26: Chapter 26 Turning Black into White

In the Black Turbid River, Wu Xi returned to the Demon Ghost World.

His waist was held tight by the Tentacles of the Tentacle Lady; six Tentacles were wrapped into a cocoon of flesh, leaving only a slit in front of his eyes.

Black water seeped in through the gap—the Mermaid Grudge was gone, and the riverbed looked as if it had been torn open from the inside by something, with blue-white fire bubbling up from the cracks.

The fire burned underwater.

The Tentacle Lady carried him as they floated upward.

One Tentacle reached out of the water and slapped onto the mud on the bank. Wu Xi climbed ashore and saw many scavengers.

Upon returning to Aunt Mei's hut, Wu Xi walked along the base of the wall, his shoulder brushing against the earthen wall as he moved step by step. He stopped by the door and pressed his ear against the wooden panel.

There was snoring inside.

It sounded like muffled thunder, one roll after another, with the sound of smacking lips mixed in between.

Wu Xi's shoulders relaxed, but his hands did not. He extended his foot, using his toe to push open the gap in the door, and peeked inside.

Niu Fei was lying spread-eagled on the bed, half a moldy quilt draped over his belly, one leg hanging off the edge of the bed, his toes hooked onto a tattered cloth shoe.

Wu Xi grinned, leaned down, brought his mouth close to Niu Fei's ear, and lowered his voice: "Return my life..."

Hot breath sprayed against Niu Fei's earlobe.

Niu Fei turned over and mumbled something; half his drool sucked back in, only to flow out again, leaving a glistening line on his chest.

Wu Xi held back his laughter and continued to blow air. This time, he switched to a female voice, sharp, thin, and ethereal: "You took my bed... you took my house..."

The Tentacles on the wall twisted even more violently, their shadows flickering over Niu Fei's eyelids.

Niu Fei's snoring stopped.

Beneath his eyelids, his eyeballs darted around, and a sheen of oily sweat seeped out on his forehead.

Suddenly, he jerked violently. His body, like a fish struck by a whip, sprang up with a "bang," his head hitting the wooden beam of the bed frame with a dull thud.

His eyes were wide open, pupils shrunk to pinpoints, and he was already shouting: "Mother! Mother! Don't come over! It wasn't me!"

He stopped abruptly mid-shout.

"Wu Xi?"

"It's me." Wu Xi straightened up, stood with his arms crossed, and said, "You were shouting quite happily, weren't you?"

Niu Fei's face turned the color of a pig's liver, his lips trembling: "Fuck your grandmother!"

He grabbed a piece of broken wood from beside his pillow and threw it at Wu Xi.

Wu Xi tilted his head, and the broken wood flew past his ear, hitting the door with a "thud."

Niu Fei jumped off the bed and lunged barefoot at Wu Xi, but his foot slipped, stepping on the drool he had just drooled out. With a "whoosh," he pitched forward.

The Tentacle under Wu Xi's right chest reached out and caught him by the chest.

Niu Fei used the support to steady himself. Looking down, he saw the slime-covered Tentacle, and looking up, he saw Wu Xi's half-smiling face. Furious, he slapped the Tentacle away: "You—you pretended to be a ghost to scare me? Are you heartless? You scared the soul right out of me!"

"Is the scholar taken care of?"

"Taken care of." Wu Xi's tone sank. "The scholar is dead. I ran into that thing, the Mermaid Grudge... but I was lucky, I got away."

"We can't stay here anymore. Let's go to Luoquan City and see Mr. Xiangli to figure something out," Wu Xi said.

---

Under the city walls of Luoquan City. The stone bricks were mottled, covered in knife marks and old bloodstains.

The city gates were wide open, but the entrance was crowded with people craning their necks toward the wall, chattering endlessly.

"...They posted new notices again..."

"...They say something happened at the Yin Sui Cave..."

"...Quite a few people died..."

Wu Xi and Niu Fei mixed in behind the crowd, lowering their heads as they squeezed forward. "Excuse me, excuse me." Niu Fei muttered, using his thick arms to push aside the people in front.

The two squeezed to the front of the notice wall. There were three or four notices posted on the wall, the paper yellowed and the corners curled by the wind. The two in the middle were particularly striking because they depicted portraits of people.

The portrait on the left, with its facial contours, thick eyebrows, and narrow eyes, was the spitting image of his face. The one on the right, with a square face, broad nose, thick eyebrows, and big eyes, was undoubtedly Niu Fei.

Below the portraits was the red seal of the government office. The black characters were crooked but every word was malicious: "The villains Wu Xi and Niu Fei used evil arts to disrupt the mine, causing the mine tunnel to collapse, resulting in the deaths of all thirty-seven miners. The two have fled and are guilty of heinous crimes. Anyone who knows information and fails to report it will be guilty of the same crime. A reward of fifty taels of silver will be given to those who report them."

"Thirty-seven people?" Niu Fei's voice squeezed out from his throat.

"Turning black into white!" Niu Fei's eyes also turned red, and his volume suddenly spiked. "These people just spout nonsense! The Cave Master colluded with ghosts; what does that have to do with us!"

"These dog officials!" Niu Fei's spit sprayed onto the back of the neck of an old man in front. "Writing black as white, dead as alive—is their mouth a cesspit?"

"Son of a bitch!"

"I'll get that Cave Master sooner or later..."

Wu Xi's words were cut off halfway.

The old man in front slowly turned his head and glanced at him. His gaze slid over his face and then moved away, appearing indifferent. But Wu Xi's back tightened.

A tall, thin man nearby also turned his head, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Wu Xi and the notice.

Niu Fei's thick hand also reached for the axe on his back.

Someone muttered: "...Looks a bit like him..."

"...That big guy..."

"...On the portrait..."

The voices pricked into his ears like needles.

Suddenly, a hand patted him on the shoulder from behind.

Niu Fei almost jumped, his blade half-drawn, but that hand pressed down on his wrist.

"Don't look up."

The voice was deep, low, and urgent.

Wu Xi didn't need to turn around to know who it was: Mr. Xiangli. The next second, two handfuls of charcoal ash were smeared onto the faces of Wu Xi and Niu Fei.

The charcoal ash, mixed with grit, was wiped from their foreheads to their chins, painting their entire faces black.

"Follow me." Mr. Xiangli's voice was right against his ear. "Keep your heads down and look at the ground. Move fast."

He grabbed Wu Xi's arm with one hand and pushed Niu Fei's back with the other, and the three of them lowered their heads and squeezed out of the crowd.

"Excuse me." Mr. Xiangli's voice had changed, becoming hoarse and raspy, in the same tone as an old farmer shouting. "Make way, we're charcoal carriers. It's dusty; don't let it dirty your clothes."

The crowd parted a gap for him. The three of them kept their heads down and inched their way out step by step.

Wu Xi's heart was beating like a drum. He stared at the ground; in his line of sight, there was only the square foot of dirt beneath his feet, and countless shoes moving around him. Cloth shoes, straw sandals, and bare feet brushed past the edges of his shoes.

The three squeezed out of the crowd and turned into a small alley beside the city wall. Mr. Xiangli didn't stop; he led them through twists and turns, passing through two dark alleys, and stopped behind a woodshed.

No one noticed that standing at the edge of the notice wall was a young man, about twenty years old, wearing a short jacket covered in patches, his trouser legs rolled up to his knees, revealing a pair of thin legs. The young man's gaze shifted from the notice wall and glanced toward the alley. He stared intently at the line on the notice: "A reward of fifty taels of silver will be given to those who report them." The young man looked down at his own palms, covered in calluses, with black mud embedded under his fingernails. He turned around and walked step by step toward the government office.

"You two," Mr. Xiangli shook his head, "cursing in the street under the wanted posters? Tired of living?"

Wu Xi used his sleeve to wipe the charcoal ash off his face. He opened his mouth, but Mr. Xiangli waved his hand: "Don't make a sound yet. There are eyes everywhere in this city."

He poked his head out to look at the alley entrance, pulled it back, and lowered his voice: "The wanted poster was posted yesterday. You are now fugitives; it's dangerous even to wander outside the city."

"Then what do we do?" Niu Fei asked in a muffled voice, the charcoal ash on his face smeared into a mess.

"Come with me," Mr. Xiangli said. "I know a way out of the city. Let's leave Luoquan first and head west; I have an estate over there."

Wu Xi nodded, not asking any more questions. Mr. Xiangli taking the risk to save him was already a huge gamble. Asking more would just be causing trouble for him.

Meanwhile, in the main hall of the government office, light slanted in through the window lattice, casting shadows onto the mahogany desk.

Duanmu Gong sat in the high seat, his official uniform crisp and straight, holding a cup of tea in his hand, slowly blowing away the floating leaves. He was fair-skinned, with two thin eyebrows and a pair of Phoenix eyes. His voice was not loud, but it carried an effeminate, sinister edge.

"You said," he put down the teacup and looked at the person kneeling in the hall, "you saw those two people?"

The young man knelt on the ground, his head lowered until it almost touched the floor: "Yes, yes, my lord... I saw them... just there by the notice wall..."

"Hmm."

Duanmu Gong's fingers tapped on the desk twice. Tap, tap. The sound echoed in the hall. The corners of his mouth slowly curled up.

"Who else?" His voice was as soft as silk. "Besides those two people, who else was there?"

The young man froze for a moment, then trembled and said: "There—there was one more person... he smeared their faces... and took them away..."

"What kind of person?"

"Mr. Xiang from the workshop..."

Duanmu Gong's fingers stopped. He slowly narrowed his eyes, and a flash of light passed through his Phoenix eyes. That light was not joy; it was the calmness of a hunter seeing prey enter the net.

"Good." He nodded. "A reward of fifty taels of silver. Someone, take him down to collect the reward."

The young man was led away, his footsteps unsteady, as if he were walking on clouds.

Duanmu Gong stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the gray sky. His fingers were still tapping on the window lattice, one tap, then another.

"Mr. Xiangli, oh Mr. Xiangli..."

He laughed out loud; the laughter was very low, like the call of a night owl.

"You keep claiming, acting like a sage."

"Today, you harbor a person guilty of a major crime and privately release a wanted fugitive."

"This time," he laughed, the corners of his mouth upturned, but his eyes were not smiling. He stroked over those two words. "Let's see what you have to say for yourself. Harboring a major criminal, releasing a wanted fugitive—this is tantamount to treason. Mr. Xiangli, what has become of your principles?"