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The Tragedy
墨書 Inktalez
Twilight enveloped the city like a quiet giant, its faint breaths occasionally audible.
Mings stepped into the Narrow Alley, where the moonlight had begun to wane. At the end of the alley hung a signboard, boldly painted in bright red letters—You Lai Inn.
“Captain, over here! Here!” As soon as Mings entered the inn, the young constable Shao Wen eagerly waved him over.
The two made their way through a narrow corridor to a room at the end.
Shao Wen suddenly stopped, turning to Mings with excitement. “Captain, you’ve never seen a murder case like this before; it’s truly astonishing!”
Pushing open the door to the room, Mings's eyes were immediately drawn to a Li Mu Eight Immortals Table directly facing him.
On the pear wood table lay a man, dressed in a manner suggesting he was a Medicine Merchant from the west. He had thick brows and large eyes that should have formed a dignified face, but at that moment, it was twisted in terror, resembling a battered bun.
Perched atop the merchant's head was a peculiar Black Box, reminiscent of a birdcage.
The Black Box was wrapped in dense black cloth, with only one side facing Mings revealing a glimpse of its contents: a dimly lit room, a Red Jujube Wood bed, an eight immortals table made of pear wood, two black wooden chairs, slightly ajar windows, an oil lamp resting on the table, and of course, the lifeless body on the table.
Shao Wen hurried over to the wooden box beside him, his face alight with excitement. “Isn’t it amazing? The contents of this Black Bird Cage are everything in this room! After killing the man, the murderer even did this; it’s truly shocking!”
Mings approached the deceased Medicine Merchant and replied calmly, “If the murderer possessed such skill, it would be too wasteful to use it just for killing. This box wasn’t made after the murder; it must have been prepared beforehand.”
Shao Wen looked back at Mings and saw him intently gazing at the corpse. Curiosity got the better of him. “Captain, what are you looking at?”
"Mings said, 'I am looking at the dead. Sometimes, the dead can tell us the things we most want to know.'
As he spoke, he gently pried open the deceased's jaw and discovered some greenish liquid lingering between the teeth. 'For example, how did he die?'
'How he died is not for you to say; it is only for me to determine.'
An elderly man swayed in from the doorway.
He wore a blue hunting outfit similar to Mings and walked straight over to the corpse.
Shao Wen quietly asked, 'Captain, who is he? I've been at the yamen for so many days and have never seen him before.'
Mings chuckled, 'Of course you haven't seen him; only the dead can see him regularly.'
Shao Wen suddenly understood and nodded, 'Could he be the Old Corpse Head?'
The Old Corpse Head took a small bright knife from a gray pouch he carried and laid the corpse flat on a Pear Wood Table. He gently made a cut on the deceased's abdomen with the knife.
Mings shook his head, 'Why don’t you go back to the yamen and do this?'
The Old Corpse Head replied calmly, 'You must understand that old men should not walk too much. Moreover, some potent poisons can disappear in a very short time. If we don’t investigate quickly, it will be impossible to uncover the truth for the rest of our lives.'
Mings lamented, 'It’s just a pity for such a fine table.'"
Old Corpse Head extracted numerous green branches and leaves from the bloody mess. After examining them closely, he remarked, "This fellow certainly died expensively!"
Seeing Mings' puzzled expression, Old Corpse Head chuckled, "This is Tian Chong Cao. It costs a thousand taels of gold to buy just one Tian Chong Cao."
Mings couldn't help but be moved. "It seems this murderer really went to great lengths to kill. The Black Box, Tian Chong Cao... it’s becoming increasingly interesting."
"There's even more intriguing stuff!"
Old Corpse Head handed Mings a puppet that had a nose and eyes, covered in blood, clearly just taken from the belly of the deceased.
The puppet was only as big as a human fingernail, yet it was remarkably lifelike. Mings even noticed that the little figure appeared to be smiling.
Old Corpse Head pointed to the puppet's outstretched palm, which surprisingly held a tiny piece of paper that was nearly invisible.
After much effort, Mings finally deciphered the words written on the paper: "Guan... Tian... Fan?"
Old Corpse Head laughed, "This little figure looks just like him; it's Guan Tianfan from Bu Dong Mountain Manor!"
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