The Four Great Constables

The sun was already high in the sky, and police cordons had been put up along the streets of Caishikou.

The Capital City's curious onlookers craned their necks to get a look. The Six Fan School was coming and going, and officers were searching every house along the surrounding streets. One after another, the bodies of those who had died horribly at the hands of the Ghost Sha Butcher last night were carried out, wrapped in straw mats. There were nearly a hundred of them.

At the entrance to the Corpse-Stitching Shop, the Ghost Sha Butcher lay sprawled on the ground, unconscious and foaming at the mouth. He was bound in heavy chains and carried away. An officer from the Six Fan School was questioning Lin Shou. "What happened here?"

"I don't know, sir. I opened the door and saw him lying in front of my shop. I thought he was trying to scam me."

Lin Shou scratched his head with a sheepish look, launching into his favorite trick of accusing the villain first. The Ghost Sha Butcher had been beaten senseless by him, and no one had seen a thing on the street so early in the morning. There were no witnesses.

The officer from the Six Fan School looked at the simple-minded Lin Shou and didn't suspect a thing. Everyone knew the corpse-stitcher at this shop was a little slow. How could someone with his brains lie? And even if he did, surely the officer could see through it. Was he really going to be fooled by a simpleton?

Don't make me laugh. If he could be fooled by Lin Shou, he might as well quit the Six Fan School and join the night-soil collectors.

"Sir, who is this man? Why did so many of you come to arrest him, and why bind him with so many chains?"

"He's a fiend from the White Lotus Sect. Last night, he slaughtered everyone on an entire street."

"What?!"

Lin Shou looked utterly shocked.

"Luckily, we caught him today. The White Lotus Sect has been running rampant lately, stirring up trouble among the people and threatening the local area. Make sure you lock your doors and windows at night. Be careful of criminals."

"Understood, sir. Thank you for the warning."

Lin Shou agreed, thinking to himself that the man had been from the White Lotus Sect. How did he always end up getting mixed up with criminals for no reason?

When Lin Shou had encountered the Ghost Sha Butcher that morning, he'd seen at a glance that the man was no good. He'd been covered in blood, with killing intent written all over his face. Even without Subtle Perception, it was obvious he'd just killed a lot of people. Otherwise, Lin Shou wouldn't have hit him so hard.

Now, after asking the Six Fan School, he'd learned that the man wasn't just a bad sort—he was part of an organized criminal gang. That made it even more important not to let anyone find out Lin Shou had taken him down. What if they came after him for revenge?

The White Lotus Sect was the biggest rebel organization in Great Jing Dynasty. What wouldn't those criminals do? If they came for revenge and tried to kill him, that would be one thing. But what if they couldn't beat him and smeared excrement all over his shop's door?

Tsk, thank goodness he'd had the foresight to shift the blame quickly and clear himself of suspicion. Whoever wanted to take the fall could have it.

Lin Shou cheerfully returned to the Corpse-Stitching Shop.

After the Six Fan School officers finished gathering evidence and investigating, they urgently sent word to the Ministry of Justice and the Grand Court of Revision. The Minister of Justice, that little old man, was already frantic.

Not long ago, he'd nearly been sent home to grow sweet potatoes over the Scalp-Cutter case. They'd only just resolved it, and now the Ghost Sha Butcher had turned up. Thank goodness the man had been captured. Otherwise, the Minister might have lost his head.

The White Lotus Sect fiend's massacre in the Capital City had already reached the emperor's ears, and the Son of Heaven was furious. The Commander of the Nine Gates and the Three Judicial Offices would each have to shoulder half the blame. They were sure to drag out a few subordinates to take the fall, and the Minister was already picking candidates...

While the Minister fretted over his career, thinking about how to maneuver in court and shift the blame onto his subordinates, the Six Fan School's Divine Constable Hall was abuzz.

Two people were talking inside.

One was a jade-like young gentleman, pale-faced and dressed in a brocade robe embroidered with cloud patterns, drinking and singing with a carefree, dashing air. His lightness skill was peerless, and no one could match him.

One of the Four Great Constables, Zhuifeng.

The other wore her dark hair in a heroic style and carried a sword case on her back, with thirteen swords hidden inside. Her face was as cold as ice that had never melted in ten thousand years, and her thirteen frosty swords could freeze the blood of Xue Ning.

One of the Four Great Constables, Xue Ning.

The two had received an urgent letter last night. They had changed horses eighteen times on the way and ridden through the night to return to the Capital City and capture the Ghost Sha Butcher.

They hadn't expected to hear, as soon as they got back, that the man had already been caught.

They had gone to see him. He was sprawled on a bed, drooling and only able to babble incoherently. Whoever had struck him had been precise and ruthless, reducing him to a brain-damaged wreck with a single blow.

The Ghost-Head Guillotine, the prized weapon the Ghost Sha Butcher was famous for, had also been smashed in one clean, decisive strike.

"The Ghost Sha Butcher was no ordinary thug. His iron-body Baleful Intent technique had twenty years of power behind it, enough to make him a second-rate expert in his own right. Add his rare guillotine techniques and his prized weapon forged from black iron, and even a first-rate expert would struggle to face him head-on."

Zhuifeng flipped through the case files, waved his fan, and sipped fine wine from a jade cup. He looked less like he was working a case and more like he was out at a brothel.

Compared with his carefree manner, Xue Ning's face showed not the slightest emotion. She said nothing, as cold as unmelting ice, her expression blank. The two of them were polar opposites.

Zhuifeng continued:

"Judging by the injuries, the person who struck him only used one move to take down both him and his blade. So, if you fought the Ghost Sha Butcher, how many moves would you need?"

Xue Ning didn't answer. She pointed at the broken guillotine blade instead.

"What if he didn't use his weapon?"

Xue Ning held up one finger, then covered half of it, indicating she could finish him in half a move.

"What if he did use it?"

Xue Ning thought for a moment, then held up three fingers. Three moves.

"To take down the Ghost Sha Butcher and his weapon with a single strike, the person who did it must be at least a top expert, possibly even a grandmaster."

After hearing that, Xue Ning thought for a moment and pointed at the guillotine blade again.

Zhuifeng nodded. "True. If they had a better weapon or a technique that countered his, a first- or second-rate expert might have managed it too... I'm no good at identifying martial arts. Do you recognize what move this was, or which school it came from?"

Xue Ning shook her head.

"You can't tell?"

Xue Ning shook her head again.

"You don't recognize it?"

Xue Ning shook her head once more. After staying silent for so long, she finally spoke her first words:

"No move. Brute force."

That afternoon, at the Qingcheng Teahouse.

The chief culprit, the Ghost Sha Butcher, had been executed, and the Six Fan School had mostly withdrawn. The shops at Caishikou had reopened as usual.

Lin Shou sat in the teahouse listening to a storyteller, with several of his fellow corpse-stitchers from among the Heavenly Cripples and Earthly Maimed beside him. Lin Shou was treating them.

"Gentlemen, want some?"

Lin Shou held out a paper bag of snacks.

"My teeth aren't what they used to be. I can't chew anything hard."

"These are five-spice beans from the Taishi Workshop. They're soft and chewy."

"Ha, you should've said so earlier. Little Nine, you're thoughtful."

The old men grinned, showing their teeth, and took some to share. Before long, the aroma wafted through the air. Listening to a storyteller was best with something to munch on.

"Ah, with that White Lotus Sect fiend slaughtering people all over the street, we'll have plenty of work again."

The newly arrived corpse-stitcher sighed. An experienced old hand beside him waved dismissively and laughed.

"Bah, at least those deaths are clear-cut. The worst are the ones where no one knows how they died. The Autumn Examination's coming up soon. Once the Examination Hall opens, who knows how many people will die?"

"What do you mean?"

"People die at the Examination Hall every year, and they're never easy bodies to stitch up. In past years, autumn examination season was when the most corpse-stitchers died."

"Wait, what? Tell us more..."

Lin Shou listened to their conversation for a while. When he went to pour himself tea, he found his cup was empty. He thought of calling a server to refill it, but couldn't find one.

Fine, he'd pour it himself. Lin Shou got up and went over to the stove, reaching for a kettle of hot water. At the same moment, a thin little hand reached out beside him. Their eyes met.

The other person shuddered from head to toe, turned around, and tried to run.

Lin Shou called after them:

"Come back, or I'll come looking for you in the middle of the night."