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墨書 Inktalez
It wasn't Old Six who committed the murder; it was Big Egg who pulled out a sack.
This was a bag that had once contained fertilizer, but now it was being used to hold Mingqi. The bag itself was the same, but its value had changed due to its new contents.
This was the second purpose for which this group of Grave Robbers had come.
Wei Erge looked at the Mingqi inside the sack, his features tightening in concentration. He pulled out a piece of jade from the sack and rubbed it repeatedly in his hands. "Qian Er, it seems that Old Six isn't behind this. He didn't take a single item with him, but if it wasn't Old Six, then who killed San'er? And where did Old Six go?"
The others fell silent, then huddled together to whisper about something.
I also sat down with Guan Zengbin, carefully recalling the details of this matter.
The singing corpse, Chu Mei as mentioned by the villagers. For some unknown reason, Queen Zhao Mingkun had come to Baijia County. A group of six Grave Robbers, seemingly united yet divided in spirit.
How could such a small place as Baijia County attract so many people?
Out of the corner of my eye, I observed these individuals; each face bore the same three words—distrust.
San'er left around eleven o'clock, and the Bearers arrived at the Foot of the Mountain with the coffin around eleven-thirty. In that brief half-hour, how could the murderer have killed and hidden the body? When did those carrying the coffin set out, and did they stop along the way?
All of this was a mystery, especially given my current identity; I couldn't rely on the police for help. Investigating this matter would likely require significant effort.
I wondered if Captain Shao and his team had set up their office in Linfen yet and whether Gu Chen was already hiding in the shadows.
And what actions these people would take next—if they decided to leave, how could I keep them here?
The group seemed to have reached a conclusion. Wei Erge stood up and clasped his hands together, addressing us. "Brother Wu, Sister Zhao. Given the current situation, the authorities will be here soon. It’s already risky for us to retrieve San'er's body; the villagers will soon realize we are impostors."
"If that happens, we might not be able to escape," I remarked. Just then, Wei Erge pulled a piece of jade from his sack and tossed it to me. "Brother Wu, you find yourself in trouble here, and I can't do much to help you. This jade is worth a thousand or so; consider it my brotherly gesture."
I caught the jade while returning the dagger I had taken earlier. "It's just that San'er died tragically; if we don't find out who did it..."
Wei Erge waved his hand dismissively. "Though we are not blood brothers, we were all taught by the same master. San'er's tragic death cannot go unavenged. For safety's sake, I think it's best if we split up. You and I are tomb raiders; we're used to the mountains, and those authorities won't catch us."
Even though we had been by Wei Erge's side during the murder incident and couldn't have acted against anyone, they still didn't trust us. If I insisted on staying with them now, it would likely backfire. As long as they didn't leave Baijia County, everything would be fine.
Wei Erge turned to Zhao Mingkun. "Sister Zhao, we came with you and gained quite a bit, but with someone dead now, the person you're looking for probably won't show up. We'll find a chance to return your money; if I, Wei Changfeng, say I'll do something, I will."
Before Zhao Mingkun could respond, Wang Er Gou suddenly crawled at my feet and barked like a dog.
At that moment, a haunting song floated through the air. The voice was sorrowful and plaintive, making it impossible to discern where it was coming from. Upon hearing the song, everyone became alert and scanned their surroundings. The voice was indeed that of a woman singing an old tune.
The delicate sound sent chills down our spines.
"Run!" Zhao Mingkun shouted as she rushed toward the courtyard gate.
As soon as we stepped outside, we were startled by the sight before us.
A bloodied figure stood facing the courtyard gate.
"Who goes there?" Wei Erge couldn't help but shout.
A completely naked man lay before me, his clothes vanished without a trace. With the disappearance of his garments, the human skin on his body had also disappeared—this was a corpse that had been flayed!
Bathed in moonlight, the red muscle was shocking to behold, with still-fresh blood slowly trickling along the fibers of the muscle.
His eyeballs had been gouged out, leaving behind two deep blood holes that dripped blood steadily. All of his teeth had been knocked out, and from the side, it was evident that his tongue had been severed at the root. From his appearance, it was impossible to discern who this man was.
I circled around to the back of the corpse and discovered that his spine had been pierced by a rebar, which was anchored into the ground, allowing the body to remain upright without falling over. A strong smell of blood assaulted my senses, piercing straight into my mind. There was no stench of decay; he must have died not long ago.
From this skinless corpse, it appeared that the fatal wound was located in the chest, where there were signs of a stab from a dagger. The wound was only a few centimeters long, with slight textures on either side of the flaps, suggesting it had been made by a patterned dagger. Additionally, there were several long and shallow scratches on the left arm of the corpse, likely inflicted by the same weapon.
The corpse's hand was tightly gripping a dagger—one that each member of the Tomb Raiding Gang of Six Brothers possessed. Even in death, his right hand remained firmly clasped around this knife, showing no signs of loosening.
Wei Erge and others gathered around while I stepped back to stand in front of Guan Zengbin. "What do you think?" I asked.
"The corpse has just begun to show signs of rigor mortis; he probably died about an hour ago," Guan Zengbin whispered in my ear.
I glanced at my watch; it was already twelve forty at night.
This meant he must have been murdered around eleven forty, while San'er’s estimated time of death was around eleven o'clock. The two murders occurred within half an hour of each other—could they have been killed by the same murderer? And who exactly was this flayed man?
Everyone's attention was focused on the corpse, oblivious to my conversation with Guan Zengbin.
Guan Zengbin continued, "The cause of death should be attributed to the stab wound in his chest. Although the wound is short, it is deep. The cause of death likely resulted from a ruptured lung leading to respiratory distress and massive bleeding; shortly after death, he was skinned."
"And look at his arms and the dagger in his hand," Guan Zengbin added. "His hand is still tightly gripping the dagger; this indicates localized postmortem muscle spasm. It shows that after death, his muscles did not relax—a clear sign that he had been holding onto this dagger tightly while alive."
It was clear that this person had engaged in a struggle before dying.
I closed my eyes, reconstructing the most likely scenario in my mind.
I am the Murderer, walking side by side with the deceased. Slowly, I pulled a dagger from my pocket. In the darkness, the other person remained unaware. Then, I suddenly turned and thrust my right hand toward the deceased. Instinctively, he raised his hand to block me, leaving two long scratches on his left arm.
I pushed aside his arm with one hand while thrusting with the other. At that moment, the deceased managed to grasp his own dagger, intending to stab me. But before he could strike, my dagger had already plunged deep into his chest. He looked at me in disbelief, unable to comprehend that I was going to kill him.
I opened my eyes, realizing something.
In the dead of night, two people walking side by side meant they knew each other. If they were strangers, they would have kept a safe distance apart.
"What are you two doing?" Zhao Mingkun turned his head and saw me with Guan Zengbin.
I held Guan Zengbin's hand and said, "Nothing much. She was a bit scared, so I came to comfort her."
"Damn it!" Qian San looked around and then said, "This corpse is still holding our dagger. Only the six of us brothers have this kind of dagger. The one who killed San'er had one in hand, and Old Six had one too. No need to ask; this corpse is Old Six's. Someone used San'er's dagger to take him out!"
"If I find out who did this," Qian San reached for the rebar stuck in the corpse, "I'll make sure to tear him apart."
"This is Old Six?" I frowned and asked. "I can't tell."
Indeed, the damage to his face was too severe.
Wei Erge stopped Qian San's movement and said, "Who else knows this address besides us? I'm afraid this Murderer got it out of Old Six. It seems someone is targeting us brothers; San'er probably didn't say anything and ended up having his throat cut!"
"Could it be that the murderer is a ghost?" Big Egg looked around and said, "We all heard that sound just now. Those villagers are back because of Chu Mei. Is Chu Mei going to deal with us?"
"Could it be related to that incident?" Qian Er murmured.
"Master, come here! There's something here; someone has written Blood Characters," Wang Er Gou exclaimed.
We followed Wang Er Gou's call and indeed saw on the wall outside the courtyard that someone had written in blood: "I know what you have done."
The person who wrote these words clearly knew Wei Erge and his Grave Robber gang. It seemed they were indeed targeting Wei Erge's group.
But what exactly had they done before?
Upon seeing those words, the expressions on their faces changed rapidly. Wei Erge stepped forward quickly and said, "You two, we should part ways here. This matter may concern us but not you. Farewell, and may we meet again by chance."
With that, Wei Erge waved his hand, and the four of them quickly disappeared into the night.
Wei Erge and his companions were originally from the Lin Fen Family, considered local elders, so they naturally had many enemies. Could it be that these people had some unspeakable secrets with Baijia County? Who exactly was this Chu Mei, and why were the villagers so afraid of her? It seemed we had been drawn into a mystery.
I took one last look at the corpse and said, "Let's leave here as soon as possible."
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