Zhou Dafu carried a forked branch in one hand and a coarse net in the other, moving cautiously through a damp side tunnel where condensation dripped from the ceiling. Sure enough, he found one of the pale vipers coiled near a familiar crack in the rock, its tongue flicking. He chuckled, a sound of grim satisfaction, and using the fork to pin its head, he deftly scooped it into the net. He secured the wriggling bundle and headed toward Cave No. 5, ready to execute the delayed plan, his heart pounding with nervous anticipation.
"Hands up. Don't move." A pitch-black gun barrel pressed cold and hard against the back of his head. He froze, his own heartbeat thudding in his ears. His first, panicked thought was that the snake theft had been exposed by Zhou Daheng's men. "I… I was only helping to catch the snakes that got out… Brother Daheng will vouch for me…"
"Waa, waa, you all saw that, right?" A shrill, hysterical voice cut through the gloom. It was one of Zhou Daheng's other women, wrapped hastily in a blanket, her face streaked with tears. "It must be this man framing me! I am a weak woman who can't even tie up a chicken. How could I possibly subdue two such dangerous snakes…" She sobbed miserably, then shot a vicious, triumphant sidelong glare at Qin Feifei, who was standing quietly to the side, watching the scene unfold with an appropriately shocked expression.
Li Yuetian rubbed his brow, exhaustion and irritation clear on his face. Why were there so many problems springing up in his jurisdiction? The dead man wasn't even from Wu City, but some rich young master from another province who had bought his way into the shelter. Either way, the death was a messy complication. He had to close the case quickly, define a clear culprit, and hand in a tidy report before it attracted higher-level scrutiny.
To prove her own innocence and deflect blame, the accusing woman hurried to add, "He is Zhou Daheng's own cousin! Zhou Dafu has coveted his property and his women for a long time, so he set me up. Once the deed was done, he planned to seize everything. Look, stealing the snakes back was only the first step of his cover-up!"
Zhou Dafu: "???" His mouth hung open, the net with the snake dangling from his hand. The script had flipped entirely.
"Cuff him. Take him in." One of Li Yuetian's classic, no-nonsense lines.
Zhou Dafu stammered, his mind reeling, "Wait, what is going on? What deed? Brother Daheng is dead?"
…
On the other side of the shelter, in the passage outside Cave No. 5, Zhou Dasheng was getting soundly beaten up.
All because he had snapped "What if I am?" with maximum belligerence when someone from Cave No. 5 had barked, "What are you all looking at?" In the local culture, especially among toughs, saying that particular phrase in that particular tone was the highest form of challenge, basically "come fight me if you aren't convinced," an invitation to brawl.
None of the fifty men Zhou Dasheng had brought escaped a beating. They were all pinned to the damp stone floor by the larger, angrier men from Cave No. 5 and pummeled with fists and the occasional brick. Still, under the stubborn creed of "even if the script changes, you stick close to the script," Zhou Dasheng insisted on waiting for Zhou Dafu to deliver the snakes so they could execute their frame-up of Jing Shu's family. That was the mission.
So even after the thrashing, the fifty men, bruised and groaning, squatted in the passageway and refused to leave, a pathetic, stubborn blockade. Zhou Dasheng had promised them a bowl of thick rice porridge apiece if they stuck it out.
But Zhou Dafu never came with the snakes…
Soon, without their leader and with their purpose unclear, the fifty men lost their nerve under the hostile glares of the Cave No. 5 residents. A few more scuffles broke out, and they were soon all groaning on the ground again, truly unable to get up.
Jing Shu and Wu You'ai, monitoring the situation from their awning, both sensed that something else was off, a larger disturbance rippling through the shelter. While Cave No. 5 was boiling with this localized noise, a swarm of police officers and a chattering tide of onlookers poured into their cave from the direction of Cave No. 4.
Word spread through the crowd with suspicious, wildfire speed, whether intentional or just the nature of gossip in a confined space: the rich young master from Cave No. 4, Zhou Daheng, had been murdered, killed for his wealth and his women. Within minutes, it seemed all of Hongshan Ecological Park knew.
"Where is Wu You'ai?" an assistant to Li Yuetian called out, pushing through the throng. "Zhou Dafu from Cave No. 6 has committed a major crime. Help manage Cave No. 6 for now until we assign a new administrator. Keep order."
Wu You'ai hurried over to do a quick, overwhelmed handover, receiving a list of names and a warning about potential unrest. Jing Shu followed at a distance and, by eavesdropping on the buzzing conversations, finally pieced together what had happened. Zhou Daheng had been found dead in his KTV RV, and his cousin, Zhou Dafu, caught red-handed with one of the missing snakes, was being framed as the murderer. The case, they said, would be processed and closed with expedited efficiency.
"At ten tonight we will auction Zhou Daheng's belongings on site in Cave No. 4 in exchange for grain. Anyone in need can take a look." Li Yuetian's announcement was made to the crowd, his voice carrying authority.
Leaving that announcement hanging in the air, Li Yuetian marched off with his team and the shackled, protesting Zhou Dafu, leaving two junior staffers to stand guard over Zhou Daheng's container house and vehicles.
On the other side, having finally dragged himself upright, Zhou Dasheng was dumbfounded by the news. Was he holding the completely wrong script? The snakes hadn't been delivered for their frame-up, and somehow Zhou Dafu had become the prime suspect in a murder. His small, beady eyes flickered with new calculations. His mind began to race. Maybe this chaos wasn't a setback, but his chance to rise? With Zhou Dafu gone and Zhou Daheng dead, there was a power vacuum in their little faction…
Jing Shu narrowed her eyes, watching Zhou Dasheng's scheming expression. The development was surprising in its speed, but it hadn't derailed her own expectations, the man was dead, the snakes were in play. Still, Li Yuetian looked unusually eager to shed all of Zhou Daheng's assets as fast as possible, as if shaking off a hot potato, not just following procedure.
Why was Zhou Dafu so neatly tied into this mess anyway? Jing Shu glanced again at Zhou Dasheng, who was now whispering urgently with a few of his remaining men. Did the cousins have deeper secrets, debts, or rivalries that couldn't air? Had someone else manipulated the outcome?
The rich neighbor dying next door would, at most, become a few days of idle gossip and a lesson cited by elders.
"Best to keep a low profile," Jing Shu murmured to herself.
"Otherwise this is what happens. Someone kills you for your money," Su Lanzhi agreed quietly, having come to stand beside her daughter, her face solemn.
Jing's family remained largely unaffected by the drama. That night they used their earthen kiln, now properly cured, to cook a simple but fragrant meal, boiled powdered milk with their precious stored water, then mixed strong, filtered black tea into the milk for a rich, sweet milk tea.
They sliced some of the cooked beef from their stores and dipped it in a savory sauce, paired it with crunchy vinegar-pickled garlic scapes from a jar, and served strips of spicy dried rabbit as a side. It was a feast of textures and flavors in the firelit cave.
At nine-thirty, Li Yuetian came back to Cave No. 4 looking exhausted, his limp more pronounced. The vast cavern was jam-packed with onlookers, a carnival atmosphere mixed with morbid curiosity.
To put it bluntly, Zhou Daheng's things were the kind of luxury goods that the poor couldn't possibly afford and the truly rich, the ones with mobile mansions, didn't need. Most people were here to gawk at the wealth and maybe try to pick up a bizarre bargain, a KTV machine, a leather sofa, a bathtub, in exchange for a handful of grain.
Her parents took a quick look at the crowd and the strange collection of items and went back to their tent, uninterested in the circus. Wu You'ai was busy managing the newly added administrative burden of Cave No. 6. As for those fifty men from earlier, they had no good end to their day and were unceremoniously driven back to squeeze into the already overcrowded Cave No. 6, their promised porridge forgotten.
At ten o'clock sharp, the staff began clearing Cave No. 4. "Anyone who wants to enter the auction area must present proof of assets. Minimum bid entry is ten kilograms of grain or equivalent calories. Show it at the entrance."
People grumbled, but no one dared to protest openly against Li Yuetian's men. Most had only come to watch anyway. In an instant, ninety percent of the crowd melted away, leaving only a few dozen serious or curious individuals. Jing Shu hefted a big, vacuum-sealed pork leg from her supplies and slipped easily past the checkpoint into the "auction" area, the guard nodding at the sight of the meat.
Li Yuetian hobbled over, his face easing into a weary but familiar expression when he saw her. He shook hands with Jing Shu, his grip firm. "Tell me what you want. We're all friends here. No need for bidding wars."
Jing Shu understood at once. The "auction" was a necessary show for the public record and for any higher-ups who might review the case. The real purpose was to divide the spoils efficiently among useful parties. If they simply carted everything back to the Second Detachment warehouse without this public sale, when a future investigation or audit traced the assets later, they would have to return it all to some hypothetical next of kin, a bureaucratic nightmare.
Now everyone knew that after Zhou Daheng's death, his belongings had been "auctioned" for the public good, converted into food for the shelter. How would anyone trace individual items back? They weren't confiscated; they were sold. What, should the grain proceeds be remitted to some relative? Impossible.
She rubbed her hands together, her eyes scanning the stacked light steel panels. "I want that batch of lightweight steel panels and the frame. All of it."
Li Yuetian waved a hand grandly. "Deal. We'll trade it for your pork trotter." It was a blatantly lopsided trade, a gift wrapped in procedure.
That was a steal. Jing Shu nodded, keeping her satisfaction contained.
"Captain Li, what happened to your leg? You're limping more today."
"Don't bring it up." Li Yuetian thumped his thigh with a grimace. "It's an old cold injury from a winter operation years ago. Every time a storm blows in or the damp sets in, my leg aches like the devil. It's been acting up terribly these past few days." He sighed. "I happened to have my men secure those two snakes today. Figured I might try to brew some snake wine for the pain, but I don't know the process, and I am short on the other herbs and ingredients." He looked at her, a question in his eyes.
Jing Shu's eyes lit up. Perfect. "I can brew snake wine properly. I've got the traditional recipe, and I actually have some of the other medicinal ingredients growing… in my supplies." She caught herself. "I would be happy to make it for you."
"Perfect. I will have them bring the snakes to you tonight. I don't need much. Just share a little of the finished wine with me and I will be grateful. Amitabha." He gave a small, tired smile of relief.
The process was even simpler than Jing Shu had expected. After Zhou Daheng died, the person most eager to wrap everything up quickly and cleanly turned out to be Li Yuetian himself, to avoid complications and perhaps to secure useful resources for his own network.
In less than a day the case was finalized. The official story was solid: the culprit was the jealous cousin who had infiltrated Zhou Daheng's inner circle. He had plotted for nearly a year and tried to frame the women around him to escape justice. But heaven's net is wide and nothing slips through. In the end, Zhou Dafu slipped up, was caught with the murder weapon (the snake), and was arrested.
That night, according to the report later circulated, Zhou Dafu tried to escape during transfer, resisted violently, and was shot dead. Zhou Daheng's property was "auctioned" off the same night. The next day, the case file was transferred up the chain, marked closed.
While the sensational news of Zhou Daheng's case roared through the park like cave wind, another scheme was unfolding in the deep night. Zhou Dasheng, seeing his path to power through Zhou Dafu gone and fearing being sidelined, made a desperate, greedy gamble. He gathered a handful of his most loyal and foolish remaining men and, under cover of the ongoing auction distraction and the general noise, led them out of the shelter.
Their target: Jing Shu's seemingly unguarded villa in the community, which they believed was now packed with untold wealth, left vulnerable by the family's evacuation to the caves.