The Night Watcher of Great Jing - Chapter 6

The courtyard had not yet been put in order.

Weeds grew everywhere, rustling as the wind passed through.

No lamp burned inside the room. Zhao Li lay asleep on the canopy bed.

The medicine she had taken had a calming effect, and she slept deeply.

Yet the entire left side of her body felt as though it were pressed against a block of ice. Her lips had turned pale from the cold.

A voice muttered obsessively beside her ear, “You’re lying on my hair.”

The night wind howled outside. Leaves and pebbles clattered against the window lattice.

“You’re lying on my hair,” the voice repeated, again and again, growing steadily more irritable.

The window flew open with a clack. Wind whipped the blue bed curtains into the air.

A deathly pale hand slowly reached out of the darkness toward Zhao Li.

…

“What? You put the young lady Lord Shen brought back in Fragrant Orchid Courtyard?”

A man missing his right hand at the wrist shot to his feet.

The table before him scraped backward, and a wine bottle crashed to the floor.

“Disaster! This is a disaster!”

The one-handed man was named Qi Hai. After retiring because of his injury, he had taken a leisurely sinecure as a gatekeeper at the government office.

Steward Li had invited him for a drink and happened to mention the matter. He had not expected such a violent reaction.

Steward Li’s heart sank. “Is something wrong?”

“Very wrong.” Qi Hai’s face had turned ashen. In a sinister tone, he said, “That place is haunted.”

“What?”

“Stop gawking!” Qi Hai went to the corner and seized his long saber with his one remaining hand. “Come on. We need to get Master Lu. Pray nothing terrible has happened!”

“Yes, yes!”

Steward Li no longer dared put up a front. He followed Qi Hai out at a hurried pace.

The same words from Madam Zhang had sounded like superstitious nonsense. Coming from Qi Hai, they carried an entirely different weight.

The Jingning Guard had the best intelligence network in the realm. The climate had grown somewhat abnormal, and strange incidents had multiplied across the land over the past two years.

The matter had not become public knowledge, but stories circulated within the Pacification Office, and everyone had grown more wary.

Steward Li followed Qi Hai at a brisk pace until they reached the front courtyard’s night-duty room.

“What happened? Why are you charging about in such a panic?”

Master Lu—Lu Zhao—was the Hundred-Household Commander on duty that night.

Qi Hai dared not delay. He immediately explained, “The young lady Lord Shen brought back last night has been placed in Fragrant Orchid Courtyard.”

Lu Zhao sprayed a mouthful of tea halfway across the room. “What idiot arranged that?”

“It—it was me, Master Lu. Everything in that courtyard was of the finest quality, and it was standing empty, so I thought…”

Steward Li wiped the sweat from his forehead. His voice dwindled.

“Fool! You think people can stay in that courtyard whenever they please?”

Anxious now, Lu Zhao said, “I’ll explain on the way.”

“More than ten years ago, a young woman surnamed Lin hanged herself there. Strange incidents have been erupting everywhere over the past two years, and the haunting in that courtyard turned violent as well.”

“Three years ago, a registrar moved in. All nine members of his household ended up hanging from the rafters. That was when the courtyard was sealed.”

“You think that damned place is fit for anyone to live in?”

As Lu Zhao strode onward, he glared furiously at Steward Li, whose face was now as pale as a corpse.

They had seized upon today’s incident at court to strike at Zhao Huai, only to lodge the Zhao family’s young lady in a haunted room that very night. Nothing could have been a greater slap in the face.

Lord Shen was not at the Pacification Office. If something happened, no one involved would be able to bear the consequences.

The three men dared not raise an alarm. They quickened their pace toward the officials’ family quarters.

The night was deep, and the road lay in complete darkness. Only the cawing of distant night ravens broke the silence.

They had just reached the entrance to Fragrant Orchid Courtyard when, by the hazy moonlight, they saw a white figure standing before the gate, bent over and peering through the crack.

Lu Zhao bellowed, “What filthy scoundrel is that?”

Who had the courage to spy on this place?

Still cursing, Lu Zhao and Qi Hai stepped forward and brought their scabbards down on the figure’s head and shoulders.

Thud! Thud!

The wooden scabbards struck solidly, but there was none of the soft give of human flesh. Instead, they produced two dull, heavy knocks.

The three men peered closer.

This was no lecherous prowler.

It was one of the stone lantern bearers that ordinarily stood on the grounds.

But its posture had changed. Its hands hung at its sides, and it was bent at the waist, pressing pupil-less eyes to the gap in the courtyard gate as it peered inside.

Its mouth stretched into an enormous grin.

“Who—who moved the statue in front of the gate?” Steward Li’s voice trembled.

“Does this government office even own a stone figure in that pose?” Qi Hai swallowed and gripped his saber.

Lu Zhao outranked both Qi Hai and Steward Li and had therefore heard far more secret reports than either of them.

Anything capable of directly affecting a physical object was certain to be a major evil.

He had heard of one such incident the previous year. Many people had died, and the Imperial Astronomical Bureau had paid a considerable price before settling the matter.

Cold sweat prickled across his back. Lu Zhao cursed his wretched luck. Why did he have to be on duty tonight?

He licked his lips and forced himself to calm down.

It had come to this. If Miss Zhao died inside the Pacification Office, then retreating and neglecting their duty would get them killed anyway.

Better to make a brave stand. At least then, he could earn enough compensation to provide for his wife and children.

His resolve hardened, though he showed nothing on his face. He glanced sideways at the frightened Steward Li and Qi Hai.

“What are you panicking for? It’s just a broken stone figure!”

His voice boomed like thunder, full and strong, and steadied the other two.

That was right!

The well-informed Master Lu was here!

Looking at Lu Zhao’s broad back, Steward Li felt an immense sense of security.

“Come on. Let’s go inside and look!” Lu Zhao swept one hand forward and kicked the gate with all his might.

He had not expected it to be merely ajar.

Fortunately, his foundations were solid and his stance firm, or he would have landed in a full split.

Creeeak—

The gate swung open under the force of his kick.

The dry groan of its hinges stretched through the night, long and piercing.

Lu Zhao stamped his foot and cursed, then strode into the courtyard at the head of the group.

His confident bearing immediately reassured Qi Hai and Steward Li. They puffed out their chests and followed.

Waist-high weeds filled the silent courtyard.

When they rounded the rear wing, Lu Zhao’s heart skipped.

Several stone lantern bearers stood throughout the courtyard. Some covered their faces as though weeping; others had posed their hands as if combing their hair.

Every one of them faced the room where Zhao Li slept.

Unease hollowed Lu Zhao’s stomach, but he drew his saber with a ring.

“They’re just a bunch of damned rocks. Let’s smash the bastards!”

His spectacular display of courage greatly inspired Qi Hai and Steward Li.

Qi Hai drew his saber. Steward Li snatched up a piece of firewood from beside the path.

“Right. Smash them.”

Led by Lu Zhao, the three marched heroically to the door of the side room.

Lu Zhao shot Qi Hai a look. Qi Hai nodded and stepped forward to kick the door.

Suddenly, an extraordinarily shrill scream erupted inside.

The door burst open, and a white figure flew backward into the courtyard.

As the three men recoiled in horror, another, smaller figure charged out after it.

“So what if I was lying on your hair?”

The smaller figure cursed thickly and swung something in her hand.

The white figure screamed and rolled across the ground beneath the blows.

“That’s right—I’ll lie on your hair if I want! What are you going to do about it?”