Chapter 4.3 Chun Shen (Extra)

The legend of Xi Qi was very famous among those in the Mystic Nine. In fact, you could find some information on Xi Qi Xiucai if you went to Hankou, but it was impossible to tell whether it was true or not. Whatever the case, many people in Wuhan still remembered Chen Pi holding up his “one hundred coins, kill one person” signboard during the early years. The only thing was, when Chen Pi first set up his booth, people passing by would say that he was crazy and no one would be interested in what he had to offer. Some people would even point and sneer at him.

Chen Pi only remembered the look in Xi Qi’s eyes before he died, and couldn’t help thinking that he wasn’t an ordinary person. Xi Qi often said that he should have met a noble person, but ended up meeting Chen Pi instead. It wasn’t a fated meeting, but it was still enlightening.

Over the past few days, Chen Pi survived off of the crabs he caught, and then went to the market to set up his killing stall. As usual, the brats came by the river to stir up trouble, acting as if they weren’t missing one. The people here were poor and destitute, so it wasn’t surprising if one suddenly went missing. Chen Pi ignored them like usual. As the days went by and winter came to Hankou, the crabs were getting harder and harder to catch. But the military were all over the city, so he didn’t dare rob or steal. Instead, Chen Pi went to the dock to see if he could find some work to survive the winter.

No one had come to visit his stall after all this time, and he couldn’t help but wonder if Xi Qi was just talking crazy before he died.

On this day, he hunched close to the stove, warming himself in a daze. The “one hundred coins, kill one person” plank wasn’t as precious as before, and lay under his butt, seemingly forgotten. One could see that the words on it were quite faded. A sudden pain exploded in his head and it took him a second to realize he had been hit with a stone. When he opened his eyes, he saw a boy sticking his nose up at him and throwing stones at him.

He was stunned. That expressionless face was none other than Silly Shen, the brat he had kicked into the water before. The kid didn’t die and actually looked as if he’d gained some weight.

While he was still in a daze, Chun Shen threw two more stones and hit him on the head hard, causing him to see stars. They hadn’t seen each other for a while, but the fool had become much more skilled at throwing stones. When Chen Pi blocked the next stone and stood up, Chun Shen immediately turned and ran away, hiding behind a big man.

The big man raised his head and looked at Chen Pi. His eyebrows were very similar to Chun Shen’s, so he was either his father or his uncle. The two men stared at each other for a while. The strong man didn’t speak, but continued standing in front of Chun Shen.

The Yangtze River barge haulers were not only very fierce, but also very tight-knit. Chen Pi instinctively took a step back as his killing intent surged up again, but he immediately saw the soldiers close by on the dock.

Chen Pi remembered that this man was one of the foremen on the dock who everyone listened to. Now that the dock was busy handling all the military goods coming in, it would be unwise to go up and fight him. The soldiers wouldn’t arrest the foreman, and Chen Pi might even be beheaded if he disturbed their logistics.

He glared at Chun Shen and then shrank back as he comforted himself with the idea that he killed for money now. If it wasn’t particularly convenient, then he wouldn’t do it. He hoped he wouldn’t see the brat next spring, otherwise he’d have to kill him. But if he didn’t end up seeing him, he’d let bygones be bygones.

The brat must’ve had a strong will to live. Chen Pi watched as the man patted Chun Shen on the back of the neck. The brat took off and ran along the riverbank until he reached a small fishing boat on the river, where a woman pulled him up. The family were obviously making their living on the river by fishing during the spring, summer, and autumn, and pulling the boatmen’s tow-ropes in the winter. The whole family appeared to be living on the boat.

Now that pirates were running rampant on the river, these people could only live on the shore and protect themselves with the army on the dock.

Chen Pi looked at the woman holding Chun Shen from a distance. He found that she wasn’t Chun Shen’s mother, but his older sister. The young girl was about eighteen years old, with very smooth curves. Most of the girls in Hankou had long legs, and were used to swimming in the water after so many years. At eighteen, there was still the distinctive beauty of a young girl. It was rare for a girl to be on a boat all year round and still retain her white skin, but this girl’s arms were like white lotus roots, which really made people want to cut them off and use them as pillows.

After he was done working, Chen Pi involuntarily found himself dragging his signboard to the shore where her boat was moored. He sat under a tree and watched the girl come and go as she went about her tasks. Chen Pi would stare at her slender and well-proportioned calves as she walked—no, glided—on the boat deck. He touched the back of his neck, feeling strange and a little irritable. It almost felt the same as that moment right before he killed someone, but it wasn’t bloodlust.

Chun Shen had snot on his face and was staring blankly at Chen Pi while standing on the bow of the boat. He wasn’t afraid of Chen Pi, either. As the girl kept working, she would wipe her brother’s nose from time to time. After some time had passed, she also started to take notice of Chen Pi and stopped working.

Girls from poor families understood a lot of things early on, so when she saw Chen Pi staring at her neckline, she started to scold him in the Hankou dialect: “Disgusting bastard. Who do you think you’re looking at? My father will gouge your eyes out when he comes back.”

Chen Pi continued staring at her, which annoyed the girl even more: “If you like looking at people that much, why don’t you just go home and look at your mother?” With that said, she picked up an oar and slapped the water beside the boat, causing it to splash onto Chen Pi.

He quickly dodged it and looked at the young girl’s white neck, feeling his anxiety increase. He stood up, grabbed his sign, and stared into the girl’s eyes, but he didn’t know what to do. The girl looked back at him angrily. “Did you hear me? Get away from my boat!”

Chen Pi said coldly, “I set up a stall here. The boat’s yours, but the shore isn’t. You should move your boat so it doesn’t block me from viewing the scenery.”

The girl laughed: “What kind of beggars’ stall are you trying to set up? Is this a new way to beg for food? I bet nobody even patronizes you.”

Chen Pi pointed to the signboard: “One hundred coins, kill one person. It’s a killing stall.”

The girl slapped the water with the oar again and splashed Chen Pi. The river water was freezing cold in winter, and the drenched Chen Pi shivered. “When my dad comes back, he’ll take care of you. You’re sick in the head.” With that said, she pulled Chun Shen into the cabin and closed the curtain.

Chen Pi patted the water from his body. As soon as the cold water had hit him, his anxiety suddenly went down a lot. He looked left and right, and found that he couldn’t see the girl anymore, but he could hear someone laughing. All the barge haulers had finished their work for the day and had witnessed the scene as they were walking home. Chen Pi had no other choice but to leave, angrily carrying his signboard with him.

On the boat, the girl huddled on the bow and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Chen Pi leave. She couldn’t stop herself from taking a few more peeks at the soggy Chen Pi walking towards the setting sun.

In fact, the girl had heard of Chen Pi before. Her father had even told her to get as far away as possible if she ever saw him. That summer, many people on the lakeshore had said that Chen Pi was a ruthless character, but now it seemed that he was just sick in the head.

But for a girl that age, it was clear to see that Chen Pi was different from the fishermen and barge haulers she was used to. She glanced at him a few more times and tugged her collar, blushing as she thought of how his eyes had looked.

When he arrived back in the city, the soaking Chen Pi wasn’t in the mood to set up a stall anymore. He dragged the wooden board into a food stall, found some stones to hold it up, put two coins on the wooden frame, and then downed the hot pepper soup that was handed over. Even though it was watered down, he was still sweating profusely by the time it was all gone. For another coin, he could clean up in the bathhouse next door, and for his last coin, he could go to the temple and gamble on the cock fights.

As he soaked in the bathhouse and thought of his own affairs, he suddenly felt depressed. This bathhouse by the river was full of unskilled laborers scrubbing each other’s backs, and the river wind could be felt blowing in through the cracks. He thought of the little boat girl’s white neck and snake-like calves, and became anxious again. He stood up and went to stand by the cracks in the bathhouse where the river wind was blowing the strongest, and found that his body had reacted.

As he looked out of the cracks, he could see the lights from the fishermen’s boats dotting the river’s surface, along with the fog that was rolling in. When would the things Xi Qi mentioned come true?

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