Lou Ao led Li Si and his two companions to the depths of Budong Manor’s rear courtyard. Winding past a small spring that crisscrossed through the courtyard and a small bamboo grove, the group stopped before a bamboo cottage. The verdant green color enveloped the entire house. Lou Ao stopped in his tracks and suddenly called out: “Tianshe!”

The bamboo cottage door was opened, and a person happily bounced out, as if she were always this cheerful. Lou Tianshe ran to Lou Ao’s side, constantly circling around like a happy little bird, while Lou Ao displayed his rare kindness, his face brightening with a smile: “Tianshe, go tell your second brother that Catcher Li from Suishui City wishes to see him.” Tianshe glanced at the several people behind Lou Ao, nodded, and ran back into the bamboo cottage.

Wu Wen muttered quietly behind them: “What airs! Won’t even show his face.” Li Si quickly used his gaze to stop Wu Wen, but how could Lou Ao not hear? His expression stiffened, then eased again as he said: “Actually, my second son Tianming is the most outstanding of all my children. He’s been a child prodigy since young—whatever thing or matter he only needs to see once to completely understand it.” Lou Ao sighed and continued: “Alas, but fate plays tricks on people. Tianming unfortunately contracted an incurable disease. Not only is his life severely threatened, but moreover, he can only live forever in darkness, never able to see sunlight for his entire life. Once exposed to light, he will die.”

As Lou Ao spoke, he lowered his head. This was the first time Li Si saw Lou Ao lower his head. Even during the life-and-death confrontation earlier, he had never and would never lower his head, yet at this moment it lowered for his son’s tragic circumstances.

Lou Tianshe bounced out once more, her face showing joy: “You can go in now.” The three of them were about to walk inside when Lou Tianshe stopped them. Lou Tianshe shook her head, pointing at Li Si: “Not you all, just you. My second brother said he only wants to see the person who wishes to see him.”

Li Si smiled and said to Wu Wen and Xiao Ning behind him: “You two wait here.” Then Li Si asked Lou Ao: “Hero Lou, are you going in?”

Lou Ao slowly shook his head: “No need. He won’t want to see me.” As Lou Ao spoke, he turned and left alone. Lou Tianfan, who had been accompanying Lou Ao, glanced at the bamboo cottage and also turned to walk away with Lou Ao.

Li Si paused slightly, then stepped into the bamboo cottage. Before even entering, Li Si already smelled an inexplicable subtle, elegant fragrance wafting upward. On the bookshelf facing Li Si sat a very classical butterfly-shaped incense burner. Large patches of dimness filled the bamboo cottage. Li Si’s gaze shifted slightly. Beside the bookshelf, on the wall close to him, hung an enormous painting. On the canvas was a huge, bright sun, a brook and woods with a gentle breeze blowing through, brightly blooming flowers, several birds soaring with spread wings. At the very center of this painting was a woman in a white long dress, standing sideways beside the brook. Though only her profile was visible, she already possessed peerless beauty. Her figure was graceful and elegant, her long dress hem and black hair gently blown by the breeze toward the direction where the sun rose, while the woman’s gaze seemed to choose the opposite direction—she quietly gazed at the most remote corner of the painting, at a patch of shadow that seemed quite discordant.

Li Si withdrew his gaze from the painting. In the bamboo cottage, a thin yet calm voice said softly: “Li Si?”

Li Si looked toward where the voice came from. A boy with a slender, frail body sat with his back to Li Si, his long hair loose. Before the boy was a classical-style red silk zither made of wood. The boy rested one hand on the zither. Li Si saw the boy’s hand was slender and pale as paper. Li Si looked at the boy and asked: “Lou Tianming?” The boy nodded slightly, only then turning his face around. Li Si looked at the boy’s features and couldn’t help but tremble inwardly. Li Si had seen many boys with delicate features like women, but this was the first time Li Si had seen a boy like Lou Tianming before him who possessed such perfectly flawless features. Moreover, Lou Tianming’s appearance bore some resemblance to the woman’s face in the painting. But what shocked Li Si most was Lou Tianming’s left eye—Lou Tianming’s eyeball was actually a deep purple color. At this moment, Lou Tianming looked at Li Si with his left eye, like a profound purple gemstone.

Lou Tianming looked at Li Si and suddenly smiled. Li Si couldn’t help but smile along with him. Lou Tianming lightly plucked the strings, and beneath his hands the silk zither flowed down slowly like water from heaven, spilling onto Li Si’s face, giving Li Si a feeling of transcending the mortal world. In an instant, all the doubts and troubles in Li Si’s heart vanished into smoke. Lou Tianming gently plucked and strummed, his gaze always resting on the painting opposite, the corners of his mouth upturned, his smile continuously rippling. Li Si followed Lou Tianming’s gaze. In one corner of the painting, a bluebird left behind on the earth lonely gazed up at its companions gradually departing into the sky. The bluebird flapped its wings but could never fly up.

The melody finished. Lou Tianming moved his hand away from the strings, his gaze also shifting from the painting to Li Si’s face: “Why did you come to find me? What do you want to obtain from me?” Hearing Lou Tianming’s words, Li Si was actually stunned, then shook his head and smiled: “Perhaps there were indeed many questions just now, but now I’ve already forgotten them.”

Li Si felt Lou Tianming’s purple gaze seemed able to perceive everything in his heart. He stood up and said: “You truly played a wonderful melody. It’s been many years since I’ve heard such a moving piece. I must go now.”

Li Si turned and walked to the bamboo cottage entrance. Behind him, Lou Tianming’s voice suddenly asked: “You also saw it, didn’t you? That bluebird.”

Li Si nodded.

“Do you know why it has wings yet can never fly into the sky?” The voice behind Li Si seemed to float in the air, illusory. Li Si’s heart suddenly trembled because he heard that this question’s voice did not come from Lou Tianming, but from a girl’s voice.

Li Si spun around abruptly. From the dim corner behind Lou Tianming, someone slowly emerged—a girl of similar age to Lou Tianming stood beside him, quietly watching Li Si, her gaze gentle and calm. This girl had been present in this room all along, yet Li Si had no awareness of it whatsoever. What shocked Li Si’s heart even more was that this girl, like Lou Tianming, also possessed pupils different from ordinary people—a deep bluish-green like profound pool water.

Seeing Li Si stunned, the girl couldn’t help but continue asking: “You still haven’t answered my question.” Li Si only shook his head. The girl took another step, circling around Lou Tianming and walking toward Li Si, saying indifferently: “Because the bluebird’s heart is not in the sky. When it flies into the sky, it means it has betrayed its own heart.”

“Do you know where its heart is?” the girl continued asking. Li Si looked at the girl in confusion, not speaking. The girl suddenly laughed, her voice as moving as silver bells: “I don’t know either. No one knows. Perhaps only the person who painted this picture understands.” As the girl spoke, she gently shifted her gaze toward Lou Tianming’s face, while Lou Tianming had already quietly closed his eyes, as if completely unable to see or hear anything.

“Who are you?” Li Si asked what was in his heart. The girl turned her gaze back to Li Si, smiling faintly, beautiful and moving: “My name is Qingdie. Young Master Lou’s maid.”

Li Si examined Qingdie again, seeing she was indeed dressed as a maid, and didn’t feel it appropriate to ask anything more. But for some reason, looking at Qingdie’s pair of bluish-green pupils before him, Li Si always felt they concealed many things.

When Li Si finally walked out of the bamboo cottage, Wu Wen and Xiao Ning, who had been waiting outside for a long time, had already eagerly gathered around. The young and curious Wu Wen asked quietly: “How was it, Catcher? What did you ask Lou Tianming?”

Li Si glanced back at the bamboo cottage behind him. In his heart arose an inexplicable faint sadness. He smiled: “I asked nothing.”

“Why?” Seeing Li Si walking outward, Wu Wen quickly followed, continuing to press. Li Si patted Wu Wen’s shoulder: “For a child who can never leave darkness in his entire life, I have no need to question him.” Hearing this, Wu Wen nodded: “Right, that makes sense. He can’t see light, so naturally he couldn’t have any connection to a murder case. However…” Wu Wen suddenly lowered his voice mysteriously: “Catcher, aren’t you afraid all this was Lou Ao saying things to deceive us? If what he said is lies, then it’s possible…”

“You’re the one who’s deceiving people!” Wu Wen suddenly felt a pain in his buttocks. Looking back, Lou family’s third daughter Lou Tianshe stood huffily behind Wu Wen, just withdrawing a small foot from Wu Wen’s backside. Lou Tianshe said angrily: “You bad person, why do you always speak ill of my brothers? You’re the worst, a big bad egg!”

Wu Wen rubbed his kicked buttocks. He wanted to retort but couldn’t, standing awkwardly in place. Xiao Ning beside him covered his mouth, forcibly restraining laughter as he watched Wu Wen. Wu Wen’s face had already turned somewhat red—young people always blush easily.

Li Si smiled: “I’m sorry, Third Miss. When I return, I’ll definitely properly deal with this bad person and vent your anger.”

“Catcher, you…” Wu Wen seemed to have suffered a great injustice, but looking at Lou Tianshe’s small face with anger still unabated, Wu Wen still swallowed his words back down.

Only then did Lou Tianshe snort with satisfaction. Li Si saw Lou Tianshe holding an embroidered handkerchief in her hand and couldn’t help but ask curiously: “Third Miss, are you already learning needlework?”

Wu Wen at this moment finally couldn’t restrain himself and spoke: “Needlework? I doubt it.” Lou Tianshe’s small face turned livid as she displayed the handkerchief before everyone, very proudly: “Who says I can’t? Look, this is what I embroidered.” Li Si glanced and saw on the embroidered handkerchief a bright peony embroidered very beautifully. Moreover, a dark-colored small needle pinned to the handkerchief was even more exquisite—the small needle’s rear end scattered outward like a phoenix’s tail. Li Si said: “Third Miss, this embroidery needle is very delicate.”

Lou Tianshe’s originally haughty expression suddenly darkened. Without saying anything, she turned and ran toward the other side of the flower path. After Lou Tianshe left, Wu Wen finally released his pent-up frustration, shouting: “This little girl is really irritating and has no manners. I estimate when she grows up, no one will want her either!”

“Alright, alright, why are you competing with a child?” Xiao Ning on the side found Wu Wen increasingly amusing.

“Catcher Li, Catcher Li!” A servant hurriedly rushed over, his expression panicked and frightened. Li Si couldn’t help but ask: “What’s wrong?”

“Something, something has happened!” the servant said.

Li Si and his two companions followed the servant to a side hall next to the great hall. The hall had gathered quite a few people; Lou Ao and Lou Tianfan were also among them. Seeing Li Si arrive, Lou Ao took a step forward to meet him, his face also bearing some fright: “Catcher Li, Yan Ying and Sun Miao, their corpses…”

“What about the corpses?” Li Si asked impatiently.

Lou Ao made way, pointing behind himself and shaking his head: “I don’t know why, but their corpses actually turned into a pool of putrid water in an instant!” Li Si looked in the direction Lou Ao pointed. Sure enough, in the middle of the side hall was a pool of yellow water stains emitting a strong foul odor.

Li Si approached. Wu Wen and Xiao Ning beside him also came closer. Wu Wen pinched his nose: “How could they suddenly turn into putrid water?” Li Si looked at the yellow water and suddenly said: “There’s something!”

Wu Wen also saw it. In the middle of the yellow water, there was indeed something dark-colored floating vaguely. Wu Wen immediately reached out to pick it up but was stopped by Li Si. Li Si took a long sword from a nearby servant’s hand and used it to fish up what was hidden in the middle of the yellow water—it was a gray-black wooden glue small bottle, only the bottom portion remained. Li Si placed the gray wooden glue on the ground before opening his mouth: “They didn’t suddenly turn into corpse water. Someone administered Corpse-Dissolving Powder inside their bodies.”

“Administered Corpse-Dissolving Powder? Could the murderer be among us right now?” Lou Ao’s voice magnified, echoing throughout the entire side hall. His gaze swept like lightning across the face of every person in the hall. All the servants in the hall and even Lou Tianfan were made to lower their heads under Lou Ao’s stare, not daring to speak.

Li Si shook his head: “Hero Lou, no need to be so tense. The murderer should not be anyone currently in the hall. Because this Corpse-Dissolving Powder was left inside the deceased beforehand by the murderer.”

“Then if it was left beforehand, why didn’t it turn into putrid water earlier?” Wu Wen asked curiously. Li Si pulled Wu Wen’s shoulder, saying approvingly: “Good question.” Li Si pointed at the gray wooden glue on the ground: “The murderer beforehand sent the small wooden glue bottle containing Corpse-Dissolving Powder into the deceased’s body. Because of the wooden glue barrier, the Corpse-Dissolving Powder wouldn’t immediately take effect. But as the wooden glue was slowly corroded by the acidic fluids secreted in the deceased’s stomach, the Corpse-Dissolving Powder flowed out, thereby dissolving the deceased into a pool of putrid water.”

Hearing Li Si’s explanation, Wu Wen kept nodding: “I see.”

“Catcher, look, there’s more!” Xiao Ning suddenly said. Li Si turned to look. Indeed, in the yellow water there were other things floating within, though the color was also a dismal yellow, making it difficult to distinguish. Li Si used the long sword in his hand to slowly fish the dismal yellow object over. Separated from the yellow corpse-dissolving water, they were two small clumps of earthy yellow weeds! After carefully identifying them, Li Si couldn’t help but say: “It’s Wangliang Grass!”

“Wangliang Grass?” Lou Ao looked at the yellow weeds, surprised.

“That’s right, it’s precisely Wangliang Grass. It seems the murderer is not only a methodical person but also a very learned person. Among the currently discovered hundred thousand-plus plant species, only Wangliang Grass is a plant that won’t be corroded by acidic fluids in the human body! Similarly, it also won’t be corroded by Corpse-Dissolving Powder.” Li Si used the sword to slowly separate the clumped Wangliang Grass. Li Si’s body suddenly trembled. Behind him, Lou Ao alertly asked: “Catcher Li, what did you discover?”

Li Si slowly stepped aside. Within the tangled Wangliang Grass were actually wrapped two exquisite wooden puppets—one wearing a red cloak with a face like dark jujubes and a nose like an eagle’s hook, while the other had lost one eye. Lou Ao only glanced once before he couldn’t help but cry out: “It’s Yan Ying and… Sun Miao!”