Where Do the Wronged Souls Go? The Dead Are Gone, We Sigh for the Past

Chapter 84 Where Do the Wronged Souls Go? The Dead Are Gone, We Sigh for the Past

After leaving Dongchang Prefecture and traveling for several days, they came to a main road. Wu Song was a little hungry and said, "Brother, let's find a place to eat!"

Song Jiang looked around and, seeing no inns on the main road, said, "Why don't we walk a little further?"

Zhu Jing had no objection. The three of them walked for a while longer and came to a small earthen slope. They saw about a dozen thatched huts at the foot of the slope in the distance, and a wine curtain hanging from a willow tree by the stream.

Upon seeing this, Wu Song pointed and said, "Isn't there an inn over there?" Song Jiang looked closely and indeed there was an inn. He figured the group was getting hungry and it was getting dark, so they decided to stop for a meal and stay at an inn before continuing their journey the next day.

The three men walked down the slope and saw a woodcutter carrying a load of firewood by the hillside.

Wu Song called out, "Brother, may I ask what the name of this place is?"

The woodcutter said, "The famous Cross Slope is located next to the big forest in front of this ridge."

A murderous glint appeared in Song Jiang's eyes. He glanced at the inn and realized that he had unexpectedly arrived at Shizipo. He had finally come here; he had taken a detour back to Yuncheng just to get to this place.

I heard in the restaurant that many people's relatives had gone missing, and they were all either in Henan or returning from Henan. Mengzhou is in Henan. I can't say for sure, but I'm sure some of them must have been killed by those two cannibals!

Cannibalism was Song Jiang's bottom line. No matter how skilled someone was, Song Jiang would never break the law and accept someone who ate humans; otherwise, he would personally kill that person! (Li Kui had not yet started eating humans at this time, and Zhu Gui had not yet committed that act.)

Just as Wu Song was about to step forward, Song Jiang stopped him. Wu Song looked at Song Jiang with some surprise, and Song Jiang shook his head almost imperceptibly.

Wu Song understood Song Jiang's meaning, gave a hint to Zhu Jing, and the three of them slowly arrived at the entrance of the hotel.

The first tree was so big that four or five people couldn't encircle it; it was covered with withered vines.

Song Jiang looked closely at the big tree, and the tree seemed to be looking at Song Jiang as well, as if it had many grievances to tell.

Song Jiang sniffed carefully and found a faint smell of blood in the air. Although it was not obvious, it was definitely there. The branches of the big tree swayed slightly, as if they were crying out that one by one, a vibrant life had perished and left, dying with its eyes wide open.

Since his time travel, Song Jiang had never truly felt anger, but this time was an exception. Song Jiang felt he was on the verge of exploding, and he would absolutely not let these two beasts, who could not even be called human, go unpunished.

It wasn't for myself, but to seek justice for the innocent lives lost in this shady shop.

A woman sat by the hotel entrance, dressed in green, with hairpins and wildflowers adorning her hair.

When Song Jiang and his two companions arrived at the door, the woman got up to greet them.

Song Jiang guessed that the woman was Sun Erniang. After all, the murderous intent hidden under her smile could not be concealed, and there was a faint smell of blood on her body. He wondered what kind of trick she had just played!

The woman became wary when she saw Song Jiang staring intently at the tree. But when Song Jiang turned around and resumed his amiable smile, she lowered her guard and immediately smiled brightly, saying, "Sir, I have fine wine, good meat, and fragrant meat buns!" However, that smile was quite unsettling.

Song Jiang laughed and said, "I'm a little hungry, let's go and have a few bowls together."

After saying that, he led Wu Song and Zhu Jing into the shop.

Upon entering the hotel, Song Jiang found a table and chair near the door and sat down, while Wu Song and Zhu Jing each started to eat.

Wu Song first untied the bundle from his back and placed it on the table, then loosened his sash and took off his shirt. Zhu Jing then put down his bundle as well, and took out a small cloth bag, which was quite heavy and made a dull thud when it was placed on the table.

The woman stared at the package for a moment, then asked with a friendly smile, "What would you like, sir?"

Wu Song said, "Bring on the good wine and meat. If it tastes good, there will be a reward."

The woman said, "My steamed buns are famous for being delicious."

Wu Song laughed and said, "Let's start with a few dozen."

The woman chuckled as she went inside and carried out a large bucket of wine.

He put down three large bowls and three pairs of chopsticks, cut out two plates of meat, poured four or five bowls of wine, went to the stove to get a basket of steamed buns, and placed them on the table.

Wu Song took a steamed bun, broke it open, and asked, "Boss lady, is the filling in this steamed bun a person or a dog?"

The woman chuckled and said, "Sir, what are you saying? I've always been honest and law-abiding, not a shady business. How could anyone make our steamed buns? Don't talk nonsense, sir. If the authorities hear this, they'll take us to jail. All our steamed buns are made by scalpers."

Song Jiang also picked up a steamed bun, broke it open, smelled it, and laughed, "When I was traveling the Jianghu, I heard that at the Big Tree Cross Slope, who dares to cross? The fat ones are made into minced meat, and the lean ones are used to fill the river." He then revealed a half-smile.

The woman was somewhat annoyed, but after glancing at Wu Song and Zhu Jing, she knew that she was no match for them no matter what, so she dared not lose her temper and could only laugh it off, telling them not to make fun of her.

Wu Song laughed and said, "This steamed bun smells wrong. It seems to have a sour taste, not like beef."

The woman didn't respond to Wu Song's words, but instead poured three more bowls of wine.

Seeing that the woman remained silent, Wu Song asked again, "Wife, where is your husband?"

The woman said, "My husband is away visiting someone and hasn't returned yet."

Wu Song said, "Does your husband have found someone new and want to divorce you?"

These were extremely harsh words, but the woman still wore a smile, though she thought to herself with great anger, "Let you be arrogant for now. Once you've had your drink and fallen into my hands, I'll show you what it means to be worse than dead."

After thinking it over, the woman said, "It's hot, sir, why don't you drink some wine to cool off?" Her tone was a bit harsher than before.

Song Jiang glanced at Wu Song and Zhu Jing, and said, "Boss lady, this wine looks a bit cloudy. Do you have any other good wines? Bring me some more."

The woman said, "There is some fine wine, but it looks a bit cloudy."

Wu Song said, "A little muddy doesn't matter. As long as it tastes good."

The woman was secretly pleased, so she went inside and brought up a jar of wine.

Wu Song looked at it and said, "It's a bit cold; it'll taste better when it's hot."

The woman said, "If that's what you say, sir, I'll go heat it up for you right now."

A moment later, the woman brought out three bowls of wine and said with a smile, "Please try this wine, sir."

To her surprise, the three men neither picked up their bowls nor ate anything. The woman was somewhat annoyed, but she dared not force them to eat, otherwise she would reveal her weakness and realize that she was no match for this big man.

Seeing the woman staring at the three of them, Wu Song said, "Madam, there's not enough food. Could you cut some more meat for us to eat?"

The moment the woman turned around, the three of them spilled the wine outside. Wu Song smacked his lips and laughed, "Good wine! This wine really gets you going! Brother, this wine is no worse than yours."

Song Jiang suppressed a laugh and replied, "I think so too; this wine does have some flavor."

Zhu Jing added, "Compared to this, the wine I drank before is like cat pee."

The woman didn't actually cut the meat; she just swayed inside for a moment, and seeing that all three of them had drunk the wine, she was overjoyed. She came out laughing and said, "Drink, drink, drink!"

The three of them dropped their bowls, quickly closed their eyes, and slowly collapsed onto the table.

The woman laughed and said, "Hehehe, no matter how cunning you are, you still drank my foot-washing water."

He yelled into the kitchen, "Waiter, waiter, waitress, waiter, bring in the goods!"

Three burly men jumped out from inside. The woman came to the table, first picked up Wu Song's bundle, and then opened it to find it was full of gold and silver.

The woman said happily, "With meat and money, it wasn't for nothing that I put on this show for them."

He glanced at Wu Song and Zhu Jing, then at Song Jiang, and said disdainfully, "These two tall, strong men could make excellent beef to sell, but this short, dark fellow wouldn't even be appetizing enough to sell as dog meat!"

Just as he finished collecting the silver, he saw the two men carrying Wu Song, as if pushing a mountain, without moving an inch. They then tried to pull Zhu Jing, but the same thing happened.

The woman cursed, "Useless! All you do is drink and eat meat. Go carry that short, ugly man."

After saying that, she took off her clothes, untied her bodice, and personally lifted Wu Song up, cursing, "You dare to play tricks on me? I'll make you mincemeat!"

""

As soon as the two burly men lifted Song Jiang, Wu Song immediately sprang into action. He grabbed one of the men and slammed his head onto the table, then kneed him in the spine. With a sudden burst of force, the man screamed and fell to the ground. Wu Song showed no mercy, stepping on the man's neck, killing him instantly. Zhu Jing also grabbed a stool and smashed it over another man's head. The man's brains splattered open, and after a few twitches, he died. The last man was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground. Song Jiang drew his Chunyang sword and stabbed him to death with a single blow.

The woman had never seen anything like it before and screamed in terror, "Come out, everyone! Someone's here to cause trouble!"

Seven or eight people, men and women, came out from the inner room, all carrying sharp knives. The woman also took out a knife.

Wu Song sneered and turned to Zhu Jing, saying, "Leave the protection of my brother to me."

Zhu Jing nodded and walked up to Song Jiang.

Song Jiang, however, said, "Go help Erlang finish this quickly. I don't need protection. Don't leave a single one alive."

Song Jiang was truly enraged. None of these people were innocent; each of them had shed countless blood. Otherwise, he wouldn't have so rarely said that he would leave no survivors.

Seeing Wu Song leading the charge, Zhu Jing was not to be outdone and charged towards the woman!

In just two or three rounds, the woman was slashed to the ground, screaming loudly!

Hearing the woman's shouts, the henchmen panicked. Four or five of them had already been killed by Wu Song. Zhu Jing joined the fight, and within two minutes, they were all lying on the ground, dead beyond any doubt.

Wu Song was also furious, truly furious. He was just a little hungry and wanted to eat some meat and drink some wine, but he never expected to run into a shady inn. If Song Jiang hadn't seen through it in advance, he might have really suffered a loss.

The woman lay on the ground, clutching her wound, howling like a pig being slaughtered, crying out, "Hero, spare my life!" Wu Song ignored her completely. Apart from the woman, he stabbed each of the people lying on the ground to prevent anyone from faking their death. Seeing that the group of villains had stopped moving, he walked over to a seat next to Song Jiang and sat down. Zhu Jing also sat on the other side of Song Jiang. The three of them coldly stared at the woman on the ground.

Just as Song Jiang was about to speak, a man carrying a load of firewood placed it at the door. Upon seeing the scene before him, he was greatly surprised, strode in, and knelt before the three men, saying, "Good sirs, spare my life! I have something to say."

The man wore a blue gauze scarf over his head, a white cloth shirt, knee pads, and hemp shoes, with a sack tied around his waist. He had a square face with prominent cheekbones, a few wisps of beard, and appeared to be in his early thirties.

Song Jiang glanced at the man, sneered, and asked, "Are you Zhang Qing from the vegetable garden? And is this woman Sun Erniang, the shrew?"

""

When Zhang Qing heard that Song Jiang could name him and his wife, he was first taken aback, then delighted, thinking that there was something to talk about.

He had been waiting at the door for a while, but hadn't come in. He had seen clearly from outside that the two burly men were highly skilled in martial arts, far beyond what he and his wife could handle. If it weren't for Sun Erniang being his wife, he probably would have run away long ago. In this situation, he thought it best to play the good guy, go up and beg for mercy, and mention his three principles of not killing. Perhaps he could even gain their respect. Thinking this, he quickly said, "I am Zhang Qing from the vegetable garden, and this is my wife, Sun Erniang. May I ask your honorable name, sir? Perhaps we have a mutual acquaintance."

Wu Song retorted, "You dare ask me my brother's name?"

Zhang Qing hurriedly said, "I wouldn't dare, but I do have some influence in the martial world. As the saying goes, it's better to resolve conflicts than to let them fester. Why don't the three of you just let this go? I'm willing to offer you gold and silver, and we won't pursue this matter any further!"

Seeing that Song Jiang remained silent, Zhang Qing spoke up again: "I have repeatedly instructed my wife that there are three types of people we must not harm. The first is wandering monks and Taoists; they have not indulged in excessive pleasures and are monks. The second type is prostitutes from brothels in the Jianghu. They travel from place to place, performing for a living, and have lost a lot of money and goods they have painstakingly earned. If we kill them, those women will spread the word and make us Jianghu heroes seem unheroic on the stage. The third type is criminals exiled from various places; many heroes are among them, so we must not harm them."

Song Jiang sneered, "So you're saying this because you expect to chop off a chicken's head, burn yellow paper, and become sworn brothers with me?"

His face then turned cold as he said, "Killing someone is just a matter of a head falling to the ground, but you two beasts are even worse. You kill people without cause and defile their bodies. Do you think I don't know what the meat you sell every day is made of? Such a violation of human ethics and heinous crimes, how dare you talk to me about the 'three no-killings'? You have no sense of propriety or shame, yet you dare to put on a virtuous facade in the martial arts world. Let me ask you, those merchants deserved to be killed by you. If I don't kill you two bastards and burn down your black market today, I'll be unworthy of being called a human being!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Wu Song and Zhu Jing could no longer hold back. They jumped up, and Wu Song cleaved Zhang Qing’s head open with a single blow, while Zhu Jing stabbed Sun Erniang to death!

Sitting at the table, Song Jiang still felt resentful. Zhang Qing and Sun Erniang were not very capable, but they liked to use despicable and low-class methods to kill passersby. Countless heroes and innocent merchants had died here!

Yes, Song Jiang really felt it was a great injustice for these wronged souls who died here. As the saying goes, even thieves have their code of honor. Even most bandits who rob others usually take their money and don't kill them. To put it another way, even if they wanted your life, they wouldn't desecrate your corpse.

In China, people value respect for the dead and consider leaving them with a complete body as a final act of dignity in this world. But these two despicable people, after making money, chopped up a person and made them into buns. This kind of thing, which violates ethics and morality and is something even beasts wouldn't do, they did every now and then.

The countless dead here included merchants rushing to earn money to reunite with their wives and children, families of three visiting relatives and friends, the elderly, children, and so on, but these two beasts spared none of them.

The so-called "three no-killing" policy is even more ridiculous. What did that monk say? What did Lu Zhishen say? Moreover, most of those exiled were truly evil people who had broken the law. People like Lu Junyi, Lin Chong, and Wu Song, who were tricked, were ultimately a minority. If you condone evil people and indiscriminately kill innocent people, you deserve to die.

They killed the Bright Monk without a second thought, and instead of feeling ashamed, they took pride in it. Some people's evil is truly ingrained in their bones. Song Jiang only regretted that he couldn't have brought his men here sooner to kill these beasts.

Looking at the corpses scattered on the ground, Song Jiang sneered, "Such a way of dying is too easy for you beasts." Song Jiang truly felt that these people died too easily; even being torn to pieces a thousand times would not wash away the crimes they had committed.

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