Chapter Thirty-Five: Grievances and Passions

Chen Tianyu only decided to visit Li Qisi after receiving reports from Kuang Suo and Liu Zichen. He was always patient and never fought a battle he wasn't sure to win.

Li Yiting had gone to a neighboring village and wouldn't be back anytime soon. Besides, the clues Kuang Suo and Liu Zichen unearthed were already sufficient, so there was no need to wait any longer. This time, no matter what, he needed to overcome the crucial obstacle that was Li Qisi. If necessary, he was prepared to present evidence to force Li Qisi’s hand.

Likely, no one in Li Village truly knew the inside story except for the clan leader, Li Qisi. Chen Tianyu had a strong premonition that the murders in Li Village were far from over. If it became necessary, he would have to take tough measures and detain all suspects to prevent the situation from escalating, especially since the murderer seemed far from finished. So far, two people had been murdered, one had narrowly escaped with their life, and now Beiting’s own men were suffering casualties—a predicament he had never faced before. In past cases, there had always been danger, but rarely real harm.

But the countryside was not like the city. If Wan Yongkun were killed by the mute man, perhaps even his body would vanish without a trace. Just thinking about it filled Chen Tianyu with dread. Beiting was a “black household,” not an official government unit; no matter how good things sounded or how much the people supported them, it wouldn’t change that fact. As Beiting’s true leader, Chen Tianyu was well aware of his position. He himself could take the risk, but he would not gamble with his brothers’ lives.

He pondered these things as he approached Li Qisi’s grand residence.

When Li Qisi saw Chen Tianyu, he was calm, as if he had long expected this visit. He was already sitting at the door, puffing on a water pipe, the air swirling with smoke.

Chen Tianyu dispensed with any pleasantries. Lighting a cigarette, he got straight to the point: “Uncle, I came especially today because I have something very important to ask you. I hope you won’t hide anything.”

“This matter may concern the safety of your brothers,” he added.

Li Qisi exhaled a cloud of smoke, coughed lightly, and said, “You want to ask about my fourth brother’s death?” A shrewd man indeed.

“Yes,” Chen Tianyu replied without hesitation. “The more details, the better.”

Li Qisi nodded. “I’ve kept this secret for over twenty years—it’s time I revealed some of it. As you know, I’m the clan leader in Li Village. Some things you just can’t say, not even on pain of death… But now, I’m just an old man. The fourth was my own brother. For so many years, it’s weighed on me like a stone. I’ve had no peace, day or night.”

He coughed again, more deeply. “But who could I talk to? I had to keep it all inside.”

Chen Tianyu silently smoked, waiting for him to get to the heart of the matter.

“My fourth brother was named Li Qiuyuan. His wife was Zheng Wanqiu. They were the perfect couple—envied by all. But perfection often brings disaster, as the old saying goes: ‘beauty is a curse.’” Li Qisi sighed deeply.

“Wanqiu was from the city, a wealthy heiress. Who knows what she was thinking, falling for my fourth brother. Qiuyuan was tall and handsome, I’ll grant you that, but he was a farmer, with hands so rough they’d scare most city girls away. But fate is strange. Wanqiu was utterly devoted to him, even to the point of breaking with her family… You must understand, she was their only daughter. Of course her family saw us as enemies.”

Li Qisi took another long draw from his pipe, then said, “Naturally, I was firmly against the match.”

“Our parents had died long before, so among us six brothers, I was both brother and father to the fourth. When I objected, he listened and returned to the village, shutting himself away. I felt sorry for him, but held firm. After all, I’d never heard of a toad eating swan meat. I was young too back then, and thought if we just waited it out, I could introduce him to a village girl later and he’d forget all about Wanqiu.”

“But to my surprise, while I had control over my brother, the girl herself showed up at our door. You can’t imagine—the frail, slender Wanqiu dragged four suitcases bigger than me, knelt at my doorstep, and didn’t move for three days. She didn’t say a word or eat a thing.” Tears glistened in Li Qisi’s eyes. “I shouldn’t have given in, but I was his brother, flesh and blood. How could I stand in their way any longer?”

“I agreed, but set two conditions. First, Wanqiu must never return to her family in the city. Second, she must give my brother at least two children before she could ever leave Li Village.”

Chen Tianyu glanced at Li Qisi, moved despite himself. “She agreed to that?”

Li Qisi nodded heavily. “She didn’t even hesitate.”

“Wasn’t that too cruel?” Chen Tianyu frowned.

“It was, but I just wanted to test her sincerity. We live in poverty here—if she was only following a whim, it would ruin my brother’s whole life. Qiuyuan was more sentimental than anyone; I knew that well.”

“After Wanqiu agreed, she collapsed. My wife cared for her for over a fortnight before she recovered. I kept her at our house for over half a year, making sure she didn’t try to leave and that no one came looking for her. Only then did I allow my brother to marry her properly.”

“Did Fourth Uncle ever resent you?” Chen Tianyu asked, surprised.

Li Qisi smiled. “I wasn’t so foolish as to tell him anything. And Wanqiu never breathed a word either. That’s why I say she was an extraordinary woman. I was grateful to her.”

“When did they marry?” Chen Tianyu pressed.

“Twenty-nine years ago,” Li Qisi said after a pause. “I remember clearly—my eldest was just turning one.”

“So they had Li Fuqi two years after the wedding?” Chen Tianyu calculated.

“Er… I suppose so,” Li Qisi replied hesitantly.

Chen Tianyu was puzzled—how could he not know about his own brother’s child?

Li Qisi caught his doubt and sighed again. “Not long after my brother’s wedding, we split the family. I made him move far away and we rarely saw each other.”

“Why did you do that?” Chen Tianyu couldn’t understand.

“You’ll laugh,” Li Qisi said, wiping his face. “We country folk are simple. Wanqiu was so beautiful, more than any girl for miles around. The saying goes: ‘pretty women invite trouble’… That’s all there is to it.”

Chen Tianyu sighed inwardly, but understood. The vestiges of feudal thought still clung tightly to the poor, unchanged by time.

But then a flash of insight came—he remembered what Kuang Suo had reported.

“Did something happen before you split the family?” he asked, cutting to the chase.

“Uh… no, not really,” Li Qisi’s eyes flickered.

Chen Tianyu wasn’t about to let it go. “Uncle, I know family secrets are hard to air, but these are extraordinary times. You mustn’t hide anything.”

“It’s not really a scandal—they were genuinely in love…” Li Qisi mused. “But since you ask, it’s just old affairs of men and women, hardly worth mentioning.”

Chen Tianyu pressed on. “I heard there was a mute man in Yuan Village who was quite taken with your fourth aunt. Is that true?”

Li Qisi was surprised. “Who told you that?”

He became subdued. “Since you know, there’s no point hiding it. That mute—he wasn’t always mute, nor so fat. He was actually a handsome young man. He was Wanqiu’s fiancé in the city. Somehow he found out she had come to Li Village, so he followed her, under the pretense of visiting distant kin in Yuan Village.”

“So that’s how it was,” Chen Tianyu thought it an incredible tale. “How did he become mute?”

Li Qisi sighed. “He was consumed by love, poor soul! When my brother and Wanqiu first married, that mute came to the village every day. He wouldn’t enter the house—just stood on the hill above, singing all day long, driving us mad. My brother laughed it off, Wanqiu ignored him, hoping he’d give up. But I couldn’t stand it—people in the village gossiped.”

“So you drove him away?”

“He was impossible to drive off. If we chased him, he returned. I was furious—Wanqiu was married, I couldn’t let her reputation be ruined. I told her that if he was still there the next morning, I’d throw her out. She got scared and explained things to him. The next day, he was gone.”

“So Fourth Aunt threatened him?” Chen Tianyu asked.

Li Qisi shook his head. “I’m not sure. I was too angry then. Later, I heard he drank poison that made him mute and secretly became a monk on Mount Emei.” Li Qisi showed no hint of guilt—perhaps he felt none.

Chen Tianyu said nothing for a moment, then remarked, “So you had Fourth Uncle move far away to prevent anything like this from happening again?”

“Exactly. A countryman’s reputation is dearer than his life…”

“But if that was the arrangement, how did the whole family end up in such tragedy? Was it the mute stirring up trouble again?” This was the real answer Chen Tianyu sought.

“No, it wasn’t that,” Li Qisi said, his face shadowed by sorrow.

“My brother’s family died in a fire,” he said heavily. “They were burned alive.”

“Heaven’s punishment?!” Chen Tianyu blurted out, immediately regretting it.

Li Qisi was annoyed. “Nonsense. There’s no such thing as divine retribution under the sun.”

“Of course,” Chen Tianyu offered, embarrassed. “I’ve just heard too much talk of it lately. Please don’t mind me.”

“It’s not your fault,” Li Qisi said, calming down. “To tell the truth, all that talk of retribution and the five elements was invented by my ancestors. They even wrote it into the genealogy, which is why it became so mystical over time.”

Chen Tianyu was stunned. Such a simple explanation, yet so many believed it blindly—how sad.

“Country folk are easy to fool and many are superstitious. There’s nothing to be done,” Li Qisi said indifferently.

Chen Tianyu nodded. “So why did the house catch fire—was it just an accident?”

Li Qisi gave a bitter smile. “It was actually my fault. At the time, I locked their family inside, not letting them out. Otherwise, they might have escaped.”

“If Fourth Uncle was already living deep in the mountains, why did you go to such lengths?” Chen Tianyu had a suspicion.

“I know what you’re thinking. Yes, the mute had suddenly returned—it was at the market that I saw him. He was fatter but I recognized him instantly. This was two or three years after the wedding. I should tell you, although I was harsh before, after the mute left, I relaxed a little. I let Wanqiu walk around the village and even go to the little shop at the foot of the mountain for supplies. Words can be cruel, but people must live.”

“When I saw the mute again, he recognized me too. There was a frightening look in his eyes, and he walked with purpose, as if he’d gained some new power. I hurried home, but couldn’t stop thinking about it. Eventually, one night, I locked the family in while they slept, thinking I’d explain in a few days after seeing what the mute was up to. But…”

A look of deep anguish appeared on Li Qisi’s face.

“The next day, the fire started… I never imagined such a thing could happen. It was too late for regrets. My brothers and I fought the fire desperately, but by the time we got in, my brother and his wife were charred beyond recognition.”

Chen Tianyu’s eyes reddened.

“Uncle, don’t blame yourself too much. It isn’t all your fault,” he offered.

Li Qisi wiped his nose, shaking his head. “It’s been so long, there’s no point in sadness now. Actually, my brother was partly to blame. He never even told me his child was born. He just didn’t understand how the world works. If I’d known Wanqiu had given birth, I wouldn’t have been so anxious. One misstep led to disaster.”

“Li Fuqi wasn’t in the house?” Chen Tianyu suddenly realized something.

Li Qisi nodded. “Exactly. I only found out later that, after giving birth, Wanqiu had no milk, so she often sought help from my second brother’s family—Li Yi had just been born then. Qihuai’s family was kind and never told me, probably to spare me worry.”

Chen Tianyu said bluntly, “It seems your decisions weren’t always supported by your brothers, were they?”

“They were too young to understand how dangerous the world can be,” Li Qisi replied.

Chen Tianyu thought for a moment, then asked, “Uncle, tell me honestly: after all these years, do you regret it?”

“I feel some guilt…” Li Qisi’s expression became strange, as if a deep conviction or a kind of faith shone through.

“But regret—I will never have. Everyone must bear their own burdens in life. Even if you must sacrifice or give of yourself, you can’t live only for your own sake. Otherwise, what’s the point of being human?”

Chen Tianyu was taken aback. The words seemed to have a deeper meaning.

Could there be other secrets? He wondered how to probe further, but Li Qisi had already gone inside. After a brief consideration, Chen Tianyu decided not to press the matter. He had, for the most part, found his answer.