Chapter 328: You

Hua Buliu let out a horrific scream; Zhang Niangzi yanked out her knife again, ready to stab once more, but Pan Yun quickly grabbed her hand, pulled it downward, and drove it hard before slicing through.

"This is the right spot—earlier, stabbing too deep would've killed him."

Hua Buliu fainted again from the pain; Pan Yun tapped a few points on his body, then stood up and said, "Done. You've cut him clean. Pay up."

Liu Shiji hurriedly pulled his wife back two steps and asked anxiously, "H-He won't die, will he?"

Pan Yun urged, "Pay quickly, and he won't die."

Liu Shiji immediately pulled out his money pouch and shoved the whole thing into Pan Yun's hands, "Here, Little Daoist, take him away fast—remember to deliver him to the authorities, and don't tell anyone he was injured at my place…"

Pan Yun found him annoying, shoved a vial of medicine and two yellow talismans into his hands, then picked up the unconscious Hua Buliu and walked off, "I won't give you change—these are your payment. We'll never meet again."

Saying this, she grabbed Hua Buliu and leapt onto the wall, scaling the rooftops in a few bounds before vanishing into the distance.

Hua Buliu bled steadily downward as he was swiftly carried out of the city.

Pan Yun checked his condition, dared not delay, pulled out her medicine cauldron, shoved him inside, and flew toward Fucheng.

Oh no, the price for a dead man differs from that of a living one—she had to get back to Fucheng before he breathed his last.

Wuh wuh wuh, I hope Senior Brother doesn't blame me—I'll wash the cauldron ten times after this…

Pan Yun rushed back to Fucheng in a panic, stopping again at an empty spot outside the city, then grabbed the gravely wounded, unconscious Hua Buliu and charged into town.

Zhang Niangzi was ruthless and spoke little—her blade struck the vital point dead center. If Miao Zhen were here, perhaps he could be saved; but not her. No point wasting medicine—he was going to die anyway.

Pan Yun reached the city gate; the guards there instantly leveled their spears and swords at her, "Who are you?"

"Bold! What man is that you're carrying?"

Pan Yun cried urgently, "He's injured! He's dying! I'm taking him to the government office!"

The guards stepped forward to inspect him, frowned, "Knife wound, fist blows, kicks—this is a major case…"

Then they saw his mangled lower body and all simultaneously hissed, quickly stepping aside, "Why bring him to the government office now? Take him to the clinic first—are you his family?"

"No," Pan Yun lifted him up, "I'm taking him to the government office first—he has something to tell Captain Zhou."

The guards assumed he had urgent news—even if dying, he must speak—and, moved by admiration, stepped aside, even offering kindly, "Little Daoist, let two of my brothers help carry him—you're holding him like that, the blood will spill more, and you'll worsen his injuries."

"No need. He doesn't care. I don't care. As long as he lives to see Captain Zhou, that's enough. Goodbye, gentlemen—I'll treat you all to buns next time we meet."

Saying this, she charged into town, dragging Hua Buliu.

The guards: …

One guard muttered, "That sounds… oddly off."

"Forget it. Look at how wretched he is—this must be a big case. The prefectural and county yamens will have their hands full."

Pan Yun dashed through the streets like a whirlwind; Qu Le, who had just entered the city, saw her sprint past without even glancing at him, and immediately chased after her, "Pan Sanzhu? Didn't you take him to find the next victim? Why are you back so soon?"

Pan Yun sped up, zipping toward the government office; her voice came back on the wind, "I'm already back!"

Pan Yun burst into the prefectural government office, dumped Hua Buliu in the courtyard, grabbed a government office Runner, and demanded, "Where's Captain Zhou?"

The government office Runner stared blankly at her, then down at the figure dumped at his feet… a corpse?

Oh, his chest still rose slightly—still alive. He frowned and pointed behind her, "Who's this? I'll fetch a Physician immediately."

Pan Yun turned and only then saw Captain Zhou standing before a rack of weapons, frowning at her.

Pan Yun waved enthusiastically, "Captain Zhou, come quick—I've caught the flower thief Hua Buliu! Come verify his identity!"

Captain Zhou frowned and stepped forward, glancing at the man barely breathing, "How do I know he's Hua Buliu?"

Pan Yun immediately pulled out a human-skin mask and slapped it onto his face, "I peeled this off his face—look, doesn't this match one of the five wanted portraits?"

The human-skin mask hung loosely on Hua Buliu's face, barely recognizable.

Captain Zhou still frowned, examined his wounds, and asked, "Where did you catch him? Where did these injuries come from?"

Pan Yun: "I gave them to him. I recognized him—he tried to kill me to silence me, so I fought back. We battled fiercely for a full day before I subdued him."

Captain Zhou stared at Pan Yun—her energy bright, her body unmarked—and asked, "You fought him for a full day? Who else was involved?"

Pan Yun: "My disciple-niece, Seeing Miao Zhen. Just the two of us."

Captain Zhou stared at her. Pan Yun stared back, innocent. She held out her hand: "Captain Zhou, the eighty taels reward…"

Captain Zhou slapped her hand away. "Verify his identity first."

The government office Runner who had paused immediately said, "I'll fetch the Coroner."

Pan Yun: "…Wasn't it a Physician you were supposed to get?"

The government office Runner looked solemn. "The Coroner is also a Physician." The government office men carried Hua Buliu into the Coroner's examination room.

The Coroner took one look at Hua Buliu's condition, snapped shut his tool box, dragged out a medicine chest from the corner, began stopping the bleeding, and said, "What are you standing there for? Go get a Physician! I can't treat injuries like this!"

Neither the government office Runner nor Captain Zhou moved.

Captain Zhou said, "Wake him up first. I need to verify his identity."

The government office Runner said, "You tend to him—just keep him alive."

The Coroner understood at once: this was no innocent man.

Still, he treated him diligently. But since Captain Zhou wanted to question him, he still jabbed the man awake.

Hua Buliu slowly opened his eyes, swollen shut, his mind looping the moments before he fainted—he was numb, too drained even to feel anger.

Captain Zhou leaned close and asked coldly, "Hua Buliu, do you confess?"

Hua Buliu's gaze stiffly shifted to Captain Zhou's face, then slid to Pan Yun.

He stared at Pan Yun, voice hoarse: "Long Hushan Pan Sanzhu—I'll remember you. Whether I'm reborn or become a ghost, I won't let you go."

!.

Pan Yun smiled slightly at him. "I'll tell you now: when you're reborn, you'll become a boar. Ten lifetimes as a boar. Each time, raised to twenty catties, then castrated. Grown again for half a year, slaughtered at year's end, reborn again, castrated again, slaughtered again…"

Captain Zhou: …

The government office Runner and Coroner: …

Hua Buliu's anger flared anew.

Pan Yun, however, smiled even more sweetly at him and said, "You will be a gelded pig for life after life, until the sins of this incarnation are fully atoned, and only then may you become grass and wood; you must pass through countless cycles of reincarnation before you can be born human again. As for me, this poor Daoist Pan Sanzhu, by then I will long since have attained the Dao and become an immortal. A wretch like you isn't even fit to look at me."

Hua Buliu let out a "pfft" and spat blood, his eyes wide as he pointed at Pan Yun and raged, "I'll kill you, I'll kill you—"

His shouting was cut off by a slap across the face from Constable Zhou.

Constable Zhou's face darkened as he said, "Speak. How many women have you harmed? Start from the very first one."

Hua Buliu looked at Pan Yun's face and suddenly laughed, cackling loudly, "The first one, ah, the first one was eight years ago. She was about your age, maybe twelve, maybe thirteen? I don't remember. In any case, she was detestable. The moment she glanced at me, she immediately looked away. Later I gouged out her eyes and kept them on me. She was the only one I killed with my own hands, hahahaha. Her eyes looked exactly like yours. They're in my money pouch right now. Take them out and look, take them out and look—"

Before Pan Yun could make a move, the coroner felt around on his body, pulled out a money pouch, and upended it. Inside, besides a pile of coins, there was also a small sachet.

The coroner opened the sachet, glanced inside, frowned, and gave Constable Zhou a nod.

Constable Zhou's face turned slightly cold. He said to the government office Runner, "Go fetch the clerk to take down the record."

Constable Zhou told Pan Yun to step out first.

Pan Yun, however, folded her arms and leaned against the wall, saying, "If I step out, will he still confess?"

Right now, it was entirely thanks to her being here, stoking his hatred, that Hua Buliu was saying whatever came to mind. The moment she left, his adrenaline would drop, and he likely wouldn't speak again—and wouldn't get the chance to.

She could see it very clearly. Just now the coroner had stuck two needles into him. She had seen Tao Ji needle people like that before—it was a needle that overdrew one's life force, giving a person the energy to set their affairs in order before death.

Hua Buliu had already been down to his last breath. Once those needles went in, he wouldn't last much longer.

Soon, the Judge of the tribunal walked in leading a clerk.

Constable Zhou and the coroner hurriedly saluted him.

The Judge waved a hand and looked toward Pan Yun.

Constable Zhou leaned in and whispered a few words in his ear, and the Judge tacitly allowed Pan Yun to remain.

The interrogation continued.

Or rather, the Judge didn't even need to question him—Hua Buliu was already babbling on by himself.

Perhaps to provoke Pan Yun, perhaps sensing his life slipping away, he wanted to recount everything he had done in his life so that someone would remember it. He had a great deal to say.

The Judge would occasionally interrupt him—either to supplement information about the victims, or to challenge some of his details.

An hour passed, and Hua Buliu's voice gradually grew weaker. He muttered, "Those women all deserved to die. What right did they have to look down on me? What right did they have to refuse to marry me? Once they had slept with me, they should have been faithful unto death, should have killed themselves. That would be chastity, that would be a good woman…"

The Judge stared at him steadily, then after a moment said, "Hua Buliu, identity confirmed. Murder, rape. The sentence is death by decapitation."

Hua Buliu looked at him with a mocking smile. "You can't kill me. I'm about to die anyway. I came into this world whole, and I'll leave it whole."

The ancients believed that decapitation severed the head from the body, leaving the body incomplete, and that this was a great taboo.

Pan Yun, who had been quietly listening on the side, suddenly said, "But you've been gelded, and gelded especially clean at that."

Hua Buliu faltered.

(End of chapter)