He Zhiran saw that the officer was quite honest, so she secretly took out a little broken silver from her spatial ring and stuffed it to him.
"Thank you for informing us of the situation, Sir. May I ask where we are going to live after we arrive here?"
This was also the most concerning question for the others. The officer had already said earlier that the three families in Xi Ling Village worked independently, so where would there be a place for them to live?
The officer did not expect to get silver out of this errand. He immediately became all smiles.
He pointed to the area near the mountain foot behind the territories of the three families.
"After passing the lands of the three families, there are some dilapidated houses at the back. You all will be settled there. However..."
The officer paused, seeming somewhat hesitant.
"What's the catch?" Mo Chuhan anxiously asked.
The officer was most afraid of the Mo brothers. Seeing Mo Chuhan ask in such a stern tone, he was scared that Mo Chuhan would lay a hand on him. He quickly continued, "It's just that those houses are not well-maintained due to their age. It would be hard for you all to survive the winter there, unless you can come to an agreement with one of the chiefs to rent their houses for temporary lodging."
As he spoke, it was as if the officer recalled something. He walked over between the Mo brothers and whispered,
"The Village Chief of Xi Ling is Cui Family's clan elder and Cui County Magistrate's uncle. Those who are exiled here do not need the County Magistrate's notices. His clansmen already know what to do.
They will definitely make things difficult for you all. You have to be careful!"
He Zhiran happened to be standing next to Mo Jiuye and naturally heard everything clearly.
She was not worried about whether they would make things difficult or not. Mo Jiuye and Mo Chuhan surely would not care about such clowns jumping around.
It was quite clever of the officer to establish some connections with them since they were new here. If anything were to happen in the future, it would be more convenient this way.
Thus, she softly asked, "I wonder how we should address this Sir?"
As she spoke, He Zhiran sent out another piece of broken silver.
The officer took the silver and weighed it in his palm. His smile grew even more obsequious.
"Ehehe... My surname is Ma, called Ma Junshan. You can find me at the yamen if there is anything in the future."
What Ma Junshan thought to himself was that these people were not too lacking in silver to refuse to appease Cui County Magistrate.
It was all because Cui County Magistrate acted too arrogantly without knowing how to handle them properly.
Clearly, these people only responded to soft tactics instead of hard ones.
In order to gain benefits from them, he had to cajole them.
The other officers watched Ma Junshan's actions from afar and knew that he managed to curry favor from the Mo family. Seeing this, they rushed over towards the Mo family.
One of the slightly younger officers said to the Mo brothers,
"Ahem... Let me advise you all. Later, when the Village Chief assigns you your housing, you definitely should not choose the one furthest east."
Mo Jiuye's face was already icy as he asked, "And why is that?"
The officer did not answer immediately. Clearly, he was fishing for silver as payment before he would speak.
He Zhiran extremely disliked such people and had no intentions of giving out silver.
After waiting fruitlessly for a while, the unhappy officer turned to leave.
But before he could take a step, Mo Chuhan grabbed him by his collar.
"Speak. What's the reason?"
The officer reflexively tried to resist, but when he met Mo Chuhan's bone-chilling eyes, he instantly lost all courage.
"Let go of me first, let go! I'll tell you all even if you don't!"
Mo Chuhan's large hand suddenly went slack. The officer nearly lost his balance and fell.
He rubbed his somewhat sore neck that got grabbed and said resentfully, "Many people have died in that residence. Everyone says it's haunted."
Having said that, afraid that Mo Chuhan would continue questioning him, the officer turned and fled.
Seeing this, Ma Junshan also distanced himself somewhat from the Mo family.
It wasn't that he was unwilling to describe the situation of that residence in more detail. He still had to consider his colleague's face.
The Mo brothers did not try to stop him either as everyone had already entered the village. The allotted housing would soon be revealed.
As they spoke, the group had arrived at a clustered area full of residences.
These residences looked very distinct. The enclosing walls were over ten feet high and all the gates were tightly shut.
The officer led everyone to the largest residence and knocked on the door.
Ma Junshan once again came to the Mo brothers' side.
"This is the Cui Village Chief's home."
Mo Jiuye lightly nodded his head, indicating that he accepted Ma Junshan's consideration.
Very quickly, the door opened from the inside.
The one who opened the door was a brawny man who looked to be in his thirties.
Seeing the officers, the man was startled for a moment before asking, "Has the County Magistrate sent people?"
The officer pointed to the people behind him and said, "Three households in total. Please make arrangements, Village Chief!"
The man looked at the skies. It was almost dusk.
"My father is feeling unwell. We'll talk tomorrow."
As he spoke, a loud thud could be heard as the man slammed the doors shut. He was completely unafraid of the officers.
The officers were already used to such treatment.
Nearly every time they came here to bring people, the Cui Family acted this way on purpose to oppress the exiles.
Arranging lodgings was the Village Chief's duty. The officers only needed to bring people here to complete their task.
Therefore, after exchanging glances, the few officers turned and left.
As Ma Junshan had taken silver from He Zhiran twice, he still cared a little for the Mo brothers. Before leaving, he softly said to Mo Jiuye and Mo Chuhan,
"Cui County Magistrate has long vented all his anger onto his clansmen, but whoever he sends here that has not appeased him will definitely suffer under the Cui Family helping the County Magistrate get back at them. Not giving you housing today was only their first move."
Hearing this, Mo Jiuye interestingly asked, "I wonder what their second move is?"
Ma Junshan shook his head. "We only bring people here before leaving, so we aren't clear on the specifics of their second move either."
Mo Jiuye nodded. "Thank you for the warning, Sir."
This form of address from him was already giving exceptional face to Ma Junshan.
Afraid that his colleagues would report back to Cui County Magistrate, Ma Junshan did not dare to tarry here any longer as he hurried to catch up to them.
Seeing that the officers have gone far away, Mo Chuhan said angrily,
"Looks like this Cui Family really is cruel. Since we have already offended Cui County Magistrate, offending his clan a bit more does not matter."
Having said that, Mo Chuhan immediately displayed his lightness skill and leapt onto the roof of the Cui Residence.
Mo Jiuye knew his wife liked spectacles. Right in front of everyone, he pulled her by the waist and closely followed Mo Chuhan, lightly leaping over the wall.
As expected of the Village Chief's home. The courtyard was neatly lined with three rows of brick-tiled houses.
At this moment, faint wisps of smoke could be seen already rising from the kitchen house in the west chamber.
A middle-aged woman had just exited the kitchen when she saw three strangers standing in the yard.
