The sky was about to turn dark.
The muddy, filthy yellow earth, the bright red blood, and those buzzing, annoying green-headed flies— all of it seemed to be covered in a layer of gray in Old Huangtou’s eyes.
His Sun was about to set.
Old Huangtou thought.
So, Fourth Son came.
His good Fourth Son, diligent and honest, a capable young man famous in all the nearby villages, was now standing there, his face covered in blood and tears, looking at him. “Dad, where are my shoes?”
The Old Lady came too.
She had been dead for thirteen years, but she still nagged just like when she was alive. “That’s right, old man, you need to buy Little Fourth a good pair of shoes so he can take the road ahead. You don’t know, but the Yin Messenger Lord in the underworld is just as snobbish as the officials here. If Little Fourth wears rags, he’ll be thrown into the animal realm in his next life, made to be an ox or a horse for others…”
The Old Lady was right.
Old Huangtou deeply agreed.
The Sun couldn’t set just yet.
He had to buy his Fourth Son a good pair of shoes.
When the time came, Fourth Son could present the new shoes to the Yin Messenger Lord, and the Yin Messenger Lord would arrange a good place for him.
Fourth Son had been born into his family, suffering and toiling all his life. In the next one, he deserved some happiness.
Old Huangtou struggled to breathe, his body feeling as if it had a gaping hole—no matter how much air he took in, it all leaked out. Something warm, like spring water, was slowly leaving his body.
He felt his body growing colder and heavier. He couldn’t even move a single finger.
Fourth Son…
My poor Fourth Son…
Your father is useless, I’m sorry. As you leave, I can’t even give you a good pair of shoes…
The Sun set.
But the Moon rose again.
Moonlight, bright and twinkling, dazzled Old Huangtou’s eyes.
In his muddled thoughts, he wondered: is there a Moon in the underworld too?
“You wanted shoes, here they are.”
The voice seemed to come from somewhere very far away.
Old Huangtou blinked with difficulty and realized—there was no Moon. It was clearly a fine pair of shoes.
The top-quality leather was smooth as new, the silver spurs gleamed with a silvery light.
These were the best shoes he had ever seen in his life.
These shoes would surely satisfy the Yin Messenger Lords!
Old Huangtou suddenly found a bit of strength in his body.
He moved, reaching out toward that flawless pair of shoes. Just as his fingers were about to touch the leather, he stopped.
He suddenly remembered.
These shoes had an owner.
They belonged to Master Hu.
Everyone in the county knew: offend Master Hu, and your whole family would never be reborn.
Old Huangtou was instantly at peace.
His whole family was already dead—there was nothing left to fear.
So, content, he grabbed the leather shoes. Instantly, the shiny surface was marked with several muddy, bloody handprints.
Old Huangtou could no longer see clearly.
He just felt a bit of regret.
If only he had known he would die today… If only he had known… He should have… should have killed that beast Zhang Nan!
What do people say before they die?
Some cry, some call for their mothers, some are in such pain they can’t speak, but Old Huangtou—he cursed.
He used the most vicious words to curse Zhang Good Man, Zhang Laoye. He cursed the Zhang Family to ruin, to total destruction, to suffer the flames of hell after death and never be reborn for all eternity.
Jiang Mingxi was silent for a few seconds, then bent down and softly said, “Zhang Nan is already dead.”
Old Huangtou’s curses stopped abruptly.
He struggled to lift his head, his cloudy eyes falling blankly on Jiang Mingxi’s face.
So, Jiang Mingxi leaned in closer. Amid the old man’s ragged, bellows-like breaths, she whispered so softly it was almost inaudible, “I killed him myself. First, I stabbed through his heart, then cut his throat. He died in agony.”
In that instant, those old eyes gained focus, shining with a bright, vivid light.
Old Huangtou stared hard at Jiang Mingxi’s face. Gradually, his expression turned strange.
His gaze slowly shifted upward, finally resting on the top of her head. In his dying eyes, there was suddenly a profound, thoughtful look.
Jiang Mingxi’s heart tightened.
She had heard that the dying could see things others couldn’t.
Her own rebirth was already something mysterious and inexplicable.
“You’ve suffered too,” the old man mumbled, his tear-filled eyes showing a sorrowful pity. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, but his next words were much clearer. “Your… fortune is still ahead… I’ll watch over you… I’ll ask all the gods and Buddhas to bless you…”
Old Huangtou gasped violently, the veins bulging on the back of his hand as he clutched the beautiful riding boots. His voice grew weaker and weaker.
But he still spoke, in a frail, almost whispering moan, using his last breath to tell Jiang Mingxi a secret he had kept for a long time.
He said, in the mountains behind the village, in the morning, if you walk in the direction of the Sun, there is a cave in the woods.
In the cave, there’s a lake. Dragon Bone often washes up there, along with some strange Green Fragments.
Old Huangtou died.
He lay face-down on the foul, muddy yellow earth, on his own blood, clutching the brand-new shoes, a faintly contented smile lingering at the corner of his mouth.
Jiang Mingxi slowly reached out, closing his eyes for him. After a few silent breaths, she stood up and looked at Hu Dequan, who was tied up like a dumpling and kneeling barefoot on the ground nearby.
Even after kneeling for just a short while, Hu Dequan’s whole body was trembling with fat.
When he saw Jiang Mingxi’s cold, silent gaze fall upon him, he screamed in panic, “I really didn’t mean to kill him! It wasn’t on purpose!”
Jiang Mingxi gripped the pistol handle and walked toward him step by step.
Hu Dequan struggled like mad, shouting hysterically at the men around, “What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and save me!”
The soldiers he glared at hesitated, but were pulled back by their comrades, exchanging subtle glances.
They hadn’t forgotten how Captain Hu had fawned over this Second Young Master before.
Someone even Captain Hu had to curry favor with was not someone lowly grunts like them could afford to offend.
So Hu Dequan could only crawl on the ground, squirming away like a maggot.
“Don’t kill me! I know I was wrong! Please, sir, have mercy on me just this once! I’ll pay ten thousand—no! A hundred thousand silver dollars for my life!”
As Jiang Mingxi passed by him, she caught a strong whiff of urine.
She didn’t look at him.
She just walked straight to Old Huangtou’s stall and carefully wrapped all the Dragon Bone in cloth.
Then, Jiang Mingxi turned and looked at the foolishly limp, urine-soaked Hu Dequan.
“Don’t take his shoes. Give him a good coffin,” she said. “Bury him together with his wife and children.”
Hu Dequan froze, then instantly understood the deeper meaning behind her words. Saved from the brink of death, he wept tears of joy.
“Yes, yes, yes! I’ll get him the best coffin, the finest burial clothes for him and his son… and shoes! Thank you, Second Young Master Xiao, for your mercy!”
Jiang Mingxi took a deep breath.
She gripped the gun so tightly her knuckles hurt.
That force in her chest, so immense before, now curled into a tiny ball, pressing painfully on her insides.
She forced herself to finish this scene, using the last of her strength to squeeze out a weak threat, “If you dare again, I’ll shoot you myself.”
Jiang Mingxi turned away, leaving Hu Dequan’s tearful, grateful cries behind her.
The Dragon Bone was in hand, the act was over, and the swindler should exit the stage.
But—
On Jiang Mingxi’s path, people knelt, their faces streaked with tears.
They looked at her with devotion, like wronged children finally finding their parents.
They said.
“Heaven has eyes at last, the Great Lord of Clear Skies is finally standing up for us!”
“Benefactor, Benefactor, Hu Dequan took away the money I needed for my parents’ medicine…”
“Hu Old Dog ruined my daughter…”
“Second Young Master, the County Magistrate, he…”
Jiang Mingxi suddenly felt very tired.
That ball of energy still pressed against her chest, making it hard to speak.
She thought wearily, all these injustices—you telling me won’t help.
She was not the Great Lord of Clear Skies in the storybooks, nor a hero who upholds justice.
She was just a swindler.
She, this swindler, had not actually done anything for Old Huangtou.
Those shoes were stripped from Hu Dequan.
Killing Zhang Nan was for her own revenge.
She certainly wouldn’t help Old Huangtou kill Hu Dequan.
Just now, she had even taken Old Huangtou’s Dragon Bone without paying.
So, why had Old Huangtou entrusted her with such a valuable secret?
Jiang Mingxi took a deep breath, looking up at the White Sun. The sunlight was so intense it made her eyes well up.
So.
There never was any Great Lord of Clear Skies.
There never was evil defeated by justice.
The one standing here was just a wanted murderer.
In her last life, she had struggled for decades and couldn’t win justice for herself.
So, in this life, she no longer expected justice from anyone else.
Jiang Mingxi lowered her head, looking at the gun she had taken from Hu Dequan. The gun was sleek and exquisite, its cold shine biting— it was a fine weapon.
Knives and guns— both are tools for killing.
This was her justice in this life.