“Catcher, did she really say that? Everything was done by her?” Wu Wen seemed unwilling to believe what Lou Tianshe had done even at this moment, pressing Li Si with questions.
Li Si said: “You’ve already asked me many times.”
Wu Wen murmured: “Have I? But I still can’t believe all of this was done by her. She was only ten years old—her beautiful life had just begun. Why would she do these things?”
Xiao Ning beside Wu Wen said curiously: “This is strange. When she was alive, you always said she was your unlucky star, wishing never to see her again for the rest of your life. But after she died, you feel so sad for her. Wu Wen, you don’t actually like this little girl, do you?”
“I do not!” Wu Wen loudly denied: “It’s just, just that I feel it’s very regrettable. She could have become a very good girl.”
Li Si patted Wu Wen’s shoulder: “Wu Wen, you’re a constable. You must be clear—in this world, some things you see are not real. And those real things are what you’re unwilling to see. When you cannot make judgments about everything, you must remember not to be swayed by your own emotions.”
Wu Wen looked at Li Si, nodding as if understanding yet not quite understanding.
Xiao Ning said: “Oh right, Catcher. Lao Sitou asked me to tell you that in the skeleton you sent over, he indeed verified traces of Heaven Insect Grass remaining, indicating the skeleton’s owner truly died under the deadly poison of Heaven Insect Grass. On the skeleton’s chest bone, a small needle hole was discovered. It can be seen the poison needle should have remained in the deceased’s body all along, and only after the corpse decayed was the poison needle discovered by Lou Tianshe. Moreover, this skeleton’s death time was at least five years ago or more.”
Li Si nodded: “Everything is just as Lou Tianshe said. The one who poisoned her mother to death should precisely be Lou Ao.”
“Lou Ao was the purchaser of the Heaven Insect Grass. After Lou Ao bought the Heaven Insect Grass, he poisoned Lou Tianshe’s mother to death.” Xiao Ning said.
“Not only that, he also administered Heaven Insect Grass larvae poison to Lou Tianming.” Li Si continued. The two constables beside him both nodded—they had already heard Li Si explain the circumstances.
Wu Wen again said curiously: “Since Lou Ao was the one connected to Heaven Insect Grass, was he the one who killed the Western Regions medicinal herb merchant?”
Xiao Ning nodded, then shook his head: “It appears to be so. But why would he kill him? Could it be his poisoning deeds had already been discovered and he wanted to silence the witness?”
Li Si said: “Even if Lou Ao killed the medicinal herb merchant, why would he leave the wooden box at the scene and leave his own son’s puppet in the deceased’s belly? Wouldn’t this push all the clues back toward himself?”
“Perhaps the wooden box was just Lou Ao’s way to confuse us, making us focus our attention on it yet unable to find any clues. As for the puppet in the belly, maybe he wanted to frame Lou Tianfan?” Xiao Ning furrowed his brow.
Wu Wen nodded: “That’s possible. Lou Tianfan once quarreled with the Western Regions merchant at Furong Pavilion—he might have already learned something from the Western Regions merchant. To avoid his misdeeds being exposed, Lou Ao first killed the Western Regions person, then framed his own son! Killing two birds with one stone, eliminating two of his own hidden troubles!”
Li Si said: “This seems plausible. However, what was the Western Regions merchant’s purpose in coming?”
“Could it be he wanted to blackmail Lou Ao?” Xiao Ning suspected.
Li Si’s gaze was calm as still water: “Perhaps Lou Ao had a new target.”
Wu Wen’s eyes also brightened, continuing: “Catcher, you mean he wanted to use Heaven Insect Grass to kill someone again?”
Li Si exhaled and smiled: “Perhaps so, perhaps not. All of this is merely our speculation. Now everyone is already dead—we may never know the truth of the matter.”
Wu Wen picked up the wooden puppet from the table before the three of them, retrieved from Lao Sitou’s stone chamber. Tilting his head: “Could these exquisite puppets really only be used to confuse us?”
Li Si also looked at the wooden puppet in Wu Wen’s hand. Suddenly his heart stirred. Li Si blurted out: “Wu Wen, do you still remember Lou Tianfan’s appearance?”
“Of course I remember. What’s wrong?” Wu Wen said, puzzled.
Li Si said nothing more. Taking Lou Tianfan’s wooden puppet from Wu Wen’s hand and spreading it on his palm: “Don’t you feel there’s something about this puppet that’s not quite the same as Lou Tianfan?”
Wu Wen and Xiao Ning looked at each other, then both focused their gazes on the puppet. After a long time, Wu Wen said: “Very similar, but also somewhat not quite similar. But where is it not similar?”
Xiao Ning’s eyes brightened: “It’s the nose! I remember Lou Tianfan’s nose was small and round, while the puppet’s Lou Tianfan’s nose seems much straighter!” Wu Wen agreed: “Right, it’s the nose. However, for such a small puppet to be carved exactly the same is indeed very difficult. What’s strange about this?”
Li Si smiled mysteriously: “If a flaw on one puppet is coincidental, then what about flaws on two puppets?” As Li Si spoke, he also spread the puppet carved with Sun Miao on his palm: “Look at Sun Miao’s one eye.”
Wu Wen and Xiao Ning widened their eyes to look. Wu Wen shook his head in confusion: “I’ve seen Sun Miao. The eyebrow above his one eye seemed very thick and black, yet this puppet’s eyebrow is considerably thinner and longer.”
Li Si nodded, then spread the puppet carved with Yan Ying on his palm: “The third puppet’s flaw is the mouth. I clearly remember Yan Ying’s mouth was very large and wide, yet this puppet has a small mouth.”
After Wu Wen and Xiao Ning looked, they both nodded. Wu Wen asked curiously: “Catcher, I still don’t understand. What exactly does all this mean?”
Li Si smiled: “Now we’re slowly unraveling the true intention behind the murderer leaving these puppets.”
“True intention?” Wu Wen tilted his head again.
Li Si slowly stood up, looking at the three puppets: “Nose, eyes, mouth—what will these give us?”
Wu Wen was silent for a moment, then suddenly jumped up from his seat, his eyes flashing with light, shouting: “I know!”
Xiao Ning was startled by Wu Wen but still couldn’t restrain his curiosity and asked: “What do you know?”
Wu Wen excitedly looked at Li Si, saying word by word clearly: “A face! It’s a face! The murderer left us a human face!”
Xiao Ning had an epiphany, murmuring: “A face? That’s right. Nose, eyes, mouth—it’s a face!”
Li Si satisfactorily patted Wu Wen’s shoulder: “It seems you’ll become a good constable.” He then smiled: “Perhaps we’ll very soon be able to see clearly this face hidden behind the wooden puppets.”
Li Si used the silver knife obtained from Lao Sitou to gently cut off the nose, eyes, and mouth from the wooden puppets of Lou Tianfan, Sun Miao, and Yan Ying, placing them on a clean white paper, then carefully piecing them together. Wu Wen watched the gradually assembled facial features and shook his head: “It won’t work. This Sun Miao only has one eye. Pieced together like this, we can’t tell who is who at all!”
Xiao Ning said dejectedly: “Could we be wrong?”
Li Si shook his head slightly, thinking to himself: Wrong? Am I wrong? Li Si’s mind was in chaos. He couldn’t help but raise his head, just seeing Wu Wen’s face. Li Si’s heart stirred. Staring at Wu Wen’s face, he suddenly said: “No! What if the murderer only wanted us to see half a face?”
“Half a face?” Wu Wen shook his head: “What do you mean?”
Li Si said nothing. The silver knife in his hand flashed out, cutting the already assembled nose and mouth on the paper straight down from the middle position. Instantly, a delicate woman’s profile appeared before the three men. Li Si only glanced once and couldn’t help but cry out: “It’s actually… her?”
Li Si saw that beneath the silver knife appeared a delicate profile that was exactly the same as the woman standing in profile in the wall painting in Lou Tianming’s room. Li Si’s heart seemed to be seized in an instant—he couldn’t catch his breath.
Wu Wen had never entered the bamboo cottage and asked uncomprehendingly: “Catcher, do you know her?”
Li Si slowly nodded: “She is Lou Tianming’s mother, that is, Lou Ao’s second wife.”
“Lou Tianming’s mother?” Wu Wen was even more confused: “Could the wooden puppets have been made by Lou Tianming? Did he also kill the Western Regions merchant?”
“Impossible. Lou Tianming fundamentally cannot leave Budong Manor—how could he possibly run to Suishui City to kill someone?” Xiao Ning negated.
Wu Wen, remembering Lou Tianming’s strange illness of being unable to see light, also nodded: “This matter seems to be getting more and more complicated.”