Universal Celebration

The courtyard had fallen completely silent.

So silent that he could hear the night birds fluttering their wings beneath the eaves, hear the water murmuring in the distant bend of the river.

Xu Qing stood amid the bodies strewn across the ground, lowering his head to look at his blood-soaked hands. His fists clenched, then loosened. He wiped the blood from his hands on Hong Tianhu's clothes.

He did not leave in a hurry.

He searched the residence from top to bottom, meticulously.

Hong Tianhu's bedroom was in the second courtyard. There was a hidden compartment by the bed, and Xu Qing pried it open. Inside sat a heavy iron box. When he opened it, he found several dozen taels of loose silver, along with a one-hundred-tael banknote.

A one-hundred-tael banknote. His fingers trembled slightly.

He had never seen a banknote in his life, much less one of such a large denomination. In his home, one tael of silver had to be split into ten pieces, and even a single copper coin had to be warmed in one's pocket before one could bear to spend it. His family could fish for a lifetime and still never save up this much.

He put away the banknote and loose silver, then searched elsewhere—the false bottom of the wardrobe, beneath the bedboards, behind the desk drawers—and found more scattered silver and copper coins.

Altogether, the money came to nearly one hundred and fifty taels. One hundred and fifty taels of silver. Before this, he had not even dared imagine such a number. He could not have dreamed of it.

By the time Xu Qing left the residence, the moon had already sunk.

He did not head home. He knew the Leviathan Gang also had gambling dens, taverns, dockside Fish Pens, and hidden outposts tucked away in the alleys.

Since he had done it, he would see it through to the end.

If the grass was not cut by the roots, the spring wind would bring it back to life.

He could not leave a single survivor.

The dockside Fish Pens stood on the eastern side of the bay entrance, a row of low wooden sheds where fish were collected by day and people slept by night.

When Xu Qing slipped over, lights were still on inside the sheds. Several men were huddled within, drinking and gambling, dice rattling across a wooden table.

Xu Qing pushed the door open. Three men lifted their heads, but before they could see who had come, his fists were already upon them. Clean and swift, leaving no survivors. He searched the Fish Pens' cabinet and found some loose silver—not much, only a dozen or so taels.

Then came the gambling den. It was not far from the docks and had already closed for the night, though two guards remained inside. Xu Qing scaled the wall. The pair were dozing, and he ended each with a single punch. He found several dozen taels of silver in the cabinets.

The tavern stood at the street corner, a small two-story building bustling by day and coldly deserted at night. The front doors were locked, so Xu Qing climbed in through a second-floor window and felt his way downstairs in the dark.

A gang member assigned to guard the place was curled up behind the counter, wrapped in a ragged blanket and sleeping like the dead. Xu Qing ended him with one punch. Searching the counter, he found another dozen or so taels of silver and several strings of copper coins.

He gathered all the silver together. It came to nearly two hundred taels.

He tucked the money away, left the tavern, and uprooted the last two hidden outposts as well.

By the time he finished all of it, dawn was near.

A pale fish-belly white spread across the eastern sky. A thin mist rose over the river, shrouding the docks and fishing boats in a gray haze of vapor.

Xu Qing squatted by the riverbank and carefully washed every trace of blood from his body.

Then he headed home.

He had not slept all night, yet he was not tired in the slightest. His heart was calm, calm as a pool of stagnant water.

He knew he had caused trouble—trouble on a grand scale.

The man behind the Leviathan Gang was Lin Mu, the county magistrate's third son. Lin Mu's father was the governing official of Qinghe County; a single word from him could leave Xu Qing dead without a burial place.

But there was no way for him to retreat.

From the moment they had used his family to force him out, he had been left with no road back.

If he did not kill them, they would kill him—and kill his family.

This was not a multiple-choice question. It was a death question. There was no need to ask; there was only one answer.

No one had seen what happened tonight. No one knew. He had left behind no evidence.

And even if someone suspected him, he still had his master. Zhao Yan was a master of the Transformation Realm, a towering presence in Qinghe County. With such a mountain to lean against, even if Lin Mu suspected him and wanted to make a move, he would have to weigh the matter carefully.

Besides, Lin Mu would not dare admit that he had raised a gang to exploit the common people. Such matters could not bear the light of day.

Many eyes were fixed on the county magistrate's seat. The county deputy, the registrar—which of them did not want to climb higher? Which of them was not watching with eyes wide open, waiting to seize a weakness? If Lin Mu dared admit it, he would be smearing his father's name, and those coveting that position would certainly submit impeachments.

Lin Mu was not that foolish.

Xu Qing quickened his pace toward home.

He still had to eat breakfast with his second uncle and second aunt, play with Xiuer for a while, then return to the martial arts hall. Before his second uncle and second aunt, he was still the nephew who had just returned from the city. Nothing had happened.

At the first gray light of dawn, Blackwater Bay exploded into an uproar.

The first to discover it were the fishing families living beside the docks. Before day had fully broken, they went as usual to the docks to pay their fees and put out their boats, only to find something wrong. The shed doors stood open. The men inside lay face-down on the ground without moving, with pools of something dark beneath them.

Someone gathered his courage and went closer for a look. He vomited on the spot.

Then news came that people had died at the Fish Pens, the gambling den, and the tavern as well. Each scene was more miserable than the last, each one more thoroughly cleaned out.

Finally, someone steeled himself and pushed open the gates to the Leviathan Gang's headquarters. At the sight of corpses and blood everywhere, he fled crawling and scrambling, his legs gone weak.

"Dead... they're all dead... Everyone from the Leviathan Gang is dead!"

The news seemed to grow wings, flying from the docks to the mouth of the alley, from one end of the alleys to the other. In less than half an hour, all of Blackwater Bay knew.

"The Leviathan Gang was wiped out! Not one survivor was left!"

"Who did it? Who did this?"

"Who cares who did it? Heaven has finally opened its eyes!"

"Retribution! Retribution! How much heartless money have they taken over the years? How many people have they beaten? Today, they finally paid it back!"

The fishermen stood on the docks, talking over one another, unable to hide the smiles on their faces.

Someone pushed his boat into the water. After rowing two strokes, he suddenly stopped and turned around to shout, "We don't have to pay the toll today!"

That shout was like throwing a ladle of water into boiling oil. The people onshore burst into laughter. It rolled from the docks across the river, swaying atop the ripples.

An old man squatted on the dock, smoking a dry pipe with narrowed eyes as he muttered, "How many years did the Leviathan Gang bully us? How much silver did they take? How many people did they beat? Retribution, retribution..." As he spoke, his eyes reddened. He wiped them with his sleeve.

Chen Laosi's wife came out of the alley. Hearing the discussion, she froze at first, then tears began to fall. Chen Laosi had had his leg broken by men from the Leviathan Gang and was still bedridden.

She stood at the alley entrance, weeping so hard that her whole body shook, repeating, "Heaven has eyes," over and over. No one could console her.

The most excited of all was Li Laoda's family.

In a few days, thirteen-year-old Erya was supposed to be married off as Wang Biao's concubine. They called it marriage, but in truth, she was being forced and sent away. Wang Biao was over forty, his face covered in fleshy jowls. Rumor had it that he had tortured his previous two concubines to death. Li Laoda's family had been so worried they could barely eat. Their daughter had cried without end, her eyes swollen like peaches.

That morning, when Li Laoda heard that the Leviathan Gang had all died, he stood stunned for a long while. Then, with a thud, he dropped to his knees and kowtowed three times toward Heaven. He split the skin on his forehead, blood running down from between his brows, but he did not notice at all.

His wife rushed out from the house and embraced their daughter. The two wept in a heap, yet their tears were filled with laughter.

"She doesn't have to marry him... She doesn't have to marry him..." Li Laoda rose, wiped blood and tears from his face, and shouted at the sky, "Heavens, you've finally opened your eyes!"

Neighbors gathered outside Li Laoda's home, chattering all at once. Laughter and weeping mingled together, making the place as lively as New Year.

Some said the Leviathan Gang had offended an expert. Some said a great hero had enforced justice on Heaven's behalf. Others said it was simply retribution—the time had come for them to pay.

No one knew who had done it. Nor did anyone dig deeper.

They only knew they no longer had to pay tolls to fish today, that no one at the dockside Fish Pens would force purchases and sales anymore, that their daughters would not have to marry beasts like Wang Biao, and that they could finally sleep soundly at night.

The sun leaped up from the river, scattering golden light over the docks, the fishing boats, and those faces that had been smiling all morning.

Blackwater Bay had never been so lively, nor had it ever been so bright.

After breakfast, Xu Qing bid farewell to his second uncle, second aunt, and Xiuer, then returned to the county town.

By the time he entered the martial arts hall, the sun had already risen high.

Zhao Yan was drinking tea in the pavilion, with Ning Yun at his side.

Hearing footsteps, Zhao Yan looked up and glanced at Xu Qing.

That glance was neither swift nor slow, neither light nor heavy. Like a soft measuring tape, it measured from Xu Qing's face down to his feet, then from his feet back to his face—not an inch too much, not an inch too little.

Xu Qing's face was somewhat pale, with faint dark shadows beneath his eyes. One look was enough to tell he had not slept all night. Yet he stood with his back straight and his gaze steady, revealing no hint of anything amiss.

"Back?" Zhao Yan smiled mildly, his voice neither too soft nor too loud, as casual as if he were asking any ordinary question.

"I'm back, Master." Xu Qing bowed deeply. When he straightened, his gaze remained lowered, and he did not meet his master's eyes.

Zhao Yan lifted his tea bowl and took a sip. He did not ask why Xu Qing had returned a day late, nor why he looked unwell. He merely looked at Xu Qing, his gaze carrying a trace of understanding and a trace of complexity.

Without lifting his head, Xu Qing spoke again. "Master, on my way home yesterday, I encountered three criminals blocking the road. I dealt with them."

Zhao Yan nodded. Sun Ping had told him about it when he returned yesterday, and Chen Wang had reported it as well.

"Chen Wang went to the yamen to request leave for you. Constable Qi said you can resume patrolling the streets whenever you return." After saying this, Zhao Yan waved his hand, signaling that Xu Qing could go about his business.

Xu Qing bowed again, turned, and left the pavilion.

After taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped and looked back. Zhao Yan was lowering his head as he drank tea, his eyes resting on the tea bowl as though nothing had caught his attention. But Xu Qing knew that his master knew everything.

He had stained his hands with blood long ago. His master knew. From the first time he had returned from a rest day, his master had known the instant he looked at him. That gaze had been like two blades, cutting him open from head to toe, leaving nothing hidden even in the cracks of his bones.

Yet his master had said nothing and asked nothing. Today was the same.

Xu Qing withdrew his gaze and strode toward his room.

He changed into his constable's uniform, hung his saber at his waist, fastened his copper badge to his belt, straightened his collar, and went out.

Sunlight fell over him. The dark blue-green constable's uniform made him look neat and upright, as though he were a different person from the youth who had shattered bones punch by punch in the darkness last night.

As he passed the training ground, Qin Liang was practicing his punches. Seeing him, he called out, "Junior Brother Xu, heading out to patrol?"

Xu Qing nodded and smiled.

Sun Ping jumped down from the plum blossom stakes, wiped away his sweat, and grinned. "Senior Brother Xu, you must have slept well at home last night, huh? I didn't sleep well at all. I spent the whole night thinking about those three bandits blocking the road. The more I thought about it, the more impressive you seemed."

Xu Qing patted him on the shoulder without speaking, then strode out of the martial arts hall.