Chapter 148: Chapter 79 Marshal Captures the Criminal_2
Xiang Cao placed the candlestick before the small table, "Miss, you should rest. It’s almost Hai Hour."
"Aren’t we supposed to keep an eye on the room next door?"
Xiang Cao chuckled, "You still need to sleep, don’t you? Besides, even if Doctor Lu is up to something, he can’t go out every night. You rest, I’ll keep watch here. If there’s any disturbance, I’ll wake you up."
Her tone was casual, perhaps because she had not witnessed Lu Tong poisoning rabbits or stripping off blood-stained clothes with her own eyes. Therefore, she was not at all afraid, always feeling that Xia Rongrong was exaggerating.
Xia Rongrong, seeing her composed demeanor, also felt more at ease, removed her shoes, climbed into bed, and lay down.
Now that she had agreed to Bai Shouyi, it wouldn’t be right to go back on her word. But the thought that a murderer might be living next door always made her shudder. She wanted to tell Du Changqing about this, yet she worried that he might not believe her. But if she didn’t speak up, she feared that Du Changqing might one day become a ghost under Lu Tong’s blade.
After all, Du Changqing was her cousin and had been good to her.
As she hesitated and pondered, drowsiness crept up on her. Unaware, Xia Rongrong gradually fell asleep.
After an indefinite amount of time, a dull "thud" came from the courtyard, startling Xia Rongrong awake instantly.
The room was pitch-dark, the candle had burned out, and only the moonlight filtered through the window cracks, casting a faint glow in the room.
She got up and called in a low voice, "Xiang Cao?"
"Here I am," the maidservant fumbled over and took her hand beside the bed.
"Did you hear any noise just now?"
"I did, Miss. Don’t make a sound, I’ll go check it out." With that, Xiang Cao made her way to the window, groping ahead.
Xiang Cao was always brave, so Xia Rongrong was not worried and just watched as the maid slowly felt her way to the window.
Xiang Cao dared not light the candle, fearing she might be spotted, and even her breathing was suppressed. She pressed her face to the window, peering through the gap outside, leaving only her silhouette to Xia Rongrong.
From the courtyard came a muffled noise, faint but eerie and drawn out in the dead silence of the night, like a lingering drumbeat.
Xia Rongrong waited a long time without a response from Xiang Cao. Anxious yet afraid to speak up, she decided to get off the bed and, like the maid, fumbled her way to the window.
As she neared, she finally saw that Xiang Cao’s eyes were pressed against the window crack, her usually nonchalant expression now filled with shock and confusion. Large beads of sweat rolled down her forehead, making her appear like a melting statue.
Xia Rongrong’s heart pounded, and she bit her lip, held her breath, and also pressed her eyes against the window crack, trying to see what exactly Xiang Cao had seen.
And then she saw—
The moon was obscured by clouds, leaving only a dim gray shadow. Under a rugged plum tree next door, someone was bending over, digging the earth under the tree.
Xia Rongrong was taken aback.
This was indeed a bizarre scene.
Why would anyone be digging under a tree at such a late hour?
What was under the tree?
She leaned in further, straining to see the person’s actions more clearly by the plum tree. A square pit had already been dug, its darkness gaping. Two blurry figures, women, held shovels and were methodically digging the pit deeper and squarer.
Xia Rongrong could vaguely make out a blurry mass near them.
Were they planning to bury something?
The muffled sounds of shovels impacting the earth were chaotic and desolate in the night. As Xia Rongrong puzzled over this, a gust of wind suddenly arose. The wind bent the branches and scattered the rolling clouds.
In an instant, the moonlight broke through and illuminated the night, clearly revealing the shadows in the courtyard and in front of the pit.
A sack, half a person in length.
The sack lay quietly under the tree in the courtyard. Something bulged inside, unknown, but the miserably bright moonlight highlighted every detail of the seeping blood on the fabric.
Xia Rongrong’s pupils contracted, and she suddenly stepped back, a layer of cold sweat breaking out on her forehead.
Her lips quivering, she silently called, "Xiang Cao."
Xiang Cao turned her head, her terrified eyes meeting Xia Rongrong’s squarely.
That blood-stained, crumpled sack faintly outlined a vague human shape.
The eerie knocking in the courtyard stopped.
Someone stood in front of the finished pit and kicked the bloody sack, which tumbled into the pit with a "gurgle," producing a dull thud.