coobybook Chapter 228 Disposing of the Corpse
Chapter 228 Disposing of the Corpse
A few days later, late at night (midnight).
In the Southern Kingdom, outside the imperial city, there is a high, shady valley.
Two women dressed in white were pushing a large handcart, with cloths tied around their nostrils to cover the stench emanating from it.
A woman with a long sword and a veil followed closely behind them, keeping a distance that was neither too close nor too far. Judging from their clothing, it was easy to tell that they were a group of people.
"squeak……"
The cart was stopped in an open space.
"Huff... huff..." The two people pushing the cart were panting heavily, leaning on the cart and slumping to the side, wiping away their sweat.
Seemingly noticing their laziness, the woman behind them gave an unpleasant rebuke: "Get up and finish this quickly."
"Yes, Miss Ke." Upon hearing this, the two dared not delay in the slightest and immediately got up to begin their work, while secretly muttering to themselves:
[They came pushing carts, so it must have been hard and tiring, unlike Zhu Ke, who was so relaxed and carefree! It's just that she's lucky; not only is she surnamed Zhu, but she's also favored by the clan chief!]
Despite their complaints, the two women did not stop working, throwing one mangled corpse after another into the valley from the heights.
The corpses were either completely mangled or had their internal organs ripped out; their deaths were truly gruesome! Even the two men who disposed of the bodies were filled with horror at the sight!
Indeed! These three are Zhu Ke from the Imperial Preceptor's residence, along with two low-ranking maids. (Low-ranking maids: purchased from brokers, performing the lowest-level work in the residence! They can be killed or beaten at will!)
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew through the valley, accompanied by a whistling sound, stirring up some fallen leaves, which made the two people who had disposed of the body weak in the knees.
The more timid one secretly tugged at the other's sleeve and asked tremblingly, "Sister, it's not like there's that thing, is it?"
"Go away... what nonsense are you spouting!" The other person, who hadn't initially thought anything was amiss, felt a chill creep up his spine after hearing this.
Zhu Ke, the 'supervisor' who was not far away, seemed to notice that they had stopped. His questioning voice, accompanied by footsteps, came from afar: "What's wrong? What happened?"
"N-nothing..." the bolder woman quickly replied, not forgetting to give the timid and guilty woman opposite her a warning glare.
As they spoke, Zhu Ke approached, his gaze shifting from the two men to a 'corpse' in the car. He observed it for a while in the moonlight before slowly withdrawing his gaze.
"This place is not safe to stay any longer. I will go ahead and wait for you two. I'll give you the time it takes to drink a cup of tea."
After saying that, she glanced discreetly into the valley, then turned and quickly walked back.
Both of them were terrified by her words and actions; the sound of the wind in the valley now sounded like the howling of evil spirits.
The timid one was practically clinging to the other's back, repeatedly asking, "Sister, I'm scared! Miss Ke doesn't seem alright..."
"Afraid...afraid of what, you coward!"
"..."
"Rustle...rustle..."
Another gust of wind blew by.
"Don't look for me, don't look for me! The grievances have their perpetrators, the debts have their debtors, please don't look for me!" The timid man kept making a kowtowing gesture, and if someone hadn't been holding him back, he probably would have knelt on the ground.
The other person, though bolder, wasn't truly fearless; cold sweat beaded on his palms. He finally made the decisive statement: "Let's go back."
The timid one looked up: "Sister, what do you mean?"
"Okay, let's work together to push the car into that patch of grass over there." The woman called "sister" nodded, looked around, and pointed to a place overgrown with weeds.
Once they had finished dealing with the situation, they ran off towards Zhu Ke like a shot.
They were too terrified to hear a muffled groan coming from the pile of corpses.
……
Zhu Ke was standing on the cliff edge next to the path they had to take to get up the mountain. From here, she could see the lights and scenery of the imperial city in the distance.
Hearing footsteps, Zhu Ke turned around and saw the two maids running towards her as if they were being chased by ghosts. They only breathed a sigh of relief and slowed down when they saw her.
Zhu Ke's eyes shone brightly: "Is everything taken care of?"
The timid woman's eyes flickered for a moment, unsure how to answer, when she heard from the side, "Yes, everything has been handled according to Miss Ke's instructions."
The voice was resounding.
Zhu Ke nodded: "Very good! Then you can set off now."
Having said that, before the two could react, he swiftly drew his sword and slit their throats...
Zhu Ke sheathed his sword, not even glancing at the two rapidly falling corpses, and turned back to the spot where he had just dumped the bodies.
A flock of crows swooped down into the grass and valley, their cries mournful. Zhu Ke seemed to have only come back for one last look before heading straight down the mountain.
Long after she left, a hand suddenly reached out from the pile of corpses, startling the crows that were pecking at the carrion and causing them to scatter in all directions.
"Bang..." The body was pushed aside.
A gaunt woman struggled to crawl out, seemingly on the verge of death. She took only a few steps before collapsing to the ground, motionless.
Seeing that the person was no longer moving, the crows around cautiously approached and even pecked at her hand a few times.
Zhu Laoba felt the pain, struggled to open his heavy eyelids, slowly got up from the ground, and moved down the mountain, followed closely by a flock of crows.
The crows were following her closely, seemingly waiting to eat her flesh after she died.
After she had fallen countless times, the sky was beginning to lighten, and she finally made it down the mountain...
Zhu Laoba followed the direction of the cooking smoke. It was still early, but the hardworking farmers should be out working by now. She stumbled and grabbed a peasant woman carrying a hoe, saying weakly:
"Madam...madam, please...take me...to Wushuang Pavilion...I..."
She fainted before she could finish speaking.
The old woman from the farm hesitated when she looked at Zhu Laoba, who was so thin and barely recognizable as a human being, for fear of getting into trouble. But when she saw the crows following him from a distance, she felt a little reluctant to do so.
Moreover, she knew about the Peerless Pavilion; it enjoyed extremely high prestige among the common people…
So, she gritted her teeth and stomped her foot, first hiding the hoe somewhere, then carrying Zhu Laoba on her back, she took advantage of the daylight and entered the city as soon as the imperial city gates opened, heading straight for Wushuang Pavilion.
Because of the incident where Lin Shu was stopped, Wushuang Pavilion had undergone some rectification, so Zhu Laoba was able to enter smoothly after reporting the matter.
The old woman took the reward money and left immediately!
……
Zhu Ke's side.
Upon returning to the Imperial Preceptor's residence, her first priority was to report to Zhu Yao.
"Is there any oversight?" Zhu Yao asked as usual after hearing this.
However, these ordinary words sounded particularly strange to Zhu Ke, who was feeling guilty.
Zhu Ke composed himself, clenched his fingers tightly, and bowed his head, replying, "No."
Zhu Yao waved her hand: "I trust you to handle things. Go and rest first, we'll go and buy another batch of people tomorrow."
Zhu Ke knew that when Zhu Yao mentioned purchasing a group of people, she meant those homeless, low-class servants, like the two who were sent to dispose of corpses tonight, whom they could kill at will!
"Yes." With that thought, Zhu Ke bowed and then took his leave.
When she came out, she felt that her back was soaked with cold sweat. This was the first time she had ever tried to outsmart Zhu Yao!
Indeed, she knew from the beginning that there was a living person mixed in with the pile of corpses, but she did not expose it!
In the past few days, Zhu Ke has never been idle. She has been secretly inquiring about the events of that year from the elders in the mansion. Those people thought that Zhu Yao sent her to test them. Although they did not say it outright, they were very rude.
This also made her realize many clues...
This discovery further solidified her previous suspicion, and she struggled even more. She felt hopeless about revenge, but she was unwilling to give up.
Therefore, when she realized that Zhu Laoba was faking his death in the dark prison, she inexplicably chose to turn a blind eye!
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