Raising Ducks for Daily Rewards-Chapter 68: Village Court

Fengyu didn’t mind accepting the offer. The only problem was how to get to the sick and wounded –

In the end, he told them that they could come to him in emergency situations. Besides that, he would come once a month to check on them and see if they needed anything.

The wolves were thankful and agreed to it, and Fengyu could already see that they would likely take more risks with his presence.

His main concern was seeing that illusory image when he healed. It had only appeared a few times, and he wasn’t able to make out what it was supposed to represent just yet.

...

Four days passed by in quick succession, and Fengyu’s pattern returned to normal.

Today was his court appearance.

He went out and saw the twins already waiting for him, dressed neatly and no longer smelling of earth.

"Let’s go," Fengyu said as he looked at Zimu next to him, walking slowly and leisurely since they still had some time.

"Senior brother, sister said that she only knows there is a court in this village, but she never knew what it was used for," Ming asked.

"The court? Naturally it’s to solve disagreements between fellow villagers. There’s not one just here but also in the city, even a main court that works to solve the disagreements of higher cultivators.

After all, we’re not demonic cultivators. If every minor disagreement leads to murder and arson, then the city would be in trouble.

Because of this, if the conflict is minor or if it affects too many people, it will be solved in court.

Though conflicts that lead to battles are rarely found in court.

The most common conflicts are economic conflicts including various parties and creation masters.

After all... beast hunters die like flies, and those that walk often by the river get wet. Only battle masters who have real abilities in fighting can somewhat ensure their safety, and even they have conflicts with cultivators in the city for various things they don’t want to fight out.

This leads to the court being a very popular place to solve things.

Because of this and various other benefits, creation masters generally don’t want to leave, while battle masters can’t leave or they’ll lose their place of income.

In the end, to remain in the city, people can only trust the court and pay the fees."

"Who are the judges then?" Ming asked when he heard that there was such a thorough process to solve conflicts.

But for this to work, there would have to be judges both sides agree can handle the case...

"The judges are usually honourable cultivators who have gained the respect of many people in the city. They’re voted upon by the people, the city council, elder council, and the city lords.

Though that’s only the case for the judges in the city.

A judge in our small village is naturally sent from the peak above.

I heard the judges are usually old stewards of the peak who have dedicated their lives to the masters of the peak, now taking this leisure job with authority and benefits as a rent."

Just as he finished explaining it, he had already arrived in the city centre and went to the Village Hall.

The counters Fengyu always went to to solve his issues were to the right.

A reception could be found on the left, and straight forward was a large floor leading to the court.

He went to the reception, which happened to be free, and told them why he came, "Hello fellow daoist, I have been summoned to attend the court today. I wonder if I should go right in?"

"You’ve been summoned? Please show me the order," the receptionist started working right away and reached out his hand.

Fengyu took out a scroll from his spatial bag – it was a paper scroll around a dark wooden stick. The words on it were written in silver calligraphic lettering. It was a general invitation without extra information, only containing the time he was supposed to attend. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

The receptionist took the scroll and pressed it on the jade in front of him.

He looked at it again and saw various words appear on his jade tablet, detailing the recipient of this order and what they were supposed to do specifically.

After checking it, Fengyu was asked to hand over his identity token for a moment.

The receptionist put away the order, handed the token back as he told Fengyu what to do, "You are attending this court as a witness. You can enter the court right away and stand ready. If you’re called, you will be told what to do again. The court will start in half an hour, you can wait in the courtroom for now."

Fengyu nodded and walked to the side.

Ming and Ling both had a court order each, which was then handed over to the receptionist. They were similarly witnesses.

This made Fengyu think that their order might’ve been because they fought on the frontlines, and not because of his report.

Walking down the path to the court, he slowly felt a feeling of authority wash over him.

It felt like he, a mere cultivator, was weak under the whims of the whole court.

Shrkkk

The door opened slowly with the voice of hard wood moving on hard ground.

Instantly, the large raised wooden construct in front came into the sight of Fengyu.

This was the "bench" of the judge, where he sat and judged the case.

The bench had one high chair and two lower chairs to the side, creating a trinity.

"Each court session is led by one judge and assisted by two. The judges all have the same authority, but only the presiding judge finally decides on the case.

The secondary judges work as witnesses, they mostly listen and don’t do much. If one of them thinks the ruling is unjust, then they can question the judge. If a lawyer or prosecutor thinks the ruling is unjust, then they can make the secondary judges question the presiding judge. Besides them, no one else is allowed to question the ruling of the presiding judge.

If all three judges support a ruling, then the case has basically been ruled.

There is an appellate court in the city, where you can appeal to the overseeing judges of the court to question the presiding judge. If even the overseeing judge doesn’t do anything, then the ruling can’t be changed nor reverted in any form.

Here in the village, there is no appellate court, so once a ruling has been made and the case is closed, there is no way to change the ruling.