Chapter 99: Fugitives from the State

At daybreak the next morning, Heifu, who had fallen asleep slumped over the desk, woke up groggily to find the sky still dark. What reached his ears was not the crowing of roosters, but the shrieks of agony that had continued all through the night…

"They've been at it the whole night already."

He couldn't help feeling a little pity for the suspect. Probably because Qin law discouraged the use of torture during interrogations, Qin's methods of punishment were still crude — simply beating the body with wooden or bamboo staves — yet the pain they inflicted was immense enough. And once they started beating, they wouldn't stop until you opened your mouth!

After a while, the intermittent screams gradually died down. When Shi was brought up again, he was covered in wounds.

Bailiff Anpu, who had nearly coughed up blood after being knocked over the night before, had personally administered the beating. He showed no mercy. On Shi's back, there was hardly a patch of unbroken skin left — it was all bloody welts from the flogging. The man had passed out from the pain, and only after someone doused him with a bucket of cold water did he shudder back to consciousness.

"Will you talk, or won't you?"

Clerk Clerk Le also secretly resented Shi for having frightened him earlier. This ordinarily cheerful and amiable Qin official now wore a face as cold as ice.

Shi, his skin split open and flesh laid bare from the beating, raised his head. He glanced at Heifu, who had stopped him from killing himself, gave a bitter, self-mocking smile, and finally relented.

No man, no matter how iron-willed, can endure the torment of cruel punishment — unless he is dead. The dead cannot speak.

The matter began a year ago. One day, Shi went up the mountain to gather firewood, but accidentally stepped into a trap that a hunter had set for wild beasts. Try as he might, he could not pry the thing open by himself. His cries for help brought no one, and instead attracted a large, spotted leopard…

Just as he was about to lose his life to the leopard's jaws, a small, thin man who happened to be passing by killed the leopard and saved his life.

From that day on, Shi regarded that man as his benefactor and obeyed his every word. The two often visited each other and gradually became the closest of friends.

"What is the name of the man who saved you? What is his place of origin and status?"

By now, Shi had become compliant and recounted everything in detail: "His name is Ao. He is a hired laborer, living in the township. Originally a scholar of Chu, he fled the famine from the south bank of the Great River over a year ago. They were not allotted any land, so they can only work as hired hands and servants, barely scraping by."

So it was indeed that group of hired laborers who had close dealings with Shi. Bailiff Anpu said quietly, "Rest assured, gentlemen, I have already sent men to detain this group."

Shi continued, "A few days ago, Ao came to find me again. He wanted me to help him with something…"

"Murder?" Heifu asked with a frown.

"No." Shi, bound in cangue and fetters, shook his head with difficulty. "According to him, it was to catch an adulterer…"

Seeing that Shi was finally getting to the crucial point, everyone immediately perked up.

Ao told Shi that the Neighborhood Watchman of Willow Hamlet had violated the wife of one of his companions. He had also heard that the Neighborhood Watchman often dallied with the widows in the hamlet, and would even go to commit adultery with a hunter's wife when the hunter was not at home…

In Qin, although improper relations between men and women were cracked down on, making groundless accusations about so-and-so committing adultery was not permitted. It only counted if you caught them in the act. Ao planned to have Shi go with him to catch the adulterer and get revenge on the Neighborhood Watchman.

Shi trusted Ao deeply and did not suspect anything. That day, following Ao's instructions, he brought his own knife along.

"I first went to the place in the township where the hired laborers lodge and brought Ao out, because without being hired by a rank-and-file soldier, hired laborers are not allowed to leave the township."

"When Ao and I reached Willow Hamlet, it was just breakfast time. All the men and women of the hamlet had gone down to the fields. We arrived outside the hunter's door. I peered through a crack in the window — the Neighborhood Watchman was indeed inside, committing adultery with the hunter's wife…"

"Ao said he would handle this matter himself and told me to keep watch outside. Saying this, he used my shoulder for support, kicked the window open with one foot, and jumped inside. It was only then that I realized the short sword hanging at my waist was somehow already in Ao's hand!"

As he recounted this, Shi still looked somewhat incredulous.

Heifu nodded slightly. His deduction that there had been two perpetrators — one standing outside the house, one leaping in to kill — was completely correct!

Bailiff Anpu could wait no longer. He immediately stood up and said, "I asked yesterday — those hired laborers have gone to a certain hamlet in the township to help harvest rice. This Ao must be among them. I've already sent several Wardens with men to arrest them. I'll head over there at once!" With that, he rushed out the door in a huff.

Le pressed, "And then?!"

"What happened next, gentlemen, you all know. Ao was not there to catch an adulterer at all. He killed the Neighborhood Watchman outright, then chased down the hunter's wife and stabbed her to death. After that, he came out holding the Neighborhood Watchman's sword and a bag of bronze coins… Oh, and also two wooden animal traps."

"He also took animal traps?"

Heifu was slightly surprised. They had not known this before. The hunter's house was a chaotic mess, and he had made a great many traps in particular. If a few went missing, the hunter himself probably wouldn't even know, which was why he hadn't reported it. What a muddled, honest man. The question was, what did the murderer Ao want with the animal traps?

Le continued his questioning: "Did Ao tell you afterwards why he killed the Neighborhood Watchman?"

Shi fell silent again, as if hesitating. He had once been willing to die to protect this secret.

Heifu spoke at once: "Shi, look carefully. In my left hand, I place a pottery bowl — inside it is water, and later there will be rice. In my right hand are the bamboo strips to continue the punishment. Which one you choose is up to you."

Shi looked at Heifu with some resentment. He had not had a drop of water since the day before and had endured a whole night of flogging. By now, his lips were cracked, he was thirsty and hungry, and his spirit was at its weakest.

After a fierce internal struggle, Shi seemed to yield. He chose the water. After gulping down several mouthfuls, he said dejectedly, "At the time, I was very puzzled too, but I didn't make a sound. After Ao led me to a safe place, he bowed to me in apology and only then told me the truth."

"It turned out that this group of Chu people, ten in all, had originally heard that life in Qin was better than in Chu and had fled the famine to come here. Who would have thought they would find no foothold and could only work as hired laborers? Whenever there were construction projects or corvée labor, the authorities would conscript them first. Two of them died one after another doing wall-building penal labor. So the remaining eight began to regret coming to Qin and wanted to return to their homeland in Chu. It was Ao who had led them out in the first place, and now he wanted to bring every last one of them back…"

Le struck the table and said, "So they wanted to become fugitives from the state! Hah, does he think our Qin is like Chu, where you can come and go as you please? Gentlemen, send someone immediately to catch up with Bailiff Anpu and inform him of this. Tell him that not a single one of those hired laborers is to be let go! Arrest them all!"

Fugitive from the state — in Qin, with its strict household registration system, this was synonymous with defection. The ringleader would be executed outright, and the rest would be tattooed and sentenced to wall-building penal labor!

Shi said, "Ao also knew this would not be easy, so he and the others pooled their money and bribed the Neighborhood Watchman, asking him to forge their travel permits and passes, so they could falsely claim they were going to perform corvée labor, reach the border area, and then slip away through the mountains, marshes, and forests."

"So that's where the Neighborhood Watchman's two-thousand-odd coins came from!" Le quickly had someone record this. Another point of doubt was resolved.

By now, Heifu could largely guess the rest of the story: "But the Neighborhood Watchman took the money and did nothing, or perhaps got scared and decided to report them to the authorities?"

Shi said, "Correct. Ao also sensed the Neighborhood Watchman's intent, so he decided to kill him before he could report them!"

Heifu asked, somewhat puzzled, "Ao clearly deceived you and dragged you into a murder case, yet you do not resent him or report him. Yesterday, you even tried to cut your own throat to protect Ao's secret. Why is that?"

Shi raised his head and said, "That day, Ao fought the leopard with his bare hands, not caring that he was covered in wounds. He saved my life. I owe him this life of mine. Whenever he wants to use it, he can take it! What talk is there of being dragged down or not!"

"Do you not know that shielding a murderer is a violation of Qin law?"

Shi declared with an air of righteousness, "I am a lowly man. I do not understand laws and statutes. I only understand the principles of being a man. That Neighborhood Watchman broke his word — he deserved to die. He committed adultery — he also deserved to die. I would rather break the law than betray the duty, gratitude, and honor between men!"

"This damned gallant code of honor again."

Le cursed. Heifu knew that what Qin officials hated most were these gallant types.

But breaking the law was breaking the law. Shi would pay the price for it. As an accomplice who failed to report the crime afterward and even violently resisted arrest upon capture, he would be treated the same as the murderer. He could not escape death!

"As for that Ao, and those hired laborers trying to flee into Chu, Bailiff Anpu will soon have them dragged back. I've heard that capturing one fugitive from the state earns a reward of seven gold pieces!"

Le looked at Heifu and grinned. "Warden Heifu, this time I finally get a share of the reward money, don't I!"

Le was teasing him about the previous two cases where Heifu had gotten the reward, and he had always been one step too late.

But at that moment, Shi burst out laughing again.

"Hahahaha! You two superior officials, if you think you can catch Ao and the others this way, you are gravely mistaken!"

"What else are you hiding?!"

"Nothing else. It's just that on that very day, after Ao killed the Neighborhood Watchman, he immediately came up with a new plan and invited me to leave Qin with him. Deeply moved by his sense of honor, though I was unwilling to flee into Chu with him, I was willing to lend him a hand. Seeing that the officials were investigating the missing knife, I continued to wear the sheath with that sword stuck inside it, pretending nothing had happened. I never expected to be caught by you so quickly. Warden Heifu, your reputations as the Heavenly Hound of Anlu and the Destroyer of Households are truly well-earned! This lowly man is in awe and admiration. I have nothing more to say."

At these two nicknames, Heifu did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Shi continued with a cold sneer, "But since I have been arrested, Ao must have gotten word and already led the others away yesterday! It's too late for you to go after them now!"

"Speak! How does Ao plan to escape!" Le's face instantly changed color. He raised the bamboo staff and lashed it fiercely down on Shi!

Shi, on the contrary, now clenched his teeth to the death — no matter how savagely he was beaten, he would say no more.

"Could it be that his confession just now was deliberately stalling for time for Ao and the others?" Heifu suddenly saw the light. Thinking of it this way, the fierce resolve Shi had shown when he tried to take his own life last night, and his sudden weak confession today, all made sense. This was a clever, loyal, and gallant young stalwart. A pity.

Just then, the door was shoved open! Sweat pouring down his face, Commandant Clerk An Pu rushed in, brow furrowed.

"On the way, I met a ward constable coming back to report — he said those hired field hands never went to the place that employed them! Someone said they vanished without a trace halfway there!"

"Could this group be planning to flee back to Chu on foot?"

Everyone found it somewhat inconceivable. Although Anlu County bordered Chu, whether heading south or east, it was a journey of several dozen li, passing numerous ward posts along the way. Once the Qin authorities issued an arrest warrant, dispatched light cavalry and swift chariots in pursuit, and ordered every ward post to search the mountain forests, there was absolutely no way those eight men could escape unscathed!

Just then, another person came running in panic to report: "Gentlemen, grave news! In the direction of the township stable, a fire has broken out!"

"The township stable…" Heifu's expression changed drastically. Wasn't that the very place he had wanted to go riding on the day the crime occurred? With that, everything became crystal clear.

"No! They intend to steal horses and flee!"

PS: Got stuck in traffic and am a bit late. The New Year holiday is over; updates will resume at the old time starting tomorrow.

(End of chapter)