He Didn’t Deserve To Die Like That

Qi Yan immediately gasped when he saw Niu Baoshan and ran to hide behind Zhao Zhi before sticking his head out slightly, “Brother Zhi, he… he… he…”

“Yes, he’s been here all this time, did not go anywhere, did not make a run for it, but did not say anything either. It’s clear that…” Zhao Zhi’s gaze was as bright and sharp as a sword drawn from its scabbard, “the one he’s been waiting for isn’t me.”

Song Caitang never imagined she would meet with the killer like this.

He was clean and neat, quiet and somewhat relaxed too. He just sat here with a nice cup of tea and waited patiently for her.

“Miss Song, thank you for inspecting my son’s bones.”

Niu Baoshan smiled at her. It was a warm, sincere smile.

Song Caitang let go of her skirt and smiled as she walked into the private room calmly, “That is my duty as a coroner.”

She remained as calm and steady as ever. She did not freeze in her steps or hesitate at all, as though she was meeting with a friendly neighbor and not a murderer.

Qi Yan nearly bit his tongue in fright.

Miss Song was so courageous!

This guy was a killer, for crying out loud!!

Zhao Zhi did not care about how nervous the younger man was at all. He pulled him away from himself so that he could remain no more than two steps away from Song Caitang at all times as he walked into the room with her.

Niu Baoshan ignored them and motioned to the seat across from him, “Please take a seat, Miss Song.”

Song Caitang sat opposite Niu Baoshan.

Zhao Zhi took the seat in between Song Caitang and Niu Baoshan.

Qi Yan… he didn’t dare to take the last seat because that would put him next to Niu Baoshan, but he didn’t want to walk away and miss out on this either. He scratched his earlobes and rubbed his cheeks as he fretted for a while, then grabbed a round stool and sat right next to Song Caitang.

It was terribly quiet in the room. As though the air had frozen over.

Niu Baoshan did not seem affected and did not look uneasy at all. He ran his fingers around the rim of the teacup and his gaze was gentle, “My son, Niu Xingzu, was a good boy. Miss Song, I knew you would definitely come here.”

He looked at Song Caitang with bright eyes and spoke with sincere admiration in his voice, “It’s so wonderful to have someone like you in this world, Miss Song.”

Knock knock! Zhao Zhi rapped his knuckles hard on the table and made Niu Baoshan look at him, “You were the one who killed Lu Guangzong?”

Niu Baoshan raised an eyebrow. He didn’t seem to like being interrupted.

Qi Yan swallowed hard and instinctively moved a little closer to Song Caitang.

“I killed him,” said Niu Baoshan in a clear voice. He didn’t intend to deny it at all.

Zhao Zhi stared at him frostily, “How did you do it?”

This time, Niu Baoshan did not answer the question directly but turned to look at Song Caitang, “I heard this morning that Lu Shen had begged you to dissect his father’s body and the prefectural governor had agreed to it. How did it go? Did you reach a conclusion? Do you already know how I did it?”

Song Caitang summarized it, “Hibiscuses in wine and drowned in urine.”

Niu Baoshan kept his eye on Song Caitang, but did not do anything or speak.

Song Caitang looked back at him without any anger or fear in her eyes.

The tension in the air became unbearable again and Qi Yan was a little worried about Song Caitang, so he boldly added, “You found a way to lure Lu Guangzong out of the pub, then used a handkerchief soaked in that wine to knock him out, then pressed his head in pee to drown him!”

“Don’t you dare think that you’ve managed to leave no traces behind and Miss Song would be unable to see what you’ve done! Lu Guangzong’s lungs weren’t swollen with water, so he was drowned with a small amount of liquid. His windpipe and lungs had your… had your disgusting hairs! And hibiscus petals soaked in wine! Someone else might not have identified those flowers, but Miss Song was able to! You can forget about weaseling your way out of this!”

For the first time, Niu Baoshan turned to look at Qi Yan. His voice was icy, “The fact that I sat here and waited means I do not intend to get myself out of this.”

Qi Yan shrank back.

He was a rich young man from the capital, and because he liked to cause trouble and poke his nose into other people’s affairs, he had faced risks and had seen his fair share of wicked people too, but when faced with a murderer… for some reason, he couldn’t help but feel scared.

Niu Baoshan looked at Song Caitang with shock in his eyes, “Miss Song, you actually know what hibiscuses are? Have you found them?”

Zhao Zhi rapped his knuckles against the table again, “Found it on the shelf by your bed. You didn’t bother hiding it.”

“Oh, so you’re the one who found it,” Niu Baoshan winked cheekily, “Did you faint on the spot?”

“No. I’m not Lu Guangzong.”

Niu Baoshan stared even more curiously at Zhao Zhi, “You’re a Zhao, a member of the royal family. You should be very familiar with the unspoken rules among the highly ranked and the way they love power and money. Lu Guangzong’s case has so many far-reaching implications, yet you’re willing to investigate it?”

Zhao Zhi struck the table with his fingers again. His meaning was clear: he was the one asking the questions, not Niu Baoshan.

Niu Baoshan didn’t get an answer from Zhao Zhi, but he didn’t pursue it. He was just asking casually and wasn’t really that curious.

He pointed out of the window, “Look at that. What do you think?”

This teahouse faced the street and the windows faced the Lu family residence. The private room they were in was on the third story and it was high enough for anyone seated here to see most of the outer house of the estate.

It was completely different from the time when Lu Guangzong was still alive.

Lu Guangzong had done an excellent job of maintaining a good reputation, so he was well respected and many important people visited him every day. Immediately after he died, a large number of Luanze citizens came forward to mourn him and paid their respects. But now…

The gate was vandalized and covered in filth, including feces, rotten eggs and countless rotten vegetables. Inside the yard, the servants were fighting for things and making a scene alongside poorer relatives hoping to get rich from this calamity that had struck the Lus.

They couldn’t see the inner house from here, but they imagined things weren’t any better there.

The Lus were on the verge of ruin.

Niu Baoshan said quietly, “They deserve this.”

His expression was calm and his tone was flat, as if he had nothing to do with any of this.

But Song Caitang knew that he hated Lu Guangzong with all his heart.

She instinctively looked toward Zhao Zhi and he happened to look at her at the same time.

Their gazes met in the sunshine, their eyes as clear as each other’s, their thoughts the same as one another’s.

Zhao Zhi asked, “Your son, Niu Xingzu, was killed by Lu Guangzong?”

Niu Baoshan’s gaze instantly turned frosty, “That’s right.”

He narrowed his eyes and his chest heaved from his boiling rage, “I meant it when I said his house is full of robbers and whores! None of them are what they seem to be! They look like the perfect family, a reputable clan, but in reality, they’re guilty of all sorts of crimes and corrupt practices! No family is worse than his! Lu Guangzong killed my son and wasn’t the slightest bit guilty about it! His family knew about it and didn’t care! They didn’t even talk about it!”

“How are you so certain?” Zhao Zhi used his words to guide Niu Baoshan, “I wouldn’t think Lu Guangzong would admit to such a thing himself.”

Niu Baoshan scoffed, “But that’s exactly what he did.”

“At that time, I had a hard time accepting that my son might be dead and nowhere to vent my frustrations, so I kept harassing him. After I harassed him too much and he got irritated by me, he told me directly that he was the one who killed my son! He said that every person in this world has to take responsibility for the decisions they make. Since Niu Xingzu had chosen to go down this path, he would not be able to escape death. On top of saying those things, he also refused to tell me where my son’s bones were! He wanted to watch me drown in sorrow without being able to do anything about him! He wasn’t human! He was worse than an animal!”

“Since that was the case…” Niu Baoshan’s lips curled into a sinister smile as his eyes gleamed, “He was going to take responsibility for making that decision. He was going to pay the price for doing that.”

Song Caitang eyed him, “You must have had many chances to kill him all these years, though.”

“I did. But he didn’t deserve to die that way.”

Niu Baoshan raised his chin and had a murderous look in his eyes, “Everyone thought he was an upright official, so if he was killed, he would be mourned like an innocent hero who died a wrongful death. Everyone would be sympathetic. Everyone would miss him. He didn’t deserve that!”

“He deserved to die in the most disgusting and smelliest of places, where he wouldn’t be able to get rid of the smell of shit on his body as he was buried. He would not only go straight to hell, but even the demons there would despise him and take turns to torture him!”

Song Caitang interjected, “So, you wanted to peel his mask away layer by layer, and make him die a miserable one, like a fly that nobody likes.”

“That’s right,” Niu Baoshan laughed, “I have to thank him, in fact. If he weren’t so wary of me in the beginning and made it too hard for me to get close to him and kill him even though I really wanted to, I wouldn’t be so calm right now.”

Zhao Zhi said, “So, you followed him and pretended to merely have a bad temper but no ability to hurt him on the surface, but you were secretly gathering information and evidence.”

Niu Baoshan admitted to it readily, “Nobody would be wary of an idiot, right?”

Song Caitang frowned slightly as she recalled something, “You had been following Lu Guangzong not only in Luanze. Some said that you were greatly affected by your son’s disappearance and lived in seclusion in the mountains for several years. But that wasn’t actually the case…”

“That’s right. The only thing I wanted to do after my son’s death was to take revenge,” said Niu Baoshan, “At that time, Lu Guangzong had only been sent here temporarily for work and would leave once the work was done, so I had to follow him out of Luanze. After he was transferred here permanently, I came back with him.”

Song Caitang looked Niu Baoshan up and down and another question came to mind, “I don’t think you know any martial arts. Lu Guangzong was a high ranking official with many bodyguards, I’m sure. How did you get near to him and find out so much?”

“This part might be hard for someone like you to understand. But just like how animals have their own way of getting their prey and hiding from predators, not knowing any martial arts has its perks too,” said Niu Baoshan with a smile, “I wasn’t following Lu Guangzong all the time, and that wasn’t possible either anyway. As I wandered about, I made some friends. Beggars these days have many tricks up their sleeve to get money out of you. There’s nothing the lowly and despised of society can’t get done. You just haven’t thought of it. Miss Song, I’ve learned many things all these years too.”

“I felt like I had done sufficient preparation and was about to find a chance to strike when Lu Guangzong suddenly went missing! Thankfully, the heavens are on my side, and allowed me to run into him at that pub.”

He sneered, “It was perfect timing. The heavens had literally sent him to my doorstep precisely because they took pity on me for living all these years in misery without vindication. I couldn’t let the heavens down.”

“Those robes,” Zhao Zhi flicked the table with his fingers, “You had Pang Qian’s official robes ready a long time ago?”

Running into Lu Guangzong and wanting to kill him there and then had been a coincidence, yet Niu Baoshan already had Pang Qian’s official robes? How could that be a coincidence?

Niu Baoshan raised an eyebrow as he chuckled, “That’s right, I’d prepared that a long time ago. I’d stolen it and placed it at home while waiting for a chance to strike. I’m a regular at that pub, so I just had to pretend that I had had too much to drink and had fallen asleep, and nobody would take notice of me. Nobody would know if I had gotten up to use the bathroom, gone out to puke, or gone home to get changed.”

He then explained, “My place isn’t very far from the pub,” he looked at Zhao Zhi, “Since you’ve been there, you would know.”

Zhao Zhi nodded and motioned to him to continue.

“Pang Qian did not like Lu Guangzong, but it wasn’t enough to want to commit murder. They’re both officials and they know how all of this works. There are some things they can think about, but should not say out loud. Their relationship is complex and sensitive at the same time. They don’t trust each other entirely, but they don’t disregard each other either. So, when I put on Pang Qian’s robes and walked past Lu Guangzong without letting him see my face, and just left him a note, he would definitely follow me out of the pub.”

Niu Baoshan was obviously very proud of what he had done and his eyes sparkled brightly as he spoke, “I used a handkerchief soaked in the hibiscus wine to knock him out, then retrieved the small bucket of urine I had placed at the wall when I went to get the robes and drowned him. After that, I carried his body and threw it into the pigsty.”

“You know what a pigsty is like, right? It’s filthy, it’s smelly, it’s full of shit everywhere. And when the pigs get hungry at night, they would go looking for a snack…”

“HAHAHA! Lu Guangzong should die this way! This is the only sort of death he deserves! His entire body covered in shit! His face beyond recognition! Nobody would want to clean him up! Even his family would find the smell too repulsive!”

Zhao Zhi tapped the table, “What happened to all the things you used?”

“Of course I got rid of them,” Niu Baoshan raised an eyebrow, “I burned the note, the robes and the handkerchief immediately after I got home and got rid of the ashes, so nobody will be able to find them. The bucket of pee came from the pub’s bathroom, so once I’d drowned Lu Guangzong, I put it back where I got it from and saw the pub staff pour out the pee and washed the bucket. I just didn’t think…”

“You would find the hibiscuses .”

He looked at Song Caitang with admiration in his eyes, “Miss Song, your dissection skills are really impressive.”

Song Caitang looked at the freshly shaved and washed Niu Baoshan and sighed quietly.

Niu Baoshan clearly wanted to be arrested. He hoped the authorities would be able to successfully crack the case and bring the murderer to justice. But he had plans for what would happen after Lu Guangzong died, so he had to make sure he wasn’t arrested too early on. He could not leave any obvious evidence behind and had to get rid of it.

He must have been upset by this and was worried that the authorities might not find out it was him. So, when Song Caitang said she found the hibiscuses and knew what he had done from that discovery, it made him very happy.

Morals and ethics were good things that kept humans in check, and told us what was right and wrong. If one was guilty of a wrongdoing, they would feel some level of regret and remorse. Regardless of how these emotions were expressed, they were hallmarks of being a human.

But…

“The most important thing isn’t Pang Qian and his robes. It’s the content of the note you wrote.”

Song Caitang’s gaze flickered as she looked at Niu Baoshan, “What did you write? What would have made Lu Guangzong pay such close attention?”

The victim’s fingernails showed no signs of having scratched anything, and his arms did not show signs of having struggled either. He had not been knocked out by someone holding him down and covering his nose and mouth with a handkerchief.

Regardless of what chemical was used, and even if the chemical only took one second to take effect, that was enough time for a healthy person’s natural instincts to kick in and fight back. But the victim showed no signs of that, so there was only one possibility: Niu Baoshan and Lu Guangzong had not come into contact at all.

Zhao Zhi had thought of it too, so he stared frostily at Niu Baoshan and said, “That handkerchief soaked in the wine. Lu Guangzong had willingly taken it from you.”

There must have been more than just wine on that handkerchief.

Something had been written on it.

“What did you write on it? Why would Lu Guangzong be so interested in it?”

Niu Baoshan put a finger over his lips and smiled mysteriously, “It’s a secret.”

Song Caitang immediately thought of the many secrets that Lu Guangzong had been hiding.

How did he manage to keep such a good reputation all these years without anybody knowing all the dirty deeds he had done? Where did all the money he got from years of corruption go? And the huge amount of gold hidden in that pond…