The news spread like wildfire, giving the village chief, Li Youcai, plenty of work. He tried ordering another search, but it, too, came up empty-handed, the culprit(s) long having made their getaways. Li Youcai reported the matter to the authorities in town since there was nothing more he could do. The Sun family had to swallow their grievances and admit they were down on their luck.
Fortunately, Zhou Hengyang had provided substantial compensation, more than enough to treat the injuries of the two brothers.
Word got around that Sun Dahai's sorry state resulted from offending a certain someone, causing them to look at Su Wen strangely when she ventured out of the house.