Love letters are not allowed in the exorcism notebook!-Chapter 630 - 53 You’re in trouble now that you’ve fallen into my hands

The obstinate and greedy middle-aged and elderly women have always been the classic villain archetype in women’s historical fiction novels, much like the wealthy young masters who can’t take a step when they see a beautiful woman—they are a staple demand of the male readership.

However, this doesn’t quite work on Wang Yunxiao.

Scar Wang never believes in respecting the old and cherishing the young.

You already sneaked onto my turf to be a kidnapper, and you still expect me to treat you as a human?

Before this old hag was hanged, she had already received a beatdown. Now that she’s regained her strength, she seems to think she’s capable again, her arrogance gradually flaring up.

This made Wang Yunxiao very dissatisfied with the methods of his subordinates. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

They were too lenient, failing to make her deeply realize her mistake.

It was the same when they caught Wei Dafu last time, they didn’t beat him into submission at all, and as soon as he recovered, he put on airs with an unapproachable attitude.

When I used to handle things myself, this kind of problem would never happen.

But there’s no helping it, as the big brother, one can’t personally take care of everything. If you don’t let your brothers do things, how can they gain experience and grow quickly?

A basin of cold water was splashed on the old crone, reviving her from her recent faint.

The old crone was about to scream when Matuan stuffed a handful of dirt into her mouth, then he picked up the hammer and aimed at her withered ankle.

"Don’t move! If this hits the wrong spot, we’ll have to start all over."

"Ow—!"

The hammer fell, and with a plop, the old woman rolled her eyes and fainted again.

Not only did the workers present break out in sweat, but Liu Er, the accomplice who was put down, was even more pale-faced with fright, so scared that he was a mess.

There’s no need to go overboard with killing, the old lady merely kidnapped a dozen or so children, why go to such lengths.

That was the number Liu Er had confessed to so far.

These people had escaped from the Capital, and according to Liu Er, at the end of August there was a crackdown on crime in the Capital, the Imperial Guards were deployed, it was a killing spree with blood filling the streets, even the steamed buns at the vegetable market sold out.

They were originally part of the Outer Sect of a sect, claiming to not be involved in any major crimes (self-proclaimed), who would have thought the Sect Leader had an affair with the concubine of some official, word got out, and everyone related to the sect was wiped out by the Governmental Office, leaving only these scattered Outer Sect Disciples lucky enough to survive, fleeing in panic.

In the Jianghu World, the saying goes: "Golden peel brings injury, plentiful entertainment like the willows," these eight characters specifically refer to the performers from All Walks of Life.

Those with ’colorful’ in their name are magicians, and Foreigners call them magicians.

These street performers have always been looked down upon, and one important reason is that they are often closely associated with kidnappers and thieves, as well as frequently walking on the edge of crime themselves.

Many families who lost their children did so while being engrossed in excitement at the market, only to find their children mysteriously gone.

The leader of this gang, "Ninth Master," used to be a despicable person who couldn’t appear in public, but now that the powerful ones above had succumbed, he was pushed forward by everyone to lead relying on his seniority. He then set up some sort of incense burning and wish-making, something about not seeking to be born on the same year, month, and day, but wishing to die on the same year, month, and day.

In plain language, it’s all about swearing an oath not to snitch on each other to the Governmental Office.

Taking an oath is easy, but it doesn’t solve the problem of how to get food.

Everyone was discussing heading west, but Ninth Master was unwilling, saying that with our meager skills and not having been passed down the true teachings of our sect, we can’t beg for food in the countryside. It’s better to go to Tianmen, as a big city with a prosperous economy. The common people only want to spend money when they have it in their pockets, plus all those Royalty and nobility who used to enjoy lavishing rewards have also all fled to Tianmen, haven’t they?

None of these people were particularly bright, so once they heard what Jiuye said, they felt it made perfect sense! Hence, they came running over in the middle of the night.

But swearing an oath was easy; the problem of putting food on the table remained unresolved.

Tianmen too, was a renowned land of performing arts. Without real skill, you couldn’t get anywhere here. The old Tianmen people wouldn’t just leave you without reward; they’d shoo you away with a mix of hisses and curses.

Unable to make an honest living, they had no choice but to seek crooked paths.

And once they started to take these crooked paths, everyone found that Tianmen territory was truly a great place.

Local people walking on the streets wouldn’t even cover their wallets—you could steal as much as you wanted.

Young, dewy-eyed female students walked down the streets, their white arms exposed like lotus roots, completely unguarded against strangers.

Why didn’t they come to Tianmen earlier?

Wang Yunxiao thought to himself that they should have come earlier—a year earlier and they would have been able to feast on something fresh.

That old hag was Liu Er’s distant aunt, called the Six Immortals Auntie in the Capital, who was primarily known for doing the kind of business that Wang Po does in "Water Margin Tale", acting as a go-between for noble married women and helping young nobles of wealthy families relieve their worries. Occasionally she’d kidnap a child on the side, although she wasn’t particularly proficient at this side of her business.

It would mostly be fruitless for the Governmental Office’s people to interrogate her.

Because kidnappers didn’t have a stable network of contacts, unlike those selling opium who’d have customers returning for more. Kidnapping was a one-off deal; they’d hear in the underworld about someone wanting a child, then they’d wait for the right moment to strike. Once the money was handed over, the other party would vanish without a trace, leaving nothing to investigate.

Besides, when it came to old women like her, the Governmental Office agents were afraid they might kill her during interrogation and end up with an unsolved case. So they gave her the chance to throw tantrums, pretend to be mad or stupid. If indeed caught by the victims, she might even make up some nonsense to win their sympathy.

Little did she expect to come across Wang Yunxiao.

"So, by your account, excluding this time, you’ve already kidnapped six children? You’re quite efficient at your job!" said Wang Yunxiao, comforting Liu Er, who was scared into spilling everything: "Don’t say I never gave you a chance. If you can find those six children, I’ll let you off. But if you fail to find even one of them, or if anything has gone wrong, don’t blame Laozi for not being sympathetic. I’ll chop you up nicely and feed you to the dogs!"

Liu Er pleaded repeatedly, "Spare me, hero! I’m just a helper. The one who really handles it is my auntie. If you torment her to death, the children will never be found!"

"No worries, she won’t die if I don’t let her. Even if she dies, it doesn’t matter; dead people can talk too."

It’s not so easy for someone to die!

He wiped his face with a towel, then Wang Yunxiao walked out of the construction site.

Li Mumu was sitting under the trees with a group of literary young ladies... the little girls from the Literary Society, eating peaches.

Watermelons were out of season by September, just in time for peach season. The peaches transported from west of the Capital were big and white, crisp and sweet. Eldest Miss Li, generous as she was, had bought a whole basket.

"How did it go? Did you get any results?" asked Li Mumu curiously.

"The kidnappers from the Capital aren’t a big deal. I’ll deal with them later," replied Wang Yunxiao.

He turned to look at Song Lili, who was silently eating a peach, and asked with a smile, "You weren’t scared, were you?"

Song Lili shook her head and asked softly, "Are they bad people?"

Wang Yunxiao nodded and said, "They are bad people, and we are law-abiding good citizens. That old lady, as kind-hearted as she may seem, has already kidnapped six children like you since she arrived in Tianmen. We can’t let her die so easily, otherwise those children will never be recovered."

Song Lili nodded, "We really can’t let her off that easily!"