Chapter 119: A-Niu, Are You Hungry?

What is the name of the current Emperor of Da Qian?

What does the Emperor of Da Qian look like?

And who are the civil and military officials?

Regarding these matters, the commoners of Qingniu Town know absolutely nothing, or perhaps it should be said that the vast majority of the commoners in the Thirteen Provinces of Daqian are completely ignorant of them.

Even though they live in Da Qian, and even though they are all part of the Human Race. Yet.

For the townspeople of Qingniu Town, the highest-ranking person they usually come into contact with is merely a Tax Official collecting levies, or perhaps the government runners who arrest people.

Their lives are gray, never having known vibrancy. The path ahead is Chaos, never having known clarity.

In their dazed and muddled state, many people do not even know what crime they committed before being labeled as "Sinful Commoners" and forced to come to the border from the Thirteen Provinces of Daqian.

But, even after coming to the border, after coming to Qingniu Town, they still have to pay taxes.

The people of Qingniu Town do not find this strange. They have lived on the land of Da Qian for generations.

They have always felt that paying taxes is a matter of course, and they are willing to do so, feeling proud of it, believing that they have contributed their share to the prosperity of Da Qian.

But now, they have reached their limit.

Year after year of the Demon Tide, year after year of increasing taxes. It has crushed the people's spines, making it difficult for them to stand straight.

"My Lord, I beg of you…"

"We really do not have a single grain of food left…"

At the entrance of Qingniu Town, the sparse townspeople, with fearful expressions and an extremely cautious demeanor, begged the Tax Official who had arrived on horseback not to collect the levy this time.

Their cloudy eyes revealed a glimmer of hope. Their withered palms were trembling as they pressed them together.

However, that Tax Official, riding on his Azure-Scaled Horse, appearing exceptionally tall with his back to the sun, and looking so arrogant, merely snorted coldly and whipped his horsewhip fiercely against the ground.

"Crack!"

It was crisp and loud. It sent sand and soil flying, cracked the gravel, and whipped out the fear in people's hearts.

"A bunch of lowly commoners, the Imperial Court allowing you to live is already a great act of grace!"

The Tax Official pulled on the reins and spewed vile insults. "Swine," "thieves of the Imperial Court," "despicable slaves who waste food," "even if you starve to death, you must pay taxes."

He scolded them fiercely, but the sallow and emaciated people dared not retort; they just stood there begging for mercy.

"Bu-but, we really have no food…"

"Next year, next year we will definitely make it up!"

Hungry. So hungry.

Under the Tax Official's ferocity, the people of Qingniu Town were somewhat cowering and afraid, but what overwhelmed that fear was the powerlessness and hunger emanating from the depths of their bodies.

Everything in Qingniu Town that could be eaten—grain, livestock, even the weeds by the roadside—had long since entered people's stomachs.

How could they produce it? How could they conjure something out of nothing and pay the Tax Official enough grain?

Under the sunlight, the people begging for mercy were crowded together, ragged and tattered, looking extremely pitiful.

Gradually, an old woman wanted to kneel and plead. But before that, a pair of hands supported the old woman first.

"Grandma, get up."

Xu Xi's voice was the same as always, like a gentle spring breeze, warm and soothing to the ears.

But beneath that gentleness, the long-hidden flame was finally no longer concealed, rising intensely and burning wantonly.

"No, no, no."

The old woman shook her head desperately. She wanted to kneel, she wanted to beg the Tax Official for mercy, to implore the Tax Official to spare Qingniu Town this year; this was the only path to survival in her understanding.

However, when the old woman cast her gaze back toward the Tax Official, she saw an extremely shocking scene: the Tax Official, who had been riding on a fierce horse, taller and more majestic than everyone else, was casually struck by a single punch from Xu Xi, slammed fiercely to the ground, and rolled over a dozen times.

The Tax Official cursed.

The Tax Official roared.

But at this moment, the atmosphere at the scene was inexplicably quiet.

"Xi, Xi-geer, how could you…"

The old woman gripped Xu Xi's hand tightly, wanting to say something, yet she did not know where to begin.

She looked at the Tax Official in a daze. For the first time, she realized that the Tax Official who had fallen off his horse was not actually tall; he was the same height as the people of Qingniu Town, and perhaps even slightly shorter due to his excessive obesity.

For the first time, she realized that the Tax Official, covered in dust, did not look scary at all.

So… so we… are we the same…

The scene before them left the commoners of Qingniu Town very confused; they did not know what to do—whether to help the Tax Official up or blame Xu Xi.

Was Xu Xi wrong? That couldn't be right; how could Xu Xi, who had always protected Qingniu Town, be wrong?

Then, was the Tax Official wrong? This bold thought instantly shocked people into rejecting it; the Tax Official represented Da Qian, how could Da Qian… how could it… be wrong…

The people were somewhat hesitant. Finally, one person walked out from the crowd, wanting to help the fallen Tax Official up. But just as he reached him, he was fiercely scolded by the Tax Official to stop.

"Lowly commoners, lawless, simply lawless!"

"Do you have any regard for the law in your eyes!"

"Lowly commoners are just lowly commoners, and those born from you will only be lowly commoners. You damned lot, just wait to be killed by the demons!"

The Tax Official's insults were so vile. His sharp, ear-piercing voice caused the Azure-Scaled Horse to neigh.

At first, the people of Qingniu Town still felt guilty, thinking that being unable to pay taxes was their fault, an unforgivable crime.

But as the Tax Official's insults escalated, especially when he mentioned their families, the expressions of some people turned ugly.

"No, don't you dare!"

"Insult my mother!!!"

Someone erupted. It was the person who had been preparing to help the Tax Official up, the person who was tanned dark and usually appeared silly and foolish, A-Niu.

His eye sockets were bloodshot with anger, and his body was trembling. He clenched his fists, wanting to strike the Tax Official, but hesitated, not daring to act.

"Lowly commoner, I bet you don't have the guts. Attacking an official is a serious crime; can you bear the weight of this crime?" the Tax Official, sitting on the ground, issued a mocking sound.

Like a noisy male duck, he quacked and squawked, blindly taunting A-Niu.

A-Niu's movement came to an abrupt halt. He was silent, slowly retracting his fist.

But at this moment, Xu Xi walked over to A-Niu, gripped A-Niu's wrist, and extended it forward again.

"Big Brother Xu?"

"It's fine, A-Niu. Do whatever you want to do."

"Bu-but, I can't do that…"

A-Niu said, stuttering. He wanted to explain to Xu Xi what serious consequences would follow if he attacked an official of Da Qian; how could the common people fight against officials?

That's right. The common people cannot fight against officials, not even a minor clerk.

Xu Xi shook his head and asked A-Niu, and everyone present: "A-Niu, are you hungry?"

"Hungry!"

A-Niu answered very quickly.

"Do you want to eat? Sweet, white rice."

"I want to eat!"

A-Niu still answered very quickly.

"Then, throw that punch," Xu Xi said, his ethereal voice sounding as if it came from the heavens, bringing the echo of waking from a dream, "A-Niu, he is not more noble than you. He makes you go hungry, so you can hit him."