Suishui City at dusk was like a quiet giant beast. Occasionally, one could hear its faint breathing, but most of the time it remained silent and oppressive. Li Si wore the blue-green catcher’s uniform. He generally disliked wearing these clothes because he didn’t like the color—it was like a pool of stagnant water rippling across his chest. Li Si could no longer remember how long it had been since a murder case had occurred in Suishui City. This place was already remote and isolated; people’s lives flowed like a gentle stream, leaving only traces of what had passed, never creating any great waves. Yet the murder case that had occurred at this very moment was undoubtedly like casting a stone of moderate size into those waters—it would certainly cause some ripples.

Li Si walked into the alley. It was an extremely inconspicuous alley that would be difficult to notice unless one was particularly observant. The moonlight had already begun to descend, with some spilling into the alley. Deep within the alley swayed a door plaque. In this dark depths of the alley, the plaque was painted with several bright red characters—”Youlai Inn.” Perhaps because the alley was too dark, Li Si felt the red characters on the plaque were glaringly bright, like human blood. Li Si stopped beneath the plaque, furrowing his brow slightly. Like most people, Li Si’s furrowed brow indicated he was thinking. After a moment’s hesitation, Li Si finally entered this somewhat mysterious inn.

“Catcher, over here! Here!” Just as Li Si stepped inside, the young constable Wu Wen was already eagerly calling out to him. Li Si looked at this constable who had only joined the yamen less than ten days ago and couldn’t help but smile faintly as he followed. Wu Wen led Li Si through a narrow corridor to a guest room at the end of the hallway. Wu Wen didn’t walk directly in but suddenly stopped, turning to face Li Si with some excitement: “Catcher, you’ve definitely never seen a murder case like this. It’s truly astonishing!”

Li Si smiled, neither confirming nor denying. Wu Wen slowly pushed open the door. The first thing Li Si saw was a pear wood Eight Immortals table directly facing the entrance. Strangely, such an inconspicuous small inn actually used such luxurious, even somewhat extravagant furniture, which indeed raised some suspicion in Li Si’s mind. But what Li Si saw next could no longer be described with mere suspicion. More accurately, it should be described as surprise, then amazement, followed by helplessness.

Slumped over the pear wood table was a person. Judging by his clothing and appearance, he should be a medicinal herb merchant from the west—with thick eyebrows and large eyes, quite a proper-looking face. Only now, this face showed nothing but terror, with all his features twisted together like a bun that had been thoroughly mangled. Atop the merchant’s head sat a very strange black box, somewhat resembling a birdcage. The black box was wrapped all around with dense, thick black cloth, except for a small area facing Li Si’s direction, which was slightly revealed. But it was already enough for Li Si to see clearly everything inside: a low, dim room, a jujube-red wooden bed, a pear wood Eight Immortals table, two black wooden chairs, two windows that were slightly open, an oil lamp sitting on the table, and of course, the motionless corpse on the table. All of this—this was what Li Si saw from inside the black box.

Li Si smiled. Wu Wen stepped beside the wooden box, pointing at the contents inside, his face full of excitement again: “Isn’t it, isn’t it, truly remarkable! The things inside this black birdcage are actually this entire room. After the killer murdered someone, he still made this—it’s really too astonishing!”

Li Si slowly walked over, coming beside the dead medicinal herb merchant, responding lightly: “If the killer possesses such skill, it would be too wasteful to use it for murder. Moreover, he didn’t make this box after killing the person. He should have made the box first, then killed the person afterward.”

Wu Wen nodded, looking back at Li Si. Seeing Li Si gazing intently at the corpse, he couldn’t help but ask curiously: “Catcher, what are you looking at?”

Li Si glanced at this newcomer who was curious about everything and said: “I’m looking at the dead person.” Wu Wen was stunned for a moment, then laughed foolishly. Li Si then continued: “Sometimes, the dead can tell us some of the things we most want to know.”

“Oh, what will they tell us?” Wu Wen also looked at the corpse but couldn’t see anything.

Li Si smiled slightly, gently prying open the deceased’s jaw. Between the teeth remained some green liquid. Li Si said: “For example, how he died.”

“Whether he died this way or not isn’t for you to say—only I can say.” Before Li Si’s words had finished falling, an old man swayed into the room from the doorway. The old man also wore the same blue-green catcher’s uniform as Li Si. As if not seeing anyone, the old man walked straight to the corpse’s side. Li Si very sensibly stepped back. Wu Wen asked somewhat puzzled in a low voice: “Catcher, who is this person? I’ve been at the yamen for so many days, why haven’t I seen him?”

Li Si smiled: “Of course you haven’t seen him. Only dead people can see him frequently.”

Hearing this, Wu Wen nodded in sudden realization: “Could he be that Lao Sitou?!” Upon hearing this, Li Si immediately covered Wu Wen’s mouth, saying quietly: “You must never let him hear you call him Lao Sitou, otherwise, he might add an extra ingredient to your meal tomorrow!”

Wu Wen looked somewhat panicked. With difficulty, he broke free from Li Si’s grasp and asked in a low voice: “What ingredient?”

“Rotting, dead person’s, meat!” Li Si deliberately exaggerated his expression. Wu Wen could no longer endure it and ran outside to vomit. Li Si watched Wu Wen and couldn’t help but laugh out loud. A low voice beside him said: “You damage my reputation like this, yet I’ve never fed anyone dead person’s meat.” Lao Sitou, who was busy up front, suddenly spoke.

Li Si said seriously: “That’s right, you haven’t fed them dead person’s meat. But that big pot of soup you made from dead person’s meat made my subordinates vomit for three whole days.” Lao Sitou’s face brightened, his gaze secretly lingering on Li Si’s face: “Actually, there are many secrets I haven’t told you yet. Besides that pot of dead person’s meat, there’s also…”

Li Si refused to listen any further and quickly interrupted: “Did he die from poison? I found strange green liquid on his teeth.” Lao Sitou indeed stopped talking and turned his head: “Wait a little longer.” As Lao Sitou spoke, he took out a bright small knife from the gray pouch he carried with him, laid the corpse flat on the pear wood table, and the small knife lightly traced across the deceased’s belly like a gentle spring breeze. Li Si shook his head: “Why don’t you go back to the yamen to do this?”

Lao Sitou said lightly: “Because I’m an old man. You should know that old men shouldn’t walk too much. Also, what old men say and do always has its reasons. For example, some powerful poisons will disappear from a person’s body in a very short time. If you don’t examine them quickly, you’ll never figure it out in your lifetime.” Li Si said regretfully: “It’s just a pity about such a good table.”

With a pa sound, the night wind outside blew open the window in the room. Li Si slowly approached and gently closed the window. Behind him, Lao Sitou’s low and certain voice sounded again: “Looks like you’re going to be busy this time. He indeed died from poisoning!” As Lao Sitou spoke, he extracted many green branches and leaves from the bloody mess. After examining them carefully, he said: “However, this fellow died quite expensively!”

Li Si turned around, puzzled: “Expensively? What do you mean?”

Lao Sitou held up the green branches and leaves with small wooden tweezers: “Do you know what this is?” Li Si looked and shook his head.

Lao Sitou smiled: “This is Heaven Insect Grass—Heaven Insect Grass that costs ten thousand taels of gold for just one stalk.” Li Si couldn’t help but be moved, saying: “It seems this killer really spent considerable effort to commit murder. The black box, Heaven Insect Grass… it’s becoming more and more interesting!”

“There’s something even more interesting!” Lao Sitou slowly walked over, extending his hand to pass Li Si a small object. Li Si took it—it was actually a wooden puppet with a nose and eyes. The puppet was covered in bloodstains, obviously just removed from the deceased’s belly. The wooden puppet was only as large as a person’s pinky fingernail, yet it was vividly lifelike. Li Si could even see that this little figure was smiling—a smile of release after long suppression. Lao Sitou pointed at the little figure’s open palm. In that palm, it was actually gripping a tiny, tiny piece of paper, almost invisible. Li Si took a long time to make out the characters written on the paper, and couldn’t help but read them softly aloud: “Lou… Tian… Fan?”

After reading, Li Si looked at Lao Sitou and smiled: “What you’re thinking and what I’m thinking should be the same. In this world, I only know of one Lou Tianfan.”

Lao Sitou nodded: “I’ve seen him once.” After a slight pause, Lao Sitou pointed at the little figure in Li Si’s hand and continued: “This little figure looks exactly like him—Lou Tianfan of Budong Manor!”

Budong Manor had long been a sacred place in the martial arts world, a place all martial artists dreamed of reaching. The founder of Budong Manor was Lou Budong. Lou Budong was a very legendary figure who dominated the jianghu five hundred years ago. At age thirty, after annihilating the mysterious and extremely powerful sect “Gate of Life and Death” of that time, he was already invincible under heaven. It was said that from then on, Lou Budong would accept challenges from twelve people each year. Those who challenged him were all sect masters or elite fighters from various schools. Lou Budong, from his combat experience with these masters, summarized a set of peerless martial arts that could be called completely flawless. This set of martial arts was still stored in a secret place in Budong Manor to this day. This was precisely what people in the jianghu sought, and also the fundamental reason why Budong Manor had been unable to find peace for these hundreds of years.

Lou Tianfan was the eldest son of Lou Ao, the current master of Budong Manor.

At the Suishui Yamen, Li Si was lazily sprawled on the table. Before him was the black box discovered at the crime scene. Li Si watched it quietly with sleepy eyes, and this mysterious black box seemed to be watching Li Si as well.

“Catcher, Catcher!” Wu Wen’s call once again echoed in Li Si’s ears. Li Si sighed inwardly: He didn’t know why this young man always liked to shout! Li Si said: “How is it? What did you find out?”

Wu Wen’s expression was disappointed as he shook his head: “I questioned the people living nearby. Very few of them knew there was such a mysterious inn, much less who the inn’s owner was. Now only an empty inn remains—no staff, no owner. If it weren’t for a drunk who wandered in by mistake, we probably still wouldn’t know someone died there!”

“Did you investigate that drunk?” Li Si asked again. “Oh, I looked into that. The drunk is called Xu San. He works as a server at a nearby restaurant. His family has lived in Suishui City for generations—a very upstanding person. That night, after arguing with his wife, he was feeling depressed so he drank. He intended to go home but went to the wrong place.”

Li Si nodded. Wu Wen asked somewhat curiously: “Catcher, you’ve been staring at this box since last night. What exactly are you looking at?”

Li Si said mysteriously: “I’m looking at the reason the killer left this box behind.” Wu Wen asked curiously again: “So did you see the reason?”

Li Si was about to speak but suddenly yawned and smiled: “Dawn is about to break. Wu Wen, let’s go out for a walk.”

“Go out for a walk? Where to?” Wu Wen asked.

“Budong Manor.” Li Si answered with a smile.