"Lier, are you sure the insect in your room last night looked the same as this one?"
In the inner hall of Dali Temple, Lu Wuxie placed the insect they had captured the previous night from Xie Yunxi's secret chamber onto the table and inquired.
Before Zhong Li could reply, Hua Yao, prostrate on the table, gazed at the insect in the bottle and nodded vigorously. "Yes, it's the same, but... it also feels different somehow."
Lu Wuxie flicked the bottle. "Do you feel that this insect doesn't have as many spots on its body as the one you saw last night?"
Hua Yao's pupils widened, and realization dawned. "Yes, that's it."
Zhong Li picked up the glass bottle on the table. "Has Mo Cang discovered something?"
Lu Wuxie nodded. "I've flipped through ancient books for two days and finally found a record of this insect in the 'Records of Natural Phenomena'. This insect is called the Rotting Firefly, also known as the fire bug in folk tales."
"Fire bug? Candle?" Zhong Li reacted swiftly.
Lu Wuxie replied, "Yes. Legend has it that this type of insect was originally a kind of firefly but differs from them. It feeds on decaying corpses and bones, prefers heat and cannot tolerate cold. This insect is divided into male and female. The female primarily focuses on reproduction, and to prevent their eggs from getting cold, most will lay their eggs in soil where corpses are buried. The male attracts fire, and especially when encountering flammable, warm substances, they will burn themselves at all costs."
"This... this means that the deaths of the Prince Xian's Consort and Consort Shu are very likely related to this... Rotting Firefly?" Hua Yao exclaimed in surprise upon hearing Lu Wuxie's analysis of the insect.
Zhong Li nodded, her gaze fixed on the insect in the glass lamp. "When the Prince and I captured this insect in Xie Yunxi's secret chamber, it didn't burn. Observing its appearance, this should be a female Rotting Firefly."
"Yes!" Lu Wuxie agreed.
"Now that our doubts are resolved, I still have one thing I can't figure out," Hua Yao said. "Why do the male Rotting Fireflies burn?"
Zhong Li pondered. "They should have phosphorus on them."
"You mean will-o'-the-wisp?" Hua Yao asked.
Zhong Li nodded. "The 'Records of Natural Phenomena' states that these insects feed on rotten flesh and bones. Human bones contain phosphorus, so it should have absorbed this phosphorus. The reason the female ones haven't might be related to certain substances secreted by the insect itself; the more it secretes, the more phosphorus it absorbs.
As for Xie Yunxi and Consort Shu, do you remember that their bodies had wounds to varying degrees?"
"I remember!" Hua Yao quickly replied.
"First, the wounds were inflamed and bleeding, so the body temperature would have been higher than normal.
Second, this insect survives by sucking blood and eating rotten flesh, so its sense of smell must be extremely keen. Therefore, during its daytime foraging, it would prioritize the injured Xie Yunxi, and similarly for Consort Shu.
Third, people with more body fat are more likely to achieve the wick effect. Think about the physiques of Xie Yunxi and Consort Shu before their deaths, and this case becomes clear," Zhong Li explained.
"So the murderer used this to achieve undetectable murder!" Hua Yao exclaimed in amazement upon hearing this. "But why didn't this insect attack you and me yesterday?"
Zhong Li pointed to the sachet on Hua Yao's waist. "You forgot, I gave you an insect-repelling sachet at the Spring Festival banquet."
"Ah! So that's why!" Hua Yao realized and quickly took down the sachet from her waist, pressing it to her lips and kissing it as if it were a treasure.
Zhong Li watched her series of adorable actions with a smile. Her gaze fell on the Rotting Corpse Flower on the table, which was half-dead after a night of activity. "This insect must have been deliberately raised by someone. She raised it in the soil of the Rotting Corpse Flower, which not only allowed it to coexist with the flower but also allowed the young insects that flew out to loosen the soil for the flower, achieving two goals at once."
"Does Lier have any suspects in mind?" Lu Wuxie asked, walking up to her.
Zhong Li pursed her lips. "Yes, but as Yao'er said, she has no motive. Moreover, she is from a foreign country. If we go in the wrong direction, Dali Temple cannot account to the Emperor, and the diplomatic relations between the two countries will surely be problematic."
"Then what will you do?" Lu Wuxie asked again.
"Zi Chu, who is by Xie Yunxi's side, is someone from the Empress's faction, so we certainly won't get anything out of him. For now, the only way is to start with Xi Yun, who was with Consort Shu."
-------------------------------------
"Lord Zhong, this servant truly doesn't know, really doesn't know!"
Inside Consort Shu's chambers in the imperial palace, Xi Yun knelt on the ground, looking at the woman sitting opposite her with a terrified expression.
Zhong Li looked at her for a while, confirming that she wouldn't confess until she saw concrete evidence. She then signaled to Hua Yao, who was standing at the door.
Hua Yao walked in and placed a bundle she was carrying on the table in front of Xi Yun.
"Open it and take a look, then answer my questions," Zhong Li instructed Xi Yun to open the bundle.
Xi Yun swallowed several times. Despite her extreme reluctance, with the arrow drawn, she had no choice but to brace herself and reach out.
As the red knot slowly loosened, a desiccated infant corpse appeared before Xi Yun.
Xi Yun froze, a scream mixed with panic erupting. She threw the dried corpse aside and repeatedly kowtowed to the bluestone slab, crying, "Great Evil God, this servant was wrong! Great Evil God, this servant did not do it on purpose! This servant does not want to die, does not want to die!"
Hearing Xi Yun's involuntary outburst, Zhong Li was certain that Xi Yun knew something about Consort Shu. She picked up the child's corpse from the ground and set it aside. Then, she squatted down, grabbed Xi Yun's chin, and forced her to look at her.
"Xi Yun, you are indeed hiding something. I don't care what you do with your Evil God, but I can assure you that if you don't speak now, you won't even live for an hour!"
Zhong Li coldly tossed Xi Yun aside. Her body was already weakened by fear, and she could only crawl on the ground, panting heavily.
Zhong Li stood over her, watching with immense patience.
After a long while, Xi Yun remained dazed and unresponsive.
Zhong Li glanced at Hua Yao.
Hua Yao spoke towards the door, "Guards! Palace maid Xi Yun is involved in the death of Consort Shu. Drag her out and chop her into pieces to fertilize the flowers!"
As she spoke, there was a commotion at the door.
Xi Yun finally came to her senses. She scrambled to Zhong Li's feet and pleaded, "Assistant Magistrate Zhong, this servant will speak! This servant will tell you everything she knows!"
Zhong Li gave Hua Yao a signal.
Hua Yao closed the chamber door from the inside.
"This servant did conceal certain things about Consort Shu, but it wasn't intentional. Consort Shu forced me. She made me swear before the Evil God not to tell anyone, otherwise I would suffer a terrible death.
At first, this servant didn't believe it. Until Consort Shu died so inexplicably, this servant felt it must be the work of the Evil God. That's why this servant concealed information when Assistant Magistrate Zhong came that day," Xi Yun said, tears streaming down her face.
Zhong Li sighed and looked at the woman opposite her. "Don't worry, as long as you tell me everything obediently, the Evil God won't come for you."
"Really?" Xi Yun's face lit up with joy.
Zhong Li nodded. "Of course. Think about it, if I could bring the Evil God back to Dali Temple, I must have smashed its shrine. If the Evil God were to seek revenge, it would come for me first."
"It... it seems... that's right." Xi Yun, mollified by Zhong Li's few words, no longer felt nervous and slowly began to reveal Consort Shu's secret.