As soon as Li Si and the others entered the secret chamber, a thick bloody stench assaulted their noses. Then Li Si saw a pair of purple pupils. Faint light turned gently. The owner of the purple pupils smiled and said, “Catcher Li, I’ve been waiting for you for quite some time.”
Li Si looked at Lou Tianming’s dreamlike smile, then turned his eyes sideways. Li Si couldn’t help but gasp in cold air. At the same time, an uncontrollable anger surged into his heart—behind Lou Tianming, in the secret chamber space, stood no fewer than a hundred enormous steel needles like ox hair, tall enough to reach a person’s height. And at this very moment, on these hundred-plus sharp steel needles hung the impaled corpses of over a hundred people. Blood had already congealed. Black blood water covered the floor. Lou Tianming rested on a small couch, sitting cross-legged in this hell of blood and corpses, speaking softly, smiling, his fingers lightly plucking the zither strings on the couch.
“You—you ultimately still did this.” Li Si suddenly spoke an inexplicable sentence.
Lou Tianming looked at him. His purple-deep pupils emitted an icy coldness: “You’ve seen it. Budong Manor—all the manor guards, one hundred twenty-nine people, all have died upon steel needles. I told you before, the bluebird cannot fly away. What awaits it is always its destiny.”
“Destiny? That’s just rhetoric charlatans use to deceive the world. Just because of this destiny, so many lives can be sacrificed?” Li Si couldn’t suppress the anger in his heart and demanded.
Lou Tianming’s purple pupils became dim. He looked at Li Si and spoke while playing the zither: “Catcher Li, do you know how many people have died within the manor in the five hundred years since Budong Manor was established?”
Li Si blankly shook his head. He didn’t understand why Lou Tianming asked such a question. Lou Tianming’s hand stroking the zither trembled slightly. He slowly said, “There were two thousand one hundred twenty people. Of these two thousand one hundred twenty people, aside from a minority who died from illness or old age, the rest all perished at the hands of the manor masters of each generation. Among these people were manor guards, maidservants, and also Lou clan members who shared my bloodline. Right here, they died upon the shackles of the Lou Manor’s greatest secret. Their blood was drained. They died bit by bit. And watching them die before their eyes were their closest people.”
Listening to Lou Tianming’s words, Li Si couldn’t help but feel sorrowful indignation rising in his heart. He quietly gazed at Lou Tianming, feeling as if his chest had been blocked by a giant stone that prevented him from breathing.
“When the sky is azure blue, the moon is bright, the sun is warm, and the mortal world is peaceful, here, in Budong Manor, what occurred were scene after scene of human tragedies. I personally witnessed Tianshe’s mother being killed by Father in this secret chamber. At that time Tianshe and I were playing and accidentally stumbled upon this scene. At the time Tianshe didn’t cry. She wasn’t sad either. She even smiled at me. But from that moment on, I understood that in Tianshe’s heart only hatred remained—a resentment unto death. Catcher Li, do you know why all this happened?”
Li Si hesitated for a moment before speaking: “Lou Budong’s secret manual.”
Lou Tianming suddenly laughed, but there was too much bitterness in his smile: “These words coming from your mouth sound so simple. But it is precisely the white bone shackle that has confined the Lou clan for five hundred years, soaked through with countless blood and tears. The Lou clan has had ancestral instructions through the generations: from the day one enters the manor, except for when a person becomes dead bones and bones become ash, only then may one leave Budong Manor. Otherwise, for this entire life one must not leave Budong Manor by even half a step. If this rule is violated, the body will be pierced by sharp needles until the blood runs dry.” Lou Tianming paused and continued: “Tianshe’s mother couldn’t endure these shackles, so she died at Father’s hands. In five hundred years, the Lou clan members who died because of this ancestral instruction are countless. Even those who occasionally escaped would be recaptured and receive even more cruel death sentences. And all of this is only to prevent bringing the secret of the secret manual out of the manor. Only for a secret manual whose existence cannot be confirmed, they all died. And those who live also suffer torment. Living one more day, the shackles grow heavier by one more day. Living in constant anxiety.”
After Lou Tianming finished speaking, he looked at everyone with a calm tone and said, “This is destiny.”
Li Si, Wu Wen, and Xiao Ning couldn’t help but be moved by Lou Tianming’s words. Everyone’s expressions changed. Li Si suddenly remembered something. He took out a white paper from his bosom. On the paper was pasted a side profile pieced together from the facial features of three small figures. Li Si said, “If my memory serves me correctly, the person on this paper is your late mother?”
Lou Tianming didn’t look. He gently played the zither music, his purple pupils tightly focused on the zither strings, as if in an instant he had completely forgotten everything outside the zither. Li Si looked at him and continued: “I don’t understand. You left your late mother’s face painting for me—could it be to point all arrows toward yourself? Could everything be related to your late mother’s death? Or, like Tianshe, did your late mother also die upon the destiny of Budong Manor?”
Lou Tianming’s expression followed the zither and paid no attention to Li Si. Li Si continued: “Actually, I’ve always guessed that Lou Ao killed the Western Region medicine merchant, as well as Yan Ying and Sun Miao, because only he had the motive and the capability to kill them. But the black wooden boxes discovered beside these three dead people and the carved wooden figures found in their bellies have always puzzled me. It wasn’t until this half face appeared that I found some clues. Although I don’t know how it was done, the spearhead of the murderer has pointed toward you. Did you kill them?”
Lou Tianming suddenly raised his eyes. His purple pupils flashed in an instant, making Li Si feel somewhat uncomfortable. Lou Tianming’s gaze dodged all around. This made Li Si feel greatly alarmed. Lou Tianming then said decisively: “I killed them all. The three people you mentioned—the merchant, Yan Ying, and Sun Miao.”
“But how did you…” Before Li Si finished speaking, suddenly half his body went numb and he couldn’t move.
Li Si looked back in astonishment. Wu Wen and Xiao Ning standing behind him also had unnatural expressions. It looked like their bodies couldn’t move either.
Lou Tianming said coldly: “Do you understand now? Though the zither in my hands cannot kill people, it can use zither music to temporarily make people lose autonomous consciousness. The body is not controlled by the brain. Of course, this only works when the mind has no defenses.” Lou Tianming casually plucked two discordant zither strings. Li Si and the others’ bodies regained sensation. Li Si slightly rotated his elbow and said, “But even so, you still couldn’t kill people like this.”
Lou Tianming suddenly smiled. Li Si stared tightly at his gaze. Lou Tianming said, “Of course, I have other methods.” Lou Tianming’s gaze turned slightly. A hidden wall rotated from the depths of the secret chamber. On the hidden wall, a woman was bound by iron chains and iron locks. Li Si looked at the woman and couldn’t help but blurt out: “Qingdie?”
“Correct, it’s her.” The zither strings under Lou Tianming’s hands emitted a sharp sound, like the cry piercing through clouds. In the blink of an eye, a completely blue-colored bird flew out from some unknown dark place and quietly alighted before Lou Tianming, bowing slightly, like a servant awaiting orders.
Li Si noticed the bluebird’s beak was fitted with a dark-colored hood, its color dark yet cold. Li Si suddenly understood: “So that’s how it is. You first use the zither’s tone to confuse people’s bodies, making them unable to move. Then you control the bluebird to fly out and use the sharp iron hood on its mouth to slit throats—one still, one moving, killing invisibly. As for the medicine merchant’s death, you probably used the bluebird to poison him to death.”
Lou Tianming said nothing, only smiled faintly. His gaze focused on the zither, while a series of blood-spattering sounds attracted Li Si and the others’ attention. Wu Wen had the sharpest eyes. He saw Qingdie, who had just rotated out from the hidden wall—her hands and feet were now soaked in a large patch of blood. Qingdie’s face was pale, barely breathing. Blood instantly flowed onto the ground.
“Catcher, look!” Wu Wen said urgently.
Li Si had already seen it too. He furrowed his brow: “How many more people must you harm before you’ll stop? Qingdie is your maidservant, someone who has always served you. Won’t you even spare her?”
Lou Tianming closed his eyes and murmured, “I’m powerless to do anything.”
Li Si wasted no more words. He drew his blade and in one step crossed past Lou Tianming. He rushed to Qingdie and chopped down with one stroke. There was only a clang as the blade split in two. Li Si looked again and discovered that both Qingdie’s handcuffs and shackles were made of black iron. Unless he had a key, there was no way to open them in a short time. Li Si tore off his sleeve, wanting to bandage Qingdie. He saw Qingdie’s body was covered in fine, dense small wounds. The longer these small wounds lasted, the more fresh blood would rush out of the body. It appeared Lou Tianming had inflicted such wounds on Qingdie’s body quite some time ago.
“Bring out the key!” Li Si shouted, his gaze urgent.
Lou Tianming still closed his eyes and shook his head slightly: “You should leave. These matters don’t concern you. I’m powerless and incapable. You are equally powerless to act.”
Xiao Ning placed her sword against Lou Tianming’s neck and said coldly, “Enough nonsense. Quickly produce the key.”
“I don’t have the key.” Lou Tianming refused to hand over the key.
Xiao Ning’s sword turned slightly. The sharp sword pressed tightly against the blood vessels in Lou Tianming’s neck. With just one more ounce of force, Lou Tianming would be beyond salvation. Li Si wanted to stop her because he still had many questions he hadn’t clarified. But glancing at Qingdie beside him, who was now like a blood person, he swallowed his words back down.
“You brought this on yourself. You’ve harmed so many people—consider it retribution!” Xiao Ning shouted. Just as her hand was about to exert force, suddenly a black shadow swept before their eyes. The secret chamber immediately filled with thick fog. Li Si shouted loudly and raised his blade to guard himself and Qingdie. But when the smoke dispersed, Li Si and the others discovered in astonishment that Lou Tianming had disappeared. Qingdie had also disappeared.
Li Si pursued a few steps, but ultimately could only stare blankly at the ancient zither left alone in the secret chamber.