Chapter 47: There’s a Ghost!
Elder Wu’s face was ashen. In the end, he let out a heavy sigh and said, “I don’t know where the other members of the gang have gone. As for Gongsun Hong, I have no idea where he is now. It was he who injured me and locked up many of our most loyal comrades in the hold of the ship.”
Head Constable Wang asked, “Why would he do that?”
Elder Wu replied bitterly, “It’s all because of that woman, the one Mr. Gongsun brought back a year ago. Ever since her arrival, the gang leader’s personality changed drastically. It was as if he became a completely different person.
“That hypocrite Luo Beixiao then rose to power and became the second-in-command, a deputy gang leader. In order to expand their strength, they recruited all sorts of murderers, robbers, and even thieves with filthy hands.
“As for us old comrades who had been loyal all along? They ignored us. Worse, they started persecuting us. Just last night, I tried to speak some sense into the gang leader, but he struck me down. And not only that, he also had the senior members of the gang imprisoned. As for anything else, I truly don’t know.”
Head Constable Wang ordered his men to temporarily detain the remaining Five Lakes gang disciples.
Suddenly, there was a flicker of movement outside the window.
“Who’s there!?”
“Stop right there!”
The officers outside, hands on their weapons, shouted in anger.
But a swift figure rushed in like the wind, bursting straight into the room. It was a pair of young man and woman. The man looked to be in his thirties, tall and long-legged, with a deerskin pouch hanging at his waist.
Meanwhile, the woman appeared to be in her twenties, plain-looking and slender. The clothes she wore seemed specially made, glinting with strange hues under the torchlight.
Head Constable Wang, his hand on his sword hilt, barked coldly, “Who are you two?!”
The young woman smiled and said, “My name is Guo Caiyun, and this is my husband, Qiao Wu. We were invited to join the Five Lakes gang as stewards.”
Head Constable Wang gave them a cold glance and said in a low voice, “Aren’t you that couple from the jianghu known for your skill in qinggong and poisons?”
The plain-looking Guo Caiyun nodded. “We are.”
Suddenly, Head Constable Wang shouted harshly, “How dare you! You pair of thieves actually have the audacity to show your faces in front of me?!”
Thieves?!
Li Yanchu gave the couple a curious look, somewhat surprised by this revelation. Thieves… openly identifying themselves before a constable of the government? Were they completely unafraid, or simply drunk?
Guo Caiyun gave a small smile and said, “With all due respect, sir, I am a law-abiding woman. Where did this accusation of thievery come from? And as for tonight’s events, don’t you wish to understand what truly lies behind them?”
Head Constable Wang’s eyes narrowed slightly, though he remained expressionless. “What are you getting at?”
Guo Caiyun smiled again and said, “My husband and I were invited to join the Five Lakes gang, but unexpectedly, in just one night, the gang’s disciples vanished without a trace. A great gang like the Five Lakes now feels more like a desolate graveyard. Don’t you want to uncover the truth behind this?”
Head Constable Wang said sternly, “If you’ve got something to say, then say it. I don’t have the patience for riddles.”
“Very well,” Guo Caiyun replied. “You’re a straightforward man, then I’ll get straight to the point. All I ask is that you issue us a written statement to clear our names. In return, I will tell you the hidden secrets of the Five Lakes gang.”
Head Constable Wang’s pupils contracted slightly. He hesitated for a moment, then said, “Fine. I can agree to that. But first, tell me the whereabouts of the Five Lakes gang leader.”
Though Guo Caiyun and Qiao Wu were infamous thieves, they were known never to take lives. In a way, they still followed their own code of honor.
Given the current crisis and the fact that Mr. Gongsun Hong had mysteriously disappeared, Head Constable Wang chose to accept their offer.
Guo Caiyun said, “Then please, follow me, sir.”
With that, she turned and walked swiftly in a certain direction. Her husband, Qiao Wu, silently followed close behind. Head Constable Wang exchanged a glance with Li Yanchu, then they quickly followed behind.
After making a few turns through the corridors, the group arrived at a spacious room. On one wall hung a bright silver spear, sharp and gleaming with a cold light. Next to it was a hardwood boxwood bow.
On the opposite wall, there was a calligraphy scroll, its strokes wild and powerful. The words read, “The sea embraces a hundred rivers.”[1]
“This is the room of Mr. Gongsun Chong of the Five Lakes gang,” said Guo Caiyun.
Head Constable Wang and Li Yanchu entered the room along with seven or eight officers, as well as Zhang Zhiliang and Wang Wanrong, the senior brother and sister pair.
Upon hearing Guo Caiyun's words, Head Constable Wang frowned and asked, “So what?”
Guo Caiyun gave a graceful smile, which was surprisingly captivating on her otherwise plain face. “Haven’t you noticed anything strange about this room?”
Hearing this, Head Constable Wang’s brows furrowed slightly. He had no idea what Guo Caiyun was referring to.
Just then, one of the officers suddenly cried out in terror, “A ghost!”
His voice was shrill and panicked.
Everyone immediately turned toward the sound. The officer was named Song Hu, and he was now trembling all over, face pale with fear, as if he had seen something utterly terrifying.
“Song Hu, what did you just say?!” Head Constable Wang demanded coldly.
Song Hu stammered in a panic, “I-I… just now, when I entered the room, I was still talking to Liu Chenglin. But in the blink of an eye… he was gone!”
Hearing this, Head Constable Wang's heart sank. He immediately turned to look at Li Yanchu.
Meanwhile, Li Yanchu’s eyebrows rose slightly, as he hadn’t sensed any ghostly or yin qi in the room.
He stepped forward and said gently, “What happened? Could it be that you were mistaken?”
His calm demeanor seemed to have a stabilizing effect, so much so that Song Hu stopped trembling. “No, no… I was just talking to Liu Chenglin moments ago. I’ve been in this room before, and there was nothing unusual about it. But in the blink of an eye, he was just… gone!”
Li Yanchu frowned. How could a living person just vanish into thin air?
Head Constable Wang shouted coldly, “Liu Chenglin! Did anyone see Liu Chenglin?!”
Several voices called out, but no one replied.
Just then, a young officer rushed over from outside the cabin. “Head Constable Wang, I’m here! What’s going on?”
Seeing this, the nearby officers all stepped back in shock.
Head Constable Wang pressed a hand to the hilt of his sword and said coldly, “Weren’t you just walking in with Song Hu? Where did you disappear to in the blink of an eye?”
Liu Chenglin looked confused and said, “No, I wasn’t. I’ve been in the next room the whole time, guarding the Five Lakes gang members. I never came in here with Song Hu.”
The moment he said that, a chill ran down everyone’s necks. Song Hu was thrown into a state of sheer panic, and his hands and feet went ice cold. If the man beside him earlier hadn’t been Liu Chenglin, then who had he been talking to this whole time?!
Head Constable Wang felt a surge of cold rise in his chest, and sweat began to bead in his palm as he gripped his sword.
“Daoist Master Yanchu, what do you make of this?” Head Constable Wang asked.
Li Yanchu gave a warm, composed smile and said, “Everyone, let’s not get too worked up. It’s dark, and visibility is low, so maybe there was a mistake.”
Head Constable Wang looked as though he wanted to say more, but just then, Guo Caiyun interrupted, “Head Constable Wang, don’t worry too much. The strangeness… might very well lie within this very room.”
1. The phrase “The sea embraces a hundred rivers” originates from Guanzi - Xing Shi Jie. It means that the sea is vast precisely because it does not distinguish between sources, and it accepts hundreds of rivers without discrimination. This phrase encourages people to emulate the sea in dealing with others: to welcome all kinds of people and situations with a broad mind and a tolerant attitude. ☜
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