Chapter 4.11 Remnant (Extra)

When Chen Pi found Chun Shen, he was hanging from the tree by the riverbank. The rope was drawn tight around his thin neck, making it look strangely elongated.

Chen Pi only took a quick glance, but already knew that he was dead. The small, dangling body was shaking to and fro in the wind.

It was already dusk by this point, and the riverbank was deserted. There was no one there, and he didn’t know what had happened. There was a charred smell in the air, which came from Chun Si’s boat that had been burned down. Only some burnt shelves were left floating more than ten steps out on the water’s surface.

Chun Shen had been beaten to death, and his face smashed in. From the gaping wounds crisscrossing his face, it was obvious he had been beaten with a paddle. All of his teeth were broken, half of his jaw had been horribly dislocated, and blood was dripping from his mouth onto the soil below.

Little Chun Shen’s eyes weren’t closed, but remained wide open.

Chen Pi could picture a man on the boat, gripping the oar tightly as he viciously beat the child’s face in over and over again. The child didn’t close his eyes, and got a clear view of all the blood.

Chen Pi gloomily looked at Chun Shen’s eyes, and instantly felt the anxiety in his heart twist and almost crack.

Escaped once, only to die in the end. There was no such thing as comfort or justice in death.

How many people in this world were like Chun Shen? No matter how hard they tried, there wasn’t any hope at all. What Xi Qi had said could be achieved with that missing coin, but God just didn’t give him the chance. It was no wonder most people didn’t need to live. If they had the chance to die, then they should die obediently. He thought of the many people he had killed before, and the look in their eyes when they had died. He just couldn’t figure why there were so many people unwilling to die.

Chen Pi turned away coldly and took a few steps before suddenly realizing something.

He turned around again, walked up to Chun Shen’s body, and looked at Chun Shen’s hand. The brat’s left hand was a little strange, as if he was holding something tightly enough to make a fist.

Chen Pi expended a lot effort to open the body’s left hand, and when he did, a copper coin fell out. It landed on the bloody soil below, bounced, and then started rolling towards the river.

Chen Pi took a few steps forward, stepped on it, and picked it up before it could roll into the water.

He froze as he came to a sudden realization. His blood started pumping, he felt a burst of ecstasy bloom in his heart, and he started to laugh. It was only twitching at first, as if his heart wanted to laugh, but his face didn’t believe it. But then, the laughter broke through and he found he couldn’t stop.

He looked up to the sky, and saw that the sun had already set. He didn’t see Xi Qi up there, nor did he see any immortals. He only saw the last rays of the dying sun as it sank into the darkness.

“Xi Qi!” He yelled. “You son of a bitch! I’ll show you!”

No one answered as his voice echoed across the river, but Chen Pi kept yelling until he was soaked in sweat.

He turned to look at Chun Shen, who seemed to be looking at him.

Chen Pi couldn’t help laughing again. He climbed up the tree, untied Chun Shen, and then dragged the corpse along the ground until he reached the entrance of the bathhouse. He went in, took out a basket full of old towels, threw Chun Shen in, and carried the bamboo basket to the sandy lakeshore.

There was a dilapidated temple two miles east of the lake, where Chen Pi had slept the first night he arrived in Hankou. Chen Pi dragged Chun Shen to the temple, kicked down the Buddha statue in the shrine, and put the corpse in its place.

As Chun Shen’s body leaned against the shrine, the blood began to attract flies. Chen Pi examined his handiwork and then put Chun Shen’s hands and feet in a more comfortable position. Once he was satisfied, he walked to the corner of the temple, removed the bricks from the floor, and dug out a bag from the mud.

This was the murder weapon he had used when he escaped from Zhejiang. It was a pineapple knife with a blade only as long as his middle finger, but it had a sharp, nearly ninety-degree hook that was specially used to peel pineapples. There was also a nine-clawed hook with a ribbed leather rope that was specially used to catch crabs on the beach.

Chen Pi put all these things on his belt, and then unfolded the no-contribution flag. He dumped the money out, placed the last coin on the string, and then found a bamboo pole. He tied the flag to the pole, picked it up, and walked to the market with the flag waving in the wind.

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