Chарtеr 213: Visiting thе Рrisоn 2
Нearing Zhu Yаn sау this, Li Каirui said nothing morе аnd slightly lowеred his heаd.
Zhu Yаn аlsо роndered fоr a moment, then suddenly sееmed tо reсаll аn imрortаnt сluе аnd quiсkly аsked, "By thе wаy, dоes this Liu Zongyuаn know martiаl arts?"
"No, nо, nо." Li Каirui hurriеdlу shоok his heаd аnd said with grеаt сertаinty, "Не is just a merсhаnt and dоesn’t know martiаl arts."
"So sure?" Zhu Yаn frоwnеd slightly, lоoking at Li Kаirui.
"Yеs." Li Кairui nоddеd firmlу. "Не is а merсhаnt. Althоugh he hаs a shrewd mind, hе is verу timid. Lаst timе, a snаkе gоt intо his house, and it wаs my older brother whо helped сatch it. Sоmeоnе who dоesn’t even dare to catch a snake—how could he know martial arts?"
Li Kairui’s reasoning made sense, so Zhu Yan stopped taking notes and put away her notebook.
She hadn’t expected to gain any useful information from this in the first place. Meanwhile, Pan Chi, who was standing beside her, found it quite amusing that Zhu Yan would jot down clues in her notebook as soon as she found them.
"Lord Zhu, what have you written in that notebook? Could you let me take a look?" Pan Chi teased, but Zhu Yan’s expression remained unusually serious.
"It’s all things useful for the case, and there’s also a portrait of the Half-Faced Ghost, which I drew based purely on my imagination. Do you really want to see it?"
As soon as Zhu Yan mentioned the Half-Faced Ghost, Pan Chi became interested. "So Lord Zhu has such a talent! Let me see quickly—what does the Half-Faced Ghost look like in your mind?"
"You can look at it when we get back. Taking it out now would be too eerie. What if we attract the Half-Faced Ghost? We’d all be finished."
The two of them cooperated seamlessly, exchanging words back and forth. Zhu Yan also noticed the change in Li Kairui’s expression.
Ever since they started discussing the Half-Faced Ghost, Li Kairui’s expression had turned unusually grim. His eyes flickered, and his hands trembled slightly, as if he were terrified.
To push him further, Zhu Yan seized the opportunity and said to Li Kairui, "After your older brother died, there was originally nothing on the incision. But using a special method, I revealed some of his own crimes along the edges of the incision. Did you know about this?"
"What?" Li Kairui looked shocked, then quickly feigned ignorance. "I don’t know. I don’t know anything."
"So you didn’t know." Zhu Yan rested her chin on one hand, looking at him with deep meaning.
Pan Chi, standing to the side, also watched Li Kairui with great interest. "Since you don’t know, why don’t you come with us to see the body? I couldn’t make out those crimes very clearly. It would be perfect if you could take a look and explain them to us."
After saying this, Pan Chi directly ordered the jailer to open the cell door and dragged Li Kairui out.
Li Kairui seemed utterly terrified, his face pale. As Pan Chi was about to drag him outside, he struggled desperately, retreating step by step.
"No, no, no. I won’t go see it. That scene is too horrifying. I really can’t bear to look, especially since he was my brother. Please, let me go."
"That won’t do." Zhu Yan quickly chimed in from the side. "Precisely because he was your brother, you must see it for yourself. Haven’t you been insisting that you’re innocent? It’s just a look at the crimes—no need to be so nervous. Only after we sort everything out can I determine whether you’re truly innocent.""Your Honor." Li Kairui could no longer hold back, collapsing to his knees in a state of emotional breakdown. "Please, let me go. It's true my brother did some wicked things before, but even so, he shouldn't be executed for them. Such punishment is too cruel and unfair."
Hearing Li Kairui say this, Zhu Yan quickly picked up her notebook to record it once more—this information was surely genuine.
A cold smile curled at the corner of her lips as she exchanged a glance with Pan Chi, who then escorted the man back to the cell.
Li Kairui wept bitterly as he began recounting the wicked deeds his brother had committed. Zhu Yan listened intently, jotting down every detail, afraid to miss anything.
After finishing his account, Li Kairui distanced himself completely, terrified of being implicated.
Zhu Yan put away her notebook, estimating that Liu Zongyuan should have been captured by now.
To her surprise, what arrived was not news of Liu Zongyuan's capture but of his death.
This also caught Pan Chi off guard. After exchanging a look with Zhu Yan, they rushed to the scene.
Liu Zongyuan's manner of death was similar to Er Laipi's—both had their heart meridians shattered. The difference was that this time, the liver was missing.
Drawing on past experience, Zhu Yan treated the wound slightly, and the skin revealed the crime, accompanied by that all-too-familiar phrase:
All laugh at the moth flying into the flame, unaware that as mayflies born at dawn and dead by dusk, they never enter the cycle of rebirth, while the moth endures the fire, dies, and is reborn anew.
And so, all clues pointed to the Half-Faced Ghost.
Moreover, judging by the modus operandi and timing, it seemed largely intentional—aimed at creating panic, shifting the entire case onto supernatural theories to conceal the truth.
The case had reached another dead end, leaving everyone deeply frustrated.
By the time they returned to the yamen, dawn was approaching, and the sky was tinged with the pale light of early morning.
Exhausted from the long night, everyone was weary, but Zhu Yan, Shen Du, and Pan Chi remained frowning, with no trace of sleepiness.
Until the case was solved, the weight in their hearts would not lift.
Sleep was out of the question; if they could catch the killer, they would gladly fast for three days.
In the rear hall, servants had prepared breakfast for them.
None of them had much appetite, but to sustain themselves, they forced down a little food.
Zhu Yan sipped some plain porridge, her brow furrowed as she brought up the events in the prison. "According to Li Kairui and the neighbors, Liu Zongyuan was a good man. But if he truly was good, why would the killer want him dead?"
"And Li Kairui insisted he had no martial arts skills, speaking so confidently it didn't seem like a lie. Then what about those footprints in the room?" Pan Chi chimed in.
"Liu Zongyuan chose to leave after the incident, making it seem more like he fled out of guilt. If the case had nothing to do with him, why would the killer silence him?"
Shen Du took over the conversation. "And most importantly, he was a martial artist. That can be judged from the calluses on his hands.""So that means..." Zhu Yan seemed to have thought of something, picking up the thread, "Liu Zongyuan deliberately disguised himself as a merchant, and one who didn't know martial arts at that, then killed people in secret, only to be silenced by the mastermind behind it all. All the clues were directed toward the Half-Faced Ghost, creating panic to mislead our investigation."
After Zhu Yan finished speaking, neither of the two men said anything more, because she was right—and this was precisely what they were most worried about.
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