Chapter 17: The Liu Family Massacre

Leaving the government office.

Shen Yi walked into a tavern and ordered a pot of yellow wine and six stuffed flatbreads.

After a moment's hesitation, he also asked for some sliced salted pork.

Having entered the initial realm, a martial practitioner prefers food rich in essence over the common grains, but unfortunately the salary of a constable could never afford such luxuries.

Still, one had to eat, so all he could do was rein in his appetite.

Shen Yi found a seat and settled in, alternating sips of yellow wine with bites of meat.

It was the height of noon, when the tavern should have been packed, yet it was eerily empty.

The people passing through wore little joy on their faces, but no open grievance either—just a numb look of long familiarity.

Shen Yi lowered his head and bit into a flatbread.

He was only a minor official; the suffering of the world was beyond his reach. All he could do was try his best to claw his way out of this mire.

The few scattered patrons all ate with heads bowed; loud talkers were rare.

So the only pair chatting, even though they kept their voices low, still let their words drift into Shen Yi's ears.

"Someone died on Willow Leaf Street."

"I know, I just came from over there—don't mention it, don't mention it, I can't eat if you do."

Shen Yi expressionlessly lifted the wine pot and drank the faintly sour, bitter liquor, using it to wash down the dry, choking flatbread.

Willow Leaf Street was the area under his jurisdiction—or more precisely… it was where he had woken up.

Yet Shen Yi had received no word of it at all, not even as much as a few passing strangers.

He recalled Song Changfeng's parting reminder.

The people above had moved fast—able to blind and deafen him in such a short time.

"I heard they were bitten to death?"

"I told you not to say it—am I supposed to eat or not? … I got there early, caught a glimpse, and even now I still feel like throwing up."

The two sighed and clicked their tongues.

Shen Yi frowned at the flatbread in his hand; his appetite had vanished as well.

He called for a lotus leaf, wrapped up the remaining flatbread and salted meat, then reached for his waist knife: "Waiter, the bill."

……

Bai Yunxian, Willow Leaf Street.

A few constables pinched their noses as they walked out of the small courtyard: "Disgusting enough—wish I'd never come."

"It's not our patch of land, why wade into this mess."

"Zhang, you've got to put in a word for us upstairs—patrolling two more streets is fine, but the salary's got to go up."

Zhang Pengtian glared back: "So much nonsense—don't want the job, then get lost. Plenty of people willing to take it."

When he turned back around, the whole man froze.

Before him stood a familiar young man who had appeared at some unknown moment, hand resting on his waist knife, silently gazing toward the small courtyard.

"Oh! Master Shen!"

Zhang Pengtian hurriedly cupped his fist: "What wind blew you here?"

Shen Yi gave a slight nod and stepped into the courtyard.

Seeing this, the man surnamed Zhang quickly reached out to block him, smiling without warmth: "If this were a brothel door, brother Zhang would carry Master Shen in himself and cover every expense… but this is official business ordered from above—you coming in here wouldn't be quite proper, would it?"

Shen Yi lowered his gaze.

Just two days ago, he had stood right here and made the very same gesture.

"Master Shen, even if you won't give me face, you still have to give Liu Dianli some face."

Seeing that Shen Yi had no intention of stepping back, Zhang Pengtian's smile vanished: "Today I, Zhang, will lay it out plain—in Bai Yunxian, anyone can enter this courtyard, except you, Shen Yi."

Once, they had feared Shen Yi—feared the government office's regard for him.

But now the wind had shifted. Those above were clearly targeting the man surnamed Shen. Once stripped of his tiger's skin, the man was nothing but a blustering fox.

"Brothers, show Master Shen your hardware—let's sober him up."

Zhang Pengtian gave a flick of his hand. At his signal, the men behind him drew their blades three inches in a flash, brows tightly knit as they looked over.

The next instant, an official's boot suddenly stamped into Zhang Pengtian's lower belly.

The instant that tremendous force struck, he had no chance to react at all—he went flying backward like a torn burlap sack.

Shen Yi dusted off his hem and strode straight in.

"You… you want to rebel?!"

The remaining constables had never expected him to be so decisive; for a moment they stood gripping their hilts, unsure what to do.

Just then, from the end of the street, Chen Ji came hurrying over with the Niu brothers and Zhang Dahu.

Reaching the courtyard gate, he gripped a scabbard and brought it down on them indiscriminately: "Are your damned eyes blind? Can't tell whose street this is? Bind them!"

Hearing this, Zhang Dahu froze for a beat.

Normally, that line was his to deliver—and usually aimed at ordinary commoners; he'd never tried it on fellow officers.

Chen Ji had always despised such bullying tactics the most—what had gotten into him today, hurling abuse even more fluently than Zhang Dahu himself.

Doubt as it may, Zhang Dahu and the Niu brothers still lunged in, and in a few quick moves trussed the constables up like sticky rice dumplings.

Whatever their private views of Shen Yi, this was in front of outsiders—they couldn't lose face for their own side!

"Sure enough…"

Chen Ji had been patrolling the street when he caught some whispers and suddenly got a premonition, so he had rushed over with his men.

"Sure enough what sure enough—acting clever. Knowing Master Shen's temper, how could he possibly let anyone muscle in on his turf?" Zhang Dahu spat.

Hearing this, Chen Ji glanced at the man, found the explanation passable enough, and decided he'd let Zhang Dahu go apologize to the higher-ups later.

As for the real reason.

Though Chen Ji himself hardly believed it, he still felt… it might be because this family had been bitten to death by a demon.

Given Shen Yi's behavior in the village that day, if it wasn't an act, he would definitely have come over to take a look.

……

Inside the small courtyard.

Shen Yi crouched down and looked at the two corpses on the straw mat, which had only just been painstakingly pieced back together.

He drew a deep breath and carefully arranged the five scattered fingers of the thin, dark-skinned girl.

It had been this very hand that washed his feet for him earlier; though the technique was clumsy, it had its own peculiar charm.

According to past惯例, if the killing was done by a demon or monster, what was left behind would generally be nothing but a mess of remains. But today was different. Although the Liu father and daughter were terribly scattered—even their ears and eyes had to be picked up and put back in place—there were no signs of being gnawed on.

This was not an act of predation, but a vengeful killing full of spite!

Just like Huang Lao Liu, demons and monsters also have relatives and friends. If any one of them learned where that black-skinned dog demon had gone that night, they might not be able to guess who did the deed… but they don't need evidence to take revenge; venting their fury is all that matters.

"No, wait—are these your relatives?"

Zhang Pengtian, kicked into full-body convulsions, struggled to lift his head: "Still hitting me… damn… so what if you look? If you've got the guts, take it out on the county magistrate, take it out on the demons and monsters outside the city."

"This is obviously the work of a dog demon. The question is, can you find out which ones did it? Even if you could, what could you even do about it?"

The noise at his ears wouldn't stop, and Shen Yi felt only irritation and unease.

He pulled up the Bai Bu and covered the two corpses.

A mere low-ranking constable, he couldn't summon the Zhen Mo Si, couldn't mobilize the city-guarding garrison; at best he could only call in a few miserably overworked errand-runners.

The only thing Shen Yi had to rely on was the broken blade in his hand.

If he couldn't find out who did it, then he wouldn't bother looking.

……

(End of chapter)