Chapter 69 Cao Dali: "These are all methods of extracting confessions through torture."...

After sleeping for about half an hour, Zhou Yaren was awakened by a scream, followed by a series of crashing and smashing sounds.

He jumped up from the bed as if on cue, enduring the sudden dizziness without showing any discomfort, and found the source of the sound and saw Bai Yuan.

Besides, there was another person in the room.

Zhou Yaren: "What happened?"

Bai Yuan: "This person crawled out of the stove."

It turned out that there was a hidden space inside the stove where the cooking was done. The man sneakily pushed open a large iron pot, and as soon as he poked his head out, he was grabbed by the hair like a radish being pulled out. He immediately screamed in pain: "Ahhh, who is it? Spare me, spare me! Who are you people?"

The man's face was covered in soot, making his features unrecognizable. He was strong and powerful, but rather short, and covered in wounds. His clothes were stained with large patches of blood, making him look quite suspicious.

Bai Yuan pressed him onto the stove: "And who are you?"

The man twisted his neck in resistance, displaying considerable strength, but he couldn't budge a woman's weight. Instead, he felt as if his arm was about to be broken: "You've trespassed on private property; are you trying to steal?"

Bai Yuan glanced at the suspicious ligature marks on his wrists, which must have been caused by being tied up. Could it be that this person was tied up and thrown into the cellar under the stove by someone, who then painstakingly cut the ropes to try to escape, only to be caught red-handed as soon as he popped his head out?

Bai Yuan's mind raced: "Who's trespassing? What, is this your house?"

The man couldn't break free, and his wounds reopened as he struggled, causing him immense suffering: "Of course, of course it's my home! Who are you? What are you doing in my home? Let me go!"

Bai Yuan's strength remained undiminished: "Since it's your home, why aren't you living in the main house? What are you doing sneaking around in the cellar? Are you ashamed to be seen? I think you're the thief who came to steal!"

"Don't try to turn the tables on me! This is my home. What business is it of mine whether I live in the house or the cellar? Let me go! If you don't let me go, I'll... I'll..."

"What will you do?"

"So I called for help?!"

“Great, go ahead and shout. It’ll be a good opportunity for the villagers to recognize your face and be your witness.”

The man made a gesture as if to shout, thinking that the two who had trespassed on his property would feel guilty and try to stop him. But things didn't go as he expected. The other party really didn't care and was waiting for him to call the villagers over.

What should we do?

He can't shout.

Bai Yuan waited a moment: "Why did you stop shouting?"

The reason for not shouting is that they are afraid of making a scene. If this person is not a thief, they must be afraid of something.

"This is my home! Why should I need other people to testify? Who are you people? What are you doing breaking into my house?" the man said angrily. "Are you burglarizing me?"

Bai Yuan wasn't trying to be sarcastic: "Then tell me, what valuable things are in this bare earthen cave that I could rob? And what about all these injuries you've sustained?"

A flicker of fear crossed the man's face, which he quickly masked as he said, "What's it to you? Let me go!"

"Who did you fall into their hands? You must have suffered a lot."

Upon hearing this, the man shuddered reflexively, and the hairs on his arms stood on end instantly, clearly out of fear; Bai Yuan had touched a nerve.

Zhou Yaren took a few steps forward and stood in front of the man: "Why don't you tell us?" Both his language and tone were more polite than Bai Yuan's.

"You put..." The man looked up and was stunned when he saw the other person. "Young master, it's you?!"

Bai Yuan frowned: "You recognize him?"

The man nodded repeatedly: "I recognize it! I recognize it!"

Bai Yuan then asked Zhou Yaren, "Do you recognize her?"

Zhou Yaren listened intently, trying to discern the voice. He vaguely felt that the voice was somewhat familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had heard it before. He was new to this place and shouldn't know anyone there: "Who are you?"

Since the impression wasn't deep, they couldn't be someone you knew well; you might have only met them once before.

The man quickly tried to get closer to him: "Young master, you may have a bad memory and not remember me well, but I have rarely seen someone as handsome as you, so I naturally remember you well. I wonder if you remember that we once stayed together in a dilapidated temple on our way to Beiqu? I even asked that young girl to bring you a bowl of hot soup."

Zhou Yaren had received kindness from several porters in the dilapidated temple, so she naturally wouldn't forget: "I remember now, it turns out it was this brother."

"It was me, it was me. It was a cold night, and the snow was melting, so I cooked a pot of porridge to warm everyone up."

"Indeed, we are very grateful for your kindness. I never expected that we would have such a connection."

"Yes, I really didn't expect to run into you here. You said you were visiting a friend from Chang'an, but you actually came to visit a friend in our Fengkou Village?"

"I was just passing through and came here to ask for lodging. I thought the owner wasn't home, so I stayed without permission. I didn't expect there would be people at home... Is this your house?"

"Yes, this really is my home, I'm not lying to you."

Zhou Yaren paused slightly: "Bai Yuan, let him go."

Bai Yuan did as she was told and released her grip, but as soon as she let go, the porter collapsed like a limp bone, and a pool of blood flowed by the stove.

He was already at his last gasp, but he was taken hostage as soon as he emerged from his wounds. The porter fought back desperately but to no avail, and his strength waned with his injuries, causing his vision to blur. Even so, he struggled to climb onto the stove, trying to crawl into the cellar.

Zhou Yaren immediately stepped forward to help him up, smelling the blood on the porter's body: "You are badly injured, you need to go inside to treat your wounds."

The porter clung tightly to the stove, saying, "No, no, I can't go out, I can't go out. I have to go back to the cellar. You, you mustn't tell anyone, don't say you've seen me."

Zhou Yaren helped him up: "Why?"

The porter protested, "Don't tell, you mustn't tell. I have some medicine for wounds in my room. Could you please bring it to me? I can't go. I can't be seen by anyone. I absolutely can't be seen by anyone."

"Who can see this?"

"No one can see me, or I'll be dead."

"Who wants your life?" Bai Yuan reminded him. "With so much blood on the stove, do you think no one else can find it if we don't say anything?"

The porter panicked and frantically wiped the bloodstains on the stove with his dirty sleeves, but the more he wiped, the dirtier it became, and the more anxious he became, muttering to himself, "No, no, we can't be found."

He rushed to the large vat to look for water, but there wasn't a single drop left.

Just then, footsteps came from outside, as if someone had kicked something.

The porter was startled by the sound and turned to plunge into the stove. He was so dizzy that he bumped into the stove and passed out before Zhou Yaren could stop him.

At the same time, Xiao Dinggua, who had been awakened by the noise, stepped into the kitchen and looked at the porter who was lying on the ground in shock. His first reaction was: "You—killed someone?"

"He's not dead." Bai Yuan didn't even bother to deny it, and calmly said, "Carry him inside, I need to examine his injuries."

The tone was like that of a coroner in a government office saying: "Carry him inside, I need to examine the body."

Little Dinggua was almost in tears: "You really killed someone?"

"Stop talking nonsense and come over here to lift it."

Thankfully, the person was still breathing, so it wasn't murder. But Xiao Dinggua felt that the process of examining the wounds was almost the same as an autopsy, because Bai Yuan was examining the wounds while also summarizing the causes of the wounds. For example, he said that the person had been tied up before, and there were bruises of varying depths on his limbs, which should be something like hemp rope.

This already suggests that the person was bound or tied up during their lifetime.

For example, if his scapula was pierced by an object like an iron hook, causing severe abrasion of the flesh and bone, it would be because he was dragged along by the iron hook and struggled painfully.

As Xiao Dinggua cleaned and applied medicine to the porter's wounds, she listened to the porter's vivid description of the injury, and felt a dull pain in her shoulder blades.

For example, this person had whip marks on his body, which were also marinated in chili water, just like the torture suffered by the wrongfully killed person in prison. The wounds were red, swollen, and peeling.

As the examination of injuries progressed, the two of them tacitly realized the same thing. Zhou Yaren said, "These are all methods of torture to extract confessions."

Bai Yuan happily accepted the porter who had walked right into his trap: "Just when I was about to doze off, someone delivered a pillow to my head. His appearance was quite timely, saving me the trouble of asking around."

Xiao Dinggua didn't understand what kind of riddle they were talking about, so he didn't say anything and focused on cleaning and applying medicine to the injured person.

Zhou Yaren stood up and fumbled to close all the doors and windows tightly, plunging the room into darkness: "Do you think the jailer who tortured him will come looking for us?"

Bai Yuan said matter-of-factly, "Look how scared he is, he only dares to hide in the cellar, because he is convinced that the jailer will not let him go."

“That makes sense,” Zhou Yaren said. “It all depends on whether he wakes up first or the jailer arrives first.”

Xiao Dinggua vaguely sensed something amiss: "Has this person gotten into some kind of legal trouble?"

“A murder case.” Bai Yuan sat casually on the chair and turned to Zhou Yaren, saying, “Since you know him, then wait until he wakes up and ask him.”

"We've only met once, so we can't really call each other acquaintances, but it wouldn't hurt to ask."

“Then let’s not waste any more time,” Bai Yuan immediately ordered Xiao Dinggua, “Pinch his philtrum.”

Little Dinggua was completely taken aback: "W-what are you doing?"

“Wake him up, we have questions to ask him.”

Zhou Yaren: "..."

Can we not be so decisive? Actually, there's no need to be in such a hurry.

Xiao Dinggua hesitated and said, "But he is badly injured."

"They're just superficial wounds, they look scary but they won't kill you."

Xiao Dinggua upheld the medical ethics passed down from his grandfather: "Even if he's not going to die, we can't just mess around with him. He lost a lot of blood before..."

"The bleeding has stopped, so we'll just ask him a few questions. It won't kill him."

Xiao Dinggua: "..." He turned his face and silently asked Zhou Yaren beside him: Has she always been like this? This kind of ruthless way of treating people's lives!

Unfortunately, the blind man couldn't receive his silent question and was instead met with Bai Yuan's relentless urging: "What are you still standing there for?"

So Xiao Dinggua pinched the unconscious porter awake.

When the porter slowly woke up and was in a disoriented state, Zhou Yaren spoke in a gentle and kind tone: "Awake? How are you feeling?"

The porter was obviously in a bad mood. He was in pain from head to toe, and his head was also throbbing and foggy.

"I apologize for my earlier offense," Zhou Yaren said politely. "May I ask your surname, elder brother?"

The porter, his face contorted in pain, answered, being led by the nose, "My surname is Cao, Cao Dali, you..."

"You fainted just now. We gave your wounds some basic treatment. The whip marks were infected and inflamed from being soaked in chili water. You also have a slight fever and need to rest. This jailer's torture methods are truly cruel..."

Upon hearing the last sentence, Cao Dali, who was lying on the felt mat, sat up in shock, his face turning pale. Without any suspicion as to how the other party knew, he was about to jump off the kang (a heated brick bed): "Has he come looking for me? Ah? No, I have to hide, I have to hide quickly, if he catches me I'm dead."

Xiao Dinggua quickly stopped the other person: "Don't get excited, be careful not to hurt yourself. It took me a lot of effort to bandage you up."

Cao Dali didn't care about his injuries at all; all he wanted was to hide and save his life. Of course, this house was not safe; the jailers could catch him as soon as they came. The only place he felt was a safe place was the cellar under the stove.

“They haven’t found him,” Bai Yuan said. “I don’t know if the jailer was trying to avenge his daughter or if he didn’t think carefully before he killed Wang Sanhu last night. The people in the yamen are looking for him everywhere, so they probably can’t come looking for you for the time being.”

"What?!" Cao Dali was shocked and stood frozen on the spot: "Wang, Sanhu, dead, dead?"

“Yes,” Bai Yuan said. “You’re lucky to have escaped from him.”

Judging from how scared Cao Dali is, hiding and fleeing, it's impossible that the jailer released him; he's most likely trying to escape.

Cao Dali seemed to be unable to react, staring blankly at Bai Yuan: "I..." He opened his mouth, but couldn't finish his sentence for a long time.

"How did you escape?" Bai Yuan probed, "Did you kill the jailer's daughter?"

Cao Dali turned around abruptly, shaking his head vehemently in denial: "It wasn't me!"

"If it wasn't you, why would the jailer arrest and torture you?"

“It really wasn’t me, it wasn’t me. He was just using torture to force me to confess so I could pay for his daughter’s life.”

"What did you do to his daughter that he wanted you to pay for her life?"

Cao Dali hesitated for a while, torn between the two options, before finally deciding to explain: "Because that girl came to Fengkou Village with me."