Wishful Things

Hearing her follow, Wu Chao stopped and said, "Miss Xu just wait, I'll go to the forest to find out first."

"Let's go together."

Xu Mingyi caught up with him in a few steps.

This was originally her business, and he was very grateful for his willingness to help her, but there was no reason why he should wait in the carriage and leave everything to him.

After all, they are not coolies hired with money.

Wu Chao didn't say anything more, just when he was about to take a step, he suddenly heard some movement in the forest.

"Be careful—"

As soon as his reminder came to an end, a group of dark things came out of the forest, making loud noises.

Wu Chao subconsciously took a step sideways and raised his arms to block Xu Mingyi's eyes.

Ah Zhu walked over with the lantern in hand, and the surroundings soon became quiet again.

Wu Chao lowered his arms, walked into the forest, and said, "Don't be afraid, it's just a fruit bat in the forest, it should have rushed out because it was disturbed by the Celestial Eye."

Xu Mingyi nodded, "Yes".

She didn't feel scared either.

It's just that Wu Shisun was very righteous in protecting her. If she said that she was not afraid, it would be a little unkind.

The third eye flew low to guide the way, and they walked in the forest for about half a quarter of an hour. When they had reached the depths of the forest, Wu Chao slowed down.

Xu Mingyi looked at him.

"Young Master Wu also heard it?"

There is a faint smell coming from here, like the smell of rotting animals.

Wu Chao frowned slightly and nodded.

The two continued to walk forward with Tianmu, and the smell gradually became stronger and more pungent.

Xu Mingyi's expression became a little dignified.

This forest is more than twenty miles away from the city, and it is only an ordinary wood forest, not a fruit forest, and there are no residents nearby, only some fields not far from the forest, and now it is not a busy time for farming, so few people set foot on it on weekdays.

Cousin Ruoqing's hairpin was really found by Tianmu here, and she really appeared here...

Thinking of the worst possibility, Xu Mingyi's heart sank.

The Celestial Eye stopped, landed on the trunk of a tree and uttered a cry.

This is where the rancid smell is strongest.

"The Celestial Eye has been raised by me since childhood, and has never eaten carrion. However, the vulture's nature is like this. Presumably it is attracted by the carrion nearby." Wu Chao looked around while speaking.

The Celestial Eye squatting on the tree trunk let out a cry of approval.

It doesn't bother to eat it, it just likes to see which of its kind dies so badly.

"Girl, there is a dead thing here."

A Zhu found a decomposed fur animal corpse under a tree, and guessed: "Maybe it's the smell from this thing."

Xu Mingyi took a look through the lamp in her hand.

"impossible."

The teenager on the side expressed her thoughts: "This place is not a closed place. It is impossible for an animal carcass of this size to continuously emit such a strong smell."

Xu Mingyi nodded and said: "However, if someone passes by here by chance, smells the stench, and sees this dead animal, and rushes away with his nose covered, he will subconsciously think that it is caused by this thing, and will not have time to think about it. "

"That's right."

Wu Chao's tone was firm: "Someone deliberately put this dead thing here to cover up the real smell of corpses."

Xu Mingyi's gaze moved around inch by inch.

The moonlight is thin, and the sounds of insects are one after another. Under the concentration, it only makes people feel that there is a paradoxical noise in the quiet.

The girl's soft embroidered shoes stepped on the dead leaves, making an ear-catching sound.

Xu Mingyi stopped by a sealed well.

Wu Chao followed closely.

There are farmlands not far away. In recent years, the imperial court has put a lot of emphasis on farming, and many new wells have been opened beside the fields.

For example, such old wells in the forest were abandoned after coming and going, and it is also common to use stones to seal the well mouth in order to prevent someone from accidentally falling into the well when passing by.

But the smell here is obviously stronger.

Xu Mingyi even covered his mouth and nose with a veil unbearably, frowned and said in a muffled voice: "I'm afraid there is something in this well——"

Wu Chao nodded.

"Stand back."

When the young man was about to move forward to remove the stone, he saw the maid who was pretending to be a servant walking quickly, picked up the stone without saying a word, threw it aside heavily, and patted the dust on his hands.

Wu Chao was silent for a moment.

There doesn't seem to be anything that can help.

Ah Zhu lifted the lantern, stood above the mouth of the well and looked into the well.

In the next moment, he took two steps back abruptly, his face turned pale and he said: "Girl, there are dead people..."

Even though the little girl was brave and skillful, she had never seen a face rotted to this extent. Seeing this scene suddenly, she had the guts not to scream and lose her composure.

Xu Mingyi grasped his fingers slightly, and hurriedly asked, "Is it a man or a woman?"

"The servant did not see clearly."

Xu Mingyi made a decisive decision: "Fill up the body."

Ah Zhu who had calmed down looked at Wu Chao.

She seemed to have robbed Wu Shisun of what he wanted to do just now, so she might as well give Wu Shisun the job of digging up the corpses as compensation.

"..."

Sensing the servant girl's eyes, Wu Chao twitched the corners of his mouth.

Why does this servant girl think that a child from a dignified family can go down the well to retrieve the corpse?

It's not that I'm afraid, but I really don't have such a habit of looking for Xun.

"Come out."

As soon as the boy's voice fell, four dark guards in black appeared out of the darkness.

"Salvage the corpse from the well," Wu Chao ordered.

Several hidden guards heard the words and tried their best to look like a qualified and calm dark guard.

A few people endured the smell of the corpse, and quickly fished up the corpse and laid it flat by the well.

"It's a young man." Wu Chao judged with a glance.

Xu Mingyi breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at the clothes of the corpse, and guessed: "This may be Qi Lin."

The dress of the other party is no different from what the guy in the teahouse just described.

Wu Chao said "Yes", and then ordered: "Search him, and then dive into the well to see if there is anything else we missed."

The dark guard responded.

"My lord, there are two banknotes hidden in this man's shoes."

"A woman's hairpin was found at the bottom of the well."

Wu Chao took the hairpin and handed it to Xu Mingyi.

"It's just a couple with the one before." Xu Mingyi glanced at the corpse again, and roughly guessed it in his heart.

This person was bribed by others to trick Cousin Qing out.

The pair of hairpins should have come down from the comatose cousin Qing, which shows the importance of love for money - it is not surprising that such a person can be easily bribed.

After the matter was completed, he probably didn't dare to stay in Beijing any longer, so he hurried out of the city, deliberately avoiding it.

But now being thrown into this dry well, most of them have been silenced.

The pair of hairpins must have been accidentally dropped by him when he was fleeing into the dense forest, and was later picked up by Tianmu by chance. Like Wu Chao, he should have mistook the hairpin for hers.

But……

Xu Mingyi frowned, suddenly feeling something was wrong.

Tianmu picked up her hairpin, why didn't he send it back to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, but gave it to Wu Chao?

This can't help but make people feel puzzled, but right now there are other business matters, so Xu Mingyi has no intention of thinking deeply about such trivial matters.

At this time, a hidden guard who checked the corpse made a new discovery.

good morning~