Chapter 300: Skeleton

Yin Suqin and Cao Hanyan endured the nausea, used a wooden stick to pick out the skeleton, dragged a table for stopping corpses out of the shed, and placed the skeleton on it.

This corpse didn't know how long it had been in the pit, it had already turned into a puddle of black water and white bones, not a trace of skin and flesh on it. It was "stacked" in several layers, which was Li Miao who could recognize the identity of this skeleton based on the data recorded back then.

Cao Hanyan also realized Li Miao's meaning, and deduced the result. When the bones were spread out, the two looked at them by the firelight, and nodded secretly—it was indeed exactly the same as the record in the case file.

News heard at noon, rushed over to check for half a day in the afternoon, found some clues at night, and found that the main subject had already died.

Yin Suqin muttered: "Could it be that this matter is just a folk legend?"

"No." Cao Hanyan shook his head.

"First of all, let's put aside whether she knows Wu Gong. Unknown origin, missing merchants, and her inexplicably dying here, these three things still have no explanation."

He turned to look at Li Miao and said in a low voice: "The primary problem now is to determine when Xue Bangzhu died."

Xue Bangzhu was annihilated twenty years ago, moved to the righteous village thirteen years ago, disappeared five years ago, and since then the righteous village began to have accidents, and the merchant team also disappeared at this time.

With Xue Bangzhu's death, no one would think she died of old age.

Determining the time of Xue Bangzhu's death can divide these things, which belong to her, and which belong to the "murderer." This matter still has to fall on Li Miao, this Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Li Miao smiled: "If judging only from the decay of this corpse, it can be said to be five years, ten years, or twenty years."

He pulled out the long sword from Zheng Yi's waist, picked up Xue Bangzhu's spine and brought it to his eyes, looking while saying.

"The person who killed her was hiding her corpse, in order not to let the smell spread, the pit was finely paved with oil paper and sealed with wax. This corpse rotted inside, and there was no wind or rain, so the bones were clean, and a few years difference couldn't be seen at all."

"However—"

Li Miao picked up the sword edge, and the white spine fell back to the table, the position was exactly the same.

"Still can see three things."

"First, this spine has been worn out severely, she was a hunched old woman when she died, at least sixty years old. So at least before moving to this righteous village, she was still alive."

"Second, she was a martial arts practitioner, and her Wu Gong was not low. These bones, especially the hand bones, were much stronger than ordinary people, they were tempered, and the kung fu was not shallow."

"Third—"

Li Miao waved his hand, with a clang, the long sword returned to Zheng Yi's waist. He looked at Zheng Yi and said.

"She is eight out of ten, the person you and I are looking for."

Zheng Yi's expression changed abruptly, and she asked urgently: "What is the basis for your Excellency's words?"

"Stature."

Li Miao answered.

"When the yamen measured her body, she was already forty-something, and her figure was a bit out of shape, so I didn't make a conclusion. Now that there is no skin and flesh, it is clear."

"I straightened her spine, you compare it with yourself and see, shoulder width, height, arm length, hip width, is it—exactly the same?"

"The deformation and wear of these hand bones can also show her most commonly used sword-holding posture, which is exactly the same as yours."

"Disguise can only manage skin and flesh, not bones."

Li Miao reached out and guided.

"Go see it."

"This is the fellow sect member you are looking for."

Zheng Yi was stunned for a while, unable to speak.

She wouldn't question Li Miao, in the range she knew, the one with the highest Wu Gong and the most killings in this world was undoubtedly Li Miao. To talk about the understanding of the human body, no one in this Great Shuo could be out of his right, and there was no coroner more authoritative than Li Miao.

She had envisioned many possibilities.

When seeing the fellow sect member, perhaps it was hugging and crying, perhaps it was tearful, or even drawing swords against each other, she had envisioned them all.

But she alone hadn't thought that she would see a skeleton soaked in black water.

After a while, she moved her steps, walked slowly to the table, lifted the skull with both hands, and raised it to her face. Looking at those two pitch-black holes, she breathed a long sigh.

She now understood why she hadn't thought of the possibility that the Penglai fellow sect member would draw a sword against her, and still needed Li Miao to remind her—because she subconsciously didn't want to admit it.

She no longer had a home, and decided to risk everything to take revenge on Yingzhou. But "risking everything to take revenge" was actually much more difficult than it sounded.

At least she didn't have that temperament.

She subconsciously was still seeking family, companions, and a place to belong. So much so that she subconsciously ignored the possibility that the Penglai fellow sect member wouldn't recognize her, or had already died.

Li Miao let her see these bones, just to tell her—

Stop fantasizing.

Revenge wouldn't be like in storybooks, meeting companions, finding family, and finally stabbing that sword into the enemy's chest, a romantic process of dying with a smile.

She wouldn't get anything in this process, only constant loss. The best result is to die with Yingzhou, turning into a handful of yellow soil.

Without this awareness, don't talk about any revenge.

After a while, Zheng Yi slowly put the skull back in place, took a deep breath, clenched her hand on the sword hilt, and turned to look at Li Miao.

"Lord, since she is already dead, there is no point in lingering here. Let's go to the next place—"

Li Miao interrupted her.

"No rush."

He smiled.

"People are dead, doesn't mean you can't find useful things. And don't you think it's a bit tricky?"

Li Miao said slowly and methodically.

"Since she escaped from Penglai, how could she not have a Heaven-Man realm, then after she was annihilated, why could 'No Trace' still live?"

"Besides, Heaven-Man experts all have some characteristics of 'seeing god not bad,' and won't show old age until they are exhausted. But this spine is worn out severely, she was already hunched before she died—so where did her realm go?"

"The merchant's family who lost the corpse, why could they push a sixty-year-old Heaven-Man expert to the ground?"

"These bones were clearly broken before she died, who could make her like this, and why seal her corpse?"

Li Miao twisted his fingers, paused, and finally said.

"The most critical point is, she shouldn't have died when she was in the righteous village, those missing corpses were eight out of ten her handiwork—what did she need so many corpses for?"

Li Miao smiled.

"The higher the Wu Gong, the more evil things there are. Things like passing on kung fu, seizing the house, grafting limbs, and urging flesh are all things that ordinary Jianghu people don't dare to think about."

"Xue Bangzhu never left after coming to Kaifeng, this method that needs corpses is mostly Penglai's inheritance. And Penglai is of the same origin as Yingzhou."

"Finding the background of her method will mostly be able to reverse-deduce some of Yingzhou's foundations."

"Doesn't this deserve us—to get to the bottom of it?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 301 =====