Qin Liuxi watched those government officials standing in front of Xie Qikang’s carriage, withdrew her gaze, and slightly tilted her head to speak: "I have a question - you and your father disappeared for ten years, didn’t anyone look for you? Didn’t anyone ever suspect that something might have happened to you, even your neighbors?"
Ling Rong replied, "We were refugees who had to leave our homes because of a disaster year. We’ve only settled in Hui County for two years and lived on the outskirts, where there weren’t many other households. Moreover, my father had a difficult temperament and didn’t get along well with the neighbors. We set up a tea stall in front of our house to sell tea and some snacks."
As strangers who were hard to get along with, naturally, they were shunned and ignored.
"So you mentioned Xie Qikang came to seek refuge with you? Didn’t he live with you?"
Ling Rong said, "He stayed at the academy to study in peace and to discuss scholarly questions with his classmates, so he rarely visited our home."
"And you didn’t have a wedding banquet when you got married?"
Blushing, Ling Rong said, "We weren’t formally married. We just privately paid our respects to heaven and earth, but my father was aware of it and he witnessed it."
She saw Qin Liuxi looking at her as if she was a fool and sheepishly dropped her head, saying, "I know I’m a bit silly."
Qin Liuxi said, "Now that Xie Qikang is dead, even if your and your father’s remains are eventually found, I fear that the case will be hastily closed. After all, ten years have passed, there’s no testimony from the deceased, and most importantly, you have no one to demand justice on your behalf."
She spoke indifferently and heartlessly, but Ling Rong also understood – for people like them, without kin or connections, the best outcome was for their bones to be exposed to the light of day. And there were many who died in some unknown corner, silent and unremarked upon.
Is it cold-hearted? Is it sad?
This is a class phenomenon; they belong to the most underprivileged class.
The fact that government officials came to investigate was nothing more than a gesture from Qi Qian. Once the case is passed on to Hui County, the County Magistrate may pay more attention to it because of Qi Qian and hurriedly close the case. But that’s about it, since the suspect is already dead.
Hearing this, Ling Rong was silent for a while before saying, "I understand, this is already the best outcome; we’ve met with kind people."
She gave Qin Liuxi a serious bow in thanks.
Seeing Qi Qian noticing them and walking over, Qin Liuxi picked up the Jade Gourd hanging from her waist, popped out the stopper, and said, "Both of you get in, tonight at midnight I will open the Yin Road to send you on your way."
"Thank you, Dao master," said Ling Rong as she quickly stepped into the Jade Gourd with her son.
As Qi Qian approached, he asked, "Doctor Qin, who were you speaking with?"
"Young Master Qi must be mistaken, there is no one at my side."
Qi Qian thought to himself that there was no one, but what about those ’things’? In broad daylight, they can appear in the light?
Though curious, seeing Qin Liuxi unwilling to say more, Qi Qian said, "Now that Xie Qikang is dead, indeed as Doctor Qin mentioned, there’s no testimony from the dead, and if someone truly has been wronged, their remains might be hard to find. Could Doctor Qin offer some guidance? To give the victims some justice."
Qin Liuxi looked at him deeply, her gaze unmasked with probing, as if to say, you’re quite capable.
Qi Qian made no effort to dodge the implication; accusing him of having blood on his hands was your claim, now make good on it to the very end.
"Good and evil will eventually be repaid – who’s to say they won’t appear on their own?" Qin Liuxi said lightly.
At Teng Lake on the outskirts of Hui County, a villager who had just come down from the mountain crouched by the lake to wash the mud from his feet. Suddenly he spotted a chest floating up. Curious, he used a stick to hook it over and prised it open. With a horrified shout, he scrambled and cried out that there was a dead body.
At the same time, in a broken hut occupied by beggars at the foot of the mountain, two beggars fought, and one fell against a clump of banana trees in the courtyard. His hand touched something, and instinctively he hooked it out. Just as he was about to throw the object, he looked down, and, terrified, flung it away.
A white skeletal skull rolled to the feet of the two men, its hollow eye sockets gazing up to the sky.
In the end, they were brought into the light.