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墨書 Inktalez
Xing Ruyi quietly signaled to the fox to use magic to capture the thief who dared to spy on her wedding chamber, while she stealthily approached the courtyard, prepared in case the intruder panicked and attempted to escape. Just as they finished their exchange, the fox was about to cast a spell when they suddenly heard a familiar voice from outside the window shouting, "Who is it?"
Immediately after, both Xing Ruyi and the fox heard a voice filled with pain. Without thinking further, they burst through the door. Something fell before them, followed by the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground.
"It's A Niu!"
Although she couldn't see the person's face clearly, from his figure and scent, Xing Ruyi recognized that it was her companion who had just fallen from the roof—he was also the shopkeeper she had prepared for her branch of Ruyi Rouge at the Yun family gathering. But at that moment, A Niu lay motionless on the ground, a pool of bright red blood slowly oozing from the back of his head.
"A Niu!" Xing Ruyi rushed towards A Niu. "Brother Chang, hurry! My medical kit is inside the shop."
"It's no use; he's already dead!"
Chang Tai stood up from beside A Niu and shook his head at Xing Ruyi.
"How could this be?" Xing Ruyi looked at where A Niu had fallen and then turned to glance back at the house behind her. "A Niu may just be a helper, but he has trained with Li Mao for several days. He’s young and strong; even if he fell from this roof, he shouldn't have died!"
"A Niu..." Chang Tai hesitated before offering his speculation. "He probably didn't die from the fall."
"Not from the fall?" Xing Ruyi repeated, exchanging glances with the fox.
The fox had just jumped down from the roof and said, "There are no signs of anyone else having been on the roof."
Xing Ruyi nodded, calming herself slightly as she moved around to A Niu's front.
Initially, she thought A Niu had lost his footing and fallen, dying instantly from hitting his head on the ground. But upon seeing A Niu's face, she understood what Chang Tai meant. No one who died from a fall would bleed from all seven orifices.
Xing Ruyi slowly crouched down and gently closed A Niu's wide-open eyes. However, when her palm rested on his forehead, she suddenly stopped. After death, a soul does not immediately leave; it lingers within the body for a moment. The duration varies for each person—some may stay for just two or three moments of tea time, while others might linger for seven or eight days. If someone is particularly slow-witted, they might not realize they are dead until their body begins to decay, driven by fear to force their soul out.
Since A Niu's fall until now, neither Xing Ruyi nor the fox had seen A Niu's soul. According to logic, his soul should still be within his body; however, just as Xing Ruyi touched his forehead, she sensed an emptiness within him—a cold, lonely void.
She looked up at the fox and said, "A Niu's soul is gone!"
The fox's pupils narrowed slightly, and without needing a second word from Xing Ruyi, it vanished in front of Chang Tai.
Chang Tai's gaze immediately darkened.
Xing Ruyi's heart was entirely entangled with A Niu, and she did not notice the change in Chang Tai's expression. After the fox left, she lowered her head and began to search for the true cause of A Niu's death, trying to remain calm and collected as she followed the steps she had previously used to examine a corpse.
Chang Tai behaved unusually; he did not join her in inspecting the body as he had before. Xing Ruyi did not pay much attention to this, as she was now a married woman and thought that Brother Chang might be trying to avoid suspicion. However, when she heard Chang Tai ask questions, she still responded quickly without thinking, naturally sharing her findings with him.
"Where did the fox go?"
"To find A Niu's soul."
"Does it know where to look?"
"When a soul leaves the body, there are generally two situations. One is during an accident when excessive fright causes the soul to be scared away from the body. Since A Niu is dead, his soul cannot return and is likely wandering outside. According to the principle that a soul cannot stray too far from its body, A Niu's soul should be nearby.
The second situation is when a soul is taken by someone, whether it be those who plotted against A Niu or the messengers of the underworld. As long as a soul is taken, there will be traces to follow. Now, I can only hope that A Niu's soul was taken by a passing messenger of the underworld. Even if we cannot bring A Niu back to life, at least we can ask why he climbed onto our roof at dawn and how he met his demise."
"Perhaps... A Niu just wanted to eavesdrop."
Xing Ruyi shook her head.
"In folk customs, there are indeed traditions of newlyweds being disturbed by relatives and eavesdropping. But A Niu is different; she is neither my nor the fox's relative but merely a clerk in my shop who has always been respectful towards us. If she were to disturb us, she would do so openly rather than secretly. You must understand that my temper is quite ordinary; while the fox rarely gets angry, if he does lose his temper, the consequences can be severe. A Niu is clever and would never do something like this. Even if she were curious, she would have chosen last night to eavesdrop rather than at this hour."
The time Xing Ruyi referred to was when she and the fox were about to get up. Even though they were newlyweds and might linger in bed, it was already close to dawn; anyone with sense would not choose this time to climb onto the roof. Moreover, eavesdropping isn't done in such a manner.
Chang Tai did not respond but noticed that Xing Ruyi was focused solely on A Niu's face and asked again, "Have you discovered anything?"
"Something strange," Xing Ruyi said as she repeatedly examined A Niu's features. "If it were just an accidental fall, A Niu's expression should show more fear than pain since he would have died the moment he hit the ground. This moment is extremely brief—so brief that he might not even feel pain. But Brother Chang, look at A Niu's expression; it clearly shows extreme pain. He must have fallen from the roof due to suffering before dying."
As Xing Ruyi spoke, she looked up at the roof. Due to her height limitations, all she could see were the tiles that had been crushed when A Niu fell.
“Brother Chang, if A Niu was poisoned, how did the murderer administer the poison? Fox said he did not find any traces of a second person on the roof. It can't be that A Niu poisoned himself, right?”
“I remember you mentioned that a corpse can speak, but when examining the body, Brother Chang, you are not as skilled as you. How about this: you examine here while I check A Niu's room to see if there are any new clues.”
“Alright!”
Xing Ruyi nodded and carefully examined A Niu's body. Aside from the abrasions and bruises caused by the recent fall, she did not find any unusual wounds. After thinking for a moment, she pulled out a silver hairpin from her head and pierced it into A Niu's throat and stomach.
The hairpin was withdrawn without any abnormalities, indicating that A Niu had not ingested poison. If he had not ingested poison, then why were there symptoms of bleeding from all orifices after poisoning? Could it be that the poisoner was a Master, using methods she had not encountered before?
With this thought, Xing Ruyi suddenly felt a bit powerless. She looked at A Niu still lying on the ground, waiting for her to find the answer, then stood up and went to A Niu's room. Perhaps Brother Chang would find new clues.
A Niu's door was half-open.
Since this house was temporarily purchased by Fox, it was initially bought for marriage. According to their previous plan, after getting married, Xing Ruyi would hand over Ruyi Rouge to A Niu to manage, and this house would also be gifted to him. A Niu was still young; Xing Ruyi had been thinking about helping him find a match so he could settle down early. However, due to Yunxi, Yunzhu, and her own impending marriage, this matter had been delayed.
In Ruyi Rouge, everyone's bedrooms were adjacent. The house was spacious; before she entered yesterday, Deer Lady had made arrangements in advance to separate the master bedroom, guest room, and servant quarters. Not only was A Niu’s distance from Deer Lady increased, but even Yin Yuan was assigned a separate courtyard by Deer Lady on account of being an adult.
Thus, A Niu’s new bedroom was unfamiliar to Xing Ruyi as well.
As she approached the door, she caught a faint but distinct scent. The smell wafted out from the room with the air currents but quickly dissipated, replaced by the typical scent of a new house.
Pushing open the door, she saw Chang Tai standing motionless in front of the bed.
She gently called out “Brother Chang,” but when there was no response from Chang Tai, she hurried over: “Brother Chang! Are you alright?”
“Fox Demon?” Chang Tai snapped back to reality and stared blankly at Xing Ruyi for a moment before his tense expression relaxed. “Why are you here? Has Fox returned?”
Xing Ruyi sighed in relief but hadn’t answered before her eyes turned red. She clenched her fist and struck Chang Tai lightly on his shoulder; tears suddenly fell as she sniffled and said, “Brother Chang, you almost scared me to death just now. I called you at the door and you stood there without moving or making a sound. I almost thought… thought…”
“Thought I was like A Niu?”
Chang Tai whispered, his gaze following the tears that continuously fell from Xing Ruyi's eyes, a slight tug in his heart causing a wave of pain.
"Fox Demon, I'm sorry!"
He found himself instinctively reaching out to pull Xing Ruyi into his embrace.
Xing Ruyi wiped her tears with one hand while pushing Chang Tai away with the other.
"As long as you know you're sorry! A Niu's death has already made me sad enough. If that person were to be Brother Chang, I don't know how I would feel. Brother Chang, promise Fox Demon that you will take care of yourself, okay?"
"Fox Demon, I'm sorry!"
Chang Tai repeated, his eyes filled with helpless regret. He understood that his apology was not just for not responding to Xing Ruyi in time, but for something deeper.
However, Xing Ruyi did not dwell on it. She clenched her fist and lightly hit Chang Tai on the shoulder, then said, "Forget it, I won't blame you anymore. As long as you're okay, I won't hold it against you; after all, you're my Brother Chang."
With that, she walked to the bed and focused her gaze on the neatly made bed that seemed untouched by anyone.
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