Gasp! She's a Time Traveler Using Modern Tech to Improve Ancient Life-Chapter 372 - 369: Vigilante Justice

As night fell, the area in front of the memorial hall was brightly lit, with music playing non-stop, occasionally interspersed with cries.

A large group of people arrived at the entrance to the village path of Lin Family Manor; it was the Sun Family from Dafeng Village accompanied by their gathered friends and relatives.

Lin Mengjin, holding a fish spear, led a group of young and strong men from the Lin Clan to block the road, fiercely glaring at the newcomers, "What are you doing here? What brings you to our manor at night?"

"Where have you taken my Sanlang? Release him immediately!" cried an old woman from the crowd, her voice more bravado than she felt.

"What does your Dalang or Sanlang have to do with us? We didn’t capture anyone nor did we see anyone! Get lost, stop bringing trouble here!"

Lin Mengjin resolutely denied knowing anything, firmly refusing to admit they had taken anyone.

"How is that possible?! Today, even Xiaoliu saw it, you dragged my Sanlang away from Fang’s gambling den!"

"We are all law-abiding citizens, how could we have been at any gambling den? I didn’t see anything and that’s final! Leave, our manor does not welcome outsiders at night! Come tomorrow if you want to attend mourning!"

By tomorrow, the murderer will be nothing but bones.

Under the moonlight, the sight of fish spears gleaming coldly in the hands of the Lin Family Manor people made those from Dafeng Village hesitate to advance.

A few years ago, during a water dispute, they had fought with the Lin Family Manor and knew these were butchers who indeed dared to kill.

The Village Chief was also the Clan Leader of the Lin Clan, and the elders were also on their side; as outsiders settled in Dafeng Village, they simply did not dare to fight the Lin Clan.

They couldn’t match the power or the influence.

Each household in Lin Family Manor was bound by blood, united against outsiders, while Dafeng Village consisted only of mixed residents, which made a huge difference.

At least right now, the people of Lin Family Manor truly dared to go all out, while those from Dafeng Village could not afford such a gamble.

"I’ll fight you!" The old woman gritted her teeth and charged at the men of Lin Family Manor like an enraged bull.

Lin Mengjin put away his fish spear, extended his hand, and pushed her back just as she was about to reach him.

The old woman fell into a sitting position, slapped her thighs as she wailed, and looked back at her people.

However, the group behind her was all talk and did not dare to take a single step forward.

Thinking of her son whose fate was unknown, the old woman’s cries grew even more heart-wrenching.

The news of someone dying from stealing melons and setting fires last night at Lin Family Manor had already spread nearby.

But the old woman felt her son merely stole a cold melon, wasn’t that a big deal? Picking something from the field, was it such a major issue?

Perhaps a fire was indeed set, but he had already been beaten, wasn’t that enough? Lin Mengyi’s death from the fire was his own bad luck, what did it have to do with her son?

Why had Lin Family Manor kidnapped someone and refused to release him, vehemently denying the act? What were they trying to do?!

The more the old woman thought about it, the more anxious she became; as force didn’t work, she directly kneeled down and began to plead.

Lin Mengjin and the others quickly stepped aside, preventing her from bowing directly to them, but retreat was impossible; no one was taking anyone away today.

After killing their clan member, there was no other choice but blood for blood.

In just a moment, this quarrel drew more people from the manor.

Everyone held something in their hands, be it fish spears, farming tools, or stones—none were empty-handed.

Anyone who knew would see this as a group of farmers and fishermen, but to those unaware, it seemed like they had entered a bandit’s lair!

The person called Xiaoliu from Dafeng Village was stunned.

Like Sun Sanlang who stole the cold melon, he was a loafer, unwilling to properly farm, scraping by in various shady places instead.

They had plenty of blood on their hands, but had never encountered people as fierce as these villagers.

People had always said Lin Family Manor’s residents were sea folks, extremely vicious and not to be trifled with; he hadn’t believed it until tonight.

Their eyes, like hungry wolves, focused on people, instilling fear, making them too afraid to confront directly.

"Auntie, I think we should give it up. Didn’t they say Sanlang isn’t here? Let’s look elsewhere; he might be drunk and passed out somewhere," Xiaoliu swallowed hard, saying feebly before turning around and walking back. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

As someone who frequently got into fights, Xiaoliu’s fighting skills were lacking but his observational skills were sharp. He could instantly tell who were reckless and fearlessly vicious, who were formidable and unprovokable, and who were simply all talk.

The group before him were reckless and unprovokable.

Especially now, it was nighttime by the sea, with over a hundred people gathered on their side; they numbered barely a dozen, not enough even to fill the enemy’s gaps.

Why stay and get beaten, where would the money for medicine come from?

Xiaoliu’s retreat spread like dominoes, quickly influencing the people behind him, who one by one, left after leaving a word.

Two shifty-eyed men hoisted the sitting and crying old woman on either side and also left.

"I’m not leaving! I’m not leaving! Sanlang, my Sanlang!" The old woman’s cries continued to echo even as they walked far away.

Lin Mengjin spoke to his clan brothers beside him, "Starting today, we have to keep night vigils; arrange it, twenty people per shift, let’s take turns, just in case."

"Alright, just us for tonight."

They quickly came up with a plan; they were already experienced in handling these kinds of post-brawls properly.

Since they were about fifteen or sixteen, they’d fought outsiders countless times over water, land, and fisheries, and several in their clan had died because of it.

After Lin Wanwan put little Qingyu to bed, she returned to her job in modern times, both to work and to clear her head. When she finished with her tasks and returned, she finally heard the commotion at the village entrance.

She opened the door and asked Hong Yan, who was keeping watch, what was happening outside. Hong Yan was stationed outside, guarding the mistress, so she did not know what was going on.

"Lady, Mengbo Lord said that tonight we should keep our doors closed and not go out to investigate no matter what happens outside."

Lin Wanwan sighed and pushed open the window to look toward the memorial hall.

It was deep into the night, yet the village remained lively with music. Today would not be peaceful, for at midnight would come the time to eviscerate, the Sun family was bound to cause trouble.

Although Lin Wanwan felt that it was only right for the killer to pay with their life, the thought of a living autopsy left her feeling it was still too cruel.

Compared to modern death row injection euthanasia, ancient punishments were exceedingly brutal and bloody.

"Isn’t it wrong to be administering private justice like this?" Lin Wanwan murmured to herself.

Hong Yan nonchalantly replied, "Lady, what’s wrong with it? Lin Clan Leader is both clan leader and village chief; once he declares, it becomes law in the countryside. Before I was sold, I even saw in our own village a lady was tied up and cast into the river as a sacrifice to the river god! No officials ever came to address it."

Lin Wanwan remained silent; compared to urban areas, rural management heavily relied on gentry and clan self-governance. This was true not only in the Great Tang but throughout the entire feudal society. Unless someone went to the county government to beat the drum and complain, the court would not intervene.