“That’s no reason to tie someone up and beat him. You said there was no evidence. Somebody accused Bajie?”

“Yes.” Gao Cai looked surprised. “How did you guess? It was Gao Lang, Lord Gao’s grandson.”

“A child?”

“No, he’s already of marriageable age, but still unmarried. As was Gao Xin.”

Trip nodded. “What did this Gao Lang say he saw?”

“He saw… he said he saw Bajie running away from Gao Xin, who was collapsed on the ground. When Gao Lang rushed over to check on Gao Xin, he found her already dead. He was so shocked that he fainted, and only came to when he heard people shouting for Gao Xin. That’s when he roused himself and came to lead the search parties to her body.”

Trip seemed to be lost in thought for a few moments. “Gao Cai” she said, while looking at him intently. “Earlier, you mentioned justice. Are you really interested in finding out the truth? In catching the real perpetrator?”

“I am. Does that mean you think Bajie is innocent?”

“Innocent until proven guilty. That’s the universal rule, or it should be.”

“Alright. What do you need?”

“I’ll need to talk to whoever can tell me more about the relationships between the three main people involved. Gao Xin, Gao Lang, and Bajie. I’ll also need to examine Gao Xin’s body, and the place where her body was found. I may have more requests later.”

“... examining Gao Xin’s body… might not be that easy. Let me see if I can get permission to do so. Wait here!” Without another word, Gao Cai jogged off, in the direction of a large villa beside the town square.

While waiting, Trip’s eyes were drawn to the tallest structure in the village, a huge watchtower that rose up between the large villa and the town square. In it were three guardsmen. Unlike the guards at the gate whom Trip had only heard but not seen, these guards seemed to be quite alert, heads turning here and there as they scanned their surroundings. For village guards, they were impressively equipped with a functional combination of leather and metal armour. Crossbows hung from their backs, and she saw sword pommels at their waists. This was worlds apart from the typical village guard she had encountered thus far in her travels, who usually had a spear as their only equipment.

Wukong had attracted a few of the more fearless children who had escaped from their caretakers. To them, he looked like some soft toy that had been stretched thin, then brought to life. A golden-furred soft toy that wouldn’t stop capering about while making faces at them. How wonderful if they could have this soft toy for themselves! While Trip had been talking to Gao Cai, the children had been enjoying themselves, chasing Wukong’s tail around. Wukong was enjoying himself, perhaps even more than the children, teasing them by letting them almost grab on to his tail before whipping it out of reach. Sometimes, he would softly tickle them on their cheeks with it, eliciting a delighted giggle from them.

Trip was distracted from her examination of the guards on the watchtower by the sight of a group of roly-poly children falling all over themselves, laughing as their tried to capture Wukong’s tail. A tiny smile on her face, she watched the children play as her smile grew increasingly wistful. One of the club-footed children kept tripping over his own feet, while another child with a deformed mouth and split lips kept spraying saliva as she laughed, but they all laughed and played just the same.

While examining the children, Trip realised that a part of her was trying to analyse Wukong’s behavior. It was so unlike his night time brooding. Admittedly, that had reduced a lot ever since he had begun the nightly training with her, but still… this was a side of Wukong that she could have never imagined.

“Miss Trip!”. Gao Cai had returned. “I’ve spoken to the village elders, they’ve asked to meet with you before deciding anything else. Please, follow me.” He indicated the direction of the large villa.

Trip nodded. “Let’s go.”

Accompanied by a chorus of complaints from disappointed children, Trip and Wukong followed Gao Cai through the sturdy wooden gates of the villa.

***

The villa turned out to be even larger than it seemed from the outside. They followed Gao Cai through a series of corridors with polished wooden floors and walls, passing by courtyards with exquisite gardens with bamboo, flowers, herbs, and ponds with round goldfish.

Finally, Gao Cai led them into a large courtyard that was completely bare except for several types of training equipment. Wooden dummies, straw targets and racks holding various weapons lined the walls.

In the center of the courtyard, two grey-haired men were waiting. One was slim and tough, tanned and deeply wrinkled. His grey hair was trimmed close to the scalp. His eyes were sharp, his nose was commanding, giving the impression of a royal Grey Eagle searching for prey. He seemed like a man who had spent most of his life fighting, and surviving, under the sun. Despite his apparent age, Trip instantly filed him under the category of “Dangerous”.

The other man had long grey hair in a ponytail. Although wrinkled, his plump cheeks and laugh lines gave the impression of a cheerful plum.

“Trip, this is Elder Mu...” Gao Cai indicated the dangerous-looking old man “...and this is Elder Jing.” The cheerful plum smiled and nodded at Trip.

“Welcome to our village! We hear that you would like to help us with our problem with Bajie?” said the smiling Elder Jing.

“More like your problem with evidence and justice.” said Trip.

“Ahem! Yes, yes, ahaha.” Elder Jing gave a helpless little laugh. “Of course, it would be great if we had some clear signs of the guilty party. It would do a lot to help maintain Lord Gao’s reputation as a fair and even-handed leader. How-”

“However, we can’t allow just anyone to interfere. This is a sensitive matter. There can be no mistakes, no falsehood, no delay.” said Elder Mu.

“No delay?” said Trip.

“Ah, yes, well, you see, later today, Gao Xin, aiyo that poor girl, her body will be brought out for viewing in the village square for one day. Right after that, Bajie will be executed in front of her to placate her spirit, before she is buried.” said Elder Jing.

“I need to know if you have the skills to help us in this matter.” said Elder Mu. Even with his arms crossed firmly in front of his chest, he looked poised for action.

“Hah! Let me tell you about my Mistress, the Ever-Righteous Lady Trip! She-”

“Wukong!”

“Yes Mistress.” At Trip’s admonishment, Wukong immediately stopped talking and lowered his head.

Looking steadily at Elder Mu, Trip said “Tell me how I can prove myself.”

“Show us that you can handle yourself in case of any… trouble, and demonstrate your powers of investigation.”

Trip shrugged. “Sure”

-- Chapter 26, End --