Chapter 64: White Bone Hairpin 19 The Truth (I)
After Ge Qi escorted the Taoist priest to the altar, Xun Shu finally saw the man's appearance clearly.
He was in his twenties, with a thin beard under his chin. His Taoist robe was rather messy with obvious wrinkles, and the hat on his head was also crooked, as if Ge Qi had just pulled him out of bed.
Ge Qi grabbed his arm and pushed him forward. The Taoist threw himself on the altar and scrambled to his feet, angrily saying, "Who are you? How can you be so rude? Why are you arresting me?"
Li Xuanhe raised an eyebrow and smiled sinisterly at him, "We're here to take you. This formation requires five hearts, and we're still short of three. I think your heart would be quite suitable. It's so vicious, keeping it would only bring harm to the world. It's better to sacrifice it now."
The Taoist on the ground suddenly opened his eyes wide and backed away as if to escape, but he bumped into Ge Qi standing behind him, blocking his way. He could only stand there, trembling and said, "How did you know? Things are not what you think. Let me explain-"
Li Xuanhe didn't give him a chance to explain. He turned to look at Wei Wulang and said with a smile, "Now that everyone is here, since you asked me for evidence, I will start with the death of Xili Zheng Cai You. If there is anything wrong, please correct me, Brother Wei.
"On the day Xilizheng Cai You died, my sister set up a fortune-telling stall at the south entrance of the village early in the morning. She happened to run into Cai You, who was hurriedly leaving the village with a bag on his back. An hour later, she ran into you, Brother Wei, who was leaving the village empty-handed. Cai You was leaving the village because he had received a threat and was fleeing. So, where were you going that day, Brother Wei?"
Wei Wulang had a blank expression on his face: "Isn't it okay to just walk around after eating?"
"Of course you can. Brother Wei is gifted and has a strong body. A mere Ningyuan Village is certainly not enough to digest his food. Shortly after that, Brother Wei hurried back to the village and said that someone had died in the sky gap. My sister and I were curious, so before the villagers arrived, we went to the place where the body was found. We saw that the body was incomplete, as if it had been torn apart by a wild beast and fell off the cliff. Not long after that, the villagers arrived and said that the body with a completely disfigured face was Xili Zheng Cai You. They confirmed that Cai You died in an accident and did not report it to the police.
"But is this really the case? The face of the corpse was completely destroyed and unrecognizable; Xilizheng had an obvious birthmark on his right hand, but coincidentally, the right hand had been torn off by a wild beast and no trace remained. From beginning to end, the only way to identify the identity was from the clothes on the corpse. In addition, when the body was discovered, my sister found a piece of cloth at the top of the cliff that was torn from the back of the deceased. If the deceased had jumped off the cliff on his own initiative, it would be difficult for his back to touch the cliff; if he was forced to fall backwards by a wild beast, then the clothes on the front should have been damaged when they collided with the cliff. These points taken together can confirm two things. First, the dead person is not Xilizheng, and second, this person did not die accidentally, but was thrown from the top of the mountain.
"Because the north passageway was destroyed these past few days, we were forced to stay in the village. With a lot of free time, we went to Cai You's house and stumbled upon something strange. We heard from Madam Cai that the deceased received a threatening letter in blood the night before his death, which was the reason for his hasty departure from the village the next morning. The blood letter appeared out of nowhere on the ground in the deserted house, which was very strange. I originally couldn't understand how this blood letter had passed through the layers of guards and appeared in the inner courtyard, until I came to your house yesterday and heard from your concubine that you have a concubine who is skilled in dog and bird training, and these two animals are precisely the key to this case."
Li Xuanhe looked down at the altar.
Bai Yun, skilled in animal control, had a blank expression on her face, her eyes filled with the ferocity of a wild animal. Li Xuanhe glanced at her and calmly looked away, "If the blood letter was caught by a tamed bird and dropped over the Cai residence, then everything would make sense."
Wei Wulang's face was expressionless. "This is all just your speculation. Birds are just animals. How could they be as intelligent as you say? Besides, Yunniang just returned to Ningyuan Village yesterday, and Xilizheng died many days ago. How could all this be related to her?"
"Brother Wei, you're so eager to exonerate Yunniang. Aren't you curious about what's written in that blood letter?"
Wei Wulang paused, then sneered, "It's all written in blood. They're nothing but threats. What's there to be curious about?"
"Brother Wei is right. The blood letter contained a threat. It reads, 'Cai You! My five sisters and I have been persecuted by you. We will not rest in peace until we die! We have planned for years, not entering reincarnation, but seeking redress. Now the time is ripe, we will slay our enemies and claim your life. Be prepared, and wait for us!"
Li Xuanhe had an excellent memory. Using a deliberately eerie tone, he recounted the contents of the blood letter he had seen that day, word for word. Xun Shu was astonished; he hadn't expected this man to remember it so clearly after just one glance. Across from him, Wei Wulang's face was also grim, shocked that he had actually seen the blood letter.
Li Xuanhe didn't care about Wei Wulang's reaction and continued, "Afterwards, I sent people to investigate Cai You and discovered that he valued money but was a smooth-talking person. The people of Ningxi were quite convinced of him. Aside from Brother Wei, he had almost no enemies. The only people who could meet his blood feud and could be called sisters were the five saints he personally sent to the Divine Palace eighteen years ago.
"We've inquired with many people about this matter over the past few days and learned that these five saints were all forced by their families to be sent to Cai You in exchange for money and power. One of them caught our attention: Shou Wenxue, the niece of Shou Changze, the first one Xili Zheng sent to become a saint."
Li Xuanhe and Xun Shu's eyes never left Wei Wulang, not missing a single subtle expression. Although he had been trying hard to control his emotions and maintain a calm appearance, the moment he heard Shou Wenxue's name, his body couldn't help but tremble slightly.
Seeing him like this, everyone got the answer they wanted.
Li Xuanhe sighed and continued, "After Shou Changze's brother and sister-in-law passed away, his two nieces were taken to live in the Shou residence. Later, the Shou family's business was not doing well, so Shou Changze sent his niece Shou Wenxue to Cai You in exchange for his niece to revive the Shou family. There was an old woman in the Cai residence who had taken care of Shou Wenxue. She said that when Shou Wenxue was sent to the Cai residence, she was injured in the back of her head and was completely confused and unconscious. Even on the day of the Saint Maiden's blessing, she was supported by others to enter the shrine.
"From this, it can be seen that the subsequent Saintess were probably not voluntary. From this time on, Cai You used his power and wealth to exchange daughters from poor families for Saintess. After successfully obtaining the right to distribute the Blessing Hairpins, he used them to make money. This repeated practice not only solved the dilemma of Anning Village's lack of Saintess, but also provided a new way to steadily make money.
"Not long after Shou Wenxue entered the shrine, her sister, Shou Zhiyue, also disappeared. Some said she had a serious illness and had passed away long ago. However, according to Ningyuan Village custom, unmarried women are buried with their parents. We found the cave where Shou Changyu and his wife were buried, but we didn't find Shou Zhiyue's body."
Wei Wulang opened his eyes wide, his chest heaving with anger, and shrieked, "You went to their graves and disturbed their peace?!"
Li Xuanhe pretended not to notice his gaffe. "We not only visited the graves of Shou Changyu and his wife, but also the grave of Shou Changze's only son, Shou Duan. We discovered two things: Shou Zhiyue might not be dead, and the body in Shou Duan's grave isn't Shou Duan's." He raised an eyebrow, a sharp glint in his eyes, a youthful exuberance in his expression. "The day we entered the village, we witnessed Shou Duan's funeral. We later learned that he was returning home from Shannan Road at night. As he passed through Tianxu, he was struck by a rock falling from the sky, disfigured beyond recognition. His body wasn't discovered until dawn the next day. Brother Wei, does this method of death sound familiar to you? Same disfigurement, same death in Tianxu, same body with questionable identity... Brother Wei, what would you think?"
Wei Wulang clenched his fists, pursed his lips, and remained silent. Xun Shu, standing beside him, spoke slowly, continuing Li Xuanhe's words: "If it were me, I would suspect that these two had plotted a co-ordinated escape, or perhaps were murdered by the same person."
Despite the complex and urgent circumstances, Li Xuanhe still praised him, "Ashu is quite astute. A few days ago, we visited the Shou residence and met Shou Changze and his wife. We asked about Shou Duan and learned that he had never made enemies with anyone and was not familiar with Cai You. This almost ruled out the possibility of him escaping death. The only possibility left is that he and Cai You were both murdered by the same person. Furthermore, we discovered that Shou Changze also received a threatening blood letter. Although I haven't seen this blood letter, I imagine its content is similar to the one Cai You received. Both are related to the Saint's blessing.
"Cai You loves money, and the laws of wealth accumulation prohibit sharing. Therefore, although he has a close relationship with Shou Changze, he was the only one who subsequently selected the Saintess and divided the bone hairpins, without informing Shou Changze. The only Saintess related to Shou Changze is Shou Wenxue. So far, all clues point to the same event and the same person: Shou Wenxue. Brother Wei, if it were you, what do you think the truth would be?"
Li Xuanhe peppered Wei Wulang with questions, and he couldn't remain silent. He took a deep breath and forced himself to answer, "I'm not the murderer, so how would I know the truth?"
Li Xuanhe seemed oblivious to his indifference and smiled, "I suspect someone is seeking revenge for Shou Wenxue. Shou Wenxue's parents have long since passed away, and her only uncle is the one who murdered her. Who else would remember this poor girl? Only her sister, Shou Zhiyue. But Shou Zhiyue has been missing for years. She was only five years old when she disappeared. A five-year-old girl, neither found alive nor found dead... Brother Wei, where do you think Shou Zhiyue is now?"
Wei Wulang clenched his fists tightly, his voice piercing through his teeth: "I don't even know Shou Zhiyue, how can I guess where she is?!"
"That's okay. Let's just assume Shou Zhiyue is the murderer. As for where she is, we can always find her." In stark contrast to Wei Wulang's alarm, Li Xuanhe looked relaxed, as if he was talking about a trivial matter. "The cause and effect logic of the case is already a little clear. As for the specific method of murder, we need to wait until the sky gap on the north side is cleared and the crime scene buried by rocks is found before we can make inferences. But Cai You's part is already clear. After leaving the village, Cai You was abducted in the sky gap and taken to the cliff. His clothes were then stripped off and put on another person. Afterwards, Cai You was taken away, and the person wearing Cai You's clothes was eaten by wild beasts. After losing his ability to move, he was pushed off the cliff by the murderer.
"From the force with which the murderer pushed the man off the cliff, it can be judged that he was not very strong. However, for such a person to subdue Cai You, he must have used external forces, such as the beast that was biting the corpse."
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