Chapter 82: 080 Murder and Disposal of Bodies (Bonus Chapter for Big Boss Penguin)

The passenger boat set out overnight, navigating the river channel purely by the light of a few lanterns.

Zhang Tieniu thrust his axe back into his waistband, then took out a cloth sack and stuffed the Sun brothers' heads inside.

Zhao Han made introductions: "This is my honored teacher, Mr. Pang. This is Zhang Tieniu of the Iron Foot Society."

Pang Chunlai did not look down on the lower classes; he clasped his fists and said, "A pleasure!"

"I'm not with the Iron Foot Society," Zhang Tieniu said angrily. "The Iron Foot Society nowadays is nothing but a bunch of honorless scoundrels!"

Zhao Han smiled and said, "Brother Tieniu is truly a man of loyalty, daring to risk his life to retrieve those heads."

"My two brothers were left with their heads severed from their bodies. Even if it meant dying, I had to make them whole again," Zhang Tieniu said, slapping the table. "But you, young sir — tender-skinned and delicate — you didn't even flinch at the sight of those heads. I'll grant you, you've got some nerve."

With no one at his disposal, Zhao Han began entertaining the idea of taking on a follower. He deliberately laughed loudly: "If you went to the county seat and asked around, you'd find out what nerve really means."

Zhang Tieniu said dismissively, "Don't tell me you helped someone retrieve a head in the county seat too?"

Zhao Han lifted the kettle off the charcoal stove and poured tea for both of them, saying, "The private secretary and the Constable swallowed my silver and still tried to throw me in jail. So I killed them both, cut down a few meddlesome yamen runners along the way, and set the county yamen ablaze until it burned to nothing. The entire county's household registers, fish-scale registers, and tax ledgers — all of it is ash now."

Zhang Tieniu laughed as he drank his tea, then scalded himself and spat it out. Pointing at Zhao Han, he said, "Young sir, you really can spin a tale."

Zhao Han cupped his teacup to warm his hands and smiled faintly. "If you don't believe me, go see the county yamen for yourself... assuming, of course, it hasn't burned to the ground."

Zhang Tieniu took it as nothing more than a joke and said to Pang Chunlai, "Mr. Pang, do you believe him?"

"I do," Pang Chunlai said, grasping Zhao Han's intent. "After causing that kind of calamity, the two of us, master and disciple, could only flee for our lives."

Zhang Tieniu looked at Pang Chunlai, then at Zhao Han, and suddenly it seemed as if it might be true.

Otherwise, why would the master and his disciple be leaving Hekou by boat in the middle of the night?

Zhang Tieniu was dumbstruck. He had thought his own act of retrieving heads in the dark was already something straight out of Water Margin — he never expected to meet someone who had committed murder and arson in the county yamen.

"Young sir," Zhang Tieniu said, raising his thumb, "you're a real man. Tieniu is thoroughly convinced!"

Zhao Han asked, "Are you taking the two Brother Suns' heads to Henglin Town?"

"Before the town, a little ways back," Zhang Tieniu said. "The two Sun brothers' family home is just outside Henglin Town. Their bodies are secretly buried in the woods. I'll take the heads there, bury them together, and be on my way. I can't stay in Yanshan anymore — that bastard Fei Hun has his men out everywhere looking for me."

"Do you have somewhere to go?" Zhao Han asked.

Zhang Tieniu shook his head. "Haven't figured that out yet. I'll go wherever the road takes me. Worst comes to worst, I'll find another dock and do hard labor."

Zhao Han smiled faintly. "From now on, follow me."

"Follow you and take the xiucai exam? I'm not cut out to be a bookboy." Zhang Tieniu waved his hands repeatedly.

Zhao Han countered, "I burned down the county yamen. Do you think I can still take the xiucai exam?"

"Uh." Zhang Tieniu was instantly tongue-tied. He rubbed his head and grinned sheepishly.

Zhao Han asked again, "I'm planning to go somewhere else and start a rebellion. Are you interested?"

"Rebellion, just... What? You want to rebel!" Zhang Tieniu was so shocked he shot to his feet.

His voice was so loud that even the boatmen heard it. They shuddered in fright, seized by the urge to jump into the river and flee.

Zhao Han sighed. "Ai, keep your voice down. Sit and talk."

Zhang Tieniu immediately lowered his voice, sat back down, and asked, "Young sir, do you really mean to rebel?"

Zhao Han did not answer. He only asked, "How many people are left in your family?"

"All dead. Just me," Zhang Tieniu recalled. "Over ten years ago, a great disaster struck Yanshan. Everyone in my family starved to death. I was only fifteen then. Thanks to the mercy of the County Magistrate, he let me help dig irrigation channels to earn my keep. Later, I went to Hekou Town and became a laborer. A pity — in nearly thirty years of life, I've only ever met one good official like that."

Zhao Han began to guide him: "If we rebel and seize the realm, we won't allow corrupt officials to prey on the common people! Do you know how the Hongwu Emperor dealt with corrupt officials?"

Zhang Tieniu shook his head. "No idea."

Zhao Han said, "The Hongwu Emperor also came from bitter roots. His parents starved to death. He herded cattle for a landlord just to survive. When famine struck, he had no choice but to become a monk. Even the temple couldn't feed him, so he went off and became a beggar. Tell me, could he not hate corrupt officials?"

"Of course he hated them — just as miserable as me, Tieniu." Zhang Tieniu slapped the table.

Zhao Han continued guiding him: "And so, after the Hongwu Emperor won the realm, he set a rule for all officials. Anyone who embezzled more than sixty taels of silver would have their skin flayed off and stuffed with straw!"

Zhang Tieniu clicked his tongue. "Was it really that severe?"

Zhao Han nodded. "It really was that severe. Later, he executed so many corrupt officials that there weren't enough magistrates and prefects to fill the posts. So the Hongwu Emperor made the less corrupt ones keep governing their jurisdictions while wearing the cangue. At trials back then, the criminal would kneel below the bench wearing a cangue, and the official would sit on the bench wearing a cangue."

"Hahahaha, that's a rare sight indeed." Zhang Tieniu pictured the scene, and the more he thought about it, the funnier it became.

"So, how about rebelling with me? I'll be the Hongwu Emperor, and you'll be Chang Yuchun." Zhao Han coaxed him step by step.

Zhang Tieniu patted the axes at his waist. "I want to be Li Kui. I had these two axes forged just for that."

Zhao Han scolded him: "Look at your ambition. What damn use is Li Kui? Chang Yuchun was enfeoffed as a king. Don't you want to be enfeoffed as a king someday?"

"Enfeoffed as a king?" Zhang Tieniu swallowed hard and said doubtfully, "Just the three of us — can we really pull off a rebellion? You're still a scholar. They say a xiucai rebelling won't succeed in ten years."

Zhao Han said in a tone that brooked no doubt, "If the Hongwu Emperor could win the realm as a beggar, why can't I?"

Zhang Tieniu muttered, "The Hongwu Emperor was a star lord descended from heaven."

"How do you know I'm not a star lord descended from heaven?" Zhao Han demanded.

"Well..." Zhang Tieniu could only scratch his head.

He doesn't seem like the sharpest tool, Zhao Han thought. A pity our foundation is too weak — clever men can't be recruited under our banner just yet.

Zhao Han said, "I'll help you bury the two Brother Suns' heads. You join me in rebellion to fight for the realm. What do you say?"

Zhang Tieniu nodded at once. "Done!"

The passenger boat continued sailing west. Soon, Henglin Town came into distant view.

Zhang Tieniu stepped out of the cabin and peered around in the pitch darkness for a while, then suddenly shouted, "Put ashore just up ahead!"

Pang Chunlai stayed behind on the boat to wait. Zhao Han and Zhang Tieniu went ashore together to bury the men... well, to bury the heads.

Zhang Tieniu seemed very familiar with this place. He made his way in the dark to a small grove of trees and pointed to a spot beneath a tree marked by a stick stuck in the ground. "My two brothers are buried here. Didn't dare raise a mound or put up a gravestone."

Zhao Han groped around in the darkness and asked, "You didn't prepare a hoe in advance?"

"Forgot," Zhang Tieniu said, slapping his own head hard. He handed Zhao Han one of his axes. "Use this. It's freshly dug earth — very loose."

Zhao Han felt a strong urge to hack him with the axe. How damn long is this going to take to dig?

The two of them had no choice but to scrape at the earth with the axes. On a deep winter night, they were soon drenched in sweat from the exertion.

Suddenly, Zhao Han whispered, "Don't move. Someone's coming."

Zhang Tieniu immediately froze, crouched behind a tree and peered out stealthily. He saw several lanterns approaching from a distance.

Those people also entered the small grove — four in all. Two were carrying a burlap sack; the other two had hoes on their shoulders.

"Let's bury him right here."

"In the dead of night, why bother burying? Just toss him in the river and be done with it."

"Right, stuff in a few big rocks, throw him in the river and he'll sink straight down."

"It's pitch black — where are you going to find big rocks? Just throw him in as is. After a few days soaking, he'll be so bloated even his own mother won't recognize him."

"..."

The group headed toward the riverbank, passing right by not far from Zhao Han.

Zhang Tieniu whispered, "Murderers dumping a body. Do we meddle in this or not?"

"No," Zhao Han said. "Don't stir up extra trouble."

Suddenly, they heard one of them say, "Hey, he's still moving. This wretch is tough as nails — beaten like that and still not dead."

"In the dead of winter, toss him into the river and if he doesn't drown, he'll freeze to death. Let's see how tough his life really is."

"If you ask me, the old madam was too cruel."

"Cruel? This wretch seduced the master first, then climbed into the young master's bed. It'd be a wonder if the old madam didn't beat him to death!"

"..."

Zhang Tieniu listened, utterly dumbstruck. The information in those words was staggering — father and son had actually shared the same woman. If word got out, it would absolutely rock all of Yanshan.

"He's not dead yet. Do we save him or not?" Zhang Tieniu asked.

Zhao Han had already set down his axe. Carrying two heads, he charged out.

"Who goes there?" The others were badly startled.

Zhao Han stretched his arms straight out, holding the two heads up in front of him to hide his own face. Not caring whether they could understand what they were seeing, he hopped forward step by step, playing the part of a jiangshi, and let out a chilling, eerie cackle.

Those men were already bristling with terror. Holding up a lantern, they peered cautiously forward — and suddenly made out the two heads.

"Ghosts!"

"Run! It's a mountain ogre — it'll eat people!"

They threw down the sack and hoes and fled in panic, every one of them. One man even abandoned his lantern.

Zhao Han picked up the lantern, relit it with a fire striker, and untied the sack to check the situation.

The face was covered in blood — impossible to make out any features. He reached out to check: still breathing.

Zhao Han tossed a hoe over and said to Zhang Tieniu, "You dig the earth yourself. I'll carry the person back to the boat."

"Go ahead."

Zhang Tieniu ran over happily to pick up the hoe. He was nearly dead from exhaustion, digging with an axe.

Zhao Han carried the sack back to the boat cabin. First he warmed the person by the fire, or else they would certainly freeze to death.

Pang Chunlai asked, "Who is this?"

Zhao Han answered, "No idea. Someone was dumping a body — not quite dead yet. Whether he lives is up to him."

They removed the sack. The person was covered head to toe in blood.

Zhao Han soon found a wound on the head — it seemed to be from a club strike, right at the forehead hairline, a large gash torn open. There were also several lumps on the head, all from being beaten wildly with clubs.

There was no medical supplies to speak of on the boat, so Zhao Han could only work with his bare hands, pressing the torn-back scalp into place.

As for the rest, leave it to fate.

He took out a clean garment, tore strips of cloth to use as bandages, and wrapped the wound — more slapdash and perfunctory than treating an animal.

Tearing off another piece of cloth, Zhao Han wiped the blood from the person's face.

Suddenly, Zhao Han's expression turned strange. He couldn't help muttering, "Today's encounters are truly bizarre. Arson and murder in the morning, and now running into an acquaintance again at night."

Pang Chunlai asked, "You know this person?"

"We've spoken," Zhao Han explained. "A dan actor from a theater troupe. Another soul with a hard life. I've forgotten the name."

(End of Chapter)