"Report to the authorities?" Lin Feng laughed, a cold laugh. "When your Zhao family oppressed the villagers, seized land, and drove people to their deaths through usury, why didn't you think of reporting it to the authorities? When your son robbed people in the street and beat up the elderly, why didn't you think of reporting it to the authorities then?"

He walked up to Zhao, holding a woodcutter's knife to his neck: "Tell me, should I kill you right now, sending all your filthy deeds to the grave, or spare your life and send you to the county office to confess everything you've done?"

The coldness of the wood-chopping knife seeped through his skin, and Master Zhao was terrified. His legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground, crying, "Hero, spare my life! Spare my life! I... I'll never dare to do it again! I'll return the land! I'll pay back the money! I'll discipline this unfilial son!"

"You," Lin Feng pointed his knife at Young Master Zhao, "cut off your own arm as punishment. If you commit evil again, next time it will be your neck that gets cut off."

Young Master Zhao's face turned deathly pale as he looked at his father. Master Zhao kept his eyes closed, not daring to speak.

"I...I can do it myself?" Young Master Zhao's voice trembled.

"Or, I'll do it." Lin Feng stepped forward.

Young Master Zhao screamed, picked up a stick from the ground, closed his eyes, and smashed it hard against his left arm! The sound of bone cracking was clearly audible, and he rolled on the ground in pain.

Lin Feng stopped looking at them, picked up his things, and turned to walk into the twilight.

The setting sun cast a long shadow over him. The machete in his hand was still dripping blood, but he felt no exhilaration after killing the enemy, only a heavy sense of oppression.

What's wrong with this world? Border soldiers fight bloody battles to protect this very humanity?

He recalled the serene gazes of the women in Xiaojue Valley, the numb gossip of the women in Kaoshantun, Old Man Wang's desperate weeping, and the arrogant faces of the Zhao father and son...

The imperial court? The law? Justice?

Lin Feng suddenly felt a little lost. He gripped the knife in his hand tightly. The knife was cold, but his blood was still warm.

At least today, he made those who should bleed bleed, and allowed those who should cry to catch their breath a little.

The next morning, Lin Feng went to Qing Shi Town again and found two idle men with their hats askew at the town entrance, their eyes scanning the people coming and going.

Lin Feng lowered his head, carried a machete on his back, and mingled with several woodcutters carrying firewood as he entered the town.

There was a small noodle shop by the roadside with a banner that read "Zhang's" hanging at the entrance. Lin Feng went in, ordered a bowl of plain noodles, and sat in a corner.

Just then, a cry of alarm rang out from the noodle shop entrance: "Make way! Make way, everyone!"

A disheveled woman with loose hair and tattered clothes stumbled in. Her face was deathly pale, and her eyes were filled with terror. She immediately collapsed in front of the counter, crying out to the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, save me! Save me!"

Everyone was stunned. The woman was about seventeen or eighteen years old. Although she was in a sorry state, she had beautiful features and fair skin. She was wearing a silk dress that had been torn in several places, revealing her snow-white shoulders and bruises on her arms.

"What's going on?" the shopkeeper asked, startled.

"Someone...someone is chasing me!" The woman turned to look at the door, her voice trembling.

Before the words were finished, four or five burly men rushed in. The leader was a slick-haired young man in fine clothes, who was waving a folding fan and leering at her: "Little lady, why are you running? I'm not going to eat you."

Upon seeing this man, the shopkeeper's expression changed, and he quickly bowed and greeted him: "Young Master Qin!"

Young Master Qin didn't even glance at him, walking straight up to the woman and using his fan to lift her chin: "Come back with me, and I'll guarantee you a life of luxury. Why embarrass yourself in this little noodle shop?"

The woman recoiled in fright, bumping her head against the counter, tears streaming down her face: "I won't go! Let me go!"

The burly man behind Young Master Qin stepped forward to grab the person. The woman looked at the crowd in the shop in despair, her gaze pausing slightly when it swept over Lin Feng.

"Wait a minute," Lin Feng suddenly said.

The shop fell silent. Everyone looked at the "woodcutter" in the corner.

Young Master Qin glanced at him sideways: "Who are you?"

"Just passing by." Lin Feng stood up, walked in front of the woman, and shielded her behind him. "In broad daylight, you're forcibly abducting a woman! Where is the law?"

"The law?" Young Master Qin seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world. "In this Qing Shi Town, I am the law! You're asking for trouble, aren't you?"

Several burly men surrounded them, their eyes fixed on them menacingly.

Lin Feng didn't look at them, but lowered his head to ask the woman behind him, "Miss, do you recognize him?"

The woman shook her head, sobbing, "I don't recognize you! I... I came here to visit relatives, but I got separated from them on the way. I just arrived in town today, and... they've already set their sights on me, trying to take me... to that kind of place!"

"Which place?" Lin Feng asked.

"Welcome...Welcome Spring Pavilion..." The woman's voice was barely audible.

Yingchunlou was the only brothel in Qingshi Town. Lin Feng's eyes turned cold.

"Did you hear that?" He looked at Young Master Qin. "Forcing a woman into prostitution is punishable by eighty strokes of the cane and exile for three thousand li, according to the law."

Young Master Qin laughed heartily: "The law? Go ask the county magistrate. Even he'd have to treat me with respect! Get them! Take care of these fools too!"

The burly men swarmed forward. Lin Feng pushed the woman behind the counter, drew his wood-chopping knife, and charged at her.

This time, he held back. Blood splattered as the blade flashed. In the blink of an eye, three men fell to the ground, one with a severed arm, their screams heart-wrenching.

Young Master Qin's expression changed drastically, and he retreated repeatedly, saying, "You...you dare..."

Lin Feng stepped forward, holding a wood-chopping knife to his neck: "Young Master Qin, is that right? What does your family do?"

"My...my father is the county magistrate!" Young Master Qin said, his voice trembling with fear. "If you dare touch me, my father will not forgive you!"

"County Magistrate?" Lin Feng sneered. "Perfect. Your father failed to raise his son properly, allowing him to commit violence; he deserves a beating."

As he spoke, he kicked Young Master Qin in the back of the knee, causing Young Master Qin to kneel down with a "thud." Lin Feng patted his face with the back of his knife: "I'll give you two choices. One, I'll send you to the county government office and have you confess all the despicable things you've done over the past few years. Two, I'll cripple you right now and make sure you can never touch a woman again. Choose."

Young Master Qin was terrified: "I...I'll go to the county government! I'll go to the county government!"

"Words are no proof," Lin Feng said to the terrified shopkeeper. "Bring me paper and pen."

The shopkeeper, trembling, brought over paper and pen. Lin Feng held the knife to Young Master Qin's neck: "Write. Write down how you forced women into prostitution, how you oppressed the people. Write it clearly, and sign it."

Young Master Qin dared not disobey, and with trembling hands wrote down the list of crimes and pressed his fingerprint on it.

Lin Feng carefully put away the evidence of his crimes before releasing him. He then said to the injured thugs, "Carry him to the county government. If you dare not go, or run away halfway, I guarantee you won't live past tonight."

The thugs dared not disobey, and hurriedly lifted up Young Master Qin and left in a sorry state.

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