Сhарtеr 52 Another Соrpse Аppеаrs
Uроn аrriving аt the entrаnce, Chief Clerk Wu Таiming was аlreаdу thеrе.
Seеing thе twо аrrivе, he gоt straight to the роint, "Why аre you twо so slow? Тhe Inner Guаrd Вurеаu реоple hаvе alrеаdу arrivеd."
"Ah!" Lu Сhuiсhui was so shосked hеr jaw nearlу droppеd, hеr fаcе full of disbelief. "Вut wе lеft first—how соuld thеу hаvе gottеn аheаd of us?"
Wu Тaiming ignorеd Lu Chuiсhui аnd turnеd his gazе tо Zhu Yаn. "Yоur husband is inside. Do уou want to go in and sеe?"
Zhu Yan had nо choiсe but tо nоd. "Investigаting the case is important. Of course, I must go in."
She could testify that she and Lu Chuichui had hurried nonstop along the way. How could Shen Du have overtaken them? It was truly baffling.
Arriving at the crime scene, they saw from a distance the group of people dressed in eagle-patterned official uniforms.
Under the bamboo shade, a tall, slender figure stood out, and Zhu Yan spotted him at a glance.
As if hearing the commotion, Shen Du turned around, his deep gaze sweeping over the two of them, his tone mocking. "Both of you were also riding at full speed. Did your horses fall asleep on the road?"
"..." Both were speechless. Zhu Yan paid no further attention and went straight to the burial pit.
By then, the coroner had returned. After bowing to everyone, he spoke, "Esteemed officials, after my preliminary examination of the corpses, I conclude that these two bodies have been dead for some time. Their identities have yet to be determined, and the exact time of death will require further examination before I can provide a conclusion."
Zhu Yan crouched by the pit, observing while listening to the coroner's report. She pinched some soil from the edge of the pit with two slender fingers, rubbed it, and sniffed it.
Something seemed off?
First, there wasn't much soil around the pit. Although damp, it was slightly loose. A light rain had fallen two days prior, and the surface dust, having absorbed moisture, showed this condition. What puzzled her was that if the bodies were buried so shallowly, they would have been discovered quickly.
Why would the murderer do this?
After carefully examining the shovel marks at the bottom of the pit and the patterns along the edges, she reached a surprising and shocking conclusion.
The murderer did it on purpose!
Seeing Zhu Yan observing so meticulously, no one stepped forward to interfere, allowing her to conduct her investigation freely.
Soon, Zhu Yan emerged from the pit and slowly walked toward the wall at the edge of the Western Brightness Temple, where six bloody characters were written.
When the Buddha's lamp burns, sin vanishes.
The handwriting was neat, the calligraphy excellent, but tracing it through the script alone would likely prove difficult.
Zhu Yan examined the six characters closely. Beside her, Lu Chuichui seemed unable to wait any longer and stepped forward to ask, "Liu Niang, have you found anything?"
Lu Chuichui kept her voice as low as possible, not wanting to disturb Shen Du, who was also observing the crime scene.
"It's hard to say for now," Zhu Yan shook her head slightly. "It's just my speculation, and it doesn't seem entirely logical. Everything requires careful investigation."
Lu Chuichui nodded, not fully understanding. "The identities of the corpses haven't been determined yet, and we can't contact their families or acquaintances. Is investigating these bloodstains and the pit really useful?"
"Any place the murderer has touched will leave traces. If we observe carefully, we'll find them. I refuse to believe he could make these characters appear on the wall out of thin air."
After saying this, Zhu Yan stepped forward and gently wiped the characters on the wall with her hand.A reddish tint stained her fingertip. Bringing it to her nose to sniff, her delicate brows suddenly furrowed together—her speculation was correct.
Lu Chuichui seemed to have lost patience. Turning her head, she saw that Shen Du had somehow appeared beside Zhu Yan, startling her.
"G-G-Great pavilion commander." Lu Chuichui was so shocked she could barely speak clearly.
Shen Du quickly raised a hand to stop her, then turned his gaze toward Zhu Yan, who was deep in thought. "Any discoveries?"
Zhu Yan shook her head, then nodded, leaving Shen Du puzzled.
"I can’t understand why the killer did this," Zhu Yan explained. "Why deliberately let us discover all of this?"
"What?" Lu Chuichui’s eyes widened. "What did you find? Why am I completely lost by what you’re saying?"
Shen Du, standing nearby, remained silent, but his expression showed he also didn’t understand Zhu Yan’s reasoning.
"Regarding the corpse, I can only speculate that it was buried not long after the crime, and not very deep. The killer deliberately arranged all of this, waiting for the rain to soften the soil. The moisture would intensify the corpse’s decay, causing it to swell and break through the earth."
"This!" Lu Chuichui couldn’t accept this clue. "Shouldn’t burying a body be done as deep as possible to avoid discovery? Why would the killer do this?"
Beside her, Shen Du’s brow furrowed tightly. He seemed to have thought of something and asked, "Anything else?"
Zhu Yan nodded. "Look at these characters on the wall. This isn’t blood at all—it’s ink made from a special stone material mixed with cinnabar. After being applied to the wall and washed by the rain, it appears blood-red. In reality, it was written quite some time ago. He was waiting for the rain."
Shen Du’s expression grew even darker, while Lu Chuichui beside him seemed not to grasp the meaning.
"Could it be that this killer can predict the future, calculating that it would rain recently?"
Neither of them responded to Lu Chuichui’s question. Clearly, their thoughts had already aligned.
Seeing that neither replied, Lu Chuichui didn’t dare ask Shen Du directly. Instead, she gently tugged at Zhu Yan’s sleeve. "What on earth is going on?"
Wu Taiming, not far away, overheard their conversation. He, too, was very curious.
What kind of mystery was this? Like Lu Chuichui, he couldn’t understand.
"The killer is taunting us," Zhu Yan finally said these words, and beside her, Shen Du’s fist suddenly clenched.
"Utterly despicable," Shen Du almost hissed through gritted teeth. "If I ever find this killer, I will punish him severely without mercy."
Zhu Yan turned to look at Shen Du, wanting to say something but unsure where to begin.
Lu Chuichui and Wu Taiming were also shocked, their faces pale. This killer was truly bold, daring to provoke Shen Du like this. Did he really think his life was too long?
"Any clues from the corpse?" Out of the blue, Zhu Yan spoke these words, as if to diffuse the tense atmosphere.
"Well..." Lu Chuichui took over, but she stammered, leaving Zhu Yan unable to make sense of it. "The identity hasn’t been confirmed yet. Like you, we can only determine that the person has been dead for some time. Nothing else is known."
"I’m not asking about that," Zhu Yan said. She had already heard this from the coroner’s report. She looked at Lu Chuichui. "Didn’t you find any clues from their clothing or accessories?""This requires further examination. Why don't we go take a look?" Lu Chuichui said, casting another glance at Shen Du's darkened expression.
Examining the corpse wasn't her true intention—she simply wanted to get away from Shen Du as quickly as possible.
Especially when she saw Shen Du's gloomy face, she felt her own life expectancy might be growing dangerously short.
Zhu Yan nodded, then turned to Shen Du and asked, "There might be some clues near the body. Would you like to come with us?"
Shen Du nodded, then without another word to either of them, turned and strode ahead.
Lu Chuichui felt like crying!
This was not the outcome she had wanted...
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