Chapter 167: Retribution
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
Pei Zi Yun extended a hand and grabbed out a paper bag from a compartment of the ox-cart. He opened the paper bag and noticed that there was a meat bun and a flask of wine. He smiled and told Ji Dan, "You’ve prepared your ox-cart well."
As he spoke, he leaned back into the cushion seat and looked out of the ox-cart. He had a look of anxiety written across his face, and picked up the flask to take a sip, sampling the quality of the wine, "This is good wine. Looks like you do know how to enjoy yourself. Do you find it strange? How I managed to find you?"
"Actually there's something on you which I need. Without it, I won't be able to rebel against the authorities. That's why I came to you before doing anything else after reaching this place."
Pei Zi Yun glanced at the wine jug, "You were the first person I seeked out. However I'm a very thorough person. I observed you for some time before discovering that you and King Lu collaborated together to catch me. You even set up an ambush. This made me nervous."
Pei Zi Yun spoke extremely casually, as if he was speaking to a friend or relative. Ji Dan remained quiet for a long time before speaking, "You're not going to let me go?"
"That's correct. I just confirmed that you have whatever I need, and it has great value to me. Hence, you can die and give it up to me. After killing so many people, I have to give myself an excuse to kill. If not, won't I really just be a crazy man, killing for no reason?" Pei Zi Yun smiled, his eyes could barely be seen as he continued, "Oh right. I heard that there's a certain practice done here to an official just before he dies. Of course, the person in question has to be one of a certain status."
"Look at me, do I look like an official to you?"
"Don't think you can rely on your evil sorcery to achieve whatever you wish. Officials are protected by the Imperial Qi from your strange powers. Once people outside realize that something isn't right, you're finished." Ji Dan couldn't bear it anymore and spilled out. He was shaking as he spoke to Pei Zi Yun loudly.
"Haha, you're just a mere constable. According to the rules you're don't even have official status. When your subordinates refer to you as "your excellency" it's not even proper. What kind of official do you think you are?"
"If you'd brought the warrant for my arrest, I might have considered my next step. But you chose to lure me out, and handed the warrant to someone else for safekeeping. What have you got now to deal with me?" Pei Zi Yun laughed.
"You can’t kill me." Ji Dan raised his hands abruptly as he sleeves rustled, as if he was about to throw something. Pei Zi Yun moved even quicker. This time, he brought a dagger out instead of his usual longsword. With a "pu" the dagger plunged deep into his throat. Ji Dan clutched his throat and was making a gurgling sound. He had a look of utter disbelief etched on his face.
When Pei Zi Yun removed the dagger, blood spurted out from the gash in his neck like a fountain. The blood almost splashed at Pei Zi Yun, and yet seemed to hit an invisible barrier in front of him before spilling down.
The constable didn't die immediately. He struggled to breathe as he glared at Pei Zi Yun, "You’ve…. Been baited. Die, traitor. Kill the traitor!"
He forced these words out before his vitals were extinguished.
Pei Zi Yun cleared his throat and cursed, "Damn it. They've bestowed an official title upon him. He's at least an official of the ninth rank, maybe even higher. They intentionally kept it a secret. It was a trap."
Blood started to seep out from the corners of his mouth. If he had been prepared, things wouldn't turn out this way. And yet who could've anticipated such a move?
Pei Zi Yun’s face turned deadly pale. He retrieved a handkerchief from his robes and wiped the blood away from his lips. This was the retribution. The cloth that he'd used had red blotchy patches of blood all over.
'I cannot stay here long.' Pei Zi Yun thought to himself before searching the fallen Ji Dan’s corpse, trying to find that object. All of a sudden, he felt something on his fingertips, and proceeded to pull it out. It was a jade charm.
Pei Zi Yun moved quickly and exited the cart.
The bailiff who was spurring the horse onward, in front of the carriage felt something was off, but couldn't pinpoint what was different. He turned around to look at the carriage and scratched his head before turning around and continue urging the horse.
Ji Dan’s body had slumped off the seat, and a large puddle of blood formed beneath him.
The bailiff crinkled his nose and could smell the overpowering stench of blood emanating in the air. However, he couldn't tell where the source of the smell was. Just in front was a relay station. The bailiff urged the ox to move faster. He tilted his head backward slightly and spoke to constable Ji behind, "Your excellency, why do I feel like something isn't right? Where do you think that smell of blood is coming from? It's becoming overpowering."
When he finished speaking, he stopped the ox-cart at the relay station. The carriage was strangely quiet, almost as if there wasn't anyone seated behind. The bailiff moved closer to the carriage and spoke softly, "Master, master."
The ox-cart stopped right outside the relay station and the bailiff could hear the sound of water dripping, and felt that something was not right. He hastily pulled the curtains apart and saw Ji Dan’s head bent at a queer and abnormal angle. He hurriedly forced his way in and pressed a finger to his neck, and realized that he was no longer alive.
A nauseating wave of blood wafted through and perforated his nostrils. The entire carriage was filled with blood. Just the sight of such a scene was enough to make someone retch his entire stomach out. Then bailiff was scared stiff at such a scene, his legs were trembling in fear. Only after sometime did he finally regained his senses and shouted, "Not good, not good, the constable has been killed. The constable has been murdered!"
Following his desperate cries, more than ten men rushed out. All of them were armored soldiers, and a eunuch stood in between them, and a Daoist was standing beside him.
This Daoist was clearly an official working for the Daoists Records Department of the Imperial Court and was also a member of the Great State’s Temple. The Daoist robes he donned was different from other Daoists.
"Look at this!" The eunuch didn't sound very surprise as he spoke out.
The Daoist parted the doors of the carriage and walked in to investigate. Several moments later he exited the vehicle, his hands were stained with blood. He then whispered to the eunuch, which laughed out loud after listening to him, "Pei Zi Yun, your Dao techniques would really have intimidated me if you hadn’t killed him. Now, you've been subjected to the retribution of killing an official. I wonder how much is left of your Dao skills and energy?"
"Looks like using the authority granted to me by my master, granting this deceased man the title of an eighth ranked official before his death wasn’t in vain."
Hearing these words, everyone around opened their mouths in surprise. They then heard the eunuch, "Lieutenant Hong, could I trouble you to send word that his excellency Ji Dan has been killed by a rogue. Tighten security all around and alert all relevant personnel to arrest him on sight."
"Yes Eunuch Ding!" A lieutenant who served King Lu responded immediately as he led his troops away.
The bailiff sat in front of the ox-cart. He was extremely perplexed by the recent sequence of events and mumbled to himself, "What on earth is happening?"
Pei Zi Yun was fleeing as fast as he could. A fiery burning sensation radiated from his chest. He hurriedly turned into a small alley nearby. He could feel something rush up his throats before he smelt the rancid stench of blood. He bent over and threw up an entire glob of blood.
Pei Zi Yun was breathing raggedly. He could feel the retribution becoming more intense with each passing minute. He then understood why it was difficult for Daoists to become an official, and he knew why they could not openly go in defiance of the Imperial Court - the retribution was too severe.
It was early in the morning and there were very few people out in the streets. Several stall holders were preparing for the day, and cooking food to sell. They were selling dumplings, pastries and other food products. Thick smoke wafted through the air and produced a mouth watering aroma.
"I have to find a safe place to hide and find a way to extract the Divine Technique from this Legacy. It will suppress the retribution and allow me to rebel against the Imperial Qi without damaging my body. If not, I would be subjected by this retribution and remain in a weakened state for the next few days."
"These people must've planned for all of this to happen, and bait me into killing him. They knew that I would come under the influence and effects of the Imperial Qi’s retribution. They would then attack me when I’m weak!" Pei Zi Yun mumbled to himself and struggled to walk forward. He spotted a building and walked towards it as he leaned against the wall. He pressed his ears to the wall and tried to listen.
He realized that there wasn't any sound coming from the other side. His expression turned to relief as he jumped over the wall. Instantly, he could sense blood rise up from the back of his throat, burning a fiery path along the way.
He hurriedly covered his mouth, not allowing the blood to spill out before he tumbled into the courtyard.
The courtyard was huge, and there didn't seem to be anyone present. He gently tiptoed towards the interior of the building where he quietly climbed up the stairs to the third floor.
When he reached the third floor, he realized that there was an attic. He would have to climb a flight of stairs to enter it. He decided to just leap straight up into the room. Holding the railing, he leapt high up as climbed his way in. When he looked around, he realized that the attic was dark and vacant.
Pei Zi Yun slumped himself on the floor, as he started to feel an overwhelming exhaustion blanket over him. His eyelids felt heavy, as he struggled to keep his eyes open. His chest and brain hurt tremendously, as he felt a black surge of energy envelop the Yin Master being within him.
He retrieved the jade charm from the pockets of his outer coat before placing his coat underneath him. He then placed the jade charm under his head as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
The sky was dark, and shimmering snowflakes fell to the ground gently. Some distance away, a voice could be heard coming from the monastery.
"Master, the dynasty is brutal and uncaring about the populations, and the officials are all corrupt. Since we’re Daoists, and know martial arts and Dao arts, why can’t we rebel against them? Even a mere ninth rank official can’t be touched by us. All we can do is to watch with our blinking eyes?"
"Everyone in my household had been murdered, and I can’t even take revenge. Please teach me master, please teach me." A Daoist who looked to be no older than thirty and had white hair on both sides of his head knelt down in front of a older Daoist and shouted.
"Timing and fate are important factors to consider. Although I do possess Divine Powers, this set of Divine Powers mustn't be used to meddle with the affairs of this world and disrupt the flow. It especially cannot be used to rebel against the Imperial Qi. I have nothing to teach you. It’s not that I’m not willing, it’s that I cannot." The old man raised his head and sighed, his eyes well up with tears.
"Senior Brother, Senior Brother, Superior Senior Brother, you’re to ascend to the position of sect leader, and must not leave the mountain. If you leave this mountain, who will inherit the sect leader position?" Several disciples clung onto the youth, and advised him loudly.
"My parents, and my family are gone. I can’t even avenge their deaths. How can I bring myself to remain as the Superior Senior Brother. How can I bring myself to remain on this mountain any longer?" The Superior Senior Brother looked at the disciples around him, tears welled up within the corner of his eyes.
"Let him go. Your Superior Senior Brother has made up his mind. Let him go." The sect leader spoke out, clearly using the remaining bit of his energy.
"Master, your disciple is unfilial. The only thing I can do is to look after you in your next life." The Daoist fell to his knees and started sobbing loudly, as he kowtowed repeated, his forehead was bleeding from the force he was using, "Allow me to leave the sect!"
The scene changed abruptly. Once again, the sky was overcast with dark clouds and rain drops pelted onto the face of the Daoist. The Daoist’s expression was pale as he struggled to kill his way out. He had an entire group of bailiffs chasing after him, out to kill him.
"Retribution, retribution. Heaven, you’ve made a mockery out of me and I will not accept that. I will not accept!" The Daoist turned around and faced the group of men chasing after him. He hardened his resolve and decided to fight once more. He killed wave after wave of bailiffs, his eyes were red, and his entire body was scarlet from the blood of his foes. He had killed so many people that even the ground started to take a deep red shade. At last, the number of bailiffs after him was so immense that he knew he couldn’t fight his way out. He thus jumped off the cliff.
The scene shifted once more. The Daoist came out from within the cave, his entire head was now filled with white hair, "I've done it. I've finally done it. Haha, after searching for such a long time, I've finally found it and managed to cultivate up to the desired level. The effects of the Imperial Qi will not be as powerful towards me any longer. You lowly ninth ranked county deputy, I shall come for your life today. All of you corrupted official who mistreated civilians, wait for me to come for your lives."
The night was particularly dark, and the winds were strong. He carried an immense wave of killing aura, and walked across. A hound spotted the Daoist and opened its mouth to bark. The Daoist pointed at it, and it remained quiet.
The Daoist then drew his sword and stabbed it. It didn’t die immediately, and fell to the ground whimpering.
The Daoist then charged forward. A person showed up and was about to scream and alert everyone else when he too was stabbed by the Daoist and fell over. The Daoist sprinted up the stairs to the second level, where he saw an official seated at the head of the table. Several other people were seated around him, as they observed an opera play before them. When the Daoist crashed through, the official pointed at him, and shouted, "Where did this bastard of a Daoist come from, how dare you?"
The Daoist didn’t speak, and rushed towards them. Every single stroke of the sword caused a person to die instantly. All of a sudden, the Daoist spat out some blood, but was still laughing, "I finally managed to sigh in relief after all these years."
The scene changed abruptly once more. The Daoist was standing atop the roof of a building. All of a sudden, he jumped down and swung his blade in a flash. A person’s head then dropped to the ground. Everyone around started screaming frantically, "His excellency Li is dead, his excellency Li is dead."
The scene changed once more. The Daoist was lying on a grass mat, his entire body was covered in blood. He looked to be no older than thirty years and was smiling at a young man, "You’re a good lad, to see me through the end of my life. Take this silver charm, it can help to suppress your anger and see you through your career. However, you must never become an official, if not, your life will end in violence."
As he spoke, he laughed. All of a sudden, he turned his face to reveal a surprised expression, his face was still twisted in a smile, "Wouldn't you agree?"