Setting Black as White, Turning Right into Wrong

Setting Black as White, Turning Right into Wrong

The next day, at first light.

Everything that had happened last night was buried beneath darkness, wind, and snow. No one knew.

Lin Yi had worked through the night without closing his eyes, rushing to the constabulary. Only after seeing with his own eyes that the Ji Family's Three Brothers were still locked up did he finally relax.

He hurried out to eat a bowl of plain noodle soup and drink two bowls of hot tea.

Then he returned to the constabulary, intending to interrogate those three tyrant brothers again.

But before he could even enter, the chief constable who had been turned away yesterday came again.

Lin Yi naturally had no pleasant expression for him, greeting him in a lukewarm manner.

Yet today, the chief constable was remarkably courteous. He merely said that he wished to interrogate the Ji Family's Three Brothers alongside Lin Yi.

Lin Yi had no idea what medicine the man was selling from his gourd, but it was difficult to refuse, so they went to interrogate them together.

During the questioning, the three brothers still stubbornly denied everything, refusing to admit that they had killed Zhang San'er.

Before Lin Yi could lose his temper, the chief constable slammed the table and roared, "The evidence is conclusive! You still dare deny it? Bring up the evidence!"

Upon receiving the order, a clerk hurried to the evidence room and carried in two boots.

But the instant everyone saw those two boots, every gaze changed.

The chief constable closed his eyes and lowered his gaze, his breathing even.

The three Ji family tyrants' eyes widened as they burst into laughter.

The many clerks were utterly bewildered, as though they had witnessed something impossible.

As for Lin Yi, his expression changed, and his fists clenched tight!

Under all those different gazes, the two boots—one black, one white; one large, one small—were completely different!

The one on the left was precisely the boot found yesterday in the Ji brothers' home. But the one taken from Zhang San'er's hand, the "evidence" that should have matched the left boot as a pair, had now become a small, glazed-white boot.

Forget examining the two boots closely.

Anyone with eyes could see that they were not a pair!

At once, the eldest Ji brother broke into loud sobs. "Wronged! We've been wronged! We were dragged into this constabulary for no reason at all! What a grievous injustice!"

The chief constable also put on a show of frowning and looked at Lin Yi. "Constable Lin, this so-called evidence does not seem to be the same pair of boots, does it?

"Look at this glazed-white boot. It was clutched in the deceased's hand, so by all reason, it ought to belong to the murderer.

"But look at the one found in the Ji Household. It is a larger black boot! And from what I can see, none of these three suspects seems able to fit into the white boot held by the deceased.

"Constable Lin, were you perhaps too eager to solve the case and arrested the wrong men?"

Having said that, the chief constable leaned back in his chair, narrowed his eyes, and watched Lin Yi.

Wrong men, my ass!

At this moment, how could Lin Yi still not understand what had happened?

The evidence!

It had been secretly swapped!

The evidence placed in the evidence room—the boot taken from Zhang San'er's hand that could form a pair with the boot found at the Ji Household—had somehow been replaced with an entirely unrelated glazed-white boot!

He did not know who had done it, but to silently infiltrate the constabulary and replace the evidence, one would likely need at least an Innate Realm expert, holding their breath, focusing their spirit, and concealing their aura!

But what virtue or ability did the Ji Family's Three Brothers possess to command such means?

And judging by the chief constable's expression, he had likely known about this all along.

No wonder—no wonder he had insisted on interrogating the Ji Family's Three Brothers with him today!

So that was it.

So this was where the pit had been dug!

"Ahem. Since this was a misunderstanding and the wrong men were arrested," the chief constable said with a light cough, "then release them."

"You dare?!" Lin Yi suddenly bellowed, drawing his saber with a swish and slamming it onto the table. "Let me see who dares release them today!"

"Lin Yi! What are you doing?"

Seeing this, the chief constable flew into a rage as well and rose to his feet. "You are a constable. You were too eager to solve the case and arrested the wrong suspects! And now you dare draw your saber against me? What exactly are you trying to do?! Do you still have law in your heart? Do you still have justice?!"

Lin Yi gripped his saber, his knuckles white and his eyes blazing, but several clerks beside him held him down tightly, not daring to let him do anything rash!

Only then did the chief constable relent. With a cold snort, he said, "Release them!"

Thus, the shackles of the three Ji family tyrants were removed, their fetters taken off, and they laughed loudly!

"Constable Lin, in the future, you'd best open your eyes wide before arresting people!" The eldest Ji brother patted Lin Yi's shoulder. "It's only because us three brothers are softhearted. If it were someone else, they might have hauled you before the court and sued you!"

With that, they followed the chief constable and swaggered away!

"Xiao Zihua! Are you worthy of that uniform? Are you worthy of that saber?!" Held back by several clerks, Lin Yi's eyes nearly split open as he stared fixedly at the chief constable, crying out hysterically!

The chief constable glanced at him, gave a derisive snort, offered no answer, and turned away.

Bang!

The constabulary's main gates slammed shut.

In the darkness, Lin Yi went limp and sat weakly on the ground!

Earlier, he had guarded against anyone releasing the Ji Family's Three Brothers, but he had not guarded against someone swapping the evidence!

That pair of boots had been the most important evidence!

Now that it had been switched, the Ji Family's Three Brothers had nearly cleared themselves of all suspicion!

And the Linshui Street constabulary was his territory.

The evidence had been switched under his watch. That too was his failure in guarding it!

He could only break his teeth and swallow them with blood, forcing down this grievance!

That day, Lin Yi suffered the greatest blow since becoming a constable.

And he deeply experienced the heavy darkness beneath the calm waters of Weishui.

In the afternoon, at dusk.

Yu Chen came down the mountain to buy some bamboo strips, yellow paper, brushes, and ink.

He had made too many paper effigies earlier and had used up nearly everything. There were no longer any left to sell to the common folk who came to honor the dead.

—Though he no longer lacked silver, he still had to keep up appearances. Besides, the people had grown accustomed to buying paper effigies and spirit money from him when honoring their ancestors. He could not let them make a wasted trip up the mountain.

But it would have been fine if he had not come down the mountain. The moment he did, what he saw left him utterly stunned.

At the entrance to Hanging Bridge Market, the Ji Family's Three Brothers were leading a vicious dog and strutting through the streets!

Hadn't these three been arrested?

How were they still here, alive and kicking?

For the moment, Yu Chen did nothing else. Instead, he went up the mountain, made another paper effigy of Zhang San'er's ghost, and under cover of night arrived at the Clerk Office.

—Lin Yi had arrested them. He surely knew why they had been released.

But what Yu Chen had not expected was that Lin Yi, who was drowning his sorrows in drink, immediately dropped to his knees and wailed the instant he saw Zhang San'er's ghost!

That appearance was not one of fear, but guilt.

He cried as he wiped away tears and snot, apologizing all the while!

"It was because I was useless!"

"The evidence was switched!"

"I couldn't punish those three pieces of human filth!"

"It was my fault!"

"..."

Every cry was soaked in blood and tears, leaving Yu Chen, who had come to demand answers, with no choice but to comfort the guilt-ridden Lin Yi.

—Being comforted by a ghost was a first for him.

Exhausted from crying and overcome by the alcohol, Lin Yi fell into a deep sleep.

From his fragmented account, Yu Chen also learned the full course of events.

In short, the boot clutched in Zhang San'er's hand had been switched. As a result, the Ji Family's Three Brothers naturally cleared themselves of suspicion and were released.

At Qingfeng Mausoleum.

Yu Chen recalled the paper effigy and opened his eyes.

Silence.

This yamen was absurd enough.

Yu Chen's parents, who had been wrongly accused, had their heads chopped off without the slightest mercy.

Yet the Ji Family's Three Brothers, who had unquestionably killed someone, were released merely because the evidence had been switched.

Wasn't a life for a life the law of heaven and earth?

How could the Ji Family's Three Brothers, wicked beyond measure, still roam free outside?

—Was this truly right?

Yu Chen felt confused. He sat there thinking for a long time before reaching a conclusion.

—This was not right.

Good people could find no peace, while vile creatures ran rampant.

This world should not be like this.

He took out the Scripture of Deliverance and heard the ghost by the Yellow Springs River still muttering, "Have they paid with their lives... Have they paid with their lives..."

"Not yet."

Yu Chen did not know whether he could hear, but he spoke to himself all the same.

"They have someone backing them. The boot you exhausted all your strength to clutch before dying was switched."

"So the three of them were released today, swaggering about and parading through the streets."

"With no evidence, the yamen cannot control them, nor can it give you justice."

"But that does not matter."

"I will certainly do what I promised you."

Under the flickering dim lamplight, the young gravekeeper exhaled a breath of white mist, and a pitch-black ghostly face grew from beneath his flesh.

His voice became hoarse, became chilling, became cold and hard, forged of iron and blood.

"The justice the yamen cannot give you, I will give."

"What the yamen cannot govern, I will govern."

"Those the yamen cannot kill, I will kill."

(End of Chapter)