Chapter 144: Chapter 144: Doesn’t Your Conscience Hurt?

Everyone’s gaze shot straight at Tian Lang. His face flushed with anxiety as he slightly turned to hide behind Brother Deng.

Brother Deng already wanted to escape, but the two sheep flanked them on the left and right, while the villagers formed a watertight circle around them.

“Do you have evidence to prove I’m a fraud? Can you understand what animals say and make their words testimony? We can’t understand them.”

Tian Lang was convinced Xu Ying had no evidence. If there were any, Bao Sufen wouldn’t be so suppressed by his presence; she would’ve brought it out long ago.

“Everything must be based on evidence, you must present it!”

Xu Ying pointed at the two sheep, already surrounding Tian Lang and Brother Deng: “Why do these two sheep bite and spit at you whenever they see you? Everything has a spirit; one must have a kind heart!”

With that, Xu Ying quickly walked to the van’s compartment and opened it, a strong scent of aroma wafting out. The villagers nearby smelled it.

The fragrance was mixed with a strange odor, which was particularly pungent.

A man in a gray jacket walked over and sniffed deeply. Having grown up around sheep, he detected the familiar smell of sheep excrement in the aroma and furrowed his brows.

Xu Ying said clearly, word by word: “A week ago at night, you stuffed these two sheep into the van, and they even urinated in the compartment.”

Tian Lang felt a chill in his heart, not expecting Xu Ying to get such a clear account from the sheep.

He tried to argue: “Stop making false accusations, the smell in my car is because I helped the boss deliver five cages of live chickens from the county; they soiled my car!”

Xu Ying responded with an “Oh” and added, “Then let’s all go check out the dry reed bed by the edge of the oasis.”

“Maybe we’ll find a surprise there.”

Tian Lang’s face turned ghostly pale.

Xu Ying continued to reveal Tian Lang’s wrongdoing: “That night, you tied these two sheep there while smoking, almost setting the dry reeds on fire.”

She asked the villagers to look at the involved sheep’s rear: “This sheep with a scar on its left ear has scorched hair on its behind from the burning reeds.”

The sheep felt embarrassed with so many villagers watching its behind and shyly lowered its head.

“Hey, I was at the dry reed bed two days ago, cutting some dry reeds for firewood.”

A villager slapped his forehead, remembering something important: “I saw a cigarette pack in the reeds, a Yuzhou brand. Our villagers only smoke Snow Lotus, and Yuzhou is only available in the county!”

The man in the gray jacket turned furious upon hearing this, clenching his fists.

He recalled that the cigarettes Tian Lang had handed out before were indeed Yuzhou brand!

There was no longer a need to check the dry reed bed; everyone already believed what Xu Ying said, and their image of Tian Lang as a good person began to crumble.

Xu Ying timely fanned the flames: “Villagers, how long have you known Tian Lang? Hasn’t all his helpfulness occurred just recently?”

The villagers of Da Huyang Village froze upon hearing Xu Ying’s words; indeed, it was true.

Aunt Li nodded, being the most informed person in the village; she remembered everything that happened clearly.

“Yes, he hosted a return banquet in Da Huyang Village a year ago, then disappeared. Only in the last two months has he been active here again.”

The man in the gray jacket added: “I heard he used to work elsewhere, now he’s back working in the county nearby, so he’s frequently visiting his mother-in-law and father-in-law. We didn’t suspect anything.”

“Now it seems that if someone is unexpectedly courteous, they must have ulterior motives!”

Xu Ying’s big eyes fixed on Tian Lang, who was too nervous to meet her gaze.

“Are you using unscrupulous means to gain the villagers’ trust to trick them into paying your company a full payment of nineteen thousand, then planning to run?”

“With thirty villagers paying in full, plus the money for your elixirs, that’s nearly six hundred thousand, right?”

In this remote county town with a low average income, six hundred thousand is a fortune, while a loss of nineteen thousand could be financially crippling for a family.

The villagers of Da Huyang Village felt a wave of fear; they were indeed eager to pay just now!

Xu Ying turned to Bao Sufen and said, “Aunt Bao, let me ask Big Black about the chicken feathers you found in its bowl.”

Bao Sufen led Big Black to Xu Ying, and the villagers all made way for her.

Quick-witted Aunt Li’s eyes flickered, showing guilt and unease. With Xu Ying exposing Tian Lang’s sheep theft, and Bao Sufen consistently denying stealing Aunt Li’s chickens, claiming it was Tian Lang’s false accusation, Aunt Li guessed Bao Sufen might be telling the truth; she had wrongly accused her.

Big Black had just witnessed Xu Ying reveal the fraudster Tian Lang’s true colors. Though it hasn’t known Xu Ying for long, its fondness and trust in her were now at their peak.

Chinese Rural Dogs usually live about twelve to fifteen years, and Big Black is already nine, equivalent to a human in their forties, making it a senior among dogs.

At this point, Big Black was looking at Xu Ying with a paternal and kind gaze.

[Girl, if you can understand sheep talking, you can understand me too, right?]

[I’m innocent; I didn’t steal any chicken, the feathers were tossed into my bowl by Tian Lang’s son!]

Xu Ying nodded, acknowledging its emotion, “Big Black, I believe you!”

Why do dogs always get wronged!

[Aunt Li’s missing chickens were likely eaten by Tian Lang’s family.]

[I was so angry at being falsely accused that I staked out near Tian Lang’s mother-in-law’s house. Later, I saw them take out the trash at night and dump it in the designated spot. I specifically picked out their garbage and hid it. The garbage bag contained chicken bones and feathers!]

The government is particularly attentive about waste management in oasis villages, with specific disposal points. Garbage must be disposed of at designated spots to avoid damaging the oasis environment.

Big Black snorted through its nose. It was infuriating to see that Tian Lang had ruined the nine years of goodwill and reputation it had built in the village upon returning.

[I left that bag of trash beside my owner’s storeroom; it has cigarette butts and a cigarette pack. Many things can prove it’s from Tian Lang’s mother-in-law’s house.]

Big Black always wanted to show this evidence to Aunt Bao and Aunt Li, but it couldn’t speak.

Moreover, it felt no one trusted Aunt Bao anymore. Even if it showed everyone, they would think Aunt Bao staged it to frame Tian Lang.

Xu Ying translated Big Black’s words to the villagers.

Bao Sufen then recalled Big Black always guarding a black garbage bag, refusing to let her throw it away, and spoke to Aunt Li, “Sister Li, if you don’t believe it, let’s go to my storeroom and have a look.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep