She instinctively surveyed her surroundings warily. Her earlier inspection had revealed no sign of an ambush nearby, making the whole affair seem stranger still. She looked again at the Heaven-and-Earth Bag in her hand, increasingly aware that someone might not merely be waiting for someone to carry this item out. They might also be waiting to see who would "overlook" it during the departure inspection and let it leave.
The more she thought about it, the colder her back grew. If Ba Yingshan had not told her the inside story, she would definitely have taken it away.
Now it felt like a hot potato in her hands. She immediately turned and stuffed the Heaven-and-Earth Bag back into her younger brother's cold hand, surveyed her surroundings once more, then swiftly departed.
Before long, Ba Yingshan arrived with several dozen men in a bustling throng. They located the scene and examined it. The corpses needed little explanation; their main task was to excavate the collapsed mine tunnel.
They worked until daybreak before Ba Yingshan took some of the men back to Zhixu City to report.
Afterward, in an open space within the inner city, a group assembled the Dragon Bones taken from the Heaven-and-Earth Bag. Orders had come from above: the skeleton was to be secured in the shape of a coiled dragon and left here as a landmark of Zhixu City.
In the tallest pavilion beside the open space, the man draped in violet gauze stood behind a window with his hands clasped behind his back. His gaze was calm as he watched the Bone Dragon being assembled below.
Beside him stood a powerfully built man in blue, imposing in bearing, with a square face and large ears. His eyes held a tiger's menace, flashing keenly whenever his lids moved. He was Du Huoguan, the prison inspector of the land of exile.
Du Huoguan's respectful attendance was unmistakable, for the other man was the legendary ruler of the Prison of Life. His name consisted of a single word, Nie, and people called him the Jailer.
The two watched the Bone Dragon take shape without saying a word.
Ba Yingshan brought several men to the guest quarters and knocked on the door.
The door opened, revealing Qi Yueru. As though nothing had happened, she even wore a smile. "City Lord Ba, have you found my younger brother and the others?"
Ba Yingshan inwardly admired her composure. He nodded slightly, his expression grave, and extended a hand in invitation. "Madam Shen, please come with me."
Qi Yueru agreed with a smile and followed them away.
After several turns, they arrived outside a room. As they were about to enter, Ba Yingshan stepped aside at the doorway and said solemnly once more, "Madam Shen, please accept my condolences."
At those words, Qi Yueru's expression changed drastically. She rushed inside, and soon her wailing rang out from the room.
Those who entered afterward saw Qi Yueru clutching her son's corpse, overcome with grief, and all sighed. She had come to visit a prisoner, which should have been a happy occasion, only to end up seeing him to his grave. Life truly was unpredictable!
After waiting a while, Ba Yingshan told the others behind him, "Grief at parting in life and death is only human. All of you withdraw. Let her vent her sorrow first."
They obeyed and left.
With the outsiders gone, Ba Yingshan walked over to Qi Yueru. This time, his consolation was sincere. "Please accept my condolences."
Though her son and younger brother had died, he felt considerably relieved. Whatever she had gone out and done last night, she had indeed caused him no trouble. Not only had she left her son's and brother's bodies behind, but she had also left the Heaven-and-Earth Bag and the Bone Dragon at the scene. When he saw those items and worked out what it meant, he too had broken into a cold sweat. He felt that this woman knew how to act sensibly after all.
Distraught, Qi Yueru asked through her sobs, "Have you found anything? Any clues to the killer?"
Ba Yingshan glanced at the row of corpses. "Leaving aside those poisoned and buried in the mine, which we're still clearing out, your brother and these four others were all beheaded. Finding the killer from that alone won't be easy. But after carefully examining their wounds, we reached a tentative conclusion: all five heads were probably cut off with a saber. Taken together, the evidence suggests a single saber wielder may have done it. The traces at the scene also show that few people took part in the fight."
"A saber?" Qi Yueru, who had been bent over her son's corpse, abruptly raised her head as though remembering something. "They were killed with a saber? I remember now. My son seemed to have an enemy in the Eastern Nine Plains who used one."
Ba Yingshan said helplessly, "I know who you mean. Not long after you brought in all those supplies, the people of the Eastern Nine Plains happened to acquire a batch of supplies themselves. When you approached me, I made a point of looking into the grudge between your son and that local strongman.
"Judging by the facts, he probably didn't do it. Our examination of the scene showed that your brother and the others used at least two Third-Rank Immobilization Talismans and still failed to immobilize their opponent. That's not something the local strongman of the Eastern Nine Plains could manage with his paltry cultivation.
"And don't tell me you don't know what happened to those people who died in the mine. Nearly everyone from the Eastern Nine Plains had already left. Given the forces your brother had assembled, tell me, how far out of his mind would that local strongman have to be to go and kill them? Those fellows are driven mad by poverty. Do you really think they'd kill people and leave treasures untouched?"
His reasoning made sense, and Qi Yueru fell into thought. Then, with tears still glistening in her eyes, she said, "Find out where they were when it happened."
Ba Yingshan's instinct was to refuse. But faced with her tear-streaked face and reddened eyes, he knew this woman was emotionally unstable. Who knew what she might do if provoked? He could only nod silently in agreement, intending to make a cursory show of investigating.
In reality, however, the results came with unexpected ease. The men he secretly dispatched brought back reliable information that very afternoon.
He had not expected Shen Youkun to have planted watchers near the target's lair. His men happened to discover them, and once seized and questioned, they confessed everything. They could testify that the two remaining local strongmen of the Eastern Nine Plains had not left their lair when the incident occurred. Apparently, they had been cultivating there the whole time.
With witnesses, Qi Yueru ought to have been reassured. Instead, she found a new cause for suspicion. They had enough merit, so why had they not left the land of exile? With only two of them remaining, why were they still hiding in that godforsaken place to cultivate? Was that not suspicious?
Ba Yingshan nearly laughed when he heard this. Remembering that she had just lost two close relatives, however, he held it in and explained earnestly, "It might be suspicious with anyone else, but with that lad, it's perfectly normal. You probably don't know this, but he wants to climb onto a higher branch. He's actually set his sights on Lan Qiaoyan's daughter. It's something of a joke in the city.
"Lan Qiaoyan's daughter comes here to audit the accounts every three months, and that lad shows up to see her almost every time. He probably wants to see her once more before leaving. The sixth day-Lan Qiaoyan's daughter almost always comes on the sixth. That would be the day after tomorrow. He should enter the city then."
Though his explanation was entirely reasonable, the suspicion in Qi Yueru's eyes did not wholly fade.
To her, several facts were plain: the Eastern Nine Plains, an enemy of her son, and a saber wielder. No one seemed to fit better than that local strongman.
Her own son and her own younger brother had died. Faced with a possible lead, how could she possibly let it go so easily?
She had already made up her mind. Whether he was responsible or not, she would rather kill the wrong man than let the right one escape!
Besides, he had been her son's enemy while her son was alive.
So she told Ba Yingshan to keep watching him, lest he escape. Before killing that local strongman, she would certainly question him first. If she determined that he had not done it, she would still have to find a way to dig out the real murderer!
Ba Yingshan was inwardly irritated. In status, position, and strength, he stood above Qi Yueru. She had no right to order him around.
But he had no choice. Who knew how the now-dead Qi Ziru had gotten hold of evidence that he had previously bent the rules for other prisoners? With threats and inducements brought to bear, what could he do? He had been forced to help.
With leverage over him in her hands, he dared not turn against her. He could only give Qi Yueru a perfunctory promise.
And because her son and brother had been killed, turning her visit into a farewell to the dead, Qi Yueru now had a reason to remain in the city temporarily.
She had already worked out her plan. If that local strongman left the land of exile on the sixth, she would leave on the sixth too. They would leave together, and once outside, she would seize him straightaway, giving him not the slightest chance to escape!
The sixth day: great fortune.
For certain people, according to their customary routine, it was indeed an auspicious day.
A stone mountain, its sheer sides seemingly carved by blades and axes, rose like a pillar. It was the lair of the gang that held sway over the Eastern Nine Plains.
They had chosen such terrain for safety. It afforded a distant view, made approaching strangers easy to spot, and made climbing or hiding difficult for outsiders.
Early that morning, cooking smoke rose from a cave on the mountain.
Inside, a large stone mortar used as a water vat had been propped up over a fire. A whole vat of hot water had been heated, and a naked man soaked in it, limbs sprawled, hands pillowing his head, eyes closed in apparent enjoyment. It was Shi Chun.
Wu Jinliang held his face steady and shaved him with a small knife, muttering as he worked, "What a sin. A whole vat of water, squandered just like that. We really are giving up on living here."
Water was precious to the people here. Ordinarily, they had to go deep underground to fetch it, and the round trip was no easy task. In the past, water stored in vats like this was never used carelessly. An occasional sponge bath was understandable, but soaking in it like this was almost unthinkable.
Then again, they really were giving up on living here this time. Once washed clean, they would no longer stay here. They truly were leaving the land of exile.
So although he complained aloud, both his face and his heart were happy.
Shi Chun murmured, "Shave it clean..."
"What good will washing and shaving yourself spotless do? Ah, Chun, sometimes you look as though you don't care, but deep down you have your pride and ambitions. There were things I couldn't say before for fear of hurting you. Now that we're leaving, I'm not afraid to give you a warning.
"Chun, the gulf between our status and hers really is too wide. We're like ants; there's no comparing us with her. Miss Miao is polite to you because she was brought up well. Don't read anything else into it. She doesn't fancy you, and she could never fancy people like us. Don't think you can say whatever you like just because we're leaving. Mind your words when you see her later. Push too far, and you'll only embarrass yourself."
Wu Jinliang truly feared that this fellow would do something rash now that they were leaving.
Shi Chun opened one eye, glanced at him indifferently, and asked, "That's all? You think I haven't heard enough of that before? You think that could hurt me?"
Wu Jinliang stopped what he was doing, looking a little anxious. "No, listen, Chun. You're usually such a crafty fellow. Her politeness is also telling you to have some self-respect. Can you really not see that at all? Besides, she's already told you outright that you aren't suited to each other. Is there any need to cling to her so relentlessly?"
Shi Chun scooped up some water and rubbed his neck, saying calmly, "You think I enjoy being so shameless that people laugh at me? I have no choice. We offended Shen Youkun back then, and that bastard has never stopped thinking about settling the score. Especially with the arrangements he made this time, there's a good chance he stationed men outside to wait for us at the exit.
"I've observed that every time Miss Miao finishes auditing the accounts, a batch of collected goods is sent out. All we need is for the delivery party to take us along. However bold Shen Youkun's men are, they wouldn't dare touch Wangbo Tower's delivery party. I let people laugh at me for years just to have a chance to ask for that favor when we leave today."