Exhumed Body

It was a moonless night and the winds howled sinisterly. It was a great time to get certain things done.

Zhao Zhi had made all the arrangements, then flown into the Guans’ and brought Song Caitang out of the house secretly. He brought everything along – a hand warmer, a scarf, a hood, a fur coat, and even his warm embrace…

He had prepared everything necessary for her to stay warm, so she wouldn’t feel cold at all.

Qi Yan followed behind them.

It was in the middle of winter, but he still refused to give up holding his white jade folding fan. He even added layers and layers of feathers on the edges so that it seemed warmed. But the white fan and his white fox fur coat along with the cold northern winds only made him look extremely cold. He looked so out of place.

But compared to his out of place fan, the owner of the fan looked even more out of place. It was hard to say if he was too cold or too frightened, but Qi Yan had tied a gigantic piece of black cloth around his face, revealing only his eyes. It was a little too thin to be protection against the cold, so it looked more like he was trying to hide his identity.

He shrank back into his coat, slumped his shoulders and bent his waist slightly as he followed right behind Song Caitang. Song Caitang was shorter than him, so she wouldn’t take very large strides, but Qi Yan did the same thing as her and took tiny steps. It was as if he was tottering along like a woman in heels or something.

In fact, he looked very cowardly.

But he was good at justifying himself. “I heard that on nights like these, it’s very easy for ghosts to make an appearance. Those lonely spirits that don’t have any home to go to would come out and make a lot of trouble for humans… but Tangtang, don’t worry! Don’t be scared! I’ll be right here to protect you!”

Song Caitang tried not to laugh. “I’ll be fine, thanks.”

Qi Yan widened his eyes. “What do you mean by you’ll be fine? Tangtang, you sound so distant when you say that! I treat you like one of my brothers! Nobody in Bianliang is allowed to bully me, and they’re not allowed to bully you either!”

Song Caitang sighed. If he wasn’t walking so closely to her and his legs weren’t trembling, she might have believed him. But he was clearly just scared.

Zhao Zhi couldn’t stand it, so he grabbed hold of Qi Yan’s collar from behind and threw him ten steps back. “Don’t you have any pride?”

“Ahhh!” Qi Yan squeaked.

Everyone close enough to him knew that he was so interested in gossip, he had become one of the best at sneaking around people and houses. He wasn’t afraid of anything and was always working through the night. He didn’t really have any other notable traits… Well, not really. He had a fair number of outstanding traits, but there was one that was the most important of all. He was a bold man! He had guts! He loved the excitement of living on the edge!

But… everyone had a weakness or two. There was only one thing he feared. Ghosts.

Since he was always working at night, he had seen a lot. He wasn’t that dumb and could figure out that a lot of the things he heard and saw had nothing to do with ghosts, and that perhaps ghosts didn’t exist at all. After a long time, he stopped panicking so easily and wasn’t as easily frightened of these noises and sights anymore, so fewer and fewer people knew about this weakness of his. But tonight… he was actually going to dig up a person’s grave!

And they had chosen such a terrifying night to do it!

What if some ghost really popped up?! Of course he was scared!

But he was also terribly curious. He couldn’t convince himself not to come…

Tangtang wouldn’t know about this fear of mine, but Brother Zhi definitely does!

How could he do this to me! What if I die from fright?!

Brother Zhi, if you keep on treating me like this, I’ll stop being your loyal follower!

But Qi Yan could only say these things in his heart and cry in silence.

But his Brother Zhi… couldn’t be bothered with him at all.

His Tangtang was clutching his hand warmer tightly, wearing the thick fur coat he had specially made for her, her pretty chin was buried in the soft fur collar, her lips soft and moist, her eyes watery. She looked so much like an obedient little pet and he really felt the urge to hug her.

Zhao Zhi felt that he was being too naïve.

Deciding what he wanted to do was one thing, but whether he was able to do it or not was another thing.

After thinking about it for a long time, he decided that he wanted to embrace her after all.

There were still unsolved mysteries with regard to their past, but now, she was right in front of him. There was no misunderstanding between them, she was not trying to distance herself from him and this was a great chance. He should seize it!

Zhao Zhi reached his arms out… but Song Caitang cruelly pushed them away.

Her eyes were slightly curved and her lips bore a little smile. There was a knowing look on her face.

Or rather, she was doing this on purpose.

Zhao Zhi fell silent.

Song Caitang knew his feelings toward her by now, yet she still pushed him away so obviously like this…

Zhao Zhi threw a nasty glare at the man who had pushed himself off the ground from afar, somersaulted in the air, then ran toward them like a dog that was running for his life.

This useless Qi Yan! Couldn’t he see that he wanted to spend time alone with Song Caitang?!

So much for bragging all day about how he was the king of gossip, someone who instantly picked up on the tension in the air, someone who was the best at reading the expressions and tone of others. He constantly talked about how he was the best, but look at him now!

Zhao Zhi gnashed his teeth angrily and looked down at his chest.

Unfortunately, this keep warm item… wasn’t going to be of any use here.

He had even coerced the crown prince into giving him this extremely expensive fabric to make this robe and he also wore an additional padded inner shirt to make sure that her head would feel comfortable against his chest and the smoothness of the fabric would not scratch her face…

Qi Yan didn’t seem to pick up on any of this at all. Once he had caught up with them again, he switched places so that he wouldn’t end up next to Zhao Zhi again. Song Caitang was now flanked by both men.

“Tangtang, don’t be scared, listen to me…”

He continued to follow Song Caitang closely and kept talking, but this time, he made sure to keep an eye on Zhao Zhi. If Zhao Zhi ever got angry and ready to cast him aside, he would immediately move away so as to ensure his own safety.

Zhao Zhi rolled his eyes.

Song Caitang didn’t mind how childishly these two men were behaving. To her, regardless of how old they were, many men would behave childishly from time to time. All this time, she always saw Zhao Zhi as someone who was very solemn and seemed to be carrying a lot of heavy burdens. He didn’t have any liveliness in him at all. She was happy to see him behave more naturally and bicker with Qi Yan.

She raised her eyes and set her sights on the mountain ahead.

She had only one aim tonight. She was here to inspect the bones.

The mountain roads were long and winding, and she could smell wild plum blossoms in the air.

It was nighttime in the middle of winter, so there was no chirping of the birds or the crickets, and only the sound of the harsh winds blowing. As it passed through the almost bald trees, the sound was sharp and aggressive, unlike the calm swishing of the leaves in summer and autumn. Sometimes, a branch would suddenly break off. The snapping sound was pretty terrifying.

Qi Yan subconsciously started walking closer to Song Caitang.

Zhao Zhi furrowed his brows and pulled Qi Yan toward him several times to whack him, but Qi Yan…

It wasn’t that Qi Yan was doing this on purpose. His Brother Zhi was someone who had gone through a lot more in life than most people, so his name alone terrified most people even when he was a young boy. Qi Yan did admire him for that, but not today. Today, he was going to stick to his Tangtang. Tangtang was someone who carried sharp knives that cut open the bodies of murdered victims, seeking justice for them and appeasing their vengefulness. Even the Lord of Hades had given in to her, what more a bunch of ghosts and spirits?

If he was anywhere else, he would defer to Zhao Zhi. But here in this graveyard, Song Caitang was king!

Of course he was going to follow the strongest person!

Once they got to their destination, Song Caitang looked around, then slowly undid her cape. “Let’s begin.”

Zhao Zhi frowned slightly at her actions. “I think you should keep it on.”

Song Caitang smiled. “I’m not cold.”

After walking such a long way, she really wasn’t feeling cold at all. In fact, she was on the verge of perspiring.

Zhao Zhi touched her hands and nodded only after he realized they were very warm. “Let me know if you’re ever feeling cold.”

“Alright.”

Zhao Zhi had already made sure that nobody knew they were coming here. He had sent a team ahead of them, so by the time they arrived, the grave of the leader of the Beiqing Mountain bandits had already been dug up and one could see the coffin in the ground.

She couldn’t tell what sort of wood it had been made of since the color had changed, but it had been preserved pretty well. The coffin hadn’t given way yet.

The soil above the coffin was a little reddish and sticky. When she looked inside the grave, she noticed that it had been dug very deep. It wasn’t because it was too dark, but that the hole really seemed almost bottomless.

After checking out the grave and the surface of the coffin, Song Caitang nodded. “Open the coffin.”

Qi Yan leaped aside and dared not stand too close by, but he couldn’t help but peek at the grave.

The wind suddenly became stronger.

It made the dry leaves and soil fly up, accompanying the sound of the hammers smashing at the nails in the coffin. The strike of the hammers seemed to strike his heart as well.

The coffin that had not seen sunshine in years was a nasty black color, and the wood was stuck together because of the sticky soil it was in. After the nails had been removed, the coffin still couldn’t be opened, so the guards used a crowbar to force the lid open.

Creeeaaaak…

The sharp, prolonged and scratchy sound of the lid giving way was terrifying, as though something incredible had been opened and something horrifying was about to be let loose…

It was hard to say if Qi Yan was overthinking it, but as the lid was forced open, he thought he heard the sound of branches being stepped on.

As though someone was unhappy that their things had been touched without permission.

Qi Yan squeaked and jumped over to where Song Caitang was standing. He nearly squatted down and hugged her leg.

But Song Caitang looked toward Zhao Zhi and used her chin to point in a particular direction.

Zhao Zhi nodded and gave his men a hand signal.

In the darkness, Zhao Zhi’s hidden guards silently leaped out from their positions and ran in that direction.

Meanwhile, the coffin had been successfully opened and the body inside could be seen. Song Caitang immediately went forward to take a look.

The body had been buried for many years, so all the flesh had already rotted away, leaving only the bones, some hair and tattered clothing.

She took a look at it carefully, then nodded. “Let’s move it out.”

The skeleton was very brittle and it looked scary too. The guards were clearly beginning to perspire as they carefully moved the coffin out of the grave.

But Song Caitang seemed so used to all of this and did not hesitate at all. She went forward, squatted down and started examining one of the bones that had fallen off the skeleton.

She even felt that it wasn’t bright enough, so she waved to the guards with torches to come closer.

After she had made a general scan of the bones, her expression grew solemn. “I shall begin now.”

“The deceased has a pelvis that is high but narrow, the surface is rough and solid, it is longer than it is wide, is in a heart shape, wider on top and narrower at the bottom like a funnel… This skeleton belongs to a man.”

“His collar bones, shoulder blades, pubic bone joints are almost fully fused, the arrow shaped gaps in the skull have also begun to fuse… This man was 20 to 25 years old, and he was… 1.85 meters tall.”

“His shoulders and chest were narrow, his neck thin and long, his head is fairly small in proportion to the rest of his body. He had a slim body type.”

“His left knuckles are well developed and his finger bones stick out. So, this was his dominant hand.”

Song Caitang inspected each section carefully, giving both quick and certain conclusions each time. Zhao Zhi took down the observations himself, and the more he wrote, the more he realized that these characteristics matched the old descriptions of Zuo Wenxiu in the records.

“Two inches away from his left elbow, there’s scarring on his bones. About five years before he died, he suffered a fracture.”

“His toe bones are a little spread out, so they’re pretty worn out. Besides writing with his left hand very often, he must have done work that required him to walk a lot, like visiting homes or farming.”

“This man did a lot of writing in his life, he was skinny and frail but very determined and willing to do menial work. He does not look like he knew any martial arts.”

“Finally…”

Song Caitang looked intently at the skull and drew a few lines in the air. “Based on the skull’s shape and lines, one can roughly guess what he might have looked like when he was alive. This ‘leader of the bandits’ actually looked a lot like the Zuo Xiuwen we know today.”

She had studied skull restoration and had run into many cases where the authorities could not identify the body from the bones alone and had to use this method to reconstruct the person’s facial features. Besides, she had someone to compare this particular skull to, so comparing the two wasn’t too difficult.

Qi Yan watched on in horror and bit his own nails as he stared at Zhao Zhi, “Br-brother Zhi, I think you have Zuo Xiuwen’s detailed life history, right?”

Zhao Zhi nodded. “Yes, I do.”

He stared directly at Song Caitang. “Zuo Xiuwen’s history from 18 years ago is recorded very clearly for us. He was used to using his left hand, he wrote a lot and wrote very well, he was smart, his family was poor but ambitious. Even though he had become a low ranking official, he never forgot his roots. He would work the fields every day, paid for his own food and clothing. He was very skinny and was pretty much skin and bones. Five years before this incident, while saving a child, something heavy fractured his left forearm.”

“I didn’t tell anybody any of these details because I didn’t want you to have these in mind and subconsciously make observations that would support these details.”

Song Caitang turned out to be such an outstanding coroner. Everything she had observed matched the records of what Zuo Xiuwen was like 18 years ago.

Qi Yan stared in Song Caitang in shock. “These are just bones that don’t have any skin and flesh, but you can tell what he might have looked like when he was alive?”

“Of course.” Song Caitang always had confidence in her expertise. “When we get a chance, I’ll tell you more.”

“So…” Qi Yan gulped as he looked at the skeleton that stared back at him with the two empty holes in its skull. “If we can match everything, it can’t be a coincidence, right…”

This skeleton clearly did not belong to the leader of the bandits of Beiqing Mountain at all. He was the real Zuo Xiuwen, the extremely poor, sickly man who had no choice but to stay in an abandoned temple and got implicated for no reason!

It didn’t take a genius to figure out who the current Zuo Xiuwen was.

He was definitely the real leader of the bandits from back then!

This man was a really intelligent one. His group was based on a mountain filled with dangers, he knew martial arts and he was good at scheming and strategizing. When he realized that the authorities had sent troops to ambush him, he gathered information about his surroundings and realized he would not be able to fight his way out of this, so he quickly thought of another way out.

He might have intended to just fake his death, make a run for it and live under a different name elsewhere. But when he ran into Zuo Xiuwen, he realized he had an even bigger opportunity.

This was a man who looked like him, but had a very different identity, which represented a different life and future… so, why not?

He killed Zuo Xiuwen, smashed his face, took away everything that could have identified him as Zuo Xiuwen, exchanged clothes with the dead man and made it look like he had killed himself. And just like that, he had turned into Zuo Xiuwen. He was familiar with Beiqing Mountain, so he used his knowledge to aid the troops, which immediately got him a place among the court officials of Bianliang. He made full use of every opportunity he had and eventually climbed the career ladder without problems…

“No wonder he admitted to his fling with Lv Mingyue so quickly!”

Qi Yan’s gaze flickered. “He was the leader of the bandits then, so he’s the one who did that to Mrs. Ji back then. Lv Mingyue is his daughter, but he doesn’t want anyone to know about what happened at that time. Regardless of why he started meeting with Lv Mingyue, he definitely wouldn’t want anybody to find out his real purpose. He didn’t care if others called her his mistress. After all, that would actually save him a lot of explaining!”

Song Caitang and Zhao Zhi nodded slightly at Qi Yan, with a look in their eyes that seemed to say, we’re so glad to learn that you’ve finally grown a few brain cells.

But that was where his ingenuity stopped. He couldn’t figure out the next part.

He tilted his head and furrowed his brows. “So what in the world was he doing with Lv Mingyue? Why did they spend so much time together in that house? Did he know that she was his daughter? And did she know that Zuo Xiuwen was actually her father?”