Half River Autumn Moon and River Spring [Rat and Cat]

Chapter 111

That night, the moon was hidden in the mist, and the cool wind scattered.

On the branches of the ancient tree, the ghost owl covered in gray feathers stared at everything in the darkness silently with round eyes.

The two figures slowly approached Mengpanshan's cemetery invisibly, and the quiet night like a mirror never caused a ripple.

"Cat, you asked me to bring an iron pick to accompany you to the mound of this cemetery village so late, and even changed into night clothes specially. Do you want to bury something or dig a grave?" Zhan Zhao in black was buried in his search, but he couldn't help but asked aloud.

"Don't ask, let me look for that grave... I remember it was nearby. I noticed him when we passed by this cemetery in the morning... Ah! Yes, it's this grave!" Zhao raised the cat's paw to call Bai Yutang over, "Mice, come and see!"

Hearing the words, Bai Yutang leaned over, took a look through Zhan Zhao's torch, and saw on the tombstone that "the spirit of Ruan Ping's family, the stupid man Wei Huxiang, weeping blood and accepting stones" was written on the tombstone. Bai Yutang said, "This is the village The tomb of the eldest lady?"

Zhan Zhao nodded, pointed to the time when the monument was erected, and said, "Look at the date of erection of the monument, it says Qianyue Gudan, and Qianyue is April. It has been nearly half a year, but look at this The tomb, the tomb is covered with new soil, it should have been refurbished not long ago..."

Bai Yutang took a look at the cemetery, and sure enough, the soil had been refurbished, and the grass sprouts were slightly beginning to protrude.

"That's strange. It's still far away from the Qingming Festival. There's no reason to renovate a new tomb in less than half a year...Could it be..."

Zhan Zhao straightened up, took his pickaxe and said, "Dig it out and see."

"This..." Bai Yutang was in a bit of a dilemma. After all, digging a grave and opening a coffin is not an honorable thing, otherwise Zhan Zhao would not have secretly brought him to the cemetery at night, not to mention that he has never touched his fingers since he was a child. The eldest young master of Yang Chunshui has never done this kind of burying. In the end, he was still fighting ideologically, while Zhan Zhao was already facing the grave with his hands clasped together, bowing and apologizing: "I'm sorry, Madam Wei. We are going to dig your grave, disturbing your cleanliness, but this is also to find out the real culprit, I hope you will not take offense in the spirit of heaven, and we will definitely credit you for finding out the truth in the future!"

After saying that, Zhan Zhao went to the back of the grave and began to dig the soil. After digging a few times, seeing that Bai Yutang didn't move, he greeted him, "Mice, don't be shy, I've greeted the old man, hurry up, Give me a hand, anyway, mice dig holes fast!"

Bai Yutang: "..."

Forget it, what can't be done for the cat?So Bai Yutang gave up struggling and joined Zhan Zhao to dig hard together.

The two of them dug for about a stick of incense, and the coffin was fully exposed. Holding the pickaxe, Bai Yutang asked, "Cat, do you want to open the coffin?"

Zhan Zhao walked around the coffin, and carefully checked the seal of the coffin. Seeing that all the nails that sealed the coffin were intact, there was no sign of being pried open and nailed again, not only puzzled, but said: "This coffin has never been opened? Is my guess wrong?"

"Isn't it really just a renovation of the soil?"

Zhan Zhao didn't speak, and jumped into the grave just as he was about to check again, when suddenly he raised his head and said, "Mouse, the mud under the coffin has also been touched, and it was loose when I stepped on it! The problem is not the coffin, It's under the coffin!"

"This...you mean there is something under the coffin?"

Zhan Zhao nodded and said, "Come on, help carry the coffin up."

Bai Yutang looked at his dirty hands, sighed, jumped down without hesitation to help Zhan Zhao carry the coffin, the two of them worked together to lift the coffin and put it aside, Zhan Zhao shoveled in the pit with an iron pick, unexpectedly He really found a wooden box buried under the coffin!

This wooden box is an ordinary box used by ordinary people to store clothes and quilts. The copper latch on the box cover is not even locked. The two moved the wooden box out. Just as Zhan Zhao was about to open it, Bai Yutang stopped him: "Cat, don't you smell a bad smell coming out of this box? Before opening the box, cover your mouth and nose with a face towel."

Zhan Zhao was so obedient that he covered his face with the scarf. Seeing that Bai Yutang had already covered himself, he nodded slightly, unlocked the latch, and slowly opened the lid of the box.

A strong rancid smell suddenly escaped from the opened box, making both of them dizzy. Zhan Zhao finally got used to it for a while, and looked into the box. He had already made up his mind. Getting ready, I was suddenly stunned by the contents of the box.

Seeing this, Bai Yutang at the side resisted the smell and poked his head for a look, then turned his head in an instant to feel sick, he hurriedly stood up and walked a few steps away from the box, leaning on a tree beside him to get some fresh air, but Thinking of the things in the box, I couldn't help feeling sick again.

After all, Zhan Zhao was working in Kaifeng Mansion, he was used to seeing such things, and after he got used to it, he started to check, and Bai Yutang hid away the whole time, until Zhan Zhao finished the inspection and closed the lid of the wooden box.

After closing the lid, Zhan Zhao squatted in front of the box, a little dazed.

Bai Yutang pulled down the towel, tried to take a few breaths, and said worriedly, "Cat, are you alright?"

Zhan Zhao came back to his senses, glanced at Bai Yutang and said, "It's okay, the corpse inside has been there for a while, and it's normal for the blood to leak and have a pungent nose."

After the box was closed, the surrounding air finally became less uncomfortable. Bai Yutang walked up to Zhan Zhao and asked, "I just took a look at it, and it should be human limbs, could it be Wei Quan?" where?"

Zhan Zhao said: "Judging from the size and time, it should be Wei Quan's limbs and torso, but there are many doubts."

"Doubtful?"

"First, why are Wei Quan's limbs buried here? The sixth master of the grave village told me that when he found Wei Quan at the entrance of the village, Wei Quan had lost his limbs and was discarded there. , then what is the explanation for this corpse?"

Bai Yutang thought for a while and said, "Master Li once said that blood was found on the edge of the cliff. Could it be that the people from the grave village went to the cliff and found Wei Quan's severed limb? Then they buried it when they came back?"

"If that's the case, then it can be buried directly. Why did you deliberately bury it under Mrs. Wei's coffin?"

"Well, that's really weird."

Zhan Zhao continued: "Secondly, there are cuts all over the severed limb, and the limbs have been cut to pieces! Judging from the shape of the wound, it should be cut by a short blade similar to a dagger. Mr. Gongsun once taught me to look at the wound If the wound is caused before death, the skin and flesh around the wound will shrink; if the wound is caused after death, the skin and flesh will not shrink. Although Wei Quan is not dead, But if these wounds were caused after his limbs were cut off, they would not shrink, but the skin and flesh of the wounds on the severed limbs obviously contracted, that is to say, he was actually cut when his limbs were healthy. Thousands of wounds!"

"Thousands of words? Doesn't this mean killing him alive? Who is so cruel?! What kind of hatred does this murderer have with Wei Quan?"

"No." Zhan Zhao paused, "There was more than one murderer. Those cuts were of different depths, some were deep enough to show bone while others were as light as scratches. Moreover, judging from the wounds caused, no matter how serious each wound was, The strength and the way of holding the murder weapon are completely different, I think, this is definitely not done by one person! It is even possible that there are more than dozens of people... This is the third doubt now."

Bai Yutang was silent for a while: "Wuhejiao?"

"It's very possible." Zhan Zhao frowned, "But I don't understand their purpose for doing this. Could it be that they want to torture and ask something?"

"The Wuhe Sect has always acted grotesquely. Even if there is no reason for such a violent thing, they will do it."

After all, back then on Ojima, the corpse cave was full of mutilated corpses.

Zhan Zhao thought for a while and asked, "Mouse, is there any way to contact Yan Bei to meet us without letting others find out?"

Hearing this, Bai Yutang took out a dart and put it in his hand. Zhan Zhao took a closer look and asked with some uncertainty, "This is... Lanying Dart? Why does it seem different from before?"

"Well, I have made some improvements during this period. I have removed his venom so that it is not easy to hurt people, and I have also removed the gaudy appearance. He was originally used to convey information, and his ordinary appearance is the best cover. .”

Zhan Zhao patted Bai Yutang's shoulder, and said with emotion: "Not bad, mouse, after growing up, I finally know that all the bells and whistles are just clouds."

Bai Yutang frowned and looked at Zhan Zhao's dirty paws, he held back when he wanted to say something, then he silently opened the mechanism of the Lanying Dart, took out a small piece of transparent thin paper inside and explained: "This is glutinous rice paper, When porridge is cooked, porridge soup is solidified, and it melts when exposed to water, and can be destroyed at any time after reading the information.”

"Is this paper edible?"

"That's also fine."

Zhan Zhao took it over and looked at it: "Interesting, I also taught me the mechanism technique just now."

So Bai Yutang put the Lanying Dart back together again, and slowly broke down the steps to teach Zhan Zhao how to open the mechanism. The steps were a bit complicated, and Zhan Zhao memorized them three times before he wrote them down. Then Bai Yutang took out one of the Lanying Darts. With a black needle, he asked Zhan Zhao, "Would you meet Yan Bei outside the village?"

Zhan Zhao nodded, and saw Bai Yutang write the words "see you outside the village" on the glutinous rice paper with a black needle, and the three words disappeared after a while.

"Where are the words?"

"It will appear when it meets water, but the time is very short, and the glutinous rice paper will melt after the handwriting is exposed."

Zhan Zhao asked curiously, "Then if I send a longer message, won't it be gone if I can't finish reading it?"

"The glutinous rice paper is only suitable for short messages. If the cat wants to write a love letter, it doesn't have to be so troublesome. Just give it to me."

Zhan Zhao: "..."

"I still have two on me, you can keep them, in case they are useful."

Zhan Zhao took it, and Bai Yutang smiled slightly, as if he was happy to receive some token of love.

After the two put the wooden box and coffin back as they were, they hurried to the grave village.

I thought that Yan Bei was sleeping in the room and wanted to lure him out with Lanying darts, but I didn't expect this guy to sleep on the roof. Zhan Zhao thought it was good, saving a dart, but Bai Yutang held Zhan Zhao down. To let him perform lightness kung fu he had to throw darts, but Zhan Zhao couldn't beat this "prodigal" mouse so he had to let him show off.

Yan Bei, who was summoned out of the village by the Lanying bodyguard, saw the mouse and the cat, and said in disbelief, "Masters, are you just... coming out of the mud pit?"