The Delicate Lady Coroner Chapter 98: Fifth update to 10

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Chapter 98, fifth update, turn 10

The rain had just stopped, and there was mist between the mountains and valleys. Bo Ruoyou thought that the mountain road would not be dug for a while, so she asked Wu Xiang to take her to see the few empty houses.

Wu Xiangzheng couldn't figure out his thoughts, so he took Bo Ruoyou to the northwest.

The valley here is surrounded by mountains on three sides, but there is a gap on the northwest side. The mountain road descends from the southeast and goes all the way to the northwest. The terrain is also getting lower and lower, and the several houses Wu Xiang mentioned are indeed wet. A land of water.

It rained heavily all night last night, and the carriage was already difficult to move even before he got close. Bo Ruoyou got off the carriage and followed Wu Xiang to one of the farmhouses. As Wu Xiang said, there were weeds in the farmyard. The buildings are overgrown with stagnant water, the doors and windows are rotten, and the fence walls that were originally standing outside are also rotting and falling to the ground. The houses are all made of mud walls, and the doors and windows are now cracked. The roofs have also collapsed, and even the wind and rain cannot stop it.

Bao Ruoyou looked around, then looked at a few houses not far away, chose a house on a slightly higher ground and walked over. Wu Xiang followed her with the yamen servant. While walking, he said: "If you want to live safely here, you really have to dig ditches in advance on heavy rainy days, otherwise the yard will be filled with water and it will be too damp to live in."

Bao Ruoyou nodded but did not answer. When she arrived at the second vacant farmhouse, she frowned.

The house here is also surrounded by weeds, the trees in front of and behind the house are also long and block out the sky, the doors and windows have rotted into dark gaps, and the roof has also collapsed slightly. Bo Ruoyou looks at it, feeling deep in his heart The feeling of weirdness is even worse.

"Captain Wu, do you have a feeling about these vacant houses? It's like...their houses have been vacant for about the same amount of time. Granny Zhang said that they all have children who have made a career outside. Those who moved out later, it makes no sense for several families to move away together, and Granny Zhang and the others are all sick, so what about these families who moved away?"

After Bao Ruoyou finished speaking, Wu Xiangmei's heart skipped a beat. She looked back at the small village and felt a chill for some reason. "If you want to inquire about this matter, you have to go to Qingshui County Yamen and take a look." Whether there is any change in the household registration book, it is just that this place is remote and has no integrity. I am afraid that even if someone changes their residence, the government office will not be able to control it."

After Wu Xiang finished speaking, he looked at the vacant farmhouse in front of him. He saw that the house was completely shrouded in the shadow of the surrounding trees, which gave people an inexplicable and eerie feeling like a deserted village and a tomb. He frowned, "Would you like to go in and take a look?"

Bao Ruoyou didn't think this place was scary, so he nodded and walked towards the dilapidated courtyard gate.

Therefore, there was no water in the courtyard, so walking was not that troublesome. Wu Xiang pulled out the sword from his waist and opened the way. Soon, the group of people walked under the eaves. Wu Xiang said: "I have never walked here before. I took a closer look. We entered the courtyard of the two houses below. The houses were all empty, and some of the old houses had long since decayed."

Wu Xiang pushed open the door of the deserted house, and only half of the door panel fell to the ground with a clang, causing a cloud of flying dust. Wu Xiang choked and coughed twice, shaking his sleeves and robe. After brushing away the dust, he walked in. Bao Ruoyou followed behind. After entering, he saw the empty main room.

The floor in the house is covered with dust, the roof beams are covered with cobwebs, and reptile corpses are shriveled up on the cobwebs. They have been dead for an unknown number of years. There are no tables, chairs, beds, or furnishings or curtains in the house. Only some scraps are left. The rugs, rags, etc. were piled on the ground. It seemed that everything else of value and that could be moved had been taken away. Bao Ruoyou took out a kerchief and covered his mouth and nose and walked towards the inner room. As soon as he reached the inner room At the door, her steps suddenly stopped.

On the ground that was also dusty in the inner room, there were actually several muddy footprints. Her expression changed slightly, and she hurriedly called Wu Xiang to come in. Wu Xiang walked to the door and took a look, and immediately noticed something was wrong.

Wu Xiang looked around and saw only the empty rear window. The footprints on the ground were still wet, which showed that someone had just come in a moment ago. "Someone has been here." Wu Xiang's hand holding the knife was hairy. Tightly, go straight to the back window. Outside the back window is also a piece of barren grass. The fence wall farther away has fallen to the ground. No matter who comes, they can come in and out without hindrance.

Wu Xiang jumped out while holding on to the window sill, and soon found a line of footprints on the grass. He cautiously checked in private, but did not find anyone. When he walked out of the fallen fence behind, he saw a dense forest. In the wormwood field, the footprints were still visible at first, but if I looked further, I couldn't find them.

Wu Xiang came back a little dejected, but Bo Ruoyou was already comparing the size of the footprints: "The footprints are more than seven inches long and short. The person should be more than half five feet tall, and he is probably a man." After speaking, he straightened up. Bo Ruoyou frowned and said: "The house is in such a dilapidated state, how could anyone come here? And he happened to have been here not long before we came -"

The footprints in the inner room were quite messy, but they did not go to the main room, which showed that the purpose of the visitor was obvious. Bao Ruoyou looked carefully and found that the footprints were heading towards the north wall of the inner room. She Looking up, I saw only two old boxes and cages piled under the north wall, and some old clothes and papers piled on the ground with dust. It was obvious that the pile of things had just been disturbed.

Bo Ruoyou called Wu Xiang back and said, "Captain Wu, there is something strange here——"

Wu Xiang climbed through the window and saw Bo Ruoyou pointing at that place, so she strode over and used a knife to dig open the debris. She saw a two-foot-square wooden pedal on the flat ground. There was a lock on the pedal. Wu Xiang opened the lock neatly and pulled up the pedal. As soon as the pedal was pulled up, a black buzzing hole was instantly exposed.

This is the cellar of the house!

Wu Xiang frowned, "Is this the original cellar? Do people who enter the house come to this cellar?"

Bo Ruoyou nodded, "The footprints circled around the room, but they came here. Does the head catcher want to go down and take a look?"

Wu Xiang nodded, and then ordered the yamen officer to guard the house. He took out a fire stick and lit it. He looked down again and stepped in. There was a wooden ladder going down from the cellar. The wooden ladder was 20 years old. It had been in disrepair for a long time and was missing two steps. Fortunately, Wu Xiang was very agile and fell to the ground soon. Bo Ruoyou looked down worriedly, but he could only see a little dim light.

Wu Xiang held the fire folding piece and calmed down before he could see clearly what was inside the cellar. It was four to five feet square and the place was not small. The year-round humidity had made the cellar covered with moss. There were several wooden cabinets and bamboo cabinets. Woven bamboo baskets were piled in the corner of the cellar. There were clearly messy footprints on the moss, which further confirmed that someone had gone down to the cellar a moment ago.

The house has been abandoned for many years, and the cellar is even harder to find. Why would anyone want to go down to the cellar?

Wu Xiang squinted and looked around. At first, he didn't see anything unusual. Although the debris was piled up in disorder, they were all ordinary things, and they were also covered with moss and mildew. However, soon , he saw a pile of shriveled insect pupa shells on the ground.

For many years of handling cases, Wu Xiang is very familiar with this kind of pupa shell. This is a corpse insect!

With his heart tightening, he followed the traces of the corpse insect pupa shells and walked a few steps to the north of the cellar. At this time, he finally saw clearly the dense corpses of corpse insects piled together with the basket cabinets, and some of them seemed to be mixed. It was something like a spider web, a bunch of hair that was gray in color and tangled with moss and mildew. Only when you got close could you see the strands.

Wu Xiang's complexion changed and he called up again, "Xiao Bo, I'm afraid you have to come down."

Bo Ruoyou was a little worried at first. When she heard this, she immediately understood that there must be something discovered in the cellar. She carefully climbed down the wooden ladder with her skirt in hand. When she stood still, she saw the corpse insect pupa on the ground. shell.

Only a place where a person has died and the corpse has been left for many days will give birth to so many zombie corpses and pupa shells. She walked quickly towards Wu Xiang and saw the hair on the ground at a glance. It will rot for many days, and the hair will fall off only when the body is rotting or has been eaten away by corpse bugs until the skin and flesh are almost visible and the bones are almost visible.

Bao Ruoyou shouted up and asked Zhou Liang to bring the wooden box for the autopsy. Zhou Liang turned around and went out. Wu Xiang also asked the Yamen above to prepare the torch. The two of them went out. After a while, Zhou Liang trotted all the way to carry the wooden box over, and then sent the wooden box to the cellar. Soon, a torch was also sent, lighting up the cellar even brighter.

Bo Ruoyou put on his handguards and carefully picked up the hair stuck to the moss on the ground. The hair had been tangled together for many years and would break if touched. Bo Ruoyou carefully put away the hair and pulled it away. The corpses and pupa shells were picked up from the ground and put into wooden boxes. Wu Xiang was making fire deals beside him, his expression getting heavier and heavier. At this moment, Bo Ruoyou discovered something suspicious under the bamboo basket.

It was a weird-shaped stone-like object that had fallen into the moss all year round and had a lot of green moss stains on it. Bo Ruoyou picked it up and looked at it, and Wu Xiang also came over, "What is it? A stone. Or wood?"

Bo Ruoyou shook his head, "Maybe it's human bones."

Wu Xiang felt a chill run down his spine. Corpse insect corpses and pupa shells were scattered all over the floor, as well as human hair and suspected human bones. All these indicated that there had been at least one corpse in the cellar here.

Bao Ruoyou first put the human bones in his hands into the wooden box, then leaned down and groped carefully on the ground. The feeling of dampness and stuffiness in the cellar was very uncomfortable, and the moss and mildew on the ground had accumulated. For many years, it was difficult to find the broken bones that fell into it. Bo Ruoyou groped for a long time, and when Wu Xiang moved the bamboo basket and wooden cabinet away, he found two more hard objects like stones.

When she examined it carefully, she found that it looked like human bones. In addition to bones and hair, there were also some torn rags of clothing in the cellar. Bo Ruoyou also put these rags away, and after careful inspection, there were no other abnormalities. He and Wu Xiang climbed out of the cellar.

As soon as they came out of the cellar, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. With the bright light outside, Bo Ruoyou was even more sure that the object in his hand was human bones. "I can confirm that they are human bones, but which part is it?" I don’t know yet.”

Bao Ruoyou glanced at the dark cave entrance again, "If it is really like Granny Zhang said, all the people in these families have moved away, then there can be no bones in the cave. This is the inner room. Valuable items are usually stored in the cellar. There is no reason to put human corpses in it. It can be concluded that there must have been a murder in this house."

Wu Xiang's expression suddenly became solemn. He had not found the mother before, nor had he found any babies who had died in other families. Therefore, he only felt that this village was strange, but no evidence was found. But now it is completely different. Wu Xiang immediately said: "Find the man who dug the road back. You don't have to leave for a while. Someone has been here. I'm afraid he took away the bones. This person is most likely the murderer."

The official went to call someone. Bo Ruoyou looked around and showed hesitation. Wu Xiang asked, "What's the matter?"

Bo Ruoyou said: "You have to find a place to clean the bones before you can determine where the bones are in the human body."

Wu Xiang thought for a while, "Either go back to Granny Zhang's house, or go to the Blackwater Pond. I have checked it out in the morning. The Blackwater Pond in their village is on the northwest side."

Bo Ruoyou immediately said: "Then let's go to the Black Water Pond and have a look."

Wu Xiang nodded, and took Bo Ruoyou to check inside the house before leaving. Along the village path, the carriage did not go very fast. When they arrived at the Black Water Pond, it was already the time of two sticks of incense. Granny Zhang said The black water pool is hidden under the mountain wall on the northwest side. It is surrounded by towering trees. The entire pool is five feet square. It came and flowed out in a trickle. I don’t know where it went.

Bao Ruoyou took out the pieces of human bones and washed them by the stream. Soon, the bones revealed their original gray-brown color. The three bones had different shapes. After identifying them for a long time, she said: "The first one is the finger bone, and the second one is the finger bone." The three pieces should be fragmented skulls. Judging from the bone quality and the length of the finger bones, they should be the bones of an adult man."

Wu Xiang stared at him, "Someone died in the house, either the owner, or someone knew about the cellar and hid the body here after killing people." As he spoke, his face darkened, "It's a pity that no one in this village has To tell the truth, I'm afraid we won't be able to tell the truth just by asking them. We have to find clues ourselves. How tall did you say the person who went to the house just now was?"

Bo Ruoyou stood up and said, "More than half five feet, less than six feet."

Such a stature can be considered tall. Wu Xiang thought about it and said, "The eldest brother of the Wu family is not that tall, but the brother of the Zhang family is not short. I will go check it out this morning. What were they doing just now?"

Bao Ruoyou collected the human bones as evidence, washed his handguards and put them away, then stood up and left with Wu Xiang. Not far away, she suddenly felt a light on her back. It was as if someone was hiding in the dark and spying on her.

Bo Ruoyou felt a shiver in his heart and turned around to look, only to see the sparkling waves of the pool water blown by the mountain wind, and the surrounding trees and grass were also rustling, but there was no human figure, only a few birds. Flying in the forest.

Wu Xiang didn't know what happened to her, so he turned around and asked, "What's wrong?"

Bao Ruoyou shook his head and returned to the carriage along the path. Wu Xiang was suspicious of the Zhang brothers, so he wanted to take Bao Ruoyou to the Zhang brothers' door to have a look, but he never expected that , before reaching the door of the Zhang brothers, they saw the government officials who were digging the road walking down the mountain road with the Zhang brothers.

Wu Xiang’s expression changed slightly and he said, “Why are you together?”

Hou Yang also went to dig the road. Hearing this, he said: "The two Zhang brothers knew that the road was blocked and were still working, so they helped us dig the road together. They have been digging for two hours."

When they entered, the footprints in the house were not completely dry, so the people who went to the abandoned house probably went there within an hour, but the Zhang brothers had already helped them dig their way for two hours. All the officials testified that Wu Xiang swallowed the words he was about to ask, but apart from the Zhang family brothers, it was difficult to find any tall and tall adult men in the village.

There are currently only four adult men in the village. In addition to the Zhang family brothers and the Wu family brother, there is also a one-armed old man. It is impossible for the one-armed old man to come here. The old man is also disabled. The quantity is not that high either.

Wu Xiang looked at the mountains and forests in confusion for a moment. Could it be that they didn't know that there were other people hiding in this village?

Wu Xiang said: "You are here just in time. Do you know how many years it has been since the owner of the highest house in the east of the village left?"

The Zhang family brothers looked at each other for a moment, and the eldest brother of the Zhang family took a step forward and said: "It has been more than ten years, I can't remember clearly. They moved away while our brothers and parents were still there."

When they said this, both of them looked normal. Wu Xiang frowned and asked, "What is the name of the family who moved away?"

The two brothers looked at each other again, a little confused. The eldest brother said: "I can't remember this clearly, but it's also Zhang. People in our village used to be one family, and then Wu was added. As time goes by, there are only two surnames in this village. It doesn't matter if they are distant relatives, but there is always some relationship if they are two generations older."

Wu Xiang asked again: "Is there anyone in your village who has disappeared without an explanation? Or has something happened?"

The two people still looked at a loss, "No, the people in the village have no skills like us, so they just farm the land honestly. Those with some skills, or those who are young and strong, go out to find a living. Granny Zhang's family This is the case with my son. We all live in the same place, and we are all like our own people, and we have never heard of anyone missing or getting into trouble."

Wu Xiang felt a little anxious in her heart. She always felt that everything in this village was weird, but she couldn't find any trace. "Do you know what caused the illness of Granny Zhang and Sister Wu?"

The eldest brother of the Zhang family scratched his head honestly, "I heard that Granny Zhang is old, and the younger sister of the Wu family has a weak disease brought from her mother's womb. What's wrong? Does this have anything to do with what you officials want to investigate? ?"

This was another question, but Wu Xiang couldn't find any mistakes. It was as if some clues had been sent to him, but he couldn't see through a layer of gauze curtain. He waved his hand and ordered The Zhang brothers went back first. After the two of them were far away, they told Hou Yang and others, "Human bones and corpse insects were found in the east house. There should have been a murder case in that house. There is no need to dig the road now. Let's go and clear the east side first." I searched several empty houses carefully to see if I could find anything else."

Hou Yang and others' expressions perked up. They were originally here for the infanticide case, but they found human bones in the abandoned house?

At this time, everyone headed northwest together, and soon arrived in front of the waterlogged farmhouse. Not only was the place overgrown with grass and dilapidated, there was also a lot of rainwater in the yard. Wu Xiang asked Bo Ruoyou to ride in the carriage After waiting in the carriage, he led his men into the courtyard. Bao Ruoyou had no choice but to sit on the carriage and watch their search from the window lattice while subconsciously holding the gauntlet in his sleeve.

She has left the capital for two days. If she stays here today, she has not returned home for two nights. Cheng Yunzhi will probably be worried. There is also Huo Weilou. I wonder if he knows that she is out of the city. She holds the gauntlet warmly , there was also a certain astringent feeling in her heart. Although there were many government officials protecting her, there was no need to worry about her safety. However, in this remote and weird mountain village, the strangeness, loneliness and fatigue hit her heart at the same time. She felt a little uneasy after all. .

As soon as I thought about this, I felt that my heart was sore and stuffy, and my thoughts seemed to be suppressed by something, and I couldn't bring myself to move forward.

It would be great if Huo Wei Tower was here.

Thinking about it, she sighed again. Huo Weilou is the Marquis of Wu Zhao. There is no need to trouble him with this case. At the moment, he is busy with other court affairs inside and outside the palace. He is A person who is never tired, as long as the emperor orders it, and as long as the country needs it, he can go through thick and thin without fear of hard work. He is as majestic as a mountain, and he can bear any responsibility no matter how heavy or difficult it is.

Bao Ruoyou's heart was suddenly filled with a surge of energy, her fatigue and depression were swept away, and she felt full of strength. She put on the handguard and got out of the carriage, and entered the hall along the mud beside the yard.

As soon as he reached the door, Wu Xiang walked out. When he saw her coming, he was surprised and said: "There is water everywhere here. I don't want you to rest on the carriage."

Bo Ruoyou shook his head, "What can you find out?"

Wu Xiang didn't say anything, he just took her into the west wing of the house, then pointed to a few broken pieces of porcelain piled on the ground, "Do you recognize this thing?"

The porcelain pieces were covered with dust. A servant moved the porcelain pieces to reveal the pattern underneath. She thought it looked familiar at first, then she raised her eyebrows and said, "This should have been a porcelain vase. Is it at the home of the Wu brothers and sisters?" Have you seen it?"

Wu Xiang's eyes lit up slightly, "Exactly! I stood outside and looked at this house in the morning. At that time, I only saw debris piled up in the wing, but I didn't know what it was. Just now I discovered that it was actually porcelain tiles. I thought it was a fragment left behind when the owner moved away, but when I took a look, I actually felt it looked familiar."

Bo Ruoyou frowned, "Could it be that he couldn't move it before leaving, so he gave this thing to the Wu brothers and sisters?"

Wu Xiang frowned and shook his head, "I don't think so. Look, are there any big objects in this house? In ordinary houses, there are large pieces of furniture such as dressing benches, cabinets, and beds. There is no trace of these things. How can you give away porcelain bottles? And although these porcelains are not expensive, to ordinary farmers, having them is a valuable thing, so why would you give them away?"

At this point, Wu Xiang said: "Besides this thing, there is another discovery."

After he finished speaking, he took Bo Ruoyou to the back door of the house. Outside the back door, a government official was squatting on the ground, roughly cleaning something with the accumulated water in the backyard. Wu Xiang walked to the door and asked : "Have you finished cleaning?"

"Okay, let's catch the head and watch——"

The Yamen turned around, holding in his hand a wooden board that had been rotted to the point where only half of it was left. There was originally a lot of dust and mildew on it, but now it had been washed clean, and small holes could be seen. In addition, mottled black paint can also be seen, and under the black paint, there are a few intermittent words.

Bo Ruoyou argued for a long time and said in surprise: "Is this a tablet?"

Wu Xiang responded, "Yes, it's a tablet. This thing and a pile of tattered curtains and cloths are piled in the back room. Most of them have been eaten into a pile of sawdust, but the remaining half can still be seen. Come out, this was supposed to be a tablet, but now only the top half is left rotten. No matter how the family moves, they will never leave the tablet behind. Even if the tablet is damaged, they will choose to repair it instead of throwing it away. , otherwise it would be disrespectful to the ancestors and quite unlucky."

Of course Bao Ruoyou understood this. She looked at the wet half of the memorial tablet and suddenly leaned forward to take it over. She read the intermittent lacquered words and after a while, she gestured towards Wu Xiang: "Captain, please wait. Look, this character, no matter what, cannot be the character 'Zhang' or 'Wu'."

The handwriting was originally written with red lacquer, but now there are only a few spots left. Bo Ruoyou traced it for a long time, and he was sure that this was not the surname in the village. Wu Xiang also traced it twice, and then frowned. , "The Zhang brothers are lying. There are not only two surnames Zhang and Wu in this village."

Bao Ruoyou looked at the tablet, suddenly frowned and said: "To know this problem, you only need to go to the tombs in the village. They have lived here for generations, and there are always inscriptions on the tombs."

Wu Xiang looked slightly excited, "It is indeed feasible!" As he said this, he walked out and ordered several government officials to search the other two empty houses. He also ordered the two of them to look for tombs in the village and wait. When he entered the room again, he saw that Bao Ruoyou's face was particularly heavy.

Bo Ruoyou looked at Wu Xiang, "What if these houses are not vacant because the owners moved away?"