CLX Book 4 Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – The Shadow of the God of Death

No blood was visible on the body. The two men’s faces were also very serene, as if they died very peacefully and did not suffer any pain. _{Translated by foxs}

Hai Kuotian untied their clothes, only to find that there was a light red palm print on the middle of their back. Obviously, with a single palm strike, the two men’s heart meridian was jolted and broke and they died.

Hu Tiehua exhaled slowly and blurted out, “What a formidable palm power!”

The palm prints were one left and one right. Obviously they were killed by only one person, and he struck left and right at the same time.

But the depth of the palm prints was about the same, obviously the palm strength of that person’s left and right hands was also about the same.

Chu Liuxiang said, “It appears to be a martial art skill like Zhusha Zhang [cinnabar (or vermillion sand) palm].”

“That’s right,” Hu Tiehua said, “Only the palm prints left by Zhusha Zhang are light red.”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Although this name Zhusha Zhang everybody knows, the secret xinfa to train this kind of palm power has been lost long time ago. In the past twenty or thirty years, I have never heard of any Zhusha Zhang master in Jianghu.”

Hu Tiehua said, “I have only heard of one ‘Dan Zhang Zhui Hun’ [Lone Palm Chasing the Soul] Lin Bin who practiced Zhusha Zhang, but that was many, many years ago. Lin Bin has been dead for a long time now, and I have never heard of him having a direct disciple.” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

“That’s right,” Chu Liuxiang said, “Dan Zhang Zhui Hun! In the past, most Zhusha Zhang practitioners could only train one hand, but this person trained both hands, plus he had trained well, which is even rarer.”

Hai Kuotian suddenly said, “It is said that people who practice Zhusha Zhang have distinctive features on their hands.”

Chu Liuxiang said, “At the beginning of the training, indeed the hollow of the palm would turn red, but after mastering it, it will ‘regain its natural state’; only when it is being used that the hollow of the palm will show cinnabar color. Ordinarily it is invisible.”

Hai Kuotian spoke hoarsely, “Since that is the case, apart from you and me, it is possible that any other people have killed them.”

Zhang San said, “Except for only one person.”

“Who?” Hai Kuotian asked.

Zhang San replied, “Jin Lingzhi.”

Hai Kuotian said, “How can you be sure?” _{Translated by foxs}

Zhang San, “Look at this palm print, you can tell that this man’s hand is very big, it can’t be a woman’s hand.”

Laughing coldly, Hu Tiehua said, “Obtaining other people’s money, avoid calamities for others. Jin Lingzhi bought you, it was a money well spent.”

Hai Kuotian said, “But women can also have big hands. According to physiognomy, a woman with big hands is bound to be rich and noble. Isn’t Jin Guniang precisely among the rich and noble?”

Zhang San spoke coldly, “Turns out Hai Bangzhu can also tell fortune by reading people’s facial featured. It is said that murderers must have ferocious appearance, I wonder if Hai Bangzhu could see it?”

Before Hai Kuotian could respond, suddenly they heard another scream. This cry seemed to come from the deck above. Although it was far away, it was shrill and sharp, so that everyone could hear it clearly. Hai Kuotian’s countenance changed again, he turned around and rushed upstairs.

Hu Tiehua heaved a sigh, he said, “It looks like this boat is indeed plagued with misfortunes, to get off the boat alive is indeed not easy.”

Chu Liuxiang suddenly picked up something from the front piece of Wang Dezhi clothes, he spoke in heavy voice, “Can you guys see what this is?”

What he held in his hand was unexpectedly a pearl the size of a longan.

Immediately Zhang San’s countenance changed, he blurted out, “This is the pearl I stole from Jin Guniang.”

“Are you sure?” Chu Liuxiang said. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

“Absolutely sure,” Zhang San said, “I am an expert in pearls.”

He wiped his sweat, and went on, “But how could Jin Guniang’s pearl be on this dead man?”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Presumably she was not being careful and it fell here.”

Zhang San spoke in shock, “In that case, could it be that Jin Lingzhi is the murderer?”

Chu Liuxiang did not answer the question, but his eyes were still showing contemplative expression. He carefully put the pearl away, and went up the stairs in large strides.

Hu Tiehua patted Zhang San on the shoulder, he said, “If the master is the murderer, then the slave is the accomplice. You be careful.”

By the time Hu Tiehua and the others stepped onto the deck, the stern was already full of people. Jin Lingzhi, Ding Feng, Gou Zichang, Gongsun Jieyu, and Bai Lazhu, all have arrived.

Xiang Tianfei who was at the helm was gone, but there was a pool of blood on the deck. The bloodstain was dark red, it had not dried completely. _{Translated by foxs}

Emotionally moved, Hu Tiehua said, “It’s Xiang Tianfei! Could it be that he has encountered poisonous hands? But where is his body?”

Hai Kuotian’s eyes turned red, he suddenly spoke sternly, “Qian Feng, Lu Changji, aren’t you two supposed to be on duty at the helm today?”

Two men stepped out from the crowd, bowed and said, “Yes.”

Hai Kuotian spoke angrily, “Where did you two go?”

Qian Feng spoke in a trembling voice, “Xiang Er Ye [Second Master] ordered us to go further away. If we did not go, Xiang Er Ye would glare and get angry, he might even beat people, so we did not dare not to go away.”

Lu Changji said, “But we did not dare to go far, so we just went that way to help Sun Laosan [Ol’ Three] packing up the mooring rope.”

Hai Kuotian said, “Did you hear anything just now?”

Qian Feng said, “When we heard the scream, we rushed over immediately, but before we arrived, we heard the sound of ‘Splash!’, and when we looked at Xiang Er Ye, we already did not see him.”

Everybody looked at each other, they all understood in their hearts that the ‘Splash!’ noise must be the sound of Xiang Tianfei’s body falling into the water.

Everyone already knew that Xiang Tianfei must be everything bodes ill, no positive signs [idiom: everything points to disaster]. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Hai Kuotian and Xiang Tianfei have known each other for many years, his eyes were about to shed tears, he spoke hoarsely, “Er Di [Second (younger) Brother], it was me who harmed you, I shouldn’t have dragged you here …”

Ding Feng spoke softly, “Hai Bangzhu, no need to be too sad. Before the body is found, no one could determine who had died. Besides, Xiang Er Ye’s martial art skill is very high, how could he easily encounter poisonous hands?”

Zhang San said, “It hasn’t been long since the body fell into the water, I’ll go down and see if I can still fish him up.”

At this time, the boat was approaching the sea, the waves were surging. But without the slightest hesitation Zhang San leaped up and jumped into the water like a big fish.

Hai Kuotian immediately shouted, “Reduce speed, stop the boat, and count the number of people!”

Amidst his shout, the sailors had all dispersed. The Purple Whale Gang subordinates were indeed well-trained, although they had suddenly undergone great changes, they still did not panic and remained calm. _{Translated by foxs}

The boat slowed down immediately. Only to hear the sound of roll call and incessant shouting.

After half a day, that Qian Feng hurried back again, he bowed and said, “Except for Wang Dezhi and Li Debiao, everyone else is here, no one is missing.”

Everybody else was there, naturally the one who died was Xiang Tianfei!

Hai Kuotian suddenly knelt down in front of the pool of blood.

[The following was from ‘different’ source:] Ding Feng’s eyes flashing, he spoke in heavy voice, “How high Xiang Er Ye’s is, I am quite familiar; I don’t believe someone might be able to harm him just like that, because Jianghu people who can kill him are indeed very few.”

When he said that, his gaze swept across everyone, starting from Gou Zichang, to Chu Liuxiang, Hu Tiehua, and Bai Lazhu. But he did not stop at Gongsun Jieyu and Jin Lingzhi at all. Obviously, he implicitly stated that the person who could kill Xiang Tianfei was only one of these four men.

Laughing coldly, Hu Tiehua said, “How high Ding Gongzi’s martial art is, not only I am quite clear, it is also very clear to everybody. When this accident happened, I wonder where Ding Gongzi was?”

What he said was obvious, he was simply pointing his finger at Ding Feng as the murderer.

Ding Feng calmly answered, “I was asleep on the bed.” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Hu Tiehua said, “Gou Xiong is sleeping in the same room, surely you saw him?”

Looking awkward, Gou Zichang stammered, “At that time … at that time I went out to pee, I was not in the room.”

Suddenly Chu Liuxiang said, “Actually, the person who killed Xiang Er Ye may not necessarily have higher martial art skill.”

Hu Tiehua said, “If his martial art skill is not higher than his, how could he kill him?”

Chu Liuxiang said, “It could be that Xiang Er Ye did not expect the person to kill him, hence he did not guard against him, therefore, he fell into the murderer’s poisonous hands.”

Looking up to the sky, Hai Kuotian spoke hatefully, “That’s right, when two people fight, they must make some noises, Qian Feng and the others would have heard them. But because this person killed him quietly, no one heard any strange noise.”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Precisely so, therefore, anyone on this ship could be Xiang Er Ye’s killer.”

Ding Feng glowered at Gou Zichang, he coldly said, “But others do not have any enmity towards Xiang Er Ye, why would they attack treacherously?” _{Translated by foxs}

Gou Zichang angrily said, “Why are you staring at me? Do you think he and I have a grudge?”

Ding Feng spoke indifferently, “At the San He Lou, Gou Xiong had some friction with Xiang Er Ye, luckily I was not the only one who had seen it.”

Hai Kuotian also glowered at Gou Zichang, as if he already considered Gou Zichang as the killer!

Gou Zichang’s face turned red from anger, he spoke loudly, “I only said I wanted to test his skill, not to kill him.”

Ding Feng coldly said, “Whether Gou Xiong wanted to take his life or not, only Gou Xiong know. Besides, when Xiang Er Ye was killed, we still don’t know where Gou Xiong went.”

Gou Zichang angrily said, “I told you already that at that time I went out to pee …”

Ding Feng said, “Where did you pee?

Gou Zichang said, “Naturally at the lavatory, could it be that I can pee in front of you?”

Ding Feng said, “Did anybody see you?”

Gou Zichang said, “No one saw me, at that time, there was no one else at the lavatory.”

Laughing coldly, Ding Feng said, “Gou Xiong was neither too late nor too early, you just happen to be going to the lavatory when Xiang Er Ye was killed. Also, it so happens that no one else was in the lavatory … hey, hey, what a coincidence, what a coincidence.” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Gou Zichang roared, “How would I know when I would need to pee? How would I know that there would be no one in the lavatory …”

Suddenly Chu Liuxiang said, “Gou Xiong does not need to worry, the fact is, Gou Xiong is not the murderer!”

Ding Feng said, “The fact? What fact”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Not only the murderer killed in secret, he was also very close to Xiang Er Ye. Since Gou Xiong has had a big feud with Xiang Er Ye, how could he allow Gou Xiong to even come near him?”

“That’s right,” Gou Zichang said, “If he saw me near him, I’m afraid he would immediately jump at me.”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Look here, the blood splattered everywhere on the deck. If the murderer stood close to Xiang Er Ye, the blood would definitely splash on his clothes.”

He looked at Gou Zichang and continued, “But Gou Xiong’s clothes are actually very clean and neat. Even if he changed his clothes after the murder, he could not have done it that quickly.” _{Translated by foxs}

“That’s right,” Gou Zichang said, “As soon as I heard that scream, I rushed over immediately, how could I have the time to change clothes?”

Suddenly Jin Lingzhi said, “I can bear witness on that, when I came here, he was already here.”

Chu Liuxiang said, “No matter who, the murderer definitely did not have enough time to change clothes, so the only thing he could do was probably to toss it into the water, or hide it in secret somewhere.”

Laughing coldly, Hu Tiehua said, “In that case, that murderer must be sloppily-dressed at this moment.”

When he said this, he fixed his gaze on Ding Feng, who was only wearing short pants without any long robe.

Ding Feng calmly said, “I don’t normally wear long robes when I go to sleep.”

“That’s right,” Jin Lingzhi said, “Nobody goes to sleep in formal clothes. As soon as I heard the scream, I also rushed over immediately, I did not put on any dress. Could I be the murderer?”

She was also wearing only short pants without socks, so her a pair of snow-white feet was exposed.

Staring at her feet, Hu Tiehua spoke leisurely, “Since this is a messy affair, everybody is under suspicion, even a rich person is not an exception. A rich person can still kill people, wouldn’t Jin Guniang agree?” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Jin Lingzhi was about to lash out on him, but realizing where Hu Tiehua’s eyes were staring at, her face suddenly turned red, unconsciously she retreated, trying to hide her feet, unexpectedly she forgot to curse him.

By this time Zhang San had raised his head above the water and said loudly, “I could not find him, there is really nothing at all, not even dead fish, much less dead person?”

Hai Kuotian tossed out a long rope, he said, “In any case, Zhang Xiong had done your best, the sea has claimed Xiang Er Di’s life, I am deeply grateful. The river water is too dangerous, Zhang Xiong, please come up quickly!”

The sun was shining brightly.

After returning to the cabin and closing the door, Hu Tiehua immediately grabbed Chu Liuxiang’s collar and said, “You, this kid did not tell us the truth, did you? Do you think you can really deceive Hu Xiansheng [Mr. Hu]?”

Blurted out laughing, Chu Liuxiang said, “Who lied to you? Have you gone mad?”

Glowering at him, Hu Tiehua said, “You didn’t lie to me? Before Yun Conglong died, he wanted you to drink that cup of wine for him. I am very sure there was something in that cup, why did you say there was nothing?” _{Translated by foxs}

Zhang San had changed into the dry clothes provided by Hai Kuotian, he was lying comfortably on the bed; lifting his feet and laughing leisurely, he said, “Some people said that Hu Tiehua is really a big idiot, originally I did not want to believe it, but now I know that it is not a false statement.”

Hu Tiehua said, “You’re just releasing your dog’s smelly fart, what do you know?”

Zhang San said, “What about you? What do you know? You know fart? Other people did not want to tell you the truth, it was because Hai Kuotian was there. What kind of fart were you smelling?”

Hu Tiehua said, “So what if Hai Kuotian was there? I don’t think he is a bad person. Moreover, he is on our side, why must we hide the truth from him?”

Zhang San sighed and said, “I originally thought you would at least understand something, turns out you do not understand a single thing. Hai Kuotian only took you to look at some very nice wine, and now you are willing to lay down your life for him.”

Laughing coldly, Hu Tiehua said, “I am not like you; you seem to be terribly suspicious and fearful to everyone. According to you, who in this world you can really trust?”

Zhang San said, “Nobody. I don’t even trust myself, so how could I trust somebody else?”

Hu Tiehua coldly said, “At least you are very honest, not like this old stinky bug.”

Zhang San said, “You really fully trust Hai Kuotian?” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Hu Tiehua said, “He told us everything, not concealing anything.”

Laughing coldly, Zhang San said, “When one goes fishing, he must use a bait, how do you know that Hai Kuotian told us those things not as a bait?”

Hu Tiehua said, “Bait? What is he trying to fish?”

Zhang San said, “He wanted to fish for our knowledge, naturally he must speak first to gain our trust. Actually, all his analysis can be deduced easily, others can also guess correctly, there was nothing new or special in what he said.”

Without waiting for Hu Tiehua to respond, he went on, “As for those six coffins, nobody knew who actually sent them? Perhaps it was he himself.”

Hu Tiehua’s hand on Chu Liuxiang’s collar slowly loosened.

It was only this moment that Chu Liuxiang laughed and said, “That’s right, nobody on this ship is deaf or blind. If some people could deliver six coffins like they were ghosts, that was just simply impossible, only he …”

Hu Tiehua spoke loudly, “But he can’t possibly be the person who killed Xiang Tianfei. When Xiang Tianfei was killed, obviously he was with us?” _{Translated by foxs}

“Mm hmm,” Chu Liuxiang said.

Hu Tiehua said, “According to you, Gou Zichang cannot be the killer, then the biggest suspicion falls on Jin Lingzhi, Ding Feng and Gongsun Jieyu.”

“That’s right,” Chu LiuXiang said.

Hu Tiehua said, “To deliver the six coffins in secret, although it was not easy, but these three people are rich beyond dreams. As the saying goes, ‘rich people can even raise up the dead’; when one is rich, there is nothing one cannot do?”

Chu Liuxiang said, “But other than these three people, there are also two men who are prime suspects.”

“Who?” Hu Tiehua asked.

Chu Liuxiang replied, “The helmsmen Qian Feng and Lu Changji!”

Hu Tiehua said, “With their skill, they could kill Xiang Tianfei?”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Since today they were on duty at the helm, Xiang Tianfei would definitely not suspect them. Moreover, Xiang Tianfei was a haughty person, naturally he would not suspect them. Therefore, no one else had greater opportunity to kill Xiang Tianfei quietly.”

Zhang San said, “Also, because they are insignificant figures, nobody really paid them any attention. Therefore, after committing the murder, they would have enough time to change their clothes.” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Chu Liuxiang said, “Perhaps Hai Kuotian stayed with us just to obtain the alibi that he was not Xiang Tianfei’s killer, to show us that he could not possibly be the killer.”

Zhang San said, “But this actually cannot prove that he did not arrange to have someone else kill Xiang Tianfei.”

Hu Tiehua said, “In that case, you think that he is the murderer?”

Zhang San said, “I did not say that he is the murderer, but that he is not beyond suspicion either.”

Laughing coldly, Hu Tiehua said, “In my opinion, the prime suspect is Jin Lingzhi.”

“Oh?” Zhang San said.

Hu Tiehua said, “If she was not the murderer, how come her big pearl was on Li Debiao’s body?”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Everybody can be a suspect, in my opinion, it is still too early to tell who the real murderer is.” _{Translated by foxs}

Hu Tiehua said, “If you think it is too early, when do you think you will know for sure?”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Whoever the murderer is, he must have a purpose. Therefore, we need to find out first what the purpose is.”

“That’s true,” Hu Tiehua said.

Chu Liuxiang said, “No matter how formidable the murderer is, after committing the crime, he would at least leave some clues and trails to follow. All we need to do is to wait until he reveals those clues.”

Sneering, Hu Tiehua said, “You mean, the current clues are not enough, so that you have to wait until he kills a few more people, is that right?”

Heaving a sigh, Chu Liuxiang said, “I just hope that when he was about to kill, we will be able to catch him first.”

Hu Tiehua said, “But if he does not kill anymore, wouldn’t that mean we cannot catch him, ever?”

Chu Liuxiang smiled and said, “Don’t forget, there are still empty coffins; before those coffins are full, he is not going to stop.” [End of ‘different’ source]

Hu Tiehua was silent for half a day, he said, “In that case, who do you think his second target is?” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Chu Liuxiang said, “It’s hard to say … Maybe it’s you, or maybe it’s me.”

Hu Tiehua said, “In that case, while we have not died yet, hurry up and show that thing to us.”

Chu Liuxiang laughed, he said, “This man really has shifty eyes, there is indeed something in that cup of wine.”

Zhang San could not help asking, “What exactly is it?”

Chu Liuxiang said, “It’s a wax pill, there is a drawing inside the wax pill.”

Hu Tiehua asked, “What drawing?”

Chu Liuxiang said, “I spent half a day looking at it, but I can’t figure out what the drawing is.”

It was a picture of a bat. There are squiggly lines drawn around the bat, plus many large and small black dots, on the upper left corner there is a circle, the circle has lines coming out like it was shining.

Chu Liuxiang said, “These squiggly lines seem to represent flowing water.”

“Hmm,” Zhang San said, “That makes sense.” _{Translated by foxs}

Chu Liuxiang said, “This circle looks like the sun.”

“That’s right,” Zhang San said.

Hu Tiehua said, “But what are these large and small black dots?”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Perhaps the reef in the water …”

Hu Tiehua said, “Under the sun, in the flowing water, and among the rocks, there is a bat … What does this mean? It really confuses people to death.”

Chu Liuxiang said, “There is naturally a deep meaning behind it, and naturally it is a big secret, otherwise Yun Conglong would not have cautiously entrusted it to me before his death.”

Hu Tiehua said, “Why didn’t he just explain it? Why did he play this charade?”

Chu Liuxiang said, “At that time, he practically did not have any chance to speak …”

Hu Tiehua quickly said, “That’s right, that day in San He Lou, I also felt that he was a bit humming and hawing, also speaking a bit hesitantly, moreover, he was simply somewhat talking without rhyme or reason, he even used the four-character ‘fish bone stuck in one’s throat’ wrongly.”

Zhang San asked, “What do you mean using it wrongly?”

Hu Tiehua said, “The four-character ‘fish bone stuck in one’s throat’ originally describe a person who has a burden in his heart and have to pour out what’s on his mind, but he used these four characters to describe himself being unable continue drinking; it was a big mistake.” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Blurted out laughing, Zhang San said, “Yun Conglong was not an old three-family village teacher, using the wrong allusion is not a strange thing. Only a learned person like Hu Xiansheng would haggle over every ounce [idiom: to fuss over minor matters], would bite words and chew characters [idiom: punctilious about minutiae of wording].”

Chu Liuxiang laughed and said, “In the past two years, it looks like Xiao Hu has indeed read not a few of books. As long as a person can still read books, he will not become without future prospects too much.”

Hu Tiehua angrily said, “What are you talking about? Every time I want to talk about something serious, you talk nonsense.”

Chu Liuxiang chuckled, suddenly he leaped to the door in one step, and pulled it open, unexpectedly there was indeed someone standing at the door.