Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 93 One Hundred and Sixty-Three

The arduous task of wrapping things up has begun.

Inside the cave, corpses, almost rotten to the bone, were carried out one by one. Yan Mingzhang frowned, remaining silent. Abao, tears streaming down his face, stared intently at the corpses being carried out, yet he was surprisingly restrained. Perhaps, one of them was his sister!

"My lord, Coroner Lü has finished counting. There are a total of 163 corpses: 93 female corpses, including 25 girls and 68 adult women; and 70 male corpses, including 36 boys and 34 adult men. All the adult men are elderly or disabled." Changfeng walked over with his longsword and replied.

Yes, this ratio is more common. The reason why there are more adult men than girls is due to war, and the reason why there are more boys than girls among children is due to the preference for boys over girls...

Yan Mingzhang's throat tightened, and he nodded. His heart felt like it was stuffed with a wet cotton ball. The noisy crowd seemed to fall silent, and everyone's mood was heavy.

With the finishing touches complete, Yan Mingzhang felt a weight lifted from his shoulders and breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, he felt dizzy and exhausted.

"My lord! My lord!" Changfeng grabbed Yan Mingzhang and shouted anxiously.

Yan Mingzhang struggled to support himself, paused for a moment, and said, "It's alright, there are still important things to do! I won't just collapse like this!"

Yes, there are still nearly a hundred people to be arrested. They are well-trained soldiers. Even if they are deserters, they have been on the battlefield and killed so many innocent people. They are cold-blooded. These are the ordinary yamen runners who usually only beat others with sticks. No one else can be injured.

"Sir, what should we do?" Changfeng looked worriedly in the direction of the village. He had fought with them before, and these people were terrifying.

"Like catching turtles in a jar, we'll defeat them one by one!" Yan Mingzhang pondered for a moment, then raised his head, his usual radiance returning. "Abao, come, let's study this formation..."

Yan Mingzhang whispered a few words in A Bao's ear. A Bao thought for a while, then took out the book "Wuji Bagua Formation" from his pocket and handed it to him.

After thanking him with a smile, Yan Mingzhang began to study the text carefully, and when he encountered parts he didn't quite understand, he would discuss them with Abao.

Although Mo Yun and Chang Feng were anxious, they knew that their master must have other plans.

Yan Mingzhang and Abao moved several stones around for a long time, and finally finished. Yan Mingzhang patted the dirt off his hands, smiled, and said confidently.

Now, everything is ready except for the east wind—they are waiting for nightfall!
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"It's water! It's water!"

The sound broke the silence of the night. Awu rolled over and got out of bed. He rushed out of the house without even putting on his shoes. He looked in the direction of the fire—the sacred tree was on fire!

No, his tree spirit is still there!

Barefoot, A-Wu picked up a bucket and rushed over to put out the fire.

But it was a drop in the ocean; the burning banyan tree resembled a grotesque monster dancing in the flames.

People kept running away from the tree, and A-Wu quickly grabbed one of them: "The tree god is on fire! Help put out the fire!"

The man slapped A-Wu across the face: "What are you doing now! What tree god, tree god? The whole forest is on fire, and there's only one spot left that's not burning. If you don't run now, are you waiting to die? You want to die, but I don't!"

Awu looked closely and realized that the man was actually the village chief. He rushed over and hugged his leg, crying out, "Village chief, the tree spirit can't be burned!"

The village chief kicked A-Wu away: "What tree god! It's just a skeleton. If it weren't for this to keep everyone in check, do you think I would have played along with your act? You madman! Get out of my way!"

After the village chief finished speaking, he picked up the bundle containing the treasure from the ground and headed towards the only forest that hadn't caught fire. The village chief crawled through the bushes, and before he could even get up, a sack was put over his head, his hands were restrained, a smelly rag was stuffed into his mouth, and then he was tied up with rope and pulled on the buttocks in one swift motion.

"Hey, caught another stinky rat!" Mo Yun patted the dirt off his hands and smiled with satisfaction. "Chang Feng, how many are there?"

Changfeng was also overjoyed. They had captured all the villains without losing a single soldier. It was all thanks to the formation set up by Abao and the master, as well as the timely fire. Changfeng put down his pen and counted in his notebook: "Almost there, ninety-eight!"

"We've caught another one over here!" the constable on the other side said in a low voice.

Changfeng added another stroke to the notebook.

……

The fire came on strangely and left silently. After the surrounding area was almost burned out, the fire simply stopped, leaving only a few embers.

"Let's go, put out the fire, and clean up again to see if there are any rats that have escaped!" Mo Yun took the lead and headed towards the village.

The group entered the village in a grand procession.

The village was in ruins. The twisted banyan tree at the village entrance was burned down to its bare branches. A dark figure knelt on the ground, digging at the earth with its hands: "Tree God, Tree God..."

The man turned around and saw who it was, paused for a moment, then smiled, revealing white teeth: "Quick! Quick! Rescue the tree god! If we anger the tree god, we'll all die!"

Based on his voice and posture, it can be basically determined that this person is A-Wu.

Mo Yun waved his hand, and two constables stepped forward and tied the man up. Even with a rag stuffed in his mouth, he struggled fiercely.

"Don't worry, Tree God, we will rescue them," Yan Mingzhang said expressionlessly.

Awu immediately calmed down and let them pull him away.

Yan Mingzhang pointed to the shallow pit under the banyan tree: "Dig!"

Abao stood beside Yan Mingzhang, tightly clutching the corner of his clothes. A sudden sense of foreboding rose in his heart, as if something terrible was about to happen.

Su Zhan kicked a stone: "This pile of broken trees and dilapidated houses is almost burned to the ground. Just looking at it makes me feel uncomfortable. In my opinion, there's nothing worth seeing! Just tear it all down and rebuild it, and that's it."

Yan Mingzhang smiled lightly, not annoyed at all: "Every contact leaves a trace."

"Clang!" The hoe struck a hard object.

"Sir, we've found it! We've found it!" a constable shouted excitedly.

Several people hurriedly removed the topsoil, revealing a coffin carved with Capricorn patterns, a design commonly used by the Khitan people. The coffin wasn't large, but its color was an eerie dark red, and it was densely covered with strange runes. This must be the tree spirit that A-Wu had mentioned!

Yan Mingzhang leaned closer and touched it carefully: "It's human blood! The coffin was coated with human blood using a special method, which is why it doesn't fade."

Su Zhan felt his hair stand on end and cursed, "Pah, what kind of people are they! They just do this disgusting stuff."

Yan Mingzhang closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, slowly opened his eyes, and uttered two words: "Open the coffin."