Sword from the Immortal Mountain

Chapter 23: The Murderer and the Black Hand
The old writer fell to the ground and disappeared, leaving behind only a set of tattered prisoner clothes, like the remains of a summer cicada.

He was full of resentment and his obsession was evident. Even though he turned into a ghost, he did not dare to seek revenge on Ou Hu.

Ghosts are also afraid of evil people.

What's more, the county town is guarded by righteous gods such as the City God.

The City God here is not the kind of deity in the vernacular novels who seeks justice for the people and punishes evil and promotes good.

He was conferred an imperial title by the imperial court, so his stance and attitude must of course be consistent with the imperial court's laws.

Official laws are like a furnace, and the people's will is like iron.

This applies to the living and the dead as well.

To put it bluntly, if an old writer wants to seek justice in the underworld, his chances of getting redress are the same as if he met a judge in the court.

Maybe there is;
Maybe not.

As he himself said: We can only leave it to fate.

He was unwilling to give up and lingered there, returning to the small house he had bought with his life savings, originally intended for his final resting place.

Then I met Chen Jin.

Chen Jin walked over, found a place in the courtyard, dug a hole, and buried the prisoner's clothes in it, treating it as a cenotaph.

As for the human head, it was simply abandoned in the yard and ignored.

After doing all this, he left again, identified the direction, and quickly disappeared into the dark night.

……

County town, Jia’s residence.

The doors and windows were closed, and two large lanterns were hung under the eaves, lighting the room brightly.

The room was also lit and filled with a strong herbal scent.

The last time Jia Gong was taken away by a mysterious carriage, he was whipped and one of his legs was broken.

It will take at least several months of rest to recover from these injuries.

During this period, I couldn't get out of bed and needed someone to take care of my daily life.

As for the women whom he coveted the most, he could not move or touch them.

At this hour, he was the only one in the room, while the maids and servants in charge of serving him were waiting in the outer room for orders.

Jia Gong was in a restless mood and couldn't sleep, so he put a pillow on his back and lay there leaning against it.

After the incident in prison, he had been feeling nervous and uneasy for the past few days. He was awakened by nightmares several times, and broke into cold sweats.

In order to be able to have peace of mind, all the doors and windows of the room must be closed when going to bed every night.

Not only that, Jia Gong also invited the household god into the room.

It is respectfully enshrined in the shrine on the wooden table.

It was a clay statue of a god about a foot tall, with a human body and a dog's head, and it was sculpted very lifelike, especially the pair of big eyes, which seemed alive and had a different look.

Jia Gong spent a lot of money to invite this family god, but it was all worth it.

A canine household god, he is good at patrolling and guarding the house, can protect the home and is very loyal.

Ever since the deity was invited, the family has been peaceful and nothing has ever happened.

Now, with the household god sitting in the room, Jia Gong felt much more at ease and had fewer nightmares.

But for some reason tonight he felt stuffy and it looked like it was going to rain.

Jia Gong was wondering whether he should ask the maid to come in and open the window.

Suddenly, there was a "click" sound, and the wooden window facing the yard was opened from the outside.

A person floated in silently.

When he saw the hideous mask of the devil, Jia Gong felt as if his heart was being tightly grasped by a hand.

A huge feeling of fear surged up like a tide, drowning my entire body and mind, and I couldn't even shout for help.

The man came in, glanced at Jia Gong, then his eyes fell on the shrine, and suddenly said, "If you dare to come out, I will kill you."

"Giggle!"

A strange sound was heard, and the statue in the shrine was shaking slightly, as if it had been extremely frightened.

The next moment, the vivid statue of a god with a human body and a dog's head immediately closed its eyes tightly.

Chen Jin praised it with satisfaction.

Seeing this miraculous scene, Jia Gong was also frightened and trembled all over. The upper and lower rows of teeth in his mouth kept knocking against each other, making a strange "clacking" sound.

Chen Jin brought a chair and placed it in front of the window, then sat down: "Jia Dianli, I want to talk to you. I'll ask questions, and you answer them."

Jia Gong said hurriedly with a trembling voice: "Okay, okay..."

……

South Lane.

Ma Ben arrived quickly with several capable officers.

The scene was in chaos, with screams and cries still ringing in the ears.

Another coroner came to check and verify the identity.

The results came out very quickly.

There was no doubt that the deceased was Ou Hu, and the cause of death was simple: he was beheaded by a sharp knife.

That should be a very sharp knife.

Ma Ben's face looked very unhappy, his eyebrows were furrowed, suppressing his inner emotions.

He hasn't had a good time lately.

It’s been almost half a month since the murder case on death row was solved, and there is still no clue.

Ma Ben was not worried about being punished by the county magistrate, but he believed that under his jurisdiction, he would never allow the murderer who committed such a serious crime to go unpunished.

Unexpectedly, one crisis comes after another.

Another bloody incident occurred in the city.

He knew the deceased Ou Hu, who was a scoundrel with a long history of bad deeds. He had committed many crimes, but none of them deserved the death penalty.

Later, Ou Hu established connections with the Zhao family and began to make a fortune.

Tonight is Ou Hu's housewarming celebration, and the invitation has been delivered to Ma Ben.

But Captain Ma looked down on this guy, so he didn't come.

However, some of the officers in the yamen were invited to drink, which was equivalent to being at the crime scene.

Ma Ben questioned them one by one, but could not get any valuable clues.

At that time, Ou Hu was drunk and wanted to go to the toilet, so he stumbled over alone.

The toilet is not far away and it is inside the Ou family's house, so naturally others would not think too much about it.

Who knows what will happen.

Not even a scream was uttered.

From this we can see that the murderer acted extremely quickly and ruthlessly, and fled immediately after succeeding.

Definitely a master!

When did such a powerful figure appear in the county?
No matter how hard Ma Ben thought, he couldn't figure it out.

Moreover, why would the other party kill Ou Hu?

If it was a revenge killing, given Ou Hu's identity, it was unlikely that he would provoke such a person;
The Zhao family is also a suspect, but it would be easy for the Zhao family to kill Ou Hu, and there is no need to do so.

Suddenly, Ma Ben seemed to have thought of something and quickly asked the coroner, "Is the old writer in the death row dead?"

"Reporting to Captain Ma, the old man was found dead in the cell this afternoon. I was the one who examined the body. He died of illness."

"Yes, that's it."

Ma Ben quickly connected the fragmentary clues in his mind: the death row murder case, the grudge between Ou Hu and the old writer, the disappeared murderer...

He immediately gave orders and sent two officers to search the sealed little house of the old writer.

As for Ma Ben himself, he shouted, "Follow me."

He took the remaining officers and went straight to Jia Dianli's house.

The reason is very simple. If the murderer wants to take revenge, he will never let go of Jia Dianli, the clerk in charge of the prison.

(End of this chapter)