Chapter 162 Mr. Jin, you're really annoying.
The next morning, before Jin Shu had even gotten up, she had hurriedly disguised herself in the capital and was secretly sent to Shengzhou by Imperial Physician Qiao. He frowned slightly when he saw the appearance of Li Jin's wound.
"Well, I've come all this way for nothing." After saying that, he didn't forget to praise, "Mr. Jin's technique is more steady than that of many doctors in the clinic. Your Highness truly has a discerning eye."
A discerning eye can spot a greedy person.
He muttered a complaint to himself, said nothing, dressed, gave Imperial Physician Qiao a few instructions, and then, together with Zhou Zheng, called out to Jin Shu and headed towards Xuan Yutang's residence.
"It's just a minor injury, but the case still needs to be handled." He looked into Jin Shu's eyes, a hint of helplessness in his voice. "More important than resting right now is to make sure no one notices that I'm injured."
He smiled slightly and said, "Sir, you should be well aware of this as well."
If people realize that Li Jin is injured, there will be ten more assassins after the five who were there the day before.
Although Jin Shu was dissatisfied, she was also helpless because of the undeniable fact. After a long while, she reluctantly squeezed out a "hmm" from her throat.
Xuan Yutang's mansion was locked.
Li Jin turned around and glanced at Zhou Zheng, who understood and took two steps back. Zhou Zheng then climbed up the wall and stood on the edge of the outer wall. He looked inside and was stunned.
There was no one in the courtyard.
The ground was in such a chaotic state that it looked like the aftermath of a bandit raid or a war.
Basins, clothes, broken bowls, and books were scattered all over the yard.
Zhou Zheng hurriedly jumped down from the eaves and spent some effort clearing a path through the door that was blocked by debris.
He lowered the bolt and opened only one door.
Li Jin, who was about to enter while lifting the hem of her dress, was stunned for a moment when she saw the scene in the courtyard.
He blurted out almost instinctively, "Go and see if there are still people here."
Such a tragic and chaotic scene would make anyone who saw it worry that an even greater tragedy might be about to unfold.
Li Jin dared not make any rash moves, worried that there might be unknown risks inside, so he blocked Jin Shu and stood in the doorway, waiting for Zhou Zheng to return.
The old trees and the crows at dusk, the courtyard as silent as death, all exuded an eerie atmosphere.
He stood at the door for a quarter of an hour, and when Zhou Zheng came running down from the eaves, he shook his head: "It's empty."
At this point, Zhou Zheng looked troubled and turned to indicate, "But the main hall behind is terrifying." He frowned and scratched his head, "The floor is covered in red paint, and there are words written on it."
Upon hearing this, Li Jin, with his black fan in hand, stepped across the courtyard that looked as if it had been ransacked, and walked in with a face full of doubt and surprise.
He couldn't see anything of value in his sight; the ground was littered with common household items, cheap and rough, which seemed somewhat out of place for Xuan Yutang, a wealthy merchant.
Halfway there, Li Jin suddenly saw several broken white jade teacups on the ground. Just as he was about to reach for them, before he could even squat down, Jin Shu quickly stepped forward, picked up two fragments, and handed one to Li Jin.
She raised her hand to the light; the warm, smooth texture of the white jade fragment seemed to say that if it were intact, it would certainly be very valuable.
"A big merchant like you only has these two valuable bowls?" She glanced at Li Jin, full of confusion.
Seeing her surprised expression, Li Jin smiled faintly but did not answer.
Further inside, bending down to step through the moon gate, the main hall, submerged in a vast expanse of red, came into view before the two.
Just as Jin Shu had predicted, the actual crime scene was covered in large areas of paint residue.
The food and wine on the table were spilled all over the floor. There were several blackened bloodstains on the stone slab outside the house. On the pillars under the eaves, where couplets were hung, were written "Deserved punishment" and "Deserved to die".
Inside the room, large characters were written in bold on the walls, and on the floor, large patches of bloodstains mixed with red paint, which, after drying, formed eerie, streamlined patterns.
It's terrifying.
Li Jin flicked his fan, took two steps forward, and looked at the writing on the wall: "Didn't the master say that the purpose of writing was very strange?"
He pointed to the wall with his fan: "The bloodstains are completely covered up. Even if we call Yunfei over, he probably won't be able to tell anything."
Not only were there bloodstains on the walls, but not even a single footprint could be found on the ground.
Everything was red; there was nothing but a mess.
On either side of the main hall, there is a staircase leading to the upper attic.
Jin Shuzai looked carefully for a long time and finally found some unusual bloodstains on the stairs.
The bloodstains stretched upwards, and Jin Shu followed them to a corner of the attic, where she found a relatively large patch of black bloodstains.
Then, the mark inexplicably moved towards the window, and then towards another staircase.
She followed them all the way down the stairs on the other side and returned to the main hall, which was covered in red paint.
“That’s interesting.” Li Jin looked at her and pondered for a moment.
This path was very strange; even he couldn't figure it out.
Jin Shu stood in the main hall for a long time, reviewing all the known details of the case in her mind. She nodded as she said, "The victim's body was left there for a while before it was taken away."
"During this period of time, the murderer erased his traces and wrote these words."
Li Jin nodded: "Could the writing on the corpse have been deliberately left to cover up some kind of particularly important evidence in order to fit the scene?"
He pondered for a moment, then said slowly and deliberately: "For example, to cover up something that could directly point to who the murderer is, or the victim left behind a directional death clue before dying."
This possibility cannot be ruled out.
“It could also be some kind of warning,” Jin Shu said. “I’ve seen cases like this before, where the killer’s goal was to draw attention to the crime.”
She picked up the scattered bowls and chopsticks from the ground, examined them for a long time, and then said, "Could it be a professional killer? A hired murder?"
Li Jin laughed, glancing at her face: "A professional assassin wouldn't try to cover it up so conspicuously."
After saying that, he jokingly tapped her head lightly with his fan: "Mr. Jin will have plenty of opportunities in the future to see what a professional assassin is like."
Looking at the devastated scene before him, Li Jin took a deep breath: "It's not like we've come away empty-handed," he said. "At least one possibility has become infinitely large."
He glanced at Jin Shu, raised his hand, and gestured for her to continue what he was saying.
Li Jin is now genuinely curious about just how much strength this woman is hiding.
But Jin Shu remained calm and continued, "An acquaintance, someone I know well. Judging from the appearance outside, there are likely many accomplices, or people protecting him."
Li Jin remained expressionless and asked again, "Sir, can you confirm approximately how many people were involved in the attack?"
Jin Shu shook his head: "I can only confirm that there are about one to three people."
She reached out and made a gesture as if grasping a dagger: "The daggers used to inflict sharp weapon wounds on both the male and female victims are the same dagger, and the angles at which they were stabbed are also the same, indicating that they were inflicted by the same person."
Then, Jin Shu made a cupping motion with her hands, but her two thumbs fell together, recreating the marks on her neck: "Judging from the size and shape of the handprints on the necks of the female victim and the boy, they should be from the same hands. Only the youngest victim died from a fall, but the time of death was basically the same as the other three."
"Including the transportation of the bodies up the mountain, one to three people are the most likely candidates."
Li Jin lowered his eyes, pondered for a moment, then turned to look at her: "Why is it acceptable to be alone?"
With red paint everywhere and the outer room in complete disarray, is it even possible for one person to manage such a situation?
Jin Shu nodded with certainty: "In early September, the weather is not hot. Rigor mortis will start at least an hour later. The four victims were found hanging from the trees, and their true posture at the time of death had already been concealed."
"In other words, the murderer had about three hours to complete the deployment process."
She looked at what was in front of her: "What's more, he might have first hung up the victim, and then returned to the scene to begin destroying it."
"Based on the time of death, the crime occurred around 9 PM. Under the cover of darkness, either of these scenarios is possible."
The man before him raised his eyebrows, remaining silent and secretly amazed.
No wonder I couldn't hide it from her.
Sure enough, they had hidden at least three or five points.
"Jin Shu," Li Jin smiled and said softly, "you're so annoying."
A single sentence, like a hand, abruptly severed Jin Shu's perfectly clear line of reasoning.
What?
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