“Ghosts?”
Zhong Li looked at Dong Qing with confusion.
Dong Qing said, "Have you ever heard, Chief Zhong, that when a person dies, they are dressed in red from head to toe? Neither heaven nor the underworld accepts them, and they can only wander the human world as vengeful spirits?"
Zhong Li rolled her eyes at Dong Qing. The esteemed Prefect was so superstitious. How could the people of Yongcheng trust him if this were to spread?
Dong Qing awkwardly pulled at the corners of his mouth, but he had no intention of ending the topic. "Chief Zhong, you shouldn't disbelieve this."
"What, have you seen one?" Lu Wuxie glanced at Dong Qing, finding it interesting, and inquired.
"How could I have seen one? Anyone who sees one would be dead, wouldn't they?" Dong Qing quickly waved his hands. "But..."
He thought for a moment and said, "I've heard from people living around the Meng Mansion that sometimes at midnight, they hear ghosts dressed in red appearing in the Meng Mansion, accompanied by the sounds of opera!"
"People around the Meng Mansion?" Zhong Li had no interest in Dong Qing's nonsensical ramblings. Her attention was entirely on the words 'around the Meng Mansion.' She was curious about who could have spoken about this matter so mysteriously.
Dong Qing scratched his head. "This is just the common folk spreading rumors."
"Prefect Dong!" Lu Wuxie's brows furrowed, his expression turning grim.
Dong Qing hurriedly cupped his hands upon hearing this.
"Prefect Dong, you are the parent official. Such wild speculations should not be uttered by an official," Lu Wuxie said.
"Yes, Your Highness is right!" Dong Qing's face turned red, and he bowed humbly.
"The case has not progressed. The only person connected to these two deceased is Xiao Chu. Keep a close eye on him, and try to get something out of him." Lu Wuxie, unwilling to listen to more of Dong Qing's nonsense, gave a few instructions and stood up to leave.
At this moment, the sunset obscured the sky, and the entire Yongcheng was bathed in a blood-red hue.
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"No, no!" In a certain part of Yongcheng, a woman, clad in near-transparent thin gauze, was curled up in a corner. Whether it was due to cold or fear, her whole body trembled like a sieve, her eyes reflecting extreme terror.
Suddenly, footsteps echoed from the darkness.
The woman trembled even more violently, not even noticing the foul-smelling liquid flowing from between her legs.
Candlelight slowly illuminated the woman.
From her toes, ankles, smooth calves, thighs, all the way to her face, which appeared rather good-looking.
"Please! Let me go, I... I... however much money you want, I'll give it to you." Tears involuntarily streamed down the woman's face, her expression a mixture of alertness and fear, making her seem somewhat ugly.
The person holding the candlestick remained silent, slowly crouching down.
The candlelight cast a glow on his profile. It was a ferocious ghost mask with a green face and fangs.
Seeing that he remained silent, the woman swallowed a few times and forced a smile. "Or... whatever you want me to do... I'm willing, as long as... you don't kill me!"
As she spoke, she even struck a provocative pose.
The person beneath the mask frowned, appearing disdainful.
But the woman didn't know this. Thinking she had guessed his intentions, she boldly raised her foot and lightly caressed the man's thigh.
"Ah!"
Before she could finish this gesture, a flash of silver light appeared. The woman hadn't even reacted when she felt a sharp pain in her foot. The masked man had somehow stood up and stomped on her foot.
"It hurts... it hurts so much!" The woman shrieked, but the man pressed down even harder.
The next moment, the woman felt her mouth being forcefully pried open, and a warm liquid was poured down her throat. By the time she realized what was happening, her body began to convulse uncontrollably, like a pitiful and terrifying rabid cat.
After a short while, the woman lay still.
The masked man admired her, then gracefully stood up from his chair, grabbed the woman's hair, and dragged her towards another room.
Throughout this, the person seemed to be in an excellent mood, whistling a tune.
The woman was dragged to an iron bed and laid out like a star. The bed seemed custom-made for her. There were fasteners for her head and limbs, and beneath the fasteners, a small drain trough that was already covered in thick blood.
The masked man secured the woman, appearing even more pleased. His whistling even took on a melodic tone.
He walked to one side of the iron bed, looked up at the guillotine blade hanging from the roof ridge, and forcefully twisted a mechanism beside him. As the chain attached to the guillotine blade began to emit a dull grinding sound, there was a 'thump.'
The green-faced, fanged mask was splattered thoroughly with blood, and the woman's limbs and head quickly rolled to the ground.
The masked man picked up a tray, collected the head and limbs from the ground, and turned towards a dark corner of the room.
It was an alcove draped with a curtain, and beneath it sat a large red chest.
The masked man opened the chest and rummaged for a while. When he stood up again, he held several items in his hands: a pair of red embroidered shoes and a set of gold and silver jewelry worn by a bride at her wedding.
He turned to look at the woman's head on the tray and smiled. He casually picked up one of the embroidered shoes and placed it on a blood-soaked foot. Then, holding it up, he spoke to her, "How is it, pretty?"
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Three days later, at the Yongcheng Inn.
Zhong Li had reclaimed all of Qi Shuishui's belongings from Dong Qing. In fact, when calculated, there weren't many items left on Qi Shuishui. The only valuable thing was this bracelet from the Liang family.
For three days, the case had made no progress. Dong Qing had beaten Xiao Chu half to death but had not obtained any useful confession. As for Liu Xiang'er, ever since she knew she had lost face, she hadn't received any visitors for days. Zhong Li wasn't planning to look for her either; she knew that if Liu Xiang'er truly knew something, she wouldn't have been deceived by Xiao Chu.
"Eat something." Lu Wuxie found some flower cakes from somewhere and placed them in front of Zhong Li.
Zhong Li propped her chin on her hand, looking at the beautifully made pastries before her, but she had no appetite at all.
Lu Wuxie knew her nature. This woman could sit here for three days and three nights without eating or drinking if the case wasn't solved. He sighed, "Sometimes, racking your brain isn't the solution. Going out for a walk might shed some light."
Zhong Li shook her head. She knew Lu Wuxie was trying to comfort her. The so-called shedding of light required clues to follow. Currently, this case had reached a dead end. Without modern forensic techniques, in this backward ancient era, this case could already be filed in the Dali Temple archives as a cold case.
"Qi Shuishui's body showed no signs of violation, and her valuables were all intact. The killer did not rob for sex or money. According to Xiao Chu's account, combined with Zhu Yin's body, it's likely that the killer did not have an irreconcilable feud with Qi Shuishui, perhaps not even knowing her at all. For what purpose did they commit such brutal murder?"
Zhong Li muttered, her brows furrowing deeper. "Could it be that Yongcheng has a perverted killer? This is quite troublesome."
As soon as she finished speaking, the door to the private room was violently pounded, making it creak and groan.
"Your Highness, is Chief Zhong in there?" Dong Qing's anxious voice came from outside the door.
Before Zhong Li could get up to answer the door, Dong Qing's voice rang out again, "It's bad! Another headless body has been found in the southern suburbs."