Chapter 57: White Bone Hairpin 12 Shou Wenxue

Xun Shu stared at the person in front of him.

In the dream, He Xuan's outline was still clear, gradually overlapping with the person before him. It was clearly the same face, clearly the same person, yet something had vanished without him noticing.

Li Xuanhe helped Xun Shu to her feet and placed a pillow behind her. Xun Shu's head was still a little swollen, and she said hoarsely, "Am I sick?"

The scene of last night emerged in Li Xuanhe's mind.

After Xun Shu returned to the inn, she went back to her room to rest. Everyone thought she was just tired and didn't ask any questions until Li Xuanhe knocked on her door with a food box and no one answered for a long time. Then they found Xun Shu fainted on the bed and unconscious.

He panicked and hurried forward to feel her breath. When he felt the scalding heat, he realized that she had a fever and immediately sent for a doctor.

Fortunately, the fever was only caused by his injury and the cool breeze. Otherwise, he would not know what to do in this desolate mountain area, which is still several days' journey from the capital.

When she came to her senses, her back was wet and her hands holding the medicine bowl were shaking, spilling a lot of medicine. Chi Xiao had to call the proprietress over, and while she was wiping her body, she also fed her the bowl of medicine.

The panic, self-blame, the pain of having his heart squeezed, and the powerlessness of being unable to breathe at that time were all deeply engraved in his heart, and they might not dissipate for a long time.

It's enough for him to know these things, there's no need to tell her.

Li Xuanhe turned around and went to serve the porridge. "Well, you had a fever last night and fell asleep in your room. Luckily I found you early, otherwise you would have been burned to death." He sat down beside the bed with the porridge, scooped a spoonful and passed it to Xun Shu's lips. "Are you hungry? Eat some porridge first to fill your stomach."

Xun Shu wasn't used to being fed, so she tried to grab the spoon, but Li Xuanhe dodged her. She looked at him strangely, "I'm not a child."

Li Xuanhe's earlobes flushed as he explained, "Your hand is injured... and you haven't eaten all night. What if you lose your grip on the spoon and spill food on the bed?"

What he said made some sense. Xun Shu stopped struggling and obediently ate his porridge mouthful by mouthful. When he was almost at the bottom, he suddenly remembered something and blinked his eyes: "Third brother, it seems that my left hand is injured."

...Third brother?

The porcelain spoon dropped into the bowl, making a crisp, tinkling sound, as melodious as heavenly music. Li Xuanhe froze in place, his mind blank for a moment, before he said happily, "Ah Shu, what did you call me?"

It was a trivial matter, but after Li Xuanhe shouted at her, it seemed like a major event. Xun Shu's earlobes were like ripe peaches, temptingly red. She tilted her head slightly, pushed the porcelain bowl away, and whispered, "I don't want to eat anymore."

Her voice was still a little hoarse, but it was much better than when she first woke up. Li Xuanhe, mindful that she had just recovered from a serious illness, did not press her any further, but the corners of his lips could not help but rise.

He recounted the day's events to her: "You've slept all morning, and it's past lunchtime. If you're still hungry, I'll ask the kitchen to make some easy-to-cook noodle soup. I'll take you out for dinner, okay?"

His voice was refreshing, like the wind in the mountains, stained with the fragrance of grass exposed to the sun, blowing into Xun Shu's heart, pushing her back to the small courtyard, making her unable to help but indulge.

She said with some regret, "I wasted half a day. What did you find out in that time?"

"I sent someone to the Shou family, and after a round of visits, I gathered some information. The Shou family is a wealthy and powerful family, with businesses not only throughout Ningyuan Village but also in Shannan Road and Jiangnan Road. The Shou family business was built by Shou Changyu, and after his death, it was handed over to his younger brother Shou Changze. Shou Changze wasn't very good at management, and within a year of taking over, business had dwindled by half, and his prestige in the village was also not as high as before. Later, he sent his niece to Cai You, the governor of Xili, and recommended her to be the Saint, as a token of his loyalty. After that, he often stayed with Cai You, and with Cai You's support, business slowed down a bit."

Xun Shu sighed, "Such a huge fortune was built by my brother. Shou Changze got it for free, but he doesn't treat his two nieces well. He's really not a good person. Oh, by the way, yesterday Bi Tao only mentioned Shou Zhiyue's whereabouts, but didn't mention her sister Shou Wenxue. The day before yesterday, I heard the waiter mention that Shou Wenxue had also had an accident and passed away. Have you found out how she died?"

Li Xuanhe sighed, his wide white teeth bared. "This is a rather strange matter. Shou Wenxue was only five years old when Shou Zhiyue was chosen as the Saint. Not long after that, she passed away along with her sister. The people in the Shou residence said she had a critical illness, incurable, and ultimately died, but no one could tell what it was."

"It wouldn't be too strange if a half-grown child suddenly died."

Li Xuanhe didn't say anything, his eyelashes drooped, and one eyebrow was slightly raised, as if he didn't agree with what Xun Shu said.

Seeing his expression, Xun Shu suddenly realized, "You suspect Shou Wenxue is not dead, but is still alive, hiding in the dark... and killed Xilizheng to avenge her sister?" Perhaps from talking too much, her throat was slightly itchy. She touched her throat with her hand and said hoarsely, "This is difficult. Under normal circumstances, we can just dig up the grave and see if the body is still there, and we can get a general idea. But the graves in Ningyuan Village are very different. There are no names written outside the cave, so I'm afraid it will be difficult to find Shou Wenxue's body."

"This matter is not that complicated." Li Xuanhe stood up and poured a cup of warm tea, handing it to Xun Shu. "Although there are no tombstones in the cemetery of Ningyuan Village, the names of the deceased are engraved on the stone walls inside the cave. In addition, they have a custom that women cannot be buried alone after death. If they are unmarried, they are buried with their parents. If they are married, they are buried with their husbands. Shou Wenxue was still young when she died, and she must be buried with Shou Changyu and his wife. As long as we find a cave where the couple is buried together, and then look at the words engraved inside the cave, we can find the Shou family. But-"

Xun Shu took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and finished the second half of his sentence for him: "It's just that this is a stupid idea after all, and it will take some time."

Li Xuanhe nodded. "After all, it happened eighteen years ago. After much inquiry, we've only been able to find out the vague location of the cave where the remains of the Shou family are buried. Two people from the Dali Temple have already gone looking for it. If we're quick, we'll get some information today."

"Why not send Chi Xiao and Yu Chang as well? With four of us together, maybe we can get there faster."

"Chi Xiao has another mission. As for Yu Chang—" Li Xuanhe raised his eyebrows slightly, speaking meaningfully, "Ningyuan Village is fraught with dangers. My martial arts skills are not good, so I have to keep someone with good martial arts skills by my side to protect us. Isn't that right, Ah Shu?"

Xun Shu: ...

-

The people from the Dali Temple returned late at night, but Xun Shu did not see them until the next morning.

At that time, she and Li Xuanhe were having breakfast in the uninhabited Room No. 1. The two Dali Temple men walked into the room neatly dressed, without any sign of fatigue on their faces. They were incomparable to Xun Shu, who was still sleepy after sleeping all day.

One of them, named Ge Qi, spoke first and told the two about his discovery last night.

"Our subordinates discovered the tomb of Shou Changyu and his wife yesterday, but we didn't find the child's remains. We later examined the inscriptions on the stone wall, but couldn't find Shou Wenxue's name, nor any signs of erasure or alteration."

Xun Shu drank the porridge in his bowl, but glanced at Li Xuanhe across from him and said vaguely, "You guessed right, Shou Wenxue is really not dead. You have been suspicious of Shou Wenxue since yesterday, why?"

"I don't believe there are so many coincidences in this world." Li Xuanhe pushed a plate of snacks in front of her and said calmly, "In a few days, it will be the day when the Saint Lady prays for blessings. And yet, at this time, the only son of the second branch of the Shou family died first, and then Xili Zheng Cai You died. Before his death, he received a blood letter. All the clues converge and point to the two sisters of the Shou family from many years ago. These two people must be the key to solving this case."

Xun Shu ate the porridge mouthful by mouthful, and all he could think about was Shou Wenxue.

A five-year-old girl, her entire family wiped out, living under someone else's roof, unable to survive independently, yet she managed to escape the house and remain there for eighteen years. For eighteen years, she lurked in the shadows, never forgetting her hatred until the opportunity arose. She murdered two people, perfectly disguising her murder as an accident, escaping unnoticed...

Is this really possible?

The room fell silent for a moment. Ge Qi looked at his companion, who made faces at him for a moment, but ultimately, Ge Qi gave in and spoke, breaking the silence.

"Sir, I have something else to report."

Li Xuanhe raised his eyelids and asked calmly, "What's the matter?"

"Yesterday, while searching for Shou Changyu's tomb, we stumbled upon the body of Shou Changze's only son. The body had just been brought into the cave, and hadn't yet fully decayed. We examined it and noticed something was amiss. The Shou family's son's upper body had been crushed by the rocks, and his features were unrecognizable. So, we examined his hands and discovered thick calluses on the palms and fingertips. However, the knuckles where he held a pen were spotless, with no trace of calluses at all. These were clearly the hands of someone who did hard labor, how could they possibly be the hands of a scholar?"

Li Xuanhe raised his eyes, a sharp look in his eyes: "You mean, the person who died was not Shou Duan?"

"Yes. I remember that when the bodies were found in the southern sky gap, Your Excellency also suspected that the deceased was not Xili Zheng Cai You. The two bodies were found with their faces and body features destroyed. I dare to speculate that someone may have done this intentionally, in order to conceal the truth and prevent people from discovering that the dead were not Cai You and Shou Duan. In this way, they can live on in secret by pretending to be dead, and no one will try to kill them."

Li Xuanhe pondered for a moment, then raised his eyebrows slightly. "We can't rule out this possibility, but there are still doubts. If, as you speculate, Shou Duan and Cai You both managed to escape, then they must have a more direct connection to have done so without prior agreement. We've only discovered the relationship between Shou Changze and Cai You. We need to go back to the Shou family to find out if Shou Changze knows about this and Shou Duan's secret."

Xun Shu, who was standing by, listened carefully to their conversation. He felt something was amiss and muttered, "That night, the mountain collapsed. The deceased went out for a while, and when he returned home, he saw the blood letter. He then prepared to flee overnight. After leaving the village in the morning, he was able to kill someone in just an hour and then disguise himself as himself... Are they that powerful? And if those two bodies aren't Shou Duan and Cai You, who else could they be? If Shou Duan and Cai You are still alive, where did they go?"