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"I just checked, and this bed has not been slept in."
"A Niu enjoys the hustle and bustle, but I understand his temperament; he knows there is a limit to everything. Even if he was excited from drinking last night, he would still return to his room to rest. He knows that I just married the fox, and Rouge's business still needs his attention." Xing Ruyi's gaze darkened. "If he didn't come back last night, it can only mean that he encountered an accident."
Xing Ruyi began to cast a spell to activate her Ghost Eye, searching the room inch by inch. Relying on these Ghost Eyes, she found some clues, such as the footprints that had been deliberately cleaned in front of the door, the sweet scent subtly lingering in the room, and the faint traces left on the floor in front of the bed.
"I need to go check A Niu's body again."
With that, Xing Ruyi turned and ran outside.
Chang Tai followed closely behind and called out, "Fox Demon!"
Xing Ruyi turned around, looking at Chang Tai while continuing to step backward. "Brother Chang, the Fox Demon just overlooked something; perhaps that is the cause of A Niu's death."
Chang Tai stopped. He knew that with the Fox Demon's abilities, discovering the truth behind A Niu's death was only a matter of time. However, when that moment arrived, his heart couldn't help but tighten slightly. He watched her smile, watched her turn away, and saw her lift the red dress that only newlyweds would wear as she quickly disappeared from his sight.
After a moment of thought, he chose not to follow her but instead walked toward another part of the courtyard.
Xing Ruyi returned to A Niu's body and carefully sniffed the scent on him. Yes, it was indeed that faintly sweet aroma. This scent had accompanied her throughout her childhood but had gradually faded from her memory as she grew up. It was the fragrance of Osmanthus flowers; however, there were no Osmanthus flowers in Yun Family Village at this time. The only possible sources for this scent, aside from fragrance pouches, would be flower pollen or nectar.
A Niu was a man and also a worker in her Ruyi Rouge shop; to maintain his sense of smell's sensitivity, he would not come into close contact with such fragrance pouches nor wear them on himself. There was a small amount of Osmanthus powder left in the Rouge shop, but it hadn't been used recently, and A Niu wouldn't have casually rummaged through it. The remaining possibility was nectar.
Under normal circumstances, drinking some nectar wouldn't be an issue for A Niu; however, yesterday was her wedding day, and all the banquet preparations were handled by Deer Lady. Deer Lady was a demon who primarily cooked meat dishes; any vegetarian options were chosen for their rarity. She wouldn't use something as common as Osmanthus honey and would look down upon it.
The house bought by the fox had just been renovated; naturally, they wouldn't stock items like honey because none of them liked nectar. If it wasn't theirs, then it must belong to the murderer. But what would the murderer want with nectar?
As her Ghost Eye scanned A Niu inch by inch and reached his head, Xing Ruyi froze.
Centipedes—one of the creatures she feared most during childhood—were now crawling all over A Niu's head.
The scene was more terrifying than anything she had ever seen before. She instinctively wrapped her arms around herself and inched closer to A Niu's head.
She often heard the elders say that centipedes would crawl into people's ears while they slept, making their way up the ear canal to the brain, where they would take root and breed. Therefore, when staying in the wild or in poor environments, one must block their ears, as those damp and filthy places often harbor many centipedes.
Because of this belief, Xing Ruyi had been terrified of such creatures throughout her childhood. Later, after her family left and she moved from the countryside to the city, surrounded by tall buildings and bright windows, she no longer saw centipedes, and that fear was buried deep in her memory. Now, however, she was witnessing this horrifying sight: those many-legged, terrifying bugs were crawling all over A Niu's head, sending chills down her spine.
Suppressing the nauseating mix of disgust and fear, Xing Ruyi slightly tilted A Niu's head and pulled out a silver hairpin from her hair. Gently, she probed A Niu's ear. Sure enough, she found a half-eaten bug inside A Niu's ear canal along with a small amount of osmanthus honey.
The cause of A Niu's death was finally clear.
She stood up and used the power of the Ghost Technique to leap onto the roof. Through simple trace identification, she could confirm that A Niu had been knocked unconscious and placed on the roof by someone. The reason the fox did not detect any signs of a second person was that that person had worn A Niu's shoes; after placing A Niu on the roof, they escaped wearing her shoes.
When the incident first occurred, no one thought to look at A Niu's feet. Even if they had seen them, they would have instinctively assumed that A Niu had deliberately gone barefoot for convenience while spying or had lost her shoes during her fall. However, upon returning earlier, she had subconsciously used Ghost Eye to scan the surroundings and found no trace of A Niu's missing shoes. She had also checked A Niu's soles.
To attend her wedding, A Niu had prepared a new outfit for herself in advance; even her socks were newly bought. When she brought them home, she had proudly shown them off to Xing Ruyi, saying these socks were made by the best tailor at the Yun Family Gathering and cost him a week's worth of meals. At that time, she had laughed and promised to reimburse him for that expense later. The soles of those socks only bore some stains from falling and chaotic corrugated patterns but showed no signs of having been worn.
This method of committing murder could not have been executed by a monster; monsters do not go through such elaborate means to kill.
The murderer must have taken advantage of A Niu being drunk, following her back home before taking her by surprise to knock her out or drug her. They then poured a suitable amount of osmanthus honey into her ear and placed a half-drugged centipede into her ear canal. Because besides osmanthus honey in A Niu's ear canal, Xing Ruyi also detected a faint smell of alcohol. It was likely that the centipedes were intentionally intoxicated by the murderer as well.
Later on, under cover of night and amidst the ongoing revelry in the courtyard while she and the fox were distracted, the unconscious A Niu was placed on the roof.
As dawn broke, the enchanted A Niu gradually woke up under the chill of the wind. Upon realizing she was lying on the roof, she instinctively stood up. Typically, someone waking from a hangover would instinctively perform an action: hitting their head with their hands to help themselves wake up quickly. At this moment, A Niu’s steps were certainly unsteady; hence she and the fox heard that chaotic sound of someone stepping on corrugated tiles.
A Niu’s strikes disturbed those centipedes in her ear canal; they instinctively burrowed deeper inside. With a splitting headache, A Niu naturally paid no attention to where she was stepping and fell off the roof. The invasion of centipedes combined with falling from a height ultimately led to her death.
Xing Ruyi roughly understood how A Niu died but dared not think about who the murderer was.
She stood on the roof, looking at the house that the fox had prepared for their wedding.
The guests who came for the wedding ceremony returned home after it concluded. The only ones left in the courtyard drinking the wedding wine were the old patrons of the Rouge shop and those friends they had made after arriving at Yun Family Gathering, such as the Yunxi couple and the shopkeepers who occasionally did business with Rouge. However, whether they were old patrons of Rouge or shopkeepers with whom they had occasional dealings, none had a reason to kill A Niu.
Why was A Niu killed, and in such a cruel and vicious manner?
She wrapped her arms around herself, curled up, and slowly sat down on the roof.
A fox appeared behind Xing Ruyi. Seeing her condition, it crouched down slowly and circled her with its paws.
"You're back?" Xing Ruyi asked, her voice tinged with a hint of tears.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't find A Niu's soul. His death is anything but ordinary."
Xing Ruyi looked up at the fox, her lips moved slightly, but she remained silent.
Based on her earlier speculation, A Niu must have been secretly harmed by someone. However, mortals do not possess the ability to summon souls, and demons disdain such complicated methods of killing. Could it be that there were two culprits? "Fox, have you checked on Mo Xu You?"
"Mo Xu You?" The fox's eyes darkened as it whispered, "Not good!"
"Deer Lady! Pixiu Uncle!"
Xing Ruyi also sensed that something was wrong.
Given Deer Lady's temperament, even knowing it was her wedding's second day, she would have gotten up early to prepare. Yet until now, Xing Ruyi had not seen Deer Lady. And then there was Yin Yuan; he loved lively gatherings. Although A Niu's fall was sudden, after all this commotion, he should have known about it.
"Yin Yuan, and Yin Yuan!"
"You go look for Yin Yuan; I'll check on Mo Xu You's whereabouts. Remember, even if you discover something, don't move around carelessly—stay put and wait for me. No matter what happens with Deer Lady, I will come find you quickly."
Xing Ruyi nodded and reminded the fox, "You must be cautious. The Moxuyou is not as simple as it seems. Don't forget that even your Father and Mother Empress have some reservations about him."
The fox responded and transformed before leaving, while Xing Ruyi did not delay and went directly to Yin Yuan's courtyard.
As soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw Yin Yuan descending from mid-air, letting out a loud burp.
"Mother, what happened? You're in such a hurry this morning, and your face looks so troubled. Did that fox bully you?"
Yin Yuan spoke, his eyes reflecting a hint of coldness.
The reason Yin Yuan respected the fox as a father figure was partly due to the fox teaching him and helping him catch food, but also because of Consort Ruyi's influence. If the fox treated Mother poorly, he wouldn't hesitate to confront him for Mother's sake.
"It's not the fox's fault; Mother is worried about you."
"Me? What could possibly be wrong with me?" Seeing that the Fox Demon was fine, Yin Yuan relaxed and stretched his arms, saying, "I just ate too much and got sleepy; I’ll take a nap and everything will be fine."
"Where did you go last night?"
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