Chapter 569

She turned her head to size up Old Li: "Old Li certainly knows his stuff."

Old Li: "After all, I've studied it for many years, even though in the end it wasn't put to use."

The county magistrate pushed the door open and came in. Seeing that they had simply left several of their lords lying on the ground, he was quite at a loss for words: "You could at least use a bed... a couch... fine, even if you had neither, you could still put them on a table, on a stool. The ground is so cold, and they haven't been sentenced yet — it's only the word of Old Li and the county commandant against theirs."

Old Li immediately said: "My lord, I never named Prefect Qian."

The county commandant said in a low voice: "Neither did I…"

"If a person can be knocked out and brought here, that alone proves there's a problem — what does it matter whether they're on the list or not?" Pan Yun rolled up her sleeves and said: "So what, it's almost dark, what are we doing?"

The county magistrate: "Get ready, we'll begin once it's dark."

"True enough — for seeing ghosts, the dark makes it scarier." Pan Yun: "County Magistrate Wu, do you want them to see ghosts together, or one by one?"

The county magistrate: "I want them to see ghosts separately first, then together."

Pan Yun couldn't help snapping her fingers: "Clever! Then that's how we'll do it!"

The county magistrate: "Daoist Priest Pan, the mass grave has been dug and those three sets of remains have been brought back. Will you go take a look?"

"Alright."

The county commandant hurried to follow, a stack of portraits in his hand: "My lord, this afternoon I went through every flower house, unlicensed brothel, and male companion house in the city, and only managed to confirm the identities of nine people."

The county commandant handed the nine portraits to him: "But one of them is strange — this one called Xiyan. According to the old procuress of Tianxian House, she's still alive; she saw her just before the new year."

The county magistrate's steps faltered: "What?"

That was the first portrait the county magistrate had drawn — the woman who had turned her head in a flash, smiled brilliantly, a smile that made one follow her involuntarily yet ache at heart.

Also the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

"She's still alive? Then whose remains are these?" The county magistrate looked at Pan Yun.

Pan Yun was also a bit bewildered: "Really alive? It can't be false, can it?"

"That old procuress was very certain, didn't seem to be lying. I've already sent my men to look. Apparently she disfigured herself and married a farmer on the outskirts of the city — it won't be hard to find her."

Li Wenying stepped forward, stared thoughtfully at the remains, and after a long while said: "It's not impossible. Perhaps she, like us, was once struck by Miss Xiyan's beauty, so the deepest memory she had was of her."

"Then what about her?" the county magistrate asked: "The other remnant souls all took their own form first — why does she only have a memory? Then how are we supposed to find her?"

Li Wenying lowered her eyes to look at the figure's back in the painting: "Perhaps she did take her own form too, it's just that we can't see it."

Pan Yun walked forward and also lowered her head to look: "Senior Brother Li means this figure from behind?"

Li Wenying nodded.

Pan Yun's brows knit tightly. She walked to the remains, raised her hand and aimed at the skull. A ball of black mist flew out from between her brows, and before everyone's eyes it spread out again, diffusing like an ink wash painting. A slender figure seen from behind appeared, then drifted apart, and moments later a snippet of memory flashed through.

The woman ran forward lively, turned her head and smiled…

Pan Yun stared at this ball of black mist and finally noticed something off: "This remnant soul… is really incomplete."

Li Wenying stepped forward quickly, picked up the skull and examined it carefully. After a moment he found a mark at the back of the head and gestured for Pan Yun to come look.

Pan Yun felt the imprint on her skull, her expression darkening slightly: "This is an injury from when she was alive."

Li Wenying felt again and again at the back of her skull, and finally pulled out a needle as fine as a cow's hair, his face dark as water: "A soul-locking needle — what a vicious needle."

"There are two thicker needles too," Pan Yun rummaged: "They must have fallen out when the body was being moved."

Pan Yun finally found one needle beneath the breastbone, thick as a baby's little finger. It had been driven in, piercing along the skull into the brain marrow — that was why it had left a mark on the skull. Pinching the needle and lifting it up, Pan Yun's gaze stayed fixed on the scattered breastbone.

"What's wrong?" Li Wenying walked over and asked.

"Senior Brother, look — she seems to have been dismembered."

Li Wenying lowered his head to look and shuddered all over.

The coroner hurried forward and leaned in to look as well.

He finally found the marks on the remains: "What a vicious heart — they killed her, dismembered her, and then sewed her back up and buried her?"

"Why?" Pan Yun was baffled.

"Yes, why?" the county magistrate was also baffled: "What's so special about this person? The others were dealt with very roughly — just tossed into the mass grave and buried. What's special about this one?"

Pan Yun said nothing, only lowered her head to count the bones. After half a quarter-hour she said: "Her bones aren't all here — one breastbone, one finger bone, and one leg bone are missing."

The coroner: "The bodies were all piled together. Although we were very careful, some going missing is normal — or perhaps someone kept them. That's why I didn't pay much attention last night. This… could it be that someone deliberately took them?"

!

Li Wenying: "That's why her soul is so incomplete. She must have been in terrible agony when she died, must have cursed them fiercely, which is why they were so afraid of her — not only did they use soul-locking needles, they dismembered her and took the pieces away."

"To find her vengeful soul, we have to find the bones that were taken." Li Wenying looked at Pan Yun: "Can you divine the location?"

Pan Yun said nothing, only stared at the remains. For some reason, a dull ache rose in her heart.

Li Wenying leaned closer, startled: "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Pan Yun wiped the tears from her face expressionlessly: "I'm not. You're seeing things."

She turned and walked toward the three new sets of remains: "Let's first look at the condition of these three sets of remains."

The remnant souls of the three sets of remains were all still intact — not only did they have their own appearance, they also had the scene from just before death.

By coincidence, one of the scenes flashed Prefect Qian's ferocious face.

Pan Yun turned her head and said: "See, I told you — catching him isn't a miscarriage of justice."

This was the first time they had seen such a clear face of the murderer in a "memory," and for a moment they fell silent.

The county commandant reminded in a low voice: "My lord, it's dark. The people in the front yard are cursing and shouting. I've already had someone gag them, but when I dragged them back today, their families were all watching. If there's no confession tonight, then tomorrow…"

The county magistrate asked in a low voice: "Have the ones in the back yard woken up yet?"

"No, Wu Da was too heavy-handed — there's still no sign of them waking up."

"Throw water on them, wake them up, and bring them all to this courtyard."

Pan Yun also rolled up her sleeves and said: "I'll set up the array, Senior Brother can help paste the talismans."

Li Wenying silently stepped forward to do unpaid labor.

Heaven probably knew too — tonight's clouds were especially thick, completely covering the moon, with hardly any stars to be seen. Without lighting a lamp, the courtyard was pitch-black, truly so dark you couldn't see your own hand. It was a perfect time for seeing ghosts.

The several people in the back courtyard, drenched with water, had not yet fully awakened, and were carried by the constables and dumped into the courtyard.

As Pan Yun had instructed, they were placed in various different directions; not only was there a talisman array separating them, but even without it, should they awaken now, they would see nothing but themselves.

"I hope tonight's nightfall remains this perfect—black as thick ink." (End of Chapter)