Chapter 100: Strange Dream

The funeral procession! Solemn! Dignified!

Amidst a chorus of wailing, it marched in a grand, sweeping line out of the Yuanshun Escort Agency!

At the very front were five or six rows of Xiaojia juniors, dressed in mourning clothes and holding white funeral banners!

Behind the banner-bearers was the coffin of Xiao Baijiao!

Xiao Yu and Zhu Xiaoqi led the way in front of the coffin procession, with Xiao Yu holding Xiao Baijiao's spirit tablet in her hands!

Behind the coffin were the musicians playing mournful tunes on wind and string instruments!

Further behind them was the procession of mourners dressed in mourning clothes!

Only at the very back were the people there to see the funeral off!

This final group of funeral-goers was the largest, a dense, dark mass squeezed together; Xiao Zongting was also being supported by others, squeezed among them, his face streaked with old tears as he faced the wind!

Ruan Fengshan and Luan Jingfu also followed behind the procession with their families!

This long, dragon-like procession moved along West Street, heading straight for the West City Gate!

The onlookers along the way packed the streets and alleys even tighter...

Duan Rong, in the middle of the procession, could not help but be surprised by the great honor shown to Xiao Baijiao!

To be able to sustain such a turnout, with so many people coming to participate, was proof enough of the character of the father and daughter, Xiao Zongting and Xiao Yu!

Duan Rong suddenly noticed that Zhao Mu, who was walking in front of him carrying the coffin, was turned slightly to the side, his eyes sweeping over Zhu Xiaoqi's back from time to time.

"This guy... he still doesn't forget to sneak a peek at a time like this..."

In the morning, Ruan Fengshan had personally gone to the County Office and met with Shen Yanliu face-to-face to discuss the funeral!

Weddings and funerals are major human affairs, and now that it was getting hotter by the day, a corpse could not be kept for long! Investigating a case was certainly important, but one could not let a corpse sit at home and rot just for the sake of an investigation.

Shen Yanliu often associated with Ruan Fengshan and had always had some friendship with him, so as soon as it was mentioned, he immediately agreed.

He had Ruan Fengshan draw up a list, which Shen Yanliu signed, and then had Clerk Qin stamp it with the County Government Office seal and send it to the guards at the West City Gate! Clerk Qin personally instructed the city gate guards to verify the list and let them pass at the hour of the sheep (1:00 PM – 3:00 PM)!

The procession in front was all listed by name, but for the final list of funeral-goers, Ruan Fengshan had only listed twenty-some people.

Although this funeral procession looked grand and sweeping now, most of them could only go as far as the city gate and could not leave the city.

As the funeral procession just reached the city gate, Ruan Fengshan, standing at the very back, felt that something was wrong.

Guarding the city gate were not only the original team of yamen runners, but at this moment, there were also several extra Constables!

One of the older Constables was clearly saying something to the leader of the yamen runner team guarding the gate!

Suddenly, a Constable jumped onto a fast horse and galloped away along the street with a whistle!

Ruan Fengshan stroked his sparse goatee, feeling that there might be a change in plans!

"Why is there an extra team of Constables at this West City Gate, besides the yamen runners guarding it?"

Ruan Fengshan immediately squeezed out of the funeral procession, walked slowly past the long, dragon-like line, and arrived at the city gate, wanting to ask the guarding Constable a few questions to probe the situation.

Just as Ruan Fengshan was about to speak, he heard a horse neigh; a black steed had already stopped at the city gate, and a figure jumped off the horse and stood at the gate.

The person who arrived was none other than the Head Constable of the County Government Office, Xie Daohan!

As soon as Ruan Fengshan saw Xie Daohan, he walked over, cupped his hands with a smile, and exchanged pleasantries: "Head Constable Xie, it has been a while!"

Xie Daohan returned the gesture, raised an eyebrow, and said: "It is Manager Ruan! I trust you have been well!"

The two had been quite close a few years ago, but in recent years, their relationship had grown somewhat distant.

Ruan Fengshan scanned Xie Daohan and saw that although he wore a forced smile, his eyes were fierce and bloodshot, as if he had just been crying.

Seeing Xie Daohan like this, Ruan Fengshan's heart skipped a beat, and he said in a deep voice: "Head Constable Xie! Regarding this funeral! I personally asked the County Magistrate about it! I had a list drawn up, and the Magistrate even stamped it. The list should be in the hands of the brothers guarding the gate!"

Hearing this, Xie Daohan turned his head to look at the leader of the yamen runners guarding the gate and asked: "Where is the list?"

That person immediately took out a large sheet of paper stamped with the County Office seal and said: "Clerk Qin sent it over at the hour of the horse (11:00 AM – 1:00 PM)!"

Xie Daohan took it and looked at the list, which detailed the names of each group—banner-bearers, coffin-bearers, musicians, mourners, and funeral-goers—and at the bottom was the bright red seal of the County Office!

Xie Daohan's brows immediately locked tight, and he began to feel troubled.

As it happened, early this morning, when the County Office Constables were checking in, Xie Lei had not arrived!

At the time, Xie Daohan had found it strange; he knew his nephew best—the boy had a solitary nature and was somewhat reserved in his dealings with others.

But he was a person who strictly followed the rules; having been a Constable for five or six years, he had never even been late once.

Xie Daohan had thought that he was just exhausted from the pressure of investigating the case these past few days and might have overslept, so he sent someone to his house to call him!

The person returned and said that they had knocked for a long time with no answer, so he must not have been at home.

Xie Daohan already had doubts in his heart, and by noon, when he still hadn't seen a shadow of Xie Lei, he had become somewhat anxious and sent several people out to look for him.

After lunch, he was lying on a grand armchair taking a nap when he suddenly had a dream—he dreamed of a tree!

The tree was very strange; its trunk and branches were pitch black, like some kind of dark, heavy metal...

But the leaves and flowers were all blood-red, and they kept dripping blood...

Xie Daohan woke up with a start, his temples throbbing non-stop, and his heart filled with panic!

By this time, the people sent to find Xie Lei had all returned, saying they had checked the gambling dens and restaurants Xie Lei usually frequented, and everyone said they hadn't seen him!

Xie Daohan felt a chill run through his whole body; the strange tree from his dream seemed even more like an omen of something!

He immediately put aside the work at hand and rushed to Xie Lei's house in person!

As soon as Xie Daohan arrived at the courtyard, his heart trembled—the door to the main room was wide open...

He knew Xie Lei's personality; the boy was usually cautious, and if he wasn't at home, he would definitely have locked the door!

"Could it be that something happened suddenly, and he didn't have time to lock the door?"

Xie Daohan inspected the room inside and out; there was nothing unusual, all his belongings were neat and tidy, and there were absolutely no signs of a struggle!

Xie Daohan checked the utility room and the kitchen again!

Xie Lei basically never cooked at home; the kitchen was covered in dust, and there was only cold ash in the stove!

A look of sorrow welled up in Xie Daohan's eyes; only then did he realize that he had always thought that although his older brother was dead, he had already cared for Xie Lei very much, and that he had given him all the love he was due.

Now, he suddenly felt that he had not done enough. He realized he had seemingly never even been to this place where Xie Lei lived!

"Lei'er, Uncle will not let anything happen to you!"

Xie Daohan said this, then paced over to the well; he had originally not noticed this dry well, but standing in the courtyard, he suddenly discovered that the area around the well was exceptionally dry, and the soil layer was even somewhat cracked!

If it were a water well, with water drawn year-round, it should be damp!

Xie Daohan stood at the wellhead, and he immediately caught a faint whiff of a foul stench...

Xie Daohan had handled cases for many years and was exceptionally sensitive to this kind of strange odor!

He leaned over the wellhead to look, and then his figure, like a great bird, jumped into the well!

Xie Daohan stood at the bottom of the well; having suddenly fallen into the well from the bright daylight, he was momentarily unable to adjust to the dim light inside.

Xie Daohan took a Fire Folder from inside his lapel, pulled it open, blew on it by his mouth, and the Fire Folder lit up with a faint flame; using the halo of the flame, Xie Daohan saw a hole at the bottom of the well.

At this moment, he was worried about Xie Lei, so without the slightest hesitation, he immediately bent over and crawled inside!

Xie Daohan crawled for a short distance, then stood up; by the flame of the Fire Folder, he saw that before him was a very short passageway.

Xie Daohan's brow twitched wildly; as soon as he entered the passageway, he smelled a thick, foul stench mixed with a metallic, blood-like odor, a strange smell that made one want to retch!

(End of this chapter)