Chapter 100: Vicious

Sun Tianxiu's retreating figure headed south along the official road, a constable with a waist saber following behind her. Because of yesterday's murder, Pang Yu feared the official road was unsafe and had specially assigned someone to escort Sun Tianxiu home.

The little girl had seen many curious things on this trip into the city; perhaps her excitement had not yet faded, for she skipped a few steps every so often as she walked, her back-basket bouncing along with her.

"Young master, didn't you say you'd let the lass ride back on a big horse?" Pang Ding muttered beside him.

Pang Yu watched Sun Tianxiu's back and said, "There's been a murder now. Chief Clerk Xu personally went to White Robe Nunnery today to inspect the scene and is pressing us to solve the case so a detailed report can be sent to Anqing Prefecture. All the Runners are on standby — where would I find a horse?"

With that, Pang Yu turned and headed toward Zilai Bridge. "Your young master is not a man who goes back on his word. I told Sun Tianxiu she'd get to ride next time she comes, and she agreed at once — more sensible than you."

"Young master, you're helping the Sun family so much, and last time you said it wasn't because you fancy that Sun lass — so what are you after?"

"What the hell do you know? Besides earning silver, a man needs some spiritual income, understand? The Sun family is on the verge of ruin and death. We reach out and steady them, the family gets better and better, and this little girl knows gratitude and repays kindness. We're willing to help her, and it brings some comfort to the heart. In this cruel world, that bit of comfort is a rare thing."

Pang Ding shook his head. "I don't believe it. Young master, you've definitely got your eye on something from the Sun family, otherwise you wouldn't... Ow!"

Pang Yu chased Pang Ding and kicked him twice, cursing as he did, "You think just because your young master became a Squad Leader he's stopped hitting people? The New Year's well over — I've been itching to hit someone."

"Young master, you put so much thought into keeping that little girl company, and you wouldn't even go when Aunt Liu called you over for the New Year. Are you throwing over the Liu family's daughter?"

"The Liu daughter is pretty enough, but who'd want Aunt Liu for a mother-in-law?" Pang Yu aimed another kick at Pang Ding. "Your young master is now a tyrant of Tongcheng. I haven't had my fill of bullying men and dominating women yet — how could I go saddle myself with a mother-in-law like that and make life miserable for myself? Keep your nose out of your young master's marriage. You're not my mother. If you've got this much idle time, think hard about how to help me manage the Capture Squad properly. Nag me about this again, and I'll send you to Qianshan to scout for Roving Bandit intelligence."

Pang Ding had been about to open his mouth, his lips already parted, but upon hearing this, his throat gulped and he swallowed the words back down.

"Young master, this Capture Squad of yours... they're all freeloaders. Every official and clerk has someone they want placed, and they all end up in the Capture Squad. You barely even see them on duty. If you expect me to get things done relying on them, I can't do it."

Pang Yu snorted but did not refute Pang Ding. In his original plan, the Capture Squad was meant to serve as his trusted core, playing the role of special constables and carrying out the most difficult arrest missions. But things had gone against his wishes — the Capture Squad had become the weakest squad of all. Its current leader was Jiao Guozha, and the squad was packed with relatives of various officials and clerks. Most did no work yet drew higher monthly pay. Even when Pang Yu needed them to do something, he had to speak nicely and carefully, afraid of offending them.

Given Pang Yu's current position, he truly could not do without these people. The Fast Squad and Zhuang Squad frequently had to ask favors of the various administrative offices, and they couldn't trouble Yang Erming with every little matter. The fact that the two squads now operated smoothly within the county yamen was partly due to these people.

In the end, Pang Yu had thrown up his hands and concentrated all the connected personnel into the Capture Squad to keep them from affecting everyone else. Thus the Capture Squad became a mere decoration, with two or three men left in the Fast Squad duty room each day, responsible only for liaising with the various offices.

"It's the New Year — why bring up the Capture Squad?"

Pang Yu cursed under his breath. By then, the two had crossed the bridge and reached Zilai Street. This street's prosperity was no less than South Street's. Currently, the Fast Squad's jurisdiction over the city outskirts was divided at Xiangyang Gate. The part of Zilai Street north of Xiangyang Gate fell under the Second Squad's jurisdiction; south of it, under the Third Squad.

Zilai Street bustled with people coming and going. Everything in Tongcheng had returned to how it was before the civil unrest — one could barely see any trace of its effects. But Pang Yu knew the impact varied by trade. Zhou Yueru's paper shop, for instance, was doing far worse than before, because Tongcheng's gentry had relocated in large numbers, taking household slaves and servants with them. Sales of stationery goods were bound to plummet sharply, and the same held true for certain other high-end consumer goods — two silk shops, for example, had recently gone out of business.

Pang Yu cared more about the foundational trades that affected people's livelihood. The high-profit industries had previously been monopolized by the gentry and great clans. Tongcheng's wealth gap had been steadily widening, until in the end even basic livelihood became unsustainable — this was the economic root of the civil uprising. It was only because Nanzhili was generally prosperous and Tongcheng rich in resources that the wealth gap had not yet widened to the point where people could no longer survive, and so the civil unrest had been successfully suppressed.

If this situation did not improve, sooner or later it would give rise to even greater turmoil. Pang Yu again felt fortunate that Huang Wending and his gang had stirred up trouble, releasing a portion of the tensions before the situation became unmanageable.

As he entered the city through the archway of Xiangyang Gate, Pang Yu spotted Ruan Jin. The Second Squad leader, his face all brutal flesh, sat in a folding chair, his bloodshot eyes glaring fiercely at the passersby.

Upon seeing Pang Yu, Ruan Jin hurriedly stood and came over to salute. "Following the Squad Leader's orders yesterday, your subordinate worked through the night to clear out beggars in North City. Through identification by nearby beggars, it has been determined that the deceased beggar's nickname was Ground Crouching Mangy. He had been begging in Tongcheng for two or three years and usually sought food around the food stalls near Bean Family Bridge. In the past, he always traveled with several other beggars. These last two days, he had caught a chill and so did not go to the monastery distributing relief porridge to beg for food, remaining alone in the stable at White Robe Nunnery."

"Did he have any enemies normally? Any conflicts between the Beggar Sect's Dirty Clothes Faction and Clean Clothes Faction, that sort of thing?"

Ruan Jin paused, taken aback. "I've heard nothing of any Clean Clothes Faction. But according to the other beggars, the most this man ever did was quarrel with others over food — he never got into fights. He had no real enemies."

"Have you found any other leads?"

"Your subordinate found no enemies, so I returned to the stable at White Robe Nunnery. If it wasn't a targeted revenge killing, then whoever went there that night must have intended to spend the night in the stable — most likely still a beggar. So I wondered if there were any newly arrived beggars. After asking around nearby, I learned that there have indeed been several unfamiliar beggars recently. They arrived in Tongcheng just two or three days ago and spent a night in the stable on the thirteenth of the first month."

Pang Yu frowned as he listened. "Outsiders — either from the south or the north. Lujiang, Huaining, Qianshan are all no worse off than Tongcheng. During the New Year period, it's easy to beg for food in the city. Why would they brave the bitter cold, leave their original place, and travel all this way to Tongcheng, wasting the best opportunity to beg for food on the road?"

Ruan Jin could not answer for a moment. Pang Yu raised his eyes and asked, "Do we know where these beggars came from?"

"Couldn't get it out of them. Perhaps because those few just arrived, they aren't very familiar with the other beggars and haven't had a chance to interact yet." Ruan Jin finished, then suddenly clapped his hands. "There is one strange thing. A Runner asked at Yu's Bun Shop by Dongzuo Gate, and they said two young beggars bought buns with ready silver — using a two-tael water-thread silver ingot."

"How would a beggar have a two-tael silver ingot?" Pang Yu rubbed his chin and mused. "From the look of it now, these new beggars are behaving oddly and are the most suspicious. How is the North City sweep going?"

"Your subordinate also believes these new beggars are the prime suspects. I've requested two squadrons of the Zhuang Squad to split into squads and patrol the streets and alleys, searching lane by lane, one by one. Our Fast Squad Second Squad has assigned two guides to each Zhuang Squad squad, sweeping from north to south, not missing a single spot. So far, no definite news. If we had one more squadron of the Zhuang Squad, it would go faster."

"There are no more men." Pang Yu cut Ruan Jin off immediately. "The county yamen took one squadron, the six gates split two squadrons — that leaves only three squadrons in total. North City got two, South City got one. I've got just over a dozen Auxiliaries left in my hands. These are the men we have. You need to press hard on the sweep. There are already some rumors circulating in the city — some say it's the Remnant Party of Huang Wending stirring up trouble. The County Magistrate wants me to catch the suspect within three days to calm the hearts of the city's people. Can Squad Leader Ruan do it?"

"Squad Leader, rest assured. The Zhuang Squad and Fast Squad together number two to three hundred men. Tongcheng is only so big. If we search thoroughly inch by inch, those beggars won't be able to hide forever. Even if your subordinate has to go without sleep, I will catch the suspect within three days." Ruan Jin's bloodshot eyes glared fiercely as he spoke through gritted teeth.

Pang Yu recalled how Ruan Jin had looked that day at Sun Tianxiu's home — a pure villain who bullied the common people. Who would have thought that today he'd become a constable staying up all night to catch a murderer? Pang Yu actually wished Ruan Jin would direct that viciousness toward catching criminals — then it would be put to proper use.

"Squad Leader Ruan, don't overwork yourself too much. Grab a moment to rest when you can. This city gate..."

Just as Pang Yu was speaking, a loud shout came from ahead: "That little beggar, get over here!"

Pang Yu and the others turned to look and saw a Fast Squad Auxiliary walking toward a thin, small figure in the middle of the road. The beggar's hair was matted, and he was wrapped in a tattered blue-lined jacket, with two more loops of cloth strips tied around the outside. His hands were tucked together, his body curled up, making him look even more frail and thin.

The Auxiliary walked up to him and demanded, "What's your name? Who do you usually follow around with, and where do you beg for food?"

The beggar stepped back. The tangled hair hanging down covered most of his face, but a pair of pitch-black eyes flickered through the gaps, studying the Auxiliary intently, with little sign of fear.

The Auxiliary drew his short stick and pointed it at the beggar. "Why don't you answer when I ask? Hands on the ground, kneel!"

The Zhuang Guards and Runners near the city gate drew their waist sabers and javelins one after another, closing in from all sides. The atmosphere instantly tensed. The surrounding commoners hurriedly moved aside, all the while craning their necks to watch, afraid of missing any excitement.

The little beggar froze for a moment, then suddenly opened his mouth and cried out — "Yi yi ya ya!"

The constables surrounding him, seeing that he was a mute, all halted their steps, their blades and spears lowering. The beggar seized the chance to try to step toward the outside of the city gate.

But the Auxiliary did not lower his short stick. He stepped closer, blocking the beggar's path, and barked sharply, "Mute or faking it, even if you can't talk, you should still understand words. Hands on the ground, kneel! The officers are going to search you!"

"Squad Leader, step back a bit," Ruan Jin suddenly said in a low voice, moving beside Pang Yu. "Look at the tops of his feet."

Pang Yu focused his gaze. On the bare instep the beggar had exposed, there was a clear line of difference in skin tone. He had clearly worn shoes for a long time. Shoes were not a cheap, easily obtained item in these times — even many ordinary households had none. Wearing shoes was extremely rare among beggars. The shoe left behind at the crime scene made this person even more suspicious.

This person might be the murderer. The moment this thought surfaced, Pang Yu's heart tensed. He felt around his body but found no weapon at all, only then remembering that he had not carried a saber today. When he went out now, he was often surrounded by attendants; arrests were always delegated to others. He had never imagined he would personally encounter the murderer.

Seeing this, Pang Ding removed his waist saber and handed it to Pang Yu, then went to get a whistle staff from another Guard.

With the saber in hand, Pang Yu immediately felt emboldened. He also took mental note of that Auxiliary — clearly, the man had noticed the detail of the beggar's instep from the very start.

Everyone's attention was fixed on the little beggar. The little beggar had now stopped his babbling. He stretched out both hands and slowly began to kneel toward the ground.

The Auxiliary stepped forward, preparing to pin the little beggar down and search him.

Suddenly, a dark figure burst out from the crowd of onlookers at incredible speed, a gleaming blade aimed straight at the Auxiliary's back.

The other constables were all clustered in front of the gate archway. The dark figure moved so fast that no one even had time to shout a warning.

The Auxiliary heard the urgent footsteps behind him. As he turned, the blade was already at his chest. He instinctively twisted aside, but the short blade had already slashed through his padded jacket, opening a long gash. Blood instantly burst from his chest.

Only then did everyone see clearly that it was another beggar, this one in a white jacket. The beggar did not pause for an instant. He turned and plunged into the crowd of commoners, slashing and stabbing wildly at anyone in his path. Two commoners fell bleeding to the ground. The crowd instantly erupted into chaos, people in the street shrieking madly and scattering for their lives.

The constables did not flee but gave chase with all their might.

"Seal the gate archway! Grab that mute beggar!" Pang Yu dodged several fleeing commoners and bellowed at Ruan Jin's retreating back, but his voice was swallowed by the screams. Ruan Jin did not hear him at all and rushed swiftly ahead.

"Your grandmother's." Pang Yu hurriedly moved clear of the gate archway. He alone could not possibly block the stampeding crowd — if he stood there, he would be trampled into a meat patty sooner or later.

Many people fled into the gate archway, escaping toward Zilai Street. Pang Yu carefully scanned the figures fleeing into the archway. There was no sign of the mute beggar's blue clothing.

The white-padded beggar hadn't fled far; blocked by the crowd, he couldn't run fast. Two Guards caught up to him, cut off the road going west, and hacked at him with two Waist Sabers.

The beggar turned and bolted back toward the gate arch. More bailiffs were closing in from that direction, but if he could just get through the arch, he'd escape with his life. He flailed his Short Blade wildly to keep the bailiffs off, dodging and fleeing whenever an attack came. The street had emptied out considerably now. The white-padded beggar ran like the wind, ducking left and twisting right, nimbly evading blow after blow.

Crack! A Whistle Staff slammed into the white-padded beggar's knee. He let out a wretched scream, stumbled forward a few staggering steps, and pitched onto the road, landing right beside a commoner who had been wounded earlier.

The bailiffs swarmed in. Escape was impossible now. Still struggling to push himself up, the beggar suddenly howled, lunged at the wounded commoner beside him, and drove his blade viciously into the man's chest. The Short Blade sank in nearly to the hilt.

Amid the commoner's agonized shriek, the first Guard to arrive raised his sword and hacked down, striking the beggar squarely on the shoulder. The beggar howled again but didn't even turn around. Letting the Guard hack away, he scrambled and crawled to the roadside, threw himself onto another wounded commoner, and stabbed the old man twice in the throat.

By now Ruan Jin had reached him. Two Waist Sabers slashed the beggar four times in quick succession. The tattered cotton coat on his back was shredded, and his entire back was drenched in blood.

Only then did the beggar roll over. Lying on his back, he swung his Short Blade at the Guards. Several Guards, using the superior reach of their Waist Sabers, traded blows with him, while the others rained down strikes with their Whistle Staffs and Javelins.

"Leave him a breath — I want answers!" Pang Yu arrived, sword in hand. Only then did the bailiffs pull back.

The beggar's front was now a mass of blade wounds. Two cuts had landed on his face, and within moments blood was streaming down it. His left arm, which he'd used to block the attacks, was nearly severed by a Waist Saber; the left forearm hung connected only by skin and flesh, dragging on the ground. His right arm had taken two cuts, yet he still gripped that Short Blade with a death grip.

Drenched in blood, the beggar sat slumped against a pillar at a street-front shop. His chest heaved violently. Blood from a wound on his scalp soaked through his hair and dripped before his eyes, drop by drop.

The bailiffs were panting heavily too. The two sides glared at each other with savage hatred.

Pang Yu stepped forward and looked at the beggar's face — blood-red and mangled. Though the features were indistinct, Pang Yu could tell he was barely in his teens. But the ferocity was something he'd never seen in his life. Knowing full well he couldn't escape, instead of striking back at the bailiffs, he'd chosen to kill the helpless commoners on the ground. What kind of viciousness was this? Compared to this beggar, Huang Wending and his gang were practically bodhisattvas reborn.

The beggar was staring at him too. Even though his blood was nearly drained and he knew death was certain, there wasn't the slightest trace of kindness in his eyes.

"You…"

Pang Yu had barely gotten one word out when the beggar's eyes shifted to a fallen basket on his left. For the first time, a hint of a smile appeared. Then his chest shuddered. He threw his head back and howled at the sky with all his might: "Xiao Wazi, remember to avenge me! Kill everyone in Tongcheng! Kill them all!"

The moment he finished howling the word "kill," his right hand raised the Short Blade and plunged it fiercely into his own heart.

Silence fell over the bailiffs on the scene, broken only by ragged breathing. Pang Yu followed the direction the beggar had looked. Behind the basket, unmistakably, lay a tattered blue cotton coat. The mute beggar had long since vanished without a trace.