Mingmei Yip - The Nine Fold Heaven

Outside the porthole, the rising moon seemed to wink at me, encouraging me to reveal even more. Hmm, I thought… why not? Though I didn’t think I felt anything like love for this foreigner. However, I did enjoy the chance to play my game of seduction, which had been out of practice lately.

As his hands caressed, he murmured, “Jasmine, you smell wonderful… so wonderful…”

But when he tried to slide my pants all the way down, suddenly Jinying’s loving face flashed vividly, but sadly, across my mind.

I gently removed his urgent hand. “Please don’t…”

The American looked shocked and puzzled. “Jasmine, did I offend you?”

I shook my head, buried it in my hands, and quietly sobbed.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Tell me what’s wrong, please.”

“I am sorry, Edward. I… I… never had any experience with men.”

He gently pulled me against his broad chest and rested his head on mine. “Jasmine, I’m sorry, I should have thought of that. Please forgive me.”

Three days after the cruise, the execution was to take place. I hated to think what it would be like, but I felt I had no choice as it was a chance to find out what was happening with the Shanghai gangs. Since executions are popular as free entertainment in Shanghai, I had to arrive an hour early to have any chance of finding a place.

To make it as easy as possible for myself, after I got off the train at Xu Jiahui Station, I took a taxi to take me all the way to the unhappy site—a deserted area a mile from the train station. On the way, I slumped down so as to lessen the chance I would be seen.

Again, I had disguised myself as a man, wearing the ubiquitous common worker’s outfit of gray cotton jacket and pants. After I paid and got out of the taxi, I slipped cautiously through the crowd toward the execution ground. I took the precaution of concealing a pair of knives under my jacket, in case I suddenly needed my skill in knife-throwing. Crowds at these bloody events could turn bloodthirsty themselves.

However, the weapons, though cruel, were also beautiful, inscribed with a Chinese saying in elegant calligraphy: A sword worthy of a hero, for a hero worthy of a beauty.

I carried the knife and possessed the beauty, but my heroes were gone.

Approaching the ominous area, I saw thick ropes holding back the raucous crowd, from which wafted a pungent odor composed of sweat, rotten vegetation, and other less mentionable substances. To my surprise, some men even carried their children on their shoulders to enjoy an unobstructed view. Free entertainment for the poor and the perverse. To add to their enjoyment of this special outing, working their way through the crowd, were vendors selling food and drink.

“Aromatic tea-soaked eggs, get two and the third one for free!”

“Sweet soy milk, good for health and longevity!”

“Fresh crispy doughnut; if not crispy, get your money back!”

Inside the ropes a few yards in front of me, muscular and fierce-looking men in uniform were standing guard. Next to them was a wooden cage inside which knelt a man. Who was he? I quietly squeezed, pushed, and meandered my way to the front. Because of my delicate frame, no one seemed to notice me or react to my maneuvering.

Finally, I was right next to the rope, but the guards, the executioner, and the criminal on the other side were still some distance away. I leaned forward and craned my neck, trying to take a better look at this ill-fated gangster Hong Bin. He seemed too big to be my former boss Big Brother Wang. Anyway, only a few days ago, Wang was enjoying himself at the Bright Moon Nightclub.

The crowd was growing restless, finding it excruciating to have to wait to see someone die an excruciating death. The executioner, dress in black and with his head covered by a black mask, was a towering man filled with shaqi, “murderous energy.” Like the audience, he also seemed to be eager for the about-to-come, blood-squirting thrill. To my surprise, he was not holding a gun, but an ax. Obviously, he was about to chop off the criminal’s head, a barbaric act I thought had been eliminated a few decades ago. But obviously not. Or maybe the one who’d ordered the execution was especially vengeful and spiteful. So his victim would meet the King of Hell as a headless ghost.

Finally, fifteen minutes before two in the afternoon, a hush came over the onlookers as a shiny black car materialized like a huge, ghostly cat. A guard dashed to open the door. A uniformed man alighted, and all the guards raised their hands to their foreheads and clicked their heels. It was Police Chief Li, the very same man who had also been hunting for me! I instinctively averted my face.

Li waved away the guards and approached the execution space, which was marked by a big circle. I supposed the big wooden basin placed in the middle was to receive the squirting blood and the criminal’s head. Nearby, a long, narrow pit had been dug. It must be the burial site for Hong Bin’s body, once it had parted ways with his head. Even though the sun was hot, the sight sent a shiver down my spine.

Around me people were craning necks and straining eyes, some whispering heatedly, others watching intensely with almost protruding eyes. A woman put her hand across her eyes—I supposed instead of having a full view, she’d see only the splattered blood and rolling head through the cracks of her fingers, thus minimizing her guilt at her act of voyeurism. However, like a married man on his way to the prostitution house, guilt does not win over the anticipation of a “good” time.

On my left, a child was clapping on his father’s shoulders with a happy expression. Maybe he thought he was about to see a circus act. Good, because everyone was so focused on what was about to happen that no one was paying me any attention.

Now, one attendant handed Police Chief Li a piece of paper. Li took it, cast murderous, bullet-like glances at the onlookers, and cleared his throat.

“Good day, ladies and gentleman!”

I almost burst out laughing. Good day? What a joke! But it was a good day for Li, since he’d scored another conviction and was that much closer to another promotion.

He went on with a pompous expression. “Today we finally bring an evil man to justice and send an important message to all criminals in Shanghai!”

The onlookers clapped enthusiastically.

“Yes, kill him!”

“The evil always get their evil end; if he doesn’t, sooner or later their time will arrive!”

Li paused to cast us another blood-curdling look, then said, “This man did nothing but evil. He is a spy, a traitor, a murderer!”

This time I had to bit my lip hard. Who could be more evil than this police chief himself, the biggest criminal of all?!

Criminal Li smiled an evil smile. “Don’t worry, he’ll meet his end, in five minutes, I promise!”

People burst into loud laughing and clapping.

Two young people nearby were already laying down their bets.

The skinny one said, “Twenty on his death, anyone want to take my bet?”

His friend said in a harsh whisper, “I’ll bet a hundred for his escape.”

The whole group laughed. “Then you’re a sure loser!”

Just then one of the guards opened the wooden cage and dragged the criminal out. His arms were bent to his back, tied with thick ropes cutting deeply into his blood-smeared wrists. Another round of shouting exploded in the murderous air. The man was very tall, at least six feet. Lean, big-boned, and seemingly muscular underneath his gray, loose “execution” outfit. His face looked sunken and his hair long and dirty. But I couldn’t tell if he was someone I knew, because his face was turned away from us and he was blindfolded.