"Xiao Yue," Xiao Jin Yu said at a measured pace, "I leave the interrogation to you... Once you've obtained the details, draft an official report for me."
"Yes."
Xiao Jin Yu slowly wheeled himself back to his sleeping quarters, his mind slightly more at ease than when he had left.
Other matters were unimportant—what mattered was that she was safe... After all, with Leng Yue's interrogation skills, by tomorrow morning, the full story behind Jing Yi's incident would undoubtedly be clear.
His thoughts lingered more on the three who were already dead.
Given Leng Peishan's attachment to his subordinates, the likelihood of him consenting to an autopsy was slim.
He did have the authority to issue an official order compelling a postmortem examination, but with the enemy at their doorstep, he couldn't risk unsettling the troops unless absolutely necessary.
Yet Chu Chu's reasoning held merit: since these individuals had no reason to take their own lives, and all surface evidence pointed to suicide, it truly warranted a closer look inside...
Perhaps it was worth discussing after all...
She always noticed things others overlooked.
As Xiao Jin Yu pondered this, he absentmindedly glanced toward his sleeping quarters. Under the moonlit night, he saw only darkness through the distant window, and his heart clenched in an instant.
Chu Chu knew he feared the dark. She would light the lamps as soon as dusk began to fall, ensuring the oil was topped up before bed, so the flames often still flickered brightly by daybreak.
She knew he might return at any moment; even if she stepped out to brew medicine, she would never leave a pitch-black room to greet him.
Unless...
Xiao Jin Yu quickened his pace, pushing the wheelchair against the wind with nearly all his strength, his palms growing hot from friction.
As he drew nearer, he noticed the two guards stationed at the entrance were still there.
Spotting Xiao Jin Yu, the guards hurried forward. "Your—"
Before the word could fully form, Xiao Jin Yu cut them off coldly, "Where is Chu Chu?"
"Another death in the camp, Your Highness. General Leng couldn't find you, and the Imperial Concubine refused to disclose your whereabouts... She has already gone to conduct the corpse examination and ordered us to wait here for you."
"Why are the lights out?"
"The window was left open earlier, and the wind blew them out... Without your orders, we dared not enter without permission."
Xiao Jin Yu's tension eased, but a sharp pain surged through his organs, bending him over in agony.
The two guards were startled. Xiao Jin Yu gritted his teeth, enduring silently. The guards exchanged uncertain glances but neither dared to touch him.
As he reassured himself that the person he cared for most was safe, the pain gradually subsided, allowing him to slowly straighten up.
"Take me there..."
"The Imperial Concubine sent word earlier... forbidding you to go."
"Why?"
"The messenger didn't elaborate."
"Take me..."
"Yes."
The guards escorted Xiao Jin Yu to a heavily guarded tent. As the flap was lifted, a pungent smell of blood assaulted him, causing his stomach to cramp. Clenching his jaw, he wheeled himself inside.
Just past the entrance, he saw a pool of blood on the ground, with splatters staining the walls and ceiling. Chu Chu knelt at the center of the bloodbath, sleeves rolled up, intently rummaging through the gaping abdomen of a man. She occasionally retrieved something, her cheeks flushed with excitement.
Blood still streamed from the man's warm body. Stripped bare and gutted, he resembled a freshly slaughtered sheep, being emptied of all viscera, awaiting cleaning and roasting...
Xiao Jin Yu noticed the crude, jagged cuts on the man's abdomen—the edges rough and contracted. This man had been cut open while still alive, still conscious...
"Chu Chu..."Hearing Xiao Jin Yu's voice, Chu Chu suddenly looked up.
Though her head was raised, both her hands remained buried in the corpse's abdominal cavity, holding a handful of intestines that had been chopped into several segments.
"Wang Ye! How did you get in here!"
Xiao Jin Yu stared pale-faced at Chu Chu, who was covered in blood. "Chu Chu... how did this person die?"
"The whole room is covered in blood, you should leave... I'll tell you everything after I finish the examination!"
"Chu Chu..." Xiao Jin Yu suddenly felt a sharp pain in his stomach. "Who performed the dissection?"
Chu Chu pursed her lips, looking timidly at Xiao Jin Yu's furrowed brows and stern expression.
"It wasn't me..."
"Then who did it?"
"He... he did it himself!"
☆、76 Roasted Whole Lamb (Twelve)
Xiao Jin Yu stared blankly at the bloody, grotesque corpse on the ground, the pain in his stomach momentarily forgotten. It wasn't that he doubted Chu Chu's words, but...
"Chu Chu... were all these wounds self-inflicted?"
The body had been dissected, but not with a single cut. Three diagonal incisions marked the muscular, taut abdomen, with one particularly long and deep cut running from the upper abdomen down to between the legs—the very opening where Chu Chu had buried her hands.
"Most likely. When I arrived, he was still breathing..." Chu Chu carefully placed the handful of intestines back, withdrew her hands, and picked up the corpse's equally bloody hand to insert it into the bloody cavity. "At that time, he was stirring his own abdomen like this, as if searching for something..."
Xiao Jin Yu frowned slightly, watching thick streams of blood churn out of the cavity as the hand stirred. "Searching for what?"
"I'm still looking. So far, I haven't found anything different from other corpses..."
Just as Xiao Jin Yu was about to speak, he suddenly heard a muffled sound from the tent, resembling either crying or indistinct speech.
Startled, Xiao Jin Yu followed the sound and noticed a person crouched under a table in the corner of the tent.
Shrouded in shadow, their features were unclear, but their disheveled hair and blood-stained clothes were visible. They seemed to be clutching something tightly in their hands.
"Who is that?"
Chu Chu turned her head with a sympathetic look. "Wang Ye, you know him... it's that big fat rabbit."
Xiao Jin Yu was taken aback. "Rabbit?"
"I forgot his name... He's the mute brother-in-law of the Turkic prince's wife, the one who only knows how to eat."
OpenNovel