CHAPTER 313: 313. NOT AS GOOD AS A CHILD

"Grandpa, what are you thinking about?" Seeing the knot on her grandfather’s brow, Jin’er knew he must be facing something troublesome.

"Jin’er, do you think they should stay?" Old Flower’s gaze swept towards the elderly and women tightly bound together.

"Grandpa, are you torn about this?"

"Hmm, some of the children among them are younger than your brother." The old man sighed.

"Grandpa, what’s there to be conflicted about? If they made a mistake, they should bear the consequences. Even children know this simple truth. Since they dared to eat what they shouldn’t have, they should have foreseen the consequences, whether out of subjective recklessness, objective ignorance, or being coerced, it doesn’t absolve them of their crimes."

In Jin’er’s view, humanity vanished the moment they broke the taboo; the naked bodies in the deep pit disclosed just how many lives they had harmed. How could one claim innocence?

And aren’t there many pieces of evidence hanging in the cave?

It’s no surprise her grandfather is conflicted; even she can’t help but feel a pang of pity when looking at the children smaller than her brother.

Though children are without guilt, being in such a twisted environment long-term means their values and characters might inevitably get distorted, like a seed buried deep in their hearts, potentially erupting one day.

"Of course, we can’t wrong a good person either. Grandpa, how about this..." Jin’er whispered into her grandfather’s ear.

"My granddaughter is truly amazing, let’s do it that way," Old Flower gazed at Jin’er lovingly, the hesitation gone, replaced by sheer pride.

The child he raised is indeed exceptional!

Using life as a threat, interrogating them individually for the crimes they or others committed, they’d dare not be deceitful for survival, sparing anyone being wronged.

Even though Old Flower felt there wasn’t a single wrongly accused among them, executing them all felt beyond him. Understanding the principle of "weeding out the roots," but without these people’s strength, survival in such calamity years would be very hard, revenge needed opportunity.

As for his village’s capabilities, frankly, Old Flower had full confidence.

Next, this task would be handed over to Hua Qiang and Hua Rong. The young should take over from here, while the elders guide the overall direction.

They’ve long been displeased with those on the ground; upon hearing the village chief’s orders, Hua Qiang and Hua Rong couldn’t hold back.

One by one, the men were dragged to another location, and after several muffled groans, they confessed, recounting their and others’ crimes, while the elderly and women bound tightly nearby were too terrified to move.

The timid ones had already wet their pants, the pungent urine smell made those guarding them wrinkle their noses in disdain.

Next, it was the turn of the elderly and women, terrifying them; they struggled and kowtowed in pleading, especially the children, already scared senseless.

The whole process went smoothly, hardly needing any intimidation, they spilled out everything they’ve done in recent days like beans out of a sack, including who had affairs with whose wives, what misdeeds were done in secret, who ate an extra bowl of wild vegetable porridge, who secretly sought revenge out of disdain, and so on, everything was confessed.

Even the children, chillingly, knew what they ate, some even questioned why they couldn’t eat it?

This demonstrates how severely brainwashed they were, losing even the most basic understanding.

The pain of hunger is unbearable; for them, anything that could fill their stomachs was worth it.

At this point, some even spoke with a sense of righteousness and little fear, showing how indulged these children were usually.

Upon hearing this, everyone was furious; if it weren’t for the fear of slapping the child to death, Hua Qiang’s hand was itching to strike.

Thus, when carried back, they were especially rough, throwing them to the ground as a small punishment.

Not to mention some elderly and women were even worse, perhaps breaking and resorting to desperate measures, some even began scheming.

Hearing this, Hua Qiang and others couldn’t restrain the rage burning in their chests, although not beating them like the men, each received dozens of strikes with a wooden plank, mainly fearing dirtying their hands.

Soon, this information was sent to Old Flower, and combined with Li Village’s account, the little compassion Old Flower had was completely gone.

In the end, except for some young children and a few women including the elderly, others were taken to a pit designated for discarding bones.

Clearly foreseeing their fate, all brought here were scared to the point of losing control of their bowels, their faces pale as they continuously pleaded for mercy, especially the dozen or so who led them up the mountain.

It was perhaps a strong survival instinct that made Bai Niu dislodge the cloth in his mouth.

"Dear sirs, dear grandfathers, spare our lives! Didn’t you say that if we obediently listen and lead the way, you’d spare us? You’re men of your word, can’t go back on it... mercy, please..."

These words were said hastily and urgently, fearing the cloth would be shoved back if he delayed, leaving not even a shred of hope.

Bai Niu’s inner regret at this moment was unfathomable, lucky to survive the conflict on the official road, but it wasn’t long before he faced death again!

Had he known this group was so vicious, he wouldn’t have brought back the news that these people were fat sheep, but regretting was too late, only instinctively pleading.

Old Flower looked at them coldly, "Relax, the old man keeps his word, I said I won’t kill you and I won’t."

Then he instructed Hua Qiang to take these dozen people aside and signaled them to act.

Yet at such a moment, everyone hesitated; during conflict, killing felt nothing, although some felt uneasy afterward, they quickly adapted, as thinking of "kill or be killed" eased the discomfort.

But seeing these bound, defenseless treacherous souls, they hesitated to raise their blades.

Everyone looked at each other, each hoping for the other to proceed. Amid the intertwined glances, a crossbow arrow pierced into a man’s chest, and with wide eyes and spurting blood, he collapsed.

This firm action drove those in extreme terror to collapse further, struggling madly to break free of their bindings.

This decisive shot left Hua Qiang and others in embarrassment.

These were nothing more than beasts, yet they were hesitating, beasts deserved to be exterminated by all, they—men with families and estates—turned out less than a young girl, faces burning with shame.