C75

Seeing that he had temporarily put away his murderous intent, Honeysuckle took the knife from the table and cut a piece of the watermelon. Then he said with a smile, "Great Hero Meng, it's too hot. You can eat the melon while I slowly explain it to you!"

Meng Chun Lou really wanted to eat the melon in his hands, but now that her friends and enemies were hard to distinguish, he could only bear with it and said, "I don't like eating the melon. Before I lose my patience, you'd better say it quickly!"

Hong Ni Le saw the caution in Meng Chun Lou's heart. She smiled and said, "If that's the case, then I won't hold back!"

As he spoke to here, he took a big bite of the watermelon and the juice flowed out from the corner of his mouth. He then sighed and said, "The cause of this matter is as such! Originally, no one knew about this, but one day, he got drunk and accidentally burned the cellar. All of the herbs in the cellar were taken care of, including those small animals that were used for testing the drugs, and none of them survived … "

"Oh?" Meng Chun Lou looked at Hong Ni Le with a puzzled expression, "Since that cellar was set on fire and even the small animals were not spared, how did you know that there was a powerful man inside?"

"At that time, when the villagers saw the fire start, they all went to put out the fire. It could be said that it took a lot of effort to rescue a charred corpse from inside. After everyone had identified him, no one actually recognized him, so they guessed that he was an otherworldly expert!" Hong Ni said.

"What a joke!" Meng Chun Lou sneered, "Since he dug the cellar in this village, how could there not be any movement? Haven't the villagers noticed? Furthermore, he is still concocting medicine here. How can he hide from those villagers? "

"Isn't this an otherworldly expert? When experts do things, they have their own tricks. If they were casually discovered by others, can they still be called otherworldly experts? " Honeyley laughed.

"This village is extremely ordinary and there isn't anything special about it. If the expert from another world chose to make medicine for medicine, he could have already chosen to live deep in the mountains or the forests. Why would he choose to live here?" Meng Chun Lou asked.

"I'll have to ask that otherworldly expert then!" "Perhaps, that otherworldly expert is a person from this village. However, he has always been out there, and many people have long forgotten about him. He loves his homeland, so he gave up on his mountains and forests and chose to refine medicine in this village. Who can say for sure?"

Meng Chunlou thought about it for a while and felt that what he said made sense, but deep down he felt that there were still a lot of doubts hidden within. However, he was anxious to know the truth, so he ignored them.

Perhaps the medicine concocted by that expert was meant to harm others, or perhaps it was just an accident that Liu Chengyin did not mean to, because after the medicinal herbs stored in that expert's cellar were burnt along with the small animals that tried the medicine, they formed a very strong smoke. At that time, all the villagers that participated in the fire had smelt it, and even those old people and children that did not go out were all blinded by the smell of the smoke. Honglin sighed.

"You mean they smell the smoke from their strange illness?" Meng Chun Lou asked.

"That's right!" Anyone who has smelled it will have their body festering and maggots growing on them. It's so disgusting! " When Honeyley said this, he couldn't even finish the watermelon in his hand. He casually threw it to the side and said, "To be honest, we brothers guard here and vomit dozens of times every day. That kind of feeling isn't something other people can understand!"

"They got a strange disease and should have gone to the doctor to treat them. Why are you guarding this place?" Meng Chunlou asked with doubt.

"Good question!" Honeyley smiled bitterly and said, "If you're sick, of course you have to see a doctor. But a doctor doesn't have to spend money, does that work?" Not to mention an ordinary doctor wouldn't be able to cure this kind of strange illness, even the medical records didn't mention it. How easy would it be to cure it? In order to survive, not only did those villagers spend all their savings, they even borrowed money from our Ru Yi Hall. We were almost completely broke, but it was all for naught! "

"And then you're here to collect your debt, aren't you?" Meng Chun Lou asked.

"That's right!" "It is only right and proper to pay back the debts owed to you. Although our Ru Yi Hall has plenty of money, we are not living Bodhisattvas that do good deeds. We can't just watch them leave and not take back any of their money, can we?"

"They have already used up all their wealth, so what are they going to give you back? Furthermore, if you go to them now and force them to pay you back, isn't that the same as taking your life from them? " Meng Chun Lou said angrily.

"Hero Meng's words are wrong!" The smile on Hong Ni Le's face instantly disappeared without a trace, "This sickness cannot be cured. No matter how much money we spend, it will all be for naught! On the other hand, those people who lent us money died soon after. This debt is now a dead debt, and we have become the biggest losers. If it were you instead, would you be willing to do so? So, if we don't collect the debt right now, we can't wait for all the villagers to die and then we can come back to collect the debt, right? "

"This …" Meng Chunlou was speechless. After all, no one would be willing to lend their money to someone who couldn't possibly pay their debt. Besides, it was perfectly justified for them to ask for a debt!

Seeing that he had nothing to say, Honey smiled and said: "Our Ru Yi Hall doesn't insist on killing people. For example, this time, we were originally lending them money at the rate of three points, but in the end, Pavilion Master Wu issued a death order, not allowing us to collect their interest. We only need to take back their capital. If anyone says that our Ru Tang is unkind, then he's smacking himself in the face! "

"In that case, you can't be blamed for your actions, but those villagers must have suffered a lot!" Meng Chun Lou sighed.

"They're not suffering!" Hong Ni retracted the smile on his face and said, "Those troublesome citizens of theirs, they should be properly treated!"

"What do you mean?" Meng Chun Lou asked.

"At the beginning, when Pavilion Master Wu realized that they didn't have the money to treat the disease, he specially sent Ge Hua Qing, the Dao head of Earth School, to treat the villagers. But not only did those troublesome villagers not appreciate his kindness, they even treated him as a trump card and beat him up. "Later on, if it was not for someone daring enough to drink his divine water, who knows how many people would die from the pain from this strange disease right now!" Hong Ni said.

"What divine water is that? Can he really cure us? " Meng Chun Lou asked.

"I've already said that I can't cure this illness. It's just that I'm suffering from an excruciating death!" Hong Niale smiled foolishly, "Taoist Ge used something called a poppy, supplemented by other drugs that can stimulate the muscles and blood, and then boiled into divine water. Although it looks ugly, if a person drinks it, the pain will be no different from a normal person's, many people relied on this divine water to survive until now!"

"Is this divine water the smelly water from the river?" Meng Chun Lou asked.

Hearing this, Hong Ni Le could not help but be shocked, and then asked, "Great Hero Meng, what is the meaning of this?"

Meng Chun Lou sneered and said, "The villagers are drinking that stinky water in the river. They can't even stand the pain without drinking for a day. Don't you know that?"

"This is all nonsense!" Hongluo was so angry that he scratched his ears and cheeks, stamping his feet three times. Then, he suddenly understood and said, "I understand, that must be the case!"

"What's going on?" Meng Chun Lou asked.

"It's like this! Since there are too many villagers, making God's Water requires a large dosage, and also has to be supplied at all times, and Taoist Ge cannot stay in the village for a long time, since many of the brothers in the hall need to rely on him to heal their meridians, so Taoist Ge thought of a way to boil the medicinal herbs required for the God's Water in the upper reaches of the river, using the river's immersion to melt the medicinal effects into the water. This way, the villagers who need God's Water can use it only by the riverside to save time and also allow Taoist Ge to use his avatar skills, killing two birds with one stone! " Hong Ni said.

"If I pour the medicine into the water, wouldn't the efficacy be greatly reduced?" Meng Chun Lou asked.

"That's right!" Therefore, they need to drink more water in order to have a pain-relieving effect! " Hong Ni said.

"But, if I do this, wouldn't I need a lot of medicinal ingredients?" Meng Chun Lou asked.

"That's right!" In order to achieve the desired result, the Ru Yi Hall has even bought all the medicinal herbs in Yangzhou! " Honglin sighed.

When Meng Chunlou heard this, he pondered for a moment. Then, he asked, "After saying so much, it seems like you still haven't answered the question I posed just now. How did that divine water turn into stinky water?"

"This is too easy to explain!" "Because they need to go to the river every day to get water, and also need a lot of water, many people died before they even left the river, and others couldn't carry their bodies away, so, those corpses rotted in the river, and when the poison from their bodies was discharged into the river, many fish and prawns would be poisoned to death, and then the bodies of the fish and prawns would continue to rot, turning the river into smelly water."

"If that's the case, wouldn't the God's Water for Saving Life become even more powerful poisonous?" Meng Chun Lou asked.

"Who says it isn't? But what can we do? " Hong Ni Le bitterly smiled, "Even if someone is willing to improve, those villagers will die sooner or later. Rather than letting them live and suffer for another day, it's better to ruthlessly let them end their own lives early!"

"Bastard!" That was a living person! How can you be so relaxed when you say it? Do you still have any humanity left in you? " Meng Chun Lou said angrily.

"Human nature?" Honeyley laughed contemptuously, "What's the use of human nature! "I only know that as long as a person is alive, they will not be able to escape death. Since sooner or later they will die, it's better to die happily, don't you think?"

When Meng Chun Lou heard this, he bitterly sighed and said, "If such a big thing happened, why didn't you report it to the officials? If the government had stepped in, things might not have turned out this way! "

"A reporter? Don't tease me! " "The former Yang Prefecture Prefect is dead, and the new Prefect has yet to arrive. Right now, he is in charge of two positions, and he is too busy to raise money, so how could he be in the mood to meddle in this nonsense?"

"How preposterous!" Meng Chun Lou looked coldly at Honeyley. "Since you are a commoner, how can you not care about the life and death of the commoners?"

"Hero Meng, I only said those words from your mouth. If it were anyone else, I would definitely laugh at his naïveté!" "Think about it, if all the officials in the world can treat the people as their own children, then how can I, the Great Song, be bullied by the small neighboring countries?" Honeyley laughed coldly, "Now is not the time of Emperor Ren Zong! Furthermore, even at that time, not every official in the world would be able to accomplish anything! "

"However, I heard that those villagers wanted to report to the government, yet you all stopped them from reporting to the government. What is going on?" Meng Chun Lou asked.

"Who said that? Isn't that just spitting blood? " Honile's face was frosty, "When did we stop them from reporting to the officials? "If they don't report us to the authorities, how will the government authorize us to stand guard here?"

"Oh?" Meng Quan was even more confused, "What's going on?" Could it be that the authorities know about this matter? "

"Of course!" Honeyley smiled mysteriously, "And it was we who reported it to the authorities! However, the government didn't have any intention of resolving the issue. After all, if the new Prefect came to Yangzhou with such an embarrassing incident, it would be difficult to explain with a straight face. Moreover, once the news spread to the imperial court and someone made a big fuss about it, a certain person's official journey might not be as smooth! Is that clear enough? "

Hearing this, Meng Chunlou felt as if a huge stone was pressing down on his heart. He pondered for a moment before asking, "But the villagers said that not only did you stop them from reporting to the officials, you also captured and executed those who escaped to the officials. Are they lying?"

"He's definitely lying!" "I don't know why they hurt us like that, but I'm sure they did it to ask the authorities to threaten us so that we can give up on the debt. Their intentions can't even fool a three-year-old child!"

Meng Chun Lou pondered over what Hong Ni Le had said and felt that his words were reasonable, so he asked, "But those villagers also said that you guys took the living by heart, threw them into a pot to cook, and even went to eat in front of them. Is that also fake?"

Hearing this, Hong Ni Le bent his waist down and asked, "Great Hero Meng, do you think we are jackals or tigers or leopards?"

"Of course not!" Meng Chun said.

"Since that's not the case, why would we eat people's hearts?" Hong Ni smiled bitterly, "Don't say that there's nothing delicious about it. Even if it's really delicious, wouldn't it make us brothers vomit a few times in that bloody scene?"

After he said this, the other three lackeys also laughed, making Meng Chunlou feel embarrassed. After all, the woman's words were still in his ears. From her expression back then, she definitely didn't seem like she was lying!

He then smiled and said, "Great Hero Meng, I know that you won't believe me. I'm willing to follow you around the village for a bit, and it would be best if I could find that nonsense villager and confront him. At that time, you'll know for sure!"

Hearing this, Meng Chonglou couldn't help but think, "He actually dares to go and confront the villagers? Is he not afraid in his heart?" Or is what he said the truth? "

Thinking of this, Meng Chunlou could not help but steeled his heart and thought, "Forget it! Rather than making wild guesses here, it would be better to go with him to confront the villagers. When that time comes, the truth and falsehood would be clear! "

When he thought here, he immediately smiled and said: "Alright! In that case, let's go and confront the villagers! If what you say is true, then I will give you justice. But if what you say is false, then I will take your lives! "

"Don't worry!" "If we are lying, we are willing to give our heads to Hero Meng!" Honeyley laughed.