Chapter 58 The Frame Collapsed
As soon as the screams from the observation deck erupted, Pei Zhiwei acted faster than she thought, lifting her skirt and rushing towards the observation deck.
Before she even reached the railing of the observation deck, Pei Zhiwei heard cries coming from downstairs. She leaned down, holding onto the railing.
The three-story colorful scaffold that was originally erected on the outer wall of Yuhuchun has now collapsed into a pile of broken wood and bamboo, with broken wooden pillars lying haphazardly on the street.
The red lanterns that were hanging there had rolled all over the ground, and the colorful ribbons were tangled in the broken wood, fluttering wildly in the wind.
Several wooden beams with nails stuck on them were still wedged on the second-floor window sill, swaying precariously as if they might fall down at any moment.
The area below was in complete chaos. Some of the people who were hit were rolling on the ground clutching their legs, while others were pinned down by wooden frames with only half of their bodies exposed. Their cries and screams pierced the sky.
Several outstretched hands could be vaguely seen in the pile of broken wood, and people were trapped underneath.
"It was a holiday decoration!" a restaurant waiter shouted, his voice trembling with tears. "It was just reinforced this morning, how could it collapse like that?"
Pei Zhiwei didn't have time to think it through. She stepped onto the railing with her left foot and jumped down.
Xie Ji had just reached the railing when he only caught a fleeting glimpse of her fluttering clothes. He instinctively reached out to grab her, but he only managed to brush against a cool piece of fabric before she fell.
"Are you crazy?!" Xie Ji shouted urgently, then leaped over the railing.
No matter how fast he was, he couldn't catch up with Pei Zhiwei.
She executed a powerful downward strike in mid-air, landing swiftly and steadily.
Xie Ji followed closely behind, but still his foot landed with a "thud" on the ground.
Compared to Pei Zhiwei's almost silent landing, it was far inferior.
Xie Ji was so shocked that his eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
He came from a family of military generals and received specialized training in martial arts from a young age.
In addition, he is highly talented and hardworking. In all his life, apart from Xiao Yunzhan, he has never been convinced by anyone else.
He stared at Xiao Yunzhan, who landed right after him, his face filled with shock: "Her...her lightness skill..."
Who is this master who taught him? This is outrageous!
Xiao Yunzhan didn't reply, his gaze fixed on Pei Zhiwei's figure.
His heart clenched the moment she jumped, and he only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her land steadily.
When the three landed, a large crowd had already gathered downstairs, including staff from Yu Hu Chun restaurant and pedestrians from the street.
They rushed forward in a chaotic frenzy to save people, but were afraid of accidentally touching the broken log and injuring those below.
"Everyone, don't panic!" Pei Zhiwei's clear voice immediately drowned out the surrounding noise.
"First, make sure there are people there. Find some sturdy wooden bars to pry the wood off. Be careful not to hurt the people who are trapped!"
Several brave men were the first to respond and followed suit, lifting the wooden pillar.
Soon a man dressed in shorts ran over carrying a carrying pole. "Girl, my carrying pole is sturdy, you can use it!"
Pei Zhiwei took the carrying pole and pointed to a spot where a hand was sticking out of the pile of broken wood: "Could you please work with this young man to pry this way? Be slow and don't use too much force."
She was referring to Xie Ji. Although Xie Ji was amazed by her lightness of foot, he didn't have time to ask any more questions. He took the wooden bar handed to him by another shop assistant and, together with the man, carefully inserted it into the crack in the broken wood.
Xiao Yunzhan stood on a slightly higher step and shouted to the chaotic crowd: "Help those with minor injuries to the side of the street first, and wait for the door panels to be used to carry the seriously injured!"
There's a clinic nearby, could you please go and ask a doctor to come over?
Pei Zhiwei had just pulled a woman out from under the wood.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of two motionless figures deep within the pile of broken wood.
She walked quickly over, squatted down, and gently lifted the colorful silk covering it.
They were two men, around fifty or sixty years old. One was wearing a dark blue round-necked robe made of a very fine material, the top-grade Yue silk from Jiangnan, with delicate tortoise-shell patterns woven on it.
A warm, smooth jade belt was tied around his waist, but his jade crown had been shattered into several pieces. His hair was scattered across his blood-stained face, and there was a deep, bone-revealing wound on his forehead, clearly caused by being hit by a wooden frame.
Another man, wearing a brown silk round-necked robe and a black leather belt around his waist, also had a head injury, with blood trickling down his face to the ground.
Pei Zhiwei reached out and checked the pulses of the two men in their necks; there was no pulse at all.
"How is it? Is there any hope?" Seeing her solemn expression, Xiao Yunzhan already knew the answer in his heart.
Pei Zhiwei: "He's dead."
His gaze swept over the broken main rope of the wooden frame next to him.
The rope was made of coarse hemp and was supposed to be securely tied to the railing on the third floor, but it was now broken in two.
She picked up the end of the rope.
The cross-section was unusually neat, not like it was broken by the wooden frame, but rather like it was cut open by something.
"Something's wrong with this rope. It was cut by a sharp object, not broken naturally."
Xiao Yunzhan followed her gaze to the rope, his brows furrowing.
Xie Ji: "Cut with a sharp weapon? Who would do such a thing?"
"This scaffold is set up on the exterior wall of the restaurant. To cut the rope, you'd have to go to the observation deck on the third floor, right?"
Pei Zhiwei didn't speak, but looked up at the observation deck on the third floor.
That was the spot where she had just jumped down; half a broken rope was still hanging from the railing.
She stomped her left foot hard, and her body shot straight up, reaching a height of over two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters).
Immediately after, he lightly touched the pillar on the second floor with his toes, and when he landed, he was already by the railing of the observation deck on the third floor. The whole movement was done in one smooth and clean motion.
Xie Ji's mouth was wide open, big enough to fit two eggs.
He grabbed Xiao Yunzhan and exclaimed in shock, "Hey, did you see that?"
How could she possibly leap more than 20 feet from dry land like a scallion?
I once made a bet with someone and tried it. A normal person can only reach about 15 or 16 feet by exerting all their strength, but I was pushed so hard that I could only reach 17 or 18 feet at most.
She...she's not even human!
Xiao Yunzhan watched Pei Zhiwei's figure checking things out by the railing on the third floor, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up.
Hearing Xie Ji say this, even though he knew it wasn't the right time, he still felt a lot better.
At least I'm not the only one who gets outdone by her every time.
"Cough..." He pursed his lips.
"Her kung fu style, which she has practiced since childhood, is different from ours, so it's normal that it's lighter."
"Normal?" Otherwise, given the current situation, Xie Ji would really want to scream.
"This is normal? You try to find me another one that's 'normal'."
Pei Zhiwei didn't hear the discussion between the two downstairs; she was currently examining the remaining half of the rope carefully.
The cuts on the two sides of the rope end are different; one side is more than seven-tenths of an inch deep, and the other side is more than five-tenths of an inch deep.
The cuts are clean and the cross-sections are neat, all cut outwards from the direction of the viewing platform.
However, none of them cut through the rope; the bottom of the rope naturally stretched and tore due to the weight.
She then examined the marks on the ground along the railing.
The viewing platform is entirely paved with wooden planks, and with so many people coming and going, the footprints are naturally quite messy.
Near the railing, there are several clean wooden planks.
It looks like someone wiped it with a cloth or something, erasing any footprints that might have been left.
The wiped marks stretched all the way to the vicinity where Xie Ji and Zhang Xiao had their conflict.
Further on, the footprints became even more jumbled and indistinguishable.
Pei Zhiwei didn't linger any longer and jumped down from the third floor again.
The landing was a bit slow this time.
"The rope was indeed cut from the third-floor observation deck. There were blade marks on the cut, and there were also signs of wiping on the ground. It must have been done by the murderer."
Just as Xiao Yunzhan was about to speak, he heard Pei Lin's voice from the crowd: "Zhiwei! Your Highness Xiao! Are you alright?"
A tall man pushed through the crowd to clear a path, with Pei Lin following closely behind.
The man was about thirty-five years old, with a muscular build like a military general, broad shoulders and a thick back, and a steady gait.
It was Liu Jingchang, the magistrate of Yangdu County.
Pei Lin glanced at Pei Zhiwei and was relieved to see that she was unharmed.
Liu Jingchang's expression changed as soon as he glanced at the two corpses on the ground.
He brushed aside the disheveled hair on the face of the man in the dark blue round-necked robe and gasped.
"This...isn't this Master Xu Fengyan? And this is his butler, Chen Gong!"
He suddenly stood up and shouted at the crowd, "Quick!"
Go to the government office and summon the yamen runners and Coroner Han!
Send someone to the nearby clinics to urge the doctors to come quickly!
Also, everyone, move outwards; unauthorized personnel are not allowed to approach!
Several young men responded and ran outside.
Upon seeing the dead body, the surrounding crowd instinctively obeyed Liu Jingchang's orders and cautiously dispersed.
With the county magistrate in charge, the originally noisy scene instantly quieted down.
Liu Jingchang: "Lord Pei, Your Highness, Master Xu is a local gentry in Yangdu, and he is highly respected by the people."
His sudden accident is likely to cause quite a stir.
We need to find out as soon as possible how this structure collapsed.
Pei Zhiwei: "I have already checked. The main rope that kidnapped the person was cut by a sharp weapon. It was not an accident."
"It was cut off?" Liu Jingchang's expression darkened further.
Before long, several constables escorted a coroner carrying a body examination kit to the scene.
Behind them followed a burly constable with a knife at his waist, his face expressionless, looking very dignified.
"Lord Liu! Coroner Han is here!" shouted the constable running in front.
The coroner was around 40 years old. "This humble servant, Han Song, greets Lord Liu."
"Officer Wei Wu greets Your Excellency."
Liu Jingchang: "No need for formalities, hurry up and examine the body."
Wei Wu, take some men to question the restaurant staff and the witnesses from earlier.
Ask if anyone saw anyone lingering near the third-floor observation deck.
Especially before the scaffolding collapsed, did you see any suspicious people or hear any strange noises?
Also, look for any knives that could have been used to cut the rope, whether it's a dagger or a kitchen knife, check carefully!
"Yes!" Wei Wu received the order and led several yamen runners into the restaurant.
Han, the coroner, also opened the autopsy kit, took out burlap gloves and put them on, and first walked to Xu Fengyan's body.
First, he carefully examined the wound on his head, then flipped up his eyelids, muttering as he examined the wound: "The deceased is about sixty years old. There are blunt force trauma marks on the head, and the wound is deep enough to expose the bone. This should be the fatal injury..."
Pei Zhiwei noticed that Xiao Yunzhan's expression was a little off. "Has Your Highness thought of something?"
Xiao Yunzhan: "Don't you think this is somewhat similar to Su Hetang's case?"
Pei Zhiwei was startled and asked, "You mean, indiscriminate killing?"
Suddenly, a piercing cry shattered the solemn atmosphere: "Master! My lord! What's wrong with you!"
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