The sky above them was bright blue, with only a few scattered white clouds passing by. The air was warm and the stench of decay crept lazily across the stony ground. Zhixin pointed into the forest, to the spot where colorful scraps of fabric were still attached to the branches. They parked the carts at the side of the road and tied the horses up in the shade before loading the bodies of the coachmen and the other fallen citizens onto the carts and setting off through the dense forest.
Lou Xuan was already panting after a short time. His face had turned greenish and he was retching repeatedly. Xiao Xiang yu handed him the water hose. He greedily gulped down the cool liquid.
When they reached the cave entrance, the sound of countless flies was already buzzing in their ears, and the smell wafted out like a poisonous cloud.
Xiao Xiang yu knelt in front of the piled-up corpses of the looters, carelessly thrown into the wilderness. Their heads were missing or so badly mutilated that they were almost unrecognizable. This was definitely not Qing Lai. Zhixin crouched down next to him and nudged one of the men.
"This is a massacre, who did this?" he asked, looking curiously at Xiao Xiang yu. The latter did not return his gaze.
His brother had clearly lured him here, but he would never have slaughtered these men so indiscriminately. Someone must have been with him, someone who was brutal but not an enemy.
He rubbed his temple, unable to make sense of the scant information. Why was his brother accompanied by someone capable of such a thing? Where the hell was he? Zhixin leaned closer to him.
"Who are you looking for, General?" he asked quietly. Xiao Xiang yu pushed him away to arm's length.
"My brother," he replied, rising to his feet.
"Your brother is a brutal butcher," Zhixin remarked. Xiao Xiang yu spun around.
"He is not! My brother is the gentlest soul you will find in all of Tianda," he shouted angrily before turning and stomping away in a rage. Zhixin's gaze swept over the decapitated bodies, and he raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Very restrained, yes, I recognize the loving handiwork," he remarked sarcastically.
They left the bodies of the looters lying there and climbed down into the cave. Xiao Xiang yu recognized the smell of medicine and lifted the torn bandages. They were made of the finest fabric, tear-resistant and of good quality. His brother had clearly taken care of the survivors when they fled.
He sent Lou Xuan and Xue Ping out when he uncovered the children's bodies. He counted thirty people; this was going to take quite a while. Especially with the two good-for-nothings. Zhixin stumbled into the cave and turned down the corners of his mouth.
"I have to correct myself. The barbarians up there clearly look better than these poor souls here," he remarked.
Xiao Xiang yu pulled the fabric of a skirt further down. Between the woman's legs, a large pool of congealed blood could be seen, which had eaten into the fine fabric. Her abdominal wall, which had been roughly torn open with a blunt object, had been hastily sewn up by Qing Lai. And she wasn't the only one.
Xiao Xiang yu clenched his hands into fists. Would his brother have done the same under such circumstances? He shook his head. Even then, he wouldn't have simply cut off these men's heads or slit their throats; he would have crushed their bones from within.
Their hearts would have been shattered, but they would not have been wounded on the outside. His brother could make a grown man collapse and die just by laying his hands on him, something that would be impossible for a layman.
"This isn't your first time, is it?" he remarked, glancing at Zhixin, who was shamelessly examining the corpses. He glanced at Xiao Xiang yu.
"No, where I come from, this is an everyday sight," he replied.
"Then help me with them first!" said Xiao Xiang yu, pointing to the small bodies. Zhixin shrugged and grabbed one of them.
Surprisingly, Lou Xuan and Xue Ping also managed to carry some of the dead away before collapsing on the side of the road and refusing to enter the cave again.
Xiao Xiang yu couldn't and didn't want to press them further, so he left it at that and sent them off when the first cart was fully loaded. He would take the second one to Chaisang with Zhixin once they had recovered all the bodies.
As expected, the recovery took until late into the night, and in the end, only one of them could carry the bodies while the other had to light the way with a torch. Xiao Xiang yu was surprised; he had expected the young man with the bright eyes to take off when the opportunity arose. But he stayed and worked diligently.
When they lifted the last body onto the cart and covered it, Xiao Xiang yu wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Thank you!" he said, squeezing Zhixin's narrow shoulders. Then he gave him back his whip. Perplexed, Zhixin took it from him and at first looked as if he didn't know what to do with it.
"Let's take them to Chaisang, then you're free to go wherever you want," said Xiao Xiang yu conciliatorily.
His stubborn anger had evaporated. Zhixin had proven himself reliable today, and that appeased his resentment toward the cheeky young man.
Zhixin just nodded, as if he didn't quite trust the peace yet, and together they pushed the cart onward.
In the dark, it was a different matter, and so they did not reach the gates of Chaisang until well after midnight. The gates were opened for them, and they were led through several side streets and alleys to a funeral hall on the outskirts of the city so that the citizens would not be bothered by the stench.
The commander of the guards at the western gate of Chaisang approached them.
"Thank you very much, General Xiao Xiang yu. We have so many problems at the moment that we couldn't have recovered the bodies without help," he said gratefully. Xiao Xiang yu wiped the sweat from his forehead. The sweet and sour smell had settled in his nose and mouth.
"The barbarians have all been killed," he said. The captain looked at him in surprise.
"What? There must have been over a hundred of them recently," he said in surprise. Xiao Xiang yu nodded.
"It looks like they messed with the wrong people," Xiao Xiang yu remarked.
"The road is safe again. The remains of the carriages can be recovered at any time. The looters won't regroup so quickly," he stated. A loud commotion outside the doors of the funeral hall made them prick up their ears.
"What's going on now?" Xiao Xiang yu asked loudly as he left the hall. Zhixin was lying in the dust, furious once again. He had just drawn his whip and was glaring at one of the men with a murderous look in his eyes.
"I said that every suspicious person will be questioned," barked one of the guards.
"I'm not a suspicious person, you son of a bitch, I've been with the general all day, you lackey," Zhixin yelled back. Xiao Xiang yu stepped between the two.
"He's with me!" he clarified, glaring at the guard. He raised a hand protectively to calm Zhixin down.
The young man with the blue eyes looked up in surprise. It was rare for him to be speechless, but now he looked as if he didn't know what to say.
"To you?" he mumbled. But Xiao Xiang yu didn't hear him.
"What's going on? What happened?" he asked instead to the captain who had stepped out of the hall behind him. The captain looked very unhappy, struggling with himself. Finally, he began to speak.
"A few hours ago, a very influential merchant in Chaisang was kidnapped. People are talking about how a ghost in white abducted him from his private chambers. And about a second man who struck down the guards," he said.
"The people are afraid. How could they have gained access to the best-secured villa in the city? What do they want from him? If they wanted money or valuables, why kidnap him? He would surely have given them everything they wanted; he's not exactly the bravest man," the captain continued.
Xiao Xiang yu swallowed the uneasy feeling inside him. What sounded like Qing Lai didn't have to be true. His brother would never kidnap anyone. He rubbed his aching head.
"Who was kidnapped?" he asked. The captain sighed heavily.
"Chaisang's most powerful and influential businessman, Bo Chao!" he said.
"But that's an internal matter, you don't need to worry about it," he quickly dismissed. Xiao Xiang yu just shook his head. Somehow, everything was getting more and more complicated and twisted. He had to find his brother, and fast. He pointed to Zhixin.
"This man is free to go. He has my word," he said to the captain, then turned to the still perplexed young man.
"I keep my word. You can go. Leave Chaisang tomorrow morning and stay out of trouble," he said conciliatorily, patting him gently on the shoulder. Then he turned and left. He desperately needed a bath and a good night's sleep.
Zhixin watched him go, but after seeing the angry look on the guard's face, he backed away. After fastening his whip back to his hip, he ran through the dusty streets of Chaisang.
The city was huge, stretching across a vast area along the Chugai River to the edge of the forests and mountain range that surrounded it.
Chaisang was roughly divided into the thriving commercial districts, the magnificent noble houses, and the homes of the commoners, all the way to the impassable banks of the slums. He kicked a stone listlessly across the sidewalk. When an older, bearded man gave him a dirty look, he melted into the shadows and jumped onto the opulent, ornately decorated roofs of the multi-story buildings.
It was night and a large round moon shone brightly in the sky. Only a few clouds drifted by and rain was in the air.
Zhixin let his gaze wander over the houses and through the streets, thinking about what he had found out so far.
This General Xiao Xiang Yu was looking for his brother. He wouldn't be surprised if he was as skilled in combat as the general himself. But then why did he claim to be the gentlest person on earth?
That didn't fit at all with the badly mutilated corpses and the brutal methods he had observed. Zhixin furrowed his brow and thought. This approach was more in line with the fallen Ghost King, wasn't it? Hadn't his master said he should just follow the first trail of corpses he came across?
"Ahhh!" He let himself fall onto his buttocks and wrapped his arms around his bent knees as he stared up at the sky. He didn't feel like chasing Chengzhu. What would he do if he really found him?
He was a henchman, he did what he was told, and that had served him well for the last few centuries. He had no interest in getting in the way of the former ghost king.
What had he said again? Rip out his heart and chop off his head? He buried his head and cursed.
"Damn it, me and my big mouth!" he cursed. Should he report back to Weijiezhu? No, it was definitely too early for that. What if he was wrong and someone else was behind it?
After all, Chengzhu would hardly beat himself up like that and throw himself off the cliffs just to go for a walk in the mortal world, would he? WOULD HE?
It was Chengzhu, for crying out loud, not even his master could understand his crazy train of thought, so how was he supposed to?
Why would the former Ghost King work with such a peaceful person? It didn't make sense, unless Xiao Xiang yu had lied. Zhixin shook his head. This man was too serious to lie. He had no reason to hide himself or his intentions.
No matter how he looked at it, nothing made sense. The only thing he could do was narrow down the possibilities, and to do that, he first had to rule out Chengzhu's involvement in any way. Zhixin sighed heavily.
He was a stranger, he had realized that over and over again. Alone, he wouldn't get very far before he fell into someone else's clutches again. He scratched his head as an idea flashed through his mind.
He laughed cynically. It definitely wasn't a good idea, but it was the best he had at the moment, so... why not?
Tired and exhausted, Xiao Xiang yu lay in the wooden tub filled with warm water and gathered his thoughts. He had to find Qing Lai; his brother would surely be able to explain a thing or two to him.
He sighed and let the water run through his fingers when a noise made him prick up his ears. Immediately, his tired bones were wide awake again. The noise sounded like creeping footsteps, but then again, it didn't. Someone was sneaking up on him, but did they want to be heard?
Confused, he stood up from the tub and threw on his robe. It clung to his wet body, revealing his muscular chest and broad shoulders.
The footsteps stopped directly above him. Xiao Xiang yu looked up, but there was only the roof above him, then to the side. With a few firm steps, he was at the window and opened it.
A warm breeze blew against him and below he saw the twinkling lights of the city. He was about to retreat when suddenly something fell from above and dangled in front of his window.
Startled, he stepped back. Blue eyes met black ones. A mischievous grin and bright blue eyes looked at him defiantly.
"I must admit, you look really delicious!" Zhixin joked, letting his gaze wander slowly and intensely over his naked skin. Xiao Xiang yu pulled his robe over his shoulders and reached for his sword.
"What the hell are you doing here? I told you to leave," he said in a hushed voice so as not to wake the other guests. Zhixin's grin widened.
"But why? Didn't you say so yourself, my general? I belong to you!"