Chapter 1345

Tingting asked him: "Which young master are we supposed to serve?" "The second young master."

"Can Xiao An go with me?"

Steward Zou's expression was a little strange: "This kind of request, I've never heard it before."

He smiled, his expression becoming even stranger: "What's the rush? Just follow the arrangements."

The two girls were arranged to stay in the servants' wing, first taking a bath, then changing into new clothes.

Though it was just a set of clean old clothes, the girls looked fresh and pretty.

Then it was time to eat, and the table was full of delicious food.

"Chicken legs!" There was also pork head meat, and there was also meat that Tingting Han had never eaten before. She was already starving, so she rushed over, grabbed a chicken leg, and took two bites before saying to Xiao An, "Come on, eat! Hurry up and eat something!"

She ate so fast that she didn't notice the servants who had set out the bowls had already silently withdrawn, never making eye contact with them from beginning to end.

The late wind blew in through the window, carrying along fragments of speech:

"What a sin, they're so young."

"Shh! It's none of our business, don't talk so much!"

Xiao An sat down at the table's edge, only nibbling a small piece of chicken meat.

She had little appetite.

Tingting Han wolfed down her food, mumbling vaguely: "We really came to the right place, the food at this manor is so good, even the rice is fragrant! I haven't had a proper bowl of rice in three years, wow, the soup is also delicious!"

Xiao An, however, pressed her hand and whispered: "We should leave, don't stay here."

"Why?"

"The monsters are almost upon me." Xiao An said timidly, "They'll also come after us here."

Tingting jumped: "What monsters?"

"Man-eating monsters, they swallow people silently without a sound, I've seen it with my own eyes!"

"No way, Green Intent Manor won't let us leave. We were sold here." Tingting, though young, understood one thing clearly: being sold means having no personal freedom.

Before she could finish speaking, Steward Zou entered with several sturdy servants: "Finished eating? Wipe your mouths clean, the young master wants to see you."

The two girls followed him, twisting and turning through corridors and halls, finally entering a courtyard.

Steward Zou, who had always held his head high and chest out, now bowed low before the man ahead: "Second young master, the new goods have arrived, please take a look."

This is the second young master? Tingting Han glanced sideways, unable to help feeling somewhat disappointed.

The second young master had a thick chest and back, still a big round face, with fat squeezing his eyes small.

This was different from the young master Tingting Han had imagined. When she had accompanied her parents to the county town before, she had once listened to a storyteller, and the young masters in the tales were all handsome and bright.

But the second young master's gaze toward her was quite satisfied, and he even reached out to touch her cheek.

Tingting jumped in fright, wanting to shrink back, but Steward Zou held her shoulder: "Don't dodge."

Then the second young master said: "A bit rough, but not bad-looking. Where are you from?"

Steward Zou answered for her: "This older one is from the countryside, the younger one was picked up by a human trafficker on the roadside of Chen Family Village."

"Just these two?"

Steward Zou hurriedly said: "Recently, recently there aren't many that meet your requirements."

The second young master grunted, pointing at Tingting Han: "Just her. The little one stays until tomorrow night."

Having said that, he turned and went inside.

Steward Zou gave Tingting Han a jerk of the chin: "What are you standing there for, come in! Please the young master well, and you'll have good days ahead in the manor, understand?"

Tingting Han grabbed Xiao An's hand, comforting her: "You go to sleep first, don't be afraid. I'll come back tomorrow and bring you something good to eat."

Xiao An nodded firmly.

Several sturdy servants then escorted Tingting Han into the second young master's room, while Xiao An followed Steward Zou outwards.

Before leaving the courtyard gate, she turned back once, and just then Tingting Han also grinned at her, making a gesture of gnawing a chicken leg.

Tomorrow morning, I'll sneak you a chicken leg! Xiao An finally showed the first smile she had since they'd been together.

￥￥￥￥￥

To investigate the case in Pei State, local cooperation is needed.

Through Yu Hai, He Lingchuan obtained a certain authority from the ruler of Pei State, namely a temporary post as Inspector Commissioner. The Pei ruler was also considerate, attaching an official document ordering the county magistrate stationed in the county to cooperate fully with the investigation.

This tactic indeed worked. The county magistrate, surnamed Li, was aloof when He Lingchuan came to his door, but once the document arrived, Li Magistrate immediately knew he couldn't afford to offend, did a complete 180-degree turn in attitude, and personally led He Lingchuan to the countryside to examine the crime scene.

Dong Rui raised a request: "Examine the corpse first."

This had already gone on for over half a month, still damp springtime, the stench of decay rising from opened coffins underground was enough to make people want to vomit, capable of fuming Li Magistrate and his constables out to a distance of over five zhang.

Dong Rui, however, didn't even frown, rolled up his sleeves and jumped down.

He didn't trust the county coroner, believing only personal examination would count.

After digging up eleven or twelve corpses in succession for examination, Dong Rui then told He Lingchuan: "These tearing wounds are very like those made by bear claws, the killer has claws, but is smaller than a grizzly bear, and also more agile."

Li Magistrate covered his nose and leaned in: "How can you tell they're more agile?"

"Most of the wounds on the corpses are on the chest and neck, very few below the waist." Dong Rui said casually, "This shows the killer targets vital points, basically killing with one or two blows, not wasting energy. And look at these two corpses' neck wounds——"

He pointed it out to everyone: "The blood holes from the large teeth are very close together, the killer's mouth is smaller than a bear's, and the tooth marks don't match those of bear teeth."

"I won't go into further detail, but at least four killers were present that night, differing in appearance and build." Dong Rui then walked to another corpse, "As for these several corpses, their surfaces show no obvious trauma, nor any poisoning. But they similarly left something behind on their bodies."

He had just been rubbing something on these few "intact" corpses, and now everyone saw faint red marks appear on the bodies.

"Their shoulders and necks were all gripped tightly." Dong Rui traced the marks with hand gestures, "See, this person had their jaw gripped while alive."

While he was examining the corpses, He Lingchuan was reviewing the deceased's files beside him.

That was a thick stack.

He Lingchuan quickly flipped through it once, then asked Li Magistrate: "Why are there only files for about twenty people?"

Li Magistrate hadn't expected his review speed to be this fast, hesitated a moment before saying: "The others, they simply don't, don't exist."

"Why?"

"Those days, the government office was short on paper." Facing the investigating commissioner sent down from above, the county magistrate stammered, "Besides, the victims' wounds were all about the same, and their backgrounds were just villagers, so..."

He Lingchuan gave him a once-over from head to toe: "County Magistrate Li, you're remarkably frank."

You do a shoddy job, and you don't even know how to cover it up.

The county magistrate's face flushed slightly, knowing he was being mocked. "You, you... is there anything you need?"

"Take us to the estate where the incident happened. By the way, how many died peacefully?"

"About seven or eight."

(End of Chapter)