Lin Mu was dumbstruck by the price the staffer had just quoted. There was no chance that the fine could be this high. Even though the loss caused due to the damaged spirit apples was high, it was still less than a thousand gold coins.
The price that the staffer had told Lin Mu was enough to buy a completely new house if that was possible. Ever since a restriction on the expansion of the towns was placed by the city mayor five years ago, the prices of houses and property had shot up.
The mayor had instead ordered the town to increase the size of their respective specialty. The Northern town was ordered to expand their spirit apple orchards, the eastern their crop fields, the western their merchant site, and the south their army camp.
Even though the order could be considered to be Draconian, no one dared to question the city mayor's words. This restriction was also the reason why hunters had a hard time saving money, as they would just end up spending it in the winters.
Lin Mu could not just accept this and decided to ask the staffer.
"Why is the fine so high? Even the actual price of the property is not this high." Lin Mu complained.
"Due to undisclosed reasons, the city mayor has doubled all the taxes. This also includes the fines paid for crimes and law-breaking. The town head was also called for this specific reason by the city mayor." The staffer replied calmly.
"But still, you can't just do this." Lin Mu protested.
"There is nothing I can do. If you want your property back, pay the fine, otherwise, there are other people ready to buy it." The staffer explained.
'I have to get it now or I won't be able to buy it later.' Lin Mu thought.
Because of the scarcity of houses, the cost of properties was already inflated, yet there were still people who would be willing to buy it for such a high price. Lin Mu knew that if he waited too long, others may get to know of a vacant house and buy it. He was already lucky that no one had bought it yet in the past two months.
Lin Mu gritted his teeth and decided to pay the price.
"Fine. I'll take it." Lin Mu spoke through clenched teeth.
Lin Mu then put his hand in the sack he was carrying on his back and withdrew the exact amount of coins. He then placed them on the counter and let the staffer see it. The reaction of the staffer was worth watching as Lin Mu saw his jaw drop.
The staffer had frankly not expected this to happen. He had originally thought that Lin Mu would just be put-off by the fine and walk away. Even he himself had not expected for the fine to be so high. He could not think why the city mayor would double the taxes.
But now that he had seen Lin Mu put out such a large amount of coins, he'll definitely have to inform the town head.
Lin Mu saw the change in the staffer's expression and knew what he was thinking. He guessed that he may have some problems in the future, so decided to end it before they started.
"Take care of those coins, you wouldn't want to get into trouble would you." Lin Mu said with a stern tone.
And as Lin Mu said that, he grasped the edge of the desk and crushed it in his hands. The staffer saw this and immediately became silent. Lin Mu could even see the speck of fear in his eyes. Feeling a little satisfied, he took the deed of the property from the staffer, and walked away. It was good that there were few people in the hall, so no one noticed this.
The staffer waited until Lin Mu walked away and watched his back. Once he was gone, the staffer gathered the coins in a pouch and walked upstairs to the town head's office. The staffer stood in front of a door and knocked.
"Who is it?" A voice asked from behind the door.
"It's me Kun Ming, town head." The staffer spoke.
"Come in." the Town head replied.
The staffer opened the door and walked into the office. The town head was sitting behind a desk and was drinking a cup of wine. The town head was old and his head was nearly bare. With a thin mustache and a small beard, he looked sly.
The staffer walked up to the desk and placed the pouch on it. He looked up at the town head and waited for him to speak.
"What's this?" The town head said as he looked at the pouch that was kept on the desk.
"The fine sir. That boy Lin Mu paid it in full." Kun Ming answered.
The town head looked a little surprised as he placed his cup down and picked up the pouch. He weighed it in his hand for a bit before pouring it out on the desk. A small pile of gold coins was soon formed on the desk.
"I've already counted it, sir. It's a total of 1200 gold coins." Kun Ming spoke.
"And he paid it all at once?" The Town head asked.
"Yes sir. It seemed he was ready for it somehow." Kun Ming replied.
A complex expression appeared on the face of the town head and he appeared to be thinking. Kun Ming seemed to understand the town head's thoughts, thus spoke.
"That boy Lin Mu's a cultivator, sir. He gave me a little warning before he left." Kun Ming spoke.
"Are you sure?" The town head asked.
"Yes sir. He was able to crush my desk with little effort." Kun Ming answered.
A perplexing expression appeared on the town head's face and he waved his hand, gesturing for Kun Ming to leave. After the staffer left the office, the town head opened a drawer and withdrew a sheet of paper. He picked up a brush from the side of the desk and started to write on the paper.
******
Outside the town center, Lin Mu was walking towards the location of his house. His house was located towards the eastern part of the town. It was the most densely populated area in the town and was also the area with the most houses.
Lin Mu reached his house in thirty minutes and stood in front of its gate. There was a lock on the gate along with a sheet of parchment that read 'sealed'. Lin Mu took out a small key that he got along with the deed and opened the lock.
He then tore the parchment from the gate and walked in. Lin Mu's house consisted of a courtyard in which the living quarters were located, along with three bedrooms and a kitchen. It was an old-style house that was common in this region.
There were some trees and plants in the yard, along with enough space for Lin Mu to practice his skills. He looked around with nostalgia in his eyes and felt somber. It had only been a little over two months, yet he felt as if years had gone by. The place looked familiar to him, yet a little different, perhaps because he had gone through so many life-altering changes.
Lin Mu saw the yard, which was littered with dead leaves and the dust that had settled on the doors. He opened the door to his room and saw the dust floating in the air. Looking around, he saw the nearly empty room.
Most of the valuables had already been sold off when his mother had fallen sick during the plague last year. Thus he did not have a lot of furniture in the house. There were only some beds, tables, and chairs. There wasn't anything else left.
Though the most valuable thing to Lin Mu was the graves of his parents and those of his ancestors. He walked to the backyard of his house and kneeled at the graves. There were eight graves marked on the land. Two of them belonged to his parents, while the rest belonged to his grandparents and the ancestors that came before them.
Lin Mu's family has always had only one child in each generation, thus there weren't many graves. Usually, the woman who married into the clan would not have a grave in the cemetery, she would instead be sent back to her own clan when she died. But because Lin Mu's mother was an orphan, she was buried in the clan's cemetery.
Lin Mu kneeled at the graves until it was sunset and prayed to his ancestor. In the end, he kowtowed to the graves, which represented the seven generations of his clan one last time, and stood up. He walked out of the house and went to the Northwind inn.
Lin Mu walked up to the clerk that was sitting at the desk and spoke.
"I'm checking out of the inn." He said.
The clerk looked a little perplexed, but nodded. He asked Lin Mu to return the wooden plate and then refunded two gold coins to him. Lin Mu took the coins and stored them in his pouch before leaving the inn behind.
"Now it's time for you to properly cultivate." Xukong suddenly spoke.