Chapter 114: The Way of Handling Corpses

Five days ago, Li Shang, who had taken charge of all affairs in the Western Regions, personally led all the warriors and soldiers of the Protectorate, totaling one hundred and forty-nine men, on a detour behind enemy lines to annihilate the delegation sent by the Western Rong, in order to prevent the Eshan Kingdom from being misled by the Rong barbarians and subsequently invading the Great Yong.

Among these one hundred and forty-nine warriors, there were both old and young; the eldest were over sixty years of age, while the youngest were merely twelve or thirteen.

Apart from age, this group from the Protectorate, which looked like a makeshift ragtag band assembled on the spot, came from various backgrounds.

There were veteran soldiers from the Annan Protectorate, merchants from Jingcheng who had remained at the Protectorate, criminals exiled there, and even barbarians originally of Rong descent.

The reason these disparate figures could coalesce into one was because of the old general Li Shang maintaining order.

When Li Shang was twelve, he followed Prince Changting into the army to fight; whether it was the Four Peace Protectorates, or the lands of the Chanyu, the Northern Court, or the various states of Nancuo, he had all trodden upon them.

This forged in him a nature that refused to yield.

After Prince Changting had his military authority revoked, he had intended for Li Shang to abandon the Rong and return, for the Western Regions were an exceptionally harsh place, and the imperial court had long forgotten that a Protectorate even existed there.

Only Prince Changting still remembered his former comrades-in-arms.

Unfortunately, Li Shang was a stubborn man; in his reply, he stated that he was a rough person who knew nothing but war.

He had spent his entire life guarding the border passes; if he were truly forced to live as an ordinary person, he feared he could not endure even a single day.

Thus, Li Shang, who had no money, no grain, and hardly any people, stubbornly stationed himself at the Western Regions Protectorate for over ten years.

The Protectorate, which once housed an army of a thousand, had been worn down by time until only those one hundred and forty-nine men remained to guard it.

When annihilating the Western Rong delegation, Li Shang had placed great hope in one person: the warrior Badongmu, who had lived among the Rong.

However, this man, standing nearly nine feet tall, had a flaw: he could not even kill a chicken, and the key point was that his appetite was huge; he was quite literally a reincarnated rice bucket.

The others did not understand why Li Shang kept such a piece of goods that looked good but was useless.

Yet it was precisely this one man who had secured decades of stability in the Western Regions for the imperial court.

Now, on this day, Li Shang led his ragtag band, bypassing the Eshan Kingdom's stationed troops, and infiltrated the Western Rong delegation's encampment.

Li Shang disguised himself as a slave trader, while the hundred or so old and young under his command disguised themselves as slaves being sold.

Such a group, let alone the Western Rong barbarians, even seasoned soldiers who had spent their lives on the battlefield would, upon seeing them, detect not a trace of military background.

Furthermore, with Badongmu, who stood by Li Shang's side, speaking fluent Rong language, the Western Rong delegation suspected nothing; instead, they approached to inquire about the price of the slaves.

By nightfall, Li Shang led the group, first sneaking into the military tents to kill some of the laxly disciplined stationed soldiers; after seizing their weapons, they charged straight to the main tent where the Western Rong delegation was located.

At this moment, the Eshan Kingdom's prince, Eshan Erduo, was inside the military tent conspiring secretly with the Western Rong delegation.

Seeing Li Shang and others burst in, a wise man among the Western Rong delegation remained calm in the face of danger: "It is the Great Yong army! Kill Eshan Erduo quickly; if you kill him, the Eshan Kingdom will inevitably form a mortal enmity with the Great Yong!"

The Western Rong envoy, knowing escape was impossible, thought to kill the Eshan prince and frame Li Shang; in this way, the Western Rong could still open the passage through the Eshan Kingdom and prepare for the invasion of the Great Yong.

Li Shang was still some distance from the Eshan prince; only Badongmu, who had broken through the door from behind the tent, was closest to the prince.

At this moment, almost everyone inside the tent simultaneously fixed their gaze upon the Eshan prince.

"Badongmu, protect the prince!"

"Aerqi, kill the prince!"

Amidst the flashing blades and swords, Badongmu panted heavily, blocking the way in front of the prince, while the Eshan prince, like a young wife who had stumbled into a bandit's den, followed Badongmu step by step, fearing he would be harmed by those Western Rong people.

Although Badongmu was as strong as an ox and possessed immense strength, this man usually did not even dare to kill a chicken; his nickname in the Protectorate was "Big Radish."

The meaning being that even a rabbit could come up and take a bite.

The soldiers of the Western Rong delegation rushed at Badongmu like madmen.

Li Shang originally held no hope; in his view, when Badongmu encountered these Western Rong soldiers, nine times out of ten he would turn and run.

But to everyone's surprise, the man who was usually simple, honest, and timid today stood like a great mountain, using his body to block the spears, swords, and halberds thrust at him.

"Badongmu, fight back quickly!"

Li Shang fought his way to the front; after killing everyone in the Western Rong delegation, Badongmu, looking like a man covered in blood, still stood rigidly in the corner.

Behind him, the Eshan prince, unharmed, walked up to Li Shang and clasped his hands in a bow.

"I am Eshan Erduo, prince of the Eshan Kingdom; thank you for your intervention to save me." Before the prince could finish speaking, Li Shang shoved him aside.

Badongmu bared his teeth, wanting to speak, but the blood in the gaps of his teeth gushed out uncontrollably.

The man, like a great mountain, crashed down with a boom; Li Shang summoned the accompanying military doctor. The old man, over sixty and having just killed someone, discarded his long sword and immediately produced bandages, golden wound medicine, and other items, preparing to move forward to treat him.

Badongmu mumbled unclearly: "General, I am... I am a man like an eagle, not a radish."

Li Shang nodded repeatedly; if a person like this was not a man, then there would be no men left in the world.

According to the traditions of the Quanqiu tribe, the bravest tribal warrior could receive the favor of the Mountain God; if a warrior died, the tribe's shamans would unite with the clansmen to hold a ceremony, administering the Goddess's Tears, which never fade, to the warrior, allowing him to cross thousands of miles of mountains and rivers with the Mountain Water to reach the other shore.

Of the one hundred and forty-nine soldiers of the Protectorate, seven were lost in the battle against the Western Rong delegation; now only one hundred and forty-two remain to guard this lone city.

After sending Badongmu's corpse to the Quanqiu tribe, Li Shang stood on the walls of the Protectorate for several consecutive days.

This was because not far outside the city lay a river, originating from the Mountain Water, winding for an unknown number of miles, and finally traversing the entire Great Yong to flow into the shores of the Eastern Sea.

"With the protection of the Divine Shaman, perhaps Badongmu will be fortunate enough to see the grandeur of the Great Yong on his journey."

At the riverside dock, upon the corpse boat.

Xu Qing remained silent.

Who could have thought that events occurring thousands of miles away would affect the stability of the imperial court, and that warriors like Badongmu would remain unknown to all.

Xu Qing took out the tools for dressing the corpse and silently applied makeup to the man before him.

After finishing all this, Xu Qing finally looked at the reward from the Sutra of Transforming People.

A Human-Grade Middle-Tier Corpse-Stabilizing Technique, and a Human-Grade Upper-Tier Mountain Flower.

The Corpse-Stabilizing Technique is also called the Non-Decay Technique; after casting this technique, the corpse will not rot for a thousand years, and its appearance will remain as it was in life.

The Mountain Flower is a flower of purity; its shape resembles a snow lotus, with nine petals in total.

Its effect is that swallowing one petal can clear the body of evil qi, violent qi, or resentful qi.

Xu Qing looked at the flower, pondering for a long while, but could not find anyone suitable to consume it.

Very well, for now, let it gather dust in the Shanhe Map; we shall speak of it another day.

With a slight movement of Xu Qing's mind, a lotus emitting a milky white halo appeared on a river within the Shanhe Map, drifting along with the river water.

Having settled his immediate affairs, Xu Qing turned his gaze to the corpse before him; if such a brave man were sent by the Jinmen Gang to the mortuary, he would likely end up as a corpse slave in the mines, and if that truly became his fate, it would be far too desolate.

"Jinmen Gang."

Xu Qing looked around, saw no one guarding the corpse, and with a casual wave of his hand, stored Ba Dongmu's body into the Box Garden.

A gentleman loves corpses, but takes them only by the right path.

As for if Manager Cai asks, he will simply say this man is his long-lost younger brother; if money is needed to redeem him, any amount of Qingfu coins will do!

Xu Qing pushed the handcart to the patrol office; he was no longer an obscure, insignificant corpse driver.

Upon entering the office, most of the constables, big and small, greeted him, calling him Shopkeeper Xu or Mr. Xu.

Xu Qing had a premonition that the funerals of these people in the future would likely pass through his hands, with him preparing their remains and seeing them off.

Arriving at the mortuary, Wang Lingyuan immediately put down his work and ran over to him.

His concern was evident in his words and expression.

"Good, good, good, your arms and legs are still the same; they kept saying you had been eaten clean by a water ghost, but I did not believe it. A capable man like you, the junior brother, how could you perish so easily?"

Perish? Xu Qing let out a helpless laugh.

Indeed, there was no longer any chance of that.

"I am grateful for your concern, junior brother. Having nothing else to repay you, I have brought this corpse; I hope the senior brother likes it."

"."

Wang Lingyuan stroked his chin and mused, "Does this corpse have a case attached to it?"

Xu Qing nodded, then proceeded to recount all the suspicious points regarding Zheng Deli.

"The ferryman once went to the corpse retrieval team, claiming this man fell into the water by accident and asking the team to go retrieve and rescue him; the passenger Yuan Hu accompanied him as a witness."

"But after I retrieved him, I found he was wearing only his inner shirt and trousers. After questioning the manager of the corpse retrieval team, I learned that Zheng Deli was originally wearing a set of very expensive clothes."

"You suspect the ferryman, seeing the wealth, killed Zheng Deli and lied about him falling into the water?"

Wang Lingyuan had just spoken to this point when he shook his head again, saying, "But as you said, the accompanying passenger also saw Zheng Deli fall into the water by accident. Unless the ferryman bribed the passenger to give false testimony, or the two were accomplices to begin with, this cannot be explained."

"Furthermore, even if someone truly stripped the clothes from this corpse, the two of them could claim that after Zheng Deli fell into the water, other fishermen or boatmen took them off."

Hearing this, Xu Qing smiled and said, "Solving cases emphasizes the Five Listenings: listening to words, to expressions, to breath, to ears, and to eyes. But if I were to say, there is also corpse-listening."

"Senior brother only listened to my narration, yet has not yet listened to the corpse itself recount the story."

"Listening to a corpse speak?" Wang Lingyuan said strangely, "How can a corpse speak?"

Xu Qing laughed heartily, "This is the senior brother's specialty; why are you asking me? When a coroner examines a corpse, isn't that listening to the corpse recount the case?"

Wang Lingyuan suddenly understood, then laughed and scolded, "Examine the corpse, then examine it; what mystery are you trying to pull? I thought you had the ability to question the dead in the underworld, but it turns out you meant this."

At this moment, dark clouds gathered in the sky, and the room was dim; Xu Qing held a lamp nearby, and after Wang Lingyuan carefully inspected Zheng Deli's corpse, he indeed found something amiss.

"There are ligature marks on the neck; the lips and fingernails show no cyanosis; the ligature groove on the neck is uniform, with consistent depth, and no gaps; most likely, he died by hanging."

To confirm his judgment, Wang Lingyuan took out a dissection knife and cut open Zheng Deli's chest for further examination.

"There is no foam at the mouth and nose; the lungs are relatively dry and lack luster; this corpse absolutely did not die by drowning!"

Wang Lingyuan removed his hand warmers, which were fish-skin gloves.

Beside him, Xu Qing had already brought blank case files and ink and brush.

Wang Lingyuan picked up the brush and began recording Zheng Deli's case file.

"Junior brother, wait a moment; if you are hungry, you may go to the Si Bu Hall in the office to eat."

"No need; I see the sky is suddenly clear and suddenly rainy, and it will likely rain again soon. I will return to my shop and visit the senior brother another day."

The time Xu Qing spent at the office mortuary each visit often depended on the number of corpses inside the mortuary.

Today, there were no extra corpses in the mortuary, so he had no desire to stay.

Xu Qing kept track of the time, hurrying as fast as he could, and finally returned to Jingxia Street within half an hour.

After returning the handcart and arriving at his own shop, just as Hu Baosong had said, a violent storm had blown up outside.

Thunder rumbled repeatedly outside the mortuary shop; Xu Qing hid inside the shop and muttered in amazement.

In such thunderstorm weather, dangers are most likely to occur on the waters, and the docks never lack fishermen risking their lives for a livelihood.

The stronger the wind and rain, the more expensive the fish.

Whenever it rains, the probability of treasure fish appearing increases.

At such times, bold fishermen often set out to catch fish, just hoping to turn their fortunes around in one stroke.

However, in Xu Qing's view, the chance of capsizing might be even greater.

"It seems I must go to the corpse retrieval team for another outside assignment tomorrow."

Gathering his thoughts, Xu Qing asked Xuan Yu to close the shop door, while he took the opportunity to retrieve the Water Worker Daoist's corpse and begin performing the rites for his salvation.

However, before performing the rites, to be safe, Xu Qing used a five-colored rope soaked in Holy Spirit Water to bind the Water Worker Daoist tightly, three layers inside and three layers outside.

He still remembered the vicious curse the Daoist had uttered before dying.

If the demon Daoist was so wicked while alive, who knows what sinister tricks he might have left behind after death to harm him.

The pages of the Scripture of Salvation turned, and the familiar scriptures and verses echoed in his mind.

"The Human Way is distant and obscure; the Immortal Way is vast and rugged."

"The Ghost Way delights; it is the gate of human life."

"The Immortal Way values life; the Ghost Way values the end."

"The Immortal Way is often auspicious; the Ghost Way is often inauspicious."

As the scripture was chanted to this point, it began to repeat continuously; Xu Qing looked down, and the Water Worker Daoist's corpse suddenly opened its eyes, with wisps of crimson mist surging forth from its pale, turbid eyeballs.

"Hah—"

The Water Worker Daoist's mouth gaped wide, and a mass of resentment and evil qi, concentrated to the extreme, shot out from it, rushing straight toward Xu Qing's face.

Xu Qing quickly dodged backward, holding his sword to block, but that light sphere seemed to be of a substance that could pass through anything; it pierced through his precious sword and crashed into his body.

"Ssshhh—"

Xu Qing couldn't help but let out a low groan.

The moment that thick Yin Qi entered, he felt a strange energy surge into his body, like a starving, emaciated wolf devouring a plump lamb, or like a person shivering in the dead of winter drinking a few mouthfuls of Ten-All-Nourishing Soup; the flavor within was indescribable.

The vast Yin Qi within Xu Qing's body tore apart and devoured that uninvited intruder; it was at this very moment that Xu Qing vaguely heard the voice of Water Worker Daoist, filled with utter terror.

"You are not a demon person; you are an evil spirit and monster!"

"Spare me! I am willing to be your envoy!"

"Ah! Monster, may you meet a wretched death!"

"."

In the end, Xu Qing let out a burp, and black malevolent Qi exhaled from his mouth.

Removing the dross to keep the green, this malevolent Qi was formed from the resentment of Water Worker Daoist, and now it had been digested by him beyond recognition.

Returning to the corpse, after lifting the curse, the Scripture of Delivering People continued to turn its pages.

(End of this chapter)