Chapter 326: In Recognition of Your Past Hardships

326. Chapter 326: In Recognition of Your Past Hardships

Because none of the people arrested were good sorts — they harassed their neighbors, threw their weight around, and had done more than their share of outright wickedness.

Xuzhou City had only a few dozen constables but over a thousand runners and bailiffs. With the "righteous volunteers" assisting, rounding them up was naturally easy — the sweep was clean by late morning. But the arrests did not stop, and by afternoon, ordinary folk all over Xuzhou City began to grow afraid.

By afternoon, some who usually seemed honest and helpful were also arrested, along with people of a certain standing — small wealthy households, or those with a bit of property. Their neighbors had no idea why. If you looked for a reason, everyone arrested seemed a little mysterious: often going out at night, or frequently having gatherings at home. There were rumors they burned incense and followed a sect.

The arrests that afternoon were guided and identified by "common marketplace folk." Anyone with sharp ears would recognize them — these commoners were all the incense heads within the city.

"... You will be burned by heavenly fire, and after death fall into hell..."

"... When Maitreya descends into the world, you..."

Seeing who was leading the way, those arrested understood their fate. Often they shrieked curses at the top of their lungs, and then the bailiffs would beat them savagely. The incense heads doing the guiding were pale-faced and cringing. Ashamed as they were, they felt no regret. Heavenly fire and hell were matters for after death, and no one knew when Maitreya would descend — but Master Jin's wrath was right before their eyes. Besides, if even the congregation leader didn't care, why should any of them?

The Xuzhou jail was once again packed beyond capacity. The head jailer and the prison guards dared not utter a single word of complaint; they simply threw themselves into the frantic work, endlessly registering names in the ledger and endlessly shoving people into the cells.

These arrests bypassed the prefect himself entirely. Adviser Wang and the clerks of the Punishment Office handled the business jointly, issuing document after document. If investigated afterward, everything would be found to have been done according to the letter of the law.

Prefect Tong had offended everyone thoroughly. Adviser Wang was now desperately trying to distance himself — the relationship between an official and his private secretary is one of money for service; sharing life and death was out of the question.

On the first day of the seventh month, the corpses of the refugees outside the city walls had all been disposed of. The militia squads began moving north along the official road to clean up, burning the bodies on the spot.

Inside the city, an eerie stillness reigned. The unending arrests by the bailiffs had already put the populace on edge, and the bailiffs also took to the streets to pass the word: everyone was to stay indoors after dark and not go out. Disobedience would be met with severe punishment.

The common folk obediently stayed home, but the men of Xuzhou's rivers and lakes and marketplace did not. Those small-time bosses with a bit of standing, the senior figures, anyone with a reputation — all went out after dark and headed toward the jail. When stopped and questioned by bailiffs, they simply said, "By Master Jin's order." Upon hearing those words, the bailiffs let them pass.

At the intersections surrounding the jail, the ones doing the questioning were no longer bailiffs but fully armed household troops of the Zhao Battalion. Behind these household troops stood a few street toughs — toughs who answered to no faction in the city, but followed the Zhao Battalion alone. Once these men identified and confirmed someone, the household troops let them through.

Walking this path, all the riffraff and lowlifes from every walk of life were already terrified. Each thought to himself: Am I not a fool? With a thigh as thick as Zhao Jin's right here to cling to, with a lord like Liu Yong to flatter, why go follow some Chen Ergou or Butcher Li? My brain must have been broken.

When they arrived before the jail, they found countless torches and braziers lit, illuminating the area bright as day. Zhao Jin and his companions, dressed in plain clothes, sat off to one side. Behind them stood two squads of Zhao Battalion household troops.

When the crowd saw Zhao Jin, they moved to kowtow, but the household troops led them instead to the other side, directly facing the great gate of the prison.

Once all the men of the rivers and lakes from every quarter had assembled, Zhao Jin remained seated. Liu Yong stood and said loudly: "During this refugee siege, some people's brains got addled. They thought they could run wild and lawless, and they harbored plenty of schemes. All of you here at least knew right from wrong and didn't join the chaos. So tonight, we've invited you all to come and see what happens to those with addled brains — and to know how to conduct yourselves from now on."

These words were utterly blunt. Many men, outwardly deferential, felt a surge of resentment in their hearts. They thought: You youngsters are far too arrogant. Don't you know that fortune's wheel is always turning?

When Liu Yong finished speaking, he gestured toward the jail. Twenty bailiffs wielding heavy staves stepped forward and took their places on the open ground.

The great gate of the Xuzhou prison swung open, and one by one, men were dragged out. The ones doing the dragging were also government bailiffs. The men being dragged out were all too familiar to the crowd. Just a few days ago, these very men had been hopping about, calling it a golden opportunity, and spouting plenty of reckless nonsense in private — saying Zhao Jin was surely finished, just a snot-nosed kid on his way out, what was there to fear?

Most of the men dragged out wept and screamed for mercy. A few struggled and bellowed curses. They were, after all, just street toughs — there were hardly any desperate, hardened men among them. Yet whether they wept for mercy or struggled and cursed, they could only move their mouths, for every man was bound up tight.

No matter how they thrashed, the bailiffs dragging them paid no heed. They simply flung them to the ground in the open space, and then the bailiffs with the heavy staves began to beat them.

When a stave as thick as a rice bowl struck the body, at first they could still cry out in pain. After a few blows, there was no more sound. Then the bailiffs dragging men out would toss a second one onto the ground.

A dead silence fell over the crowd. These men of the rivers and lakes and marketplace had not reached their present positions without seeing blood. They had fought pitched battles in the streets; wounding men was a trifling matter. Many had taken lives with their own hands and believed themselves ruthless and cold-blooded.

Yet the scene before them still made their hearts quake with terror. Living, breathing men were thrown to the ground one after another. The heavy staves smashed down brutally on heads and bodies. Once beaten to death, the next man was brought out. They recognized every single one of the dead — these were the most ruthless and vicious figures on the Xuzhou underworld circuit. And now they were being beaten to death, one by one, as if human life were no longer human life.

The murderous atmosphere was so oppressive that no one could stand straight. At first, many had kept glancing toward Zhao Jin; now they dared not even look. Only now did they truly grasp how terrifying this young man was. The victory against overwhelming odds outside the city, the slaughter that left mountains of corpses and seas of blood — they had no direct impression of that. But here before their eyes, one notorious figure after another was beaten to death, one living man after another turned into a corpse. This shook them to the core.

Some could not help but vomit. Some trembled uncontrollably. Some turned deathly pale. Many thought to themselves that after this, they would turn over a new leaf — even if it meant working as a hired hand or a servant, anything was better than drifting in the rivers and lakes. This path led only to death!

Each time a man was beaten to death, the head jailer before the prison gate struck a name off the register. A man dying in jail was nothing. In this sweltering heat, in a filthy place like the prison, falling ill and dropping dead every day was perfectly normal. Tomorrow, all these men would have simply fallen ill and dropped dead. Yet the punishment before his eyes made even this head jailer, who thought he had seen everything, feel a chill run through his entire body.

Before long, the execution was finished. The bailiffs wielding staves withdrew, and other men came forward to drag the corpses away. Liu Yong rose from his seat and said: "This time, it is in recognition of your past hardships..."

The moment his voice rang out, the scene briefly descended into chaos. Many of the terrified gang bosses dropped straight to their knees. Seeing others kneel, those still standing followed suit, forcing Liu Yong to repeat himself.

Hearing his words, many felt a strange sensation in their hearts. They thought: If such ruthless disposal still counts as "recognition of hardships," then what would it look like if he did not recognize them?

"... Otherwise, this time we would have taken action against your families. Remember what you have witnessed tonight. From now on, conduct yourselves well. All of you, go back now..."

It would even extend to their families. The early seventh-month weather was stifling, and with so many torches and braziers burning here, the heat was even more oppressive and hard to bear. But upon hearing those words, every man felt as if he were standing in the dead of winter, frozen through and through, inside and out.

Many did not even know how they got home. Many fell gravely ill upon returning. Quite a few moved out of Xuzhou. Others abandoned the trades of the rivers and lakes and took up honest work. After that night, the city of Xuzhou and its surrounding areas were far more peaceful than before.

After the men of the rivers and lakes within the city had departed, Zhao Jin and his companions still sat there, unmoving. The bailiffs did not leave either. After a while, Liu Yong called out again. The bailiffs, having rested briefly, re-entered the prison and brought out man after man, beating them to death with heavy staves just as before.

The bailiffs carrying out the executions were drenched in sweat. Many of them had turned ashen-faced from the slaughter, yet the excitement gleaming in every man's eyes was equally impossible to hide. For this night's work, each man would first receive two taels of silver in cash. On top of that, for every man beaten to death, the stave-wielders got two hundred copper coins, and the men dragging them out got fifty. By the end of the night, every man would pocket at least fifteen taels.

And besides, this was work for Master Jin. Even if no money were given, a single word from him and they would all come obediently. Now, with such generous pay on top of it, every man's heart was blooming with joy.

As for what to say afterward — that they knew nothing — they all agreed wholeheartedly. In Xuzhou City now, the prefect was just an empty figurehead. Master Jin was the one who gave the orders.

The head jailer kept his face taut, but in his mind he was calculating: four hundred taels of silver in benefits — how could he keep a larger share for himself and give less to the wardens and guards in the prison? As for the loose ends of reporting deaths by illness, he had not the slightest worry. Over in the Punishment Office, who would dare say no...

"These transmission heads knew very little. They only said that a decree came down from the main headquarters, ordering them to help hide congregation members and to act when the critical moment arrived." Ji Xiang was speaking. Among Zhao Jin's companions, Ji Xiang had a fair talent for torture and interrogation. He and Shi Manqiang rotated duty at He Family Village, and he happened to be here now.

According to the confessions and identifications of the transmission heads under Zheng Quan's line, every transmission head who had disobeyed orders or acted suspiciously during the refugee attack had been seized and thrown into the jail. After harsh interrogation, Zhao Jin would not leave hidden dangers inside the city — he dealt with them cleanly and decisively.

Upon hearing Ji Xiang's words, everyone fell into thoughtful silence. After a while, Zhao Jin spoke: "It seems the main headquarters of the Smelling Incense Sect views Xuzhou as a thorn in its eye, and is willing to pay any price to destroy this place."

Everyone nodded. Chen Sheng said in a muffled voice: "From the day Xiaolan's father died suddenly until now, it looks more like this main headquarters has it in for the Mu family."

At this, Wang Zhaojing coughed loudly.