Gu Yun panted heavily as he slowly released the stone. Propping himself up with his arms, he rolled to one side and lay flat on the ground.
Silence surrounded him. The darkness seemed to solidify, wrapping around him inch by inch.
His hands trembling, he cut through the hemp rope around his feet, then scrambled upright on all fours to check Zhao Shuilai’s breathing and pulse.
No breath. No pulse.
The man was truly dead.
Heaven and earth seemed to turn upside down, the world blurring before his eyes. Gradually, Gu Yun’s overheated mind returned to normal and became calm once more.
…
What should one do after killing someone?
If one did not wish to be caught and sentenced to death, then the most important thing to do after murder was to destroy the corpse and erase the traces.
Ordinary flames only reached around 3200 degrees. That was nowhere near enough to completely burn away a body, not to mention the commotion it would cause. Burying it was impossible without tools to dig a pit. There were no sounds of wild beasts in the forest, proving there were none nearby, so he could not rely on animals to dispose of the body either. Therefore…
…
It was the fourteenth night of the month. In the pitch-black sky, the moon was nearly full. The outlines of the distant mountains stood out clearly, their rises and falls resembling the backs of crouching beasts.
A body only stiffened several hours after death.
Within the unnoticed depths of the forest, Gu Yun seized Zhao Shuilai by the arm and dragged him into the darkness like a dead dog.
The blood was unnaturally viscous, dripping down his fingers. Once it stained the grey-yellow soil, the colour changed instantly.
Dark beyond belief.
A short while later, Gu Yun returned.
The lampshade had burnt to ashes. Flames licked out from the wick, licking at the sturdy frame of the lamp as it crackled and hissed.
Picking up the candle, he circled the area, searching out the bloodstained earth. Using his fingers in place of a shovel, he dug up the soil and mixed it together with the ashes of the lampshade, bundling it into the hem of his clothes.
He left the forest, crossed several slopes, and arrived at a nearby river, where he threw the soil into the water.
After setting the candle down in a safe spot, he crouched by the river and carefully washed the blood from his hands, face, and clothes.
The river water at night was especially cold. Splashed onto his skin, it stung faintly.
Only then did Gu Yun notice that the dripping candle wax had burnt the back of his hand and the web between thumb and forefinger.
He froze.
Then suddenly, tears streamed down his face.
“It’s alright. It’s alright. I only killed someone. It’s not the first time.”
Gu Yun’s jaw tightened. Slowly wiping away his tears, he scooped up river water and splashed it over his face.
The clear water instantly soaked his loose hair and streamed down the sharp, elegant lines of his features. With several soft plops, ripples spread across the river’s surface.
He washed every trace of blood from himself, tugged up a clean section of his clothes to wipe the moisture from his wounds, then went back to look for the constables.
He deliberately chose the same route.
Unless they possessed extraordinary nerves or were utterly thick-headed, criminals rarely returned to the scene of the crime so soon after committing it.
Gu Yun strode quickly through the streets. Curfew was approaching. There was nobody around, and the shops were all tidying up in preparation to close.
An atmosphere close to terror spread around him. Gu Yun could not tell whether it was merely a hallucination brought on by killing someone, and so he quickened his pace.
The Huiyang Wineshop was already close by. Several constables emerged from within, swaying drunkenly with alcohol fumes all over them.
Just as Gu Yun was about to ask for help, a warm, dry hand silently reached for the back of his neck, gripping the collar of his robe and halting him in place.
Gu Yun turned stiffly, his mind already racing through countermeasures for a failed judgement.
Then he saw a familiar face.
All the viciousness in him vanished at once. He grabbed hold of the other man’s arm, both startled and overwhelmed with relief, and laughed.
“You’re alright?!”
Lin Yue replied, “I’m fine.”
“That’s good. That’s good.” Gu Yun repeated it twice in succession. “Those people weren’t there to trouble you?”
As he spoke, he lifted his eyes and met Lin Yue’s gaze, only to realise the other man was scrutinising him.
Those icy eyes were sharp as knives scraping bone.
Gu Yun felt as though every secret he possessed had been seen through. Maintaining his composure, he asked cautiously,
“What’s wrong?”
Lin Yue raised a hand.
Gu Yun subconsciously stepped back.
Lin Yue’s fingers landed against his temple, brushing aside the damp strands of hair hanging there. His hand lowered slightly, stopping at the darkened patch spread across Gu Yun’s collar.
“What did you do? Why are you this wet? It’s not even hot tonight.”
Gu Yun’s heart, which had nearly leapt out of his chest, slowly calmed.
“I was worried about you. I couldn’t calm down, so I washed my face with cold water.”
Lin Yue said, “Did you hide in somebody’s house?”
It was not an unreasonable question. This was the county town, where water could not simply be used freely. One either had to buy it or obtain it from a household. Considering Gu Yun’s temperament and the earlier circumstances, concluding that he had hidden in somebody’s home was entirely natural.
“Yes,” Gu Yun replied.
Lowering his eyes, he said, “You told me to find somewhere safe to hide and wait for you to come find me, but I truly did not know where to go. In my panic, I hid in a family’s house. They were very kind to me, inviting me to sit and giving me hot soup to drink.”
The “hot soup” of this era referred merely to hot water.
Gu Yun added, “They told me to rest and said you would surely return safely, but I could not stop worrying about you, so I came out again. I heard the constables were highly capable, so I wanted to ask them for help.”
At that, Lin Yue smiled faintly.
“Luckily I found you in time. Otherwise tomorrow we’d be drinking the northwest wind.”
Gu Yun fiddled with his sleeve and said solemnly, “Nothing matters more than staying alive.”
“Indeed,” Lin Yue replied.
Gu Yun laughed along with him. Yet the very next moment, Lin Yue’s smile disappeared and every trace of expression withdrew from his face.
Gu Yun’s heart immediately lurched with foreboding. Sure enough.
Lin Yue said evenly, “You’re far more disobedient than I imagined.”
His bearing was imposing. He was criticising him.
Gu Yun said, “I…”
Lin Yue continued, “Curfew is nearly here. What if something happened to a young woman like you wandering the streets alone? Leaving that aside, what if the constables had ill intentions? You yourself said that nothing matters more than staying alive. Fortunately nothing happened. Otherwise, if you left me with a complete mess to clean up, I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”
Gu Yun only caught most of the words, but it was enough to make his anger flare sky-high.
“I don’t need you to clean up my mess. I can deal with it myself. Besides, I was worried about you. I was afraid something had happened to you, and now you’re turning around and lecturing me instead!”
Lin Yue’s gaze flicked briefly towards the alley to the left as he frowned.
“I’m not lecturing you. I’m reasoning with you, so that if this sort of thing happens again, you won’t do something foolish another time.”
“Foolish?!” Gu Yun’s voice rose sharply with anger. “Fine, then I’m foolish! If this happens again in future, even if you beg me, I won’t do any of it. I’ll just stand there and watch you die. If I get the chance, I’ll collect your corpse, wrap you in a mat of straw, and leave you for wild cats and dogs to eat, as repayment to heaven and earth!”
Lin Yue barked, “What nonsense are you talking about?!”
The moment the words left his mouth, Gu Yun realised he had gone too far. He should never have said such things.
Pressing his lips tightly together, he forced out a sentence after a long pause.
“Let’s go back. If we don’t return now, curfew will begin, and both of us will end up thrown in gaol.”
Without waiting to hear Lin Yue’s response, he turned and walked away. Lin Yue shook his head lightly, utterly helpless.
At that moment, several figures emerged from the alleyway.
The instant Gu Yun caught sight of their silhouettes from the corner of his eye, alarm bells exploded in his head. He spun around and seized Lin Yue again.
“Hurry, run!”
Yet Lin Yue did not move at all, as though rooted to the spot.
Gu Yun could not drag him away.
“They’re here!”
“I know,” Lin Yue replied.
“You know and you still…”
The men had already approached. Gritting his teeth, Gu Yun released Lin Yue’s hand.
“Your damned illness. Even if you want to leave now, it’s too late!”
“It’s fine,” Lin Yue said.
Gu Yun stared at him.
“What do you mean, ‘it’s fine’?”
…
Time had to be turned back by one sichen*.
(*TN: two hours)
Inside the cramped, crowded alleyway, the middle-aged man struck impatiently. Lin Yue tilted his head to avoid the blow while simultaneously catching the incoming fist.
Seeing this, the other two immediately rushed forward to pin him down.
Instinctively, he dragged the middle-aged man towards them and shoved him into their bodies. At the same time, the tip of his foot touched the ground, his body spun, and he withdrew to one side.
The entire sequence of movements flowed as smoothly as drifting clouds and running water.
An ordinary person could never have accomplished such movements so effortlessly. Lin Yue realised that he must once have practised martial arts.
Before this, seeing his own strong physique, Lin Yue had assumed he was simply a scholar who valued long-term health, or perhaps one who was poor at studying.
Within the Xuan Dynasty, civil and military paths were separate. Most scholars buried themselves in study and possessed frail bodies. Yet to advance further and higher, a strong constitution was essential.
As the son of a teacher, he was certainly a scholar. If his body was this robust, then either he had consciously cultivated it for the sake of long-term health, exercising daily whether willingly or not, or else he had been poor at studying and spent his school years running about everywhere, thus building up his strength.
Lin Yue leaned towards the former.
He did not believe himself to be mediocre.
He had not sought confirmation of these guesses from Gu Yun. Trust was like sand, scattered at the slightest gust, and he still harboured certain suspicions towards him.
Once he had reached a definite conclusion in his own mind, then he would ask Gu Yun for confirmation. Yet by then it would no longer truly be confirmation, but a test.
If Gu Yun’s answers differed from the conclusions he himself had reached, then that would become deeply interesting indeed, unless Gu Yun possessed clear evidence proving he had not lied.
Thoughts surged through his mind like tides as Lin Yue watched the three men crash together and collapse into a heap.
The middle-aged man quickly climbed back to his feet. Judging by his movements, he had never learnt martial arts and relied purely on brute force. Perhaps he had never suffered defeat in a fight before, for at this moment he looked incomparably enraged. His face was red, his neck thickened, and veins bulged violently.
With a low roar, he hurled another punch.
Lin Yue had no desire to continue entangling himself with him and dodged several times in succession.
The middle-aged man shouted resentfully, “You brat, all you know how to do is dodge?!”
Lin Yue caught hold of his limbs and said, “I think we can sit down and talk properly.”
The middle-aged man sneered. “We could’ve talked earlier. It’s too late for that now.”
Twisting his body, he broke free and charged again. The other two followed suit and rushed over as well.
Lin Yue realised that these men would only behave once they had been beaten flat on the ground.
He no longer held back. In only a few moves, he knocked them down, then crouched before the middle-aged man and asked,
“Can we talk properly now?”
The middle-aged man clutched his nose, though blood still seeped through the gaps between his fingers.
“What exactly do you want to talk about?” he muttered.
