Journey to the West: Man in heaven, working nine to five

#2310 - The old confused county magistrate

Although Diling County was a bizarre place created by the Western Heavens, its magistrate was still officially appointed. The Western Heavens did not interfere in this, as they still had to consider their reputation.

Therefore, the magistrate of Diling County was not in league with Kou Shanren and Guanyin, but he was also not a good person, as Tang Seng and the others had said.

The magistrate of Diling County was not a corrupt official, but he was over sixty years old. Although he wanted to be a good official, his mind was already a bit muddled.

When the head constable came in to report, the old magistrate was taking a nap and was clearly unhappy to have his sleep disturbed.

"Your Honor, the robbers who attacked Kou Shanren's house have now been captured by us and brought to the court. We ask Your Honor to judge them.

These four robbers are extremely vicious and put up a stubborn resistance. We had a hard time catching them."

The head constable naturally said this to curry favor.

"These hateful robbers dare to act so recklessly in Diling County under my rule. They are simply damned.

I will go to court with you, and I will give those robbers a good look."

The old magistrate's legs were a bit old and unsteady, and he walked with a trembling gait. The head constable hurriedly supported him.

The old magistrate arrived at the court, and the yamen runners took their positions.

As the sounds of "Majesty" rang out, the old magistrate slammed the gavel and said sternly to Tang Seng and his group below the court.

"You are a gang of robbers pretending to be eminent monks from the Tang Dynasty, and you have committed such a major crime in my Diling County!

You dared to resist arrest by the officers, and you are truly heinous and deeply sinful. How can this official lightly spare you?

Men, beat them, beat them to death!"

The old magistrate seemed to be a bit out of breath after saying so much in one breath, and he coughed repeatedly.

The yamen runners next to him stepped forward to execute the sentence on Tang Seng and his group.

"Hold on!"

Sun Wukong spoke to stop them.

The old magistrate's eyesight was obviously not very good either. He craned his neck and looked at Sun Wukong for a long time before he could see him clearly.

"You monkey, what do you have to say?"

The old magistrate asked Sun Wukong.

"May I ask this lord, what crime have I, Old Sun, committed? What crime have my master and junior brothers committed? You should always investigate clearly.

If you are unclear and keep cutting, you will be coercing a confession and wronging good people. Wouldn't it ruin your reputation if it got out?"

Sun Wukong's words made the old magistrate hesitate and nod.

"You monkey, what you said makes some sense. Then I will ask you, why did you disguise yourselves as eminent monks and rob the Kou family's property?"

The old magistrate slammed the gavel again and interrogated Tang Seng and Sun Wukong.

"We have never robbed anyone and should not bear the blame," Tang Seng replied sternly.

"I say, old man, why do you say we robbed the Kou family's property? Do you have any evidence?" Zhu Bajie also shook his head and said.

"You still dare to quibble? The Kou family's gold and silverware were found on you, and they are all marked with the Kou family's seal.

If you didn't rob them, how could the Kou family's property appear on you?"

The old magistrate continued to interrogate.

"We obtained these items from robbers we encountered. This is not against the law, is it?

You say we are robbers, but gold and silverware alone are not enough.

Either you caught us robbing the Kou family, or you have a witness, otherwise you cannot convict us?"

Following the old magistrate's words, Guanyin, disguised as Kou Shanren's daughter, was brought to the court after a moment.

Guanyin was naturally an acting expert. As soon as she saw Tang Seng and his group, she immediately pretended to be fearful and horrified.

"Your Honor, it is them. It was Tang Seng and his group who robbed our Kou family. That fat-headed, big-eared one even tried to molest me.

Fortunately, my father protected me with his life, which allowed me to escape, but my kind father was beaten to death by these four villains."

Guanyin pointed at Tang Seng and his group while constantly crying, looking pitiful.

"Don't be too sad. As the parent official of Diling County, this official will naturally uphold justice for you and let these four robbers receive the punishment they deserve," the old magistrate waved his hand, signaling Guanyin to step back first.

Then he interrogated Tang Seng and his group again.

"So what else do you have to say? The witness and physical evidence are all here. How can you quibble?

You four impersonated eminent monks from the Tang Dynasty, mixed into the Kou family, scouted out the situation, and then, after being discovered, you became extremely vicious and changed from stealing to openly robbing, and even attempted to defile a good woman.

You even beat Kou Hong, the number one philanthropist in my Diling County, to death. You are so devoid of humanity that the law cannot tolerate you.

This official will restore righteousness to the world and uphold justice for the people. I sentence you to death, to be executed immediately. Do you confess your guilt?"

The old magistrate sentenced Tang Seng and his group.

"We do not confess!"

"You are wronging good people."

"You are a muddleheaded, senile official," Tang Seng and the others shook their heads, refusing to admit their guilt, and Zhu Bajie even cursed at the old magistrate.

"Bold! The witness and physical evidence are all here, and you still do not confess your guilt? Then do not blame this official for using severe torture.

This official does not believe that you will still be so stubborn and unyielding under severe torture.

Men, bring on the torture!"

Following the old magistrate's orders, the yamen runners immediately displayed various instruments of torture.

There were quite a few instruments of torture in this court, including finger presses, branding irons, tiger benches, and so on, with a wide variety of styles.

Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Seng were naturally not afraid of these severe tortures, but Tang Seng was just a mortal body.

Moreover, Tang Seng's cultivation was exhausted at this moment, and his physical condition was not good, so he was afraid that he would not be able to withstand the torment of the instruments of torture.

"I will give you one more chance. Do you confess or not?" the old magistrate asked Tang Seng and his group.

"I say, you muddleheaded official, since that is the case, then I will confess, but you should only torture me alone.

Because we four are the leaders of the robbers, and they are all acting on my orders. You will not be able to get anything out of them even if you torture them."

Sun Wukong said to the old magistrate with a smile.

"You monkey, I have long seen that you are so cunning and unruly that you must be the main culprit.

You are still laughing in court and despising this official. You are truly hateful. I will give you severe torture.

Men, clamp this monkey up!"

The old magistrate said, throwing out the counting stick, looking like a righteous official.

Sun Wukong was still smiling, watching the yamen runners on both sides, who had already picked up the clamping sticks and were walking towards him, about to carry out the torture.