Chapter Sixty-One: Searching for the Mark

Zhang Xuan saw that the pit was almost finished and called out to the others who were digging or gathering firewood, “Alright, this pit is about done. Help me push these people in, so we don’t attract attention when more people arrive. There are so many bodies—it wouldn’t look good if anyone else saw.” With that, he started moving the corpses into the pit himself, muttering as he worked, “Brother, remember to avenge your grievances, settle your scores. I’m giving you a chance to rest in peace—dust to dust, earth to earth. You should thank me, and don’t repay kindness with resentment!” Each time he moved a corpse, he would say something similar, always ending with a pious “Amitabha.”

Zhao Ding and Zhao Yun, hearing Zhang Xuan, came over, surveyed the finished pit, and joined in moving the corpses, though they did so quietly, without Zhang Xuan’s outspoken comments.

Once all the bodies had been moved, Zhang Xuan had the collected firewood piled on top. He then asked Yang Hu to light a torch using a fire striker. Zhang Xuan had intended to do it himself but, after several failed attempts, cheerfully gave up. Once the torch was lit, Zhang Xuan handed it to Zhao Ding for him to set the fire. When everything was ready, Zhao Ding tossed the torch onto the pile. Thus, today’s “misunderstanding” was put on a temporary pause with this fire. As for what would happen next, only time would tell.

Zhang Xuan, Yuwen Chengdu, and Yang Hu stood together, watching the flames. Yang Hu’s eyes suddenly grew moist. Zhang Xuan noticed and gently patted his shoulder. “The dead have gone, or perhaps they’re watching over you from somewhere. Living well is the best answer you can give them.” Yang Hu wiped his tears and replied, “Xuan, I know, I’m alright. Just feeling a bit sentimental. Sorry you had to see me like this.”

A man only sheds tears when truly grieved.

While Zhang Xuan and the others were dealing with the “corpses,” Uncle Yang reached the last marked spot Zhang Xuan had left. After walking ahead some distance and failing to find any new marks, Uncle Yang searched back and forth, growing worried that something might have happened to Zhang Xuan and Yuwen Chengdu as well. As he searched, Old Man Tong and Yang Zaixing caught up with him.

“What’s going on, Brother Yang?” Old Man Tong asked, seeing Uncle Yang anxiously searching and seeing no markings around. He couldn’t help but inquire.

“Brother Tong, I’ve been looking all around, but there’s no new mark. I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Let’s search the area carefully—it might be hidden by something. There’s no point in panicking, let’s look again.” Tong Yuan steadied himself, trying to comfort both Yang Zaixing and himself.

After hearing this, Uncle Yang and Yang Zaixing nodded and continued searching, not missing even the smallest corners for fear of overlooking an important clue.

After a while, the three gathered again, their faces telling the story: none had found any new marks. Yang Zaixing was nearly in tears. Uncle Yang went to comfort him softly, “Don’t worry, they must be close by and will be fine. Let’s go back to the last mark and make sure we didn’t get turned around.”

Old Man Tong looked around and noticed smoke rising to his left, along with a faint scent of roasting meat. He frowned; after all, they’d been eating roasted meat along the way and were familiar with the smell. If only Old Man Tong knew that what he was smelling was the burning of corpses and not just barbecue—who knows what he would think.

Pointing toward the smoke, Old Man Tong said, “Let’s go see what’s happening over there. There are people—we can ask if they’ve seen Zhang Xuan, Yuwen Chengdu, or perhaps Yang Hu and Zhao Yun. If it’s them, so much the better.”

Only then did Uncle Yang and Yang Zaixing notice the smoke and the faint scent. Yang Zaixing thought it seemed familiar but couldn’t place where he’d smelled it before. He asked Uncle Yang, “Do you smell that? Doesn’t it seem familiar?”

Uncle Yang hadn’t paid attention at first, but when Yang Zaixing mentioned it, he smelled it more carefully and also found it familiar, though he couldn’t recall from where.

The three walked toward the smoke, hoping to ask whether anyone had seen Zhang Xuan or Yang Hu there.

As they got closer, the smell grew stronger. Suddenly, Yang Zaixing remembered and broke into a smile. “Uncle Yang, I remember what that smell is!”

Uncle Yang and Old Man Tong saw Yang Zaixing’s sudden change from worry to delight. “Seeing you so happy, is it somehow related to that Zhang Xuan boy?”

Yang Zaixing nodded. “I hope I’m not mistaken. Uncle Yang, do you remember how we first met Zhang Xuan, and how he handled the bodies then? This smell is just like that time! I hope it’s just Zhang Xuan burning some corpses again—but what happened that he had to do it again?”

Uncle Yang and Old Man Tong exchanged glances, searching for answers in each other’s eyes but finding only confusion. “Let’s hurry over and see for ourselves—make sure whether it’s Zhang Xuan doing this, or… No, let’s not dwell on that.”

The three quickened their pace and, from a distance, saw a group gathered around a fiery pit, not sure what they were doing—surely not some kind of ritual. They were too far to see if Zhang Xuan and the others were among them.

Yang Hu glanced back and saw three figures approaching, their silhouettes familiar. He told Zhang Xuan. Zhang Xuan looked carefully, worried it might be others arriving before they finished burning the bodies, which would be bad. After a closer look, he said mildly, “Looks like Old Man Tong, Uncle Yang, and Big Brother Yang Zaixing. Never mind, it must be them. Keep burning! Add more wood, and when it’s done, cover it with earth.” He spoke loudly, not bothering to greet the newcomers; after all, if anyone got scolded later, it would be Zhao Yun. Right now, the important thing was that no one else noticed them—the three approaching could be ignored.

Watching Zhang Xuan skillfully direct everyone in “destroying the evidence,” Zhao Ding couldn’t help but ask Zhao Yun, “Does this brother Zhang Xuan do this sort of thing often? He seems awfully practiced.”

Zhao Yun shook his head, indicating it was his first time seeing Zhang Xuan like this, and he had no idea about the details either.