We Three Deserve Ten Thousand Deaths

We Three Deserve Ten Thousand Deaths

Amid the howling wind and sudden snow, the constable's figure stood all alone.

His steps left a faint trail of footprints in the snow, only for wind and flurries to bury them at once, leaving no trace behind.

Wearing his saber, carrying an iron ruler, with a long rope tied at his waist, Lin Yi walked silently through the empty streets and alleys.

He looked up at the sky. It was pitch-black.

He headed toward the residence of Ji Family's Three Brothers.

Long ago, the teacher who had taught Lin Yi martial arts once asked him what his dream was.

Back then, Lin Yi had blurted out that he wanted to become a constable.

His teacher had laughed heartily and asked why he wanted to be a constable.

Lin Yi had said that constables could punish evil, uphold good, and defend justice!

His teacher had then asked what he should do if, one day, the identity and authority of a constable were not enough to support the justice he spoke of.

At the time, Lin Yi had been utterly lost and unable to answer.

But now, he understood.

If the identity of a constable and the law were not enough to preserve justice, then he would use something else.

—Since even cold, merciless law could not punish evil, then he would use something colder and more merciless, such as a saber, a sword, and roaring fire.

Whether it was private punishment or something else.

Those who deserved punishment would receive it!

Tonight, Constable Lin Yi would not handle cases, nor would he drink.

He was going to kill!

Even if it cost him his position as a constable, even if it sent him to the execution block, so be it!

All Lin Yi wanted was justice!

As he walked through the snow, his gaze grew resolute, and the hand gripping his saber no longer trembled.

As though he had completed a transformation, the rash young constable walked onto his own path.

Yet when the already resolute Lin Yi arrived at the residence of Ji Family's Three Brothers, he found its doors thrown wide open and its lamps blazing.

His brows furrowed as he stepped inside.

He saw pots, bowls, and dishes scattered everywhere, leftovers strewn across the floor, broken door bolts, toppled lamps, and liquor spilled all over the ground.

As for Ji Family's Three Brothers, they had long since vanished.

Only a woman in disheveled clothes remained in a corner, her eyes shut tight as she trembled.

Was she cold, or was she afraid?

Lin Yi froze.

He recognized the woman. She was Qinghong, the top courtesan of Huaqing Tower—of course, Lin Yi did not visit brothels. He knew this woman of the dust only because, when he had first started the job, he had repeatedly gone to carry back those senior constables who had gotten drunk at Huaqing Tower and sprawled there like corpses.

But why was Qinghong of Huaqing Tower here, in such a strange state? And what exactly had happened at the residence of Ji Family's Three Brothers to leave it in such disarray?

And... where were Ji Family's Three Brothers?!

Unable to make sense of it, Lin Yi hurriedly questioned Qinghong, the woman of the dust.

But upon hearing Constable Lin Yi's voice, Qinghong seemed to have seized upon a savior. She threw her arms around him, trembling all over, and refused to let go.

At the same time, she seemed to have suffered some immense shock. No matter what he asked, she said nothing; no matter what he asked, she gave no answer.

Helpless, Lin Yi could only send Qinghong back to Huaqing Tower first and stay by her side, intending to ask what had happened once she had calmed down a little.

Elsewhere, at the Clerk Office.

Lin Yi, who had set out to kill with private punishment, had no idea that the moment he left, a squad of cold-faced officers braved the bitter wind and snow and stormed into the Clerk Office.

The Chief Constable's residence.

Xiao Zihua, Chief Constable of Weishui, was lying amid silk bedding, holding a young and beautiful woman as he slept soundly.

Drool even trickled from the corner of his mouth, as though he were having some sweet dream.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Hasty footsteps rang out beyond the door!

The Chief Constable jolted awake, his expression changing sharply!

Though he held a high position and had not fought for many years, the instinctive alertness of a martial artist still made him wake at once!

But before he could react, the door was kicked open with a bang!

A squad of officials dressed entirely in red rushed in!

At the sight of that blood-red color, Xiao Zihua's heart gave a violent lurch!

He knew all too well what those red robes represented.

—The Inspection Bureau.

These people did not handle public order or murder cases. They specialized in investigating officials who committed crimes, embezzled funds, and twisted the law!

They were said to be impartial as iron-faced judges!

"What are you doing?!" Xiao Zihua shouted, forcing himself to remain calm.

The red-clad officer at the front displayed his badge and said evenly, "Chief Constable Xiao, surely you know exactly what we do?"

Xiao Zihua's heart jolted, but he still put on a fierce front despite his inner weakness. "I, Xiao, have lived a clean and upright life, impartial as iron! If you wish to investigate, then investigate! But barging into my residence in the dead of night is rather too brazen, isn't it? If you do not leave at once, I will lodge a complaint against you before the county magistrate tomorrow!"

As he spoke, he hoped to drive off the Inspection Bureau officers, then immediately dispose of all the incriminating evidence he could not let others see.

But the red-clad man merely sneered. "Chief Constable Xiao, stop putting on an act. Would we dare storm into your residence without some evidence in hand?"

With that, he directly tossed out a stack of document rolls. They landed on Xiao Zihua's bed with a smack, spilling open to reveal deed after deed and silver banknote after silver banknote!

The red-clad leader spoke in an icy voice. "Chief Constable Xiao, how much is your monthly salary? And how much are these property deeds and silver notes worth? I did the math. Even if you worked for three thousand years without eating or drinking, you still could not afford them!"

"So, Chief Constable Xiao, come along. Try to keep it dignified!"

In that instant, cold sweat streamed down Xiao Zihua's body!

He had hidden those deeds and silver notes with the utmost care. How had they ended up in the hands of the Inspection Bureau?

Of course, that was not the key point.

The key point was that if all these things were investigated, with such an enormous sum involved, his entire life would likely be ruined!

—Dismissal would be the lightest punishment. He might even be dragged to the execution block and lose his head!

At that moment, his heart was ashes and his spirit was dead.

Changes in officialdom were like earthquakes.

They came suddenly, and they went suddenly.

After Xiao Zihua was taken away, the Clerk Office returned to peace.

In the snowy night, silent Weishui no longer held a single sound.

Until the next day, when dawn broke and the heavy snow gradually eased.

To the people of Weishui, it seemed that another ordinary snowy night had passed, without a ripple.

Until a vegetable farmer at Hanging Bridge, carrying freshly picked greens on a shoulder pole and hoping to sell them early so he could go home and burrow beneath his blankets for warmth.

As he passed Linshui Street, he noticed that the door to Zhang San'er's residence seemed to be open. He thought, Could some black-hearted thief really be stealing from the home of the dead?

Driven by curiosity, he pushed the door open and looked inside.

But that single glance made the farmer, a man who had weathered more than forty years of wind and rain, piss himself!

He immediately reported it to the authorities!

Perhaps because the scene was too brutal, too inhuman.

Not only did numerous constables arrive, even the county magistrate was alarmed!

Before long, numerous clerks and officers had surrounded Zhang San'er's residence so tightly that not even water could pass through!

Lin Yi, the constable of Linshui Street, was naturally summoned from the brothel as well.

—He still had not gotten Ji Family's Three Brothers' whereabouts from Qinghong!

But he soon learned that this young constable, who had nearly embarked upon the path of an asura, no longer needed to ask Qinghong, the woman of the dust.

—They were right here!

When he pushed open the door, a pungent stench of blood rushed at his face on the cold wind.

There, in the center of the mourning hall and before Madam Zhang's coffin, three corpses had long frozen stiff. They knelt respectfully in blood, facing Madam Zhang's memorial portrait like statues.

Even stranger, the heads of those three rigid corpses had been twisted off cleanly, leaving their necks a blur of blood and flesh.

At first glance, Lin Yi frowned tightly. The backs of those three headless corpses seemed strangely familiar.

"Who are these three?"

A clerk beside him was pale as a sheet. He swallowed hard, pointed ahead, and answered, "Go look from the front."

Puzzled, Lin Yi nevertheless walked around to the front of the corpses and looked!

The sight froze his entire body stiff!

The three frozen corpses had both arms raised level before them, as if offering something up—and what they held were three round heads!

Good heavens!

Were these not Ji Family's Three Brothers, who had been so arrogant and domineering just yesterday?

Their heads had actually been twisted off, and they had been made to hold their own heads as they knelt before Madam Zhang's coffin to beg forgiveness!

Shock, despair, terror... all kinds of expressions had frozen on the faces of Ji Family's Three Brothers, forever sealed there by wind and snow.

And on the gray-white floor before the three kneeling men, eight large, twisted characters had been written in glaring blood.

Like a confession of repentance.

—"We three deserve ten thousand deaths!"