As Zhu Yan spoke, Li Kairui lowered his head without further comment.
After a moment’s reflection, Zhu Yan suddenly seemed to recall an important clue and hurriedly asked, “By the way, does this Liu Zongyuan know any martial arts?”
“No, no, no.” Li Kairui shook his head vigorously and stated firmly, “He’s just a merchant. He doesn’t know any martial arts.”
“You’re that certain?” Zhu Yan furrowed her brow, looking at Li Kairui.
“Yes.” Li Kairui nodded resolutely. “He’s a merchant. Though he has a shrewd mind, he’s quite timid. The last time a snake got into his house, it was my elder brother who helped catch it. How could someone afraid to catch a snake know martial arts?”
Li Kairui’s reasoning seemed sound. Zhu Yan stopped taking notes and put away her notebook.
She hadn’t expected to get any useful information here in the first place. Beside her, Pan Chi found it amusing how Zhu Yan would jot down any clue in her notebook.
“Magistrate Zhu, what have you written in that notebook? May I take a look?” Pan Chi asked teasingly, but Zhu Yan’s expression remained exceptionally serious.
“It’s all information relevant to the case, including a sketch of Half-Face Ghost that I imagined. Do you want to see it?”
Hearing Zhu Yan mention Half-Face Ghost, Pan Chi’s interest was immediately piqued. “I didn’t know Magistrate Zhu had such talent. Let me see what Half-Face Ghost looks like in your mind.”
“We’ll look at it when we get back. It’s quite eerie to take it out now. If we accidentally summon Half-Face Ghost, we’ll all be done for.”
The two played off each other seamlessly, exchanging quips. Zhu Yan also noticed the change in Li Kairui’s expression.
Ever since they started discussing Half-Face Ghost, Li Kairui’s face had become exceptionally grim. His eyes darted about, and his hands trembled slightly as if he were terrified.
To push him further, Zhu Yan turned to Li Kairui and said, “After your elder brother died, there was nothing on his wounds at first. But using a special method, I revealed some of his sins around the edges of the wounds. Did you know about this?”
“What?” Li Kairui looked surprised, then quickly put on a bewildered expression. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything about that.”
“Oh, so you didn’t know.” Zhu Yan stroked her chin, looking at him meaningfully.
Pan Chi, standing to the side, also gazed at Li Kairui with interest. “Since you don’t know, why don’t you come with us to see the body? I couldn’t make out those sins very clearly either. You can take a look and explain them to us.”
With that, Pan Chi had the jailer open the cell door and began to drag Li Kairui out.
Li Kairui seemed to have lost all courage. His face turned ashen as Pan Chi tried to pull him outside, but he kept struggling and backing away.
“No, no, no, I won’t go look. It’s too horrifying. I really can’t bear to see it, especially since he’s my brother. Please, just let me be.”
“That won’t do,” Zhu Yan chimed in, playing along. “Precisely because he’s your brother, you must go see for yourself. You’ve been claiming innocence all this time, haven’t you? It’s just looking at the sins, there’s no need to be so nervous. Only after we’ve sorted out everything can I determine whether you’re truly innocent or not.”
“Magistrate!” Li Kairui finally broke down, collapsing to his knees with a devastated expression. “Please, spare me! Magistrate, my brother did indeed do some unethical things before, but even so, he shouldn’t have been beheaded for it. Such punishment is too cruel and unfair!”
Hearing Li Kairui say this, Zhu Yan quickly took out her notebook and began recording again. This information must be true.
A cold smile tugged at her lips as she exchanged a glance with Pan Chi, who then brought Li Kairui back into the cell.
Li Kairui wept bitterly as he began recounting the unethical deeds his brother had done. Zhu Yan listened intently while taking notes, careful not to miss anything.
After finishing his account, Li Kairui distanced himself from the events, clearly afraid of being implicated.
Zhu Yan put away her notebook, estimating that by now, Liu Zongyuan should have been captured.
To her surprise, instead of news of Liu Zongyuan’s arrest, they received word of his death.
This unexpected turn shocked Pan Chi as well. After exchanging a glance with Zhu Yan, they rushed to the scene.
Liu Zongyuan’s manner of death was similar to Er Laipi’s—his heart meridians had been shattered. The difference was that this time, the liver was missing.
Drawing from experience, Zhu Yan treated the wound area briefly, revealing the sins on the skin along with that all-too-familiar phrase:
“The masses laugh at moths drawn to flames, unaware that as mayflies born at dawn and dead by dusk, they do not enter the cycle of rebirth, while moths, passing through fire without dying, are reborn through reincarnation.”
With this, all clues pointed to Half-Face Ghost.
Judging from the method and timing of the crime, it seemed deliberately done to create panic and shift the entire case towards supernatural explanations, concealing the truth.
The case had reached another impasse, leaving everyone with a headache.
By the time they returned to the magistrate’s office, dawn was breaking, with the sky turning a pale, fish-belly white.
After a long night, everyone was exhausted, but Zhu Yan, Shen Du, and Pan Chi still furrowed their brows, showing no signs of sleepiness.
Until the case was solved, the weight on their hearts couldn’t be lifted.
Forget sleep—if they could catch the culprit, they’d gladly fast for three days.
Arriving at the rear hall, they found that the servants had prepared breakfast for them.
Though they had little appetite, they forced themselves to eat a bit to sustain their bodies.
Zhu Yan sipped some rice porridge, her brows furrowed as she spoke about what happened in the prison. “According to Li Kairui and the neighbors, Liu Zongyuan was a good person. But if he was truly good, why would the killer want to murder him?”
“Moreover, Li Kairui was so adamant that he didn’t know martial arts, it didn’t seem like he was lying. So what about those footprints in the room?” Pan Chi continued.
“Liu Zongyuan chose to leave after the incident, making people suspect he was fleeing out of guilt. If the case had nothing to do with him, why would the killer want to silence him?” Shen Du added.
“There’s another crucial point,” Shen Du went on, “He was trained in martial arts. We can tell from the calluses on his hands.”
“So that means…” Zhu Yan seemed to realize something and picked up the thread, “Liu Zongyuan deliberately disguised himself as a merchant specifically one who didn’t know martial arts. Then he killed people in secret, after which he was silenced by the mastermind behind the scenes. All the clues were made to point to Half-Face Ghost, creating panic to mislead our judgment.”
After Zhu Yan finished speaking, both men remained silent. Her words were correct, and this was precisely what worried them most.