The crowd gathered around and saw the hidden compartment filled to the brim with broken silver and copper coins. So much money—a rough estimate would put it at several hundred taels of silver.
Besides that, the hidden compartment also contained a yellowed ledger. On its cover, the words "River God Tribute" were scrawled crookedly in brushstrokes.
An old scholar who could read trembled as he opened the ledger. The handwriting inside was messy but clear:
"Year Gengzi, daughter of the Wei family, households donated ninety-seven taels of silver, Zhang Witch took thirty-seven taels, remaining sixty taels."
"Year Xinchou, daughter of the Wang family, donated one hundred and ten taels of silver, Zhang Witch took forty taels, remaining seventy taels."
"Year Renyin, mute daughter of the Jiang family, donated one hundred and eighteen taels of silver, Zhang Witch took forty-eight taels, remaining seventy taels."
"…"
Each entry was like a red-hot branding iron, searing the villagers' hearts.
Wei Laogen snatched the ledger. When his fingers brushed over the words "daughter of the Wei family," his knuckles turned white from the force. Suddenly, he spat out a mouthful of blood with a guttural cry, staining the ink on the ledger.
"Liu Dequan!"
"A life for a life—I'll kill you!"
As he spoke, Wei Laogen wiped the blood from his mouth and charged at Liu Lizheng like an enraged old bear, lunging at him madly.
He pummeled Liu Lizheng with his fists, each strike fueled by all his strength.
"My daughter was still calling for her father before she was thrown into the water! I couldn't save her… How could you be such a beast? For just a bit of silver, you killed my daughter…"
Wei Laogen's voice was broken, mingling with the dull thuds of his fists against flesh, sending chills down everyone's spines.
Liu Lizheng was beaten until his teeth loosened, his face smeared with blood from his nose. At first, he tried to struggle, but soon he could only lie limp on the ground, gasping for breath, fear finally showing in his eyes.
"Don't hit me! I know I was wrong! Please, stop hitting me…"
But the enraged Wei Laogen paid him no heed. His mind held only one thought: to avenge his daughter…
At the same time, the other villagers who had lost their daughters also descended into madness. They grabbed the Liu family members and Zhang Witch, screaming and pouring all their grief and fury onto them.
Liu Lizheng's wife was pinned to the ground by several women who had lost their daughters. Her hair was torn into a tangled mess, and her face was covered in scratches.
"You poisonous woman! When my daughter was chosen, you hypocritically came to comfort me, then turned around and had a new bracelet made."
"How does it feel to wear a silver bracelet bought with my daughter's life?"
"Aren't you afraid my daughter will come back as a vengeful ghost to haunt you?"
A woman cried and cursed as she slapped Liu Lizheng's wife hard across the face.
"Stop hitting me! Stop! It was Zhang Witch's idea! My husband organized it! The Liu brothers and my two sons were the ones who tied people up! It has nothing to do with me! If you want to hit someone, go hit them!"
Liu Lizheng's wife felt she was about to be beaten to death and no longer cared about anything.
As long as they didn't hit her, they could hit anyone.
The Liu family, who had been trembling nearby, afraid Liu Dequan would expose them, instinctively turned to flee when they heard Liu Lizheng's wife's words.
Only then did the crowd remember: in the beginning, when people were still half-convinced about the River God matter, it was the Liu brothers who had forcibly broken into their homes and tied up their daughters.
The Liu family was a powerful clan, and Liu Dequan specifically targeted families with few male members. Even if they had the heart to protect their children, they lacked the strength to resist.
Now that the truth had come to light, the grievances of those who had been bullied by the Liu brothers surged forth all at once.
"Trying to run?"
Butcher Wang was quick-witted and swift-handed, grabbing Old Fourth Liu, who was leading the escape. His large, fan-like hand slapped hard across the man’s face.
"Did you ever think this day would come when you kicked down my door and dragged my daughter away?"
Old Fourth Liu was beaten dizzy, mumbling in confusion:
"It wasn’t me who wanted to kidnap her—it was Uncle who sent me."
Butcher Wang paid no heed to his excuses, grabbing him by the hair and smashing his head against the ground. "If your uncle told you to kill, would you do that too? How much innocent blood is on your hands? I’ll beat this black-hearted scoundrel to death!"
Another Liu clansman tried to escape by climbing over the back wall, but as soon as he reached the top, several young men pulled him down and threw him hard to the ground.
"Old Fifth Liu, have you forgotten how gleefully you laughed two years ago when you pushed Sister Li into the river?"
Someone stepped on his back. "Now it seems you killed her out of spite because she rejected your advances—then framed her as the woman chosen by the River God!"
"…"
The courtyard descended into complete chaos. The Liu men were dragged back one by one—from the eldest to the youngest, not a single one managed to escape.
The villagers’ fury, like oil meeting fire, blazed even fiercer—it turned out that these crimes were never the work of Liu Dequan alone. The entire Liu family was steeped in this filthy blood.
Enraged villagers surged forward like madmen. Several Liu cousins were surrounded in the middle, screaming in agony. Soon, they were beaten black and blue, collapsing to the ground, unable to move.
Zhang Witch was pinned down tightly by two middle-aged women. Her hair was torn into a tangled mess, and several bloody scratches marked her face.
Completely panicked, she stopped cursing and began to weep and beg for mercy:
"Spare me, fellow villagers! I was blinded by greed, tempted by money! I’ll never do it again—please let me go!"
But no one listened. An elderly woman who had lost her granddaughter trembled as she stepped forward, clutching half of a peach wood sword—the very tool Zhang Witch had once used to "perform rituals," claiming it would protect the village.
Now, the old woman raised the peach wood sword and struck Zhang Witch hard on the back. "How many years did you deceive us with this worthless stick? My granddaughter died because of this thing in your hands!"
Zhang Witch curled up in pain, her pleas turning into shrill, miserable wails. But her cries were drowned out by the villagers’ angry shouts, as faint as the buzz of a mosquito.
Jiang Liuli watched the chaotic scene unfold, a faint smile curling at the corners of her lips, then turned and walked out of the Liu family’s courtyard.
What happened next was no longer her concern…
When Jiang Liuli returned home, she saw Zhao Shi and Liu Shi standing guard at the entrance of their thatched hut, kitchen knives in hand, poised and ready.
The rest of the Jiang family had also retreated to their own rooms, where faint, pained groans could be heard from within.