Chapter 208: That Temple

208. Chapter 208: That Temple

Under Chen Sheng's stare, Warden Chi flinched again. He had seen enough of the world to know that a man who had killed many looked at people exactly like this. Not daring to hesitate, Warden Chi quickly added, "Master Jin is widely experienced. Such things are not rare here—they happen every month. That's why ordinary folk dare not enter. The killing aura here is heavy!"

"Which rooms are convenient for hanging?" Zhao Jin asked again.

Warden Chi no longer considered himself an elder, but Zhao Jin's words still left him smiling bitterly inside. He could only point to a few cells and say, "Those have beams. Easy to hang from."

Zhao Jin nodded and turned to look at his father. The two of them had agreed on this beforehand, but Zhao Jin's manner just now had both alarmed his father and left him not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Yet in this setting, nothing he said would be appropriate, so he simply waved his hand and said, "You men, hold the lanterns forward a bit!"

The household guards raised the lanterns, brightening the cells somewhat. In the darkness they could still harbor hatred and venom, but once it grew bright, none dared face a killer like Zhao Jin. They either lowered their heads or shrank into the corners.

Zhao Zhentang stepped forward to look and pointed ahead. Warden Chi needed no instruction; he went straight over and unlocked the cell door. A guard went in and hauled out the man indicated. Before long, six men had been brought out. All six were males of varying ages, and from their clothing and appearance they did not seem to share the same trade. Chen Wu, however, knew that these six were the captured Chanting Heads of the Incense-Smelling Sect.

After certain things are done, everyone can guess the whole story, but guessing is one thing—the doing must still be kept discreet. Zhao Zhentang and Chen Wu had personally carried out the arrests, so of course they recognized these Chanting Heads.

Zhao Jin knew all six of these Chanting Heads. During that sweep of the southern quarter, these two had been smashed and captured. The other four he had seen at Rib-Bone Zhang's place, but at the time they had all acted perfectly normal. If Zhou Xuezhi had not confessed, Zhao Jin would truly never have known they were He Weiyuan's trusted men, all of whom visited He Family Manor regularly.

Two guards held each man, keeping them firmly under control. Once brought out, the six still had some backbone, glaring fixedly at Zhao Jin. Two of them opened their mouths to curse and were promptly gagged with strips of cloth.

"These men used their sashes to tie knots, then hanged themselves out of fear of punishment!" Zhao Jin said coldly.

When Zhao Jin spoke these words, no one failed to understand. Warden Chi, trembling, went to unlock those cells that had roof beams. The six men, upon hearing Zhao Jin's words, first froze, then began struggling frantically with all their might. But how could they break free? The long-trained guards, strong and fit, held them fast and shoved them straight into the cells, where someone had already brought over chairs to step up from.

The other prisoners in the jail, seeing this scene, all trembled with terror. Some of the women even burst into tears. For a moment, the scene was utterly wretched.

"Dasheng, do you know? It was precisely because of these men that our distillery was harassed without end, that our every move was known to He Weiyuan in perfect detail, that they set ambushes on the road, and that Dalei and the brothers below him died such horrible deaths!" Zhao Jin's voice rose as he spoke.

"You killed my brothers, and still expected to wait for the officials to carry out a proper sentence? Still hoped to get into court and recklessly implicate others? Still wanted to live a few more days in this prison? Dream on!"

Zhao Jin's household guards trained hard, but few had ever seen a man die. At this moment, they all seemed somewhat unable to go through with it. The six Chanting Heads struggled desperately, and for a time the nooses could not be slipped over them. But when they heard Zhao Jin speak these words, their strength suddenly surged. The guards ate and lived together; over all these days, their bonds had grown deep. This time, more than ten had died at once. Every man was filled with grief and rage, wanting revenge. Now, hearing Zhao Jin say that the men they held were accomplices and helpers, their hesitation instantly vanished like smoke, and the strength in their hands grew.

Before long, all the men had been strung up. Their bodies twitched once in midair and then moved no more.

The entire jail fell deathly silent. Whether those captured from the He residence or He's trusted men from within the city, all stared at the six corpses swaying in midair, each one terrified beyond words, not daring to speak a single extra word.

"When you go to trial, families cannot be together. Husband and wife, children—all must be separated. When you speak in court, think of your kin and children here in the jail. You have broken the Great Ming Code. Whatever punishment you deserve, the court and the officials will handle according to the rules. But if you are not honest, I will come back here!" Zhao Jin raised his voice and declared.

Everyone in the jail was silenced by fear. Having witnessed such thunderous methods, even if some still harbored thoughts and calculations of mutual destruction, they all vanished like smoke.

Seeing this reaction, Chen Wu and Warden Chi both looked over in surprise, then exchanged a glance. Each understood the meaning in the other's eyes. This Zhao Jin lad truly left no gaps in his work. So many people captured were hard to control. If they babbled recklessly during trial and their confessions fell into the hands of someone with an agenda, there would surely be trouble. Even though everyone was familiar with the officials in Xuzhou, above Xuzhou there were still higher levels of government—one always had to worry about the unexpected.

But Zhao Jin's killing to establish authority this time served a dual purpose. On one hand, he avenged his own family. On the other, he thoroughly cowed the prisoners, ensuring they dared not speak or act recklessly. There was even another angle: it made these prisoners, no matter what punishment they received, feel that it was the doing of the Great Ming court and officials, that their arrest was a matter of public duty, and they would not direct their hatred at any individual.

At such a young age, to understand the subtleties of officialdom and human relations so thoroughly—coupled with his prowess in battle and his ability to generate wealth in torrents—it was truly a wonder how a place like Xuzhou could produce such a talent.

As they were marveling, Chen Sheng spoke up from the side: "Uncle Chi, once these six bodies have been examined tomorrow morning, send them out. They still have a use."

What use could dead men have? Warden Chi was puzzled inwardly, but he still put on a smiling face and agreed, thinking to himself: your father still treats me with courtesy, yet you lot can directly issue orders now.

With everything done, there was no need to remain in the jail any longer. Zhao Jin thanked Warden Chi and then walked toward the exit. He had only taken a few steps when he heard someone in the farthest corner cell shouting, "Sir! Sir! This lowly one has important matters to report! This lowly one has important matters to report!"

The voice trembled—clearly the man had been scared out of his wits. Yet the voice was very familiar to Zhao Jin. It was Zhou Xuezhi, the witness they had arranged in advance. What was he joining the commotion for?

"This lowly one truly has important matters to report!" Zhou Xuezhi howled recklessly. At the words "truly has," Zhao Jin turned and said to Warden Chi, "I must trouble Uncle Chi to bring the man to the front. I want to question him."

Warden Chi agreed with a smile, and two guards followed him. Unexpectedly, this action infected the entire jail. In an instant, one shouted, then another, each claiming to have important matters to report. The whole jail became bustling with noise.

The guards went into the cells to bring Zhou Xuezhi out. Zhao Jin and Chen Sheng walked out on their own. Behind them, Chen Wu and Zhao Zhentang deliberately slowed their pace. Chen Wu asked in a low voice, "Did you teach him all these tricks?"

Zhao Zhentang froze for a moment, then nodded with a bitter smile. As a father, he could hardly say he did not know where his own son had learned such schemes.

The matters in the jail were thus concluded. Warden Chi remained as attentive as ever—if for no other reason, then for the gleaming five hundred taels of silver. He went off to another small room himself, leaving the more spacious room for Zhao Jin and his party.

"Master Jin, it is not that this lowly one deliberately concealed things. It is that this lowly one suddenly recalled some matters just now and hurried to report them to Master Jin." The room the jailers used inside the prison was very warm, and Zhou Xuezhi wore a padded jacket, yet his face was still deathly pale. He knelt there, trembling uncontrollably.

Zhao Jin ignored this clumsy attempt at covering up and asked in a deep voice, "Speak whatever you have to say. What I promised you still stands. If I discover from someone else's confession that you have concealed anything..."

"... In truth, the Zhou family's move against Master Mu was not merely instigated by He Weiyuan. Behind it was also the monk Runan from Cloud Mountain Temple. He had always wanted to get his hands on the young lady of the Mu family..." Zhou Xuezhi stammered out these words. He understood perfectly well the meaning behind Zhao Jin's deliberately unfinished sentence.

Zhao Jin let out a cold laugh and sat up straight. Beside him, Chen Sheng's face also showed a sneer. He turned his head and said, "Nothing ever happens without those bald donkeys being involved!"

"Back then, I wanted to tear out Cloud Mountain Temple's influence in the city by the roots, but I only focused on the underworld paths and ignored their legitimate businesses. Now I see how naive I truly was," Zhao Jin said, shaking his head.

Both of them recalled the events of a year ago. The monk Runan had spotted Mu Shulan, then sent men to tail her. After Master Mu died, kidnappers had immediately come to the door and tricked the girl away. Then, when Zhao Jin and the others went to rescue her, they had encountered several monks. They had suspicions at the time; now it turned out there was indeed a connection.

Having revealed this, Zhou Xuezhi seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. He continued, "Back then, Runan and Runing of Cloud Mountain Temple abducted a merchant family's young daughter and presented her to the abbot. That big monk has a taste for such things. Because of this, Runan was promoted. When he saw the Mu family's young lady, the idea stirred in him again—he wanted to offer her to the abbot. If not for him, my master might never have become the Assembly Master. Cloud Mountain Temple's tendrils spread too wide in Xuzhou; they have connections in every direction..."

"... The reason this lowly one dared not speak is that Cloud Mountain Temple has deep ties within the government. One wrong word, and I might not even make it to the execution ground—I'd simply be silenced," Zhou Xuezhi said. This last sentence was by way of explanation.

He had feared being silenced for involving Cloud Mountain Temple, but tonight, having witnessed Zhao Jin and his men silencing others, Zhou Xuezhi was terrified to the core, his heart and gall shattered. Afraid that if he held anything back, Zhao Jin's men would catch him and act, he simply poured everything out like beans from a bamboo tube.

"Cloud Mountain Temple..." Zhao Jin merely murmured these three words.

Ever since he had begun his endeavors, he had dealt with this Cloud Mountain Temple from every angle. The temple's internal factions were divided, yet it remained a colossal entity. Its shadow lay over everything in Xuzhou.

Zhao Jin and Chen Sheng exchanged a glance. Chen Sheng asked, "They all say Cloud Mountain Temple has an extraordinary backer. Do you know who it is?"