Where Is My Head?

Mo Chuan did not go far.

He casually picked a residence, found a secluded woodshed, settled in, and began sorting through the spoils from looting the corpse.

There was quite a lot of loot:

A stack of various Yin-Yang Talismans, Identity Passes, and even Sutras for Salvation;

A few taels of silver scraps and half a string of copper coins;

More than ten talismans of unknown purpose;

As well as several Daoist ritual implements and other objects.

For example:

More than ten Yashou Coins wreathed in Mana, presumably given to others to ward off evil and pray for good fortune when saving the world and delivering people from suffering.

A bronze Dharma Seal, which ought to have been an item of identification.

A Thunder-Struck Peachwood Five-Thunder Token, within which a faint, heart-palpitating power of lightning roamed.

A Fine Steel Seven-Star Sword—was it a ritual tool, or a weapon for self-defense?

And the Three Pure Ones Bell that had once covered both the Headless Ghost and Mo Chuan.

"People do not grow rich without windfalls, and horses do not grow fat without night grass!"

Looking at the miscellaneous items in his hands, Mo Chuan sighed with feeling.

However, after carefully sorting them, he discovered that although there were many things, most of them could not be taken away.

In this world, Mo Chuan was merely a rootless soul. He simply could not pick up worldly objects.

Unless he put on painted skin.

But if he did that, while he would gain the ability to touch solid objects, his mobility would be severely restricted. That was undoubtedly something he did not wish to see.

Moreover, painted skin could never compare to a fleshly body. The slightest tear would make it lose its form like a deflated balloon.

Thus, after some experimentation, Mo Chuan discovered that there were only two kinds of things he could absorb into his body and carry away.

The Three Pure Ones Bell;

And more than ten talismans of unknown use.

This result left Mo Chuan rather depressed.

The fat meat had reached his mouth, yet he could not swallow it. How could that feel good?

Just as he was considering finding somewhere hidden to stash the remaining items, his heart stirred, and he summoned the Sacrificial Dao Furnace.

At the moment, no one was offering incense, and the furnace mouth stood empty.

He casually tossed a Yashou Coin inside.

Eh?

It actually worked!

Mo Chuan wore a face of astonishment. After further testing, he discovered that the Sacrificial Dao Furnace's belly was as vast as the sea. Even the three-foot Fine Steel Seven-Star Sword fit inside without issue.

"What a treasure!"

Mo Chuan beamed. With all of Chong Shizi's odds and ends, things would be much more convenient when he handled matters in this world from now on.

"Time to get down to business!"

Once everything had been put away, Mo Chuan rose, dissolved into vapor, and left the woodshed of that residence.

The jade rabbit sank in the west, and the Golden Crow rose in the east.

The morning light was still hazy, yet figures heading for market had already appeared one after another on the official road leading to the county seat.

Chill dew soaked through travelers' trouser legs, yet it could not quench the heat in their hearts!

Today, there would be a head-chopping spectacle in the county seat. The news had long spread throughout the villages for miles around.

They heard that it was even an official's head that would be chopped off. Tsk, who knew how many people had been craning their necks in anticipation?

Some sought excitement;

Some sought those seeking excitement. Many villagers carried loads on poles or shoulders, planning to sell their goods amid the bustle;

Others, driven to seek help from any quarter in desperation, carried steamed buns in their clothes, intending to find the blood of someone who could cure wasting disease. Note 1

Before dawn had fully broken, the market square in the city was already packed with people.

Peddlers laid out their stalls, while visitors came and went without end.

Some had even claimed spots at the front of the execution ground early, searching for the best place to watch the show.

The sun gradually rose.

The crowd at the execution ground became ever more turbulent.

Children crying, young men cursing, peddlers hawking, townsfolk gossiping—sound after sound rose and fell, unceasing to the ear.

As the crowd grew restless, the area outside the execution ground suddenly erupted in commotion.

The spectators who had seized the front row heard the noise, stood on tiptoe, and craned their necks to look. Their eyes immediately lit up as they shouted:

"They're here! They're here!"

Amid the chaos, a prisoner covered in filth was escorted onto the execution ground.

The prisoner did not look old, likely just at the vigorous age of twenty. Yet his sunken, haggard face made him appear far older.

Li Guanqi stared blankly at the densely packed crowd below the execution platform, his mind empty as though he were sleepwalking in a dream.

"Dog official!"

One furious curse, like the first barking dog in a mountain stronghold, stirred righteous indignation throughout the crowd.

"Dog official, good riddance!"

"Kill him!"

"So you have this day too? You bloodsucking vermin, may you be cut into a thousand pieces!"

The curses gradually pulled Li Guanqi's dazed thoughts back.

He wanted to open his mouth and cry injustice, to defend himself, but the meager food and water of recent days had already drained him of all strength.

Forget defending himself—he did not even have the strength to cry out his innocence.

He could only look around blankly, shame and fury churning in his heart. The terror of imminent death tormented him until his heart felt carved by knives, cold sweat pouring down his body!

"Gentlemen, today the traitor Li shall be put to death, and the people are all rejoicing, near and far alike. This is ironclad proof of Qingshui County's clean administration and strict laws!"

"That Qingshui County enjoys such bright skies and clear earth is entirely due to Lord Qin's painstaking devotion. This is our good fortune..."

On the raised platform behind the execution ground, County Assistant Zhu Zhi stood and loudly heaped praise upon them.

"Well said!"

"Lord Zhu, those words are exactly right! Exactly right!"

The surrounding officials all chimed in. For a time, farts boomed like thunder atop the platform.

Magistrate Qin, basking in everyone's flattery, looked smug. Amid his colleagues' praise, poetic inspiration suddenly surged within him:

"Wolfish greed and tigerish devouring, how bold his spirit! His evil full, today he meets the market block! Gentlemen, once this fiend is beheaded, we must drain a great cup!"

As the words fell, he grandly removed a token and threw it down, roaring:

"Execute!"

In an instant, the clamorous execution ground fell silent.

Countless people held their breath, stood on tiptoe, and stretched out their necks to watch the rarely seen spectacle of an execution.

Under everyone's gaze, Li Guanqi trembled all over like chaff in a sieve and closed his eyes in despair.

"May I ask, sir, did you truly embezzle the treasury silver?"

Suddenly, a voice spoke beside his ear.

"...Who?"

Li Guanqi asked with a tremble, but no one around him answered.

And with his hands bound as he knelt on the ground, he could not look around at all.

"I had held office for less than three months. How could I possibly have embezzled that treasury silver? It was the petty clerks guarding the treasury who often smuggled silver scraps out through the side door. They must have framed me."

Li Guanqi gathered his strength and made his final defense.

His loud explanation drew reassurance from the executioner behind him. "Treasury Officer Li, speak no more nonsense. I will make my blade swift shortly, so you may have a smooth journey."

Li Guanqi turned a deaf ear to the executioner's words. His eyes darted about, searching for the owner of that mysterious voice within his limited field of view.

"Mr. Li, I am aid sent by your honored wife. I have already bought off the executioner. When I use the word 'escape' as the signal, he will cut your ropes. Then you need only rush straight off the platform and run home!"

"Remember, no matter what happens on the way, do not look back, and do not stop! Do you understand?"

The mysterious voice came again.

"I understand!"

An indescribable fervor and hope sprang up in Li Guanqi's heart.

He surveyed the spectators below the execution ground, eyes wide as he searched for a gap through which to flee.

His nerves were stretched taut as zither strings, awaiting only that command.

At that moment, the vast execution ground was deathly still.

Countless gazes stared fixedly at the executioner as he drank wine and offered it to his blade!

When the executioner raised the Executioner's Blade high, several women fearfully reached out to cover the eyes of their children.

"Pfft!"

The blade entered flesh and blood, and a tongue burst with thunder!

"Escape—"

Hearing it, Li Guanqi lunged forward. The expert had indeed cut the ropes around him.

He ran wildly in exhilaration.

Before him were countless ignorant women and children, each clutching coarse steamed buns and scrambling forward.

Rather than grow angry, he was delighted. The surging crowd opened a gap for his escape.

He plunged into the crowd, spread his legs, and ran for his life. The thrill of escaping death made his heart pound like a drum and his face draw tight!

"Ah—"

A scream suddenly rang out from the raised platform behind the execution ground.

Magistrate Qin clutched his neck and began shouting in terror.

"My head!! Where is my head?!!"

The surrounding officials stared in astonishment at Magistrate Qin, who had been high-spirited just a moment ago but had suddenly gone mad. Caught off guard, every one of them stood dumb as wooden chickens, their hands and feet at a loss.

"Thud!"

In his panic, Magistrate Qin tumbled down from the raised platform.

Yet he seemed wholly unaware of it. With his eyes tightly shut, he rolled and crawled across the execution ground, groping for something as he cried out in terror without end.

"My head... my head... my head..."

In sudden shock!

He found it.

He found a bloody head.

Overjoyed, he lifted it into his arms and tried to place it onto his neck.

But unexpectedly, there was something foreign on his neck, blocking him from setting the head in place.

He immediately flew into a rage. Grabbing the foreign object with both hands, he gave it a fierce yank and tore it off.

The world fell silent.

Only a string of crisp bell chimes drifted from the edge of the sky, faint and elusive, there and not there.

"Jingle, jingle..."

Note 1: Wasting disease referred to pulmonary tuberculosis. In Supplement to Materia Medica, human blood was recorded as a medicinal ingredient capable of treating wasting disease. This was the human-blood steamed bun written of by Mr. Lu Xun.