“I came back from Yin Village.” Meng Rui noticed Tu Jinxiong’s expression was strange and asked, “Where are you going?”
“Sigh, it’s hard to explain in a few words. Since Lord Meng is here, let’s go take a look together.”
Meng Rui’s heart stirred. “Could it be Magistrate Wang?”
Tu Jinxiong nodded helplessly. Meng Rui said nothing and followed Tu Jinxiong to the residence of Jinxia County Magistrate Wang Huai’an.
The autumn dew hung heavy, the night wind gradually turned cold, and the beautiful flowers on the elevated pavilion terrace had all withered. In a corner of the small corridor outside the study, this leisurely and refined Magistrate Wang’s complexion now resembled a pig’s liver—dark red turning purple. Who knew whether he had been beaten or frightened.
As soon as Wang Huai’an saw Tu Jinxiong and Meng Rui, he stumbled forward and said, “Chief Tu, my Ming’er is dead! It died so miserably. You must avenge it and find the murderer who killed it.”
Wang Huai’an suddenly embraced Tu Jinxiong, crying endlessly with snot and tears streaming down. Meng Rui glanced sideways at Tu Jinxiong. Tu Jinxiong said with a mixture of laughter and tears, “Ming’er is the pet name of the yellow-beaked parrot that Magistrate Wang keeps.”
It’s a parrot that died! How did this “outstanding figure among men” who wails over a bird like this ever become a county magistrate? Oh heavens, whose fault is this! Meng Rui was speechless, wishing he could slap Wang Huai’an twice.
After Tu Jinxiong calmed Wang Huai’an down, he entered the study with Meng Rui. The golden cage that held the parrot had originally hung on a wooden frame, but now the golden cage had been thrown into a corner, with the yellow-beaked parrot lying on the ground. The coroner who had rushed over took a look and said, “The parrot’s belly has been cut open, and its internal organs have been scooped out.”
Meng Rui noticed there was almost no blood on the parrot’s feathers. Even for a bird the size of a palm, to cut open its body and scoop out its organs without getting blood on it would be no easy feat. Meng Rui suddenly felt that the serial bird-killing case wasn’t so simple behind the scenes—it seemed to conceal another dark and sinister conspiracy.
“What’s with this bookcase? Was it like this before?” Tu Jinxiong asked from up ahead. There was a deep scratch on the bookcase door. A servant answered, “No, it wasn’t like this before.”
Facing the scratch, Meng Rui made several gestures with his right middle and index fingers. Then, following the direction of the scratch, he turned his head to look and saw that inside was a soft couch with its brocade quilt half pulled aside.
“Magistrate Wang, did you sleep in your study tonight?” Meng Rui ran outside and asked Wang Huai’an.
Wang Huai’an was startled at first, then nodded. “My wife went back to her hometown these past few days, so I’ve been sleeping in the study.”
Wang Huai’an was badly frightened, his face purple. Meng Rui paused, then asked him again, “When the yellow-beaked parrot was killed, did you see something or hear something?”
“Ah!” Wang Huai’an gave a violent start from head to toe, as if unwilling to recall that scene. “I saw a large cat crouching on the ground—it killed Ming’er, then stared at me from the darkness. My whole body went rigid there, as if bound hand and foot by an invisible rope. I couldn’t move, couldn’t even open my mouth to call for help.”
“I was terrified, afraid that cat would pounce from the darkness and kill me just as it had brutally murdered Ming’er—I’ve failed Ming’er!” Magistrate Wang covered his face in distress.
“Was it dark at the time?” Meng Rui asked.
“Very dark.”
“Then how could you be certain it was a cat?”
Wang Huai’an was stunned, then said, “Because all four of its limbs were crouched on the ground, and it had a pair of jade-green eyes. Only cats and wolves have green eyes, but it definitely wasn’t a wolf, so it was a cat.”
“A ferocious cat.” Wang Huai’an said with certainty.
Tu Jinxiong said from the side, “Right, right. Probably only cats would be interested in birds like parrots and golden canaries.”
Even the cleverest cat—to have it dissect bodies and dig out hearts would be something from ghost tales and wild legends. A pair of green eyes! Meng Rui thought of the green-eyed stalker. Could the bird-killing case be related to him? Meng Rui glanced at Wang Huai’an and silently said no more.
Tu Jinxiong sent people to search, and after finding nothing, they threw Ming’er back into the golden cage. Following Magistrate Wang’s wishes, they prepared to find a bright and pleasant grove nearby to bury it.
The golden cage was carried away. Meng Rui looked at Ming’er lying dead inside—that gleaming golden cage was like a prison-tomb: it imprisoned its life, buried its corpse, and determined its entire existence.
Meng Rui suddenly thought of his younger sister Meng Wanxiang in the red coffin. If she still had any awareness, would she also feel the same bitterness and sorrow as Ming’er?
Tu Jinxiong gave Meng Rui a meaningful look, and the two bypassed Wang Huai’an. Meng Rui said straightforwardly, “You also think it’s a cat?”
Tu Jinxiong hurriedly shook his head. “No cat possesses the brain capacity for repeated crimes. That’s definitely not a cat. However, since my superior is adamant about it, there’s not much I can say.”
Meng Rui understood the taste of helplessness. He paused slightly and said, “There’s something evil about this serial bird-killing case. Tell me about the previous cases—the more detailed, the better.”
After Tu Jinxiong finished his account, Wang Huai’an called him away again. This Magistrate Wang was probably going to launch a massive cat-hunting operation. Meng Rui walked alone out of the residence, dispelling the haze in his heart. Because he knew that waiting for him was yet another unexpected trial.
After Meng Rui left, in the filthy alley behind Wang Huai’an’s residence, there was a shadow crouched on the ground, gulping down dirty, stinking internal organs mouthful by mouthful. “Its” eyes displayed a ghostly, demonic green.