Chapter 310 - 308: The Sixth Person’s Trace (Second Update)

Chapter 310: Chapter 308: The Sixth Person’s Trace (Second Update)

Killed by a beast?

Seeing Xu Jing looking at him with some surprise, Gold quickly added more details, "Lingzhou is mountainous. Although we hold beast-expulsion events every year, occasionally one or two aren’t driven away completely, and incidents of people being killed by beasts do happen.

Wang Man’s mother had bad luck. When she went out to look for Wang Man, the village had just completed a beast-expulsion around the nearby area. She probably thought it was safe, which is why she dared to take the forest path at night to find Wang Man.

When Wang Man’s mother’s funeral was held, I glanced at her corpse. Oh, there wasn’t a single piece of skin intact on her body, especially from her right cheek to her neck—a large chunk of flesh was torn off, exposing the ghastly white bones.

But she was rather fortunate. Usually, corpses of people killed by beasts are often missing hands and feet. At least Wang Man’s mother’s body was intact, and judging by her wounds, the beast’s mouth wasn’t big. We all guessed she was killed by a young beast..."

Cheng Xiao frowned deeply as he listened.

No wonder that child’s death didn’t leave much impression.

The main impact was from his grandmother’s death.

Xu Jing asked again, "And what about Wang Man’s father? How did he die?"

Gold said, "Wang Man’s father’s death was much more ordinary. He died from illness five years ago."

Xu Jing nodded, "So, after his father passed, only the five people murdered today remain in Wang Man’s family?"

"That’s not the case."

Gold shook his head and said, "Wang Man also has two daughters. They both got married two years ago. The elder daughter married into the nearby Gao Village three years ago, and the younger one married far away two years ago, though still in Lingzhou, to a family near Shuo State in Lingshui Village."

Xu Jing nodded, thought for a moment, and walked first into the room on the left side of the front hall.

The left room was the bedroom of Wang Man and his wife. The arrangement was simple, with just a kang bed. At the end of the kang bed connected to the wall was a chest for clothes and sundries. Now, these chests had been opened, and their contents were scattered across the room.

Judging by this handiwork, it was likely what the soldiers did last night.

Xu Jing roughly inspected the clothes and various quilts thrown on the floor. There was a half-made pair of socks and a cotton jacket missing a sleeve.

She picked up the cotton jacket and looked at it. Wang Man’s stature was short and stout, so this size was probably made for him.

She picked up the socks, and her brow furrowed slightly.

Though only half-done, the socks were already larger than her palm. Could Wang Man’s feet really be this big?

Or were these socks made by Mrs. Ye for Wang Dafu?

She put down the socks and walked into the room on the right side of the front hall.

The room on the right belonged to Wang Dafu and his wife. The arrangement was similar to Wang Man’s and his wife’s room, except it also had an old desk. The scattered items included several children’s primers and some writing materials.

It seemed Wang Dafu and his wife intended to cultivate their son into a scholar.

In Wang Dafu’s room, she also found two pairs of half-made socks, one large and one small. The smaller pair was obviously for Wang Dafu’s son, and the larger one seemed as big as the one found in Wang Man’s room next door.

So, was the pair from Mrs. Ye really meant for Wang Dafu?

But with his wife helping make his, does Mrs. Ye really need to make more for him?

Just then, Cheng Xiao said, "Madam, I found this."

He handed a crumpled piece of paper to Xu Jing, drawn with chaotic abstract lines depicting several people. It looked like it was drawn by Wang Dafu’s son.

In the center were a short, stout man and a smiling woman with long hair. From their figures, it was evident they were Wang Man and his wife.

To Wang Man’s left was a tall man and a shorter woman, with a child between them, which depicted themselves and their parents.

On the right were a taller and a shorter woman, likely Wang Man’s two daughters.

However, the most striking feature of the drawing was a large, black, furry figure lying in front of everyone. It appeared larger than any person in the drawing, with a collar around its neck, the end of which the child held.

Xu Jing furrowed her brow.

Could it be... a dog?

Yet, she hadn’t seen a dog at Wang Man’s home since she arrived.

She took the drawing outside and asked Gold, "Did Wang Man’s family ever keep a dog?"

Gold paused, saying, "They kept chickens and ducks, so they had a dog to guard the house. But I didn’t see the dog when I came today. It might have run off during the chaos yesterday."

Xu Jing immediately showed Gold the drawing, asking, "Is the dog they kept as big as the one in the drawing?"

Gold looked at the drawing with some surprise, saying, "How could the dog be that big? I remember it was a small dog, not much bigger than Wang Man’s grandson. But it was fierce. Wang Man once boasted to me that it was a perfect dog, didn’t eat much but was very useful.

Speaking of, dogs this big are rare. This should be a drawing by Wang Man’s little grandson. You can’t always trust a child’s drawing..."

Xu Jing’s eyes darkened slightly, "Indeed, a child’s drawing may not be accurate and can be imaginative, but judging from how the child depicted everyone else’s size and shape accurately, it suggests he paid a lot of attention to height and body type proportions."

Gold hesitated and examined it closely again. His heart inexplicably chilled, "It does seem that way... but, what does this imply? That Wang Man’s family actually had such a large dog?"

"It doesn’t necessarily have to be a dog."

Leaving this intriguing statement, Xu Jing walked out into the courtyard.

To the left were two connected rooms that, according to Gold, were originally for Wang Man’s two daughters. After the girls got married, one room was turned into a storage room, and the other was prepared for Wang Man’s grandson when he grew up.

On the right was the kitchen, beside which a fenced area housed chickens and ducks. But after last night’s turmoil, almost all the chickens and ducks had escaped.

Xu Jing thought for a moment and went straight into the kitchen. Because kitchens generally don’t contain valuables, it had escaped the chaos and wasn’t too messed up.

Next to the stove, a basket of clean dishes and chopsticks was placed, presumably frequently used ones, thus not stored in the cabinet.

Xu Jing took these dishes and chopsticks and counted them one by one. Apart from five regular-sized bowls, there was also one larger bowl, twice the size of the others, with a jagged, weathered edge, clearly a bowl that had seen better days.

Was this large bowl used for eating, or for holding dishes?

She also took out the chopsticks, counting them one by one.

After counting, she let out a long sigh, finally confirming her suspicion.

Though Wang Man’s family had five members currently living there, their frequently used chopsticks amounted to six pairs.

Putting down the chopsticks, she turned to Cheng Xiao and Gold, who were watching her curiously, and said in a low voice, "There is a sixth person living in this house. This sixth person, who always lived in the shadows and wasn’t acknowledged, was likely released inadvertently by the soldiers last night, allowing this beast to escape."