Bone Painting Coroner

Chapter 706 - Solving the Case 1

Luring the snake out of its lair? Walking into a trap? The smile on Zhou Wen's face grew tight. Just what went wrong here? How did the situation turn into him walking into a trap?

He was not the only one with questions. The crowd also wanted to hear how the famed Teacher Ji had lured the snake out of its lair.

The anxious and flabbergasted Marquis Kang couldn't sit still any more. He flung his sleeves, jumped up, and walked towards Ji Yunshu to ask, "Teacher Ji, just what is going on? How did you know that the treasures were hidden in the roof beams of that room?"

"We would have to thank Daoist Crow for that," Ji Yunshu said. She swept a glance across the puzzled faces arrayed before her, then explained, "I'm sure that people know that birds like crows adore shiny things. Thus, when they see something shiny, they would habitually peck and scratch at it.

"I noticed that this crow had a layer of shiny lacquered gold on its beak. This kind of lacquer is called poured-gold lacquer and doesn't look any different from true gold metal. It's used by unscrupulous merchants, applied onto other metals and porcelain to imitate true gold. If one touches poured-gold lacquer before it is fully dried, it would stay on the skin for at least a month before it fades. On that crow, the lacquer around its beak already is showing signs of wear, which implies that it had pecked something painted with the poured-gold lacquer around a month ago.

"Coincidentally, when I saw the counterfeits Marquis was holding this morning, I realised that they had poured-gold lacquer applied, and the base of that counterfeit had a spot where something sharp had removed a layer of lacquer. Thus, I determined that the crow had been to the place where the counterfeits were hidden, and had pecked at them before the lacquer had dried, leaving behind a layer of lacquer on its beak.

"I also asked the staff of the estate and found out that this crow would be here almost every night. Thus, I am even more certain that it would go to the place where the counterfeits are hidden every night and peck at those shiny things. And after the Marquis’s treasures had been swapped for counterfeits, the treasures should also be hidden in the same place where the counterfeits had been stored. So we just have to follow the crow in order to find those treasures.”

Ah! Realisation dawned on everyone’s faces, melting away their confusion. They actually had believed that the crow was a Daoist that could catch the ghost! In plain words, everything still hinged on the intelligence of Teacher Ji. Everyone likely learned something new today.

However, Zhou Wen smirked coldly, lifting his fathomless eyes to ask softly, “Then...how did you know that those things were stolen by me?”

“This one didn’t know.” Ji Yunshu stated plainly. She met that cold, hard gaze, and said, “I could only find the place where the treasures were hidden, based on the poured-gold lacquer on the crow’s beak. However, I didn’t know who the mastermind behind this was. I had already said that I’m merely luring the snake out of its lair, but you walked into the trap yourself.”

Eh? Everyone pricked their ears, wanting to continue listening.

“Actually, I’ve been considering a matter at the back of my mind, something… that is clearly before my eyes, but that I cannot grasp.” She was almost muttering to herself.

She thought for a moment, then analysed her thoughts aloud. “Why did the guards at the door not notice when a bloody handprint appeared on the signboard? Why is there no sign of anyone when the estate rings out with the laughter of a child? The entwined trees, the fallen boulders, the people pretending to be sick… these things were clearly carried out with preplanning.”

“Pretending to be sick? Those dozens of people are pretending to be sick?” Marquis Kang was astonished when he heard that. He turned to look at Mo Ruo to confirm the claim, “Young Master Mo, they… they really aren’t ill?”

Mo Ruo had originally intended to stay silent and fade into the crowd, but now that the spotlight had fallen onto him, he could only speak up. “This one has been a physician for many years, and people call me a divine doctor. I have diagnosed countless illnesses, from hidden pulses to assorted diseases. For the dozen people on Marquis’s estate, they claim to have pain throughout their body and feel weak, but their pulse is normal, their five internal organs are in good health, their minds are not impaired, their bodies not affected. For this, there can only be one possible explanation: they are pretending to be ill, and in a manner that doesn’t resemble any real illness.”

Whew! He really was praising himself to the skies with that little rant.

Marquis Kang’s expression turned stiff and dark with anger. He just couldn’t understand why they would want to pretend to be sick. Just what was going on in the estate?

Ji Yunshu continued to speak. “Everything that has happened on the estate leads me to a single conclusion: it is an internal job, and there isn’t just a single mole. There should be more than just the dozen or so people who were feigning illness, like those two guarding the front doors and the people on patrol at night. Of course, there’s also the estate troops outside the Marquis’s estate that work in concert with those inside in order to cause mischief within the estate. If I guessed correctly, their ultimate goal… is to obtain the Marquis’s treasures. Thus, the hauntings aimed to cause a disturbance and create confusion, so that when the treasures were swapped, it would naturally be blamed on the ghost.

“The mastermind behind all this cannot be simple, with a high status, in order to be able to instigate so many people to take action. The only people I could think of, those who had been with the Marquis for many years, are those estate soldiers. However, I had no evidence. Thus, I deliberately told the crowd that I would be catching the ghost at night, in order to let the ghost hear it. Once the ghost knew that I was looking for the treasures, he would surely make a move that night."

Next, she looked at Jing Rong and continued, "Hence, I asked His Highness to send people to monitor the estate soldiers in secret. The minute they made a move, we would be able to catch them red handed."

Jing Rong’s lips curved up in a gentle smile as he met Ji Yunshu’s gaze. He took over the explanation, “Just as Teacher Ji had guessed, this prince’s men came to report that several estate soldiers had secretly brought some things into the estate. This prince then went to catch the ghost together with Divine Doctor Mo. We didn’t expect that those soldiers had oil in their hands, and probably intended to light several fires in the estate, then take advantage of the resultant chaos to transport the treasures out.”

He looked towards Zhou Wen and continued, “You just didn’t expect this prince to preempt you, and capture those soldiers that were supposed to set fires in the estate. You were waiting to no avail for the estate to catch on fire and you knew that the crow had already found the place where the treasures were hidden, so you were worried that the people feigning illness would betray you. To protect yourself, you shot a flaming arrow through the window to silence the people who also helped you to swap the treasures out, to conceal your identity as the mastermind behind it all.”

His words resounded in the night air.

As they said, keep the bow once the birds are gone, discard the tools once they have served their purpose. This has always been the case.

Zhou Wen said nothing to defend himself. He was instead abnormally calm while the crowd in the hall all started blaming him.

Suddenly, Tang Si stepped forward and tossed out a question. “Then… then how would you explain that ghost? People could serve as a screen for other matters, but what about the ghost? There was clearly someone knocking on my room door, but when I opened it to look, there was nothing at all. How would you explain the sound of the ghost?”

That’s right! How would you explain that?