It wasn't that he had changed his nature.
It was because Li Hai discovered that these so-called mountain bandits were all dressed in tattered clothes, pale and emaciated, and barefoot.
Moreover, not a single one of them had a decent weapon; they were merely holding wooden sticks of varying lengths to feign ferocity.
Therefore, compared to real bandits, these people looked more like a group of refugees.
Before long, the villagers watched with wide eyes as these mountain bandits and Old Hu's wife descended from the sky and slowly landed on the ground.
Afterward, their gazes towards Li Hai were like looking at a living deity.
Old Hu even directly knelt on the ground and began kowtowing to Li Hai, continuously shouting phrases like “Immortal Descended” as he kowtowed.
His wife was also very perceptive; seeing her husband act this way, she silently ran over and began kowtowing to Li Hai as well.
As for the mountain bandits, they immediately threw away their wooden sticks and rushed to Li Hai, kneeling and begging for mercy.
Seeing this, Li Hai folded his arms and began to interrogate them:
“Speak, where are you from, and why did you become mountain bandits when you were doing well?”
Upon hearing this, the leader of the mountain bandits immediately raised his head and wailed, “Oh, Immortal, we didn't purely intend to be bandits; it's just—we really couldn't live anymore, we had no other choice!”
Subsequently, the bandit leader began to recount the misfortunes of his group.
It was also from the accounts of these people that Li Hai realized how utterly deranged the Emperor of this Sword Emperor Dynasty truly was.
It turned out that all these people came from a village seven hundred li away.
The reason they had to flee from there, and travel such a long distance of seven hundred li, was because a localized earthquake had occurred there a while ago, burying more than half the village's population.
This matter was already very tragic, but just a few days after that earthquake, the Imperial Dynasty sent people over.
They claimed that the reason an earthquake had occurred there was because the village had committed too many evil deeds, angering the Old Heaven, and so the Old Heaven had sent down calamity to destroy the village.
Therefore, everyone in their village was guilty and needed to pay a large amount of taxes to atone for their sins; otherwise, they would all be executed according to the law.
However, the village where these mountain bandits resided had already experienced an earthquake; now, those who had fortunately survived couldn't even afford food, so how could they have money to give to the Imperial Dynasty?
But if they didn't pay, the army sent by the Imperial Dynasty would immediately slaughter all the earthquake survivors, leaving none alive.
Thus, not paying meant death; paying, however, was impossible due to lack of money, leaving them trapped on both sides.
In desperation, all the survivors of that village scattered and fled to save their lives.
These mountain bandits were lucky; they ran very fast and weren't caught, fleeing madly all the way until they reached Ox Head Mountain and temporarily settled there.
But the other villagers who weren't so lucky suffered terribly; by now, they should have been beheaded and their bodies abandoned in the wilderness.
After speaking to this point, the kneeling bandit leader couldn't help but raise his head and cry out, “Oh, Old Heaven, just hang me and let me die! We really can't live anymore!”
This matter was indeed tragic, but what Li Hai couldn't understand was: An area experiencing an earthquake was already miserable; why would the Sword Emperor Dynasty not only fail to provide disaster relief but also increase taxes?
What did an earthquake have to do with those villagers?
And what was this talk of everyone being guilty? That was too preposterous.
In his confusion, he pulled Old Hu up and began to ask questions:
“I don't quite understand, why did they have to face accountability and tax penalties from the Imperial Dynasty after an earthquake occurred there?”
Facing this question, Old Hu's answer was surprisingly bizarre:
“The Sword Emperor Dynasty has always been like this since ancient times. The Emperor believes he is the True Dragon Son of Heaven, the son of the Old Heaven.
And as the son of Heaven, the Emperor is naturally beloved by the Old Heaven, and is always correct and without fault.
So, once an earthquake or flood occurs in a certain place, it must be because the local people have committed many evil deeds, angering the Old Heaven, who then sent down calamity.
At this time, the Emperor will feel that these disaster victims who angered the Old Heaven have made him lose much face, so he will punish these disaster victims who made him lose face.”
Li Hai looked at him incredulously and said, “So—the Imperial Dynasty won't provide disaster relief either?”
“No,” Old Hu shook his head, “It has never happened since ancient times. Not only do they not provide disaster relief, but the disaster victims also have to pay a disaster area tax and an atonement tax. If they don't pay, they are all executed.
And once all these people are dead and the place is completely empty, the Imperial Dynasty will relocate a large number of people from elsewhere to occupy the empty land and replace the previous inhabitants.”
“Is there no one who resists?” Li Hai asked, surprised and confused.
“They can't resist,” Old Hu said, “The Imperial Dynasty's army will surround the disaster-stricken areas. If they can't pay the money, they will be encircled and suppressed like criminals, and finally all killed.”
“This Emperor is truly—” Li Hai grimaced speechlessly, “the beast among beasts.”
“No, no, you mustn't say such things,” Old Hu quickly stopped him, then continued, “It's not that everyone will be killed. There are always people who successfully escape, just like these mountain bandits.
And when many people escape, they will gather and become rebel armies, wanting to overthrow the Imperial Dynasty. Basically, every year, these rebel armies rise and fall continuously; they have never ceased.
For example, some of my sons joined the rebel army, while others went to the Imperial Dynasty to become soldiers, and then suppressed the rebel army.”
“Actually, rebelling is useless,” the old man from before interjected, “Every year there are uprisings across the country, and some even reach the capital, but what happens in the end?
The Emperor is also an Immortal. When he personally makes a move, he slaughters all those millions of rebel soldiers, then turns around and returns to the palace, continuing with music and dance.”
“Indeed,” Old Hu sighed, “The Emperor alone can bring peace to the world. Even if countless rebel armies appear every year from who knows how many directions, they still all die without exception.”
Subsequently, from his narration, Li Hai learned that the emergence of many rebel armies had little to do with natural disasters; instead, it was related to the Imperial Dynasty's exorbitant and numerous taxes.
Besides the millet, silk, and hemp that every household had to pay annually, the Sword Emperor Dynasty also astonishingly had water taxes, bachelor taxes, rat damage taxes, animal hide taxes, beard taxes, barefoot taxes, shoe and sock taxes, vegetable and grain taxes, meat taxes, multiple birth taxes, marriage and childbirth taxes, farming taxes, and various other diverse taxes.
Under such heavy and numerous miscellaneous taxes, the common people of this nation could only rely on selling their children to maintain their basic livelihood in order to survive.
This was why Old Hu now only had a few sons; it was because over so many years, most of the children he and his wife had given birth to were sold to wealthy families, and the money obtained was used to pay taxes.
And after listening to the various tragic accounts of these people, the anger in Li Hai's heart immediately flared up.
“Who cares what kind of dog Emperor he is, in short—he must die!!”
