novelinnhs Chapter 33 Croak! The Coroner
Chapter 33 Croak! The Coroner
night.
On the rocky beach near the Luoshui Bridge, the stench of blood attracted wild dogs from the distant wilderness.
Its scarlet eyes were somewhat eerie in the darkness, but intimidated by the rings of torches and the chilling aura of soldiers on the riverbank, it only dared to let out a greedy yet timid low bark from a hundred paces away.
Zhou Shouzhen stood beside a corpse stripped of its armor, his face dark.
That's Zhao Wu.
The fully armored bandit who cornered Lu Feng, the second young master of the Lu family, and whose heart meridian was shattered by a single palm strike from Lord Zhang who arrived at the scene.
However, Zhao Wu looked truly pitiful. A large part of his chest was sunken in, a fatal wound, but what truly made the guards holding torches around him unable to look directly at him was his face.
Or rather, it was his eyes that had become bloody holes.
"Old He, have you figured it out yet?" Zhou Shouzhen kicked a pebble at his feet in frustration. "We've been looking at this for half an incense stick's time, give me a straight answer."
Squatting next to the corpse was an old man who was so thin he looked like a piece of withered tree bark.
He was the most senior coroner in the Yinyang City army, surnamed He. No one knew his full name; everyone called him Old He. He had spent forty years crawling among piles of corpses, and it was said that his hands had touched more corpses than Zhou Shouzhen had seen living people.
At this moment, Old He was squinting his cloudy old eyes, holding a silver needle used to examine the wound, and carefully poking at Zhao Wu's left eye socket.
"Tsk tsk tsk..."
Old He smacked his lips and let out a few ambiguous sighs. He didn't rush to reply, but instead took out a pair of slender tweezers from his tool bag and probed deep into the bloody eye socket.
"Click."
A slight, crisp sound.
Old He's wrist was extremely steady as he slowly pried something out from the red and white rotten flesh.
The guards around couldn't help but move closer to see what was happening by the light of the torches.
It was a withered tree branch, only about the length of a little finger.
Extremely common, found everywhere, and so dry that it breaks easily with the slightest force.
"This is it?" Zhou Shouzhen's brows furrowed deeply. "A broken tree branch?"
"Lord Zhou, don't underestimate this broken tree branch." Old He placed the broken branch on a white cloth, wiped the bloodstains on his hands with his sleeve, and his tone became sinister and professional. "This thing went straight into the center of the eyeball, pierced through the eyeball, crushed the tissue behind it, and finally got stuck near the eye socket."
"If it weren't for the fact that it wasn't long enough, it might have been able to pierce even deeper and kill the target in one strike."
Old He pointed to Zhao Wu's corpse and gestured: "Zhao Wu was a master of the Inner Qi Realm, and he was wearing full armor at the time, with only a finger's width gap in his visor. To accurately insert such a fragile, withered branch into that gap, and with enough force to pierce the eyeball... Sir, do you think that's easy?"
Zhou Shouzhen remained silent.
not easy.
It's not just difficult, it's downright unbelievable.
He could understand it if it were a fine steel dagger or even an iron nail.
Although it's quite difficult to do, and you might succeed only once or twice out of ten times, it's still achievable...
But it's a dead branch!
This is a fucking dead branch!
Those who practice martial arts know the level of "even flying flowers and plucked leaves can injure people," but this requires an extremely profound infusion of internal energy.
Moreover, even with the infusion of internal energy, the material of the branch itself makes it difficult to withstand a large amount of internal energy! If too much is infused, the branch might not be able to withstand the pressure and break; if too little…
How could it possibly pierce the eyeball?
This isn't a resilient, freshly broken branch! It's a dead branch! If you're not careful, it will break off in your hand!
unless……
"Speed." Old He held up one finger. "Extremely fast. So fast that the branch hadn't even had time to break before it was already stuck in there."
"That little girl from the Lu family said that it was her second brother, Lu Feng, who blinded her in a desperate counterattack," Zhou Shouzhen recalled Nan Nan's words, then hesitated, "When people are on the verge of death, they unleash their potential, perhaps..."
"Nonsense." Old He interrupted him without any politeness. As a technical authority, he never gave his superiors any face in front of corpses.
"Lord Zhou, you are also a martial artist, take a look at the angle of this wound yourself."
Old He squatted down again, picked up a branch of roughly the same length from the ground, and simulated the action of stabbing.
"The second young master of the Lu family must be at least seven feet tall, right? Even if he was seriously injured and on the ground, or kneeling, the angle at which he thrust his weapon should have been horizontal or diagonally downward. At the very least, if the two of them were wrestling, there would definitely be a large area of abrasions and collision marks around the wound."
"But this body, there isn't."
Old He pointed to the wound on Zhao Wu's left eye, gesturing with the branch in his hand at an extremely strange angle—directly towards the center of the eyeball.
"The wound is right in the center of the eyeball, which doesn't match the height of the second young master of the Lu family. Besides, even if he really did stab me, how did he hold such a short twig? Did he pinch it between two fingers and stab it in?"
Old He gestured with his hand and held it up in front of Zhou Shouzhen's eyes: "Look, from this angle, there's no way it could have hit the exact center."
"So it can't be the second young master of the Lu family."
"But there's another possibility: this guy is bent over with his head down, in which case it might be possible to pierce right in the middle."
"But that requires the attacker to be at that height at the time." Old He gestured, indicating that the height was even lower than a normal person's waist.
"Moreover, this happened while Zhao Wu was standing and in an offensive stance. In other words, something extremely short suddenly rose up from beside his feet when Zhao Wu was completely unprepared and struck him, crippling his eyes."
Zhou Shouzhen felt a chill run down his spine: "Extremely short? Could he be a dwarf assassin?"
"Don't worry, there's still the right eye." Old He didn't reply, but pointed to Zhao Wu's other empty eye socket.
That side was even more terrifying.
The eyeball was completely gone, and there was a clear tear at the edge of the eye socket, as if it had been hit hard by some blunt object and then the contents inside had been forcibly pulled out.
"This wasn't cut by a sharp blade." Old He examined the edges of the wound. "If it were pried with a knife or hooked, the flesh would roll back. But this wound... it's more like it was stuck or hooked by something, and then pulled out instantly by the great elasticity."
"It's like..." Old He frowned and thought for a long time for an adjective, "It's like being shot in the eye with a powerful crossbow, and then the crossbow bolt is attached to a rope and instantly retracted."
Zhou Shouzhen felt a chill run down his spine.
The withered branches, sharp as arrows, yanked back at my eyes.
This is something no human being could do.
"Old He, just tell me straight, who do you think did it?" Zhou Shouzhen couldn't help but ask.
Old He stood up, clapped his hands, and turned his gaze toward the official road leading to Yinyang City.
"Lu Feng couldn't do it. Even if he wasn't injured, he couldn't do it. This isn't human power; it can only be the power of some kind of hidden weapon."
"Mechanisms, mechanisms, hidden weapons."
Old He said with certainty, "Only the most advanced concealed weapon mechanism can give a withered branch the penetrating power of a crossbow bolt. And only a grappling hook or sticky rope-type concealed weapon can cause the kind of tearing injury to the right eye."
"The two wounds occurred almost simultaneously."
"I think the attacker first shot a hooked arrow with a rope attached, and after tearing off the right eyeball, he had no choice but to pick up a dry branch and shoot at the opponent because he had no arrows left."
"However, because the dead branch was fragile, the latter half broke off, leaving only the front half to pierce the eyeball."
Old He turned his head, looked at Zhou Shouzhen, and a glint of confidence flashed in his eyes.
"Lord Zhou, you just said that besides Lu Feng and that fully armored bandit, who else was present at the scene?"
Zhou Shouzhen paused for a moment, and the image of the little girl with a face covered in mud and eyes full of fear, along with the inconspicuous green frog in her arms, came to mind.
He completely ignored the frog.
A frog certainly couldn't do that...
The only survivor...
"You mean... that little girl from the Lu family? Nan Nan?" Zhou Shouzhen's eyes widened. "How old is she! She can't even hold a knife properly!"
"Precisely because she is only a few years old, and precisely because she cannot hold a knife properly, the Lu family needs to give her a trump card to save her life."
Old He sneered and pointed to the height of his knees. "Look, isn't this exactly the height that little girl can raise her hand?"
boom!
It was as if a thunderbolt had exploded in Zhou Shouzhen's mind.
The altitude... matches.
Everything fits together.
Why can a dead branch kill someone? Because it was shot out from a powerful mechanism.
Why was the right eye ripped out? Because it was some kind of retractable hook arrow.
Why is it said that Lu Feng did it? It was to protect his younger sister and to hide the Lu family's last trump card! No wonder that little girl looked so strange back then!
It turns out it was because she had just committed murder and was completely unprepared!
Yes, that matches!
Zhou Shouzhen looked at the coroner with admiration!
As expected of an experienced coroner, he was able to analyze this!
"The Lu family... is indeed unfathomable." Zhou Shouzhen muttered to himself. He recalled that he had wanted to touch that little girl's head at the time, and suddenly felt a wave of fear.
If the little girl had been startled, the mechanism in her sleeve might have misfired...
"Indeed... In all my years as a coroner, this is the first time I've seen such a perplexing wound. And there wasn't even a trace of a hidden weapon left at the scene..." The old coroner shook his head. "They must have been prepared!"
"...But shouldn't this be considered a controlled weapon?" Zhou Shouzhen asked in a low voice.
"Of course, whether it's a hidden blade or a crossbow, it definitely is!" The old coroner nodded confidently!
"Keep quiet!" Zhou Shouzhen whirled around and shouted sternly at his personal guards. "The results of today's autopsy are to be kept secret! No one is allowed to divulge them! Just say that Young Master Lu fought back to the death! Do you understand?!"
"yes!"
……
…………
The journey back to the city seemed exceptionally long.
The dilapidated cart creaked and groaned, and the piles of corpses on it swayed slightly with the bumps, as if they were about to sit up at any moment.
Zhao Qian, the young bodyguard in charge of driving the carriage, looked no better than the corpse.
He was a new recruit, and this was the first time he had ever seen such a horrific scene. The corpses with empty eye sockets and the pieces of flesh scattered all over the ground made his stomach churn.
To dispel the fear in his heart, he couldn't help but turn to look at Zhou Shouzhen, who was riding a horse beside him.
"Boss..." Zhao Qian's voice trembled slightly, "Is...is this all over?"
"Is it over?" Zhou Shouzhen, mounted on his horse, had a face so dark it could drip water. "This is nothing. These deserters are dead, but why did they desert? Where did they escape from? That's the real trouble."
Zhao Qian shrank back, not daring to take the bait.
He thought for a moment, then changed the subject, trying to talk about something further away.
"Boss, I just heard some surviving guards from the Lu family wailing, saying... saying Lu Family City is gone?" Zhao Qian lowered his voice, as if afraid of disturbing the wandering ghosts by the roadside. "They said... it's empty? Really... not even a dog left?"
Zhou Shouzhen scratched his hair under his helmet in frustration and spat.
He didn't believe this information either.
But this information was obtained by Lord Zhang after he sent people to Lujiacheng several times! It's impossible that the people he sent over each time deliberately misled Lord Zhang and told him the same nonsense!
What are they after?
Therefore, it can only be true.
"Hmm. It's empty." Zhou Shouzhen nodded and sighed.
"Really...really that kind of emptiness?" Zhao Qian gestured, "You mean...the person suddenly disappeared, the food was still hot, and the chickens stopped crowing?"
"It's even more bizarre than that." A hint of apprehension flashed in Zhou Shouzhen's eyes. "The scouts sent by Lord Zhang came back and said that the city gates were intact, the city walls hadn't collapsed, and all the gold, silver, and valuables in the house were still there, and even the teacups on the table hadn't been overturned. But... there was no sign of life."
"Even the insects are gone. The deathly silence... It's said that people who go in, even at midday, feel a chill seeping into their bones."
"If we had to say, the only things left alive might be trees? Grass? The spies from the past were terrified; the clinic said they were scared out of their wits."
Zhao Qian shuddered, nearly dropping the whip in his hand.
"This...this is too..." Zhao Qian stammered for a long time before finally managing to say, "How powerful must this evil spirit be? Boss, the Lu family is so rich, why don't they hire the Taoist priests from Xu Fengshan?"
"Xu Fengshan?" Zhou Shouzhen sneered.
Those ghosts?
"Yes, isn't Xufeng Mountain a famous sacred mountain in our area?" Zhao Qian's eyes revealed a hint of innocence. "My mother said that the Taoist priests on Xufeng Mountain can perform rituals, and the talismans they draw are incredibly effective. If you stick one on the door, evil spirits will definitely not dare to enter."
"Heh." Zhou Shouzhen smiled mockingly, as if he had heard a joke.
"Relying on them? You're something else."
Zhou Shouzhen raised his riding whip and pointed to the outline of the mountains to the west, hidden in the night. Xu Feng Mountain was in that direction, no more than a hundred miles away.
"Zhao Qian, do you think Taoist priests are gods? That they can summon wind and rain, and turn beans into soldiers?"
"Then...isn't that it?" Zhao Qian asked blankly. "That's how it's sung in operas, saying that Xu Fengshan has thunder magic..."
"Those plays are for idiots," Zhou Shouzhen said coldly. "The Taoist priests of Xufeng Mountain can only chant a few sutras, concoct some pills that won't kill people, and give people a feng shui reading."
If they were to encounter weapons, they would run faster than anyone else.
"But...but these aren't weapons, they're evil spirits..."
"Evil spirits?" A deep sense of helplessness flashed in Zhou Shouzhen's eyes. "If it were just some kind of will-o'-the-wisp that scare children, Taoist priests might be able to handle it. But something like Lu Jiacheng's... something that swallowed tens of thousands of people in one night, do you expect a few old Taoist priests chanting sutras to withstand it?"
Zhou Shouzhen paused, lowering his voice even further, as if he were talking about something taboo.
"To tell you the truth, about two weeks ago, Lord Zhang asked me to send someone to Xufeng Mountain to ask for some peace charms for the Lu family to facilitate their relocation. He also wanted to ask the abbot what he thought of the world."
"And the result?" Zhao Qian asked eagerly.
"And the result?" Zhou Shouzhen scoffed. "In the end, they couldn't even get through the mountain gate. The gate was tightly closed, with only a young Taoist boy at the entrance hanging a sign that said, 'Closed for seclusion and cultivation, no guests welcome.'"
"Seclusion?"
"What a load of rubbish about seclusion," Zhou Shouzhen cursed. "They're just scared. Those old Taoist priests smelled the ghost, knew it was a real ghost, and didn't dare come!"
"If they had even a little bit of ability, they wouldn't be completely incompetent!"
……
…………
In the study of the garrison commander's mansion in Yinyang City.
The water clock had already dripped past midnight, but the study was still brightly lit.
Lord Zhang sat in the large armchair, looking as if he had aged ten years. His usual composure, that of a wealthy man, had vanished, replaced by a deep, indescribable weariness and anxiety.
On the ground in front of him were several suits of armor.
It was taken from Zhao Wu and the others. The bloodstains on it had been washed away, revealing its original bluish-gray color.
The armor was not of high quality; in fact, it was quite worn. Some of the plates showed obvious signs of repair, indicating they had been haphazardly strung together with wire.
Lord Zhang bent down and picked up a breastplate.
His rough thumb rubbed the inside of the breastplate, where there was a worn-out, blurred steel mark—a simple character for "patrol".
"Patrol Battalion..."
Lord Zhang muttered to himself, his voice hoarse.
These are the most ordinary and inconspicuous patrol infantrymen in the royal city.
Their usual work consisted of patrolling the streets, catching thieves, and guarding the city gates. They received the meager military pay, wore the most worn-out armor, and were at the very bottom of the royal city's defense system.
But now, these lowly soldiers have actually escaped, and even went so far as to ambush and kill powerful families like the Lu family on the way, all for a few carts of gold and silver.
Why?
Lord Zhang couldn't understand it.
"grown ups."
From the shadows, a staff member dressed in a scholar's robe emerged silently. He carried a thick stack of documents, the newspapers from the past three months.
"Have you checked it?" Lord Zhang didn't even turn his head, still staring at the breastplate in his hand.
"I've checked." The aide's voice was a little hoarse. "All the reports, forty-eight in total, sent from the capital to various prefectures, including those sent to our Yinyang City... they're all here."
Lord Zhang took the stack of newspapers and casually flipped through a few.
The handwriting was neat and the language was elegant.
"On the third day of the third lunar month, the grand spring festival ceremony was held, with His Majesty in attendance, and all the people rejoicing..."
"On the fifteenth of March, the northern border was peaceful, and there was no fighting..."
"On the first day of the fourth lunar month, may the weather be favorable and the harvest plentiful..."
Every copy of the local newspaper was filled with the words "peace and tranquility".
"Peace...heh, what a peaceful place." Lord Zhang suddenly laughed, his laughter dry and short, like he was crying.
He slammed the newspaper in his hand to the ground!
Whoosh!
Damn it! If it were peaceful, how come all the deserters from the capital have fled to this godforsaken place?! Damn it! This place is haunted by evil spirits and an entire city is gone! And other places are peaceful?!
The papers fluttered and scattered all over the ground, covering the few tattered suits of armor.
"My lord, this..." The aide was startled and quickly bent down to pick it up. "Please calm down, my lord."
"Calm down? How can I calm down?!"
Lord Zhang abruptly stood up, pointing at the armor on the ground, his fingers trembling violently. "Look at this armor! This is the royal city's patrol battalion! Soldiers responsible for maintaining order in the capital region! If the royal city is truly as peaceful and prosperous as the reports say, why would these soldiers run away? Why would they desert?!"
"My lord... perhaps... perhaps someone has rebelled?" the advisor cautiously speculated. "Or... perhaps the barbarians from the north have invaded, and the reports have been blocked?"
"Rebellion? Foreign enemy?"
Lord Zhang slumped back into his chair, his eyes blankly fixed on the flickering candlelight.
"If it were a rebellion, there would be a proclamation broadcast throughout the land. Even the smallest rebel king would make it known to the whole world. If it were a foreign invasion, they would have transferred me there long ago! How many rebellions have there been in the past? Didn't they always do the same thing?"
"But there's nothing. There's nothing at all."
Lord Zhang's voice lowered, carrying a chilling aura.
"In this world, is there any battle that starts without a sound? Is there any battle that can force the soldiers in charge of city defense and security to collapse and flee?"
"The royal city has fallen?! There's still no news from Yin Yang. Tell me, where the hell did this enemy come from?!"
The aide opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a word.
Yes, that's so unreasonable.
If it's a tangible enemy, whether human or beast, there should be some kind of reaction.
There is only one possibility.
Lord Zhang spoke slowly, his gaze passing through the window and looking towards the direction of the royal city—that was to the north, where it was pitch black at the moment.
"Nobody is at war."
"But just like Lu Jiacheng..."
Lord Zhang thought of Lu Ye, and of that deserted city.
"What they were facing was something that swords and spears couldn't solve. They couldn't even fight back; they could only run. Run for their lives."
A deathly silence fell over the study.
After a long while, Lord Zhang waved his hand, his voice weary.
"Send the order: martial law is to be declared throughout Yinyang City. Double the number of torches on the city walls and double the number of patrols."
"Sir, who are we guarding against?" the aide asked.
"have no idea."
Lord Zhang looked at the report on the ground. The four characters "Peace Under Heaven" on it appeared extremely glaring and ironic under the dim light.
"Who the hell knows what happened!"
……