Chapter 25

Zhang Chengye sighed, "The Zhang family's ancestors were saved from the execution ground by the Grandmaster. Later, becoming executioners was also an imperial decree to execute prisoners! Unless we execute three thousand prisoners, we can't leave this line of work."

Ye Yang pointed at Zhang Qiang, "Has your Zhang family always been a single line of descent?"

"Yes!" Zhang Chengye nodded again, "So what if our Zhang family is an imperially appointed executioner? It's still a despised and lowly profession! It's good enough to marry a wife. A single line of descent is already a blessing from Heaven! If it weren't for the rules of our ancestors, who would want to do this childless job?"

Zhang Chengye's thinking still hadn't changed; an executioner was just a profession. People avoided executioners more out of fear than professional contempt.

Seeing that Ye Yang didn't speak, Zhang Chengye continued, "Especially the second to fourth generation executioners. They happened to be in the years of war and chaos, killing dozens or hundreds of people. Were those people criminals or heroes? With that one strike, even the executioner had to bear the sin."

"Originally, the Zhang family should have executed three thousand prisoners by my grandfather's generation, but when he finished executing the prisoners and washed his hands in a golden basin, an ominous sign of clear water turning into blood appeared in the basin."

Ye Yang couldn't help but be slightly stunned when he heard this.

The ritual of a magician washing his hands in a golden basin is different from other professions. For most Jianghu (martial world) people, washing their hands in a golden basin is just a symbol. That basin of clear water can't wash away the grievances and disputes on their hands.

However, when a magician goes into seclusion, it involves countless causes and effects. If he doesn't resolve all the causes and effects, he can't withdraw from this Jianghu.

When a magician washes his hands in a golden basin, if he encounters clear water turning into blood, it means that he is still involved in a major cause and effect. Ghosts and gods use blood as a warning, warning the magician not to retire before understanding the cause and effect. Otherwise, this cause and effect will turn into a tribulation.

Zhang Chengye continued, "At that time, my grandfather couldn't figure it out either, but he didn't dare to retire from Jianghu. My grandfather was also wondering at the time, the Zhang family had clearly executed enough three thousand death row prisoners, so why couldn't he retire from Jianghu?"

"At first, he thought that the Zhang family's ancestors had miscalculated the number, so he worked as an executioner for more than a year. When he washed his hands again, the golden basin still turned into blood."

"This time, my grandfather couldn't hold on anymore, so he sought advice from an expert. That person said: When my grandfather was executing people, there was one person who wasn't killed. If that person doesn't die, even if my grandfather executes another three thousand death row prisoners, it won't make up for that missing number."

"My grandfather was also puzzled at the time. The Zhang family's secret method can clearly identify the body, and the Zhang family will never execute prisoners who have substitutes. Moreover, the Zhang family only counts the number of prisoners if their heads are completely severed. He clearly remembered that all the prisoners had been executed, so how could there be someone who wasn't killed?"

"After my grandfather returned home, he carefully counted all the prisoners he had executed in his life from beginning to end, but he couldn't find out who hadn't been beheaded."

Zhang Chengye stood up and took out a red cloth package from the cabinet, taking out a few yellowed notebooks.

They were full of information about death row prisoners, from their age, origin, and date of birth to what crime they committed and when they were executed, all with complete records.

Ye Yang turned to He Haoyu's page, "It only says Ye City Southern Suburb Execution Ground, beheaded with one strike."

Ye Yang pointed to the notebook and said, "His information is incomplete!"

"Yes!" Zhang Chengye nodded, "He Haoyu is the only death row prisoner without complete records. My grandfather recorded the information of death row prisoners in detail, just in case."

"This He Haoyu refused to say anything. At that time, the jailer took my grandfather's money and forced He Haoyu to fill in the information completely, but this He Haoyu didn't say a word even under torture. My grandfather could only record this little bit of information! So, my grandfather felt that the most likely person to have a problem was this He Haoyu."

Zhang Chengye paused, "At that time, my grandfather was helping the Governor's Office execute prisoners, so he wanted to use his connections to go to the Governor's Office to find He Haoyu's information. As a result, he saw He Haoyu in the Governor's Office."

Ye Yang wasn't shocked by Zhang Chengye's sensational story, but interrupted him, "You said you went to the Governor's Office to find information. Would the information of death row prisoners be kept in the Governor's Office?"

Zhang Chengye shook his head, "I'm not too sure about that. I just heard my grandfather say that at that time, the execution of criminals required the Governor's personal approval. So, all the files would be sent to the Governor's Office."

Ye Yang's eyes narrowed slightly—the Zhang family seemed to have overlooked an important issue.

Throughout history, death sentences have been strictly reviewed. In some dynasties, even the Emperor's personal approval was required before a death row prisoner could be executed. But that was in peaceful times. In turbulent times of war and chaos, human life was cheap. Which warlord would care about whether there were any wrongful convictions under his rule?

Did the Governor have the leisure to approve death sentence files?

Ye Yang said calmly, "Continue."

Zhang Chengye continued, "He Haoyu also saw my grandfather and warned him not to keep an eye on him. He also said, your family is anyway a family of executioners for generations. What's the difference between having one more generation and one less generation? If you don't look for me, we can all live in peace. If you keep bothering me, be careful to bring trouble to your Zhang family."

Zhang Chengye stopped here.