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墨書 Inktalez
Ming held Guan Tianshe as they returned to Bamboo Cottage.
Inside Bamboo Cottage, Guan Tianming was gently playing a soothing melody on the guqin.
He took his sister into his arms, one hand still gliding over the strings, murmuring, “Tian She is a good girl. When she was little, she always liked to cling to me and our older brother, wanting us to play with her. Whenever she was left alone, she would cry; she was afraid of being by herself.
Once, I deliberately left her alone and hid in a corner to tease her. She cried for a long time, but then suddenly stopped. I was puzzled until Tian She told me she had seen our deceased mother.
Since then, Tian She never cried again. She quietly told me that our mother didn’t like her crying all the time; she wanted her to be strong and to live with a smile. But I could see that behind Tian She’s smile lay much sorrow. I once hoped she would cry freely in my arms again; I didn’t want to see my sister smiling on the outside while weeping inside.”
Guan Tianming gently stroked Guan Tianshe’s hair and smiled, “I am very happy today. After all these years, Tian She has cried in my arms again. No matter what her tears hold, I know they are real.”
…
“Captain, did she really say that? Did she do all of this?”
Shao Wen murmured, “But I still can’t believe she did all of this; she is so young, her beautiful life just beginning.”
Xiao Ning asked curiously, “That’s strange. When she was alive, you always said she was your bad luck star and wished never to see her again. But now that she’s gone, you seem so upset for her. Shao Wen, you don’t really have feelings for this little girl, do you?”
“Of course not!” Shao Wen denied loudly. “I just think it’s a pity; she could have become a wonderful girl.”
Ming patted Shao Wen on the shoulder and said earnestly, “You are a constable; you must understand that some things you see in this world are not real. When you cannot make judgments about everything, remember not to let your emotions sway you.”
Xiao Ning added, “By the way, Captain. Old Corpse Head asked me to tell you that the corpse you sent over indeed showed traces of Tian Chong Cao’s residue, indicating that the owner of the corpse died under the effects of Tian Chong Cao’s deadly poison.”
A small pinhole was discovered in the sternum of the corpse, indicating that the poisoned needle must have remained inside the deceased until the body decayed, at which point it was found by Guan Tianshe. Moreover, this corpse had been dead for at least five years.
Mings nodded and said, "Everything is just as Guan Tianshe described; the one who poisoned her mother must be Guan Ao."
"Guan Ao is the buyer of Tian Chong Cao. After purchasing it, he poisoned Guan Tianshe's mother," Xiao Ning remarked.
"Not only that, but he also administered the poison from the larvae of Tian Chong Cao to Guan Tianming," Mings added.
Shao Wen asked curiously, "Since Guan Ao is connected to Tian Chong Cao, could he be the one who killed the Western Herbal Merchant?"
Xiao Ning nodded and then shook her head. "It seems so. But why would he want to kill him? Has his poisoning scheme been discovered, and does he need to silence someone?"
Mings replied, "Even if Guan Ao killed the Medicine Merchant, why would he leave a wooden box at the scene and place his son's doll inside the victim's stomach? Wouldn't that just bring all the clues back to him?"
"Perhaps the wooden box was merely a distraction for us. As for the doll in the stomach, maybe he intended to frame Guan Tianfan?" Xiao Ning furrowed her brow.
Shao Wen nodded in agreement. "That's a possibility. Guan Tianfan had previously quarreled with the Western Merchant at Furong Pavilion; he might have learned something from him. To avoid being exposed, Guan Ao could have killed the Westerner first and then framed his own son! Killing two birds with one stone removes two threats!"
Mings considered this: "That does seem plausible. But what was the Western Merchant's purpose in coming here?"
"Could it be that he intended to blackmail Guan Ao?" Xiao Ning speculated.
Mings's gaze was calm as water. "Perhaps Guan Ao has found a new target. But now that everyone involved is dead, we may never uncover the truth."
Shao Wen picked up a puppet in front of him and tilted his head. "Could these exquisite dolls really just be meant to confuse us?"
Mings felt a stir in his heart as he took the Puppet of Guan Tianfan from Shao Wen's hands, spreading it out in his palm. "Don't you think this little figure has something different about it compared to Guan Tianfan?"
Xiao Ning's eyes lit up. "It's the nose! I remember Guan Tianfan's nose being small and round, while the puppet's nose seems much straighter!"
Mings smiled mysteriously. "If a flaw on one puppet is a coincidence, then what about flaws on three puppets?" He then laid out Sun Miao's puppet in his palm. "Look at Sun Miao's squinty eyes."
Shao Wen shook his head in confusion. "I've seen Sun Miao before; his squinty eyes have thick, dark eyebrows, but this Doll's eyebrows are quite slender."
Mings then presented Yan Ying's Doll in his hand. "The flaw on the third Doll is the mouth. I remember Yan Ying having a large and wide mouth, while this Doll has a small one."
Suddenly, Shao Wen jumped up from his seat, exclaiming, "I got it! It's a face! The murderer left us a human face!"
Xiao Ning realized, "Exactly. The nose, the eyes, the mouth—it's a face!"
Mings gently used a silver knife to cut off the noses, eyes, and mouths of the three Puppets. As Shao Wen watched the features gradually come together, he shook his head. "No good; this Sun Miao only has one eye. With this arrangement, we can't tell who it is at all."
Mings felt a sudden insight. "No! What if the murderer only wanted us to see half a face?" With that thought, he swiftly sliced through the assembled nose and mouth from the middle with his silver knife.
In an instant, a perfect and delicate profile of a woman appeared before the three of them, identical to the woman depicted in the mural of Guan Tianming.
Mings felt as if his heart had been suddenly seized. He murmured, "This situation seems to be getting more complicated..."
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