this, Lu Tianxing, despite his injuries, had no choice but to follow. The two walked along the main street until they reached the government office. However, the entrance was already swarming with people—the petitioning commoners. They had gathered to demand the release of the Great Virtuous Teacher.

Because the crowd was so large, the city garrison had been called in. The soldiers would disperse the crowd, but the people would simply gather again shortly after. This infuriated the garrison, leading them to use increasingly violent methods. The commoners, in turn, grew angrier, leading to constant clashes.

If Lu Tianxing and Xu Gui had seen such a scene before, they would have mocked it with cold words, but now they had no interest in watching the spectacle. They pushed their way to the front, running toward the gate of the county office while shouting at the guards: "We need to see Secretary Zhang! We have an arrangement with him, quickly call—"

Before they could finish, they were roughly shoved away by the guards. Lu Tianxing and Xu Gui hurriedly explained, "We have been to the office with Secretary Zhang before; you should recognize us! We have an urgent matter to discuss with him. Let us in, or you won't be able to bear the consequences if this is delayed!"

But the guards ignored their threats. One guard cursed, "Get lost, you bastards! Secretary Zhang has already ordered that you two are not allowed to enter the county office again. Get out of here!"

Lu Tianxing and Xu Gui tried to speak again, but the guards, without another word, raised their batons and struck them fiercely. After another round of beating, the two had no choice but to flee. Once they were far enough away, they stopped, breathless and terrified.

"What do we do now?" Lu Tianxing asked helplessly. He never imagined they wouldn't even be able to see Secretary Zhang. He had no way to answer to the villagers of Juniu Township.

Xu Gui gritted his teeth and said indignantly, "We wait outside the office. I refuse to believe he won't ever come out."