The Leather-Sewing Woman
After taking a few glances, Lan Zhuochi hurriedly folded the portrait.
"This portrait is extremely strange and should not be viewed for long. I didn't intentionally hide it from you before. It was only after I discussed the Yangmeilin case with you that I obtained the Tongfu Inn heart-cutting case records and the portrait of the deity, as both were taboos for the Lan family."
"Why can't we look at this portrait for a long time? Why are the Tongfu Inn case and the portrait of the child god listed as taboos?" Yun Qique asked.
"The reason for this remains unclear. The Lan family has always sent out painters who are essentially insects. Whether they're drawing from eyewitness accounts, using magic to reveal images, or painting from real objects, their portraits are nearly 100% lifelike. The insects are harmless, and their sorcery is limited to painting; it's impossible for them to bewitch or captivate people. When the portrait was returned, the young apprentice brother who first examined it was found to be incurably demented. The Tongfu Inn heart-cutting case spread far and wide, becoming uncontrollable. Many copycat heart-cutting murders followed, even among the demon hunters. Therefore, it took the combined efforts of the demon hunters, coupled with pressure from the government, over several years to convince people that offering human hearts as tribute would not elicit the manifestation of the Boy Bodhisattva."
"Painting bug?"
Painted insects are creatures somewhere between demons and spirits, though their specific nature remains unknown. They are often found in authentic paintings and calligraphy by ancient masters, and only in masterpieces without any subsequent additions can they be found. They are extremely rare. They can fly, their thin, translucent wings shimmering in the sunlight. Before transforming, they resemble miniature fireflies, but after transforming, they often take on the shape of a thumbnail. Their wings grow to match their transformed form, but they never disappear. They are easy to catch, but if forcibly captured, they will starve themselves to death. Only by this means can they be convinced to submit to their master, demonstrating their loyalty.
Yunqi Que listened with great interest.
When Lan Zhuochi told her these stories about monsters, he looked so bright and shining in her eyes, which made her most moved.
"Master knows everything. He is indeed the most knowledgeable and talented man in Cang Hua Mountain."
Lan Zhuochi's mouth curled up wildly because of the praise. In order to continue to act like the knowledgeable master she admired, he recalled all the sad things in his life, but still couldn't suppress the smile on his face.
"Master, why are you crying and laughing at the same time?"
"It's okay, Master just remembered something. Alright, let's continue trying to find other suspicious points. Boy Bodhisattva, wait until Tianming Lanqu has seen the formation in the bayberry forest tomorrow, and then try to find it."
"Master, there's something wrong with you."
"No." Lan Zhuochi touched his nose.
Yunqi Quesui saw through his lie, but did not expose him. He continued to look for other suspicious points in the bayberry forest with him.
Soon, she, who was afraid of ghosts, vaguely felt that the position of the dark shadow of the wooden doll in the bayberry forest seemed to be constantly changing.
In order to confirm, she focused all her attention on the black shadows of the puppets, and Lan Zhuochi, who focused all his attention on her, naturally noticed her attention.
Lan Zhuochi remained silent and gave Lan Qu a look.
Lan Qu, who had been suspicious for a long time, understood what he meant and directly took out the Tai Chi Bagua compass and copper coin sword.
"Qian Yuan starts the destiny, Kun's virtue is obvious, Yin and Yang are in Tai Chi, the eight trigrams point to where ghosts and spirits appear!"
As the sonorous spell was chanted, the Tai Chi Bagua compass in Lan Qu's hand turned and pointed in the direction behind them.
Lan Qu turned around, used his spiritual power to make the copper coin sword fly into the air, and formed seals with his hands. The copper coin sword trembled all over and emitted a misty white light.
"The copper coin is the sharp edge, the imperial decree chases the soul, and the sword will hit the target!"
The copper coin sword flew out with the force of breaking through the wind, and stabbed at a high speed towards the direction of the Tai Chi Bagua compass, and immediately stabbed a black human figure squatting on the ground in the distance.
The woman's screams of agony echoed throughout the bayberry forest, startling the birds and scattering them.
At the same time, the hippopotamus demon Mangosteen wrapped them and quickly chased after the shadow.
The black shadow began to flee frantically after being stabbed by the sword. Lan Zhuochi escaped from Mangosteen's belly and took out two thick stacks of yellow talisman papers from the big pouch tied around his waist. Then, with the fastest speed he could use, he threw the talisman papers wherever he passed.
After he had scattered all the yellow talismans in his hand, he chanted the incantation: "The talisman ignites the sparks, and the command burns the evil!"
The talisman papers that were floating in the air and had not yet landed on the ground spontaneously combusted. In an instant, the entire bayberry forest shrouded in darkness was illuminated by the flames of the burning talisman papers.
Everything in the forest was as brief as day, clearly visible.
Only then did they see the true appearance of the human-shaped black shadow that was stabbed by the copper coin sword.
The copper coin sword pierced the center of her chest, and the sword was not stained with any blood. So, she must not be a living thing, nor a corpse that had just died.
The woman was covered in dirt and wore a ragged piece of coarse cloth that reached her knees. Her exposed fair skin was covered in purple and green bruises.
Her long black hair was smooth and shiny, but it was tangled into uneven lengths and stained with dirt, dead leaves and branches.
The flames burned briefly and then went out, and the bayberry forest returned to dim darkness.
The dark clouds that had mostly obscured the bright moon dispersed at this moment, and the moonlight shone through the gaps between the treetops, making the vision much clearer. However, the woman who was stabbed by the copper coin sword disappeared without a trace. The copper coin sword broke into a string and fell on the stone that held down the coffin in a shallow pit.
The coffin stone had obviously been moved, and half of the coffin stone that was holding up the banner had been removed from the white cloth.
Yunqi Que suddenly discovered that not far behind Lan Zhuochi, a woman with disheveled hair crawled out of a deep pit like a ghost.
The woman did not walk upright, but crawled on the ground with her limbs twisted in a strange posture.
Despite the dim light, Yun Qique recognized her as the shadowy woman whose chest had been pierced by the copper coin sword. Lan Zhuochi didn't act rashly, but judging by his expression, he was probably aware that something was behind him.
Yun Qique was anxious and worried. She calmly took out the lightning-inducing talisman that Lan Zhuochi taught her to draw, and kept her eyes fixed on the woman's actions, ready to attack at any time.
However.
The woman did not crawl towards the Lanzhuo Pool, but turned and crawled quickly towards the other end.
Shanzhu and Lan Zhuochi immediately chased after her, but at this moment, dark clouds blocked most of the moonlight, and the light in the bayberry forest became dark again. They soon lost sight of the woman.
Lan Zhuochi guided Mangosteen to the darkest bushes under a tree, and took the opportunity to hide back in Mangosteen's belly.
Suddenly, intermittent female opera singing came from the forest. The voice was sad and mournful, ethereal and long, and the lyrics were not very clear.
Lan Zhuochi said, "Shanzhu, follow the sound of the song."
After running a few steps, Mangosteen's singing gradually became clearer.
"The moon is on the eaves, the window screen leaks, the spool turns, and frost flowers fall. The bamboo stretches the edge, the stitches are slanted, sewing the spring moon. Swallows are under the eaves, and the new mud is used for the sling."
Looking from a distance, it was that woman again.
"My fingertips are rubbed, calluses become scabs, silk threads are woven around my hair, and I cannot measure my child's stature, for I fear the wind and dew are heavy in a foreign land."
She knelt on the ground, singing opera, with a pile of scattered bones around her. One hand was twisting needle and thread, sealing a bloody human skin. The part of the human skin she held in her other hand was wrapped with a long hard object.
It should be just as the head of Yangmei Village said when he reported the case, that the murderer sewed old bones into the skin of the newly killed person.
"One stitch, one year's twilight. Hidden within the thread is a conversation box, asking about return date, entrusting it to fleeting clouds, afraid of expressing longing, so I tear it apart and embroider it again."
Mangosteen moved closer, and Lanqu lit a tinder to get a closer look.
Of course, the fire from the fire stick in the mangosteen's belly was not very bright, so they could see the illuminated scenery outside, but people outside could not see them.
The pile of bones around her were covered in dirt. They were exactly old bones. Judging from the skulls and loose human skin, the deceased should be petite women.
The thread she was using to sew leather was just the ordinary black thread used to sew clothes, but the thick needle was special.
The silver needle was an inch long and two or three times thicker than an ordinary embroidery needle. However, it was extremely sharp when sewing human skin, and it went through it easily, just like sewing tofu.
Yunqique asked Mangosteen to get as close to her as possible without being discovered, but unexpectedly, Mangosteen stopped half a meter in front of her.
With the help of Lan Qu's fire starter, everything was clear, but she suddenly looked up, and her angle happened to meet Yun Qique and the others' sight.
There were several bloody tear marks on the woman's face.
Lan Zhuochi, who was standing behind Yun Qique, was quick to cover her eyes.
After just one glance, the woman lowered her head.
Yunqi Que calmed down the shock of the woman suddenly looking up and looking at her, and adjusted her mood. Then she gently patted the back of his hand, signaling him to let go.
"The candle flames burst, the shadows on the window are slanted, on the lapel of my clothes, a crescent moon is mended. Suddenly, I hear a dog barking at the wooden door. A needle falls into the lamp wick, burning my finger, and tears of laughter increase."
When the song ended, the woman also stopped sewing.
She didn't use scissors, she just bit off the excess thread.
The woman picked up another rib and stuffed it into the corresponding position through the hole in the human skin's belly. She began to sing the opera again and continued sewing.
"The moon is on the eaves, the window screen is leaking, the spool of thread is turning, and frost flowers are falling..."
Lan Zhuochi asked Mangosteen to walk carefully around her within five meters, but she did not find the remaining flesh and blood of the victim with human skin in the woman's hand.
They watched with their own eyes as she sewed human skin and bones together, replacing flesh and internal organs with paper money, stuffing it into the skin to fill it up, and then sewing up the incision at the laceration.
After doing all this, the tone of the song in her mouth changed from sad and weeping to joyful.
The woman dragged the sewn human skin skeleton to lie under the bayberry tree, kicked away the stone that was pressing down the coffin, pulled out a long piece of banner cloth buried in the soil, and tied the head of the human skin skeleton with the banner cloth.
She turned to look at their invisible location.
Singing: "The moon is lost in the ferry crossing, the fog has locked the steps, a game of chess is left for you to solve, a few taps of the fingertips, don't ask about the way home when you are at a crossroads, don't ask about the way home when you are at a crossroads..."
"Ink marks darkly carve patterns into the bluestone, the wind carries mysteries through the willow shade. If you understand the meaning of silk and bamboo, follow your sleeves and fly into the deep clouds."
"Bu Ying Tong... the answer is obvious..."
After singing, she walked towards the depths of the bayberry forest, looking back every three steps.
Lan Tongdao said, "Shanzhu, follow her! This woman must be very proficient in opera. The first section begins with Xipi Liushui, the second section switches to Erhuang Sanban, and then ends with a dragging tune. The lyrics must be self-composed, and we can use this to find her identity. The lyrics use the words 'chess game,' 'ink marks,' and 'silk and bamboo' as introductions, and the words 'following the sleeves' and 'stepping together' allude to traveling together. The words 'puzzle' and 'follow closely' are not mentioned throughout the whole song. Instead, the core meaning is conveyed through the guidance of scenery and the hints of actions, which fits the cryptic expression habit of opera lyrics 'hiding things in the scenery.' She must be saying that if we want to solve the mystery, we must follow her closely."
"Brother Lanqu, do you also understand opera?"
"I once made a confidante of a woman who was a fan of the opera. She loved to sing and talk about opera, and I knew a little about what she had said."
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