Chapter 416: The Escaped Convicts

Zhong Huaien spent three days soaking in the barrel, fighting against the illness inflicted by Green Beggar the entire time. In the end, he lost the fight and died in the barrel.

Old Mister Xu looked at Zhong Huaien and sighed repeatedly. "What a pity. Such a good barrel, and such a fine batch of golden juice, all gone to waste."

Old Mister Xu had never had much of a good impression of the disciples of the Sage. Out of respect for the dead, Old Xu couldn't bear to let Zhong Huaien die in a foreign land. He grew two eggplant men, crafted a stretcher, and made these two eggplant men carry Zhong Huaien back to Sage's Peak.

Old Mister Xu was somewhat different from Zhang Wanlong when it came to growing eggplant men. In terms of appearance, Old Mister Xu could not compare to Zhang Wanlong. Every eggplant person he grew looked exactly the same.

The eggplant men had thick brows, large eyes, broad noses, square lips, and dark, weathered skin. At a glance, they looked like rough men who had spent years enduring wind and snow.

When it came to combat strength, however, these two eggplant people were anything but ordinary. Carrying Zhong Huaien’s corpse on a stretcher, they traveled through the New Land, crossing mountains and traversing rivers along the way, and actually managed to deliver him all the way back to Vilefolk Hillock.

Inside the estate, the Sage was cultivating when a powerful stench suddenly drifted into his bedchamber at a critical moment. He could no longer control himself, and whatever interest he had in continuing vanished with it.

After sending the woman in his bed away, the Sage went outside and found Zhong Huaien’s corpse lying before the house.

A group of people were kneeling outside the gates, waiting for the Sage to accept them as disciples, but Zhong Huaien’s sudden appearance had left them torn over what to do.

This could very well be a test from the Sage. If they got up now, all the effort they had put in so far would have been for nothing. But if they stayed on their knees, the stench was becoming almost impossible to bear.

Several of the Sage’s other disciples caught the smell from the neighboring houses and came over to see what was happening. When they saw Zhong Huaien lying there, gleaming in “golden” color from head to toe, they covered their mouths and burst into tears.

They were covering their mouths not because they were afraid to cry out, but because it also gave them an excuse to cover their noses.

The tears were genuine and the stench was so strong that it made their eyes water.

The Sage looked over at the two eggplant people. They were still carrying the stretcher, so it was obvious that they were the ones who had brought Zhong Huaien back.

Now that they had delivered him, they still had to see him off properly. The two eggplant people looked at the Sage and sang a little tune for Zhong Huaien’s final journey.

“Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Yeehaw melonhead, hey! Yeehaw melonhead, hey! Yee, you, yee, yeeeee, you melonheaded fool, HAH!”

The little tune was thick with a country accent. Both eggplant men had booming voices, and they sang in perfect harmony.

They sang the whole thing twice. By the end of the second round, a vein was throbbing on the Sage’s forehead.

The disciples trembled in fear. They knew what happened when the Sage lost his temper, and these two men of unknown origin were surely as good as dead.

The Sage raised an eyebrow, and one of the eggplant people exploded on the spot. Golden juice burst from its body and sprayed all over the Sage, soaking him from head to toe.

The consequences were indeed serious. Even the Sage’s clothes were drenched.

His disciples had not escaped either. Every one of them was spattered with "gold," though some had received a rather more generous coating than others.

Among them was Gong Ziming, a disciple who carried considerable weight with his fellow apprentices. He calmly wiped his own face with a silk handkerchief, then took out a new one and stepped forward to wipe his teacher's face.

The Sage raised a hand. Gong Ziming stopped at once, and no one else dared make a sound.

The remaining eggplant person, however, ignored him completely. Still bobbing its head, it stared at the Sage and continued singing in its thick country accent, “Yeehaw melonhead, hey! Yeehaw melonhead, hey! Yee, you, yee, yeeeee, you melonheaded fool, HAH!”

The disciples and the people who had come hoping to become the Sage’s disciples stood off to the side and watched.

A crushing pressure suddenly swept over them. The assorted onlookers quickly scattered, leaving only a handful of the Sage’s trusted disciples to follow him back into the house.

The Sage stopped in the middle of the courtyard. His voice was low and hoarse. “Xu Han would never provoke me like this without a reason. Who is willing to make a trip to Medicine King Gully and find out what that old scoundrel is up to?”

Every disciple lowered his head and kept very quiet.

The Sage’s gaze settled on Gong Ziming. “Gathering information is your specialty. You will go.”

Gong Ziming couldn’t think of any way to get himself out of this. It wasn’t hard for him to gather information. He had done far worse before. He had even ventured into the Inner Provinces to get information. But if he were to gather information on Xu Han, it wouldn't be that easy to come back in one piece.

Could he somehow steer the Sage's attention away from Xu Han?

Gong Ziming bowed. “Teacher, I heard that Junior Brother was injured by Greenwater Beggar.”

It was a perfectly reasonable point. Zhong Huaien had died at Greenwater Beggar’s hands, so if anyone needed investigating, it should have been Greenwater Beggar. Gong Ziming would much rather keep an eye on him than go looking for trouble with Xu Han.

The Sage had already considered that possibility. He sent his disciple Xing Zhongquan to Greenwater City and instructed him, “Once you get there, go see your senior brother Bai Jin first and take care of whatever Chu Shaoqiang has arranged. As for Greenwater Beggar, follow Chu Shaoqiang’s instructions. Cut off contact with the Outer Provinces for the time being. Do not give Chu Shaoqiang any reason to suspect you, and more importantly, do not give the Inner Provinces the wrong idea. Ziming will still go to Medicine King Gully. Xu Han must be watched closely in case he makes a move there...”

The Sage was still assigning tasks when the Eggplant Man’s singing continued outside the gate. “Yeehaw you melonheaded fool...”

The Sage cast Gong Ziming a glance and said, "Go deal with that."

Gong Ziming looked toward the Eggplant Man outside the gate, unsure how he was even supposed to begin.

***

At the Border Control Office, Liao Zihui was listening to Deputy Commissioner Tang Huanjie's report on the investigation. The bodies of the four men previously sent to Freewind Wharf had been found. The autopsy showed that all four had died from blood loss after their limbs were severed. For now, they still did not know who had killed them or how it had been done.

Tang Huanjie said, "I suspect Chu Shaoqiang did it, but we don't have any solid evidence."

Liao Zihui set the report down. "The evidence doesn't matter. What I want to know is what Chu Shaoqiang is planning."

"Do you think he's coming after us?"

Liao Zihui thought for a moment. "Probably not. Chu Shaoqiang is from the Inner Provinces, and the Inner Provinces likely doesn't want to openly turn against us yet. But Chu Shaoqiang himself has a grudge against us. What he might do because of that is hard to say."

Tang Huanjie also found the situation troublesome. "The Inner Provinces doesn't want to openly turn against us, and we can't afford to start a conflict with them either. At the very least, we can't make a move against Chu Shaoqiang directly."

Liao Zihui went over everything that had happened. "Those four men lost contact with us at Freewind Wharf. Li Qi must be involved somehow."

"You suspect that Li Qi is connected to Chu Shaoqiang?"

"I suspect that Chu Shaoqiang was at Freewind Wharf at the time. They might have been working together from the start."

Liao Zihui continued, "Li Qi isn't officially part of the Inner Provinces yet. If we move against him, it won't count as turning against the Inner Provinces. Besides, I have been wanting to teach him a lesson for some time."

Tang Huanjie frowned. "Li Qi won't be easy to deal with either."

"Then we will send more people. Because of Li Qi, we have already lost a lot of money in shipping fees we could have collected. This alone should be enough to get support from the higher-ups.

"Once we deal with Li Qi, Chu Shaoqiang should show more restraint. After that, we can send a Balancer to Sage's Peak and smooth things over with him. The whole matter should die down soon enough.

"Put in some extra effort today and draft a plan. We will hold a meeting tomorrow and finalize the operation."

***

The next morning, Liao Zihui was meeting with several deputy commissioners when Secretary Ling Sujun entered the conference room with an urgent report. "Something has happened at Convict City in Three-Headed Fork. More than three thousand people have escaped."

Liao Zihui frowned and said, "Is this because of the dark matter flux?"

Ling Sujun nodded.

Deputy Commissioner Du Liyong said, "I sent someone to check on Convict City a couple of days ago. Things are indeed bad there. Quite a few people are dying every day."

Liao Zihui already knew how bad the situation in Convict City was. What concerned him was how so many people had managed to escape. "How did more than three thousand people get out? There are boundary lines around Convict City."

Ling Sujun handed him the report. "From what we know so far, they seem to have escaped through the New Land."

Liao Zihui then felt at ease. "Then leave them be and let them die. There is no way out if they escaped through the New Land connected to Convict City."

Everyone returned to discussing the operation against Li Qi. By the afternoon, they had just finalized the plan when Ling Sujun came into Liao Zihui's office.

"Commissioner Liao, some of the Convict City escapees have appeared near the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs."

Liao Zihui was shocked. "Impossible! How did they get to Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs? The New Land connected to Convict City doesn't lead to the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs!"

Ling Sujun shook her head. "We don't know yet."

Liao Zihui could no longer sit still. If those escapees were spreading beyond the New Land, this could become a serious problem.

"Send some of our key personnel to the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs. Do everything you can to persuade the escapees to go back."

"What about the operation against Li Qi?"

"Put it on hold for now. Deal with Convict City first."

***

At the edge of the Third Ridge in the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs, a figure stood by the boundary line of the New Land, anxiously waiting for news.

It was impossible to tell whether the figure was male or female. The figure stood over two meters tall and had extraordinarily broad shoulders. Three heads sat atop those shoulders. The one in the middle was a woman, the one on the left was a man, and the one on the right was a child.

The wind was bitterly cold. The figure shivered. The child on the right spoke timidly. "Big Sis, I am hungry."

The woman said, "Endure a little longer. Once we reach the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs, there'll be plenty of good food."

The man on the left said, "We only have a little money. How much can we even afford to eat?"

"If it's just the three of us, it should be enough."

The woman turned to look at the forest behind them. Many people were still waiting among the trees, and all of them were hungry too.

The man sighed. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that all three of them sighed. They stood quietly in the snow and continued waiting.

After another hour or so, Pan Dehai slowly appeared before them. "Everyone, you have suffered a great deal. I brought you something to eat as a small gesture. Please don't mind that it isn't much."

A dozen or so sacks of grain appeared on the ground, weighing more than two thousand catties in total.

The child immediately brightened at the sight of the food. The woman looked at Pan Dehai. "Master Pan, can we enter the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs now?"

Pan Dehai shook his head. "I am afraid not."

The man asked, "Then when can we go in?"

Pan Dehai fell silent for a moment. "I am a man of virtue, so there are some things I don't want to hide from you. The truth is that you won't be able to enter the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs at all. Once you have eaten, you will have to find another way."

The woman stared at him in shock. "Master Pan, but you promised us before..."

Pan Dehai sighed. "I only agreed because I was afraid you had nowhere else to go and had already lost all hope. As a man of virtue, I couldn't bear to tell you the truth then."

To put it plainly, he had been afraid that if he told them the truth earlier, they might do something rash out of desperation.

The woman looked completely lost. "Master Pan, why?"

"The Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs has only just managed to enjoy a few peaceful days," Pan Dehai said. "Take my advice and go back where you came from. No one in Puluo Province will dare take you in."

The man clenched his teeth. "Old Pan, you are the one who broke your promise. We have been waiting here for two whole days, starving until we are nearly falling apart. If you don't give us a proper explanation, we are not going anywhere today."

Pan Dehai smiled. "You know perfectly well you have already gone two days without food. So let me give you one more piece of honest advice. If you refuse to leave, I can always find another way to send you on your way."

Author's Note:

PS: Convict City is in Three-Headed Fork. This three-headed figure has appeared before.