Chapter 113

Lu Qisheng was badly wounded, bleeding all over his body; I don't know if it was because the light was too dim, but at a glance I couldn't see any wound.

Since it wasn't a whip wound, it wasn't Li Qingying who beat him like this.

So just now, there was a third person here.

"Xiao Jiu... Xiao Jiu steward." Lu Qisheng recognized me, opened his mouth and tried hard to speak to me, "It... it has appeared, haha, thirty years have passed, it has finally appeared again."

Having just said those two sentences, Lu Qisheng began to vomit blood nonstop.

His pupils had already begun to disperse; he couldn't be saved.

I could only crouch down and quietly listen to his last words.

Lu Qisheng trembled with his hand as he felt around his back; after a while, he raised his hand again and extended it toward me.

What he was pinching in his hand turned out to be several bloody flesh spikes, similar to the ones he gave me last night, but these were fresher and longer.

I took the flesh spikes, feeling extremely sorrowful: "Officer Lu, I..."

"I can't make it." Lu Qisheng seemed to know what I wanted to say, he interrupted me, "Don't call the police, call Qiang Shu."

"I'm not married, my after‑arrangements are already settled; after I die, Qiang Shu will arrange my cremation and burial. I… I only ask Xiao Jiu Zhanggui, on the day the enemy is brought to justice, could you… could you bring a small cake to see me and tell me this good news?"

"Sure." I promised, "At that time I will definitely bring a cake to celebrate with you."

Lu Qisheng laughed again.

Laughing and laughing, he just passed away like that.

I took out my phone and called Zhang Qiang, my voice choked with sobs.

Zhang Qiang arrived quickly; he seemed not surprised, tidied up the scene efficiently, and didn't ask us much.

After waiting until we returned to the Dang Pu, closed the door, and I accompanied Li Qingying while we ate in the kitchen, her mood finally stabilized a bit.

I tentatively asked, "What was happening on the street just now?"

"Let me start from when I followed Dou Jin suo this afternoon." Li Qingying said calmly, "Around five o'clock, the town mayor rode a motorcycle carrying Dou Jin suo westward; I tailed them all the way and finally stopped at the foot of a mountain."

That mountain is not far from Wufu Town, not particularly high, and this season it is still lush green; the person they were looking for lived in a blue‑stone brick house in the mountains.

I watched them knock on the door; they knocked for a long time, I didn't dare get too close, couldn't hear what they were saying, but I could see Dou Jin suo rush to the door, kneel down, and kowtow repeatedly, not knowing whom or what he was begging for.

I frowned; they really were going to look for a person.

Who could it be?

"Later, the door opened, and a little old man walked out, splashing a basin of water over them from head to toe; Dou Jin suo seized the chance to hug the old man's leg, but the old man kicked him away, and the door was shut again."

They waited outside for a long time, Dou Jin suo spoke many words against the door, but the old man never opened it again.

Afterward, the town mayor seemed to have spoken harshly, shouted a few curses at the door, and left with Dou Jin suo.

Saying this, Li Qingying paused, seeming somewhat doubtful.

I asked, "They didn't leave directly, right?"

"Yes." Li Qingying said, "They wandered around in the mountains, not knowing what they were looking for, and returned empty‑handed; since there were no cars to be had in that area at night, I came back a bit late."

Then I encountered Officer Lu.

So that's how it was.

"At that time Officer Lu had already been knocked to the ground, with a boy of about ten or so pressing down on him—no, that couldn't be called a boy, it was a devil!"

Li Qingying exclaimed in fear, "That person's face was bluish‑black; everywhere visible was covered in lumpy bumps, and more importantly, his back was covered with finger‑long, thin flesh spikes!"

He kept jabbing those flesh spikes into Officer Lu's body; Officer Lu was lying in a pool of blood, beyond help, I swung my whip at it, but the thing ran too fast and vanished in the blink of an eye.

A boy of about ten?

That's far too different from the mastermind I imagined.

But it's obvious that Lu Qisheng also confirmed that the boy was the murderer who killed his father and sister back then!

It is very targeted: for those whose skin is to be peeled, it inserts silver needles into the occiput; for those not to be peeled, it kills them with the flesh spikes on its back!

Li Qingying's appearance tonight was an accident.

That thing probably bears a grudge against Li Qingying now.

Thinking of this, I said, "Sister Qingying, from tonight on you don't need to keep watching the Huang and Dou families."

Li Qingying didn't understand: "Why? Xiao Jiu, I had just caught a clue; if we break it off now, all our previous effort would be wasted."

"I have already obtained the answer I wanted." I explained, "Recent events are all connected; I have reached a conclusion: they intend to make a red coffin from Chen Tao's skin, but Dou Jin suo's skill is insufficient, so they want to bring in outside help, and the little old man you saw with me in the mountains today is very likely the outside aid they are trying to win over."

"A human‑skin red coffin?" Li Qingying's eyes widened, "Like the one Mei Lin Shuang had?"

I nodded: "Probably yes."

Li Qingying instantly flared with indignation: "Damn it, how long will they keep committing atrocities?"

Then she realized something and asked me, "Wait, isn't that human‑skin red coffin meant… meant to hold you? Xiao Jiu…"

I shrugged and said, "Exactly, I'm alive, I've ruined many people's centuries‑long schemes; they will surely come after me again."

"No." Li Qingying sprang to her feet, "Looking at it this way, that little old man in the mountains was originally from the Dou family coffin shop, but he seems to dislike Dou Jin suo; Xiao Jiu, do you think we should…"

"Yes." I said bluntly, "I need to go meet that little old man in advance; perhaps from him I can obtain some key information."

"I'll drive you there." Li Qingying said, "I have the route memorized."

It was late at night; I originally didn't want to trouble Li Qingying so much.

But this matter should be settled early rather than delayed; besides, during the day we are too easily caught by those with ulterior motives, so it's better to finalize things tonight.

That mountain is indeed not far from Wufu Town; in the night, one can see a faint glimmer of light among the trees.

Li Qingying and I followed the mountain path upward; as we approached the stone house, we heard the sound of wood being planed from inside.

Thump, thump.

Li Qingying and I exchanged a glance, seeing the same question in each other's eyes—could the old man have already started making a human‑skin red coffin?

Just then, an elderly voice came from inside the stone house: "Since you've come, please first report your names."

I pondered a moment and said, "I am Xiao Jiu, the proprietor of the Wufu Town Dang Pu."

"Dang Pu?" The door creaked open a crack, a pair of eyes full of shrewdness kept sizing me up, then he asked, "Hey, kid, how's that old thing of Granny Yu?"

I never expected him to know my grandmother.

I felt a sour ache: "Grandma… she's already passed away."

The old man's eyes twitched violently, but he soon laughed: "Good that she's dead! Death brings release."

"Hey, how can you talk like that?" Li Qingying lashed the door with a whip.

The old man had already let go, the door was pulled open to both sides; the stone house was small, inside actually stood two coffins, which looked newly made…