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墨書 Inktalez
Ruyi Cosmetic Shop
“Brother Chang, have you closely examined the bones of these victims?”
“When we started digging, I saw a few bodies. Due to severe decomposition, it was difficult to tell whether they were male or female, but they all shared a common feature. All the victims were buried in the Mass Grave without any clothes on; not only were they unclothed, but even their hair was gone.”
Hair?
Xing Ruyi recalled what Yin Yuan had just said to her.
“I heard from the steward of Yun Manor that the villagers around here suspect Mother-in-law of Hui Niang is involved in dealings related to the dead. They often strip the clothes off the deceased and sell them at Yun Sheng's Ready-to-Wear Store.”
“Is that so?” Chang Tai's expression darkened. “It seems that what these two In-laws are doing is no longer a secret. However, the thoughts of those who are aware of it are hard to understand. Don't they fear that one day the person who was murdered could become one of them?”
“They certainly fear it, which is why they moved their families far away from this place. Didn't Brother Chang notice that the houses near this courtyard are all empty and uninhabited?”
“I did notice, but Brother Chang is rather careless and didn't think much about it.”
“The words of Cloud Steward and what we observed at the scene tonight align in certain aspects. However, whether the stripped clothes were indeed sent to Yun Sheng's Ready-to-Wear Store still needs to be investigated further.”
Xing Ruyi approached the corpses, examining them carefully from a distance and then up close.
“From the degree of decomposition of the corpses, it seems that the time since their burial varies. When excavating, Brother Chang specifically instructed those people to dig out some remains from each layer, right?”
Chang Tai leaned down to look at the bones closest to him and shook his head. “No! My intention was to excavate all the remains in this courtyard, so I didn't give any special instructions. It must have been those hired villagers who dug them out together for convenience, which saved us a lot of trouble.”
“Hmm.” Xing Ruyi nodded, borrowed a torch, and squatted down to examine the bones closely. “If we categorize these remains based on the causes of death, we can roughly divide them into four types, which correspond to their levels of decomposition.”
“Brother Chang, look at these!” Xing Ruyi pointed to two nearby skeletons. “These two share similar characteristics; they were likely poisoned during their lifetimes. Although their flesh has decayed, some evidence remains. Look at these bones; they are blackened, but this blackness isn't due to being buried in soil for years.”
“At the Metropolitan Government Office, I also heard the Coroner mention that if someone dies from poisoning, their body will appear bluish after death. If several days pass with flesh still intact, it will decay more slowly than that of normal deceased individuals and will appear blackened. In contrast, if someone has been dead for a long time and only bones remain due to decomposition, those bones will also appear blackened because of poison entering the marrow.”
“Brother Chang, take a look at this one; how do you think he died?”
Chang Tai stared at that skeleton for quite some time. “The bones are intact; I can't make a judgment at this moment.”
"He was also poisoned, but this poison was not administered while he was alive; it was forced into him after death. Look at his throat; the bones are yellowish-white, which is a clear sign that poison was injected into his throat post-mortem. The Mother-in-law of Hui Niang does not need to cover up the true cause of death. The only reason they might do so is out of concern that the victim may not have been completely dead."
Chang Tailong raised his eyebrows and listened intently to Xing Ruyi's words.
Not far away, the Fox and Yin Yuan were also leisurely strolling among the bones, their demeanor resembling that of wandering through a sea of clouds rather than examining remains.
"One, two, three; these three corpses show the most severe decay. Strictly speaking, aside from the bones, there is hardly anything left. If we were to take them out of here, they could serve as standard specimens for medical students studying human skeletons. Moreover, we have not found any particular wounds on the bones. Therefore, we can conclude that these three victims were killed quite some time ago."
Xing Ruyi pointed to the corpse that had been poisoned post-mortem: "If we compare these three skeletons, I personally believe that this one died earlier than the other two. The victim must have been killed without any defense; the cause of death could be suffocation from having their mouth and nose covered while they were sound asleep. This victim does not appear to be a vicious criminal.
Look at his leg bones; they are slightly deformed, but this is not due to external force or injury. It is a result of years of heavy labor. Therefore, this victim is likely a villager or a hunter from the nearby area. I heard that earlier, the Mother-in-law of Hui Niang was not involved in any murderous activities; no one is born a killer. So initially, when they committed murder, they must have felt anxious and fearful.
During the act of killing, to avoid drawing attention from the victim, they would likely choose midnight or early morning when the victim is in deep sleep and easiest to attack. To prevent losing control of the situation or having the victim suddenly wake up, they generally wouldn't bring any murder tools. When Brother Chang arrived here, he should have seen that there were no unnecessary furnishings in the room. Thus, pillows and blankets serve as excellent tools for committing murder without making much noise to attract nearby people's attention.
Hui Niang's father-in-law has limited mobility; although her mother-in-law is formidable, she is still just a woman with limited strength. Therefore, it must have taken two people to commit the crime together. After killing the victim, fearing that their strength might not be enough to ensure death, they resorted to administering poison a second time."
"These indeed align with the psychological characteristics of first-time murderers. It's just unfortunate that we don't know what poison these two in-laws used on the deceased."
"If Fox Demon isn't mistaken, it should be those!" Xing Ruyi pointed at a patch of dried grass leaves in the corner.
"What is that?"
"Wild Kudzu!"
"Wild Kudzu? Is it poisonous?"
"Wild Kudzu, also known as Hook Vine. Its roots are toxic and are typically harvested in spring and autumn. It commonly grows on grassy slopes, roadsides, or in sparse forests. Just earlier with the Fox at Back Mountain, I saw some Wild Kudzu as well. As for those by the courtyard wall, it's obvious they were transplanted here by someone. Surrounding the Wild Kudzu, Mother-in-law Hui Niang even specially enclosed it with bamboo to prevent guests from noticing these plants.
Brother Chang, take another look at those trees next to the bamboo grove; they should have been planted alongside Forest. Judging by their growth condition, they've only been here for about two or three years. By the way, those trees are called Hibiscus; they're ornamental plants that I also have in my yard—specifically from my shop Ruyi Rouge in Luoyang.
Having lived here for so long, they must know that Wild Kudzu is poisonous. After committing murder for the first time and fearing that the victim might come back to life after death, they likely harvested Wild Kudzu and prepared its juice for the victim to consume. Looking at how soaked the medicinal juice is, these two killers must have been very anxious at that time; hence Brother Chang can see that this poison only spread up to this point and no further.
Now look at these two skeletons beside it; clearly more poison was used here than before. This might be because Mother-in-law Hui Niang realized that using Wild Kudzu to kill was much easier than doing it by hand. The reason we suspect that these two skeletons belonged to victims who died earlier is because compared to other poisoned individuals nearby, this skeleton shows much greater toxicity. As time passed, Mother-in-law Hui Niang would have certainly mastered the precise amount of poison needed; so take another look over there—the color of those bones seems increasingly lighter."
"Suffocation and poisoning—we've already identified two methods of murder. What about the remaining two?"
"As time went on, Mother-in-law Hui Niang killed more and more people, becoming increasingly skilled in her methods of poisoning, and her audacity grew as well. They were no longer satisfied with merely killing and plundering; instead, they began to experiment with more methods of murder. When I first stepped into the corpse pit, I discovered some animal bones, and various weapons on the animals, such as this."
Xing Ruyi shook a piece of hemp rope in her hand, about the length of a thumb: "I found this in the corpse pit; it should be the part used for tying knots. The section close to the soil has rotted and is stuck in the mud; this is the upper part. The hemp rope was tied around the animal's neck. Besides the rope, I also picked up something even more interesting. Look, it's this object in my hand; it looks like part of a bone but has been artificially ground into a bone needle. I don't believe that Hui Niang's family is so poor that they need to use such primitive items as bone needles. Also, Brother Chang, do you see how the tip of this bone needle seems a bit blackened?"
"This is... Wild Kudzu?"
"Exactly! The bone needle is stained with the poison from Wild Kudzu. It’s because of this bone needle that I suspect those who died from poisoning were also affected by Wild Kudzu. Furthermore, this bone needle was found next to a rabbit's skeleton. Thankfully, my eyes are sharp; otherwise, such a bone needle hidden within a skeleton would be quite difficult to find."
"Rope and bone needles; it seems these two In-laws have indeed tried quite a bit. I just wonder what they ultimately used on these victims."
"The simplest and most effective method," Xing Ruyi pointed to another skeleton: "They were directly killed with a knife. That one over there should be a victim of their new round of experimentation; look at that cut—it has penetrated deep into the neck, nearly severing the victim's head."
Chang Tai followed Xing Ruyi's gaze and indeed saw the skeletons she referred to.
"It seems they were not satisfied with this new round of experimentation."
"Hair! Brother Chang, you just mentioned those two words."
Xing Ruyi raised the torch higher so that the light could illuminate more of the skeletons while repeating the word 'hair' once again.
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