Ji Family Bullies, a Case of Murder

In that instant, the Corpse Mover rubbed his eyes.

Yet he found that the slender youth before him seemed never to have changed at all.

"What is it?" Yu Chen asked.

The Corpse Mover waved a hand. "Heh, nothing. Must've been seeing things."

"I just bought some vegetables. Want to stay for a meal?" Yu Chen asked casually, looking at the Corpse Mover.

The latter hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement.

Afterward, he covered the soil back up, washed his hands, dragged the cart beneath a tree, and followed Yu Chen into the house.

For lunch, Yu Chen cooked some meat, fried a vegetable dish, and made tofu soup.

Though there was little salt and oil, the two of them were both lowly folk and had long grown used to it. They ate a fragrant, satisfying meal.

When they were done, the Corpse Mover took two swigs of the rough wine he had brought, let out a drunken burp, and said, "Gravekeeper, what are you planning to do from now on?"

Yu Chen froze, not immediately understanding.

"Won't you be exiled in half a year?" the Corpse Mover asked again. "What do you plan to do when that time comes?"

"Go with the flow, I guess." Yu Chen spread his hands and said no more.

—In truth, by now, he no longer took exile too seriously.

At this moment, he had ten thousand ways to avoid such a fate.

Whether by using the Paper Effigies and Paper Horses Art to pass off fish eyes as pearls, or by relying on his Innate Physique to force his way through.

There were not many people in all of Weishui who could stop him.

"Mm..." The Corpse Mover, however, thought Yu Chen had resigned himself to his fate. After choosing his words carefully, he said, "I can't eat your meal for nothing. When the time comes, I'll think of something for you. At the very least, I can make sure you won't be exiled to that godforsaken Mobei. Over the years, I've gotten to know quite a few people from all walks of life!"

He patted his chest, looking as though he had everything under control.

Yu Chen was stunned.

If the Corpse Mover had merely been an ordinary man, Yu Chen might have thought he was drunk and spouting nonsense.

But Yu Chen knew full well that the man before him was a supreme Innate Grandmaster!

Was he serious?

Or rather, why?

Yu Chen was merely a criminal household's descendant, with no family or friends. Why would the man take such a tremendous risk to help him?

Yu Chen could not understand it, so he could only laugh it off. "You've got that kind of ability?"

"Ha ha ha!" The Corpse Mover burst into laughter and began boasting, talking about how many people he knew in the south of the city, how many he knew in the north, and all that sort of thing.

It was not until noon had passed that the Corpse Mover got up, swaying and stumbling as he left. He pulled up his cart and shouted as he walked, "Don't pull a cart when you're drinking! Don't drink when you're pulling a cart..."

He looked thoroughly drunk.

Watching him, Yu Chen could not help but grumble inwardly.

Pretend!

Keep pretending!

You're a damn Innate Grandmaster. How could a few mouthfuls of rotgut get you drunk?

Only after he vanished into the end of the wind and snow and descended the mountain did the Corpse Mover's eyes instantly clear, the flush on his face fading in an instant.

His rough, savage face was full of confusion.

At last, he knew what had been wrong with Yu Chen.

A long time ago, the Corpse Mover had discussed the criminal household exile with him. Back then, Yu Chen had truly been helpless, with no will to live.

But today was different.

When he brought up the criminal household, Yu Chen's reaction had been less helplessness than... indifference?

Had he learned that the road ahead was rugged and simply decided to lie flat?

Scratching his head, the Corpse Mover muttered to himself as he headed down the mountain.

At Qingfeng Mausoleum, Yu Chen unhurriedly cleaned up the dishes, sat on the bed, and looked toward the ghost that had remained beside the two of them all this while. "Let's go."

—It was the ghost of the corpse the Corpse Mover had brought up. While Yu Chen and the Corpse Mover had been eating and drinking, it had been waiting at the side.

Fortunately, the Corpse Mover could not see it. Otherwise, even an Innate Grandmaster might have been scared sick.

With that, Yu Chen unfurled the Scripture of Deliverance. Amid flashing golden light, the ghost was drawn inside.

Earlier, while Yu Chen had been chatting with the Corpse Mover, they had also spoken of this ghost's corpse.

According to the Corpse Mover, it had been fished out from the riverbank on Linshui Street early this morning. The man who discovered it was a porter. He saw a lump beside the ice and thought it might be something valuable. But when he drew close, he found a dead man with a blue-white face, clutching a boot tightly in both hands. He was so frightened that his soul nearly flew from his body.

He hurriedly reported it to the authorities.

Constable Lin Yi of Linshui Street arrived quickly. The coroner he brought examined the body and immediately determined that the man had drowned. There were also signs of beating all over his body.

But the boot in the corpse's hand did not belong to the corpse himself. It belonged to someone else.

Constable Lin Yi immediately reached a conclusion.

That boot was very likely the killer's.

The customs of Great Xia emphasized laying the dead to rest as soon as possible. In ordinary, uncomplicated cases, once the body had been examined and the direction of the investigation had been established, the deceased would generally be buried first.

—The Corpse Mover had heard all of this from the yamen runners when he had been summoned to transport the body.

Then, smoke-gray words emerged at the beginning of the Scripture of Deliverance.

[Eighth-Grade Mortal Wish]

[Dead with Eyes Unclosed]

[Time Limit: Ten Days]

[Reward Upon Completion]

Then, the corpse's life flashed before Yu Chen like a revolving lantern.

The corpse's surname was Zhang. People usually called him Zhang San'er. He was the owner of a tea shop on Linshui Street.

Moreover, he had some fame on Linshui Street, so Constable Lin Yi had not needed much effort to identify the body.

Of course, Zhang San'er was not famous because his tea was particularly good.

It was because he had a beautiful wife with a graceful, alluring figure.

What was rare was that although Madam Zhang was stunningly beautiful, she was not as vicious as those tavern women who murdered their husbands. Instead, she endured hardship and shared sweetness with her husband, running the tea shop together with him. Though their business was not exactly flourishing, supporting the household was never a problem.

By all rights, Zhang San'er should have been living a rather happy life.

But an accident happened half a month ago.

That night, the tea shop had just been preparing to close.

Three burly men, drunk as lords, entered and demanded tea to sober themselves up.

Zhang San'er and his wife recognized them as the notorious Ji Family's Three Brothers. They did not dare turn away business, so they could only relight the fire and brew tea.

But who could have expected that, drunk as they were, their beastly natures would erupt? They suddenly attacked and took turns forcibly violating Madam Zhang!

They did not stop until dawn.

By then, the pots, bowls, and utensils in the tea shop had been smashed to pieces, while Madam Zhang's delicate body was covered in bruises.

At daybreak, the couple reported the crime.

But the three bullies actually claimed that Madam Zhang had seduced them. With people backing them and connections greased, they merely paid the couple some silver and the matter was closed.

And that was not the end of it.

Afterward, the Ji Family's Three Brothers kept telling everyone that Madam Zhang had seduced them, calling her a wanton woman and turning black into white.

Eventually, whenever Madam Zhang went out into the street, people would point at her and whisper.

Madam Zhang had always been fiercely proud. How could she endure such humiliation? At last, one night half a month later, she left a letter for her husband and hanged herself.

Zhang San'er wept bitterly, overcome with grief and at a complete loss.

Even more hateful, the Ji Family's Three Brothers came to Madam Zhang's funeral hall and spoke crudely, saying it was a pity—they should have had her a few more times that night.

Zhang San'er had neither power nor influence, but he was still a man. How could he bear such a thing?

He immediately risked his life against the three of them!

But how could an honest, ordinary commoner contend with three street thugs?

Before long, he was beaten until he was at death's door and knocked unconscious.

Seeing this, the Ji Family's Three Brothers panicked. Thinking they had beaten a man to death, they carried Zhang San'er away in the night and hurriedly threw him into the frozen Weishui River.

Who could have known that, as the winter wind and snow blew, Zhang San'er woke up at the very end, returning to life in a final flash. He grabbed Eldest Ji's boot in one fierce clutch and fell into the water with it!

It was not until morning, when he was fished ashore, that all the subsequent troubles came to pass.

(End of Chapter)