The 27th day of the twelfth month. Last night Li Si didn’t sleep at all. The two micro-carved walnuts were placed beside his bed. Li Si gazed at them time and again, denying the thoughts in his heart over and over. Who could have created the micro-carved walnuts?
At the Hour of the Dragon, Xiao Ning sent a catcher to request Li Si’s presence—a murder case had occurred in the eastern part of the city. Li Si arrived at an inn hidden deep in an alley—Qingfeng Inn.
At the end of the corridor, in a guest room, Xiao Ning appeared just then. “Big Brother Li, over here.”
The room was in complete disarray. A broken window opened outward, revealing a withered jujube tree in the courtyard. Beside the wooden bed was a wardrobe that had been moved aside. The wall behind the wardrobe was recessed inward, and a man stood stiffly upright within the recessed wall. His eyes stared forward, filled with endless terror. His chest was soaked with fresh blood.
Li Si’s thoughts plunged into chaos. The murder scene completely matched the scene in the micro-carved walnut. Was the culprit the very person who sent him the walnut?! What was he trying to do?
Li Si’s mind was spinning. Not only that, but the murder case and the walnut gradually overlapped with a scene from Li Si’s memories.
Li Si walked to the corpse and examined the recessed wall again and again. Afterward, Xiao Ning arranged for men to transport the corpse back to the black house at the county yamen to await the coroner’s examination.
“Find a place. I have something to tell you.” Li Si pulled Xiao Ning aside.
Li Si and Xiao Ning went to a private room at Shanliu Ju. Xiao Ning found a room and closed the door. Li Si placed the walnuts on the table. Xiao Ning looked at them several times and pointed at the second walnut, saying, “The scene inside this walnut is exactly the same as the murder case at Qingfeng Inn.”
“Not only that.” Li Si’s expression was grave. “In fact, the murder case at Qingfeng Inn, as well as the scene carved within this walnut, are extremely similar to an old case I handled at Qingcheng Mountain.” Li Si recalled the woman Bian Yingying who had also died within a recessed wall at the Qingcheng Inn.
Li Si recounted in detail the mysterious and turbulent murder case at Qingcheng Mountain. Xiao Ning listened attentively. Upon learning that the victim Bian Yingying had died from half a purple bamboo stick and that the culprit was Feng Wuyong, he couldn’t help but sigh, “Love has brought nothing but regret since ancient times.”
“Hearing Big Brother Li explain it this way, Qingfeng Inn and the micro-carved walnut indeed have ninety percent similarity to the Qingcheng case. However, in the Qingcheng case, Bian Yingying was stabbed to death by purple bamboo, so her chest had tooth-like scars. But I just examined the deceased, and there were no such scars.”
Li Si had also seen the deceased’s wounds. He paused and said, “Not only that. The red clay, which was key evidence in the Qingcheng case, was also not discovered at the inn. Every case has its own unique particularity. The culprit of the Qingfeng Inn murder case, who is also the person who sent me the walnuts, doesn’t seem to be simply imitating a murder. It’s more like he’s expressing an intention.”
“What intention?”
“A challenge. He wants to challenge me.” Li Si said slowly, his gaze falling on the micro-carved walnuts.
“Using murder as a challenge—this fellow is truly vicious and evil! Big Brother Li, what should we do?” Xiao Ning nearly spilled his tea. Li Si looked at the gradually bustling crowd outside the window and said, “First, let’s wait for news from the coroner’s side, then investigate the deceased’s identity.”
Three quarters into the Hour of the Snake, the coroner had already verified the results. The deceased died from massive blood loss due to a knife wound to the chest. This also confirmed Li Si’s inference: the culprit did not completely copy the murder method from the Qingcheng case, but only imitated the murder scene and the appearance of the deceased in that case.
The coroner organized the deceased’s belongings and handed them to Xiao Ning for inspection. Xiao Ning examined each of the deceased’s belongings. Xiao Ning picked up a pair of cloth shoes. Li Si took the cloth shoes. The soles had a layer of soil and several small clusters of black granular material. Xiao Ning also saw the black substance and asked in bewilderment, “What is this?”
Li Si took a bit of the black substance and sniffed it near his nose, then rubbed it between his fingers and said, “It’s iron filings.”
“Iron filings.” Xiao Ning blinked as he looked at the cloth shoes. “This means the deceased must have been to a blacksmith’s shop, or somewhere he could come into contact with iron filings.”
“There’s an iron mine to the east of Suishui City, and a lodestone mine to the west. Iron filings are fairly common. This single clue alone isn’t very useful.” Xiao Ning sighed regretfully. Li Si placed the cloth shoes on the table. “It’s not as simple as just iron filings. If the deceased had stepped on iron filings while wearing the cloth shoes, then the iron filings should be mixed together with the soil on the soles. Take another look at the soles of these cloth shoes.” Li Si pointed it out for Xiao Ning to see. Xiao Ning said in surprise, “The iron filings are actually floating on the surface of the soil. This means…”
“This means the deceased never came into contact with iron filings at all. Someone sprinkled iron filings on the soles after his death.” Li Si stated the conclusion.
“It must have been the culprit, but why would he do this? I can’t figure it out.” Xiao Ning shook his head. Li Si also said, “I can’t understand it either.”
“Since the culprit intentionally wants to challenge me, perhaps this is a thread he left for me. Like casting bait to fish, this is the bait he cast.” Li Si’s eyes sparkled with profound light.
Soon the catcher responsible for the investigation returned. Li Si and Xiao Ning learned about the deceased’s situation. The deceased’s name was Zheng Hounian. He was the owner of Zheng’s Silk and Satin Shop, having run the silk shop for over twenty years. He had never had grudges with anyone, let alone enemies. Zheng Hounian had married one wife and one concubine, both gentle and virtuous women, who also had no suspicion.
“Zheng Hounian seems to have no problems. Now the suspicious points are the micro-carved walnut Big Brother Li received and the iron filings on Zheng Hounian’s shoe soles. Both of these points have no leads either. Sigh.” Xiao Ning shrugged helplessly. Li Si said, “The culprit must have had his purpose in choosing Zheng Hounian as a target. Continue digging deeper into Zheng Hounian. Start with his family, friends, and even the shop assistants at the silk shop. Don’t let anyone slip through.”
Xiao Ning nodded. “Alright.”
Xiao Ning and Li Si walked out of the black house’s separate courtyard and came face-to-face with three people. One of them wore light cyan official robes. Without Xiao Ning’s introduction, Li Si knew he was Meng Xiu, the Suishui County Magistrate.
The two young men accompanying Meng Xiu—one was the young hero Gao Ling whom Li Si had seen at Shanliu Ju. The other young man was half a head shorter than Gao Ling, with squinting eyes that greatly resembled Meng Xiu’s. Without thinking, one knew he was Meng Xiu’s son, Meng Fanchuan.
Xiao Ning made mutual introductions. Meng Xiu had long heard of Ghost Catcher Li Si’s reputation and knew Li Si had once served as Suishui’s Butou, so he was especially enthusiastic. After exchanging pleasantries, Meng Xiu informed them of the purpose of bringing Gao Ling and the other to the county yamen. It turned out that Gao Ling and the other also wished to join the investigation into Zheng Hounian’s case.
“Everyone says the Four Great God-Catchers are ingenious strategists, surpassing others in wisdom. Gao Ling very much wants to learn from and observe God-Catcher Li.” Gao Ling’s words sounded pleasant, but his tone was ice-cold. Li Si smiled bitterly inwardly. He didn’t want to embarrass Meng Xiu, so he had no choice but to agree.
By the time they returned from the county yamen to Xiao Ning’s residence, it was three quarters past the Hour of the Dog. Li Si had little desire to sleep. The night wind blew into the room in gusts. On the table sat two mysterious and eerie walnuts. The two walnuts were like a pair of reddish-brown ghostly eyes, staring fixedly at Li Si… Could the person who created the Qingfeng Inn murder case and sent the walnuts be an old acquaintance of his?
Besides being the culprit’s challenge to him, did the micro-carved walnuts conceal even deeper, undiscovered secrets?
Deep within Li Si’s heart, a flame was burning. Good. Since this is a challenge—
Then I accept it!