Chapter 1820 - Inexplicable Riot

"There may be more than one corpse." Gao Chongjiu said. "Damn it—the moment I set foot in here, I knew something was wrong with the smell! A faint stench underneath! No wonder they're drying stinking fish and rotting shrimp outside!"

Li Ziyu heard there were additional bodies. He was about to respond when suddenly a commotion erupted outside. Vague shouts and clamor approached rapidly. One of Gao Chongjiu's "brothers" came running over, expression tense: "Ninth Master, there's trouble outside! They're saying there are corpse-harvesters in here. The crowd wants to break in and beat the criminals to death..."

Such occurrences weren't uncommon in this era. Criminals whose offenses were notorious and who aroused extreme public fury were often "beaten to death" by the populace in outbursts of "righteous rage"—during interrogation or while being transported to the yamen.

But Gao Chongjiu recognized immediately that this spelled disaster. From the moment they'd entered to investigate until now, barely half an hour had elapsed—by Australian reckoning, not even a full hour. The Sword-Drawing Squad soldiers didn't speak the local language and couldn't have leaked case information. As for the brothers he'd brought, they all understood the rules. They would never speak carelessly to outsiders.

The only possibility was that Gao Tianshi's people had stirred this up—only he knew what ghosts were concealed within this Mao Family Inn.

He's desperate to silence witnesses! Gao Chongjiu thought. This "sworn brother" was not merely implicated—he was deeply enmeshed.

Thinking this, he hurried to command: "Everyone get the prisoners into the front office!"

The front office was not only the largest room but also the sturdiest. It could purchase some time. The National Army at Zhenhai Gate would certainly come to suppress the disturbance—Gao Chongjiu understood this wasn't ordinary "righteous public fury" but something deliberately orchestrated. There must be dangerous elements mixed among the crowd, poised to strike amid the chaos.

He beckoned two of his brothers over: "Watch the one surnamed Fu inside. Don't let him escape, die, or kill himself!"

Though the Sword-Drawing Squad's squad leader didn't comprehend the Cantonese being shouted outside, from the clamor and the shifting expressions of Gao Chongjiu and the others, he grasped that something was gravely wrong. Without awaiting Li Ziyu's order, he barked a command in Japanese. The soldiers drew their bayonets and fixed them, forming a semicircular formation between the main gate and the front office. Bayonets pointed outward, percussion caps cocked.

Li Ziyu could speak halting Mandarin. He rushed over to inform the squad leader that rioters outside were attempting to break in and kill the witnesses. He needed them to protect the prisoners and secure the scene.

Li Ziyu's Mandarin and the Japanese soldiers' proficiency were about equally deficient. The two gestured and pantomimed for quite a while before achieving mutual understanding.

"...You understand?"

"I understand!" The squad leader nodded.

"Don't kill too many people..." Sweat beaded on Li Ziyu's forehead. "They're... all masses who don't know the truth... meaning... they don't comprehend what's happening..."

Gao Chongjiu said: "Ah Yu, stop waving your hands around. If fighting actually breaks out, there'll be corpses everywhere. Tell him to follow your commands—whoever you order him to strike, he strikes. No shooting without explicit permission!"

Before he finished speaking, dozens of people had already surged through the main gate. They looked like local commoners, all in ragged clothes, wielding "weapons" ranging from firewood sticks and carrying poles to boat oars and bamboo shafts. They swarmed in with aggressive shouts.

Gao Chongjiu observed that most were ordinary people who'd been incited. He groaned inwardly. Corpse-harvesting aroused extreme public revulsion. Such an intense reaction from the populace was entirely natural. In former times, the authorities wouldn't have interfered with such matters. So the people felt they were "eliminating evil for the community" and had nothing to fear. But now circumstances had changed—he wasn't motivated by thoughts of "merit" for cracking a major case. The key was that the Australians never muddled through anything—they demanded clarity on everything. If the principal culprit actually got beaten to death, there'd be no favorable outcome for himself.

With just these ten Japanese soldiers plus the few brothers he'd brought, there was no way to stop this many people. The ten Japanese soldiers wouldn't hesitate to kill, but slaughtering innocent commoners was indefensible both morally and practically—and would make the Australians lose face.

While pondering countermeasures, another wall suddenly began to shake. Voices screamed from outside: "There are kidnappers in here!" "Storm in and butcher them!" "Kill the kidnappers!"...

The inn's perimeter wall was merely bamboo fencing plastered with mud. How could it withstand such assault? In moments, a section collapsed with a crash, and numerous commoners instantly poured through.

Observing the Sword-Drawing Squad waiting in formation, the crowd hesitated briefly. In that instant, another voice rang out: "These are Australian officials—they kill bad people! Don't be afraid, everyone!"

Gao Chongjiu shouted at the top of his lungs: "Fellow citizens! The kidnappers have been captured! Please don't take the law into your own hands. We will escort them to the yamen for official trial, then execution by slicing..."

"The officers want to let them go!" "Beat them to death and be done with it!" "The officers accepted bribes from the criminals!" "They're all in collusion!"...

Indistinct voices echoed from the crowd, fanning the already boiling public rage to a roaring inferno. More and more people surged in—aggressive, menacing. Li Ziyu felt his body trembling uncontrollably.

Seeing the situation turning perilous, the squad leader barked an order. The soldiers released their hammers, shouldered their muskets, and prepared to fire.

Li Ziyu knew if this volley went off, seven or eight would surely fall. Trapped between advancing and retreating, sweat poured from his forehead. The crowd pressed forward. The squad leader kept casting sideways glances at him. In his dilemma, Gao Chongjiu said: "Have them fire one blank volley over their heads. After firing, we retreat into the building and hold out—Zhenhai Gate is close. Once shots ring out, reinforcements will definitely arrive!"

Li Ziyu nodded repeatedly. He hastened to gesture again with the squad leader. The squad leader muttered something to his soldiers. They raised their muskets in unison and fired a volley over the heads of the mob.

The muffled gunfire echoed through the air. Bullets shrieked above people's heads. The courtyard was instantly shrouded in smoke. The crowd that had charged in let out terrified screams, stumbling and shoving against each other as they fled toward what they believed was the gate. The wave that had seemed unstoppable moments before shattered instantly into countless panicked individuals. They crashed into one another, screaming, scattering in all directions.

Though Gao Chongjiu's expression remained unchanged, the volley's effect still left him shaken—not merely the nearly overwhelming visual and auditory impact, but the deterrent effect on the crowd's collective will. In the old days, once a riot erupted, government officers absolutely wouldn't dare confront the mob directly. Neither whips nor sabers proved useful against a crowd seeing red.

Even amid the chaos and clamor, he could still hear the Japanese officer's calm if awkwardly-accented Mandarin: "Clear chambers!" "Load!"...

The smoke gradually dispersed. The crowd that had nearly filled half the courtyard had vanished entirely. Only a dozen or so unfortunate souls who'd been knocked down and trampled in the pandemonium remained, groaning. The ground was littered with discarded carrying poles, firewood sticks, wooden clubs, and other "weapons," plus numerous tattered straw sandals.

Li Ziyu, still in shock, felt his legs trembling. His hands were so weak he could barely grip his baton. If not for the lanyard on his arm, he probably would have dropped it long ago. Glancing at Gao Chongjiu, his face was also quite grim. But those ten Japanese soldiers, though their expressions were grave, remained calm and composed. Muskets held at the ready, already reloaded, waiting in formation.

The clamor that had filled the street outside vanished completely. The sound of river currents washing against the bank became suddenly clear and distinct. Li Ziyu's nerves were stretched to the breaking point. Then abruptly, the street erupted with the shrill sound of police whistles. He felt his entire body go limp, nearly collapsing to the ground.

Wu Xiang studied Li Ziyu with conflicting emotions. He couldn't help wondering whether certain people existed who were simply born to be police officers. He remembered when he was learning investigation from Mu Min, his teacher had related some fascinating stories of reasoning and detection. The one that left the deepest impression concerned a detective surnamed Ke—wherever he went, murders occurred, and he brought the killers to justice every time.

This unassuming patrol officer had been on the job barely a few months. He'd already risen from beat cop to the municipal bureau's Public Security Section. Now, pursuing a human trafficking case, he'd stumbled into yet another major investigation—his luck was simply extraordinary.

A corpse-harvesting case was a major serious case even under the Ming. That someone had incited the public to attack the prisoners demonstrated clear intent to silence witnesses—meaning the case ran deep. Combined with the headless corpse case Li Ziyu had initially discovered—still unsolved, with shadowy figures lurking behind the scenes...

From the clues already uncovered, this gang wasn't merely conducting simple kidnapping and harvesting. Wu Xiang had learned during training, and heard from Wang Zhaomin and other veterans, that harvesting cases often involved elements of sorcery and black magic.

He observed the detectives searching through the dilapidated riverside inn. A groundless notion suddenly flashed through his mind: Could there be some connection here?

The scene had been cordoned off by National Army troops who'd arrived at the sound of gunfire. Police hastily transferred from the city were searching the premises. Gao Chongjiu had observed that the criminals had established such an elaborate operation on the riverbank—it couldn't be merely for the few victims discovered so far. There were likely additional victims' remains yet to be found.

"Just the harvesting gourds alone—they prepared no fewer than twenty. Seven or eight of them contain amber inside. One gourd, one soul. At least seven or eight people died here. And there are over a dozen empty ones—they were planning to continue..." Gao Chongjiu said from experience.

Wu Xiang felt a chill course through his body—an indescribable cold, deathly aura. More terrifying than when he'd witnessed bandits publicly executing dozens of villagers back in the Eighteen Villages as a child.

"Reporting, Section Chief!" A police officer came running up, breathing hard. "We've discovered what appears to be human remains." His face was filled with disgust as he spoke. Clearly, the scene wouldn't be pleasant.

Wu Xiang nodded: "Let's go have a look."

(End of Chapter)