Manhunt
Turning to Commander Ho, Li Shih-Yao reined his horse to a stop. “Commander, you should really go back to the camp. What’s the point of running around with us in the wilderness? We’ve already sent out ten thousand men. As long as Chao Hsiao-Hu doesn’t grow wings, he’ll never make it out of the Ch’ing-Yun! You have my word on this.”
Commander Ho glanced around the sky. Seeing that the horizon was already aglow in sunset, he whipped his horse into action again. “Spread my word!” he cried, “I am awarding one thousand silver dollars for Chao Hsiao-Hu’s severed head!”
Li caught up with him with a light kick at his mount. “You might as well just hand the money to me! Since when was Hsiao-Hu’s thick head worth a whole grand?”
Commander Ho’s pale face was flushed in distress. He pointed his whip at Li. “Then why don’t you bring it here!”
Li was a bit displeased by his tone. I’ve just saved your life, he thought. Not only do you not thank me, you’ve got the nerve to give me att.i.tude! The brat could really use a good f.u.c.king!
His thoughts strayed at the last word, and Li felt his heart give a little jitter. He threw Commander Ho a meaningful glance.
Commander Ho hadn’t spared a moment to rest since he sprinted out of the hills. He’d first coerced Li into sending his men—who were just recalled from the site—right back into Ching-Yun, and conducted a very thorough ma.s.sacre in the dark. Failing to locate Hsiao-Hu, he sent the troops into the wilds and in his blinding fury, he’d even joined the hunt personally. This was a first since he’d been enlisted.
Ching-Yun was a small balding hill, which shouldn’t have been hard to search. The men sieved through the hill like it was a basket of rice, but didn’t even catch a glimpse of Hsiao-Hu’s shadow. Weary of suppressing bandits, Li would rather call it a day and go back to whatever they were doing, but Commander Ho refused to even utter the words “pull out”, his eyes vicious like a wildcat’s on its nighttime prowl. Li was almost afraid of getting clawed, so he held his tongue.
When the soldiers made their way down the hills, Commander Ho reined in his horse and inspected his surroundings, spotting a village up ahead.
“What’s that place?” he turned to ask Li.
Li didn’t know, so he turned to ask a soldier. An answer immerged only after a long chain of questioning—the village was called Gu-w.a.n.g, and it was the richest one in the area.
Commander Ho thought the name sounded familiar. After a brief moment of contemplation, he remembered Hsiao-Hu mentioning a blind fortune teller from Gu-w.a.n.g, who said that a man twice touched by death was destined to great fortune and prestige.
Commander Ho gripped the reins tightly. Great fortune and prestige? Worthless b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I’ll give you fortune and prestige!
Li had stayed up all night, and was in the middle of a wide yawn when Commander Ho’s chilling voice began: “Judging from their distance to Ch’ing-Yun, the villagers are probably accomplices of the bandits. Perhaps Hsiao-Hu is hiding there at this very moment! I’d rather kill a thousand in vain than let that one escape. Let’s go!”
Li Shih-Yao’s division were supposed to be only pa.s.sing by, and was therefore not planning to profit en route. But since Commander Ho had already given the order, the soldiers were happy to make a small fortune at the opportunity.
Commander Ho rounded up the inhabitants of the village, and made his way in front of the ma.s.s.
“Who knows the whereabouts of Chao Hsiao-Hu of Ch’ing-Yun?” he began, leaning on a rifle.
The villagers gave him terrified but blank stares. After a moment of silence, a bearded elderly man stepped out of the crowd and gave Commander Ho a deep bow. Straightening only halfway up, he stared respectfully at the ground as he delivered his answer. “Master Commander, I’m the head of the village. Chao Hsiao-Hu is a bandit up in the mountains—he’s got no business with us. We don’t know anything about his whereabouts either.”
Commander Ho gave a frosty laugh. “No business you say? I heard you’ve got blind sod who told Hsiao-Hu’s fortune, said he’s destined to great fortune and prestige! Where is he?”
The elder turned to the crowd apprehensively, then immediately switched to a menacing expression. “Which of you have told fortune?” he roared. “Get out here this moment and answer to Master Commander.”
“Old Chao used to tell fortune, but he drowned in the latrine last month,” a man in the crowd answered timidly.
Commander Ho waved Li over. “Pick out a few women,” he ordered quietly. “Kill the rest.”
Li glanced at him with a smirk, knowing that he was just venting his anger.
On this bright and sunny morning, only a dozen of finer-looking young women had been spared out of two thousand villagers.
The women were tied naked to the backs of horses. The soldiers had already took their turns with them, and the women’s distended bellies were filled with their seed. The soldier would be transporting them back to the camp as war trophies of sorts.
Hsiao-Hu’s undeniable absence put Commander Ho on an agitated edge. Gu-w.a.n.g had been cleared out and set on fire. Flames surged into the sky, and quickly devoured the entire village.
The Village of Gu-w.a.n.g was no more.
Commander Ho did not see the fields of bodies nor the rivers of blood. He only knew that he didn’t find Hsiao-Hu, and was therefore angry and distressed.
Li was exhausted. “How about we head back for some rest?” he urged Commander Ho, trying to hold back his yawns. “I know he held you prisoner for a few days, but it’s not like he’s feasted on your flesh! We’ve already burned down his village, isn’t that enough? Let’s get some rest, we still have a journey to make.”
Commander Ho gave him a whip on the back.
The troops withdrew from the h.e.l.lish site that was once Gu-w.a.n.g, traveling around Ch’ing-Yun as they headed for Horse Dung Kiln.
Its unsavoury name aside, the village was appropriately desolate and remote; it could hardly be deemed a settlement. As they approached, Commander Ho and his men gave a collective cry of alarm.
Somebody had already gone through the place.
The houses hadn’t been burnt down, but no lives had been spared. The village only had about ten families, all huddled in a few cottages on a small clearing next to the hill. Commander Ho dismounted, scanning through the littered corpses before him. He let out a sudden sigh, and turned to Li. “Chao Hsiao-Hu’s work.”
Li wasn’t tired anymore; he was starving. “My Commander, let’s go back,” he said, sure that he could see stars. “We can’t just kill all day without food!”
Commander Ho glanced up at the sky. “I must kill him.”
“My Commander! Why don"t we go kill him after we’ve had something to eat? Listen to my stomach, it’s rumbling like thunder!”
Commander Ho sighed, feeling a bit weary himself. But as he turned to get back on his horse, a small whimper rose from the pile of corpses.
Commander Ho froze, and looked back to the source of the sound.
Li Shih-Yao was faint with hunger as he made his way back to camp and wolfed down two solid bowls of rice. Sated, he wiped his mouth before stretching out his legs and letting out a satisfied sigh.
He snapped his fingers and called over an orderly. “What’s the Commander doing?”
The small orderly grinned cheerfully. “The Commander got the kid cleaned up. He sure looks skinny, but he’s already fifteen!”
Li shut his eyes briefly. What kind of hobby was digging up half-dead brats out of corpse piles? Last time he’d gotten a Chao Hsiao-Hu, who ended up kidnapping him. Not only did he not learn from that lesson, he’d gone and picked up another dying little wretch. What was he hoping to get out of this?
Due to yet another internet crackdown, the online version of Niluo’s original novel has been locked and taken down. Those Who Must Not Be Named haven’t given anyone an explanation, but I have an inkling that it probably has something to do with politics and paychecks. On second thought, I actually know this because divine powers spoke to me in my dream and fed me strawberries that tasted like censorship. The English translation will continue, hopefully before the irony of the whole situation drives me to an early grave.