Chapter 39: Bringing the Corpse to the Magistrate's Office (Please add to your collection and continue reading)

In the dead of night, while rain poured relentlessly, who would come knocking at the door?

Shang Lu paused his cultivation and stepped into the main room with San Niang.

Shang Mingqiu and Wu Guizhi had also been disturbed and came out. Although they had returned to their rooms earlier, too much had happened that day, leaving their minds unsettled and sleep impossible.

Wu Guizhi listened nervously to the knocking outside. “Lu’er, who could be looking for you? Is something wrong?”

Shang Mingqiu said nothing, but his face showed equal anxiety.

Shang Lu raised his right hand and pressed it down in the air, soothing them. “It should be nothing serious. If it were, they wouldn’t be knocking and calling—they’d have barged in already. Don’t worry, I’ll go out and see.”

While reassuring his parents to stay calm in case anything happened, he picked up his ox-tail saber, opened an umbrella, and stepped out to unlock the courtyard gate.

Outside stood a yamen runner, holding two horses by the reins.

Seeing Shang Lu, the man clearly breathed a sigh of relief, words tumbling from his mouth in a rush. “Constable Shang, you really are here—I've been searching everywhere for you. I went to your house in the county first—well, your place in town—but you weren’t there. Then I asked around and heard you might have returned to Shuanggui Village. So I borrowed horses from the post station and hurried here.”

“You’re Lu Xing from the Black Division?” Shang Lu recognized the runner, not one of the constables but from the same section, someone he’d seen in the compound.

Lu Xing nodded repeatedly. “Yes, that’s me. Constable Shang, come quickly. The magistrate wants you at the yamen at once—he has questions.”

“What does the magistrate want to ask about? Do you know, Brother Lu?” Shang Lu asked as he scanned behind Lu Xing, checking for anyone lurking in ambush on this stormy night.

San Niang, sharing a tacit understanding with him as husband and wife, floated out silently.

Lu Xing sensed a chill pass by but thought nothing of it, assuming it was the cold night air.

He replied, “I’m not sure, but it seems to involve the shamans. After the magistrate and the registrar finished a banquet with the two shamans, they brought them to the yamen and called in several groups for questioning. Both your section chiefs were summoned as well. It was after questioning them that the magistrate sent me to find you. He also called in several of your constables and assistants…”

At that moment, San Niang drifted back and shook her head at Shang Lu.

No ambush. It seemed the magistrate and the shamans truly wanted him for questioning about the Yunhua Mountain affair.

Shang Lu didn’t go with Lu Xing immediately but invited him inside.

“Brother Lu, come in and warm yourself. Have some hot water to drive off the chill. I’ll gather my things, and we’ll leave.”

“Hurry, then. Don’t keep the magistrate and the shamans waiting.” Lu Xing did not refuse. He was cold and parched after braving the rain all the way from the county to Shuanggui Village.

Inside, Shang Lu explained matters to Wu Guizhi, asking her to prepare some hot water for Lu Xing, then hurried back to his room and quickly changed into his damp constable uniform.

Traveling back to the county in the pouring rain from Shuanggui Village, it was natural for his clothes to be soaked. Putting on his uniform would also prevent anyone from wondering why he’d changed clothes after a brief trip home.

Next, Shang Lu found a sheet of paper and wrote down the true events of killing several Black Wind Gang thugs who’d come to his home causing trouble. He wrote the facts without a single falsehood, though he omitted the later killing of Yuan Guilong, Zhao Hai, and others.

He reviewed the statement carefully, then placed it in the food box that had once held spirit fungus, tucked it into his breast, donned a rain cape, and returned to the main room.

Lu Xing, drinking the hot water, immediately got to his feet, thinking it was time to leave.

But Shang Lu asked him to wait a moment longer. He stepped out to find Uncle Gong, the village head, and several respected elders, asking them to sign the statement.

Uncle Gong and the others had already agreed to testify for Shang Lu. Since the contents were true, they had no objections and signed their names with seals.

With that done, Shang Lu went to fetch the cart carrying the corpses, wheeling it to his own doorstep before returning to call Lu Xing.

Lu Xing came out and was startled to see the bodies on the cart. He grabbed Shang Lu, asking, “Constable Shang, what happened here?”

“When I returned home today, I found these criminals about to break in—murder, arson, robbery. I shouted for them to stop, but they attacked me with blades, so I killed them all. I’d planned to send them to the yamen tomorrow to close the case, but since the magistrate and the shamans called me tonight, I’ll bring them along.”

As he explained, Shang Lu took a harness borrowed from a neighbor—meant for a donkey cart, but serviceable enough—and hitched the horses and cart together.

Lu Xing was bewildered, surprised at Shang Lu’s ruthlessness and curious where these fools came from, daring to cross a constable at the pinnacle of Bone-Cutting.

Shang Lu’s composed manner convinced him, and he harbored no doubts about the bodies.

Once the harness was ready, Shang Lu climbed onto the cart, entirely unconcerned about the corpses, and called out, “Brother Lu, my horsemanship isn’t great. Please drive.”

Lu Xing found it unlucky but preferred not to walk, so he climbed aboard and drove the makeshift horse cart back to Luoshui County.

As they neared the county, Shang Lu glanced toward Zhao Hai’s manor.

But in the darkness and rain, nothing could be seen.

The city gates had long since closed, but since Lu Xing was on official business, he spoke to the guards beforehand. At the gates, he presented his credentials, and they quickly opened a narrow gap, letting them in.

The cart rattled over the stone-paved streets, hooves clattering, and soon they arrived at the yamen.

As soon as Lu Xing stopped the cart, yamen runners approached. Seeing the bodies on the cart, they cried out in alarm, quickly drawing a crowd and more exclamations.

The commotion drew the attention of the magistrate and registrar, and soon someone came out to quiet things and inquire about the disturbance.

Spotting Shang Lu, they told him to hurry to the main hall.

“The two shamans, magistrate, and registrar have been waiting for you. Go at once!”

Shang Lu nodded and hurried toward the main hall.

As he neared, he saw the two section chiefs.

Chief Niu glanced at him with no special reaction, merely nodded, and pointed toward the main hall, signaling him to hurry.

Chief Ma, on the other hand, stared wide-eyed, as if he’d seen a ghost. Though he quickly controlled his expression, the shock in his eyes could not be concealed, his mind in turmoil: How had Shang Lu arrived? Wasn’t he supposed to be captured and interrogated by Zhao Hai? Had Zhao Hai disregarded his instructions?

Chief Niu noticed his reaction, eyeing him critically.

“Old Ma, you seem surprised to see Shang Lu?”

Chief Ma invented an explanation. “I’m just surprised he arrived so late. If the shamans get angry, we’ll all be implicated.”

“Heh.” Chief Niu snorted, unconvinced, but asked no more, narrowing his eyes in thought.

As Shang Lu entered the main hall, a runner hurried over to report that he’d hauled several corpses to the yamen.

At this, not only the magistrate and registrar, but both shamans also fixed Shang Lu with scrutinizing gazes.

“What is going on?” the magistrate asked sternly.