I rubbed the back of my head and shrugged. “You guys still remember what the man was just saying, do you?” Bewildered looks came at me from around the table. “Well, let’s first forget about what he read about me. But what he said itself was wrong.”
Chongxi and Lin Feng had obviously not paid careful heed to what the stranger was saying. They had forgotten almost everything that the charlatan had said. After all, who would put much stock in the piffle sprouted by a common swindler? Edelweiss and Big Sister had been listening intently to him. But I could hardly rely on them to remember every single word the hustler was saying since they were amateurs in this line of business. But Big Sister somehow knew what I was talking about. “Are you referring to the part where he said that you have the air of rulers?” she asked, “That the world could be yours if you so wish?”
I nodded at her and everyone looked positively shocked when they finally understood what it meant. I exhaled gravely and said, “Indeed. Let’s forget about the air-of-rulers and destiny-to-be-king-sort of nonsense. Most importantly, this is not the first time I’ve heard the phrase ‘The world would be yours if you so wish!’” Before my surprised companions could say anything, I went on, “Jin Qichen. He’s the one who said the exact same phrase to be before. Aisin Gioro Qichen! During my first encounter with him, he wanted me to help him awaken the dragon ley of the Qing so that he could rekindle the flames of the Empire. Naturally, I refused. But he tried to sweeten the offer by telling me that I could easily wield dominion over the entire world, so long as I wish to. But the stranger just now was saying the same thing! I wonder if he knows who I am and if he’s one of Jin Qichen’s cohorts?”
Chongxi rubbed his chin ponderously. “Do you know why did I ask him if he knew Cao Cao just now?” I shook my head. Chongxi explained somberly, “He’s an evil man. Warm on the outside but cold as Death on the inside. He is the kind of man who would smile warmly at you but he would be holding a knife behind his back, waiting to rob and kill you. A typical villain or usurper like Cao Cao. That was why when I asked him if he knew Cao Cao, he grew flustered with guilt. This is an evil man through and through with insidious schemes and plots hidden up his sleeves!”
He paused for a heartbeat before he went on, “From his words, I’d surmise he knows who you are, Shiyan. Moreover, something about this encounter makes me wonder if…” Chongxi leaned forward, his voice lowered into a hushed whisper, “… if Zhigui and his friends are now…”
Heads bobbed around the table in agreement. Chongxi straightened up and spoke in his usual voice, “I have divined what would happen to Zhigui and his gang. Apparently they would have a trial. A terrible one. But they should be able to get past it safely, albeit with some difficulty.” I nodded and gestured to everyone. “Well, there’s no point worrying now. We’ll leave Zhigui to sort out his fate on his own. After all, we’re not his nanny. Come on, let’s go for a walk since we’re already here!”
That was a change of mood that everyone welcomed and we strolled out the doors happily, hand in hand or with our arms on each others’ backs.
We spent some time contemplating how should we spent our day only to decide one place: the Building with Scripture of Ethics or also known as the Pavilion of Laozi’s Daodejing. It was the only tourist attraction in Yi County where we came to a unanimous decision. The rest were either too expensive or were simply uninteresting to us. There were a few tombs and mausoleums in Yi County that we would not even deign to visit and that left only the Jingke Tower and Mount Langya. The Tower sounded like a drearily boring choice to us. We did not even enjoy the history of Jingke the Warring States era assassin, let alone visiting a tower built in his honor! And no one who had ever heard of the stories about the Five Heroes of Mount Langya would ever want to look at mountains! Especially with Big Sister who had spent almost every minute of her life in the wilderness! Given our numerous adventures in the wild, Mount Langya was definitely out of the question. In fact, we would like to avoid visiting mountains and hills. We had already had one too many visits to mountains and hills in our numerous adventures in the wild and none of us was eager for more.
It was almost sundown when we finally boarded the express bus that headed straight for Shanggu town. Chongxi was rather grouchy on the way, feeling that we should have had dinner before we depart but we decided to press on, much to his dissatisfaction and chagrin—we would have missed the bus if we stopped for dinner. But it hardly made any difference; a hungry Chongxi is just as quick as a tortoise on the road. We quickly got him a couple of buns and a bottle of milk and fortunately for us, we finally got on the bus. Big Sister, Edelweiss, and I occupied the third-row seats while we watched a pleasantly-contented Chongxi nibbling joyously at his buns opposite the aisle. Bit by bit, he pecked at his food, looking absolutely jaunty and cheerful with a slightly-peeved Lin Feng scowling at him.
But just when we allowed ourselves to be lulled by the peace and comfort, Fate oft-times comes knocking even at the most unexpected hour, reminding us that the world was actually never at peace.
Chongxi’s pleased expression froze suddenly and I too felt a tingle that made my hair stand! A strange and ominous sensation coming from the expressway ahead! Chongxi and I scrambled to our feet in unison and we saw the flickering lights from police patrol cars flooding the scene ahead. We traded quick looks and the same thought flashed across our minds: Something’s wrong!
The bus slowed to a glacial crawl and we realized that we were caught in a traffic jam. Vehicles were only allowed to use one of the two lanes of the expressway, while the other half of the road was closed off by police barricade tape; an occurrence typically rare for an expressway unless an accident had taken place.
Our express bus eventually came to a halt by the shoulder of the road, much to the chagrin and irate protests by some of the other bus passengers. Some berated the driver, urging him to get on the road while some complained and whined about the terrible jam. Some were even screaming for a toilet. The driver of the bus looked ahead and saw the extent of the terrible jam and concluded that we would not be moving for quite some time. He got off the bus and slipped away for a smoke, but not before leaving the bus doors opened. This allowed everyone to disembark the vehicle. Some of the more curious ones meandered to the crash site, hoping to catch a glimpse of what was wrong while some ducked into the bushes to relieve themselves.
I peered to the police barricade tape and saw a crowd forming by the edges of the closed-off area. The tangle of people trying to look over each others’ shoulders shielded the crash site from view. But Chongxi put his stocky and squat girth to great use. He dove into the swarming crowd and disappeared even before I could stop him. I could still not shake off the strange feeling when the ominous sensation struck me earlier and wandering off alone was definitely dangerous! Chongxi might even be detained for trying to trespass the police line! But before I knew it, I heard his voice calling for us from inside the cordoned area!
“Shiyan! Lin Feng! Come here!” I stood on my toes, trying to look over the crowd and I saw Chongxi jumping like a ferret and his hands flailing to catch our attention. Lin Feng and I stared at each other for a split second and we exchanged a quick nod before swimming through the mass of curious onlookers. Just then, a voice called from inside. A loud, authoritative voice trying to restore order. “Stop loitering here all of you! Make way for experts! Come on! Make way, make way!” A uniformed officer materialized amid the people and opened a way for us, leaving me thinking, “What in the world is going on?!”
The police officer waved at us, beckoning us to pass quickly. We ducked under the police tape and found a large plastic screen, towering at a height taller than two persons, had been erected to shield whatever carnage inside from the eyes of the public.
The police man snapped to a salute and offered his hand to shake mine. I took his hand. “I have heard about you, Officer Murong.” “Ah?!” I yelped with shock. The officer went on as if he had not heard me blurting, “Let’s talk inside.” He led us inside, telling us as we walked, “Officer Yuan had told me just now about you. It’s fortunate that we have you here with us! We’re just frowning over how should we proceed! But I guess we have nothing to worry about now that you’re here. I must implore for your assistance in this case; you being one of the most prolific investigators in this region. We know about Officer Yuan and we’ve heard all about you from him and Captain Zheng Shuang!”
He lifted a curtain of the long, white wall of plastic sheet to allow us inside and there we found Chongxi already there. “Heh heh heh, you guys are lucky indeed to have all three of us here! Rest assured that we shall be of valuable assistance!” He sniggered proudly as he turned to meet us and nudged with his chin, gesturing us to look behind him.
I looked up and felt a tremor running down from head to heel of me! The large, white plastic screen was erected just in front of a power utility pole and a hunk of flesh, large and bloodied, was impaled by it, still dripping from the top! It was a sight so horrible and gory that our faces were the color of milk and it was all that we could do to prevent shaking ourselves. The police officer realized our composure and looked at us with even more respect.
I looked closely. The hunk of flesh impaled at the top of the utility pole like a piece of steak was actually a human corpse! It was a man, utterly dead with his mouth gaping wide. The trunk of the pole was driven through the man’s mouth and exited through his hind parts. The fact that the utility pole remained intact, still standing on the ground as if it was still functioning properly if not for the corpse of the man skewered at its top mast made the sight even more appalling! Even the power cables suspended at the top of the pole looked undamaged to us. From where we were standing, it was as if he was driven through the utility pole like meat through spike magically!
“How is this even possible?” Edelweiss gasped with disbelief and I could only shake my head in response. “It’s simple actually,” Big Sister said suddenly, “It just involves some magic. But it’s not doable by normal means, hence it’s strange and bizarre to you guys. But I must say, this is heinous and savage. No demons would ever go this far.” I nodded, although I could still find nothing to explain what happened here.
The police officer who led us here then began to speak, “Well, here’s what we have here. This man was found here all of a sudden. A dead corpse hanging on the top of a utility pole. Freakish, if you ask me. That’s why we decided we need to cordon the area and keep this scene from public eye. None of the cars seemed to notice at first what it was. I bet nobody could imagine that that is a corpse of a man hanging up there.”