Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Mother Fox

Lei the Tiger’s face was turning so dark purple it was nearly black, and Yun Hao felt as if blood might seep from every pore at any moment. The man clutched his own neck in agony, eyes bulging, looking every bit like a ghost. Truly, he was like the hanged spirits Yun Hao had seen in the underworld—exactly the same twisted, ghastly appearance.

Staggering forward a couple of steps, Lei the Tiger tripped over an overturned table and crashed to the ground. Writhing in pain, his exposed skin erupted with one swollen welt after another—dense clusters, like the warty back of a toad.

“He’s possessed!” Hou Junji shrieked and vanished in an instant. Qi Biao was right behind him. Only Lai Shun still showed some conscience, grabbing Yun Hao without a word and dragging him along. But he could at least have taken care—he seized Yun Hao by the collar, nearly choking the life out of him.

Just before Yun Hao suffocated, Hou Junji reappeared. In that short time, it was unclear where he’d found a pitch-black dog, not a speck of any other color on its hide. With a hasty slash, he collected the dog’s blood and rushed to the front courtyard.

When Yun Hao next saw Lei the Tiger, the man was already splattered with blood—his body, face, even his mouth smeared with black dog’s blood. The poor dog lay dead beside him, its head twisted at an unnatural angle.

“Why don’t you go kick him!” Yun Hao said, giving Lai Shun a swift kick himself—after all, the man had nearly strangled him.

“Why don’t you do it?” Lai Shun grumbled, not so simple-minded as he looked. The body of Ma Ying was still lying in the pool of blood—who knew if Lei the Tiger was faking, waiting to ambush them?

“You need to stop being so petty. Just now, I didn’t abandon you—your brother here went to get black dog’s blood to exorcise the evil. Lei the Big Boss is possessed! When Er Danzi was possessed, the priest used black dog’s blood too. Lucky there was a black dog in the back courtyard,” Hou Junji explained, giving Lei the Tiger a hard kick for good measure, sending the man’s bulk rippling like a wave.

“I told you to get knockout powder, not to kill him! This man was important—I needed him to testify against Wu Yuanshuang. Now there’s no witness—how can I deal with that little bastard?” Yun Hao said, clearly annoyed.

“The powder was bought in Luzhou, first time using it, how was I to know if it was poisonous? You think Liu the Sixth, who sold it to me, tricked me?” Hou Junji scratched his head. Street thugs like them always carried knockout powder—just like the ‘Mongolian sweat medicine’ from old tales. No one knew the exact ingredients, but it was supposed to be very effective. Hou Junji had sworn up and down that it could put an ox to sleep for a whole night.

They’d planned to use Lei the Tiger against Wu Yuanshuang, but now the man was dead. Ignoring Hou Junji’s muttering, Yun Hao crouched down to examine the corpse. Lei the Tiger’s body was covered with small welts, his face like the back of a toad—bumpy and grotesque, less frightening than simply repulsive.

Hives? Yun Hao had seen this condition before. Depending on the allergen, a person could have a severe reaction. Usually, hives were a mild allergy, but Lei the Tiger’s situation looked much more serious. Could it be his constitution was allergic to the mysterious knockout powder? Damn it, what rotten luck.

Hey! Wake up! Your mother’s calling you home for dinner.

A perfectly good witness, gone just like that. Yun Hao felt listless and disappointed—the thrill of a successful scheme had all but vanished.

“It’s okay, Brother Hao, Lei the Tiger’s dead but there’s still Monkey!” Lai Shun, ever the simple one, tried to console him.

Yun Hao shot him a look. Lei the Tiger was a known figure in Jinyang, and his testimony would carry weight. Who knew Hou Junji? No one. A nobody, trying to accuse a student of the Imperial Academy and protégé of Prince’s Tutor Li Gang? It was far more likely he’d be silenced than justice would be served.

“Brother Hao, do you know how he died?” Hou Junji now looked at Yun Hao with utter admiration—whenever something puzzled him, Yun Hao always had an answer.

“Basically, you killed him. It’s called an allergy. Strange, but I’ve seen people allergic to pollen—if they went out in spring, they had to cover their faces or their eyes would turn red as rabbits, and their faces would swell up just like his.” Yun Hao gestured helplessly at Lei the Tiger’s corpse. Life rarely went according to plan—there was truth in the old saying: man proposes, heaven disposes.

“There are illnesses like that?”

Staring at two corpses was never pleasant, let alone when both had died so horribly. Yun Hao decided to spend the night in the woodshed; he’d return home after the city gates opened in the morning. Most importantly, there was still a beauty waiting inside. Men, regardless of age, were always powerless before beauty.

“Lei the Tiger is dead? Ma Ying too?” Zhang Miaoke wouldn’t let Yun Hao approach, watching him warily.

“Yes, both of them. How did you know?” Yun Hao was sure she hadn’t left the woodshed—she was like a cautious cat, always hiding in unfamiliar places.

“There’s blood on your clothes. But you don’t look pleased—something happened that you didn’t expect? Let me guess, Lei the Tiger’s death means you can’t implicate my cousin?”

Yun Hao scrutinized Zhang Miaoke, then spoke only after confirming she wasn’t some child prodigy detective: “Your dear cousin Wu Yuanshuang masterminded our kidnapping. Lei the Tiger was the most direct witness. If I handed him to Duke Tang, your cousin would be in serious trouble. But now he’s dead—your cousin will get off lightly, maybe just a beating from his father.”

“Hmph! Even if you’d handed Lei the Tiger over, he would have died mysteriously in prison. My cousin’s mentor is Prince’s Tutor Li Gang, and Duke Tang’s relationship with His Majesty is delicate. He’d never risk offending a well-connected student of the Imperial Academy. So Lei the Tiger’s death was inevitable, sooner or later.”

“When did you get so clever? Tell me, you’re so pretty—are you a fox spirit? Let me see if you have a tail!” Yun Hao joked, reaching for Zhang Miaoke’s backside. Truth be told, he’d long coveted her pert figure—if only she were eighteen, not eight, he’d have taken her already. For a woman as smart as this, you either make her yours or stay well away. That was the hard-won wisdom from sixty years of life in his previous incarnation.

“Smack!” Zhang Miaoke slapped his hand away. “You’re just a kid, already such a little lecher? I should be asking you—did you arrange for those three outside to be planted at Lei the Tiger’s side?”

“No! We just...”

“I see. The dishes they made were your recipes. So when you saw the food in the basket, you recognized your own people, right?”

Yun Hao immediately stood up and scrutinized Zhang Miaoke’s backside. Where was that tail hiding?