Chapter 53: Who Is the Mantis, Who Is the Cicada

"Who?"

Shang Lu was momentarily stunned by the question.

Xu Biao had died long ago—Shang Lu had killed him with his own hands. The corpse had even been sliced in half by Zhao Hai; how could he suddenly reappear, as if come back to life from the grave?

Before Du Feng could reply, Shang Lu pressed further: "Are you sure it's Xu Biao? Who discovered this?"

"Old Huang and his companions were on nightly patrol when, outside a sealed property formerly belonging to the Black Wind Gang, they discovered a corpse. It was Shi Fan. The wounds on his body were left by the Meridian Twin Axes, Xu Biao's favored weapons. Old Huang and the others even caught sight of someone at the scene whose build and appearance closely resembled Xu Biao, but he fled quickly, and they couldn't catch him."

Shi Fan? Hadn't he gone to Mount Yunhua? Why had he returned so suddenly, only to die at the hands of Xu Biao, who was already dead?

Clearly, this was neither a case of a corpse returning to life nor a haunting. Someone was using Xu Biao's identity to orchestrate chaos.

Shang Lu pieced together the clues and reached a conclusion: the ones stirring up trouble were Chief Ma and Sun Ying.

They had already tried to have Zhao Hai arrest him before, but failed. Now Shi Fan returned alive, but when they failed to extract any satisfactory information from him, they killed him in anger and made it look as if Xu Biao had done it.

If anything happened to Shang Lu next, they could pin it on Xu Biao as well.

So, tonight, there was no resurrected Xu Biao, nor any vengeful ghost—only the impatient and reckless Chief Ma and Sun Ying.

They did not know Xu Biao was already dead, killed by Shang Lu himself, and hoped to use his identity to capture Shang Lu and pry out the secret behind his sudden rise in power—after which they would surely kill him to eliminate all threats.

As for why they didn't attack Shang Lu directly at his home, there were two reasons. First, during Xu Biao's "escape," Shang Lu had only been a regular constable; there was little reason for Xu Biao to bear a grudge against him. Second, if Shang Lu, newly promoted to deputy chief, were murdered at home, even with "Xu Biao" to blame, suspicion would inevitably fall on Chief Ma.

So, Chief Ma arranged a scene: letting others discover Shi Fan's corpse and, through the wounds and circumstances, leading everyone to believe Xu Biao was still hiding somewhere in the county.

This way, should Shang Lu go missing or die tonight, everyone would naturally assume he'd been killed in the line of duty while hunting Xu Biao, and no one would suspect Chief Ma.

Shang Lu snorted coldly to himself. "No wonder he's survived as chief for so many years—the man is cunning. Who knows how many people have fallen prey to tricks like this in the past?"

Chief Ma's plan was thorough, but he was unaware that Xu Biao was already dead, and by Shang Lu's own hand.

Thus, rather than trapping Shang Lu, the whole scheme served as a warning to him.

"Framing Xu Biao? An excellent idea," Shang Lu mused.

He immediately decided to turn the tables and use Chief Ma's setup against him and Sun Ying.

"Xu Biao has some nerve, daring to sneak back and kill an officer! Wait here—I'll be right out," Shang Lu called out over the courtyard wall, then turned and spoke in a low voice to Lady Third, who stood in a red wedding dress, "Lady Third, I must trouble you to dig up Xu Biao's body and bring it into the city."

If there was any flaw in Chief Ma's plan tonight, it was the absence of Xu Biao's corpse. Afterwards, the magistrate and registrar would hold him accountable for that.

But that was no matter; Shang Lu could help him fill in the gap.

Although the city gates were closed, Shang Lu trusted in Lady Third's abilities—she would find a way to bring Xu Biao's corpse in.

Lady Third nodded, her figure flickered, and she vanished without a trace.

Shang Lu donned his constable's uniform, grabbed his ox-tail saber, and strode out the door.

By the light of the red and white lanterns at the gate, he saw Du Feng peering anxiously from the mouth of the alley.

Stepping out, Shang Lu instructed, "Next time you have business at night, just knock and come inside. Don't shout from the alley—that disturbs the neighbors and risks letting word slip out."

Du Feng grimaced. "I was afraid..."

"Afraid of what? No one's going to eat you."

They kept talking as they sped toward the county office.

Halfway there, they were halted by a constable.

"Chief Shang, Chiefs Niu and Ma sent word: don't go to the office. Head straight for the southern part of the city—several teams are already there. When you arrive, take command. If you find Xu Biao, make sure to hold him—don't let him escape!"

"Understood," Shang Lu replied, though inwardly he considered: So Chief Ma plans to make his move in the south.

It made sense: the southern alleys were full of twists and turns. If a fight broke out, even if someone nearby heard, it would be hard for help to arrive quickly.

For Shang Lu, that was just as well—a good place to deal with Chief Ma without worrying about witnesses.

"Old Ma isn't just handing me this opportunity on a silver platter—he's wrapped it up with a bow. What a thoughtful enemy," Shang Lu thought, giving Chief Ma a mental thumbs-up.

He changed direction immediately, heading south. Du Feng hurried after him.

Glancing at Du Feng, Shang Lu decided to send him away so he wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. "Du Feng, go back to the office and see if you can round up more help."

Du Feng nodded and ran off without question.

Alone, Shang Lu soon reached the southern quarter. He saw none of the constables who had arrived ahead—no doubt, they were searching the winding alleys for "Xu Biao."

He did not hurry to join them, but wandered the alleys alone, using himself as bait to lure Chief Ma into the open.

Chief Ma was even more anxious than expected.

Shang Lu had barely taken a few steps when he sensed a surge of force from behind to his right, hurtling toward him at great speed.

Without hesitation, Shang Lu spun and drew his saber, slashing at the attacker.

Chief Ma's eyes narrowed—he hadn't expected Shang Lu's senses to be so sharp, detecting his sneak attack.

Yet he did not panic, still confident he could capture Shang Lu.

For the sake of authenticity, Chief Ma had come without a sword, carrying instead two twin axes.

He raised the left axe to block Shang Lu's saber, while swinging the right at Shang Lu's sword arm, aiming to cripple it.

His plan was simple: disable the limbs first, then capture and interrogate.

Clang—

The twin axe collided with the ox-tail saber, releasing a thunderous crash.

Though the left axe blocked Shang Lu's blow, the force unleashed through the blade was far beyond Chief Ma's expectations.

A jolt of agony shot up his arm, splitting the skin between thumb and forefinger, nearly tearing the weapon from his grasp. He staggered back several steps, as if struck by a raging gale.

Could this really be Shang Lu? How could he possess such terrifying strength?

Chief Ma was shaken to his core.

At that moment, Shang Lu got a good look at Chief Ma's appearance.

He wore black nightclothes and a black mask, his face concealed except for his eyes—which now bulged wide with shock and disbelief.

"Xu Biao?" Shang Lu roared.

Chief Ma, fully immersed in his role, answered reflexively despite his shock, "That's right, I am Xu Biao! You lackeys of the yamen, go die!"

He was about to strike again when Shang Lu suddenly pointed behind him.

"If you're Xu Biao, then who is that behind you?"

Chief Ma scoffed. What childish trickery—look behind you? Did Shang Lu think he was so easily fooled?

But in the very next instant, his hair stood on end.

A hand, silent as death, rested on his shoulder.

Impossible—someone really was behind him?

Chief Ma panicked, diving forward and rolling away to put distance between them.

Glancing back, he saw—another figure had indeed appeared in the alley.

Xu Biao!

His body split in two, yet he moved as if alive. The lower half wandered the alley, while the upper floated eerily above the ground, his ghastly pale face twisted into an expression that seemed to ask:

Surprised? Didn't expect this, did you?

There was no surprise or delight on Chief Ma's face—only terror.

He realized instantly that tonight, regardless of whether Xu Biao was man or ghost, he had not trapped Shang Lu—he had been outwitted instead.

Chief Ma turned to flee, but Shang Lu sprang at him like a tiger descending the mountain.

The ox-tail saber flashed with deadly light, enveloping him like a storm.

Each strike came faster. Each blow hit harder. Each cut aimed to kill.