Grudge Breaker

Chapter 295 Blood Puppet (Part )
"Gu Yu?"

Ding Heran frowned. After witnessing Song Weichen's autopsy skills last time, he was greatly shocked and did ask her for some "case handling experience".

I still remember that Song Weichen mentioned two very obscure professional terms, called "criminal psychology" and "criminal investigation". How did she say it?

Ding Heran slapped his thigh.
"I remember Wei Ge said that there is a 'criminal involvement' theory in criminal psychology, which states that criminals often show excessive involvement, such as proactively reporting crimes or over-cooperating with investigations, in order to reduce police suspicion, especially in intimate relationship crimes and cold-blooded murders."

Ding Heran tried hard to recall and repeat Song Weichen's "earnest teachings".

"Wei Ge mentioned that they have an agency called 'FBI', similar to Jinyiwei or Liushenmen."

"She said that Fobelle's research found that in crimes committed by acquaintances, the reporter is more likely to be a suspect. So Fobelle will consider the reporter as an important suspect in the initial investigation. This is called... Oh! This is called the principle of giving priority to investigations involving acquaintances."

"According to Brother Wei's theory, Guyu is indeed a big suspect. Although she is not a relative of Dujuan, in the entire Sichen Mansion, only Guyu is close to her."

……

Hearing Ding Heran mention Song Weichen so frequently, Mo Tingfeng felt heartbroken. He wished he could sort out the case as soon as possible, and then rush to Sikong Mansion to find Song Weichen, apologize to her and express his feelings to her. Everything could be explained clearly. It couldn't even be called a misunderstanding between him and Qin Xueying. There was only her in his heart from beginning to end, and there was no way he could have room for anyone else.

"Sir, do you want to interrogate Gu Yu?"

Ding Heran asked tentatively. The case was confusing and complicated, and he didn't want to miss any possibility.

"No need."

"It's definitely not Guyu."

Mo Tingfeng forced himself to pull back his thoughts. Now was definitely not the time to indulge in sentimental relationships. Even if he still missed Song Weichen, he had to deal with the matter at hand.

Du Juan is obviously related to the necromancer and the death curse, and the Bewitching Harp in Qin Xueying's hand is also related to the Lord of the Cemetery and the death curse. The involvement behind this is getting deeper and deeper. Whether for Song Weichen or for world peace, he must find out the real culprit behind the scenes as soon as possible.

"There must be someone else who dripped the necromancer's blood into the medicine bowl, and there must be another way."

Mo Tingfeng concluded calmly.

"What Weiwei said makes sense, but you forgot one thing: motivation."

"Guyu had no motive to help Dujuan become a blood puppet. Even if we assume that she was coerced into doing so, the timing doesn't make sense."

"She went to the clinic three times in total, and the blood curse technique must be performed within thirty-six hours, with the blood poison being fed once every four hours. Guyu did not have the time to commit the crime."
.
Mo Tingfeng suddenly turned over and lay on the bed where Du Juan had slept in the clinic. She rested her arms on the bed and observed the entire ward from her perspective. Then she asked Ding Heran to call back the servant who was boiling medicine.

"I'll ask you one last time. Can you guarantee that Du Juan stayed in this room the entire time she was in the clinic and never went anywhere else?"

"Sir, Sir Si Chen, I swear to heaven that she has been lying in bed all day for the past two days in the clinic. She has not been anywhere else and has not even eaten a grain of rice except for taking medicine until she left today."

The servant gestured as he spoke. Every day he would put the medicine bowl at the same bedside location, and the prepared meals would be placed in a food drawer that could be kept warm, on a low table where she could easily reach them, but she never ate them.

……

Seeing the servant who was making medicine chattering, Ye Wujiu didn't have Mo Tingfeng's patience, so he interrupted him with a cold face.

"Let's get to the point. Has Du Juan done anything strange these days that you find strange?"

The servant was just talking excitedly, and his whole body was stiff, but he was choked by Ye Wujiu's words. He hunched his back and mumbled for a long time before he managed to say, "I... I remembered something, but it's not that weird."

"Originally, I was supposed to give her the medicine twice a day, morning and evening, but Du Juan insisted that I give it to her once every four hours, saying that she heard from the elders in the family that the medicine is most effective if taken once every four hours."

"He even promised me a hairpin for this. I thought it was just a small matter of boiling medicine once more every day, so I accepted it."

Ye Wujiu sneered, "Is this worth talking about?"

The servant who was boiling medicine heard this, and with embarrassment and fear, he put on a bitter smile, raised the edge of his dirty sleeve and wiped his forehead.
"Yes, yes, it is indeed a trivial matter. But I have told you everything I can remember. Please understand me, sir. I really can't think of anything strange about Miss Dujuan."

The servant really wanted to ask what had happened to Dujuan and what she had done wrong that caused the three adults to gather here and repeatedly question her about her every move in the past two days, but he didn't dare. He could only swallow his questions, shrank his head and stared at the ground.

Unexpectedly, Mo Tingfeng smiled slightly after hearing this. The servant did not lie. He probably knew how Du Juan and his accomplices operated.

There is just one unclear point. According to the time Du Juan has lived in the clinic, she obviously did not drink the medicine nine times in a row. Then how did she turn into a blood puppet?
……

"You can leave now. Today's matter will not be pursued, but you must take the initiative to go to the government office to record your demerit and hand over the silver. If you commit the same offense again in the future, you will be expelled from the Sichen Mansion."

"Yes, yes! Lord Xie Sichen, please forgive me! I will remember it in my heart."

The servant who was making the medicine thanked him profusely, then left and disappeared in a flash.

After he left, Mo Tingfeng raised his chin towards the ceiling.

"Look at that."

Ding Heran and Ye Wujiu followed Mo Tingfeng's gaze and at first glance the roof looked ordinary, but upon closer inspection they discovered that one of the green tiles was a little unusual.

The sun was about to set, and the west-facing paper windows of the ward were filled with the afterglow of the sunset. The roof was covered with green tiles, so no orange halo was visible at first. But one of the tiles was different. Upon closer inspection, a few faint orange halos shone through the edges of the green tiles - it was obvious that someone had tampered with it.

"I'll go up and have a look."

As Ding Heran was speaking, he disappeared in a flash. The next second, there was a slight sound from the roof, and the green tiles had been uncovered.

"Sir, this tile is not glued with glutinous rice mortar, but is just lightly covered on the roof. It is obvious that someone did it on purpose."

"Ah."

Mo Tingfeng responded, obviously not surprised by such a result.

The movable green tile that goes vertically downwards is where the medicine bowls are usually placed in Dujuan's ward.

The servant did not lie. In the past few days, no one except Guyu had come in, because the people who came did not enter the house at all. Every four hours, this person took advantage of the opportunity when the servant gave medicine, uncovered the green tiles, put the blood Gu from the roof into the medicine, and let Dujuan drink it.

After thinking this through, Mo Tingfeng stood up and stared at the medicine bowl thoughtfully.

"The blood curse technique does not require medicine. Why did Du Juan insist on asking the servant to bring her medicine every four hours and then have her take the blood parasite with the soup? Why did she have to go through so much trouble?"
.
Mo Tingfeng was thinking when Ding Heran's voice came from the roof.

"Sir, footprints found!"

Mo Tingfeng flashed and reached the roof, and Ye Wujiu followed closely behind him.

At this time, Ding Heran was not directly above the ward, but at the edge of the roof of the clinic. He pointed at a faint half-mud footprint on the eaves - from the tip of the shoe, it was obvious that he jumped up from there and went towards the direction of the moving green tile.

"I searched the entire roof, but this is the only spot. There are a few other mud marks, but they were obviously wiped away by someone, and no trace of the details can be seen. I guess there is an oversight here."

Mo Tingfeng looked at the half red mud shoe print and his face darkened - this person must have been to the forest banquet today!

Due to the heavy rain in the morning, the red mud in the forest behind the mountain had not yet dried. Except for the guests of honor who were walking on a path paved with cherry blossoms so that their shoes were not stained with dust, the soles of everyone else's shoes were covered with mud.

Moreover, the soil in the mountain behind Si Chen Mansion is special and rich in minerals, so it is reddish, which is obviously different from the yellow mud in the fields. Therefore, this footprint stained with red mud can at least prove one thing - this person has been to the woods after the rain, and after leaving the banquet, he was able to enter Si Chen Mansion openly and came to the eaves of this clinic.

……

"There is a ghost in the house."

Mo Tingfeng had a calm expression when he said this, and he couldn't tell much from his emotions.

In fact, he had already had this idea when he saw the movable green tile.

Only people from the Si Chen Mansion can frequently appear around the clinic without triggering the security barrier or attracting attention; and only people from the Si Chen Mansion can move freely at the banquet where the eldest princess is attending without arousing suspicion.

"He Ran, take a copy of the shoe print and do a trace comparison in the mansion in a low-key manner. You must do it yourself and don't let others interfere."

"Wujiu, take the red mud and trace its source to see if you can find more information. Also, list all the people in the mansion who were at the banquet in the forest today and give them to me."

"Yes! Sir."

……

If there is a traitor in the palace, everything will make sense.

But when did it start?

Was it because the mask of the King of Ghosts appeared in the world, or was it because the ghost husband caused trouble in Pingyang?

Was it from the disaster brought about by Luanpo Nian Niang, or from the disappearance of Baipao, or even earlier?

Mo Tingfeng looked calm, but his whole body exuded an oppressive chill. He walked silently on the eaves, carefully observing the other mud marks that had been deliberately dusted off - clearly marks left by palm winds. This man's internal strength was evident, and he was definitely not an ordinary servant or maid.

Therefore, it is highly likely that the traitor comes from the Master of Resentment.

Mo Tingfeng's face became even colder. He walked to the movable green tile and knelt on one knee. He used magic in his palm to examine it carefully. The repeated visits of the traitor must be related to the blood parasite in Dujuan's body.

No matter who this person is, he must be related to the death curse, the mask of the King of Corpses, the necromancer, and the person behind the scenes!
Suddenly! Mo Tingfeng sensed a very faint trace of the necromancer's unique spirit in the cracks of the green tiles.

He hooked his slender finger in the air, and a translucent thread about two inches long and as thick as a hair floated out from the gap in the corrugated paper.

"This belongs to... the necromancer?"

Ding Heran had already followed over. Seeing this, he was both curious and annoyed. He had obviously not checked carefully enough just now and did not find this foreign object.

Mo Tingfeng took out an evidence bag with the word "Chen" printed on it from his sleeve pocket and carefully put the filament into it.

"This is a piece of string. If my judgment is correct, this thing must be the same as the string of the Heart-Confusing Harp, both from the Wilderness of Ousi. The original one should be longer, and this piece is most likely accidentally stuck and broken during the process of retracting the string."

"The inner ghost comes here every four hours, lifts the blue tiles, hangs down a string, and then drips the necromancer's blood on it, causing it to slide into the bowl."

Mo Tingfeng remembered that Qin Xueying said that the strings of the European Silk Field had positive and negative effects. The sine string amplified the original effect, while the reverse string suppressed the adverse effects.

This finally solved the confusion in his heart.

Any blood curse must be performed nine times to be effective, but according to the description of the medicine servant, Dujuan only took the medicine seven times and then left the clinic. Logically, she would never have changed, but it was obvious that Dujuan had become a blood puppet of the necromancer. It was not until this time that Mo Tingfeng suddenly realized that the string could be used as a fuse for dripping blood in the direction of the trend, which could amplify and accelerate the effect of the blood curse, so it did not need to be performed nine times to achieve the desired effect.

If you think about it this way, the same logic probably applies to adding blood to the potion and taking it together.

Du Juan was sent to the doctor because of high fever and convulsions, so her medicine must have contained bezoar, which is very effective in promoting blood circulation. With the help of the string silk of Ousizhiye, it would naturally be twice as effective with half the effort.

...some things are about to come out.

It seems that even if there is no Dujuan, there will be other blood puppets.

Even if the eldest princess did not visit Si Chen Mansion, Huo Xinqin would appear in the mansion in other ways.

It was obvious that all this was planned for a long time and done deliberately.

Mo Tingfeng's face was grim as he handed the evidence bag containing the string to Ye Wujiu.
"Take it together and trace it back to its source."

"Yes!"

"Old Ye, investigate it carefully!" Ding Heran was furious.

"I want to see which grandson is eating Si Chen's food and digging Si Chen's graves!"