Volume 1, Chapter 24: Upholding Justice

The old hunter heaved a long sigh and leveled his gun at Zuo Di Pao.

Zuo Di Pao pleaded ingratiatingly, "Uncle Er, Uncle Er, don't listen to their nonsense. They walked into the soy sauce vat all by themselves."

"You're lying! You not only raped my classmate, you choked her to death, it was you!" the buck-toothed woman shrieked, nearly hysterical.

The old hunter handed his pistol to the Taoist. The Taoist accepted it without hesitation and asked, "Tell me, is this true?"

The dwarf, who had been silent until now, let out a piercing cry. He seemed to lose his mind, laughing hysterically before breaking into wailing sobs. Between his disjointed gasps, the word "retribution" could be heard.

The Taoist roared again, demanding to know if what the buck-toothed woman said was true.

The dwarf immediately ceased his wailing and offered a cold, sinister laugh. "Of course it's true. Zuo Di Pao didn't just strangle that woman; he and Dog-Skin Hat buried the other five young people as well."

"Shut your mouth!" Zuo Di Pao bellowed.

The Taoist turned his gaze to the overlooked Black Li Kui and the man with the braid. Black Li Kui swallowed hard and muttered, "Yes, it was Zuo Di Pao and Dog-Skin Hat who did the killing."

Black Li Kui’s voice gave me goosebumps. He was dark-skinned with a thick black beard and a body full of corded muscle—the very image of a hero from the Liangshan Marshes—yet his voice was delicate and high-pitched, like a woman’s.

Even more shocking was when the man with the braid wrapped his arms around Black Li Kui, who began to sob against the man’s chest. In a flash of insight, I understood their relationship.

Zuo Di Pao scrambled to argue, "Uncle Er, listen to me! It was just a drunken mistake. I was young, hiding in the mountains for years without seeing a woman—how could I not be tempted? It was those five who ruined my fun. The killing was all Dog-Skin Hat’s doing, Uncle Er, you..."

*Bang.*

Zuo Di Pao’s excuses were cut short by a plume of white smoke. His eyes bulged wide, a red hole in the center of his forehead bubbling with blood, half his face peppered with black iron pellets. The old hunter reloaded his muzzle-loader with the practiced ease of a professional assassin.

***

The Fox Immortal and the Tiger Immortal had their backs to me, watching over the children, showing no interest in the affairs of mortals. Besides the three spirits, the tavern was now occupied only by Black Li Kui, the man with the braid, the blind man, the buck-toothed woman, the dwarf, the old hunter, the Taoist, and myself.

The old hunter said in a low, heavy voice, "I’ve been here so many times—why didn't you tell me?"

The buck-toothed woman screamed, "Did I dare? If I hadn't played the fool, I would have been strangled to death long ago. Zuo Di Pao couldn't perform, so he would just torture me to the brink of death."

As she spoke, she recklessly tore open her shirt, revealing a chest covered in bite marks, some of which had only just scabbed over. The Taoist turned away, and after a moment of shock, I did the same. The old hunter did not look away. He continued, "Besides Zuo Di Pao and Dog-Skin Hat, who else bullied you?"

"No one else, just them, taking turns torturing me. Oh, heaven help me..."

As she spoke, the buck-toothed woman wept inconsolably. Drowning in such profound misery, she crawled toward Zuo Di Pao’s corpse and, with trembling fingers, gouged out his eyes.

The man with the braid remarked, "She didn't use to have buck teeth. When Zuo Di Pao and Dog-Skin Hat tortured her, she bit into wooden stakes until her teeth broke."

The old hunter cursed, "Such things happened, and you did nothing? Are you even human?"

"Uncle Er, I’m not human, but I had no choice. A dozen of us came in, and only a few of us are left. Even the old shopkeeper was killed by Dog-Skin Hat. What could broken men like us do against him?" As he spoke, the man with the braid slapped his own face.

"How did the old shopkeeper actually die?"

The man with the braid said with terror, "He couldn't stand their evil deeds. He wanted to get this woman out before the heavy snow blocked the mountains, so he took her and snuck away. By the time Zuo Di Pao and Dog-Skin Hat realized she was gone, half a day had passed. They went into the mountains to hunt them down. Two days later, they returned with the woman, but the old shopkeeper was gone."

The old hunter took a deep breath, his teeth clenched, his face etched with fury.

The blind man said, "Karma, it's karmic retribution. The old troupe leader shouldn't have been greedy for the treasures of Ghost-Killing Ridge. Not only did he die, but he trapped us here, unable to leave."

The old hunter asked, "Didn't the old troupe leader die of natural causes?"

Upon hearing this, the blind man’s voice rose sharply. "No! It was him. He led us into Ghost-Killing Ridge, where we found a pile of dog-head gold. Every nugget was larger than a fist and shaped like a ghostly face. Within two days of returning, he couldn't speak. He just stared at the ceiling with his teeth clenched so tight not even water could pass through. He was starved to death."

***

The man with the braid added, "When he died, we wanted to split the gold and flee. But the gold was gone. When we went to bury him, his emaciated corpse weighed nearly two hundred pounds. We found it strange, so we cut open his stomach. All those fist-sized, ghost-faced gold nuggets were inside. They were larger than his mouth—we have no idea how he swallowed them."

The Taoist shook his head.

The old hunter said hoarsely, "Go on. Say everything you need to say. I, Feng Er, will see justice done for you."

The man with the braid continued, "We dug out the gold, but as we were about to split it after burying the old leader, those nuggets turned into black sludge—the same liquid that leaked from the coffin a few days ago. The smell was identical."

Black Li Kui added, "Once the gold was gone, we just wanted to live. When we first arrived, it was haunted every single day. Money didn't matter anymore; survival was everything. But every time we tried to leave, as soon as we crossed the boundary of the soy sauce vat, we would faint. When we woke up, we were back in the tavern. It happened every time we tried."

"It’s a ghost, it’s a curse! It’s the old leader’s vengeful spirit. We cut him open and dug out his heart, and now he’s taking his revenge on us!" the dwarf raved madly.

The old hunter furrowed his brows, at a loss for words.

The Taoist took a deep breath. "The stories we just heard came from Zuo Di Pao. The dogs turning into mummies, the floating coffin, the beasts descending from the mountains—are these things real?"

"They are real," Hu Xiaozui said suddenly.

The Taoist asked, "What is your take on this, Immortal?"

"Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed. I can only speak of what I have seen with my own eyes."

"I humbly ask the Fox Immortal for her guidance."

Hu Xiaozui then began to recount what she knew of the soy sauce vat.