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墨書 Inktalez
"No! Miss, you are mistaken!"
"I am mistaken? Where did I go wrong?"
"You are not wrong, Miss. Before that sunset, I had already died, but I did not die at the time of High Heat; I died before High Heat!"
"Died before High Heat?" Xing Ruyi propped her chin up, glanced at the fox, and uttered two words: "Murder!"
Ji Yu nodded.
"That day, I felt uneasy and sensed that something was about to happen. When I returned home, that feeling of unease intensified. As the old saying goes, it's better to believe in it than to disbelieve it. If what that Taoist said was true, what should I do? After thinking it over, I took my own hair, gathered ten grains of rice, wrapped them in red cloth, and went back to find that Taoist named Mo. I thought that one grain of rice represented one year; twenty grains meant twenty years. At least I could see my child grow up and know that my wife would be taken care of. Even if my soul were to scatter, I would leave in peace. Before leaving, I also took one of my wife's jade bracelets, the only relic left to her by her mother. It was originally something she carried with her, but since she had to help out at the Fish Tavern, she took it off and entrusted it to me for safekeeping. I thought that even if she found someone else in the future, this bracelet would not be lost."
"What happened after the soul sealing ended?"
"After the soul sealing ended, my restless heart found no peace. When I returned home again, I couldn't sit or lie still, so I took a knife and went to catch fish. I remember it was already around noon; in half an hour, the Fish Tavern would open for business. I had caught two fish when Master Shen arrived!"
"Master Shen?" Xing Ruyi was sensitive to this surname because she remembered Li Xiuxian mentioning that his adoptive father had the surname Shen. Could such coincidences really exist?
"Yes! Shen Yubai! He was also the previous owner of my Fish Tavern; I bought this tavern from him."
"The owner of the rice shop?"
"That's right! At that time, there had just been a flood; everything was floating debris. Although food was scarce, prices were high. Master Shen was not from a rouge shop; he came from Jiangnan with the intention of making a fortune during the disaster years. However, he was suppressed by local rice merchants and couldn't keep his business afloat. With no other options, he had to sell his rice shop at a low price and return to Jiangnan. I bought this shop from him for only a tenth of its usual price; it was quite a bargain.
Seeing him, I had no reservations and started chatting with him. He asked about my Fish Tavern's business, and I told him everything honestly. He wanted to partner with me in running it. After thinking for a moment, I declined his offer. First of all, my Fish Tavern's business was decent enough; I had no desire to expand it because I knew that once it grew larger, I'd be busier and unable to take care of my wife and our unborn child. Master Shen is a businessman; if we partnered up, he would surely not allow me to sell fish at low prices. My Fish Tavern relies on the support of poor folks who do not mind the fish I sell and are willing to help promote my business. I cannot forget them just because my Fish Tavern is doing well now. As the son of a fisherman who never attended school and didn't learn many grand principles, my parents taught me one thing: one must not forget one's roots."
"Unfortunately, that old man Shen may not know what you are thinking."
"I don't know what he thinks, but I can tell he was very unhappy. At that time, I was also confused, and my tone wasn't very good, so we ended up arguing. Later on, that fish-slicing knife ended up stabbing me. At first, it hurt a lot, and everything went dark. When I woke up again, I was already in that jade bracelet, only seeing my wife with a face full of sorrow, but I didn't understand why. I called out to her, but she couldn't hear me. It was then that I realized I was already dead."
"The fish pond—" Xing Ruyi quickly searched her mind. "Your family's fishery is now Si Niang's Tavern. After that High Heat twenty years ago, the place almost turned into flat land. A businessman named Li bought it, renovated it, and then sold it to Si Niang's husband, transforming it into the current Tavern. But I didn't see any pond in that courtyard; however, there used to be a ghost tree planted there years ago."
Xing Ruyi closed her eyes and used ghostly techniques to probe the ghostly awareness of Jiyu. This was a type of tracking technique; as long as the deceased's soul remained, even if it was just one soul and one spirit, she could trace the deceased's past. However, it consumed a lot of mental energy, and under normal circumstances, Xing Ruyi would be reluctant to use it. After all, knowing too many secrets of others could sometimes become a burden for oneself.
In Xing Ruyi's mind, a shape of a courtyard gradually emerged. The courtyard was square-shaped, with a two-story building in front that was quite simple. The original layout should have been a grain shop on the first floor and a warehouse on the second floor. After being bought by Jiyu, it all turned into a dining area. A few tables and about ten stools made it simple yet refreshing.
Behind it was the living area, also quite simple; on the left was the kitchen and on the right were guest rooms. Next to the kitchen was a makeshift water basin. To be honest, the water basin was somewhat unsightly, built with a small amount of green bricks combined with lots of rubble and pebbles. It had no particular shape—neither round nor square—but it served well for storing fish caught the previous day. Xing Ruyi shook her head; as the courtyard faded like smoke, it instantly transformed into the appearance of Four Niang's Tavern. The two courtyards overlapped in Xing Ruyi's mind.
When Si Niang bought this courtyard, there was a mulberry tree planted near the courtyard wall. In Xing Ruyi's mind, that spot where the tree stood happened to be where the water basin had been piled up twenty years ago.
Xing Ruyi opened her eyes and looked at the fox: "I think I understand now!"
"What do you understand?" The fox asked with a smile.
"I understand why every time I go to Sister Si's Family's courtyard, I always feel that there is some heavy yin energy there."
"Why?"
"Because of that water basin from twenty years ago!" Xing Ruyi said as she focused her gaze on Jiyu: "There is an old saying among the people: 'Do not plant mulberries in front or willows behind; do not plant ghosts in the courtyard.' I originally thought that Sister Si's Family's yin energy came from that mulberry tree; now it seems there is indeed a buried case of murder there."
"Murders?" Ji Yu whispered, realizing that the murder Xing Ruyi mentioned referred to himself.
"I still remember that after the incident at the fish manor, the officials in the Yamen did not find Ji Yu's body in the fish manor, which led to rumors of him eloping. But Ji Yu was already dead; he had been killed by Boss Shen long before the fire at the fish manor. Ji Yu was murdered at the hour of Si on that day, and the fish manor had not yet opened for business, so there was no open flame. The proprietress, Ji Yu's wife, was out shopping at that time and was not home. How did this fire start? It is clear that someone deliberately set it ablaze to cover up Ji Yu's cause of death."
"If that's the case, the officials in the Yamen should have discovered Ji Yu's body long ago. Why couldn't they find it?" The fox remained smiling, but there was a hint of pride in his eyes as he realized that his Fox Demon seemed increasingly suited to be a Constable.
"It's simple! Because those Constables in the Yamen did not search diligently. First, the fire nearly destroyed the entire fish manor; second, that Lord Shen would certainly take care of things behind the scenes; third, these so-called Constables generally deal with ordinary people's matters half-heartedly unless they encounter a responsible Constable like Brother Chang. Lastly, and this is very important: the fish manor used to be Lord Shen's grain shop, so he must be very familiar with its layout. I suspect that there is something suspicious where Ji Yu dug the water pit, so after killing Ji Yu, he buried his body in that pit."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because of this lingering soul before us!" Xing Ruyi pointed at Ji Yu: "Although only a remnant soul remains, it is drenched and carries a fishy smell mixed with ghostly energy. Initially, I hadn't thought much of it; after all, Ji Yu came from a fishing background and his wife mentioned that on the day of the fire at the fish manor, Ji Yu was still damp from water vapor. So it is entirely normal for there to be such residual conditions after death. But he was murdered, and since no body was found afterward, combined with the sinister energy in Si Niang's backyard, I can almost confirm that Ji Yu's body is located where that mulberry tree used to stand—where they built the water pit twenty years ago. I have a bolder guess: after the fire at the fish manor, that mysterious businessman Boss Li who had never shown his face but bought up the charred land might actually be Lord Shen himself—the murderer. He intentionally planted a mulberry tree where he buried Ji Yu to use its ghostly aura to cover up the deceased's resentment. Moreover, he was fortunate that Ji Yu had signed a soul-binding contract with Mo Xu before being murdered; one soul and one spirit had already been taken by Mo Xu, leaving only a small amount of residual energy behind. Even I, Xing Ruyi, who visited multiple times, could not detect it."
"My Fox Demon’s deductions are indeed reliable; however, shouldn’t this remaining matter be handled by your Brother Chang? After all, investigating wrongful deaths, tracking down murderers, and exhuming bodies are tasks meant for the authorities." The fox tapped on the table but focused all his attention on Fox Demon’s face. If one listened closely, they might catch a hint of jealousy in his tone.
Xing Ruyi nodded and turned around to wrap her arms around the fox's neck affectionately: "Such arduous tasks should naturally be left to those in the authorities. But there is one thing that absolutely requires my fox husband to take action!"
"What is it?" The fox raised an eyebrow, feeling quite pleased with being called 'fox husband.'
"I suspect that Lord Shen Yubai is Li Xiuxian's adoptive father—the husband whom Ji Yu's wife later married. There may be more hidden truths behind that murder case from back then. And what about Mo Xu? Don't you think he has appeared too frequently?"
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