Chapter 91: Peacock Feather

Before he finished speaking, I got kicked by someone right in the face, almost blacking out. Then I heard a series of cracking sounds as wooden planks split apart. Not knowing what was happening, I hurriedly lit my torch and looked—only to see Old Yang wrestling with something, already tumbling into a pile of coffins, the whole row knocked askew, bones scattered everywhere.

I rushed over to help but found I couldn't. The thing wasn't big but was incredibly fierce. Old Yang, weighing over a hundred jin, was pressing down on it but couldn't hold it. They rolled together, crashing around, and I couldn't get close; any careless move and I'd get inexplicably kicked. After several attempts, I still couldn't join the fight, so I stood outside anxiously, helpless.

In a short while, Old Yang couldn't hold on anymore. The thing nearly broke free several times. I knew I had to act. I called out to Master Liang, and we both pounced on Old Yang, pressing him and the thing beneath us. Old Yang didn't expect me to do that; I crushed him badly. He shouted, "Damn it, take it easy! You're gonna break my spine!"

I pressed down hard on Old Yang, putting all three of our weight onto the thing underneath. Feeling no more movement, I asked him, "How is it? Is that thing dead?"

Old Yang squeezed out a few words through his teeth: "I don't know! But if you don't let go, I'll be dead!"

Seeing his face flushed red, I knew my weight was indeed heavy, so I quickly eased off. Old Yang rolled over and sat up, letting out a long breath. He said to me, "You... you bastard, you're too ruthless. Did you think we were kids piling eight or nine people on top of each other? Lucky my spine is tough, or I'd be half paralyzed!"

I said, "Stop your babbling. If you could handle that thing, would I need to play human pyramid at this age? If you break your back, I'm not exactly comfortable either."

Old Yang rubbed his waist and cursed me for being ungrateful. I ignored him and turned to Master Liang, saying, "By the way, what was that thing? Small but incredibly strong. Let's take a closer look."

Hearing this, the three of us snapped back to attention. We leaned in and saw a ball of gray, furry thing in the pile of coffins, about the size of a lynx, squashed flat by us and still trembling.

Old Yang picked up a human thigh bone and flipped the thing over. I looked—damn! After all that fuss, it was just a big rat.

I looked at Old Yang and Master Liang; they looked at me. We all laughed. No wonder we couldn't find the attacker earlier—that was it. After attacking us, the rat must have darted into a hole in one of the coffins and vanished. We bunch of idiots thought we'd met a ghost. What a case of the hen calling herself mom—scaring ourselves.

But then I thought again and felt uneasy. This rat was damned huge, bigger than a cat. I had no idea what breed it was. The coffins here were so battered, probably their handiwork. Maybe they grew up eating the corpses inside. Who knew how many such rats were in this thousand-coffin cave? If we ran into a pack, we'd be in deep trouble.

Old Yang had the same thought. After laughing, his face changed. He said, "Not good. We've crushed the rat king to death. I wonder if his rat sons and grandsons will come after us. I think we'd better clear out fast. Don't stay at the crime scene."

I nodded in agreement. Old Yang turned and took a few steps, then suddenly said, "Hey, damn—which way should we go?"

I looked up. In the chaos earlier, we'd been tossed around, and now front and back looked the same. I couldn't tell which direction we came from and which we needed to go.

Though I had a faint feeling I could discern the correct direction, it was too weak. I wasn't sure if my intuition was right. The hesitation made the feeling disappear completely.

Old Yang looked back and forth more than a dozen times. Seeing no other option, he said to me, "Forget it. Since we've already trashed these coffins, let's just spread our legs and charge straight across."

I looked and still felt uneasy. I wanted to ask Master Liang's opinion, but when I turned, I saw he wasn't listening to us at all. He was focused on gathering the scattered bones on the ground.

Curious, I grabbed Old Yang, and we leaned in to see what he was doing.

This human-rat battle had involved over a dozen coffins. They were already rotten, barely holding their shape. Under the impact, they shattered into wood chips, spilling all the bones inside. The ground was a mess. For some reason, Master Liang was picking out each bone from the wood chips and setting them aside.

Most of these bones were incomplete, probably used by the big rats as teething tools. They were pitted and gouged, some unrecognizable as human bones.

Old Yang, seeing Master Liang so absorbed, asked curiously, "Master, what kind of garlic are you pounding now?"

Master Liang was startled. He turned to me and said, "Incredible. That rat's mischief turned out to be a happy accident. I've discovered a great secret."

I saw his eyes shining with excitement, finding it even stranger. What secret could be in these damn bones? Master Liang told us to squat down, picked up a bone, and asked, "You two, look—can you see anything?" Old Yang and I exchanged glances, not knowing what game he was playing. Old Yang made a strange grin and said, "You're not mocking us, are we? We deal with dead people's stuff, not dead people themselves. Just say it straight, so we can get moving."

Master Liang smiled apologetically. "I'm too excited, can't even speak properly. Don't mind me. Let me think how to put it. Um—look at this part of the bone. Carefully."

I took the bone and examined it. Where he pointed, there was a smooth notch, the same color as the bone, probably old. But I couldn't figure out what Master Liang was getting at.

Seeing my confusion, Master Liang said, "It's okay if you can't see it. Let me explain. This bone is a human clavicle, right here." He pointed to his neck. "This notch is an old bone injury, caused before death. See how sharp the cut is? No sign of healing, meaning the injury happened very close to the time of death."

Old Yang, impatient, said, "So what? Bone injury, huh? Poor bone. But can we hurry up? The torches are almost out."

Master Liang quickly waved his hand. "Just give me three more minutes. I'm almost done!"

Seeing how excited he was, I knew he wouldn't stop until he finished. Old Yang's grumbling would only waste time. I shot Old Yang a look to shut up and said to Master Liang, "Ignore him. Go on."

He swallowed and said, "Where was I? Oh—the injury time is very close to the time of death. I can roughly conclude that this wound caused the death. Since it's in this position, someone probably cut the carotid artery from above the clavicle with a knife. The cut was so fast it hit the bone."

I was puzzled. "Isn't this cave burial supposed to be for natural deaths? According to you, the owner of this bone was murdered?"

Master Liang gave a creepy smile and shook his head. "Not just this one. All the corpses here died this way. Look, there are seven clavicles here, all with such cuts. So this isn't a Miao cave burial site. It's a mass grave from a slaughter. I estimate these thousands of people were all killed by having their throats cut. If you don't believe me, open all the coffins—it'll prove my words."

After saying this, Master Liang stared at me with blazing eyes. I felt a chill. What's wrong with this guy? So it's a mass grave—why get so excited? I asked him, "Master Liang, is this the great secret you mentioned?"

Master Liang put on a mysterious air. "No, no. This is just the prologue to the great secret. What I'm about to say next is the real topic."

Old Yang, at the peak of impatience, almost dropped his jaw. "What? That was just the prologue? Then wait a second. Hey, Old Wu, put out the torch first. Light it again later. I need to find a place to lie down for a while."

Master Liang was already in full swing, completely unbothered. He dug another object out of the coffin debris and said to me, "The great secret is hidden in this thing."

I took it and looked. It was indescribable—something like a bamboo hat or part of armor. Since it wasn't bone, it must be a burial object. I held it up to the torch and examined it closely. Surprised, I said, "A Qing Dynasty official hat?"

Master Liang nodded. "Correct."

At that moment, whether infected by the eccentric Master Liang or by my own intuition, I vaguely felt that what he was saying might indeed contain something earth-shattering. I suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

Liang Shiye then said, "Qing dynasty official caps are divided into two types: warm caps and cool caps. Look at this piece—no lining, so it's a cool cap. This person died in the summer. And what's strangest is this thing." He carefully peeled out a piece from the fragments of the official cap: "Look, this piece may seem insignificant, but it's crucial, Little Wu. You're a man who understands; you'll know what it is at a glance."

I was already chilled to the bone. Following his meaning, I looked and immediately understood. That piece was nothing else—it was a fragment of a flower plume from a Qing official's cap. Probably when the corpse rotted, it got stuck to the cap by corpse fluid. When I looked closer, I found it was actually a peacock flower plume. I immediately sucked in a breath of cold air. A man wearing a peacock flower plume—a fifth-rank or higher official—how could he die in this place? By then, Liang Shiye had already found many more flower plume fragments. I counted the eye patterns; all were peacock flower plumes. I was horrified—could it be that everyone who died here was an official? I thought, how could that be? The Qing court had only so many officials in total. With thousands of corpses here, even killing all the fifth-rank officials wouldn't make up the number.

Old Yang saw my expression was off, and couldn't understand what we were saying. He patted me and asked, "Hey, are we done with the main topic? We really don't have time. You two get along so well, you can chat more slowly when you go back."

I ignored him and asked Liang Shiye what exactly was going on. These corpses piled here were far too strange. For one thing, since it was a massacre, why not just toss the bodies carelessly? Why put the bodies into coffins? For another, why arrange the coffins in the pattern of the Mystic Gate and Hidden Armor? If they wanted to trap people, wouldn't it be better to use stone that doesn't rot?