Zhu Yan had just sent Shen Du away, fuming so much she couldn’t sleep all night. She finally dozed off at the Hour of the Tiger, only to be awakened by knocking at the Hour of the Rabbit. With a throbbing headache, she could barely get up. Madam Jin and Lady Ru helped her dress in her official robes, arranged her hair, and ushered her out to the waiting carriage.
“Oh no! I forgot to bring the steamed buns for Sixth Lady,” Madam Jin exclaimed, slapping her forehead in frustration.
Lady Ru turned back to fetch them. “Wait for me!” she called.
Before they could finish speaking, the carriage had already gone quite far. The two women beat their chests in dismay, worried about Zhu Yan going to work without breakfast.
When Zhu Yan arrived at the Lai residence again, she was startled by the scene before her. In the garden, all the flowers and plants had been uprooted and tossed aside. Even the floor tiles had been pried up, revealing deep pits. Next to these pits lay exhumed corpses.
Some had turned to white bones, others were in the process of decomposition, and a few were still fresh with only scattered patches of livor mortis, clearly having died just days ago.
Zhu Yan frowned, donned her face mask and gloves, and strode forward. Beside her, Jing Lin yawned, dark circles under his eyes, as he pointed at the corpses:
“These were all killed by Lai Luozhi. He buried them in his courtyard as fertilizer for his flowers. Wasn’t he afraid these wronged souls would come seeking vengeance at night?”
Zhu Yan replied coldly, “Those who take pleasure in killing fear no ghosts.”
Jing Lin had the bodies moved to a designated room. Zhu Yan quickly completed her examination:
“Most were either poisoned or swiftly killed with sharp weapons. There are no obvious external injuries, just a single fatal wound on each body. Those poisoned show damaged internal organs and blackened bone marrow.”
After compiling the autopsy results, Zhu Yan still hadn’t seen Shen Du. Remembering the scene from the previous night and feeling uneasy, she grabbed Jing Lin to inquire about the situation.
Surprised that Zhu Yan was unaware, Jing Lin described Lai Luozhi’s rebellion. Zhu Yan finally understood why Shen Du had come to her in the middle of the night.
With Lai Luozhi captured, Shen Du no longer needed to feign allegiance or divorce her. He must have been eager to share this good news, which explained his midnight window-climbing.
But was that the point? What a fool.
As Zhu Yan’s thoughts wandered, Jing Lin led her to the cellar. Carrying her autopsy kit, she entered and almost thought she was back in the Guangchun Hall cellar in Yingzhou.
The room was filled with dismembered bodies, and the missing hearts had been turned into human preserves.
Zhu Yan quickly called for Jing Lin to fetch Lu Chuichui from the Ministry of Justice to assist, while she urgently began examining the bodies.
Not a single complete corpse could be assembled from the remains. Upon closer inspection, she discovered that all the dismembered bodies had been gnawed on, including the hearts. Some partially eaten hearts lay discarded nearby.
Lu Chuichui, responsible for recording, was so nauseated she vomited bile. Pointing at the horrifying human preserves with tear-filled eyes, she stammered:
“Could it be… could it be that Lai Luozhi’s hobby was… cannibalism?”
This statement suddenly enlightened Zhu Yan: “Yes, that’s it. Whether it was Madam Tang, Chen Huoe, or Liang Jiren, they were all procuring edible bodies for Lai Luozhi. He didn’t believe in resurrection after death; he believed in Taoist immortality techniques. The Fire Moth was just a tool he created to confuse people.”
It was rumored that Taoist patriarch Li Er lived for over 900 years, and the celestial master Yuan Tiangong, who predicted the Empress’s ascension to the throne, was said to still reside on Penglai Island in the East Sea, looking as youthful as ever. Some people, unwilling to endure the hardships of cultivation, turned their attention to the art of immortality.
The so-called art of immortality involved sacrificing the blood and flesh of people born under special circumstances to the true gods, supposedly gaining immunity to illness, aging, and death.
This was, of course, impossible, and thus avoided by righteous practitioners. The imperial family also banned the practice of immortality arts. However, some practitioners became obsessed with the idea of eternal life, inevitably falling into demonic ways and committing such atrocities.
“Jing Lin, have someone investigate and record the birth dates and times of all registered victims who lost body parts to Lai Luozhi,” Zhu Yan instructed.
Jing Lin acknowledged and left.
Meanwhile, Lu Chuichui, having emptied her stomach from vomiting, forced herself to suppress her nausea and record Zhu Yan’s words. She rushed out of the cellar, gasping for air, and leaned weakly against a wooden pillar:
“Sixth Lady, why did we ever choose to work for the Ministry of Justice? There are so many other peaceful government offices among the Three Departments and Six Ministries. We could have gone anywhere else!”
Zhu Yan sighed, removing her face mask and gloves to wash her hands before speaking to Lu Chuichui:
“Speaking for the dead is a virtuous deed.”
Even as she said this, Lu Chuichui cast a resentful glance at her, her face pale as a sheet.
Just then, a local constable came to inform Zhu Yan that Madam Jin had been abducted.
Simultaneously, Shen Du was notified of Lai Luozhi’s prison break and hurried from the palace to the Cabinet prison.
Soon, the two met at the Zhu residence. Zhu Yan, teary-eyed, collapsed into Zhu Manshu’s arms. Lai Luozhi’s escape was a major incident, and the Ministry of Justice had sent people to assist with the investigation in the room.
As Shen Du approached Zhu Yan, Zhu Manshu pointed at him accusingly: “This is all because of you! Lai Luozhi must be taking revenge on the Zhu family because of you, abducting our Little Madam.”
Shen Du silently accepted the blame. “I’ll go examine the scene.”
This time, Zhu Moji suddenly seemed to have matured, leading Shen Du over with reddened eyes but maintaining his composure:
“Why would Lai Luozhi kidnap Little Madam? If he wanted revenge, shouldn’t he target you or Sixth Sister?”
This was also Shen Du’s question. After some thought, he said, “The reason must still lie with Zhu Yan.”
After searching the Zhu residence thoroughly and finding no useful clues, Shen Du felt disappointed and worried about how Zhu Yan would cope. To his surprise, he turned to see Zhu Yan standing there, her eyes red and swollen, calmly analyzing the situation:
“My mother is a sheltered woman, and lazy too. She usually needs to ride in a carriage even for short trips down the street. She lacks stamina and certainly can’t walk far.”
Shen Du admired Zhu Yan’s mental fortitude. “Lai Luozhi endured torture in the Cabinet prison. Although he’s skilled in martial arts and has good stamina, he must have been weakened considerably. He couldn’t have gone far either.”
Zhu Yan continued: “These past days, I’ve been gathering evidence. Combining it with the Buddha Swallowing Sin case, I’ve deduced that Lai Luozhi’s first taste of human flesh was the heart. Remember? Liang Chenzhong and Kuang Zhanxin’s bodies were found in Ximing Temple.”
“That time, a total of six bodies were discovered, all embracing each other with their hearts missing.”
“On the surface, it seemed like Madam Tang’s claim of killing out of jealousy, targeting illicit lovers and removing their hearts. But in reality, the real Madam Tang had long been dead. The killer was just a puppet, using the deceased Madam Tang’s past experiences as a cover for the murders.”
“Madam Tang was Chen Huoe, and Chen Huoe was Lai Luofu, while the real Lai Luofu had already died.”
“They all carried the scent of sandalwood, which is only found in temples.”
Shen Du’s eyes lit up. “The most dangerous place is the safest.”
They had sealed the city gates, not considering that Lai Luozhi, having abducted someone and unable to travel far, wouldn’t leave the city at all.
“Let’s go to Ximing Temple,” Shen Du said.
Without another word, he scooped up Zhu Yan, mounted his horse, and turned towards the Ximing Temple in the Western Market.
The others followed closely behind.