A pair of eyes, as lifeless as those of a dead fish and utterly devoid of emotion, stared wide open, appearing as if filled with deep unwillingness... His clothes were nowhere to be seen, yet he wore a pair of black boots on his feet. His body was covered in wounds, and perhaps because they had been soaked by rain, the wounds were deformed, with both sides of the gashes showing a ghastly pallor.

To be honest, even though William Harris had mentally prepared himself, he still felt uncomfortable upon seeing the corpse.

He squatted beside the body, forcing down the urge to vomit, and only after carefully examining it did he slowly stand up.

“Big brother, did you find anything?”

Ryan Harris walked over with shaky legs, standing next to William Harris, and asked in a low voice.

William Harris glanced at him. “Erlang, you’re the only constable here now. Why not take a look yourself and search for clues?”

“What?”

Ryan Harris immediately widened his eyes, feeling an urge to curse.

Damn Annie Harris, I’m already vomiting like this, and you still want me to look at the corpse?

He wanted to refuse, but recalling how William Harris had slapped him last night, the words at the tip of his tongue were swallowed back down.

Ryan Harris stepped forward, gritted his teeth, and slowly squatted down.

But as soon as his gaze met the corpse’s dead fish-like eyes, he was instantly overwhelmed by an uncontrollable urge to vomit.

“Urgh!”

He quickly stood up, turned away, hurried a few steps to a stone, and began to vomit loudly.

William Harris just glanced at him, circled the corpse twice, then turned and walked up the mountain path without looking back, scanning the surroundings as he went, a hard-to-describe curiosity shining in his eyes.

It was the third day of the eighth month in the first year of the Shengli era, and this was Tiger Valley Mountain outside Changping City.

Not far from here was Juyong Pass, as well as the Jimi Prefecture where Khitan nomads lived in groups. The local customs were fierce, and deaths were not uncommon.

But what was strange was, why was that person lying there completely naked?

Where had his clothes gone? Where did those wounds come from? Things seemed to be getting interesting!

Chapter 7 Robert Harris (Part 1)

When William Harris returned to the scene, it was nearly an hour later.

The onlooking villagers had mostly dispersed, leaving only seven or eight men dressed as constables, cleaning up the scene and moving the body.

George Taylor stood to the side, talking with a man.

Meanwhile, Ryan Harris stood properly by the man’s side, his hands hanging at his sides, seemingly listening to their conversation.

He was the first to spot William Harris, and quickly said something to the man.

The man nodded to George Taylor, then turned to look at William Harris.

It was a beautiful sunny day. After last night’s heavy rain, the sky was clear and cloudless. The sun hung high in the sky, especially bright. The mid-autumn sunlight was warm but not scorching, and felt very comfortable on the skin.

The man was about six chi tall, roughly a bit over 180 centimeters.

The Tang chi differed from the Han chi; one chi was about thirty-one centimeters. The man wore a black futou on his head, a blue robe, a half-sleeved jacket over it, black leather Liuhe boots on his feet, and a jade belt at his waist, giving him quite an imposing presence.

He wasn’t particularly burly, rather a bit thin.

This outfit made him look even more scholarly.

He held a mountain-walking staff, one end of which was a six-sided, gourd-shaped iron ball about the size of a baby’s fist.

When William Harris saw this man, he hurried forward.

“Father, why are you here?”

A complex look flashed in the man’s eyes.

He nodded and said in a deep voice, “There’s nothing for you here. It’s not convenient for you to stay, so go home first... Don’t go herding cattle today, just stay at home. When things are settled here, I’ll come back and talk to you.”

The man was none other than the county constable of Changping, Robert Harris, and also William Harris’s biological father.

His tone was somewhat cold, as if he wasn’t speaking to his own son, but rather giving orders to a subordinate in the yamen.

William Harris seemed used to Robert Harris’s way of speaking.

In fact, for these seventeen years, though he had lived in a daze, he knew that Robert Harris didn’t seem to care much for him.

Was it because he was slow-witted?

Maybe...

But he remembered that during the days he was bedridden after being struck by lightning, every night Robert Harris would sit by his side, muttering to himself. It was just that Robert Harris always spoke so softly that William Harris couldn’t make out the words.

Those days made William Harris realize that Robert Harris didn’t actually not care about him.

But for some reason, Robert Harris deliberately kept his distance, and outwardly acted as if he didn’t care at all.

Think about it—if Robert Harris truly disliked William Harris, there’s no way William Harris could have lived so comfortably.

He only needed to take all the income from the official land, and William Harris and the Yang women would have had a very hard time in this small village.

“I’ll head back then.”

William Harris replied respectfully, then turned and walked home.

Watching his back, Robert Harris’s thick brows furrowed slightly, and an inexplicable worry flashed in his eyes.

...

The small village was bustling with activity.