144 Extortion

Soon, Li Xintian, accompanied by his servants and several thousand taels of silver that had been recovered, left the place.

Just as he stepped out of the door, a flash of red shadow suddenly leaped down from the adjacent courtyard wall.

"Xintian, it's actually the red tiger! It's back! Oh, look, Xintian, the red tiger has a mouse in its mouth."

Hu Qiuyan said with a joyful smile.

However, when the red tiger turned its head, they saw that it was holding a white mouse in its mouth. The white mouse was not dead; it merely opened its round eyes, with faint tears welling up within them, appearing as though it were weeping.

Li Xintian glanced at it and instantly recognized it as that very same white mouse.

Indeed, this white mouse lived in Zhang Liangde's household.

"You little mouse, you've finally met your match today. Do you know how formidable this is now?"

Li Xintian laughed.

Cats are the natural predators of mice, but even if a cat could not be found, could they not enlist a soaring tiger king with tens of thousands of years of cultivation to catch a mouse?

Even with a certain degree of spiritual cultivation, a white mouse was no match for the soaring tiger king. Furthermore, this was no ordinary tiger; it was an ancient monster with tens of thousands of years of cultivation.

The white mouse nodded repeatedly, cupping its paws toward Li Xintian to beg for mercy, its tear-filled eyes looking utterly pitiful.

The soaring tiger king looked at Li Xintian and said, "Why don't you let His Majesty eat it to satisfy my palate."

It seemed that at the mere nod of Li Xintian's head, the red tiger would devour the white mouse completely, leaving not even a single strand of fur behind.

"Spare it. It only came to my Li family to steal money out of gratitude for a past kindness, and cultivation is not easy for it. Let it go."

Seeing how intelligent the white mouse was, Li Xintian had no desire to kill it.

Since it was not a vicious demon guilty of heinous crimes, he would not push things to the point of extermination.

"Bah!"

The soaring tiger king had no choice but to loosen its jaws. The white mouse immediately broke free and scurried away in a flurry of pattering sounds.

After running a considerable distance, it paused, turned its head to look back at Li Xintian, and appeared to be bowing in gratitude.

"Do not steal ever again. The karmic retribution is too heavy, and you will never attain a human form in the future if you persist."

Li Xintian said.

The white mouse seemed to understand, nodding repeatedly before darting away without looking back.

"Xintian, why is stealing such a heavy karmic burden?"

Hu Qiuyan asked out of curiosity.

The soaring tiger king, however, cast a deep and meaningful glance at Li Xintian.

Li Xintian smiled and said, "You will understand in time."

This karma was the karma of cultivation. Because the white mouse had shallow spiritual attainments, it naturally did not understand the severity of it. Once it gained several hundred years of cultivation, it would realize that stealing other people's wealth to repay a kindness—though it repaid the debt—easily cost one's own life.

Otherwise, why did those fox spirits repay kindness not with money, but by offering themselves in marriage?

Because offering oneself was the simplest and most direct method, requiring no entanglement with other karmic ties.

Besides, a human life passes in a mere few decades, whereas spirits can live for thousands, or even tens of thousands of years. Therefore, resolving a karmic debt over the course of a few short decades was hardly a losing proposition.

To give another example, take Bai Suzhen from The Legend of the White Snake.

Even though she was on the verge of attaining immortality, she still owed Xu Xian a karmic debt. With no other choice, she had to transform into a human and repay it with her devotion.

Unfortunately, she eventually fell deeply in love and was subdued by Master Fahai.

"Putting that aside, where on earth did the remaining five thousand taels of silver go?" Li Xintian reined in his distracting thoughts, furrowing his brow slightly as a sense of doubt arose in his heart.

The money stolen by the white mouse was entirely in the possession of Zhang Liangde. Accounting for the two thousand taels Zhang Liangde had already spent, that amounted to five thousand taels in total, which meant another five thousand taels had vanished into thin air.

"What a headache. This world is truly unsettling."

Li Xintian pondered for a moment, but having no leads whatsoever, he had to let the matter rest for the time being.

Losing ten thousand taels of silver was of no great consequence; what he feared was that if this issue went unresolved and continued to happen, even the wealthy Li family would eventually be hollowed out completely.

Li Xintian had no choice but to take Hu Qiuyan with him, holding the soaring tiger king in his arms, and return to the estate accompanied by his guards. He presented the recovered thousands of taels of silver to his father, Li Qizong, and briefly explained the situation.

"Dastardly! To think that evil spirits are running amok. Our Li household has always been a family of benevolence and virtue; why should we invite such a disaster?"

Li Qizong was consumed by anger upon hearing the account.

After all, another five thousand taels of silver remained unaccounted for.

"Father, matters have reached this stage, and we have no other recourse. The missing five thousand taels cannot be recovered, so we can only bear this loss," Li Xintian said. "Moreover, having suffered this setback, we should implement special security measures in the treasury from now on. We must guard not only against domestic thieves and bandits, but also against the theft of spirits and phantoms."

"Tian'er speaks reasonably. Later today, I shall go and ask a Daoist priest to bestow a spiritual talisman to hang within the treasury,"

Li Qizong nodded, adding, "However, shouldn't your wedding be arranged soon? It might bring some auspicious joy to sweep away our recent misfortune."

After exchanging a few more words with his father, Li Xintian saw that the hour was late and told Hu Qiuyan to return to her chambers to rest.

Today had been wasted in handling these disturbances, so when night fell, Li Xintian continued his practice of cultivating righteous energy in his room.

Yet, having already achieved the scholarly rank of a juren, he had largely mastered all that was expected of him.

After an unknown duration, when Li Xintian had fallen into a deep sleep, he seemed to hear the faint sound of gongs and drums echoing from outside his door, mingled with the panicked cries of servants. The clamor was somewhat chaotic, rousing him from his slumber. At first, he paid little heed, but gradually the noise grew louder, as if some major incident had occurred within the estate.

"Crash!"

His bedroom door was suddenly pushed open.

Tie Shan, the estate's chief martial guard, rushed in with a panicked expression: "E-Eldest Young Master, a great disaster has struck the estate! Eldest Young Master, please wake up quickly, a major crisis is upon us."

Tie Shan's voice was exceptionally loud, instantly jarring the half-asleep Li Xintian completely awake.

"Tie Shan, why aren't you sleeping in the middle of the night instead of running into my quarters to make a racket? What kind of major disaster could it be that requires you to disturb me at this hour?"

Li Xintian sat up abruptly and demanded.

"Eldest Young Master, I certainly didn't wish to disturb your sleep, but Master ordered me to rouse you. If Eldest Young Master does not step forward, our Li household is likely facing impending doom."

Tie Shan said with a face full of anxiety.

Li Xintian also vaguely sensed that something was amiss; had it not been a matter of utmost gravity, Tie Shan would never have disturbed him in the dead of night.

"This really is an uneasy world."

With no other choice, Li Xintian hurriedly rose, dressed himself, and prepared to go out and investigate.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

As soon as he stepped out of the room, a fierce gale suddenly swept through the courtyard, whipping up dust and leaves that lashed against his face with a crackling sound, making it nearly impossible to keep his eyes open.

"Why has such a violent wind blown up?"

Li Xintian used his sleeve to shield his face against the blowing sand.

He narrowed his eyes, raised his head slightly, and looked up at the sky.

The sky today was exceptionally murky, devoid of even a sliver of starlight or moonlight. It was dark to the point of being oppressive. Nevertheless, he could faintly discern that hovering directly above the Li family estate was a dense mass of churning black clouds that gathered without dissipating, looking exceedingly bizarre and sinister.

When Tie Shan led him away from the courtyard, he pulled Li Xintian toward the estate gates without looking back.

"Tie Shan, where are you taking me?"

Li Xintian asked.

"Forgive me, Eldest Young Master, but Master gave strict instructions for me to take you away from the Li estate and seek refuge with the Daoist priest in Xiahe Village."

Tie Shan replied.

Li Xintian said, "Didn't you say something happened at the estate? If a crisis has occurred, why on earth are you taking me away?"

"Eldest Young Master, please don't ask any further."

Tie Shan said with shifting eyes, "In short, this is Master's will, and I am merely obeying his orders."

"You wake me in the middle of the night, drag me out on the run, and refuse to tell me what has happened. How can I possibly leave under such circumstances? Since you won't explain, I will go ask my father clearly myself." With that, he jerked his arm away and instantly broke free from Tie Shan's grip.

His physical strength and martial arts prowess far surpassed Tie Shan's; if he wished to leave, Tie Shan could never hold him back.

Without hesitation, Li Xintian strode rapidly toward the front courtyard.

Tie Shan shouted in alarm a few times and hurriedly gave chase.

At that exact moment, a beam of golden light erupted from within the dark clouds and descended directly into the main hall of the Li residence. Upon touching the ground, the golden light dispersed and materialized into a mighty and awe-inspiring general who stood over a zhang tall, clad in golden armor and wielding a long spear. The general glared angrily at Li Qizong and Chen Shuxia, who were inside the hall.

"I am a righteous deity of the heavenly court, commanded today to come to your Li household to collect tribute. Hand over twenty thousand taels of silver, and your Li family shall be guaranteed ten generations of prosperity and a hundred generations of peace. Should you refuse in the slightest, you shall inevitably suffer heavenly retribution."

"We dare not, we dare not! Heavenly Deity above, please take whatever silver and money you wish from my humble household; we would never dare to show the slightest defiance."

Terrified to the core, Li Qizong and Chen Shuxia trembled violently and dropped straight to their knees.

"Where are the heavenly soldiers?"

The golden-armored deity shouted in a thunderous voice.

Instantly, two beams of silver light emerged from the dark clouds, and a full ten gleaming silver heavenly soldiers descended from the skies, cupping their fists in salute to the golden-armored deity.

"Go to the treasury and retrieve twenty thousand taels of silver." The golden-armored deity commanded.

The ten heavenly soldiers uttered not a word. With a single cupped-fist salute, they strode away, charging straight into the Li family treasury. They began hauling out heavy chests of silver one after another. Once each silver-armored soldier carried his load of wealth out, he transformed into a streak of silver light that shot back up into the dark clouds, disappearing alongside the silver bullion.

Shaking from head to toe with a heart-wrenching agony, Li Qizong could only watch helplessly as the accumulated wealth of several generations of the Li family was carted away by celestial soldiers and heavenly generals.

"Father! Mother!"

At that very moment, however, Li Xintian's voice rang out as he strode forward with a hurried and determined expression.

"T-Tian'er!"

Seeing Li Xintian, Li Qizong was initially overjoyed, but panic quickly overtook him as he cried out, "Tian'er, quickly—run! Leave this place and flee to Xiahe Village to hide!"

"Mortal, now that you behold this Heavenly Deity, why do you still refuse to kneel?"

The golden-armored deity bellowed majestically at Li Xintian. The golden spear in his hand swept through the air, stirring up swirling gales within the grand hall that knocked all the surrounding wooden stools and chairs to the floor.

Tie Shan, who had pursued them to the scene, was so frightened by this display that his legs went weak and he collapsed to his knees.

Li Xintian's gaze hardened as he stared fixedly at this so-called golden-armored deity. Without the slightest trace of fear, he took large strides forward.

"Tian'er, do not be reckless! Quickly, kneel down!"

Chen Shuxia was sweating profusely from sheer terror, her face drained of all color. She could bear the loss of twenty thousand taels of silver and generations of accumulated wealth, but she could not bear for her precious son to come to any harm.

"Father, Mother, have no fear. Allow your son to test this so-called golden-armored deity." Li Xintian said.

He simply did not believe that a genuine righteous deity of the heavenly court would lower himself to target a tiny family like the Li clan, let alone descend in person merely to extort silver.

Silver was nothing more than a commodity used by mortals; deities required only the nourishment of incense and prayer.

Besides, the Black Emperor was currently searching everywhere for these so-called immortals, yet this entity dared to show its face in public purely to demand silver? Did it not fear the appearance of the Black Emperor? Li Xintian felt there was something deeply suspicious about the whole affair.

The golden-armored deity shouted angrily once more: "Impertinent mortal, how dare you show disrespect to this Heavenly Deity?"

His voice was like a thunderclap bursting beside everyone's ears, causing Tie Shan—who knelt beside Li Qizong and Chen Shuxia—to experience intense ringing in his ears and a splitting headache.

Yet this thunderous voice had zero effect upon Li Xintian. A cold smile played at the corners of his mouth as he rapidly closed the distance to the golden-armored deity.

The moment he drew close, the expression on the golden-armored deity's face stiffened, and his booming voice cut off abruptly. He froze in place, acting precisely like a lifeless wooden puppet.

"What kind of righteous heavenly deity is this? It's clearly nothing more than a trick of Daoist sorcery."

Filled with righteous indignation, Li Xintian channeled a layer of his scholarly righteous energy into his foot and delivered a fierce kick directly against the body of the golden-armored deity.

"Boom!"

The form of the golden-armored deity instantly shattered into pieces, dispersing a thick cloud of golden mist. The vapor carried a heavy, pungent mixture of sulfur, burning incense, and metallic scent that filled the air.

"Why did the righteous energy in my home have no effect against this sorcery? Or perhaps... it seems it is only capable of guarding against demons and ghosts entering the dwelling. Yet when that mouse came to steal silver, it suffered no harm either. Does that mean only those who have taken human lives trigger the defense?"

Li Xintian muttered quietly to himself in his thoughts.

Yet this entity—standing over a zhang tall, clad in golden armor, radiating majesty and muscular might, resembling a legendary giant spirit god—had literally been kicked to pieces by a single blow from Li Xintian, bursting away into a cloud of yellow smoke.