Alive, I Want to See the Corpse; Dead, I Want to See the Man

Sun Shaozong heaved the millstone-sized boulder aside, gripped the bluestone slab at the edge, and was about to vault out of the Secret Passage when he suddenly felt something icy melt into dampness on the back of his hand.

Snow?

Sure enough, when he emerged from the Secret Passage, sparse snowflakes were drifting down from the sky. The ground was still clean, though, so it had clearly only just begun to snow.

Sun Shaozong moved the boulder back into place, then looked up at the gray sky and let several snowflakes melt against his face. The icy sensation immediately refreshed his spirits.

There were still plenty of matters to handle today, so he naturally had to keep his wits about him.

Thinking this, Sun Shaozong did not let his guard down. He carefully surveyed the area behind the rockery and, only after confirming that no fool had blundered in, pushed open the courtyard gate and stepped out.

On his way to the Front Hall, he casually stopped a servant and was about to order him to summon Zhao Zhongji when he remembered that Zhao had been sent to deal with Zhang An's funeral these past few days.

So he changed his instructions on the spot. "Tell gatekeeper Wang to wait for me in the Front Hall. Say that I have something to instruct him about."

The servant hurriedly agreed and darted off down the covered corridor.

By the time Sun Shaozong reached the Front Hall, Wang Jin had already been waiting outside for quite some time.

Sun Shaozong entered the hall by himself and settled into the seat of honor before speaking to the respectfully trailing Wang Jin. "Do you still remember Hong Jiu, the Beggar Bao Chief?"

Though Wang Jin was puzzled as to why his Second Master had