60 — Who Killed Ximen Gang

Today was the 23^rd day of the 2^nd month. It had been 15 days since the 8^th day, which was when the two murder cases in Tianhua Temple had occurred.

It had also been 15 days since Shi Qun went missing.

When the authorities were looking for suspects for Ximen Gang and Yun Nianyao’s murders, Shi Qun had gone missing. Nobody thought that they would see him again on the autopsy table.

Song Caitang put on her protective overcoat, gloves and face mask before proceeding to examine Shi Qun’s dead body carefully.

“I will begin the autopsy.”

“The victim is Shi Qun. He has a tall and large build There are some…long, narrow leaves in his hair that look like a type of moss, there are callouses on the soles of his feet. His palms and nails are dark green with some patches of white.”

“The green discoloration on his lower right abdomen is very severe and it has spread throughout the entire body. There are dark green net-like stripes on the body, and the sides and inner thighs have it the worst.”

“The mucous membranes of the mouth and nose have detached and are severely decomposed. There are brownish-red insect eggs as well as…white maggots.”

Song Caitang bent over slightly to check the body for various characteristics carefully while dictating the condition of the body and her conclusions.

This autopsy had occurred rather suddenly, so very few were present. There was only Song Caitang, her maid/assistant Qingqiao, Wen Yuansi and two runners who were supposed to be witnesses.

The autopsy report was still personally handwritten by Wen Yuansai.

When the body was first moved to this place, the runners hadn’t noticed anything gross about the body. But after hearing what Song Caitang said, they looked at the victim’s nose and mouth…

Just like what she said, there were white things wriggling inside the nose. Their faces paled immediately.

Song Caitang could understand why this was happening.

It was the 2^nd month and it was getting warmer now, but for a long period before this, they had gone through a severe cold spell. The temperature had remained very low, plus the coffin home was built in a very deserted area and was normally quite dark, so it was good for preserving dead bodies. But over the past two days, the temperature had begun to climb again.

Thankfully, she had gotten to see the body today. If they waited any longer, it would be difficult to examine it.

“After taking the weather into consideration, the victim probably died around 14 days ago or so.”

14 days or so…

If you worked backwards, that would be the 8^th day of the 2^nd month!

Even Wen Yuansi stopped writing for that moment, “So, on the 8^th day, we had three deaths, not two.”

On that day, Shi Qun had even been drinking with An Pengyi, Ximen Gang and Ma Sanniang. Ximen Gang’s body was discovered the next day but he disappeared. Did he die almost immediately after?

And there was one more thing, “Can you confirm if Shi Qun is the one who killed Ximen Gang?”

Song Caitang was still checking the body carefully, “There are traces of skin left under the victim’s nails.”

“His fingertips are slightly swollen.”

“He has wounds on his face.”

“There are scratch wounds on his forearm.”

“His back…has some bruises that look leathery. Yup, these injuries look a little different. They’re brown and there are no scabs…” Song Caitang paused to think, then used her scalpel to make a shallow slit in the skin, “There’s no bleeding under the skin, so this is an injury caused after death.”

Song Caitang straightened up, summarized all her observations of the body and gave her summary, “The body has reached a slightly advanced stage in decomposition and it’s not easy to find any swollen injuries on the body now. But it is very obvious that the victim had been involved in a violent fight before he died, and he was shifted after he died.”

“The person whom he fought with and the one who moved his body is the same person?”

“Not necessarily. There is no evidence to prove that.”

Wen Yuansi paused to think, “What about the cause of death? Do you need to dissect the body?”

Song Caitang had reached the victim’s ankle at this point and smiled faintly, “No need for that. He died from a snake bite.”

There were obvious bite marks on the victim’s ankle and it was similar to a snake bite. The body was quite decayed and the color of the nails and lips was no longer obvious, but it was still greenish. That was characteristic of a person who had been poisoned.

“The body was discovered at a coffin home, so where did the coffin home get this body from?” Song Caitang asked Wen Yuansi.

Wen Yuansi shook his head, “The coffin home receives bodies every day that nobody can identify or claim. If they are very busy, their records will not be very detailed. From what we know, this body was discovered near the city wall.”

Near the city wall…

Song Caitang frowned slightly, “There is grass in his clothing that has some dried but strong smelling mud on it. The place where he died couldn’t be near the city wall, but such grass and mud would match the mountainous area we’re in right now.”

And this arm…why did it seem familiar somehow?

But she didn’t know Shi Qun.

And besides this arm, she had no impression of any other part of him, including his face.

Why?

Song Caitang was naturally an observant person and her memory wasn’t too bad too. She forced herself to try and recall. This arm wasn’t in her recent memories, so she had recall further back…

If this one arm could leave an impression on her, then the circumstances under which she saw this arm must have been very special.

Her memories moved further back and she finally remembered.

On the 9^th day, the day she woke up in a daze, she had finished her big argument with First Madam Wu and was about to leave the coffin home with Qingqiao when some workers came in with a body.

The body had been placed on a wooden plank and one of the workers carrying the body nearly tripped over a stone and hit the door frame. He swayed a bit to catch his balance and the body on the plank moved as well, causing one arm to slip out from under the cloth.

At that time, Qingqiao was so terrified, she hid behind Song Caitang and dared not look at all.

She heard one of them say that this body had frozen to death, and Qingqiao trembled as she asked how could someone like him freeze to death.

That arm clearly belonged to a young man who was very muscular and energetic, so the maid didn’t think it was possible for such a person to ever freeze to death.

But because this body had nothing to do with her, plus she was more anxious to find out more about this new world she was in, she didn’t give it too much thought. She wasn’t going to poke her nose into everything she saw. Besides, it was just a half frozen arm and it didn’t mean anything to her.

Depending on the circumstances and given how cold it was at that time, it wasn’t impossible for a strong young man to freeze to death.

Looking back now, she felt that this was fate. After going one big round, this case and this body still came back to her.

Song Caitang closed her eyes and quickly went through everything she knew about this case. Scene after scene flashed before her eyes.

What happened on the 8^th, discovering the body on the 9^th, the results of her examination, the statements of all the suspects, the argument between the three brothers, the relationship that both Ximen Gang and An Pengyi were having with Ma Sanniang, the environment in the mountains, the deep and icy cold lake waters, the rushing river that led to the foot of the mountain, the answers Zhao Zhi got out of An Pengyi, the real thoughts that An Pengyi had about his comrades…

It didn’t take long for some ideas to hit Song Caitang.

An Pengyi was weaker and skinnier in stature and perhaps he was too good at behaving as the good boy among them. It made sense for Shi Qun and Ximen Gang to be unwilling to let him go with them to steal or be involved in anything important, but An Pengyi was definitely not some innocent and pitiful boy.

“Surveillance Commissioner Zhao has made some discoveries but I haven’t had the chance to tell you about them.”

Song Caitang turned around and told Wen Yuansi what answers Zhao Zhi had extracted from An Pengyi and her guess on what could have happened.

Wen Yuansi’s gaze flickered, “If that’s the case…that sounds very plausible.”

He looked at Song Caitang’s intelligent eyes and said, “I’m not as smart as you and I only managed to guess half of it. I didn’t think the other half would be like this.

Song Caitang smiled, “You’re too modest. With all these facts and evidence on hand, you would reach the same conclusion after taking a quiet moment to piece everything together. I’m just a little more of an anxious type.”

“I’m anxious too, anxious to crack the case and anxious to find more answers.” Wen Yuansi got up, his sleeves flapped slightly in the wind, “I will call for An Pengyi to stand trial. Miss Song, do you still need to examine the body?”

Song Caitang nodded, “I’ll rely on you to question him on what happened. I sense that there’s something odd about the victim’s chest, but it’s a pity that it’s badly decomposed and I can’t see what happened clearly, so I’d like some time to study it. It’ll be best if I can find clues regarding the items that Yun Nianyao lost.”

“I’ll go out and question An Pengyi while waiting for your good news.”

“Please do.”

Wen Yuansi was the one overseeing the Ximen Gang case and he was responsible for keeping the peace in this province. So, when he said he wanted a trial for this case, his subordinates prepared for one very quickly.

They were in a temple, so everything was arranged according to the instructions of the one with the highest authority. There was no need to have it in the courthouse. The area outside the autopsy room was cleaned up and prepared for a trial. Once the magistrate’s table was set up with the gavel and the announcing drum¹, and the runners stood in two neat rows with their red and black paddles in hand², it really looked like a courtroom.

The two people connected to this case, An Pengyi and Ma Sanniang, were brought forward. The runners used their red and black paddles to hit the floor, then Wen Yuansi struck the gavel. It was time for a very serious trial to begin!

“An Pengyi, Ma Sanniang, when did your adulterous relationship begin? Spit it out now!” Wen Yuansi bellowed angrily as he started with a sensitive question. The atmosphere suddenly became tense and everyone couldn’t help but pay close attention.

Meanwhile, Song Caitang stopped what she was doing for a moment as she remained in the autopsy room. Her lips curled into a faint smile.

She thought that Wen Yuansi was an extremely gentle man. She didn’t expect him to be so fierce when it came to court trials.

The two kneeling on the floor before Wen Yuansi had an instantaneous change in expression. Ma Sanniang, in particular, looked like she was going to have a nervous breakdown.

“How…how did you know?”

An Pengyi glared at her. This woman was really too weak! All it took was for Wen Yuansi to ask fiercely and she buckled!

Wen Yuansi had pleasant features and he looked very elegant, gentlemanly and warm when he smiled genuinely. But now, even though his lips were still curved upward, the look in his eyes was icy cold.

It was really terrifying when a person who was normally very friendly suddenly became aggressive.

Ma Sanniang realized she had said the wrong thing, but she didn’t dare to cover it up.

Wen Yuansi shifted his steely gaze to An Pengyi, “It’s clear that the two of you have failed to keep this a secret. And not only do I know about it, but other people know about it too. For example, your beloved second brother, Ximen Gang.”

This time, An Pengyi was too stunned for words.

Ximen Gang was already dead. How could Wen Yuansi have known that?

His expression had betrayed his true emotions. Wen Yuansi struck the gavel hard, “But because both of you were worried that you’d be exposed and bring unnecessary trouble to yourselves, you planned to have Ximen Gang killed!”

An Pengyi relaxed again when Wen Yuansi said these words.

He wasn’t the one who killed Ximen Gang, so he wasn’t afraid, no matter what Wen Yuansi asked him or how many times he asked.

Ma Sanniang denied this vigorously, “No, no! Your Honor, you’re mistaken! We didn’t kill Ximen Gng!”

“Both of you weren’t the ones who killed Ximen Gang…” Wen Yuansi narrowed his eyes at An Pengyi, “Then, what about Shi Qun? Were you the one who killed him? An Pengyi!”

The answer to the two questions were complete opposites and they were asked in quick succession. An Pengyi’s emotions couldn’t help but go on a roller coaster ride, and even though he tried to control his expression, he failed.

He had thought about what he would do if the truth was uncovered and he had already thought of all the answers. But he hadn’t expected Wen Yuansi to ask him in this manner!

His heart had just calmed down and now, it was tense again. It was too hard to control the change in his expression like this.

An Pengyi saw the satisfied look in Wen Yuansi’s eyes and knew that he was in trouble. He had walked into a trap!

He did his best to make sure his voice remained steady, “Your Honor, I suppose you are able to make such an accusation because you have some evidence.”

Wen Yuansi’s expression was stern but he stopped looking at An Pengyi and turned to speak to Ma Sanniang, “You were the one who told An Pengyi that Ximen Gang discovered that you were sleeping with An Pengyi, right?”

She had suffered a terrible shock right from the start and she was beginning to crumble.

She didn’t know if An Pengyi had killed Shi Qun or not, but Ximen Gang…

“On the day Miss Song examined Ximen Gang’s body, you went to send a message to An Pengyi, didn’t you? After that, you went to his room more than once in the middle of the night to have a secret talk with him.” Wen Yuansi looked at Ma Sanniang emotionlessly, “I have been watching what the two of you have been doing all this time and I know what both of you have done. The facts are clear and there is evidence – you were in cahoots with An Pengyi to kill Ximen Gang and Shi Qun! How dare you remain untruthful!”

Over the past two weeks, Ma Sanniang had been feeling guilty and was already on tenterhooks. Furthermore, this case really didn’t have anything to do with her. If she didn’t speak the truth now, she was going to be arrested as an accomplice. She didn’t want that! She immediately pleaded, “That’s not true! I didn’t do that!”

“If you really weren’t involved and you tell me the truth of what happened, I will make sure nothing happens to you.”

After Wen Yuansi threatened her then offered consolation, plus the accusation of being an adulterous woman earlier, Ma Sanniang was already in a state of panic and couldn’t think properly anymore.

She confessed, “Your Honor, I did have a secret relationship with An Pengyi and it was discovered by Ximen Gang… Ximen Gang was a very rough man with incredibly strong arms…he didn’t know how to be considerate toward me and it was always so painful. An Pengyi was much gentler, so I… I knew that I was definitely going to suffer since Ximen Gang had found out about us, so I told An Pengyi about it…that’s all! That’s all I did! I don’t know anything about killing anybody!”

Wen Yuansi looked at An Pengyi, “Ximen Gang was a rough character with a fiery temper. If he found out, he would definitely confront you. You didn’t want to get beaten up, so you…”

An Pengyi frowned, “I didn’t kill him!”

“That’s right. You didn’t kill him. You goaded Shi Qun into killing him.”

When Wen Yuansi said that, An Pengyi’s eye twitched. This was definitely what happened.

“You were very unhappy with these two older brothers for a long time and you had been waiting for a chance to get away from them. Since you couldn’t dodge this bullet, you decided to set them up.”

Wen Yuansi narrowed his eyes and his voice seemed as frosty as shards of ice that could cut one’s skin, “You goaded Shi Qun into killing Ximen Gang and watched by the side. Once Ximen Gang was dead, you killed Shi Qun. You disposed of Shi Qun’s body to make it look like he was afraid of getting arrested and was on the run. And then you purposely disfigured Ximen Gang to make it hard for us to even identify the body and make the case more difficult to solve…”

“If the authorities couldn’t crack this case, you would be safe. If the authorities cracked the case, the killer they were looking for would be Shi Qun, who was supposedly on the run. It would have nothing to do with you and you would still be safe.”

Wen Yuansi observed the changes in An Pengyi’s expression as he spoke and was certain of what happened by this time, “An Pengyi, you’re a really clever one!”

He struck the gavel hard and his voice boomed like thunder, “Shi Qun was really easy to fool, wasn’t he? It was really easy to find a venomous snake, wasn’t it? You really made full use of the gushing waters in the mountains, didn’t you!”