Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 523

"You!" the County Magistrate, wanting to curse at him but then remembering where they were, ceased his anger and said with a smile, "Laugh it up, for you can only laugh now. I won’t stoop to your level, since someday soon, it will be your turn to cry. Perhaps this smile of yours is something I’ll never see again in my entire life."

Tian Peng, hearing his words, laughed again and replied, "Indeed, you should listen to my laughter more, for after all, when the day comes, you truly won’t be able to see it anymore. Once I break free from these ropes, I will definitely kill you first!"

The venom in his voice made the County Magistrate shiver and step back. Waving his hand to summon several men, he then said, "As I told you, I’m not lowering myself to your level right now, but you’ll be crying soon enough!"

The two men called over by the County Magistrate were holding whips made of cowhide, which they dipped in water before handing them to him.

The County Magistrate took them and, looking at the whips, then smiled and said, "Do you know why the whip needs to be wet?"

Tian Peng snorted through his nostrils. He naturally knew. Though whips of this world were not used in the Heavenly Court, he was aware of why they were dampened with water, and not just any water, but brine.

When the whip cracked against the flesh—skin splitting, flesh bursting—the salt from the whip’s water would seep into the wounds. The sting of the salt would multiply the agony manifold.

This was exactly why they say not to rub salt into wounds.

He knew, but he would never admit it aloud.

Seeing his reaction, the County Magistrate chuckled, "Oh, you don’t know? Then let me enlighten you. Though it’s likely you’ll never need this knowledge, I will tell you so you can take this lesson with you to the underworld. Who knows, maybe there they’ll also teach you this principle."

"Just hit me if you’re going to hit me. What’s with all the nonsense? What, are you the one getting whipped?" Tian Peng said, "You’re so skittish, lacking any semblance of manliness!"

The County Magistrate’s face darkened, and he lashed the whip onto Tian Peng’s body.

With that strike, a searing pain shot straight to Tian Peng’s core.

Tian Peng had never felt such pain in his life. With the help of the Three Demons, he had never suffered this way before.

Watching the cold sweat on Tian Peng’s forehead, the County Magistrate asked with a smile, "How does it feel? Is it painful?"

"I bet you’ve never known the taste of pain at your age, have you? Now I’m giving you the chance to experience it. How does it feel? Exhilarating, isn’t it?"

With gritted teeth, Tian Peng replied with a smile, "What? Was that you wielding the whip just now? I am surprised. Not only are you short, but you also lack strength. If you hadn’t said anything, I wouldn’t have known you were lashing me."

Flustered, the County Magistrate whipped Tian Peng again.

With each strike, he poured all his strength into the blow. The less Tian Peng spoke, the more ferocious the Magistrate lashed, until he was too exhausted to continue and handed the whip to a bystander.

"Keep beating him," he commanded.

The man obeyed, lifting the whip to strike Tian Peng.

Watching, the County Magistrate felt a rush of satisfaction.

"Every single time, it’s you making trouble. When it’s time to pay taxes, you refuse. Tell me, which townsperson hasn’t paid their taxes to me?"

"Only you have never paid a penny. What do I expect to gain from managing such a large town? Isn’t it just the little bit of tax money each year?"

Tian Peng glared at the County Magistrate, "What have you ever done for this town? The people can barely feed themselves, many in this town are dying of hunger, and yet you still think of taking taxes? Are you even human?!"

"What, am I not a person, and you are?"

The County Magistrate said, "I see you have nothing, a bare home, and you’ve never worked the fields, yet you’ve grown so big and are such a troublemaker. Normally, you must have been robbing other people’s property, right?"

Tian Peng spat at him fiercely, "You’re talking nonsense! I relied on my own connections!"

"Connections?" The County Magistrate chuckled again, "With a bare home like yours, what kind of connections could you have, unless they are with demons and ghosts or something of that sort."

Tian Peng thought of the Three Demons who had left in anger and remained silent.

In the current situation, indeed, he had grown up relying on those three demons. Without them, whether he could have grown up at all was one thing, even if he had really grown, he probably would have ended up being bullied by this County Magistrate.

It seemed that Xiong Daoren’s words were true. If it weren’t for them, he couldn’t imagine how many times he might have already died.

He couldn’t believe that he didn’t remember others’ kindness at all, and instead took it for granted. It was a grave mistake not to have kept them by his side.

At this moment, Tian Peng felt some regret or perhaps it’s better to say that this regret had surfaced when the Three Demons left, but at that time, his heart was still filled with anger. It was because of this anger that he had no room to consider the bigger picture.

"What, now you know what fear is?"

Seeing Tian Peng motionless, the County Magistrate smiled and slapped his face with the whip.

"I don’t feel scared, but it seems like you are tired?" Tian Peng looked at those people, "Three people beating one, and you still get tired?"

The County Magistrate lashed Tian Peng with the whip again, "What, do you need a good scratch? Fine, since you like being hit so much, I’ll make sure you get your fill!"

The County Magistrate threw the whip on the ground, turned around, and picked up a pair of tongs from the stove.

The tongs were glowing red-hot, emitting a reddish light from inside out. Just looking at them made one feel the intense heat, let alone the prospect of them being applied to someone’s body.

"What’s the matter, County Magistrate, we’re quite familiar with each other, so why are you always targeting me?" Tian Peng frowned at the sight of the hot tongs; courageous as he was, he couldn’t help but frown at them.

The County Magistrate chuckled softly, "You seem a bit scared. If you are scared, beg me, and I might consider giving you a quick end."

"I just don’t understand, why are you targeting me?" Tian Peng said, "County Magistrate, in any case, I’m going to die. Just let me die with clarity. What have I done besides not paying taxes?"

"You have the nerve to ask that? You’ve crippled several of my constables, and now I have to pay them pensions. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have lost so much silver!"

Thinking of the pensions he had to pay to the constables, the County Magistrate felt pained.

He worked so hard every year for the tax revenue, and there was very little that he actually received. He even had to pay pensions to the constables who were beaten to disability. If he did not pay, nobody would want to be a constable in the future and his position as the County Magistrate would be in name only. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

So it was the money he was pained about.

Tian Peng smiled, "You say, you struggle to collect so little in taxes each year, and get so little for yourself."

"You yourself think about it, wouldn’t it be better to relieve disasters and save the people, helping them out of poverty? In that way, wouldn’t your tax revenue be even greater?"