“Catcher, wake up…” A very familiar voice came to his ears. Li Si slowly opened his eyes.
The blinding brightness made Li Si dizzy for a moment. After a good while, Li Si finally recognized Wu Wen and Ren Ling standing before him.
Li Si asked in astonishment, “How did I get back here?”
Wu Wen and Ren Ling exchanged a glance. Wu Wen said, “Catcher, after you fell into the river yesterday, I searched for you all day without finding you. This morning, you appeared at the entrance of the Ren Residence, unconscious and collapsed on the ground. After I heard the news, I rushed to the Ren Residence.”
Li Si shook his head and said, “Is that so? My head hurts terribly. I can’t remember anything.” Li Si felt like all the bones in his body were about to fall apart. A servant from the Ren Residence came looking for Ren Ling. After Ren Ling comforted Li Si with a few words, he turned and left with an anxious expression. After Ren Ling departed, Wu Wen asked, “Catcher, what exactly happened to you?”
“I really can’t remember, but someone must have sent me to the entrance of the Ren Residence. But I can’t recall who this person was.” Li Si couldn’t figure it out.
“Sent you…” Wu Wen muttered, a strange expression flickering across his face. Li Si couldn’t help but guess what he was thinking. “Are you letting your imagination run wild again, kid?”
“Heh, I’m just wondering—after the Catcher fell into the Jade River that can instantly freeze living people, who could have rescued you and sent you back to the Ren Residence?” Wu Wen said. “I could only think of one answer—the water demon that Little Qizi mentioned!”
“Demon your head,” Li Si said seriously, asking Wu Wen, “Stop bantering. I just saw Ren Ling looking worried. Did something happen while I was unconscious?”
“Catcher, your foresight is divine. That’s right. Yesterday, Gao Qi led people to fish up Zong Yuan’s corpse from the Jade River, and they also discovered a river full of dead fish. Many Night Bridge people are spreading rumors that Yan Zige’s vengeful spirit has returned for revenge. First Ren Youcai, then Zong Yuan—it’s making everyone fear for their safety. Many people are even clamoring to leave Night Bridge Town.” Wu Wen paused slightly, then continued, “Later, when Jiang Zhenshan arrived, he flew into a great rage, and only then did people quiet down. But Jiang Zhenshan became so angry that his qi attacked his heart, and he fainted.”
“The panic caused by two tragic cases is not something ordinary common people can endure.” Li Si sighed. Wu Wen kept staring at Li Si with a strange expression. Li Si asked with a smile, “Go ahead and say it. Is there something in your belly that you want to know but don’t dare ask?”
“That’s right. Everyone says Catcher, you have divine foresight.”
“Stop flattering me. Speak quickly.”
Wu Wen laughed and said, “Catcher, what do the two characters ‘Li Luo’ represent?”
Hearing these words, Li Si’s entire body trembled. He then firmly grasped Wu Wen’s shoulder and demanded, “How did you come to know these two characters?”
“It’s, it’s…” Wu Wen hadn’t expected Li Si to have such a strong reaction and hastily said, “In your sleep, you kept calling out the two characters ‘Li Luo.’ I didn’t understand, so I asked.”
Li Si stared intently at Wu Wen and said, “Wu Wen, do not speak these two characters to a second person. You must not!”
Wu Wen said in confusion, “Catcher, is there something wrong with these two characters?”
Li Si said slowly, “‘Li Luo’ is the root cause that has plunged Night Bridge Town into a storm of blood and carnage.”
Li Si suddenly caught sight of some black viscous substance hanging on Wu Wen’s feet. Li Si had Wu Wen lift his foot, and only after removing the viscous substance did he discover it was a type of black soil. Li Si said with slight surprise, “Within a hundred li radius, the soil is all yellow earth. Where did you step on this black soil?”
Wu Wen also shook his head. Li Si said, “Where have you been?”
“After I came to the Ren Residence, I only went in and out of this chamber, and I once accompanied Ren Ling to the study to fetch a Buddhist scripture. Ren Ling said it was for Madam Ren to read…”
Li Si’s mind raced with hundreds of thoughts. He pulled Wu Wen and walked outside. Wu Wen said in a daze, “Catcher, where are we going?”
“The Ren Residence study.”
Ren Youcai’s study had already been tidied up. The originally torn and scattered books and porcelain were no longer there. Li Si looked into the study through the doorway and saw that on the marble stone slabs laid on the study floor, there seemed to be another thin line of black soil traces. Li Si’s gaze tightened. He said to Wu Wen, “Find Ren Ling.”
When Ren Ling arrived, Li Si didn’t say much and immediately asked, “Young Master Ren, where did the black soil in the Ren Residence study come from? Why was this black soil spread here?”
After listening, Ren Ling said, “This black soil was specially brought from the north by my father’s orders to be spread here. As for the reason, my father said that only the aura of this type of black soil could keep him in a constantly calm state of mind to create fine landscape paintings.”
“Old Master Ren was so dedicated. Did he usually love landscape paintings very much?”
“That’s correct. My father was devoted to the art of landscape painting. He wasn’t particularly focused on other things,” Ren Ling said.
“Indeed, this black soil has a faint, light fragrance that can relax one’s mind and spirit.” Li Si’s gaze shifted slightly. He said to Ren Ling, “Young Master Ren, Li has an impolite request. I hope Young Master Ren can grant it.”
“Catcher Li is too polite. Please speak.”
“After I accidentally fell into the Jade River, my mind and spirit have been in a tense state. Could I borrow the black soil study to stay for one night to ease my state of mind?” Li Si paused again and said, “Also, I would like the originally broken books and porcelain from the study. They might be helpful in solving the case of Old Master Ren’s murder.”
Ren Ling agreed. Li Si cupped his fists and said, “Thank you for the trouble.”
Before long, Ren Ling left. Wu Wen hurriedly came over and said, “Catcher, have you discovered something?”
“You kid are becoming more and more clever.” Li Si squatted down and pinched some of the black soil, saying to Wu Wen, “This black soil is not simple soil. It’s a treasure from Yutai Prefecture in Yunling Province in the north, called ‘Seal Soil.’ Although this ‘Seal Soil’ also has the function of calming the spirit and awakening the mind, its most marvelous aspect still lies in the character ‘seal.'”
“Seal Soil contains adhesive particles that far exceed ordinary soil. These miraculous particles can not only absorb dust into the soil, but can even permeate light and shadow into the black soil.” Li Si spoke of its wonders.
Immediately after, Li Si removed his garment and spread it on the ground, then sprinkled a cup of water on the garment. After waiting for a moment, several messy footprints actually appeared on the originally thin layer of black soil.
Li Si kept repeating the action from just now. Half an hour later, footprints emerged on all the black soil. Li Si asked, “Wu Wen, can you see anything?”
Wu Wen examined them carefully. The footprints were about the same size and should all have been left by Ren Youcai. Most of the footprints stopped in front of the sleeping couch, the bookshelf, and the porcelain shelf, with the most footprints especially in front of the porcelain shelf. Wu Wen didn’t discover anything abnormal.
Li Si stared at the footprints and said, “What Ren Youcai was devoted to throughout his life was landscape paintings and scrolls. But look at these footprints—they appear most frequently only in front of the porcelain shelf. Isn’t this suspicious?”
“That’s right. Yes, indeed suspicious.” After Li Si explained it this way, Wu Wen had a sudden realization and slapped his own forehead.
Li Si came before the porcelain shelf and said, “How strange. These footprints are mostly distributed at both ends of the two sections of the porcelain shelf. Logically speaking, if one were appreciating porcelain, one should stand at the front to look—that would make sense. Why would Ren Youcai stand on both sides?” Li Si’s eyes flickered as he looked at both sides of the porcelain shelf and continued, “Unless he didn’t come before the shelf to appreciate porcelain. Wu Wen, go to the left porcelain shelf and push the shelf toward the center.”
Li Si himself came to the side of the right porcelain shelf and also pushed the shelf toward the center.
“Crack crack!” An incredible phenomenon occurred. The two sections of porcelain shelf met in the middle, but they didn’t block each other. Instead, they interlocked and combined together, becoming a thicker wooden shelf. Li Si was startled to discover that on the inner side of the top corner of the interlaced shelf, two dim characters were carved. He murmured these two characters aloud: “Li… Luo.”
These two characters again. Li Si’s mind buzzed, and a certain scene deeply hidden in his memory surfaced once more. A huge white tomb, a black burial chamber—Li Si walked in as if possessed, his vision constantly attracted by a pair of brilliantly glowing golden objects. Only when he walked into the depths of the darkness did Li Si see clearly that the brilliantly glowing golden objects were actually two characters written on the tomb wall. Li Si softly spoke these two characters—Li Luo.
Below the golden characters “Li Luo,” there was also a twisted skull face.
The scene from last night in Yan Zige’s tomb—Li Si finally recalled it again. Li Si’s gaze locked onto the two characters “Li Luo” on the inner side of the bookshelf. He reached out his hand and groped downward along these two characters. Instantly, Li Si’s fingers touched a protruding embossed mark, as if it were a skull emerging from the wooden shelf.
An ice-cold hand suddenly landed on Li Si’s shoulder. Li Si couldn’t help but shudder. He looked back—it was Wu Wen.
Wu Wen said urgently, “Catcher, there’s movement outside. It seems someone is coming.”
Li Si wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said, “Quick, restore the wooden shelf to its original appearance.”
Li Si and Wu Wen had just separated the porcelain shelves when the study door was pushed open. A heavy voice came through: “This is bad. A major incident has occurred.”