Chapter 11 The Torture King

The only remedy for those elders who are insistent on putting on airs is a good call-out. And if one isn't enough, then another is due.

Han Jianshan got a slap across his left cheek first, and rather than letting go in his daze, his reaction was to grab Zhou Xuan's hand even tighter, trying to make a scene.

Zhou Xuan's movements were smooth as silk, delivering another slap that sent old Han sprawling onto his bottom.

"You… you… how dare you hit me?"

Hehe,

Hit you?

If I don't bully you properly,

you won't even take me for a spoiled brat!

"I… I'm done here, tomorrow I'll find the Class Leader to resign, I won't serve the Zhou Family's Troupe anymore."

Heh, trying to scare who with resignation? Can't tell who's the boss around here?

Zhou Xuan certainly didn't indulge such antics—like a toad on your foot trying to stand out in camouflage like it's some sort of cool jeep.

"Driving a beaten-up car, thinking you're so capable, forget about tomorrow, you're gone today. The Zhou Family's Troupe has no use for loafers. From now on, you don't need to drive; I will."

Zhou Xuan dropped the statement and headed into the inner courtyard.

Han Jianshan felt wronged, his pride hurt. These past years, he always saw himself as someone important, always dreaming of hobnobbing with high society.

But now, the Young Master's slaps had shattered his dreams.

Yet he thought it was because Zhou Xuan was young and foolish, failing to see his worth.

After all, he was a licensed driver, and how many licensed drivers were there in Ping Shui Prefecture?

If Zhou Xuan didn't understand his value, did Xu Li not understand it either?

Han Jianshan stubbornly clung to his plans for a palace coup and sought out Xu Li again, saying, "Mrs. Xu, you saw it too, the Young Master can't stand me, I'm resigning…"

There was none of the expected pleading for him to stay, no comforting words either, only Xu Li's nonchalant "Oh."

Han Jianshan couldn't believe his ears, so he emphasized, "I said I'm resigning!"

"What, did the slaps make you deaf? I clearly responded, don't worry, when I go back to my room tonight I'll inform Lao Yu, and he'll prepare the paperwork and settle your pay by morning, not a penny short, and then you and the Zhou Family's Troupe are done."

Xu Li was very supportive of Zhou Xuan.

Since Zhou Xuan had ordered Han Jianshan to be dismissed, she would not plead on his behalf, no matter what.

With his last support gone, Han Jianshan felt not only wronged but also a hint of regret creeping in.

The Zhou Family's Troupe offered good treatment, and there were always some extra perks. If he lost this job, finding such a cushy position in the future would be...

After standing still for a while, Han Jianshan eventually returned to his room to pack his bedding.

He had both endured the beating and received approval for his resignation; clinging on and not leaving now would be like grinding at the millstone butt-naked—embarassing and pointless.

It was only about a hundred meters, and along the way, Han Jianshan nearly broke down in tears. But fortunately, he consoled himself with the thought that drivers were scarce, and who among the wealthy and noble didn't need one? Finding a new job would be as easy as yawning.

The Zhou Family's Troupe doesn't need me? Mr. Han isn't going to serve them any longer!

With Han Jianshan gone, some people scattered from underneath the willow tree, while the remaining crowd heatedly discussed Zhou Xuan.

"He's back, I feel like the Young Master is really back."

"Look at the way the Young Master whacked old Han, just like he used to."

"It's really the Young Master, not some Evil Ghost or wandering soul. Bless the Zhou Family's Troupe."

The people all breathed a sigh of relief, their spirits lifted.

At this moment, a little girl who had been counting ants on the ground raised her head and with a puzzled face asked, "Everyone was angry when Brother Zhou was nice to them, but now everyone is so happy when Brother Zhou is hitting someone. Why is that?"

Everyone was stunned.

"Is it because everyone likes to be beaten up and bullied?" The child swayed her mother's hand, asking.

Her mother lowered her head and said nothing.

And the people around them also said nothing.

The sound of silence,

Was deafening.

...…

Silent Hall, in a sense, was a hall prepared for the dead.

These kinds of halls usually have niches of various sizes chiseled into the walls to place statues of deities.

Silent Hall did have these niches, but instead of deities, they were filled with wooden masks.

These masks, mostly damaged, some with large holes in the forehead, others with cracks spreading across the cheeks, and some masks were charred black all over.

To those with poor eyesight, it might look as if chunks of coal had been enshrined!

"Could it be related to the Nuo plays?"

Zhou Xuan learned from Xu Li at lunch that the signature performance of the Zhou Family's Troupe was the Nuo play.

And the troupe also worshipped the Nuo God.

The hallmark of Nuo plays was the mask.

Placing masks in Silent Hall for a show of reverence to gods and spirits made sense to Zhou Xuan, but the display of damaged masks puzzled him.

He didn't expect the masks to be gilded or silvered, but at least get some new ones—humans rely on clothing, gods on their ornaments.

Zhou Xuan was curious but didn't inquire further.

Many things in troupe had their reasons, it wouldn't make sense not to care about such details, there might be another explanation.

Aside from the unreasonable masks, other aspects of Silence Hall seemed normal.

There were no designated areas in the hall, but everyone followed some sort of unspoken agreement, using the long horizontal table in the center as a boundary—irrelevant people waited outside, while the working craftsmen did their jobs inside.

Zhou Lingyi sat on the wooden chair at the very back, closing her eyes to rest, with a round fan placed on her stomach.

"Junior brother, are you here to find the Class Leader?"

Lv Mingkun, upon seeing Zhou Xuan, tiptoed out of the work area, approached him, and greeted him.

"Yes, fifth senior brother."

"It's really not the best timing; we've just started our shift," Lv Mingkun said. "We should have started working two hours ago, but today, a kid from the Water Room and Old Zhou both took leave for personal matters. We're short on staff, so the embalming is taking longer."

The process of preparing a body for a funeral is complex. At Zhou Family's Troupe, the first step is body cleansing.

Because dead skin develops livor mortis, water is used to dampen the skin, then a mixture of distiller's grains vinegar, salt, and blood revitalizing herbs is applied to the surface. It's then covered with white paper for two hours.

Once the livor mortis is mostly removed, the skin is cleaned, and then using a sheep stomach made airbag, high-pressure air is used to pump water through the corpse's mouth, flushing out remnants from the intestines and stomach through the other end.

This process is repeated three or four times until the inside and outside of the body are completely clean.

That concludes the cleansing ritual.

This task has always been done by the Water Room, and once completed, the cleaned bodies are sent to Silence Hall for the processes of embalming, adding fragrance, and applying paste.

The barrier to entry for cleaning rituals isn't high, but it's time-consuming and exhausting. The Water Room can't recruit many hands, and now with two on leave, the efficiency has been significantly hindered.

"Fifth senior brother, how long do you think you'll be working?"

Zhou Xuan would have to wait till Zhou Lingyi gets off work to have a proper conversation about the "Lu Mountain Romance" novel and the book Liang Zhi.

During work hours, everyone is serious—who would discuss novels?

Lv Mingkun took out his pocket watch, counted on his fingers wanting to give Zhou Xuan an exact time.

But thinking about the urgency of today's tasks, and that plans often fail to keep up with changes, what if he gave a time and they didn't finish by then? Wouldn't that just make Zhou Xuan angry?

He simply gave a vague answer: "It's hard to say, with our kind of work, there's never a precise end time."

"Hard to say, huh? Then I can't wait—" Zhou Xuan intended to leave, but unfortunately, Zhou Lingyi suddenly opened her eyes, glanced at him, then continued to close her eyes and rest.

"Then I can't wait, can I? Wait!"

Zhou Xuan nearly ground his molars to dust.

Had his sister not seen him, he would have just left, but since she had, it would be impolite to go now.

"Alright then, I'll wait for you."

Lv Mingkun, being the youngest and most well-mannered among the brothers, was polite even to the newest apprentices of the play troupe, greeting them actively.

Pleasing personality type.

Though he aimed to please, he did so with discretion and without revealing his efforts.

To avoid disturbing those working inside, he arranged for tea and snacks in the pavilion outside the hall and even ran an extension cord for a lightbulb.

"Junior brother, it's hot inside, but outside it's cooler and brighter."

After offering a strained smile, Lv Mingkun also passed three newspapers to Zhou Xuan.

"Ping Shui Night Talk," featuring chilling and thrilling stories.

"Red Sleeves," revealing the secretive lives and gossip of famous performers in Ping Shui Prefecture.

"Food and Drink Miscellany," documenting the renowned restaurants and snacks of Ping Shui Prefecture.

Three newspapers, covering three different types of content, there has to be one that Zhou Xuan likes.

Zhou Xuan was pleased, appreciating Lv Mingkun's considerateness.

Such a considerate person, it seemed almost wasteful to have him doing office work.

He crossed his legs, flipping through the newspaper, while Lv Mingkun sat by, offering snacks and drinks.

Zhou Xuan asked Lv Mingkun, "I've troubled the senior brother."

"Junior brother, it's no trouble at all. Coming out to accompany you for some food and drink, that's nothing. The masters inside doing the work, they are the ones who are truly laboring."

Speaking of work,

Zhou Xuan was reminded of those days when he worked like a beast of burden, feeling a strong resonance and asked, "Right, senior brother, do you all work night shifts?"

"Yes, funeral duties are done at night. It's too hot during the day. If we started before adding the spices, the bodies would spoil."

Lv Mingkun found it strange that Zhou Xuan, who previously showed little interest in the family business, would ask such a question.

But since he asked, Lv Mingkun had to answer seriously.

"All night shifts? How many hours do you usually work?"

"It depends on the circumstances. Sometimes when business is busy, we work for five hours, and when it's quiet, just over three."

What?

Only three hours a day?

Does that even count as work?

There's hardly any sense of a job in it.

Just now, Zhou Xuan shared a sense of solidarity with the laboring beasts, but turns out I'm the only beast of burden?

"Then you work three hours a day; how is the pay?" Zhou Xuan inquired.

"It's twenty percent higher than the industry average, we live quite comfortably in Ping Shui Prefecture," Lv Mingkun answered with a touch of pride, clearly satisfied with his current living standards.

Zhou Xuan couldn't help but ponder: three hours a day with a decent wage—he himself was tempted to find a position at Zhou Family's Troupe.

After chatting for a while, they shifted the conversation to today's special clients.

"By the way," Zhou Xuan asked Lv Mingkun, "you mentioned today's clients are special? What kind of clients?"

"Six in total, all recently executed criminals."

"Why bother spending a lot of money to hire the Netherworld Play Troupe to perform for executed criminals? Can't they just be buried directly?"

Zhou Xuan was surprised.