OBS Chapter 318 Relying on the Sword, the Eastern Underworld's Power Stands Alone
Chapter 318 Relying on the Sword, the Eastern Underworld's Power Stands Alone
Chapter 318 Relying on the Sword, the Eastern Underworld's Power Stands Alone
Yuan Ziyi's almond-shaped eyes widened as she watched Jiang Wen frantically dig up a handful of filthy soil mixed with corpse oil, charcoal dust, and moss, even making a move as if he were possessed. Her heart immediately went on high alert!
"What's gotten into you?!"
With a sharp cry, she lightly touched the slippery floor of the cave with her toes, and with the help of her other leg, she unleashed a fierce "skirt kick" that reached no higher than her waist, kicking Jiang Wen's shoulder and back in a swift and ruthless manner. This kick was so fast and brutal that it was clear she was convinced that he had been bewitched by some evil spirit in the cave.
But Jiang Wen didn't even turn his head. Just as Yuan Ziyi's toes were about to touch him, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, he suddenly lowered his body and ghostly touched the ground. Then, he "swam" up the rough and cold cave wall and hung on the cave wall about ten feet high like a gecko, avoiding the sudden kick.
"Good heavens, this must be the leg technique Miss Yan taught you."
Jiang Wen landed gracefully and looked at Yuan Ziyi warily, "Who exactly are you? Are you possessed by some evil spirit?"
Yuan Ziyi stared at Jiang Wen suspiciously: "You're the one who's clearly possessed by a ghost! You'd be lying on the ground eating dirt if you were blinded by a ghost!"
"...That's what you don't understand. I call this the role-playing method. Even famous detectives like us need to be a little neurotic."
Jiang Wen's voice was self-righteous. He immediately squatted down again, his hands moving without stopping, quickly digging away the layer of soil that had been deliberately compacted and was slightly newer in color. "I'm using the soil to identify the traces!"
"Smell the soil?"
Yuan Ziyi still frowned suspiciously, looking at the dark soil on Jiang Wen's fingertips with disdain, "What's so good about smelling the soil next to this charred corpse? Can you possibly smell out who the murderer is?"
"Though it may not be perfect, it's not far off!"
Jiang Wen grabbed a handful of soil, brought it close to his nose, and took a deep breath. The strange smell, a mixture of burnt, rotting, and earthy odor, seemed to have no effect on him. It was an epic breath.
“...If you look closely at this layer of soil, you'll see subtle differences in color, moisture, and texture compared to the surrounding layers of sediment that have accumulated over the years. And look at how soft this soil is—it's clearly newly turned over and hastily refilled! Moreover, it's buried extremely shallowly, the workmanship is crude and unprofessional!”
Upon hearing this, Yuan Ziyi focused her attention and examined the area closely. Sure enough, she found that the soil at the spot Jiang Wen pointed out was significantly darker and softer than the surrounding soil, and although the edges had been trampled, irregular excavation outlines could still be seen.
"What you said makes some sense, but that's based on observation. What does that have to do with your smelling the soil? Sneaking around like that, they're either up to no good or thieves! It seems these three really do have something to hide?"
"It's good that there are problems. In investigations, we're not afraid of having many problems, but we're afraid of not finding anything unusual. These anomalies are exactly what we need to investigate."
Jiang Wen was as cunning as an eagle in the sky and as agile as a dog in the mountains. He immediately forgot to sniff the soil, and his gaze was no longer limited to his feet. Instead, he began to carefully examine the entire cave dwelling.
With a casual flick of his wrist, he cleared away several pieces of collapsed earth and rocks at the entrance of the cave, revealing the kiln wall that had been completely blocked behind it. As his fingers traced the edge where the kiln wall met the entrance, he suddenly discovered a new clue.
Look here again!
Jiang Wen pointed to the earthen wall inside the cave entrance and said intently, "This cave has been abandoned for many years. The entrance should have been completely sealed off by loose soil, dead branches, and even debris used by birds and animals for nesting. But if you look closely at the edges of the sealing marks, the color difference between the old and new soil is extremely obvious!"
Yuan Ziyi stepped forward to examine it and saw that the soil near the outer edge was dark gray and hardened, old soil that had been weathered by wind and rain over the years; while the soil on the inner edge was relatively fresh and moist, and the breaks were clearly different, indicating that it had been forcibly dug out and cleared from the outside not long ago.
A chill ran down her spine: "Do you think this cave was actually completely sealed off before the three men from the rattan shield gate arrived? And that they dug it open specifically to hide or search for something?"
That makes sense.
Jiang Wen nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the messy ground inside the cave. "You said they dug the entrance to come in, so they must be looking for something—or perhaps they're hiding something."
Their gazes fell simultaneously on three items scattered on the ground: three identical cast iron short knives, their blades thick and heavy, bearing the wear marks of chopping hard objects, clearly the personal weapons of the rattan shield sect disciples; next to them were a pickaxe and a shovel, their tips and blades covered in fresh mud.
"The tools are all here, and the people who died here... What about what we dug up? Surely we didn't work for nothing?"
Yuan Ziyi bent down, picked up a cast iron knife, weighed it in her hand, and then looked at the new pit that Jiang Wen had dug open.
Jiang Wen's eyes narrowed slightly. He squatted down again. This time, he didn't sniff the soil. Instead, he started digging directly with the shovel along the edge of the new pit, digging deeper and more steadily. Seeing this, Yuan Ziyi quickly picked up the pickaxe and helped from the other side.
The newly filled soil layer wasn't very thick. He dug down less than two feet when the tip of his pickaxe suddenly made a dull thud, as if it had hit something hard.
"There's something there!"
Yuan Ziyi gasped and immediately stepped forward, finally beginning to believe Jiang Wen's so-called "role-playing method" to some extent. The two quickened their pace, carefully brushing away the loose soil. Beneath the earth, a bizarre and horrifying skeleton was revealed!
But what's terrifying about this skeleton isn't its withered appearance, but that its hands have vanished without a trace—not in the sense of the bones in the hands being missing, but rather that the wrists at the ends of both arms have been cleanly severed five inches above the wrist bones!
Even though the cross-sections of the ulna and radius have been eroded by the acidic soil of Wuyi Mountain, leaving them pitted and peeling off at the edges, one can still see the swiftness of that strike: the blade is clean, and fine blade marks remain on the bone fragments, clearly indicating that it was severed by a single blow with a sharp weapon, a move that was absolutely decisive.
Furthermore, there was no trace of healing around the cut surface, not even a single callus had grown—indicating that the hands were chopped off after the person died, or that the person was killed immediately after the chopping, leaving them no chance of survival.
The skeleton had clearly been buried for a considerable period of time; the flesh had long since decayed, leaving only a bare skeleton. Most of it was a grayish-brown color, with black fibrous material still clinging to some of the joints, emitting a faint smell of decay.
The soil beneath the severed wrists reeked of rust—the marks left by the blade. The weapon that severed those hands must have been an iron knife or axe, which rusted into fragments over the years and eventually disappeared into the mud.
"hiss……"
Yuan Ziyi gasped. Even though she prided herself on her courage, she was startled by the sight. Then, a look of realization and a hint of coldness flashed in her eyes. "So that's how it is! I understand now!"
She mimicked Jiang Wen's pointing to the white bones, then to the direction where the three charred corpses had once lay, and quickly deduced, "It must have been these three disciples of the Tengpai Sect who killed this person for some unknown reason! In order to destroy the evidence, they chose this abandoned cave that had long been sealed, buried the body here, and resealed the entrance, thinking that no one would find out."
"Last night, they were 'keeping watch,' actually just trying to sneak back to check the condition of the body or take away any valuables that might have been left on it. But they were the ones who stalked the mantis, unaware of the oriole behind. Their enemy—most likely the accomplice or relative of the person they killed—tracked them down and burned the three of them to death here in an extremely cruel manner! Therefore, this charred corpse is revenge!"
She paused, looking at the shallow pit that had been filled in, and added:
"The people of the Rattan Shield Sect discovered the tragic death of their fellow disciple this morning, and also saw that the burial site had been disturbed. They knew exactly what had happened. They were afraid that if the nameless skeleton were exposed, it would confirm the crime of their disciple killing and burying the body, and might even attract the intervention of the government, causing the entire Rattan Shield Sect to lose face in front of the martial arts community, and even be attacked by the masses!"
"That's why, after carrying away the charred corpse, they secretly returned and hastily filled the shallow pit, trying to cover up the existence of the skeleton! In order to protect the reputation of their sect, they did not hesitate to conceal the crimes of their fellow disciples and even cover up evidence of another murder case!"
Yuan Ziyi's reasoning sounded reasonable and logical, successfully connecting the two murder cases and explaining why the rattan shield gate needed to fill in new soil.
However, as Jiang Wen stared at the severed wrist bone in the pit, his brows furrowed even more, and he slowly shook his head. "Girl, your reasoning seems reasonable, but there are still some loopholes in a few key points."
"What vulnerability?"
Yuan Ziyi asked, unconvinced.
"Firstly, it's about the location."
Jiang Wen stretched out his finger and adjusted his non-existent glasses, a glint of light seeming to flash in his eyes.
"If these three are indeed the murderers, their choice of this abandoned cave, which required excavation to access, as the burial site indicates they were extremely cautious and didn't want to be discovered. Therefore, their return to the crime scene last night was itself a huge risk. As a result, not only were they murdered in revenge, but the killer also used 'arson,' a highly disruptive and easily detectable method..."
He paused, his gaze sharp as he looked at Yuan Ziyi: "Then here's the question: since the murderer was able to track down to this place and kill, and use such a cruel method to take revenge, it means that the murderer harbors a deep hatred for the Rattan Shield Sect and acts recklessly."
"After killing his enemies, why didn't the murderer take the opportunity to dig up the skeleton and expose the crimes of the Tengpai Sect in murdering and burying the bodies, thus completely ruining the Tengpai Sect and ensuring they could never recover? Wouldn't that have been the most thorough and satisfying way to take revenge? Why leave behind this crucial evidence that could prove the crimes of the Tengpai Sect, and simply burn the three enemies to charcoal before leaving? This doesn't fit the mindset of a revenger, and it doesn't make sense either."
Yuan Ziyi was taken aback; Jiang Wen's analysis had indeed hit the nail on the head.
Admittedly, criminals often return to the crime scene to admire their "works," but avengers usually crave to expose their enemy's crimes and subject them to public condemnation. At least she herself would choose to do so rather than simply killing the enemy and completing a half-hearted, impulsive celebration. Therefore, it is indeed illogical not to utilize the crucial evidence of the skeleton.
"Then... what's the second flaw?"
Yuan Ziyi's tone was no longer so confident.
"Secondly, there's the matter of identity."
Jiang Wen squatted down and carefully examined the bone fragments at the broken wrist of the skeleton. "The joints of this skeleton are large, the bones are hard, and there are traces of wear and growth. It is obviously a guy with considerable martial arts skills, at least in the way of fist, palm, sword and knife."
"Look at this skeleton. It has been silent in the cave for at least twenty or thirty years. They were probably only ten years old at that time. How could three unknown people kill a master so quietly?"
"To be honest, if this skeleton hadn't been brought here after death, and considering that there were no signs of a struggle in this cave, I would suspect that he went to his death willingly, and that cutting off his hands was just proof that the killer took back."
Jiang Wen then gave a concluding speech.
"I think filling the rattan shield gate with new soil is more like 'cleaning up the mess' than 'covering up the crime'."
Jiang Wen believes that the Tengpaimen may have indeed found the skeleton here, but it is highly likely that they did not kill the person.
Perhaps they recognized the skeleton, or simply felt that digging up an unidentified corpse was unlucky, or perhaps they were afraid of attracting unnecessary trouble and investigation. So, after collecting the body of their disciple, they hastily reburied it, trying to pretend that nothing had happened.
Speaking of cremation and human resurrection, Jiang Wen was reminded of his recent encounter at Zhanlu Mountain in Songxi County. Could it be that remnants of that bandit gang still existed, perhaps even having spread to Chong'an County to cause trouble? What embarrassed him even more was that even the villagers of the Tengpai Sect knew that burial was the proper way to ensure peace, yet he, the Sect Leader Jiang, seemed to have forgotten to properly bury Master Yi Yun in the mountain cave…
"This is actually a subjective act of family members covering for each other—to reduce trouble and to cover up any accidental discoveries that might cause problems, rather than to cover up the murder they committed. Let's go, don't let some irrelevant false clues affect our judgment. It seems we won't find any more clues here."
Yuan Ziyi put her hands on her hips and retorted, "Then what makes you think the clues are useless?"
Jiang Wen pondered for a moment.
"A master detective's intuition."
………………
Inside the Sanliting Pavilion, the members of the Tengpai Sect gathered in a few relatively intact old houses on the edge. Lin Chaosheng still had a gloomy expression, but after Jiang Wen arrived and explained his purpose, he reluctantly nodded, indicating that they could examine the belongings of the three disciples.
“The three of them usually live here and don’t like to interact with others, so no one noticed that they had been missing for several days.”
The room was sparsely furnished, with only a few changes of clothes as the main possessions. Jiang Wen carefully searched through the room, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper. The clothes had clearly been rummaged through haphazardly, and the baggage that should have contained personal belongings was scattered all over the floor and empty, with only some crumbs of dry food remaining. Not even a single copper coin could be found.
"Sect Leader Lin, have the three of them always had such simple luggage?" Jiang Wen asked.
Lin Chaosheng glanced at it and said in a low voice, "After they disappeared, some brothers searched for clues. But apart from a few tattered clothes, they didn't find anything valuable or special."
"Nothing valuable, but anything special?"
Yuan Ziyi interjected, "For example... a map? Notes? Or... something that was just dug up and still smells of mud?"
Lin Chaosheng's eyes flickered, avoiding Yuan Ziyi's sharp gaze: "I've never seen it. They're not wealthy, so what special things could they possibly have?"
When Lin Chaosheng was present, Jiang Wen and Yuan Ziyi deliberately remained silent until he left on his own, at which point they exchanged a glance.
"It's obvious they're contradicting themselves; they must be hiding something," Yuan Ziyi said, slightly annoyed. "They want to find the real culprit, yet they won't tell us the truth. It's outrageous!"
Jiang Wen first squatted down and carefully examined the ground in front of the deceased's berth.
"It's alright. Sometimes, the more you hide, the more conspicuous you become, like a firefly in the dark."
Jiang Wen stared intently. Although the room had been crowded and noisy, he noticed a different kind of dark red clay on the floor near the beds of the three dead men. It was mixed with a few tiny, dark green moss fragments and one or two small, angular, grayish-white stone pieces.
He picked up a bit of clay, brought it to his nose, and smelled it. It had a very faint, damp, earthy smell and the smell of decaying wood. "This red soil, and this moss, are things that only grow near ancient tombs in deep, damp valleys where few people go."
Yuan Ziyi also noticed the moss and pebbles, adding, "These pebbles look like... old tomb bricks or gravel from a tomb mound?"
"Mountains upon mountains, I cannot dig through them. A cold wind brushes past my shoulders as if ancient people are before me. Indeed, they are fellow Daoists."
As Jiang Wen sighed, his attention was drawn to something else. The only belongings left of the three deceased were a few coarse cloth bundles, which were now lying open and haphazardly thrown under the bed and in the corner. This was clearly not how the deceased usually arranged their belongings.
Just as Jiang Wen was checking the last bundle he had thrown under the bed and unfolding it to lay on the floor, he saw that the bundle was made of ordinary coarse linen, and on the inside, near the corner, there was a poem written crookedly in the shape of a charred twig or charcoal pencil:
As long as Laozi and Laozi live, the lineage of Tao will continue to flow.
The lost scriptures shine like the sun and moon, and the profound teachings are bathed in pure light.
The handwriting is messy and clumsy, with strokes of varying depths, clearly indicating that the writer is not highly educated, or perhaps simply copying. However, the poem's content is profound and mysterious, filled with reverence for Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism, and praise for the transmission of Taoist teachings, which clashes with the crude environment and is incompatible with the writer's identity.
"This is?"
Yuan Ziyi leaned closer, her almond-shaped eyes filled with astonishment and suspicion. "Lao Dan, Daoist lineage, legacy scriptures? What kind of nonsense is this? These rattan shield bearers can't read a single word, how could they write such pretentious poems? And they even hid them in their bundles?"
Her mind immediately raced. "Could this be related to the tomb they robbed? Was the tomb's occupant a Taoist priest? Or were there Taoist artifacts in the tomb?"
Jiang Wen stared at the four lines of poetry, his fingertips lightly brushing against the rough fabric and the charcoal-black ink, his eyes deep: "The writing was just done recently, the ink hasn't penetrated the fibers yet. Keep it for now, we'll study it later."
Carrying the clues found at their residence and a bellyful of questions, Jiang Wen and Yuan Ziyi found three charred corpses temporarily stored in a thatched shed next to the village's land temple. Although Lin Chaosheng was reluctant, he reluctantly agreed to let them examine the bodies under Jiang Wen's insistence.
The pungent smell of burning flesh was still nauseating. Yuan Ziyi could only hold her breath and watch as Jiang Wen ignored the charred and twisted appearance of the corpse and carefully examined the fatal wounds. In the end, she felt admiration for him.
"Sect Leader Jiang, how can you be so calm and unhurried, and so willing to do these dirty things?"
Jiang Wen examined the object with focused attention, saying, "I've been wandering the martial world for years, and I wasn't always so powerful and superior. When you're under pressure, you can't afford to worry about such things."
Upon hearing this, Yuan Ziyi's tone softened slightly.
"Then... you must have suffered quite a bit, right?"
Jiang Wen said, "It's alright, I don't eat it. It's just that I used to not be able to control the heat well when roasting people, and they were always only 70% cooked."
The charred corpse was extremely fragile and could shatter at the slightest force. Jiang Wen carefully peeled away the charred flesh and clothing fragments from the chest, abdomen, and other vital areas.
"It seems the cremation temperature wasn't high, probably around 400-500 degrees Celsius inside the furnace. Some of the rattan shields didn't even burn... I think it was ignited on firewood, but their posture was clearly wrong..."
In broad daylight, after repeated examinations, he discovered an extremely subtle abnormality inside the almost completely carbonized chest cavity of the first corpse, very close to the heart.
"This is……"
Jiang Wen's voice was low and solemn. He then looked at the second body and carefully brushed away the charred carbon with his hands. Underneath the broken sternum fragments and the charred heart area, a very fine and deep penetrating wound could be vaguely seen!
Beneath the charred heart area of both corpses, an extremely fine but fatal wound that pierced through the entire chest cavity was revealed, while the third corpse had a laceration across the neck that precisely pierced the carotid artery and trachea!
The marks were not obvious at first, but because the muscle tissue at the edge of the wound was burned and carbonized by the high temperature, the shape of the wound itself was stubbornly preserved—it could not have been caused by fire, wild animal bites or ordinary knives and axes!
"Sword wound!"
Yuan Ziyi blurted out, "And it was the work of a master who killed them with a single sword strike! So they were already dead before the flames burned them, hence their bodies were naturally stretched out!"
Jiang Wen did not answer immediately; he was completely focused, trying to figure out more details about the wound.
He repeatedly observed the shape of the three wounds, the depth of penetration, and the angle of penetration. He even tried to use his fingers to trace the trajectory of the simulated weapon. His movements became slower and slower, his brows furrowed more and more, and his expression became extremely strange, as if he had seen something unbelievable and incomprehensible.
"No, it's not a sword wound, but a knife wound. It's just that this master has reached the pinnacle of skill, using the sharpest, narrowest, and most pointed part of the blade to pierce the wound, and killing it instantly without hesitation, thus simulating the effect of a sword wound. However, the unevenness in width and thickness still exists."
"The skill in its application of force, the precision of its exertion, and the sharpness of its edge are such that only a handful of people in the world can leave such a mark. Based on my reasoning, there are even fewer people in Wuyishan who can deliver such a strike."
"And the one that best matches all the characteristics, is most likely, and is closest..."
He raised his head and looked at Yuan Ziyi with a complicated expression. He saw her almond-shaped eyes wide open, her red lips slightly parted, and her expression frozen in a state of bewilderment and a silent scream of "Have you finally gone mad?"
"I suspect that I am the murderer."