Gu Jun was panting heavily, slowly releasing the stone, propping himself up with his arms, and rolling to the side to lie flat on the ground. The surroundings were silent, and the darkness seemed to become tangible, inch by inch, wrapping around him. He trembled as he cut the hemp rope on his feet, using both hands and feet to crawl up and check Zhao Shuilai’s breath and pulse. No breath, no pulse. The person was truly dead.
The world spun, the scenery blurred, and Gu Jun’s overheated mind gradually returned to normal, becoming calm.
What should one do after killing someone? If you don’t want to be caught and sentenced to death, the most important thing to do after killing someone is to destroy the body. Ordinary flames have a temperature of about 3200 degrees, which can’t completely burn away a body, not to mention the noise it would make; burying it in the ground is not an option without digging tools; there are no wild beasts howling in the forest, proving there are no wild beasts here to help dispose of the body, so…
It was the fourteenth, the sky was pitch black, the moon nearly full, the distant mountains’ contours clear, rising and falling like the back of a wild beast. A body only stiffens several hours after death. In the unnoticed forest, Gu Jun grabbed Zhao Shuilai’s arm, dragging him like a dead dog into the darkness. The blood was so thick it was ridiculous, dripping down his fingers, staining the gray-yellow soil, changing its color in an instant. It was incredibly deep.
After a moment, Gu Jun returned. The lampshade burned to ashes, the flames licking the solid frame of the lamp, making a “puff” sound. He picked up a candle, walked around the area, found the blood-stained soil, and used his fingers as a shovel to turn up the soil, mixing it with the lampshade ashes, and wrapped it in the hem of his clothes. He walked out of the forest, crossed several hills, and came to a nearby river, throwing the soil into it. Then he placed the candle in a safe spot, squatted down, and carefully cleaned the blood from his hands, face, and clothes with the river water. The night river water was particularly cold, stinging slightly when splashed on his hands.
It was only then that Gu Jun noticed the candle wax that had dripped down, burning his hand and the back of his hand. He was stunned. Suddenly, tears streamed down his face. “It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s just killing someone, not the first time.” Gu Jun’s jawline tightened, slowly wiping away the tears, scooping up river water, and splashing it on his face. The transparent water quickly soaked his loose hair, flowing down his delicate and well-defined features, creating several ripples on the river surface with a “plop” sound. He washed away all the bloodstains, grabbed a clean part of his clothes, wiped the water from his wounds, and went back to find the constables.
He chose the original route. Unless a criminal has an exceptional mindset or is extremely bold, they rarely return to the crime scene shortly after committing a crime. Gu Jun walked quickly on the street, it was almost curfew, and there was no one around, the shops were packing up, preparing to close. A nearly terrifying atmosphere spread around him, Gu Jun wasn’t sure if it was an illusion caused by him killing someone, so he quickened his pace.
The Huayang Tavern was close by, a few constables, reeking of alcohol, staggered out. Just as Gu Jun was about to ask for help, a warm, dry hand silently reached his neck, grabbing his collar and stopping him in his tracks. Gu Jun stiffly turned his head, his mind full of strategies for dealing with misjudgments. He saw a familiar person, and all his ferocity dissipated. He grabbed the person’s arm, both surprised and relieved, and said with a smile, “You’re okay?!”
Lin Yue: “I’m fine.”
“That’s good.” Gu Jun said “that’s good” twice, “Those people weren’t here to cause you trouble?” Gu Jun said, raising his eyes to meet the other’s gaze, realizing the other was scrutinizing him. The cold eyes were as sharp as a bone-scraping knife. Gu Jun felt as if he was being seen through, he maintained his composure and carefully asked, “What’s wrong?”
Lin Yue raised his hand. Gu Jun instinctively took a step back. Lin Yue’s fingers landed on his temple, brushing aside the wet hair, and then dropped to the darkened collar. “What did you do? Why are you so wet, it’s not even hot.”
Gu Jun’s heart, which was about to jump out of his chest, calmed down. “I was worried about you, so worried I couldn’t calm down, so I washed my face with cold water.”
Lin Yue said, “Did you hide in someone’s house?”
It’s not surprising he asked this, this is a county town, water can’t be used freely, to use it, you either have to pay for it or go to a resident’s house. Considering Gu Jun’s character and the previous situation, it’s very normal to conclude he hid in someone’s house. Gu Jun said, “Yes.”
Gu Jun lowered his eyes, “You told me to find a safe place to hide and wait for you to find me, I really didn’t know where to hide, in a panic, I hid in a household. That family was very kind, they invited me to sit, and gave me hot soup.” In this era, hot soup is different from modern hot soup, it refers to hot water. Gu Jun added, “They told me to rest, saying you would be safe, but I couldn’t stop worrying about you, so I came out, I heard the constables are very skilled, I wanted to ask them for help.”
Lin Yue smiled at this point, and said, “Luckily I found you in time, otherwise you’d be drinking the northwest wind tomorrow.”
Gu Jun tugged at his sleeve, saying seriously, “Life is more important than anything.”
Lin Yue said, “Indeed.”
Gu Jun laughed along with him. The next moment, Lin Yue stopped smiling, his expression completely restrained. Gu Jun’s heart sank, a bad premonition arose, and sure enough. Lin Yue said in a calm voice, “You’re more disobedient than I thought.”
The atmosphere was grand. He was criticizing him. Gu Jun said, “I…”
Lin Yue said, “It’s almost curfew, you’re a little lady, running around the streets, what if something happens? Not to mention, what if the constables have ill intentions, what would you do? You know, life is more important than anything. Luckily nothing happened, otherwise, you’d leave a mess for me, and I wouldn’t know how to clean it up.”
Gu Jun heard most of it, and he was furious, “I don’t need you to clean up my mess, I can handle it myself. Besides, I was worried about you, afraid something happened to you, and now you’re blaming me!”
Lin Yue glanced at the left alley, frowning, “I’m not blaming you, I’m reasoning with you, to prevent you from doing something stupid again in the future.”
“Stupid?!” Gu Jun’s voice rose in anger, “Fine! Then I’m stupid! In the future, if something like this happens, even if you beg me, I won’t do it, I’ll just watch you die, and if there’s a chance, I’ll help you collect your body, wrap you in a straw mat, let the wild cats and dogs eat you, repay the heavens.”
Lin Yue shouted, “What nonsense are you talking about!”
Gu Jun realized he had gone too far, he shouldn’t have said such things. He pressed his lips tightly, after a moment, squeezed out a sentence from between his lips, “Let’s go back, if we don’t, the curfew will start, and we’ll both be arrested and thrown in jail.”
He didn’t listen to what the other would say next, turned around, and left. Lin Yue shook his head lightly, feeling helpless. At this moment, a few people walked out of the alley, Gu Jun caught sight of their figures from the corner of his eye, alarm bells rang, he turned and grabbed Lin Yue, urgently saying, “Let’s go!”
The other, however, didn’t move, as if rooted to the spot. Gu Jun couldn’t pull him away, “They’re here!”
Lin Yue said, “I know.”
“You know and still…”
Those people walked over, Gu Jun gritted his teeth, let go of his hand, and said, “You’re having an episode, now you can’t leave even if you want to!”
“It’s okay.” Lin Yue said.
Gu Jun looked at him, “What do you mean it’s okay?”
.
Time had to rewind an hour earlier. In the crowded, narrow alley, the middle-aged man couldn’t wait to make a move, Lin Yue tilted his head to avoid it, while grabbing the fist coming at him. The other two saw this and immediately tried to pin him down. He instinctively pulled the middle-aged man, pushing him towards the two, while his toes touched the ground, spinning to the side. The series of actions were smooth and fluid. An ordinary person couldn’t easily do this, Lin Yue realized he had practiced martial arts before.
Before this, Lin Yue looked at his strong body, thinking he was just a scholar who focused on long-term planning or wasn’t good at studying. In the Xuan Dynasty, civil and military were separate, most scholars were physically weak due to burying themselves in study, but to go further and better, a strong body was necessary. As the son of a teacher, he must be a scholar, his strong body was either due to being forced or voluntarily focusing on long-term planning, exercising daily, or not being good at studying, running around during study, and training himself. Lin Yue leaned towards the former, he didn’t think he was a mediocre person.
These speculations, he didn’t verify with Gu Jun, trust is like sand, it scatters with a blow, he also had some doubts about Gu Jun. Once he had a certain number in his heart, he would verify with the other, but these wouldn’t be verifications, they would be tests of the other. If the other’s answer didn’t match the one in his heart, it would be intriguing unless the other had clear evidence to prove he wasn’t lying.
Thoughts rolled like tides, Lin Yue looked at the three who had collided and fallen into a heap. The middle-aged man quickly got up, looking at his movements, the other hadn’t practiced martial arts, just had brute strength. Perhaps in fights, he had never been frustrated, at this moment, he was extremely angry, his face flushed, neck thick, veins bulging. With a low roar, he punched again. Lin Yue didn’t want to entangle with him, dodging several times. The middle-aged man said indignantly, “You kid only knows how to dodge?!”
Lin Yue caught his hands and feet, saying, “I think we can have a good talk.”
The middle-aged man sneered, “We could talk before, but not now.” Twisting his body, breaking free from the restraint, attacking again. The other two also attacked at this time. Lin Yue understood these people had to be knocked down to become sensible. He no longer held back, quickly knocking them down, squatting down, and asking the middle-aged man, “Can we have a good talk now?”
The middle-aged man covered his nose, but blood flowed from between his fingers, he grunted, “What do you want to talk to me about?”