Chapter 48: Strange Death
February 13th, 3:00 pm
Shen Kuo had been waiting upstairs for a long time with nothing to do, so he went downstairs to look at the body and ask the coroner about the conclusion of the autopsy. However, the coroner's conclusion was that there was no conclusion.
The coroners that Lao Bao had called in were all veterans of Kaifeng Prefecture, and there were no useless people. However, they could not make any sense of the bodies that were beyond recognition. The bodies were burnt black, and it was difficult to find out whether there was any connection between them. What could be seen for the time being was that four of the five dead were male and one was female. In fact, Shen Kuo could see it himself without the need for the coroner to tell him, because most of the clothes on the bodies were burned, and anyone could see it clearly.
What is strange is that although all the bodies were covered with burns, the burns on the waist and forearms were the most serious, with the skin and flesh falling off. Two of the dead had their arms fallen off, and they were so black that they were almost charcoal. This is the most difficult point to figure out.
When the old coroner said this, he shook his head and sighed. He mentioned that there were many people killed by lightning every spring and summer, but most of them happened in the countryside. In Bianliang City, most of the people who were struck by lightning were in the attics of wine shops, and very few were struck on the streets. It was even rarer to see people who died in a fire. He had only seen it twice in his life. One time was a wine seller in Xiangfu County. Because he was drunk and slapped his father, he was struck by lightning and burned into a ball when he went out. He said it was retribution.
This incident caused a sensation at the time, because someone was punished by heaven for being unfilial, and the magistrate of Xiangfu County also lost his job.
Another time, there was a painter from Fengqiu who liked to gossip and slander the city god of his county. As a result, he was struck by lightning on his way home after work, and his body was burned. However, the other two were punished by heaven, but they did not look so miserable. Although the dead are the greatest, the coroner was also full of emotion. Did these five people do something really bad to suffer such a fate?
Seeing that nothing could be found, and now that spring was in full bloom and insects were breeding, it was easy for the body to get disease if it was left here. So the messenger bought a few thin coffins made of dog-shaped materials from the street and prepared to collect the body. However, it could not be buried yet. According to the Song Dynasty Criminal Code, it would take a few more days. If Kaifeng Prefecture did not receive a report of missing persons within seven days, it could be taken to the mass grave outside the city and buried randomly, so as to prevent the victim from digging it out again.
But it is strange that, so far, no one has reported to the Kaifeng government that someone in the family was missing last night. Maybe the whole family fled the city to avoid disaster, right?
Shen Kuo took the coroner's list and glanced at it. The cause of death was lightning strike or fire, and the estimated time of death was midnight last night. In terms of age, there was a man who was older, of medium build, with few missing teeth and a gray beard that was not burned. He was estimated to be around fifty years old, slightly thin, with thin calluses on his palms, and he might be from a middle-class family.
He glanced at the corpse, which had its mouth open and fists clenched, the look of a person at the moment of death, as if it had something to say. He felt that the old man's distorted face looked familiar, but he didn't dare to look at him any more.
The other three young men were in their twenties to thirties. They were all thin. It was impossible to accurately identify them. The coroner could only write based on his experience: they looked like peddlers.
The female victim was of medium build, had lost seven teeth, and was about 37 or 38 years old. However, her skin was tight, showing that she was well-maintained, and might be from an upper-middle class family. However, no gold or silver hairpins were found, which was quite unusual and contradicted the previous judgment.
The four unusual words written by the coroner seemed to have nothing to do with the autopsy. Instead, they hinted that the person who collected the body had tampered with it and stolen the gold and silver evidence from the body.
Shen Kuo then read on and saw that there were floral embroidery on the woman's back. The patterns were not very clear, but most of the women with floral embroidery on their backs were from brothels.
This was also a "judgment" that he should not have made, but most officials in the court were unwilling to look at corpses with ugly death conditions, and sometimes they accepted the judgment made by the coroner based on experience. Shen Kuo himself did not dare to look at these corpses for too long. The death conditions were indeed horrible, and in his opinion they were much more terrifying than those puppets.
As for the coroner's writing that tattoos were mostly on prostitutes, what did it mean? Most likely it was a hint that she was an old and ugly prostitute, but he didn't dare to make a definite judgment.
It seemed that there were not many clues on the corpse, so Shen Kuo had the corpse put into a coffin and temporarily placed next to the animal shed in the backyard. The old coroner said that there were a few peach trees there, which could just suppress the evil spirits.
Shen Kuo thought about it, and then begged the coroner to check the body again before burial, and to mark down any marks of embroidery for him to see. He did not dare to look at the corpse for too long, but he did not want others to make judgments for him.
If the original owner of this yard returned at this time, what would he think if he saw a monster tied up upstairs and five dead bodies piled up in the backyard? This house probably can't be kept anymore, right? Anyway, Shen Kuo can't control these things, they are all favors from Shi Yaban.
Xu Chong had not returned yet, and it seemed that he was not having any luck in finding Xiao Ping. It was not until the evening when the sun was about to set that Xu Chong came back and went upstairs excitedly.
When he came up the stairs, he saw Shen Kuo still studying the puppet, but he still didn't know how to take it apart.
"Brother Shen, I went to the Baifan Building again..."
"Can you find Xiao Ping?"
Shen Kuo quickly brought a glass of water.
"Hey... but it took quite a lot of trouble," he raised his head and drank the glass of water. "Last night, a thunder curse fell and burned several roofs. There was no one in Baifan Building. Only a few brave and strong guys left by the boss were guarding it to prevent thieves from stealing furniture and chairs. I asked around for a long time, and I won't go into details about the twists and turns. Finally, I found a cousin of Xiaoping, who was also a scoundrel who hung out in the casino."
"What happened next?"
"He extorted a hundred coins from me and then said he didn't know where Xiaoping lived. I was about to give him a horsewhip, but he said that his mother, Xiaoping's aunt, knew, so he directed me to her house, which was east of the northern cross street of the Imperial Temple, called Dongjier Street."
"Can anyone be found in that alley?"
"I found it and told the woman the whole story. She was not a good woman and wanted to see the official documents, which I naturally did not have. After much persuasion, the woman only said that Xiaoping and Jin'er lived nearby, but did not want outsiders to know where they lived. She also said that Xiaoping had been frightened the night before and was planning to go to the nearby countryside to recuperate. If there was anything, she could tell the message, and if Xiaoping came, it would be tonight. But whether she came or not was up to her. She had just been frightened and was a good woman who had escaped from her status as a slave. Without the official signature, no one could force her. After thinking it over, I had to tell the aunt the address here. I didn't know if the woman would tell it. If she did, would the master and servant come at night?"
"Well, we can only wait. I have met her aunt. Although she is from a brothel, she knows right from wrong and what is important. She will definitely pass on the message. It depends on whether Xiao Ping will come."
Hearing that Xiao Ping was going to the countryside to recuperate tomorrow, Shen Kuo was quite disappointed. He took out some money from his pocket and asked the idle yamen runners to buy some food and wine on the street. He distributed most of it to everyone and took the rest upstairs, wanting to have a drink with Xu Chong.
Boss Xu Chong didn't want to drink upstairs, but Shen Kuo thought it was too noisy downstairs and thought it was more elegant and quiet here.
Xu Chong was sitting at the desk, feeling uncomfortable. He didn't dare to face the puppet with wide eyes and a silly smile, so he chose a seat with his back to him. However, he was a little scared to sit with his back to him, so he changed his seat and sat sideways to the puppet. This way he didn't have to see him all the time, but if he moved, he would be able to get away in time. Although he was a soldier with no taboos, he was most worried about this thing coming back to life, even though he was still tied up with chains and had seven talismans attached to him.
After drinking two cups, Xu Chong still couldn't help but speak.
"Brother Shen, do you really want to follow that monk's evil plan to find out about Xiao Ping? You should know that she was so frightened that day that she collapsed on the ground. If you scare her again, she might get angry with you."
"But this is official business, and I am only trying to clear her of suspicion."
"I don't know how powerful Taoist Li's talismans are." Xu Chong looked at the last rays of sunlight outside the window. "I heard that as midnight approaches, the evil spirits become weaker and the yin energy becomes stronger, and the evil spirits become more ferocious."
"If you're afraid, don't come up here at night."
"If I don't come up and leave you here alone, what if he comes back to life?" Xu Chong glanced at the smiling puppet.
"His resurrection just fulfilled my wish. I just happened to have something to ask him. If he opens his mouth, Xiao Ping's suspicion will disappear."
Shen Kuo stood up, put his hands behind his back, looked at the Dong Zhuo puppet with an open mouth, and sighed again:
"If you can really speak, would you speak now?"
The puppet looked at the two of them, still motionless.
"Tomorrow the monk will be able to open the lock, do you really want to dismantle it?"
"I picked it up again this afternoon and shook it upside down... I heard the sound of water inside. If it was rainwater from yesterday, why couldn't it pour out? It's really weird. I guess it's not rainwater. The structure inside is really fascinating. I wish I could take it apart right now, but I'm afraid I can't put it back together."
Xu Chong was horrified as he listened to this. Shen Kuo actually dared to turn this ancestor upside down.
Shen Kuo seemed unwilling to give up again. He suddenly walked over, picked up the puppet, turned it over and shook it violently.
"You wake up, wake up!"
"Brother, please don't do this."
Xu Chong hurried to stop it, but the puppet did not wake up. Instead, a piece of Li Cheng'an's talisman fell down, and it happened to be the one on its forehead.
Shen Kuo was still sighing: "How hateful that Taoist priest Li is. He has ruined my important plan."
"Look at you, you dropped the talisman." Xu rushed forward and picked up the yellow talisman. "The Taoist priest said that the one on your forehead is the most useful for closing the evil spirits' orifices."
"If you're afraid, just stick it back."
Shen Kuo walked back to the table, took a sip of wine, and said indifferently.
"Didn't you see the Taoist priest stepping on the magic circle and muttering something before he pasted the talisman? How can it be pasted back normally? If you paste it carelessly, the magic power will be gone."
"If you're afraid that your magic power will run out, don't post it ."
"It's better to put it back. The talisman has fallen off, and the Taoist priest will definitely blame you when he comes tomorrow."
Xu Chong had no choice but to go downstairs to find the paste. After a long time, he found it but didn't dare to paste it himself, so he went upstairs again and put the paste on the table. Then he found an excuse to go to the backyard to see if the body was properly placed, and then he packed up the dishes and went downstairs. He would rather sit next to the body than see the puppet, which was the opposite of Shen Kuo.
Shen Kuo looked at the curse and felt furious. Of course he had to post it back, otherwise he would have to explain himself. After all, Li Cheng'an was Zhang Zhenren's disciple, and to some extent, his teacher Yang Wei De always regarded himself and Li Cheng'an as a team, working together to deal with Lao Bao.
He thought about it for a while, but still didn't put it up. He thought that since it would be taken down anyway, there was no rush to put it up now. It would not be too late to put it up before the Taoist priest came tomorrow. It was a pity that he wasted time because of this chain.
He walked to the bed with his hands behind his back, looking at the half-full gibbous moon above his head. Last night after nightfall, there was a sudden thunder and rolling clouds, so no moon was seen. Tonight, the moon is quite bright, and it seems that the hat monster will not appear tonight. It is easy to reveal flaws under such a moonlight.
He simply pulled over a chair and sat in front of the puppet, staring at each other.
"If you have evil intentions, you should come here while the moon is dark and the wind is high. I have something to ask you."
The puppet naturally did not answer.
"Okay, I'm going to tear off your talisman right now, and see if you can survive or not?"
He decided to be willful to the end. He took the teapot and slowly wet the puppet. Then he took off the six slightly damp talismans one by one, so that they would not be torn and it would be convenient to stick them on tomorrow.
Then they sat opposite each other until midnight, but it didn't move. Finally, Shen Kuo got a little sleepy, and heard the night watch outside. It was already midnight, and there were few pedestrians on the street.
I guess Xiaoping won’t come.
Xiao Ping had been questioned by the Imperial City Department and Kaifeng Prefecture the night before, and fell ill again after returning. She had no official documents, so she had no duty to come here. It was already late at night, how could a decent woman come here so late at night?
Of course, he had struggled with the question of whether Xiao Ping was a decent woman, but he always had one obsession in his heart, that is, although Xiao Ping was a prostitute, she must be selling her art but not her body. This was barely enough to keep his bottom line for the so-called decent women, and this bottom line was also changed specifically for Xiao Ping.
When I walked to the window, I saw two faint figures holding lanterns walking slowly towards me at the end of the empty Old Crow Lane.
Shen Kuo looked carefully and saw that the person walking in front holding the lantern was Jin'er in red, and the person following behind was also a woman. She was wearing a veil so her face could not be seen clearly, and she was wearing plain clothes, but judging from her figure, it was clearly Xiaoping.
“They’re here after all.”
He ran downstairs excitedly. There were more than a dozen people living in the houses in the yard, but they were all asleep at the moment. He hurried to open the door when he got to the door. Just then, Jin'er raised her hand to knock on the door. The two bumped into each other, and Jin'er was startled.
She picked up the lantern and looked at him for a moment in the red light, and recognized him as Shen Kuo.
"Sir, you look pale, like a ghost, very scary."
Xiao Ping also came over from behind: "Jin'er, don't make fun of the young master. Where in the world is there a ghost that is only 70% or 80%? It clearly looks like a ghost."
"Sister, Jin'er. I saw you upstairs, so I hurried down to open the door." Shen Kuo said happily.
"We also saw that only the attic here had lights on on this street, so we came to take a look. Jin'er was holding a lantern and was about to check if there were the two gods 'Shen Tu and Yu Lei' that Xu Jieji mentioned posted on the door. If the young master didn't come down, we wouldn't dare to knock on the door, for fear of knocking on the wrong door in the middle of the night, disturbing others' sweet dreams, and getting cursed."
"Please forgive me for bothering you two to come to my house so late at night."
"Sir, what you said is a joke. I think our Song Dynasty has not committed any crime of violating the curfew, and it is also good for people like us who make a living in brothels. We often make a living at night, and get more rewards than doing business during the day. So we are used to it, and it's no big deal." Xiao Ping's words made Shen Kuo feel as if his heart was twisted. What is the livelihood at night? It really takes thought.
"It's right here, please come in."
