Legend Management Bureau Chapter 47

[ … words ]

That day, just like usual, Si Huang arrived at Yatou’s house with a wild pheasant in its jaws. But suddenly, it stepped into a trap. Someone had dug a massive pit right in the middle of Si Huang’s usual path, concealing it with a hidden door woven from vines. The bottom of the pit was lined with numerous bamboo spears pointing straight up, as if vowing to kill whoever fell into this snare.

Si Huang tightly gripped the edge of the pit with its front paws, its hind legs desperately kicking against the dirt walls. However, with its massive size, it was clear the beast could not hold on for much longer.

Inside the wooden cabin, Yatou felt an inexplicable sense of panic that evening. Suddenly, hearing strange noises not far from her home, she quickly dropped what she was doing and rushed outside.

From several paces away, Yatou spotted Si Huang with only its upper half exposed above ground. Paling in shock, she immediately reached out and grabbed its front paws. But Si Huang was a fierce tiger; its immense weight was far beyond what a frail woman like her could lift.

But how could she give up? Si Huang was her only remaining comfort in this world!

She clamped her hands tightly around Si Huang’s massive paws, exerting every ounce of her strength until she felt her own teeth cracking under the strain.

“Yatou, let go. Hurry and leave,” Si Huang roared.

“I will not leave! I will not!” Yatou cried out. Yet, feeling Si Huang slowly slipping downward, a wave of despair washed over her.

What could she do? In that moment, panic completely overwhelmed her.

She let go of the tiger’s paws, glanced at the pit that was not exceptionally deep, and carefully jumped inside.

“Yatou, what are you doing?”

Carefully dodging the bamboo spears, Yatou positioned herself beneath Si Huang. She placed the tiger’s two hind legs upon her own frail shoulders and pushed herself up with all her might.

“Si Huang! Step on me and get out!”

Si Huang instantly felt something solid beneath its paws. In a flurry of panic, it pushed off with a powerful leap, propelling its entire body out of the trap. However, the sheer weight of several hundred pounds was simply too much for an elderly woman to bear. Yatou heard a sharp crack; it felt as though her shoulders had been completely crushed.

The agonizing pain shooting through her body nearly made her pass out.

“Yatou!” Si Huang turned back and peered down at her, extending a massive tiger paw in an attempt to pull her up.

Yatou reached out with all her remaining strength, but she just could not grasp the paw hovering right before her eyes. Anxious, Si Huang wildly waved its claws, inadvertently slashing several deep cuts into the old woman’s arms.

“Forget it…” Yatou said with a look of pure despair. “Just go, Si Huang…”

“No… I have to… save you,” Si Huang urged frantically.

“There is no need… Mengshan definitely dug this trap. Wait until he returns, and let him save me… You need to leave now…” Yatou uttered weakly.

After Yatou’s repeated pleas, Si Huang finally departed, tears welling in its bestial eyes.

An unknown amount of time passed before Yatou eventually lost consciousness while leaning against the dirt wall. When she opened her eyes again, she found Mengshan standing at the edge of the pit.

“Mengshan…?” Enduring the excruciating pain wracking her body, Yatou slowly raised her head. “Mengshan… please help your mother out… I am hurt…”

“Help you?” Mengshan stared at his mother with a puzzled expression. “If I help you, wouldn’t I have dug this trap for nothing? I was planning to skin a tiger for some quick cash, but you completely ruined everything.”

“You…!” Yatou never imagined that the son she had painstakingly raised for over forty years would be so utterly callous regarding her life and death.

“However, I have always wanted to see what happens to a human body if left alone after death. People say it gets covered in maggots. Let’s use you as an experiment today. I am going to bed now. Do not forget to call out to me when you die.” Mengshan turned his back and casually strolled into the cabin.

Leaving Yatou weeping bitterly in the pit: “Heavens above… what sin have I committed to deserve this…”

Yatou remained trapped in that hole for a full day without a single drop of water or grain of rice. Fortunately, Si Huang returned the next day. The tiger had found a thick rope from somewhere, tossing one end down into the pit while clenching the other in its jaws, finally managing to pull Yatou to the surface.

Si Huang intended to carry Yatou to a cave in Mount Yunmeng so she could recover, but she adamantly refused to go. She ordered the tiger back into the mountains, then dragged her exhausted, battered body all the way to the Qixian County Magistrate’s office to beat the drum of grievance!

Because of the severe injuries to her shoulders, she could not raise her arms at all. Thus, she used her silver-haired head to strike the massive drum, slamming her forehead against the leather surface again and again.

Every resounding thud of the drum felt like an echo of her heart breaking over the years.

In this moment, she no longer viewed Mengshan as her son. In this moment, she vowed to sever the wretched ties that bound them for more than forty years.

A woman over sixty years old was suing her own son, Mengshan, for the crime of attempted matricide.

Upon hearing of this, Magistrate Cui Jue was utterly shocked. He hastily convened the court and dispatched constables to apprehend the old woman’s son.

Before the public, the old woman recounted every single one of Mengshan’s crimes. Cui Jue’s expression grew heavy as he listened, frequently casting dark glances at the unfilial son.

“Mengshan, as a fellow son, hearing of your actions brings me nothing but disgust!” Cui Jue slammed his gavel onto the desk with a sharp crack. “Now that your esteemed mother has detailed the sins of a wicked offspring like you, do you plead guilty?”

One would think the evidence was irrefutable. With the old woman serving as a living witness and her body covered in undeniable wounds, Mengshan would surely not escape imprisonment.

But just as Cui Jue was about to issue the sentence, Mengshan suddenly burst into loud, agonizing sobs. This theatrical display of weeping halted the magistrate’s hand and even gave the old woman a sudden fright.

“Your Honor! This lowly one… has been falsely accused!!” Mengshan wailed.

“Falsely accused…?” Hearing these words, Cui Jue’s expression shifted instantly. Looking almost like a child whose mistake had been pointed out in public, he hurriedly asked, “How have you been falsely accused?”

“Your Honor!” Mengshan cried, wiping away his tears as he addressed the magistrate. “The truth is, my mother is getting on in years and her mind has completely clouded over… She is utterly insane now, constantly believing I am trying to harm her! She thinks I am some sort of beast, yet she has taken a ferocious tiger from the mountains and recognized it as her son. Her madness truly leaves me at my wit’s end!”

“You… what nonsense are you spewing, you wicked beast?!” The old woman’s voice trembled with absolute fury.

“Oh?” Cui Jue pondered carefully before speaking. “Mengshan, this is nothing but a one-sided claim. You say your mother has gone mad and adopted a tiger as her son, but do you have any proof?”

“I have proof, Your Honor!” Mengshan pointed at the old woman. “You can summon a physician to examine my mother’s wounds and see for yourself whether these injuries were inflicted by me… or by a wild tiger!”

The old woman sat frozen, as if struck by a bolt of lightning from a clear blue sky!

“No… you cannot examine my wounds!” she screamed out, sounding almost hysterical. “The injuries on my body… these injuries are…”

Hearing this frantic shriek, Cui Jue was practically convinced that the old woman was indeed not in her right mind.

Captain Li, observing from the side, seemed to understand the situation. Stepping forward, he addressed Cui Jue, “Your Honor, for a basic physical examination, there is no need to trouble a physician. This humble official can do it.”

“Very well, Captain Li… Go quickly and inspect her. Let us see exactly what kind of injuries this old woman has sustained.”

Li Neng nodded in agreement and signaled the guards to hold the old woman down. Despite her desperate struggles, Li Neng carefully inspected the wounds on her body. After a long moment, he let out a soft sigh.

“Reporting to Your Honor, the old woman’s palms are covered in bloody lacerations caused by sharp claws. Both of her shoulders are dislocated, and the damage does not appear man-made; rather, it looks as though she was trampled by an enormous beast. I would venture a guess that a fierce predator pinned her shoulders to the ground, and just as it prepared to strike with its front claws, she blocked it with her hands.”

“What…?” The old woman could hardly believe her ears. What kind of absurd conclusion was this? Were these the impartial and righteous officials that everyone spoke of?

“Your… Your Honor!” Unwilling to give up, the old woman pleaded again, “This old woman… my body bears many old scars! That is enough to prove that Mengshan has been trying to murder me for years!”

“Your Honor! This commoner has further evidence to prove that my mother has long been mad, and adopted that tiger as her son many years ago!”

Cui Jue thought for a moment, glancing between the old woman and Mengshan. In his heart, he firmly believed that Mengshan’s story sounded far more like the truth.

“Speak, Mengshan. Tell this official, what exactly is this evidence?”

“Your Honor, if your men go up the mountain in search of the tiger, all they need to do is shout, ‘Si Huang, Yatou has come to see you,’ and the beast will definitely appear. As for the name ‘Si Huang,’ it was actually my childhood nickname. When I was a little boy, I was quite slow-witted and always called my mother ‘Yatou.’ Because I looked so sickly and yellow-faced, she gave me the pet name ‘Si Huang.’ Over time, this memory became twisted in my mother’s fragile mind. Send your officers into the mountains to call that tiger ‘Si Huang,’ and if it responds, it will prove that everything I have said is true!”

“You…! You beast! You wicked beast!” The old woman roared through her tears. “How can your heart be so vicious and poisonous?”

“Mother, you are confused. I am not the beast, I am your son. The one in the mountains is the beast,” Mengshan replied coldly.

“Sigh… that was close. I nearly misjudged the situation.” Cui Jue shook his head and ordered, “Li Neng, I command you to immediately gather brave men from within the county. Offer a bounty of two ounces of silver, and head up the mountain tomorrow to slay the tiger.”

“This lowly one obeys.”

“No!” The old woman’s sense of helpless isolation in that moment was beyond words. She screamed in the middle of the courtroom, “You absolutely cannot go up the mountain to kill the tiger!”

“Alas.” Cui Jue sighed and looked toward Mengshan. “Mengshan, make sure you take good care of your mother. As for the matter of the tiger, leave it to me.”

“This commoner obeys!”

“And as for you, old woman, let me give you a piece of advice. Recognize who is your true family and who is a mindless beast, lest you end up getting yourself killed.”

“Corrupt dog of an official!!!” the old woman screamed. “You foolish official cannot even tell right from wrong! I curse you to suffer in hell for all eternity when you die!!!”

Hearing this, Cui Jue felt a shudder of fear. He had clearly made the wisest and most just decision, so why did the curses of this crazy old woman leave his heart so restless?

Mengshan hypocritically helped the old woman out of the courtroom, whispering softly into her ear, “Just you wait. One of these days, I am going to kill you with my own two hands.”

The old woman bit down so hard that one of her teeth shattered. She swallowed the broken pieces directly into her stomach.

“You vile beast, this old woman will not die so easily.”

She fought back her tears, her heart boiling with indignation. Had the world truly changed so much? Or had it always been this cruel?

After returning home, the old woman took advantage of the cover of night to climb the mountain. She called out Si Huang and spoke to it with absolute earnestness, warning it that no matter who came searching for it, it must never show itself. She also told Si Huang not to visit her for the next few months. Though the tiger did not understand why, it always believed everything Yatou said.

After finishing this, the old woman returned home and hid a sharp pair of scissors beneath her pillow. A few days later, she watched a group of men carrying weapons march up the mountain. Though her heart was fraught with worry, she knew she absolutely could not show it, praying only that Si Huang would survive this disaster.

In the days that followed, she lived in a constant state of dread. She could not sleep at night nor rest during the day. It felt as if the moment she closed her eyes, she would see a child-like Mengshan standing beside her bed with scissors in hand.

Mengshan completely stopped hiding his twisted heart. He cut off the old woman’s food supply, eager to watch her starve to death. Refusing to surrender, she had no choice but to sneak outside every night, plucking random, unrecognizable plants from the ground and stuffing them into her mouth by the handful.

These hellish days dragged on for three long years.