Chapter 57: No More Than Seven Constables (Part 2)

Shopkeeper Xu closed his eyes, contemplated for a moment, and said, "Alright then!"

"This matter involves secrets of the Shi family. If you gentlemen prefer not to be involved, please do not disclose our conversation today."

"Rest assured, we will keep our lips sealed!" Old Thief Yuan and Shopkeeper Xu clapped hands three times in agreement.

Shopkeeper Xu said, "When I was chatting with Shi Qi, she told me: she was brought here by Shi Chongguang precisely because she heard someone talking inside a chest at her home."

Shi Qi said that there were six chests in her house that were permanently locked, and Shi Chongguang had to offer a stick of incense to those chests every first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, as well as during festivals.

While burning incense, no one else was allowed to stand nearby.

However, every time he offered incense, Shi Qi could hear people talking inside the chests.

When Shi Qi was little, she couldn't hear clearly what the people in the chests were saying. As she grew older, the voices inside the chests became clearer and clearer. Shi Qi felt as though she heard people inside cursing, and the person they were cursing was Shi Chongguang. Moreover, the voices belonged to more than one person.

When Shi Chongguang ignored them, they would eventually sigh and quiet down.

The next time Shi Chongguang burned incense, the cursing would start all over again.

On New Year's Eve when Shi Qi was ten years old, Shi Chongguang went to burn incense for the chests again, and the cursing started up once more.

Shi Qi faintly heard someone inside a chest shout, "Shi Chongguang, you are suppressing the descendants of the Shi family and preventing them from walking the righteous path. Watch out, or your granddaughter will meet a violent death just like your two sons and daughters-in-law."

Shi Chongguang flew into a rage instantly. He rushed into the courtyard in two or three strides, picked up an axe, and began smashing the top of the chest fiercely with the back of the axe.

As he smashed, Shi Chongguang cursed, "Screw you motherfuckers. You want this old man to accept my fate, but this old man refuses. I will manage my own grandson myself; you bastards have no business opening your mouths."

"Whoever runs their damn mouth again, this old man will drag you all out and burn you to ashes."

"Damn it, bastards."

After the chest was smashed by Shi Chongguang, someone inside let out a long sigh, and the noise stopped completely.

That day, Shi Chongguang's expression was terrifyingly gloomy, and it didn't look a bit better until dinnertime. Shi Qi couldn't help asking Shi Chongguang, "Grandpa, what's inside those chests? Why did you smash them?"

Shi Chongguang replied with a cold face, "Children shouldn't meddle in adult affairs."

Shi Qi still wouldn't give up and asked again, "Grandpa, why did I hear people sighing inside the chests?"

Shi Chongguang's eyes suddenly widened: "You heard it?!"

Frightened, Shi Qi nodded: "I heard it!"

Shi Chongguang pulled Shi Qi close to him in a single motion: "What else did you hear?"

Though frightened in her heart, Shi Qi didn't dare not answer: "I also heard them cursing you!"

"Change your clothes! Come with me!" Without caring whether Shi Qi agreed or not, Shi Chongguang grabbed her and strode out.

There was no public transport on New Year's Day, so braving the heavy snow, Shi Chongguang carried Shi Qi on his back through the night all the way to Changchun.

At this point, Shopkeeper Xu paused and said, "When Shi Qi told me these things back then, my heart gave a sudden thump!"

"Those chests of the Shi family must contain ghosts, but who on earth are those ghosts? Why did they force Shi Chongguang to set Shi Qi on the path of a constable?"

"While I was full of doubts, Shi Chongguang walked in. The very first thing he said to me was: 'Go ahead and tattoo Shi Qi! Once it's done, prepare some wine and dishes to keep me company for a couple of drinks?'"

After saying that, Shi Chongguang stroked Shi Qi's head and said, "Shi Qi! According to the traditions of our ancestors, 'constables do not pass seven'..."

"I would rather let your father and the others farm the land and raise pigs for the rest of their lives than let them be constables again."

"You are the only remaining seedling of our family, so I can even less afford to let you be a constable. In a moment, endure it, and let him tattoo this image onto your body..."

Hearing this, Shi Qi retorted, "Grandpa, are the people in the chests forcing you to make me a constable?"

I also found it strange at the time! I even asked, "Lass, you heard people talking inside a chest? Weren't you scared at all?"

Blinking, Shi Qi said, "With my grandpa around, I'm not afraid of anything!"

I looked at Shi Chongguang, but his eyes had turned red. Suppressing his tears, he turned his back to me and waved his hand.

This ferocious deity tattoo had to be completed in one sitting, and no local anesthesia could be used during the process.

The two of you, with all your formidable cultivation, passed out from the pain, yet young Shi Qi was only ten years old when she arrived at my house. Although she fainted from the pain several times, she didn't utter a single sound. That child is extraordinary!

Giving me a thumbs-up, Shopkeeper Xu continued, "After finishing Shi Qi's tattoo, I kept her in the room to recover from her injuries. I went to get some wine for Shi Chongguang, and kept him company drinking until almost dawn before he finally opened up."

"Shi Chongguang asked me: 'You know what my reputation was around Jilin Province back in the day, don't you?'"

Before the founding of the People's Republic, although Shi Chongguang was merely a constable in a small county, not a single bandit or daring highwayman dared to approach the county he guarded.

Shi Chongguang alone could pacify a radius of several hundred miles, entirely because he was ruthless, never listened to anyone's tales of hardship, and showed zero mercy when striking. Once his fierce temper flared, he wouldn't listen to anyone; even if the military governor's son committed a crime, he dared to arrest and execute him just the same.

In his most ruthless act, he captured the chieftains of several bandit- infested mountains and skinned them alive right at the city gates, terrifying the bandits so much that not a single one dared to approach.

Ever since then, Shi Chongguang earned the moniker of "Wolf Constable." Back in those days, whenever the great name of Wolf Constable Shi Chongguang was mentioned, all three provinces and two circuits had to show respect.

Back then, I knew Shi Chongguang well, and I once asked him: "With you striking so ruthlessly, aren't you afraid of making mortal enemies?"

Shi Chongguang replied: "What times are these? It's a turbulent era! In this world, a human life falls as easily as autumn leaves from a tree. If I show human sentimentality? If I leave people a way out, I won't be able to hold down this county. If a bandit disaster truly breaks out, who will show mercy to the folks in the county?"

It was precisely by relying on this fierce tenacity that the Wolf Constable Shi Chongguang protected this county through troubled times.

However, it was also this very ruthlessness deep in his bones that provoked someone he shouldn't have crossed.

Shi Chongguang told me: his sudden disappearance for a period of time before the founding of the nation wasn't to avoid trouble, but because he was driven to a point where he had no choice but to hide.

This brings up a missing persons case that Shi Chongguang handled.

Back then, large-scale disappearances of people occurred near Changchun. Some people even vanished just stepping out to fetch water. In the most severe instance, an entire village of people went missing overnight.

At that time, all the constables in Changchun were at their wits' end. The mayor issued a strict ultimatum to solve the case within a deadline, threatening that if the missing persons case remained unsolved when the time was up, everyone in the police bureau would be executed according to military law.

Driven to despair, the chief constable at the time negotiated with a bandit to act as a scapegoat to take the blame, and newspapers overwhelmingly proclaimed that the major case had been solved.

Yet Shi Chongguang said: "In less than three days, trouble will break out again."