The sky hung low and heavy. A sudden rainstorm descended upon Niugu Mountain, pelting the bamboo building’s courtyard with pit marks. Within the burst-open grave was buried another, smaller tomb, its earth and stones a deep brown—clearly from a long-distant age.
The black-clothed man gazed at the grave, his eyes flickering in the rain. “If you want to talk, then talk.”
“Good. Let’s start with the reason for the killings. You killed the four—Hu, Liu, Huang, and Jiang—in connection with Chen Zhimei’s disappearance or death from fifteen years ago. Most likely, Chen Zhimei died at the hands of these four. Moreover, Chen Zhimei was about to give birth when she was murdered, so you also disemboweled them, making them fully taste Chen Zhimei’s bone-deep pain.” Li Si fixed his gaze on the black-clothed man’s eyes, hoping to read something from them.
But the black-clothed man’s eyes were like solid stone, standing firm and undisturbed.
Li Si paused briefly. “All signs indicate that after Hu, Liu, and the other four returned from Niugu Mountain, they possessed a considerable sum of money. Although they used the money in different ways afterward, the source of this money remained unclear. Based on this, I deduce that Hu, Liu, and the others killed for money, which is why you left lard, cheap rouge, coarse salt, and gourd seeds around the corpses—to hint at the four’s true faces and expose their ugly motive of murdering for wealth.”
The black-clothed man’s eyes were hollow, as if sinking into an invisible quagmire.
Li Si observed every minute detail and continued without hesitation. “The city gate pass is the eyes, ears, and tentacles of the county seat—sensing all movements and disturbances. Your purpose in infiltrating the city gate pass was undoubtedly to monitor Hu, Liu, and the others’ every move, seeking the best opportunity to kill them.”
“The only thing that deeply puzzles me is your relationship with Chen Zhimei.” Li Si said slowly. “Do you have anything to say about all the above?”
The black-clothed man still gazed at the grave and said coldly, “Some of what you said is right, some is wrong.”
“Which parts are right, and which are wrong?”
“Hu Hai, Liu Feng’er, Huang Gang, and Jiang Zeshui were indeed the evildoers who killed Chen Zhimei, but besides these four, there’s still a principal culprit living in the world. As for who the principal culprit is, I’m still not clear.” The black-clothed man’s eyes dimmed, and he continued, “That money of unknown origin wasn’t Chen Zhimei’s either. It was robbed from a gravely ill traveling merchant by Hu, Liu, and the other four. The robbed merchant died, and the four, like jackals, buried him beside the plank road. Fearing that Chen Zhimei, who was unwilling to share the money, would inform on them, they repeatedly tried to persuade Chen Zhimei to accept the stolen silver. Although Chen Zhimei was a woman, she saw clearly between black and white. When the four saw that persuasion wouldn’t work, they harbored evil intentions. Led by the villain Huang Gang, they pushed Chen Zhimei off the thousand-fathom ancient plank road.”
The black-clothed man spoke matter-of-factly, but his tone grew increasingly fierce and furious. “Although it wasn’t murdering for wealth, it was still killing to silence a witness for money. I left the lard and rouge precisely to expose the four’s greedy and brutal faces. So what you said before is half right and half wrong.”
“Serving as a gate soldier at the city gate pass—first, I could grasp the four’s habits and movements; second, I could have a hiding place. The disguise of gate soldier was originally solid, but the problem was that Tang Dayuan occasionally caught signs of my killings and actually tried to blackmail me, demanding I give him a generous sum of silver. Since I had no money and couldn’t give up this heaven-high, sea-deep revenge, I could only kill the insatiably greedy Tang Dayuan.” The black-clothed man sighed as faintly as a mosquito or fly. “I led him to the snake nest crevice and, catching him off guard, kicked him down. But I didn’t expect you to track me to the snake nest and learn my identity from Tang Dayuan’s mouth, causing my false cover as gate soldier to be exposed.”
“As for my relationship with Chen Zhimei, since you didn’t mention it, I have no need to answer.”
After listening carefully, Li Si said word by word, “In the crevice, Tang Dayuan cried out directly that ‘Qiao Zi harmed him’… You are Qiao Zi!”
The black-clothed man slowly nodded.
Li Si stared at him for a moment, then suddenly threw back his head in a long laugh. “Hahaha, marvelous, truly absolutely marvelous! If I hadn’t already penetrated the whole story, I might have really fallen for your trick. You are indeed a gate soldier, but you are definitely not Qiao Zi, but rather Tang Dayuan, who supposedly died in the snake’s mouth!”
Li Si pronounced “Tang Dayuan” forcefully and clearly, as if afraid the black-clothed man couldn’t hear.
The black-clothed man’s heart shook, the eyes behind the veil flickering in fragments. He looked at Li Si in shock, as if seeing him for the first time. “How did you… No, this is utter nonsense! What evidence do you have to say I’m Tang Dayuan!”
“Don’t be impatient—the evidence is right here.” Li Si pulled out a jujube-cake-sized square piece of white thread cloth and shook it toward the black-clothed man. “Here, this is it.”
“What is this?”
“When the killer strangled Hu, Liu, and Jiang, he used coarse white cloth to gag their mouths, preventing the three from calling for help, so a small amount of coarse thread was found in all three mouths. Only the dead Huang Gang’s mouth was empty—could it be that the night Huang Gang was murdered, his mouth wasn’t gagged? Absurd! By coincidence, that very night I was also in the deep alley behind Fulai Inn. I first heard a cry, then following the sound, discovered the slain Huang Gang. During that time, I didn’t hear a single cry or groan, indicating that Huang Gang’s mouth was also stuffed with something. However, it wasn’t coarse material, but something else!” Li Si exhaled and inhaled deeply. “The killer either lost the coarse cloth or forgot to bring it, so he used something else as a substitute.”
The black-clothed man’s sharp, cold gaze locked onto Li Si, his hand tendons bulging, killing intent palpable.
“After discovering this doubt, I immediately went to the black house to perform a second autopsy on Huang Gang. Heaven does not fail those who persevere—I finally found this small piece of silk gauze in Huang Gang’s throat and further detected that it was actually government-issued material. One side of the silk gauze was even embroidered with three tiny characters—Tang Dayuan.” Li Si unfolded the silk gauze and handed it to the black-clothed man.
The so-called government-issued material was actually a kind of welfare distributed by the court. For different departments and positions, the distributed materials also varied. For instance, prefecture constables who traveled year-round investigating cases and wore out their soles severely received a pair of sturdy official boots as their annual material. As another example, soldiers guarding various places received cotton quilts or cotton clothes as their material, and so on. Gate pass guards defending the city gate, because they faced wind and sun daily and sweated profusely, received a fine silk handkerchief as their distributed material, serving to cool and wipe away sweat. And because there were many people and mixed hands, each handkerchief was embroidered with the respective person’s name to prevent taking the wrong one.
The silk gauze in Huang Gang’s throat was precisely powerful physical evidence. Li Si gripped it firmly. “I’ve already cooperated with the gate official to secretly investigate the twenty-five gate soldiers. Except for your silk handkerchief, all the other issued handkerchiefs were intact and complete. It was also because Huang Gang knew survival was hopeless and desperately wanted to leave behind a trace of evidence, while you were careless and didn’t check—that’s how it fell into my hands. This is Heaven’s will working mysteriously. What more do you have to say, Tang Dayuan!”
The black-clothed man’s veil bulged, his breathing chaotic. “Making rash conclusions based on just a small piece of silk gauze—isn’t that laughable! Moreover, this object is dead while people are alive. How can you be sure someone isn’t deliberately framing me?”
“These words are quite biased. However, since you insist the silk gauze is a dead object, then let you see living proof as well.” Li Si stepped aside from the bamboo building’s dim corridor and said to the pitch-black interior, “Come out.”
Shadows flickered in the corridor, and presently two people emerged. The one in front had bright, piercing eyes and wore an official blade at his waist—it was precisely Li Si’s most capable subordinate, Wu Wen. Behind Wu Wen was a round-faced, round-bellied man with eyebrows and eyes squeezed together, tremblingly glancing toward Li Si and the black-clothed man in the courtyard.
Upon seeing the round-faced man, the black-clothed man looked as if he had swallowed a dead mouse, stammering helplessly, “Impossible! How can you possibly still be alive… Jiang Zeshui!”
Li Si smiled faintly, his memory returning to the scene when he was in Jiang Residence.
Li Si had found the plain painting of Old Peach Immortal in Jiang Residence’s study quite strange—it moved without wind, its edges slightly curled as if frequently lifted by someone. Li Si personally lifted the plain painting and found the wall color underneath fresher than elsewhere. Li Si suspected a hidden door and secret chamber inside, so he felt around the painting’s minute details and sure enough found a longan-sized small sphere.
The small sphere was recessed into the wall—unless examined carefully one by one, it would be extremely difficult to discover.
Li Si pressed down the small sphere, and the wall beneath the plain painting gradually separated to both sides, revealing a stone staircase leading underground. Li Si lit a fire candle and walked inside, reaching the bottom of the stone stairs in a moment.
At the bottom was connected a secret chamber about five zhang wide. The secret chamber was piled full with seven or eight boxes of gold, silver, and valuables, along with spices and medicinal materials. Li Si discovered a trembling man behind a large box. Dragging him out, Li Si couldn’t help but be dumbfounded—this man looked exactly like the dead Jiang Zeshui, identical in height, weight, and build.
Under Li Si’s interrogation, the truth came to light. It turned out that the one hiding in the secret chamber was the real Jiang Zeshui, while the one killed was his twin brother, Jiang Yushan. Jiang Zeshui had brought his twin brother Jiang Yushan from their hometown, originally intending to give him some silver to help him establish a career and start a family. Who knew that just as he entered the secret chamber, he heard violent sounds from above, and soon after, someone crying. Jiang Zeshui peered out from the hidden door and saw the black shadow fiercely and viciously interrogating Jiang Yushan. The Jiang family’s closest kin were only the two brothers. Jiang Zeshui had told his twin brother about the murder for wealth, which explained all of Jiang Yushan’s reactions under interrogation.
The black shadow killed Jiang Yushan. Jiang Zeshui, scared out of his wits, hid in the secret chamber until Li Si found him.
Memory returned to the cold, desolate bamboo building courtyard. Li Si recounted the previous events to the black-clothed man. The black-clothed man glared at Jiang Zeshui viciously and coldly—if not for Li Si’s presence as a deterrent, he would have long since gone over to tear apart and devour this enemy who had come back from the dead.
Li Si finished speaking and said calmly, “Jiang Zeshui has seen your face. Now we have both dead objects and living proof. How will you try to argue your way out now, Tang Dayuan?”
The black-clothed man was dazed for a moment, then suddenly removed his veil.
Beneath the veil was indeed Tang Dayuan.