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墨書 Inktalez
The man known as the Nobleman was absent, and Li Sanhan volunteered to handle the corpse. Everyone tacitly turned their backs to the grave. Jiang He observed the expressions on their faces; one by one, they closed their eyes and bit their lips, their faces pale with fear.
Several villagers said, "You all shouldn't look either; Master Gao is already gone."
Under the villagers' urging, the members of the special investigation team reluctantly turned their heads away.
"Open the coffin," called the High Taoist.
In that moment, a loud thud echoed as the coffin lid was pushed open.
Then there was silence. The crowd could vaguely hear rustling sounds coming from behind them; it must have been Li Sanhan placing the head where it belonged. Fear gripped everyone's hearts, especially when facing something terrifying while having their backs turned. The powerful imagination often made one feel as if something was standing right behind them.
At that moment, Yuan Jun felt a tingling sensation on his back, as if something were pressing against him.
Time passed slowly, each second stretching into what felt like an eternity. The sweltering summer heat surrounded them, and sweat trickled down the villagers' necks, soaking their clothes. Yet somehow, everyone felt a chilling coldness in every direction that sent shivers down their spines.
"Ah!"
Li Sanhan's rough shout suddenly pierced through the crowd like thunder.
Jiang He was the first to turn his head.
Li Sanhan collapsed to the ground, struggling to speak. "Damn it, this corpse has a head!"
The sight of a head sprouting from a headless female corpse sent a shockwave through those present. Some brave souls followed the High Taoist's orders and resolutely kept their gaze forward, while others, emboldened by curiosity, had already turned to look. Jiang He belonged to the latter group; he approached the coffin.
Peering inside, he saw that indeed, where the headless female corpse's neck should have been, there was now a human head!
Even though Li Sanhan dared to carry a human head home at night, he never expected that the body, which should have been an unnamed female corpse, would actually have a head.
“Could there be a mistake?” High Taoist asked, somewhat puzzled.
“Impossible,” Li Sanhan replied, his voice trembling. “This is the body we buried less than half a month ago. How could I possibly be mistaken? It’s definitely the corpse beneath this gravestone; even the clothing is correct.”
At that moment, Xu Yiman spoke up. “That’s right. Look at the neck of this head; it’s sewn on with dark thread.”
Hearing this, Jiang He focused his gaze on the neck of the corpse and indeed noticed a thin thread protruding from it. If one didn’t look closely, it would be nearly invisible. This clearly indicated that someone had sewn another person’s head onto this corpse, but whose head was it?
It was evident that this was a male head, sporting a buzz cut, with dark skin and handsome features, likely around thirty years old. At the neck of the head, there was a pool of congealed blood on either side, suggesting that when this head was sewn onto the corpse, it had been severed not long before; the blood had barely begun to coagulate.
However, on their way here, they hadn’t seen any traces of blood. This was almost impossible to find because the open area was vast, and the surrounding cornfields were extensive. The murderer could have emerged from any position; even if there were bloodstains left behind, it would take too long to search for them. The chances of finding anything with just the project team were slim.
It seemed that someone had already opened the coffin, decapitated the female corpse, then also severed another body’s head and sewn this male head onto the female corpse before closing the coffin again and re-burying it. They had placed the female corpse's original head atop the gravestone.
“Who is this man? And who is this woman?” Jiang He couldn’t help but ask.
This was a question Jiang He had wanted to ask for a long time but hadn’t found an appropriate moment.
Li Sanhan replied, “This man is Nobleman; naturally, this woman is Nobleman’s wife.”
“How did this woman die?” Jiang He pressed further.
At this moment, however, Li Sanhan fell silent. He glanced at Jiang He and then at High Taoist before saying, “High Taoist, what does this mean? Could it really be that the ghost of Xinyue is killing people? The villagers have already suffered enough from her torment over these past two weeks. Is there no way to let her rest?”
This question left High Taoist speechless as well. He looked at Li Sanhan and then around at the villagers who were either shocked or terrified. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Now that it has come to this, what else can we do? Don’t go out at night; it’s best to travel in groups during the day. No matter what sounds you hear at night, don’t come out. Make sure to lock all doors tightly and place copper mirrors on the walls. Each of you give me a few talismans so I can think of a solution.”
Old Shao listened carefully to the High Taoist's words, realizing that they were all about self-preservation for the villagers. Regardless of whether the murderer was human or ghost, as long as one did not act recklessly, it would be difficult for the other party to cause harm.
Old Shao did not believe in ghosts or deities. Looking at the circle of villagers, he understood clearly that this village was isolated from the outside world, with a journey taking at least four hours. Therefore, the murderer must be among these villagers. Yet, as he observed the quietly standing villagers, Old Shao could not guess who the killer truly was.
Undoubtedly, even if the murderer was not a villager, they were certainly nearby and could not have fled far.
The High Taoist spoke again, "Now, we can only pull Nobleman's head off the corpse and place the head of the female corpse onto it. After locating Nobleman's body, we can then give him a proper burial."
Though the words sounded simple, who would dare to remove Nobleman's head and replace it with that of a female corpse?
Even though the sun had already risen above the mountains and cast light upon the earth, it did not alleviate the fear in people's hearts. Even a fool could sense that something was amiss. Who would want to get involved in such matters? With Nobleman now dead, who could guarantee that there wouldn't be another victim?
This question loomed over all the villagers.
No one dared to take on this task; instead, Old Shao spoke up, "Death is a serious matter. I am sixty years old this year; according to ancient wisdom, one knows their fate by fifty. I am already half a foot in Loess. I believe I should take on this responsibility; the deceased will understand my intentions. My actions are for myself and for everyone."
At this moment, Li Sanhan had already gotten back on his feet. Gritting his teeth and stamping his foot, he said, "Alright, you do it. You're not from this village; you have nothing to fear."
Old Shao nodded and turned to Jiang He and Xu Yiman. "You are my students; we are all staunch materialists. Help me with this."
Though Old Shao's actions seemed somewhat inexplicable at first glance, they held significant meaning. He did not believe in ghosts; this was clearly a murder case. However, as an archaeological team, they had no reason to approach the corpse closely. At this moment, Old Shao created an opportunity for them.
Xu Yiman was a professional Forensic Doctor, while Jiang He had keen observational skills. A close examination of the body might yield some discoveries.
Old Shao, Xu Yiman, and Jiang He approached the coffin. It was buried shallowly enough that they could reach the corpse by crouching down.
Jiang He and Xu Yiman each grasped one of the corpse's arms while Old Shao carefully used a dagger to gently cut through the thin threads holding the head in place.
The process was meticulous and slow, allowing Jiang He and Xu Yiman to thoroughly observe the corpse.
Jiang He found little information from the head, as a human head could reveal very few issues. However, he noticed some clues from the female corpse. Her hands were delicate, and her arms were pale. Although part of her body had already begun to decay, the areas that remained intact showed that her finger joints were not thick.
Jiang He immediately deduced that this woman had never done any manual labor in her life.
With this thought in mind, he turned to look at the head of the female corpse beside him. Upon seeing her eyebrows, he concluded that this woman must not have lived in this village; she was an outsider.
This was evident because the woman had undergone eyebrow tattooing, a procedure that the people of Desolate Village might not have even heard of in their lifetime.
Thus, the woman's background was almost clear.
Xu Yiman focused on the female corpse rather than her clothing. Judging by the level of decay, she estimated that the woman had been dead for about half a month. However, there was a discrepancy between the condition of the head and the body. Xu Yiman confirmed that the head had been tampered with, which explained why it had not decayed; the simplest preservation methods would be formaldehyde or freezing.
In such a place, it was likely the former.
However, since the corpse was clothed, they could not see what lay beneath and thus could not determine the cause of death.
Xu Yiman looked again at the head. From its condition, she noted that the cornea had become partially cloudy, the jaw muscles showed some relaxation, and green spots were beginning to appear on her face. Given these three observations during summer, Xu Yiman initially estimated the time of death to be around fifteen days ago. A more precise estimation would require an autopsy, but it was clear that this village would not permit such a procedure.
The skin flap on her neck remained uneven; it had been hacked multiple times with a knife before her head was severed.
The cause of death could not yet be determined.
Old Shao finally removed the head. Jiang He handed it over to him, and Old Shao positioned it carefully, clasping his hands together in a gesture of prayer.
The coffin was closed once more.
"Alright." The High Taoist glanced at the Nobleman's severed head and said to Li Sanhan, "You need to keep this head in a safe place. We must find the Nobleman's body quickly, or the consequences will be unimaginable..."
Before he could finish, a villager suddenly screamed, "I remember now! She was here before. Have you all forgotten? Do you remember the song she sang? It was a curse, a curse! I told you we shouldn't provoke her... It's over for our village."
With that, he dashed into the cornfield.
"Catch him!" Li Sanhan shouted.
Another seven or eight villagers rushed into the cornfield.
The scene became chaotic; some were as silent as cicadas in winter, while others wept bitterly.
"I can see darkness gathering on your brow. You should leave quickly! All of you, get out of here!"
Taking advantage of the distraction, the High Taoist approached Wang Chao and warned him, "If you don't leave, you might face a bloody disaster!"
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