The Delicate Lady Coroner

As soon as the rain curtain fell, the mountains and valleys were full of mist. Bo Ruo thought that the mountain road could not be dug for a while, so he asked Wu Xiang to take her to see the vacant houses.

Wu Xiangzheng couldn't figure out his thoughts, so he took Bo Ruoyou to the northwest.

The valley here is surrounded by mountains on three sides, except that there is a gap on the northwest side. The mountain road descends from the southeast and goes all the way to the northwest. The terrain is becoming more and more low-lying, and the houses mentioned by Wu Xiang are indeed in wet water. land.

Last night it rained all night, and the carriage was difficult to move before it approached. Bo Ruoyou got out of the carriage and followed Wu Xiang to one of the farmhouses. As Wu Xiang said, the farmyard was overgrown with weeds, at this moment. Overflowing with stagnant water, doors and windows decayed, and the fences that stood outside also decayed to the ground, and the houses were all mud walls. At this moment, the doors and windows were all gaps, and the roofs also collapsed. It was hard to stop the wind and rain.

Bo Ruoyou looked close, and then looked at a few houses not far away, and walked over to a slightly higher place. Wu Xiang brought the government official to follow her, and said as he walked: "If you want to live here securely, you really have to dig the ditch early in the heavy rain, otherwise the yard will be flooded with water and you will not be able to live in the dampness."

Bo Ruoyou nodded and didn't answer. She wrinkled her brows before the second vacant farmhouse.

The house here is also surrounded by weeds, the trees in front of and behind the house are also long obstructing the sky, the doors and windows are rotten into black holes, and the roof is slightly collapsed. Bo Ruoyou looks at it and feels weird in his heart. Even more.

"Wu catching head, do you see if these vacant houses have a feeling? It seems...their houses have been vacant for the same time. Granny Zhang said that they were all children who had a good life outside, and then moved. There is no reason why several families moved out together, and both of them were sick. What about the families who moved out?"

After Bo Ruoyou finished speaking, Wu Xiangmei’s heart beat, and he glanced back at this small village, and felt some coolness. “If you want to inquire about this matter, you have to go to Qingshui County Office and check the household register. There is no change, but the place is remote and there is no righteousness. I am afraid that even if someone changes their residence, the government office will not be able to control it."

After Wu Xiang finished speaking, he went to see the vacant farmhouse in front of him. He only saw the trees covering the sky and the sun covering the house strictly, giving people an inexplicably gloomy and terrifying feeling like a grave in a deserted village. He frowned. Wrinkle, "Would you like to go in and have a look?"

Bo Ruoyou didn't think it was horrible here, nodded and walked towards the dilapidated courtyard.

Therefore, there is no water in the courtyard, and walking is not so troublesome. Wu Xiang pulled out his waist saber and opened the way. Soon the group of people walked under the eaves. Wu Xiang said: "Here I have never walked closer. , We entered the yard of the next two households. The houses were empty, and some of the abandoned homes were already decayed."

Wu Xiang pushed open the door of this deserted house, and the door panel that was half left fell to the ground with a "clam", startled a piece of flying dust, Wu Xiang was choked with a light cough, and flicked away the dust with his sleeves. Just before entering, Bo Ruoyou followed, and after entering the door, he saw the empty hall.

The house was covered with dust, the beams were covered with cobwebs, and the reptile corpses had dried up on the cobwebs. I don’t know how many years they had died. There were no tables, chairs, beds, or drapes, except for some old felt blankets. Rags were piled on the ground, and it seemed that any other valuable things that could be moved were taken away. Bo Ruoyou took out a towel and covered his nose and mouth and walked towards the inner room. She just walked to the door of the inner room. There was a sudden stop.

On the same dusty floor in the inner room, there were a few muddy footprints. Her expression changed slightly, and she hurriedly called Wu Xiang to come in. Wu Xiang walked to the door to look, and immediately found something wrong.

Wu Xiang looked around, only to see the empty rear window, and the footprints on the ground were still wet. It was evident that someone had come in a while ago, "Someone has been here." Wu Xiang's hand holding the knife was tight and straight. Going to the rear window, there is also a wasteland outside the rear window, and the fence wall further away falls to the ground, no matter who comes, there is no obstacle.

Wu Xiang jumped out on the window sill, and soon found a line of footprints on the waste grass. He looked in privately with vigilance, but did not find anyone. When he stepped out of the fallen fence behind, he saw a dense wormwood. The footprints were still visible at first, but they were nowhere to be found.

Wu Xiang came back somewhat dejected, but Bo Ruoyou was already comparing the size of his footprints: "The length of the footprints is more than half an inch. This person should be more than half an inch tall. Most of them are men." After speaking, Bo Ruoyou straightened up. Frowning: "The house is in such a ruined state, how can anyone come here? And it happened to be here not long before we came—"

The footprints in the inner room were quite messy, but they did not go to the main room, which showed that the purpose of the visitors was obvious. Bo Ruoyou took a closer look and found that the footprints were walking towards the wall to the north of the inner room. She raised her eyes. Going, I only saw two dilapidated cages piled under the north wall, and some old clothes and paper were piled on the ground together with dust, and it was obvious that the pile of things had been turned over.

Bo Ruoyou called Wu Xiang back, "Wu catches his head, there is a difference here——"

Wu Xiang turned the window and entered, seeing Bo Ruoyou pointing there, he strode over, using a knife to slice away the debris, but saw that there was a two-foot-square wooden pedal on the flat ground. There was a lock, and Wu Xiang opened the lock neatly and pulled the pedal up again. As soon as the pedal was pulled up, a black buzzing hole was instantly exposed.

This is the cellar in the house!

Wu Xiang frowned when he looked at him, "This is the cellar that already existed? Did the people who enter the house come to this cellar?"

Bo Ruoyou nodded, "Footprints have circled the room, but they are coming here. Can you go down and take a look at the head catcher?"

Wu Xiang nodded, and ordered the servant to guard in the house. He took out a fire book to light it, and he digged down and stepped in. Down the cellar is a wooden ladder, which has been in disrepair for a long time. Two steps were missing. Fortunately, Wu Xiang was agile and soon fell to the ground. Bo Ruoyou looked down with some worry, but he could only see a dim light.

Wu Xiang took the fire fold and settled down before he could see the appearance of the cellar. It was four to five meters square, and the place was not small. The perennial dampness made the cellar full of moss, several wooden cabinets and bamboo strips. The baskets were stacked in the corner of the cellar. On top of the moss, there were obvious messy footprints, which confirmed that someone went to the cellar a moment ago.

The house has been abandoned for many years, and this cellar is even harder to be discovered by others. Why should someone go to the cellar?

Wu Xiang squinted his eyes and looked around. First, he didn't see any abnormalities. Although the debris was piled up, they were all ordinary things, and they were also covered with moss and mildew. But soon, he was in I saw a pile of shriveled chrysalis on the ground.

After dealing with cases for many years, Wu Xiang is very familiar with such pupa shells, this is a corpse worm!

He felt tight, and walked a few steps to the north of the cellar along the traces of the corpse worm pupa shell. At this moment, he finally saw the densely packed corpses of corpses piled with the basket cabinets, and some of them were like debris and spider webs. The thing, it is a handful of gray-colored hair that is dry and knotted with moss and mildew. Only when you get close, you can see the strands of hair.

Wu Xiang's expression changed, and he shouted again, "Xiao Bo, I'm afraid you will come down."

Bo Ruoyou was a little worried. Upon hearing this, she immediately understood that there must be a discovery in the cellar. She carried her skirt and carefully climbed down the wooden ladder. Just standing still, she saw the corpse chrysalis on the ground.

Only when people have died and the corpses have been left for many days will there be so many corpses and pupa shells. She walked quickly towards Wu Xiang and saw the hair on the ground at a glance. Rotting, and only when the corpse is rotted or eroded by corpse insects to the point where it is almost boneless, the hair will fall off.

Bo Ruoyou yelled up and asked Zhou Liang to bring in the wooden box for the autopsy. Zhou Liang turned and walked out. Wu Xiang also asked the government officer above to prepare the torch. The two of them went out. Not long after, Zhou Liang went all the way. He trot to lift the wooden box, and then sent the wooden box to the cellar. Soon, the torch was also sent to brighten the cellar.

Bo Ruoyou put on his handguards and carefully picked up the hair that was stuck to the moss on the ground. The tangled hair was here for many years, and it broke when touched. Bo Ruoyou carefully put away the hair and put away the corpses on the ground. The corpse and the pupa shell were picked up and placed in a wooden box. Wu Xiang was on fire and his face became heavier and heavier. At this moment, Bo Ruoyou found something suspicious under the bamboo basket.

It was a strangely shaped stone-like thing, which fell in the moss all the year round and was stained with a lot of green moss stains. Bo Ruoyou picked it up and looked at it. Wu Xiang also came up, "What? Stone or wood?" "

Bo Ruoyou shook his head, "It may be human bones."

Wu Xiang only felt a chill in his back, corpses of corpses and pupa shells all over the floor, as well as human hair and suspected human bones, all of which indicate that there was at least one corpse in the cellar here.

Bo Ruoyou first put the human bones in his hands into the wooden box, and then leaned over on the ground and groped carefully. The dampness and suffocation in the cellar were very uncomfortable. The moss and mildew on the ground accumulated for many years, and the The broken bones fell into it and it was not easy to find. Bo Ruoyou fumbled for a while, and when Wu Xiang moved the bamboo basket and wooden cabinet away, he found two more hard objects like stones.

She carefully distinguished it, and it looked like human bones. In addition to bones and hair, there were still some broken cloth strands in the cellar. Bo Ruoyou also put these cloth strands away. After careful inspection, there were no other abnormalities before she and Wu Xiang Climbed out of the cellar.

As soon as they came out of the cellar, they all breathed a sigh of relief. With the bright light outside, Bo Ruoyou was even more sure that the thing in his hand was human bone. "

Bo Ruoyou glanced at the dark entrance of the cave again, "If it is really like what Granny Zhang said, these people have moved away, there can be no human bones in the cave, this is the cellar of the inner room. Usually there are precious things stored, and there is no reason to put people’s corpses in them. It can be concluded right now that there must have been homicides in this house."

Wu Xiang's expression suddenly disappeared. Earlier, he had not found the mother, nor had he inquired about the dying baby in another family. Therefore, he found the village to be weird, but no evidence was found. Now it is very different. Wu Xiang immediately said: "It will be digging. The person on the road finds it back, and there is no need to go for a while. People have been here, I am afraid that the bones were taken away, this person is most likely the murderer."

Ya sent to call someone, Bo Ruoyou looked around, hesitated, Wu Xiang said: "What's the matter?"

Bo Ruoyou said: "You have to find a place to clean the bones before you can tell where the bones are on the human body."

Wu Xiang thought for a while, "Either go back to Granny Zhang's house or go to Heishuitan. I have checked it out in the morning. Heishuitan in their village is just northwest."

Bo Ruoyou immediately said, "Then go to Heishuitan to have a look."

Wu Xiang nodded, and took Bo Ruoyou to check the house before leaving. The carriage did not go fast along the small road in the village. When he arrived at Heishuitan, it was already the hour of two pillars of incense, the Heishuitan in the mouth of Granny Zhang Hidden under the mountain wall on the northwest side, surrounded by towering trees, the entire water pool is five feet wide, and the water is black and buzzing. You can only hear the gurgling sound of the water coming from the mountain. It flows down a trickle again, not knowing where it is going.

Bo Ruoyou took out the few human bones and washed them by the stream. Soon, the bones showed the original gray-brown, and the three bones were of different shapes. She distinguished it for a long while and said: "The first section is the phalanx, the second and third should be It is a fragmented skull, judging from the bones and the length of the phalanx, it should be the bones of an adult man."

Wu Xiang stared at him, "There are people dead in the house, either the owner, or someone knows the cellar, and hides the corpse here after the murder." As he said, his face sank, "It's a pity that the people in this village don't have a word of truth. Just ask them if they can’t find out. We have to find clues by ourselves. How tall were the people who went to the house just now?"

Bo Ruoyou stood up and said, "Five feet more than half, less than six feet."

This stature is considered tall, Wu Xiang thought once, "The eldest brother of the Wu family is not as tall, but the Zhang family brother is not short. What are you doing."

Bo Ruoyou collected the human bones as evidence, washed the handguards, and put them away. Then she got up and left Wu Xiang. Not long after walking, she suddenly felt like a glow on her back, as if someone was hiding. Spy on her in the dark.

Bo Ruoyou's heart shuddered and turned to look, only to see the sparkling water of the pool blown by the mountain wind, and the surrounding trees and grasses also moved with the rustling, but no one was seen, only a few birds flew up from the forest. .

Wu Xiang didn't know what was wrong with her, turned around and asked, "What's the matter?"

Bo Ruoyou shook his head and returned to the carriage along the path. Wu Xiang doubted the Zhang family brother in his heart, so he wanted to take Bo Ruoyou to the Zhang family brother's door to have a look. However, he didn't expect it yet. When I walked to the door of the Zhang family brothers, I saw the yamen who were going to dig the road and the Zhang family brothers walking down the mountain road together.

Wu Xiang's expression changed slightly and said, "Why are you together?"

Hou Yang also went to dig the road. Hearing the words, he said: "The two Zhang family brothers knew that the road was blocked and they were still working, so they helped us dig the road together. They have been digging for two hours."

When they entered the door, the footprints in the house were not completely dry, so most of the people who went to the abandoned house went within an hour, but the Zhang family brothers had already helped them dig the road for two hours, and there were a lot of government officials. To testify, Wu Xiang wanted to ask, so he swallowed like this, but apart from this brother, the other adult men in the village could hardly find a tall man.

There are only four adult men in the village right now. In addition to the Zhang family brothers and the Wu family eldest brothers, there is also a one-armed old man. The one-armed old man will never come here. The old man is also disabled and of poor stature. How tall it is.

Wu Xiang looked at the mountains and forests in a dazed manner for a while, but they didn't know that there were other people hiding in this village that they didn't know?

Wu Xiang said: "You came just right, do you know how many years the owner of the highest house in the east of the village has left?"

The Zhang family brothers looked at each other for a moment, and the Zhang family eldest brother stepped forward and said: "It's been more than ten years. I can't remember it. They moved out when our brothers and parents were still there."

When they said this, both of them looked ordinary, and Wu Xiang wrung his brows tightly. "What is the name of the family who moved?"

The two brothers looked at each other again, a little at a loss, the eldest brother said: "I can't remember this, but it's also named Zhang. The people in our village used to be a family, and then the Wu surname was added. There are only two surnames in this village, and it’s not counted if they are distant relatives, but there is always something to do with the two generations."

Wu Xiang asked again: "Is there anyone in your village who disappeared without an explanation? Or something went wrong?"

The two were still at a loss, "No, people in the village who don’t have much crafts like us, they farm the land honestly. Some craftsmen, or young and powerful, go out to find a livelihood. The son of Granny Zhang’s family is In this way, we all live in the same place, and we are all like our own people, and we have not heard of anyone missing."

Wu Xiang felt a little anxious in his heart. He always felt that the village was weird, but he couldn't find any traces. "Do you know what caused the illnesses of Granny Zhang and Wu's sister?"

The eldest brother of the Zhang family scratched his head honestly, "Mr. Zhang heard that she is getting older, and the younger sister of the Wu family is a weak disease brought on by her mother's womb. What's wrong? Does this have anything to do with what the officials want to investigate?"

This is another question and three questions, but Wu Xiang couldn't find any mistakes and missed it. It seemed that some clue had been sent to him, but he was always invisible through a layer of gauze. He waved his hand to make the Zhang brothers. Go back first, and wait for the two to go far, before telling a few Hou Yang, "Human bones and corpses were found in the house in the east. There should have been homicides in that house. Now you are not in a hurry to dig the road. Search the house carefully to see if you can find anything more."

Hou Yang's expressions were shaken. He was here for the infanticide, but he found human bones in the deserted house again?

At this time, everyone went to the northwest together, and soon they arrived in front of the peasant house with water. Not only was there a lot of grass, it was dilapidated, but there was also a lot of rain in the yard. Wu Xiang asked Bo Ruoyou to wait on the carriage. , He brought people into the yard, and Bo Ruoyou had to sit on the carriage, watching them search from the window lattice, while subconsciously holding the handguard in his sleeve.

She has left the capital for two days. If she stays again today, even if she has not returned home for two nights, Cheng Yunzhi will most likely be worried. There is also Huo Weilou, and I don’t know if he knows that she is out of the city. It gave birth to some astringent feelings. Although there were many government officials beside her, there was no need to worry about safety, but in this lonely and weird mountain village, she felt a little nervous in the end because of strangeness and loneliness and exhaustion.

Together with this thought, I felt that my heart was choked and sore, and my thoughts seemed to be pressed by something.

If only Huo Wei Tower was here, it would be fine.

Thinking about this, she sighed again. Huo Weilou is Wu Zhaohou. You don’t need to bother him in this case. At this moment, he is set in the palace and outside the palace and is busy with the big events next to the court. He is tireless. As long as the emperor has orders, as long as the community needs it, he will be able to work hard, he is like a mountain, and he can bear the heavy and difficult responsibilities.

Bo Ruoyou's heart was suddenly filled with anger, exhaustion and depression were swept away, and she felt that her body was full of strength, she took care of the guard and got out of the carriage and walked into the hall along the muddy side of the yard.

As soon as he walked to the door, Wu Xiang walked out of it. He saw her coming, and he was slightly surprised: "There is stagnant water here, not for you to rest on the carriage."

Bo Ruoyou shook his head, "What can I find out?"

Wu Xiang didn't say anything, only took her into the west wing of the house, and then pointed to a few broken tiles piled on the ground, "Do you recognize this thing?"

The porcelain piece was covered with ashes, and a government official pulled the porcelain piece away, revealing the pattern underneath. She felt familiar at first, and then frowned, "This is supposed to be a porcelain vase. Have you seen it in the Wu family's brothers and sisters?" "

Wu Xiang's eyes lit up slightly, "Exactly! I stood outside and looked at this house in the morning. At that time, I only saw debris piled up in the wing, but I didn't know what it was. I just discovered that it was actually a piece of porcelain. The fragments left by the owner when he moved away, but when I look at it, I feel a bit familiar."

Bo Ruoyou frowned, "Could it be that I couldn't move it when I left, and then gave this thing to the Wu brothers and sisters?"

Wu Xiang frowned and shook his head, "I don't think it is. Look at this house, there are large objects? Ordinary people, clothing benches, cabinets, beds, are all large pieces of furniture, these things are not visible, what about a porcelain bottle? Will they be given away? And although these porcelains are not expensive, for ordinary farmers, they are precious things. What do they give away?"

At this point, Wu Xiang said: "In addition to this thing, there is another discovery."

After he finished speaking, he took Bo Ruoyou to the back door of this house. Outside the back door, a government official was squatting on the ground, using the water in the backyard to roughly wash something. Wu Xiang walked to the door and asked, "Clean. Is it finished?"

"Okay, catch your head and watch—"

Ya Cha turned around, holding a wooden board that was decayed to the point where only half of it was left. Originally, it was not known how much dust and mildew had grown on it. Now it has been washed away, and you can see the tiny holes that are decayed, except for this. In addition, you can see the mottled black paint, and under that black paint, there are a few intermittent words.

Bo Ruoyou distinguished it for a while, and said in surprise, "Is this a tablet?"

Wu Xiang responded, "Yes, it is the tablet. This thing and a pile of tattered tents are piled in the back cover room. Most of them are eaten into a pile of sawdust, but the remaining half can still be seen. It should have been a tablet, but now the upper half of the decayed tablet is left. It is impossible for ordinary people to leave the tablet, no matter how they move. It is disrespectful to the ancestors, and quite unlucky."

Of course Bo Ruoyou understands this. She looked at the wet half of the tablet, and suddenly leaned forward to take it. She lacquered the intermittent words, and after a while, gestured towards Wu Xiang: "Catch your head, take a look. This character, is it possible, in any case, it cannot be the character for'Zhang' and the character for'Wu'."

The handwriting was originally written in vermilion lacquer, but now there are only a few spots left. Bo Ruoyou made gestures on it for a while, and he was sure that this was not the village's surname. Wu Xiang followed the gesture twice, and then frowned, "That The Zhang brothers are lying. In this village, there are not only two surnames, Zhang and Wu."

Bo Ruoyou looked at the tablet, and suddenly frowned: "To know this problem, you only need to look at the tomb of the village. They have lived here for generations, and there are always inscriptions on the tomb."

Wu Xiang's expression slightly vibrated, "It is indeed possible!" He said as he walked out, he sent a few yamen to search the other two empty houses, and ordered the two of them to look for a grave in the village, and wait for him to enter again. In the room, Bo Ruoyou's face was extraordinarily heavy.

Bo Ruoyou looked at Wu Xiang, "If these houses are vacant, isn't it because the owner moved out?"