“Can you walk?” Jinxia said in a low voice, “I’d better get you out of here first.”
Lu Yi held her hand and said calmly, “There’s no need to hurry, since you found the item here, it’s better to just look for the person.”
Jinxia still felt uneasy, furrowed her eyes and said, “I’ll take you away first, then I’ll come back to look for her.”
Upon hearing her words, Lu Yi raised his head to look into her eyes. There was a smile on his face but Jinxia was confused.
“What? Although my skills aren’t as good as those of my master, in LiuShanmen my reputation is good.” She thought Lu Yi did not have enough faith in her abilities.
Lu Yi smiled. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, but it’s you who don’t trust me. In your eyes, am I so weak that you have to take me away?”
“No… but you’re still injured and your status is very important after all. If anything happened, your father would cut me into pieces.”
“Are you really worried about me or afraid of my father?”
“Brother, isn’t it the same thing?” Jinxia looked at him in confusion.
“How could it be the same?” Lu Yi’s forehead began to frown, “I am me, my father is my father.”
Such a trivial matter did not need to be discussed. He was being serious but Jinxia didn’t understand, so she explained it, “You are you, that’s not wrong, but you are also your father’s son, this is something that will never change for a lifetime.”
Lu Yi stopped talking, only frowned at her.
Before Jinxia could continue speaking, the beggar uncle poked his head in. Seeing the situation in the room, he smiled, “Young couple fighting?”
“Uncle, what are you doing?”
“My niece, accompany me to dig a few jars of wine in the Taohualin Forest. I can’t hold all of them myself.”
“Oh, but…” Jinxia looked at Lu Yi, feeling uneasy, “He’s here alone… No one is taking care of him, that isn’t good.”
“I do not need to be taken care of.”
Lu Yi’s face turned cold, and he said his words slowly.
The beggar uncle added, “He’s fine, at least alive, what are you worrying about?”
“But, but…” Jinxia couldn’t explain her concern that Mrs. Shen could do something bad to Lu Yi.
“No buts,” The beggar uncle laughed, “You’ve been sticking together, now you can’t even be separated for even a minute or a second. Let’s walk, you’ll be back after a cup of tea [time].”
He pushed Jinxia out. Worried, she turned to look at Lu Yi again at the same time that Lu Yi looked up at her and Jinxia mimed with her mouth the words.
‘Please be careful.’
Lu Yi looked out the window: he could see Jinxia lifting an iron hoe and walk helplessly behind the beggar uncle towards the Taohualin Forest. Seeing her looking back at him, he quickly moved away from the window. After a while, he could not help but let out a long sigh.
***
“Uncle, don’t keep calling us a young couple, Lu Daren must be very uncomfortable in his heart…” Jinxia’s face looked displeased, “When we return to the city, I’ll still have to work and, if he finds me troublesome, how am I going to continue working?”
The beggar uncle glanced back at her and smiled, “How can he be unhappy? I think he’s very happy in his heart.”
“Although I can’t guess his thoughts, he’s definitely not happy, maybe… he’s helpless? Aiyah, I don’t care anymore, it’s up to him.” Jinxia dragged her hoe and sighed.
Peach blossoms petals were scattered in layers on the ground of the Taohualin Forest, a light cloud hung in the sky above the selected tree, surrounded, at its feet, by a soft pink carpet of petals. Jinxia dragged the hoe on the ground and formed a long ditch that cut open the flower petals path. All of a sudden she heard a clear sound, like something that was hit, even if the clang of the hoe hadn’t been so high, Jinxia stopped her movements, crouched and leaned over. Between the tip of the hoe and the carpet of flower petals, she picked up a… Small, thin and shiny gold ornament!
“You got rich?” The beggar uncle didn’t turn to look at her, he just chuckled.
Jinxia picked up the item, her face darkened. She looked at the beggar uncle, “Uncle, can I trust you?”
“It depends on what it is, I can’t bear much responsibility.” The uncle beggar then looked at the gold ornament, “What? Is this thing weird?”
“I have seen this on a girl, and just two days ago, this girl disappeared.” Jinxia frowned and said to him, “But, this is the second ornament. There is another one I found by the water earlier.” She took out the other ornament and placed the two gold ornaments side by side. Judging from the craftsmanship, they were obviously a pair.
The uncle beggar observed the gold ornaments, “By the water… Taohualin Forest… Are you suspecting that her disappearance is related to Mrs. Shen?”
“I didn’t say that, but based on the evidence, it seems so.” Her tone of voice was formal as if she was on a case.
“Now, my girl, you’re being ungrateful!”
The beggar uncle pretended to hit the back of his head. Jinxia backed away, saying right away, “I’m not! I am discussing it with you, aren’t I? Mrs. Shen is hiding in the mountain alone, and there are so many snakes around, isn’t this kind of weird?”
“She has troubles, oh…You are still young, you wouldn’t understand how difficult this world is.” The beggar uncle sighed, “Mrs. Shen, she has only been saving people and never harmed anyone. I can guarantee this, believe it or not, it’s up to you.”
“I Believe it, I believe it, I believe it. You are my uncle, and Lu Daren’s grandfather, how could I not trust you?” Jinxia lowered her head and looked at the gold ornaments, “But why did these appear here? Strange!”
“Beside the spring… In the Taohualin Forest, there are also snakes.” The beggar uncle turned one of the ornaments, saying, “Like a thin leaf, maybe it was caught between the scales of a snake and was carried here, but a small snake with little scales cannot carry this on its body, maybe it was the red python.”
Just when he finished talking, Jinxia had already gone along the python’s trail and begun to search.
“Girl, wait for me!” The beggar uncle followed her in haste.
The red python was quite large, the grass had fallen down wherever it had passed by, and the petals were blended with mud. Jinxia had applied medicinal powder on her body, there was no need to be afraid of small snakes, hence she followed the trail and quickly sped up her steps.
She walked until she reached the crack of a mountain, a strong smell was lingering in the air around it: it was the smell of rotten corpses.
Jinxia covered her nose, looking into the crack… Her eyebrows tightened: there were at least three corpses. Judging from the skirts and clothing, she could tell those were all women’s bodies. The state of decomposition was different for each corpse, several small red snakes were feasting on them.
“This smell…” The beggar uncle poked his head to look down, and took his head out after just one glance. He took a deep breath, “They are all rotten, I think we should just leave them.”
“There are two corpses that are decomposing badly, but the other one seems to be somewhat intact.” Jinxia said with a cold tone, “I want to go down and take a look, uncle, you…”
Before she could finish her words, the beggar uncle had already shaken his head violently.
“I can’t, I really can’t… The other stuff, I can stand, but the smell of these corpses, I really can’t stand it…” he said while moving back.
Jinxia said with a dissatisfied tone, “Honestly, uncle, the smell on your body is no better than this one.”
“Do not compare me with this! Although I am a beggar, there are things that are taboo for me!” The beggar uncle said earnestly.
“Alright, alright. You are extraordinary…You just wait here.”
Jinxia threw the iron hoe at him, then jumped into the crack in the ground. The beggar uncle covered his nose with one hand and held the hoe with the other, with his eyebrows furrowed as he watched her inspect the corpse.
The last corpse was the most intact: the head was facing the ground, the woman was wearing a red dress, but it wasn’t covered in blood. Jinxia was very careful not to disturb the little red snakes, and slowly turned the corpse, then gently pushed aside the black hair covering the face…
Zhai Lanye, it was her!
There was not much time to think and Jinxia examined the wounds on her body right away. Judging by the shape of the wounds, it was evident they had been caused by the ‘Ai Bieli’, but there weren’t any traces of blood on the corpse.
If it had been true that Zhai Lanye had died because she’d hugged the ‘Ai Bieli’, then the blood should have been squirted out of her chest, and her clothes should have been full of blood… Judging from her current clothing, at the vital point of her chest, there was only some dry blood around that area, therefore, was it possible that Zhai Lanye had been killed first and then put into the torture device?
‘Doing something so troublesome, what’s the point?’ Jinxia asked herself.
The beggar uncle looked down from his high place, seeing a small red snake slithering here and there on the woman’s body, while Jinxia – who was standing beside them – was being dumbfounded. The smell of the corpses was so piercing, he couldn’t help but shout, “I say, my niece! Are you going to stay there until New Year?”
Upon hearing his shouts, Jinxia snapped out of her thoughts, but didn’t answer him. She squatted down again next to Zhai Lanye’s corpse, trying to investigate the cause of her death.
On her body, there were several external wounds but the traces of blood were too little, hence the wound on her chest couldn’t be the cause. Jinxia looked at Zhai Lanye’s face: it was purplish pale and her forehead was wrinkled; it was clear that before dying, she had been in extreme pain.
‘Is it possible…?’ Jinxia lifted the girl’s chin up and examined her neck. As expected, there were two obvious black spots on the skin of the throat. She used her hand to inspect her around the neck: the bones seemed to be broken.
Zhai Lanye had been strangled to death.
Jinxia instinctively recalled the injury on her neck, a chill went down her spine… Could it be him?
“Uncle, come down here!” she raised her head and shouted at the beggar uncle.
The beggar uncle shook his head.
“This is a serious problem, you only need to look at it once, only once!”
The beggar uncle continued to shake his head.
“If you don’t come down, I’ll move the body up!” Jinxia seemed serious, she moved herself and was ready to move the body.
“Alright, alright… I’ll come down, just to take one look.”
The beggar uncle held his breath and jumped down. Jinxia showed him the wound on Zhai Lanye’s neck and, after just once glance, he immediately jumped back up.
“You…” Seeing that he’d run faster than a rabbit, Jinxia could only shout her words up, “Did you see it?”
“Of course, that’s a golden diamond grip, just like the one on your neck, but you were luckier than her.” The beggar uncle shouted back.
It was A’Rui!
‘But, why would he kill Zhai Lanye?’
‘And, after killing Zhai Lanye, why put her in the ‘Ai Bieli’?’
A’Rui and the ‘Ai Bieli’… What exactly was the relationship?
Those questions were coming one after another. Jinxia stood there, speechless, staring at the corpse under her feet, unable to find any clues.
“Can you walk?” Jinxia said in a low voice, “I’d better get you out of here first.”
Lu Yi held her hand and said calmly, “There’s no need to hurry, since you found the item here, it’s better to just look for the person.”
Jinxia still felt uneasy, furrowed her eyes and said, “I’ll take you away first, then I’ll come back to look for her.”
Upon hearing her words, Lu Yi raised his head to look into her eyes. There was a smile on his face but Jinxia was confused.
“What? Although my skills aren’t as good as those of my master, in LiuShanmen my reputation is good.” She thought Lu Yi did not have enough faith in her abilities.
Lu Yi smiled. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, but it’s you who don’t trust me. In your eyes, am I so weak that you have to take me away?”
“No… but you’re still injured and your status is very important after all. If anything happened, your father would cut me into pieces.”
“Are you really worried about me or afraid of my father?”
“Brother, isn’t it the same thing?” Jinxia looked at him in confusion.
“How could it be the same?” Lu Yi’s forehead began to frown, “I am me, my father is my father.”
Such a trivial matter did not need to be discussed. He was being serious but Jinxia didn’t understand, so she explained it, “You are you, that’s not wrong, but you are also your father’s son, this is something that will never change for a lifetime.”
Lu Yi stopped talking, only frowned at her.
Before Jinxia could continue speaking, the beggar uncle poked his head in. Seeing the situation in the room, he smiled, “Young couple fighting?”
“Uncle, what are you doing?”
“My niece, accompany me to dig a few jars of wine in the Taohualin Forest. I can’t hold all of them myself.”
“Oh, but…” Jinxia looked at Lu Yi, feeling uneasy, “He’s here alone… No one is taking care of him, that isn’t good.”
“I do not need to be taken care of.”
Lu Yi’s face turned cold, and he said his words slowly.
The beggar uncle added, “He’s fine, at least alive, what are you worrying about?”
“But, but…” Jinxia couldn’t explain her concern that Mrs. Shen could do something bad to Lu Yi.
“No buts,” The beggar uncle laughed, “You’ve been sticking together, now you can’t even be separated for even a minute or a second. Let’s walk, you’ll be back after a cup of tea [time].”
He pushed Jinxia out. Worried, she turned to look at Lu Yi again at the same time that Lu Yi looked up at her and Jinxia mimed with her mouth the words.
‘Please be careful.’
Lu Yi looked out the window: he could see Jinxia lifting an iron hoe and walk helplessly behind the beggar uncle towards the Taohualin Forest. Seeing her looking back at him, he quickly moved away from the window. After a while, he could not help but let out a long sigh.
***
“Uncle, don’t keep calling us a young couple, Lu Daren must be very uncomfortable in his heart…” Jinxia’s face looked displeased, “When we return to the city, I’ll still have to work and, if he finds me troublesome, how am I going to continue working?”
The beggar uncle glanced back at her and smiled, “How can he be unhappy? I think he’s very happy in his heart.”
“Although I can’t guess his thoughts, he’s definitely not happy, maybe… he’s helpless? Aiyah, I don’t care anymore, it’s up to him.” Jinxia dragged her hoe and sighed.
Peach blossoms petals were scattered in layers on the ground of the Taohualin Forest, a light cloud hung in the sky above the selected tree, surrounded, at its feet, by a soft pink carpet of petals. Jinxia dragged the hoe on the ground and formed a long ditch that cut open the flower petals path. All of a sudden she heard a clear sound, like something that was hit, even if the clang of the hoe hadn’t been so high, Jinxia stopped her movements, crouched and leaned over. Between the tip of the hoe and the carpet of flower petals, she picked up a… Small, thin and shiny gold ornament!
“You got rich?” The beggar uncle didn’t turn to look at her, he just chuckled.
Jinxia picked up the item, her face darkened. She looked at the beggar uncle, “Uncle, can I trust you?”
“It depends on what it is, I can’t bear much responsibility.” The uncle beggar then looked at the gold ornament, “What? Is this thing weird?”
“I have seen this on a girl, and just two days ago, this girl disappeared.” Jinxia frowned and said to him, “But, this is the second ornament. There is another one I found by the water earlier.” She took out the other ornament and placed the two gold ornaments side by side. Judging from the craftsmanship, they were obviously a pair.
The uncle beggar observed the gold ornaments, “By the water… Taohualin Forest… Are you suspecting that her disappearance is related to Mrs. Shen?”
“I didn’t say that, but based on the evidence, it seems so.” Her tone of voice was formal as if she was on a case.
“Now, my girl, you’re being ungrateful!”
The beggar uncle pretended to hit the back of his head. Jinxia backed away, saying right away, “I’m not! I am discussing it with you, aren’t I? Mrs. Shen is hiding in the mountain alone, and there are so many snakes around, isn’t this kind of weird?”
“She has troubles, oh…You are still young, you wouldn’t understand how difficult this world is.” The beggar uncle sighed, “Mrs. Shen, she has only been saving people and never harmed anyone. I can guarantee this, believe it or not, it’s up to you.”
“I Believe it, I believe it, I believe it. You are my uncle, and Lu Daren’s grandfather, how could I not trust you?” Jinxia lowered her head and looked at the gold ornaments, “But why did these appear here? Strange!”
“Beside the spring… In the Taohualin Forest, there are also snakes.” The beggar uncle turned one of the ornaments, saying, “Like a thin leaf, maybe it was caught between the scales of a snake and was carried here, but a small snake with little scales cannot carry this on its body, maybe it was the red python.”
Just when he finished talking, Jinxia had already gone along the python’s trail and begun to search.
“Girl, wait for me!” The beggar uncle followed her in haste.
The red python was quite large, the grass had fallen down wherever it had passed by, and the petals were blended with mud. Jinxia had applied medicinal powder on her body, there was no need to be afraid of small snakes, hence she followed the trail and quickly sped up her steps.
She walked until she reached the crack of a mountain, a strong smell was lingering in the air around it: it was the smell of rotten corpses.
Jinxia covered her nose, looking into the crack… Her eyebrows tightened: there were at least three corpses. Judging from the skirts and clothing, she could tell those were all women’s bodies. The state of decomposition was different for each corpse, several small red snakes were feasting on them.
“This smell…” The beggar uncle poked his head to look down, and took his head out after just one glance. He took a deep breath, “They are all rotten, I think we should just leave them.”
“There are two corpses that are decomposing badly, but the other one seems to be somewhat intact.” Jinxia said with a cold tone, “I want to go down and take a look, uncle, you…”
Before she could finish her words, the beggar uncle had already shaken his head violently.
“I can’t, I really can’t… The other stuff, I can stand, but the smell of these corpses, I really can’t stand it…” he said while moving back.
Jinxia said with a dissatisfied tone, “Honestly, uncle, the smell on your body is no better than this one.”
“Do not compare me with this! Although I am a beggar, there are things that are taboo for me!” The beggar uncle said earnestly.
“Alright, alright. You are extraordinary…You just wait here.”
Jinxia threw the iron hoe at him, then jumped into the crack in the ground. The beggar uncle covered his nose with one hand and held the hoe with the other, with his eyebrows furrowed as he watched her inspect the corpse.
The last corpse was the most intact: the head was facing the ground, the woman was wearing a red dress, but it wasn’t covered in blood. Jinxia was very careful not to disturb the little red snakes, and slowly turned the corpse, then gently pushed aside the black hair covering the face…
Zhai Lanye, it was her!
There was not much time to think and Jinxia examined the wounds on her body right away. Judging by the shape of the wounds, it was evident they had been caused by the ‘Ai Bieli’, but there weren’t any traces of blood on the corpse.
If it had been true that Zhai Lanye had died because she’d hugged the ‘Ai Bieli’, then the blood should have been squirted out of her chest, and her clothes should have been full of blood… Judging from her current clothing, at the vital point of her chest, there was only some dry blood around that area, therefore, was it possible that Zhai Lanye had been killed first and then put into the torture device?
‘Doing something so troublesome, what’s the point?’ Jinxia asked herself.
The beggar uncle looked down from his high place, seeing a small red snake slithering here and there on the woman’s body, while Jinxia – who was standing beside them – was being dumbfounded. The smell of the corpses was so piercing, he couldn’t help but shout, “I say, my niece! Are you going to stay there until New Year?”
Upon hearing his shouts, Jinxia snapped out of her thoughts, but didn’t answer him. She squatted down again next to Zhai Lanye’s corpse, trying to investigate the cause of her death.
On her body, there were several external wounds but the traces of blood were too little, hence the wound on her chest couldn’t be the cause. Jinxia looked at Zhai Lanye’s face: it was purplish pale and her forehead was wrinkled; it was clear that before dying, she had been in extreme pain.
‘Is it possible…?’ Jinxia lifted the girl’s chin up and examined her neck. As expected, there were two obvious black spots on the skin of the throat. She used her hand to inspect her around the neck: the bones seemed to be broken.
Zhai Lanye had been strangled to death.
Jinxia instinctively recalled the injury on her neck, a chill went down her spine… Could it be him?
“Uncle, come down here!” she raised her head and shouted at the beggar uncle.
The beggar uncle shook his head.
“This is a serious problem, you only need to look at it once, only once!”
The beggar uncle continued to shake his head.
“If you don’t come down, I’ll move the body up!” Jinxia seemed serious, she moved herself and was ready to move the body.
“Alright, alright… I’ll come down, just to take one look.”
The beggar uncle held his breath and jumped down. Jinxia showed him the wound on Zhai Lanye’s neck and, after just once glance, he immediately jumped back up.
“You…” Seeing that he’d run faster than a rabbit, Jinxia could only shout her words up, “Did you see it?”
“Of course, that’s a golden diamond grip, just like the one on your neck, but you were luckier than her.” The beggar uncle shouted back.
It was A’Rui!
‘But, why would he kill Zhai Lanye?’
‘And, after killing Zhai Lanye, why put her in the ‘Ai Bieli’?’
A’Rui and the ‘Ai Bieli’… What exactly was the relationship?
Those questions were coming one after another. Jinxia stood there, speechless, staring at the corpse under her feet, unable to find any clues.
