Chapter 61: The Little Mule That Loved the Heated Brick Bed

Zhang Huacheng was in an excellent mood. The ancestral hall had gone undiscovered, and a little hinny had magically been added to his household.

Doudou hid timidly behind him, staring cautiously. The little hinny had probably been raised indoors previously, as it ambled around the room with complete familiarity, totally at home.

"Isn't this little mule just gorgeous?" Wang Lin spun around behind the animal's rump, accompanied by a continuous, cheerful jingle of bells.

Soon, Wang Lin began to cautiously stroke the little hinny. Accustomed to human closeness, the creature showed not a shred of fear. Doudou wobbled over to stand behind Wang Lin, her wide eyes never leaving the little hinny for a second.

With a nimble leap, the little hinny suddenly bounced right up onto the kang bed. Speechless, Zhang Huacheng hurried over to shoo it back down.

Laughter and cheer filled the household.

Stepping out into the courtyard, Zhang Huacheng saw two skinned roe deer lying in the snow. Er Gou truly was unwilling to share any meat with the old Wang family; even when urged to take one back with him, he refused.

Tiezhu hadn't rested upon returning from the county seat either, having already shouldered a load of seafood and headed off to Fuzhuang Production Brigade.

From next door came the sound of Chen Youde's furious cursing.

Having suffered a penalty from the commune yesterday, taken the blame for others, and endured two heavy beatings, he had finally gritted his teeth and scraped together ten yuan to pay the commune fine. To his utter shock, Chen Yinshan had ambushed and blocked him on the way, subjecting him to a barrage of threats. That was the final straw—he completely exploded.

Stepping outside, Zhang Huacheng saw the two of them still locked in a tug-of-war at the entrance.

Why didn't they just start throwing punches!

Growing slightly impatient, Zhang Huacheng called out, "Chen Youde, what are you still afraid of him for? He's nothing! He's just a warehouse watchman. Yesterday, I heard it as clear as day—it was him who instigated you to go to the commune, yet the moment trouble hit, he turned his back, denied everything, and washed his hands clean. I can go to the commune to testify for you, and Er Gou can testify for you too. If you're afraid of being reported, then report him! Even if you don't report him, you can report his son. His son is a rapist now—if you've got nothing to lose, report his son. Every single report hits the mark. The old Wang family already said his son committed forced entry and rape, and he's going to be executed by firing squad!"

Hearing this, Chen Yinshan felt his scalp go numb. He grabbed Chen Youde and tried to drag him toward the house.

He was genuinely terrified of this matter escalating any further.

While Chen Youde had initially been somewhat intimidated by Chen Yinshan, those words instantly cleared his head. Right! Why should a barefoot man like him be afraid of someone wearing shoes?

"This is a matter for the Chen family!"

Knowing full well that Zhang Huacheng was intentionally fanning the flames, Sun Li immediately shouted out.

But Chen Youde had already reached his boiling point. He had done all the heavy lifting only to be criticized by the commune, fined, and given a severe thrashing by Chen Gonglin. Not only did Chen Yinshan refuse to admit his role, but he had even twisted the story to paint Chen Youde as a pathological liar. When he returned home in disgrace, he had even been beaten bloody in the face by Er Gou. The anger had kept him awake the entire night.

"To hell with the Chen family! They made me take the fall for everything, yet no matter how you slice it, I'm still Chen Gonglin's cousin. They kicked me around like a stray dog! Chen Yinshan, you're denying it? Little Huacheng is right! I'm going to go report your son for rape right now. Everyone in the brigade saw you shell out fifty yuan to shut that widow's mouth!"

"Are you an absolute pig? Can't you see he's just trying to stir up trouble?!"

Infuriated to the point of a rage, Chen Yinshan wished he could strangle Zhang Huacheng on the spot.

"If you want compensation, this doesn't end without a hundred yuan!" Zhang Huacheng added helpfully from the sidelines.

Sun Li, who had been about to step in and persuade her husband otherwise, snapped her mouth shut upon hearing that. Exactly—why should her man be stuck shouldering every single disaster? It was Chen Yinshan who had stirred up this mess in the first place!

"That's right, one hundred yuan!" Chen Youde shoved Chen Yinshan away and barked viciously, "Hand over the money, or we go down together!"

"You..."

Cutting off his breath, Chen Yinshan was nearly choked to death with sheer rage. His fingers trembled as his chest heaved violently.

"Rapists get executed by firing squad!" Zhang Huacheng called out.

"That's right!" Chen Youde nodded heavily.

"Brigade officials who abuse their power and engage in corruption instead of setting a good example get executed by firing squad too!"

"Right!"

Chen Youde shouted in agreement, nodding fiercely. They must be executed!

Wang Lin was busy trying to find a name for the little hinny. Seeing Zhang Huacheng return, she asked happily, "How about we call him Little Tinker? Listen to those bells chiming every time he walks."

Little Tinker?

Was that any sort of name for a beast of burden?

Shouldn't a beast of burden have a name like Mule Mighty or Mule Xiangzi?

"Let's just call him Little Tinker from now on." Zhang Huacheng glanced at the adorable little creature. *You little beast, I bought you to work, not to act as a pet.*

"Second Bro!!!"

Little Ya came running over, prompting Doudou to immediately scamper out on wobbly legs.

It wasn't just Little Ya; Hualing and their mother had arrived as well, evidently having heard the news that the family had acquired a little hinny.

Bold as ever, the moment Little Ya laid eyes on the hinny, she wanted to ride it. The creature offered zero resistance, calmly letting Little Ya climb onto its back. Meanwhile, Doudou tugged frantically at Wang Lin's clothes, eager for a turn herself.

Seeing how accustomed the hinny was to humans, a sinking realization hit Zhang Huacheng: bad news. This little hinny probably only spent time with its mother during nursing, while living alongside humans the rest of the time. Its habits had clearly been picked up from people. No wonder it kept trying to leap onto the kang bed—had it actually slept on a kang before?

Though weaned early, the hinny was already accustomed to human scents and voices, making trust-building a breeze. Those most basic training steps were already bypassed. However, its bones and muscles would still need another year or so to fully mature, at which point strict obedience training would become necessary.

"Second Brother, he's so small, will he be able to pull a millstone?"

Hualing stared at the little hinny with literal stars in her eyes.

"We don't have a stone mill at home. Later, I'll go to the brigade and buy a set. Your oldest brother mentioned wanting to buy a stone mill yesterday, and the brigade still has a few brand-new sets." Their mother stroked the little hinny with undisguised fondness. With a little hinny and a flatbed cart, farm chores around the house would become infinitely easier from now on.

A stone mill?

Zhang Huacheng nodded. The current rural economy relied primarily on barter, with limited currency circulation. A set would cost roughly ten-odd yuan in cash, though brigades typically preferred collective work points or material exchanges.

The brigade's new stone mills were crafted by the commune stonemasons and allocated to members' households. Because the Zhang family had always been treated as outsiders in Chentang Sanliquan, acquiring one would require either cash or trade goods.

"I'll make a trip when I have time. The hinny is still too small to work yet anyway, so there's no rush," Zhang Huacheng said, knowing the brigade officials wouldn't dare cross him directly. Even so, if his parents went, they would inevitably be subjected to the usual round of cold sarcasm.

"You don't need to go. I'll just have your older brother and sister-in-law handle it later."

"Alright!"

With Chen Ming堂 present in the brigade, having his eldest brother and sister-in-law handle the matter would certainly go smoothly.

Murong Detao felt his sister Murong Lan made sense, so he stopped and set her down. By this time, Tuoba Jie had already caught up with his soldiers.

*I was searching for the avatar left behind by Xingchenzi after his death, so why have I ended up here at Duantian? Could there be some collusion between Xingchenzi and Duantian?* A flurry of thoughts raced through Yan Zhen's mind. Finally, throwing caution to the wind, he decisively and directly sneaked into the forward encampment.

E Zuijiao licked her lower lip, pulled the open collar of her robe even wider, tossed her hair back with both hands, and dragged the man away by one ankle.

Pointing to the tower-like structure built entirely of stacked purple electric bees—specifically the thin thread formed by the bees stretching straight up into the clouds—Ye Haochen voiced his conjecture.

"You! If you don't dare, just say you don't dare. Don't go making up excuses about refusing to fight a swordsman who has lost his edge. You're killing me." Yang Bao sneered.

"Where did an old fogey like you crawl out from? I had no idea anyone lived in these parts!" Yaoye glared menacingly at the old man.

A group of people escorted Huijue into the county yamen, during which the former county magistrate eagerly spoke up.

"So much fun! This is way too fucking fun, Master's having so much fun he doesn't even want to go back." Anzi's smile was utterly fake, born mostly of sheer irritation at encountering someone even more shameless than himself.

Regardless of whether this shift was part of a larger chess game, preparing a contingency plan for withdrawal was always the right move. What they truly feared was an internal split within the Desolate Dragon Mansion. To reiterate: cultivators are inherently selfish; whether one can escape unscathed depends entirely on whether the leaders on both sides possess sufficient political wisdom and foresight.

Amid the chaos, facing the fierce Wu soldiers like wolves among sheep, the Fuzhou troops stationed in the camp dared not put up any resistance. Cries of surrender and men kneeling dotted the entire area.

Second Sister's remark drew everyone's gaze toward Fifth Sister Yulan, and they all chuckled as they watched her blush. Mortified and flustered, Yulan raised her delicate arm and chased after her sisters playfully.

Wu Gang stroked the trunk of the jujube tree. It was evident this was a millennial ancient tree. Within its thick girth and crisscrossing branches, too many traces of the vicissitudes of time had been left behind.

Hearing the deliberate emphasis on the word "special," Mu Qingya smiled and glanced not far away toward the riverbank, where a lively ceremony invoking the lantern spirits was underway.

Inside the Ninglu Palace, a jade-inlaid, exquisite censer quietly billowed wisps of smoke, a faint, uniquely refreshing fragrance permeating the hall.

Having finally made it home, Tang Feng bolted out like a fugitive, rushing into the bathroom in two or three strides before breaking into a round of violent retching.

After all, Wang Feng had figured that if Murong Xue could just slightly lessen his punishment, it would already be a blessing. Now that she had forgiven him outright, how could he possibly not be overjoyed and elated?

Why hadn't the police from the Stone Buddha precinct responded to the emergency call? This explained it perfectly! As police officers hauling a criminal back to the station, the local cops had instead intercepted the suspect and taken him right out of their hands. How could Chen Chen not be furious?

"I happen to know of a defensive dharma treasure currently up for auction that's quite decent. Want to take a look? That defensive treasure has an extraordinary background and is exceptionally powerful!" No. 520 said excitedly.

Silence—deathly silence. Even the soldiers on the field who had been eager to leap into combat halted, staring blankly in this direction.

The man let out a booming shout: "Well met!" With that, he charged toward the group of young men and threw himself into the fray. His martial skills were formidable, and fighting multiple youths simultaneously, he didn't cede an inch of ground.

This time, having deployed fifty middle-tier elite shinobi all at once, he had guaranteed the Black Dragon Society that the Dragon Chain system would be secured—not to mention the four upper-mid-tier elites accompanying them. If this failed to guarantee success, there would be no need for them to return; even if they did, death would be inescapable.

Pushing open the fire exit door and stepping outside, we saw Angie holding the baby, her back turned to the edge of the building as she faced us.

Magistrate Kou meticulously observed every corner, every object, and every detail inside the military tent.

Meng Zhuo said no more, gathering his breath as he stepped outward. But after taking barely two steps, he collapsed downward. Shuntu Haolong caught him just in time; the motion tore at Meng Zhuo's wounds, drawing a muffled groan from him as cold sweat instantly broke out all over his body.

This time, Yu Xinlan didn't stubbornly put up a front and claim everything was fine like she usually did, because she genuinely didn't want a repeat of the same incident. Ji Rou had to be made to realize the severity of the situation.

"May I ask why this young master is making such a ruckus here?" Zhao Min stepped out and spoke. Even the Elders of Xuanming remained silent, showing that Zhao Min had brought out her full imposing presence.

"If I told you I'm being serious, could you even afford the price?" Knowing my question was absurd, I still couldn't help asking it.

Meanwhile, the crowd standing outside the inn's entrance chose not to retreat into their rooms and lock the door. Instead, braving the wind and enduring the rain, they stood completely motionless, watching the battle unfold before them.

Seizing Ye Qing's hand, the old man blurted out, "Don't you know this kind of thing can kill people? Do you even have a medical license?"

Xu Jiankun had successfully mastered the art of being a giant in thought and a dwarf in action, managing for the very first time to articulate cowardice with such righteous confidence.

Though Lin Jin's personal cultivation and strength were nothing special, his business acumen was matched by very few.