Antonio Garrido - The Corpse Reader

“Sure?” said the cook, trembling.

No!

But Cí nodded.

The cook gritted his teeth and pushed down. The skin stretched like resin and then, with a pop, the knife sunk deeper. It was almost at his heart—Cí could feel his heart hammering and held his breath. The cook glanced up for a signal to stop.

“Go on, you bastard!”

The giant laughed. Cí looked up. The giant’s torso was bathed in blood.

“Who’s the coward now?” he roared, lifting another gourd to his lips.

Cí knew that, any second, it could all go terribly wrong. He shut his eyes and thought about the money and Third.

Cry out, for god’s sake!

And it happened—as if the giant had heard his thoughts. His eyes clouded before opening horrifically wide.

The crowd fell silent. The giant tottered toward Cí. The knife was in to the hilt—in his heart.

“It…it was him…he moved!” stuttered the cook.

“De…vil…boy!” croaked the giant, before crashing straight through a table and collapsing on the floor.

A number of men rushed forward to try to revive him, while others crowded around the taker for their money.

Cí didn’t even have time to put his clothes on. The fortune-teller grabbed his arm and dragged him to the back door. They went as fast as they could, given Cí’s wounded leg and the bleeding from all the cuts, and went down an alley that led to a canal. There, they ducked under a stone bridge, out of sight.

“Take this. Cover yourself and wait here.”

Cí took the man’s jacket and put pressure on the worst cuts. He began to wonder if the fortune-teller would come back and was amazed when the little man appeared not long after, carrying an over-full bag.

“I had to get the kid at the door to hide the rest of my things. Are you in much pain?” Cí shook his head. “Let me see. Buddha! I have no idea how you managed it.”

“And I don’t know why you bet on me.”

“I’ll explain later. Use this.” He handed Cí a bandage. “How on earth did you get those burns?”

Cí didn’t answer. He hadn’t forgotten about the fortune-teller’s cheating him. The fortune-teller took off his donkey pelt and put it around Cí’s shoulders.

“Do you have any work?”

Cí shook his head again.

“Where are you living?”

“None of your business. Did you make your money back?”

“Of course. I’m a fortune-teller, not an idiot. Is this what you’re after?” He held out a purse full of coins.

Cí took his winnings—800 qián transformed into 1,600. It was hardly adequate return for what he’d been through.

“I’ve got to go,” he said, standing up.

“Why the hurry? Look at you. You aren’t going to get far on that leg.”

“I need to get to a pharmacy.”

“At this time of night? They can’t do much for a wound like that in a pharmacy. I know a healer—”

“Not for me!” He tried to walk but stumbled. “Damn!”

“Shh! Sit down or they’ll see us. Those men bet their week’s wages, and I can promise you they’re no Buddhist monks. They’d kill you for less.”

“But I won fairly.”

“Right—as fairly as me with the crickets. You don’t fool me, boy. We’re made of the same stuff, you and I. When the giant was squeezing your neck you hardly even flinched. I didn’t think of it then, but then when I saw your scars, and especially the ones that looked like they were from another Dragon Challenge…Come on! There’s no way that was the first time you’d played. I’ll say it again: I have no idea how you managed it, but you tricked a roomful of people. All except me. Xu, fortune-teller and cheat. That’s why I bet on you.”

“I have no idea what you mean.”

“Mmm. And I have no idea what a magnet is. Here, let me have a look at that leg.” Peering at Cí’s shin, he swore. “Whoa! Been playing with tigers, have you?”

Cí gritted his teeth. He was losing precious time. He hadn’t put his life on the line just so Third could spend the whole night hidden in that hovel alone.

“Do you know of any pharmacies around here?”

“I know a few, but they won’t open unless I’m with you. Can’t you wait until morning?”

“No. I can’t.”

“Fine, let’s go.”

A thick fog hung over the backstreets near the gate. Cí knew they must be getting close to some warehouses by the smell of fish. They came by several ruffians, who eyed them hopefully, but between Cí’s limp and the fortune-teller’s threadbare donkey pelt, they obviously didn’t look worth mugging. The fortune-teller took them down a fish-bone alley, where filth and fish guts were dumped. Stepping from the soup of putrid, sticky blood coating the ground, he knocked on the second door of a shady-looking building. A man with boils all over his face peered out.

“Xu? Got the money you owe me?”

“Damn you! Can’t you see this man is injured?”

The man spat.

“Got my money or not?”

Xu stepped past the man and went in. The room was a sty. Once they had pushed aside piles of junk and found somewhere to sit, Cí asked if he had any of the root Third needed. The man with the boils on his face nodded, disappeared behind a drape, and returned with the medicine. Cí checked to make sure it was the right one with a dab on his finger and asked if there was more than the small amount he was offered, but the man said that was all he had. They haggled, and the man finally accepted 800 qián .

“Hey,” said Xu, “give us something for the boy’s leg, too.”

The man handed Cí some ointment.

“I’m fine—”

“Don’t worry, I’ll get it.” Xu paid, and they left the hovel.

It had begun to rain, and the wind had picked up. Cí began to say good-bye.

“Thanks for—”

“Don’t mention it. Listen, I’ve been thinking…You said you don’t have any work.”

“That’s right.”

“My real job is as a grave digger. It’s decent pay if you know how to treat the deceased’s families. I work in the Fields of Death, in Lin’an’s Great Cemetery. The fortune-telling, all that, is just something I do on the side. You cheat a couple of people, like with the crickets, and word gets out. I always have to work different neighborhoods…and then there are the gangs to deal with. They take most of my profits anyway. I’ve got family! And the whores and the wine, they cost, too!” he said and laughed.

“Sorry, but—”

“OK, I get it. You have to go. Where are you headed? South? Come on, let’s go. I’ll go with you.”

Cí said he’d be getting a barge, now that he could pay for a ride.

“Money’s a great thing! Sure you don’t want to earn more?” Laughing at his own joke for some reason, Xu slapped Cí on the back, forgetting about his wounds.

“Do you really have to ask?”

“Like I said, the crickets and everything, that’s just to cover costs…But you and me together…I know the markets, all the corner spots. I know how to reel the people in, and you, with this gift of yours…Hmm…We could be rolling in it.”

“What do you mean, exactly?”

“Hmm, yes…We’d have to be smart…Not like with that giant, no. Get pimps, real street folk, preferably drunk! The areas around the gates are packed with idiots just dying to lose their money! A fresh face like yours would be just the thing. By the time they realize we’ve screwed them, we’ll be long gone!”

“I appreciate the offer, but I’ve actually got other plans.”

“Other plans? Are you trying to get more money out of me already? Don’t worry, we’ll split it right down the middle, fifty-fifty. Or maybe you think you could make more without me? Because if it’s that, I can promise you you’re wrong.”