I was forced to cultivate immortality when I just wanted to lie down

Chapter 264 Two Unsolved Cases
"Hey! Brother Xu, look what my dog ​​dug up!"

Shang Shaoyang squatted down. Below him was a pit three feet deep, where even the tree roots had been painstakingly cut off.

What must this be that's so important that it's buried so deep?
Shang Shaoyang leaned down, about to reach into the pit to retrieve the old box, when he suddenly shivered.

"How strange, this place feels eerie, like someone's little hands are scratching at me."

Shang Shaoyang looked around suspiciously, but there was no one else besides Xu Qing and Chen Liuer.

Xu Qing glanced at the little girl clinging to Shang Shaoyang's arm as she crawled out of the pit, but didn't say a word.

Beside him, Chen Liuer asked in confusion, "Goodness, when did you go into the pit? I didn't see you jump in!"

"."

Shang Shaoyang glanced sideways at Chen Liuer, who was talking to thin air. Besides feeling that the surroundings were even more gloomy, he also felt a strange sense of familiarity.
I remember now! This familiar feeling is just like going to Xu Qing's shop to cool off in the middle of the day!
"Little Liu, one must be honest and not lie. There's no one else here! Brother Xu, can you see them?"

Xu Qing shook his head.

"You really can't see it?"

Shang Shaoyang pressed for more information.

“I can’t see it.” As Xu Qing spoke, he kept staring at the air in front of Chen Liuer.

Looking at his own little mongrel, it had already crawled under his robe, with only its head peeking out, looking in the same direction and barking incessantly.

"."

Shang Shaoyang felt that at least one of the three people present had been made a fool of!

"Brother Xu, can you tell me the truth?"

What truth do you want to hear?

Xu Qing withdrew his gaze and instead bent down to look at the old box in the pit, lost in thought.

"What does that darling look like? Is it a human or a ghost?"

Xu Qing pondered for a moment and said, "She looks very cute; she's a little girl who's two or three years old."

"Why can't I see him?" Shang Shaoyang opened his eyes wide, but all he could see was Chen Liuer.

Xu Qing said calmly, "Children have pure and innocent hearts, and they can see things that ordinary people cannot. It is not surprising that Chen Liuer can see them."

"Then why can you see it too?"

"Because my heart is just as pure."

Xu Qing spoke without blushing or panting.

Shang Shaoyang choked on his breath, unable to utter a single word.

So it's his heart!
"Inside this box"

Shang Shaoyang retrieved the old box with its mottled paint, somewhat hesitantly.

Logically speaking, a box containing important items would not be so dilapidated. The box in front of me looks like a broken box that was casually pulled out of a pile of discarded junk to hold some junk.

Xu Qing stopped Shang Shaoyang from opening the box with a look, then turned to the mischievous child who was standing on tiptoe, watching curiously: "Chen Liuer, turn your back. I won't let you turn around, so don't turn around, understand?"

Finally, Xu Qing said something to the little girl who had invited Chen Liuer to the big locust tree:

"Good boy, you and your brother Liu'er turn around together, don't look back and peek, be good."

The little girl had no friends except Chen Liuer, and she might not listen to what outsiders said, but for some reason, after hearing Xu Qing's words, she subconsciously felt a sense of familiarity and wanted to listen.

So she nodded subconsciously, took Chen Liuer's hand, and the two children turned around, and even closed their eyes tightly in a sensible manner.

Since I promised Uncle Xu I wouldn't peek, I have to keep my promise, otherwise I'll be naughty.

Xu Qing and Shang Shaoyang squatted in front of the small box, with only their backs facing Chen Liuer and the others.

Covering the box, the two exchanged a glance. Shang Shaoyang took a deep breath, took out his sword, and pried open the box lid little by little along the edge.

When the lid of the box hit the ground and dust flew up, Xu Qing and Shang Shaoyang were able to see what was inside.

Inside an old box less than three feet long, lay a tiny girl. She looked about two or three years old and would have been more than three feet tall if she stood up. But the box was less than three feet long, so how could it fit the child?
Xu Qing saw two sections of lower legs, each about four or five inches long, placed separately on either side of the little girl's body. One section of the lower leg had a small embroidered shoe on its foot, while the foot on the other section of the lower leg was covered in bruises and was exposed. Xu Qing didn't know where the shoe had gone.

Looking at the little girl's face again, apart from being slightly pale, there was nothing else unusual. Her eyes were closed naturally, without a smile or sadness. At first glance, she seemed to be in a deep sleep, peaceful and untouched by the world.

However, upon closer inspection of its face, a faint, indelible pallor shone through, as if casting a chilling shadow over the death of this young life.

Shang Shaoyang had seen dead people, but he had never seen such a young girl with her legs cut off and placed in this cramped, dilapidated box.

His wife was newly pregnant, and the extra feelings of becoming parents at this time were far stronger than those of ordinary people!

"She's Xiao Liu'er's friend, Guai Guai, right?"

After a long silence, Shang Shaoyang spoke with difficulty, lowering his voice as if he didn't want the two children behind him to hear.

"Yes, 'Guai Guai' must be her nickname. I don't know her real name. Chen Liuer often brings her to my shop. I tried to ask the two children, but I didn't get any useful clues."

Xu Qing carefully lifted the little girl's body. The body, wrapped in a white floral dress, was ice-cold, revealing an incredible tranquility and fragility, as if she had just been sleeping too soundly.
"Brother Shang, thank you for your trouble."

Xu Qing tore off his long robe, ripped it in two, used one piece to simply cover the corpse, and handed it to Shang Shaoyang.

The child was only about three years old and didn't weigh much; he was just a tiny little thing. Shang Shaoyang took the cloth wrapping. Even though the child in front of him was just a corpse, he was still at a loss, afraid of waking the child from his deep sleep.

Xu Qingteng took action and used another piece of cloth to wrap the child's two lower legs.

"Brother Xu, how do you plan to resolve this matter?"

"Report to the official!"

“How could a normal family treat a child like this?” Xu Qing picked up the tattered box from the ground and said, “I once studied corpse examination with Senior Brother Wang from the coroner’s office. This child’s body is still warm, and he died of suffocation, but there are no obvious signs of struggle. There must be some unknown filth hidden here.”

Xu Qing did not choose to perform a ritual to release the corpse from the little girl's ghostly presence, because he understood that once the ritual was performed, the little girl's ghost would cease to exist.

Now that the road to heaven is blocked, even if people in the world have great magical powers, they no longer have the ability to go to the underworld to interrogate others.

Xu Qing didn't want to either. He wanted to know the real cause of the girl's death, but at the same time, he didn't want her to be forcibly exorcised before her obsession subsided.

Ghosts exist, and they all have attachments; but what exactly are those obsessions of the adorable ghosts?
Xu Qing carried a worn-out box, Shang Shaoyang held the still-uncorrupted, cold corpse, while Chen Liuer and the little girl held hands and followed the two towards the yamen.

Upon reaching the entrance of the yamen, the little girl stopped in her tracks. Chen Liuer seemed used to this; he waved for her to wait outside, and she waved back, as if saying goodbye. "Why didn't she come in with us?" Shang Shaoyang asked, puzzled.

"The yamen is a place of heavy swords and menacing aura, with official seals guarding the house. It is the center of the county, and weak ghosts are naturally afraid of it and do not want to enter."

"I never imagined that Brother Xu would know about these things related to gods, demons, and ghosts."

Xu Qing glanced at Shang Shaoyang, raised an eyebrow and said, "As a funeral director who often deals with the dead, it's reasonable for me to know some Yin-related knowledge about the dead, right?"

"Indeed, speaking of which, Brother Xu's shop is just as gloomy as the place where this child was buried. Could it be that there are ghosts hiding there as well?"

Xu Qing categorically denied it, saying, "The reason why the place where the ghost lives is gloomy is not only due to the influence of its own obsession and resentment, but also due to feng shui reasons. Do you remember what was buried where she was?"

"A big locust tree?"

"Those in the underworld often say that there are five ghost trees in the world, and the locust tree is the first of the five ghost trees. Look at the character '槐' (huai), it is wood on the left and ghost on the right. There is only one tree named after ghost."

As Xu Qing walked, he said, "This tree has a heavy yin energy, and Guai Guai's corpse just happened to be located under a locust tree. If it had been in another place, it would probably have rotted into bones long ago."

Chen Liuer followed behind the two men with her head down, listening with a sense of understanding but not quite. When they were almost at the hall, Shang Shaoyang turned around and said, "Little Liuer, it's getting late. You should go back quickly and not sneak out to play anymore, lest your godmother and nanny worry. Understand?"

Chen Liuer stood still, ignoring Shang Shaoyang's words, and instead kept looking at Xu Qing. Only after Xu Qing nodded in acknowledgment did he jog away.

Why is this child so obedient to you?

"Children are more innocent, and they probably listen to me because they think I am also an innocent adult."

"."

That makes it sound like I'm impure and unclean!
Feeling frustrated by both sides, Shang Shaoyang simply stopped talking to Xu Qing.

When the two arrived at the court, the yamen runners hurriedly went to invite the magistrate to preside over the case.

Chen Guangrui asked the yamen runner who had come to the hall. The runner replied that it was Young Master Shang.

Shang Shaoyang? His brother-in-law from afar?

Chen Guangrui frowned. This restless brat might go off to punish evil again, only to find him and make him clean up his mess.

In other words, this second-generation rich kid did righteous deeds and good deeds that occupied the moral high ground. If he were a spoiled brat who couldn't distinguish right from wrong and bullied the weak, he would probably have put aside his own family for the greater good and retired to his hometown long ago!

It was already dark when Chen Guangrui came to the main hall from the passageway connecting to the back hall.

As soon as he sat down, he saw Shang Shaoyang carefully holding the cloth-wrapped object, as well as a pale-faced young man who looked very familiar next to him.

Chen Guangrui felt a sense of unease. If seeing Shang Shaoyang was a headache, then seeing the scholar from the Xuji examination was a real stress reaction.

It's no wonder Chen Guangrui reacted this way, because none of the scholars he had encountered in the past were easy to deal with. Those people seemed like quiet types, but in reality, none of them were hiding anything. Who knows what big case they were trying to test him with this time!
You two, a scholar from the Xu-Ji year, plus his troublesome distant relatives by marriage, could you possibly have killed the emperor?
Chen Guangrui, now on high alert, immediately became extremely vigilant. Two rows of bailiffs, armed with fire and water clubs, stood ready. As the gavel fell, the county magistrate spoke:

"Who are you here? What grievance do you have? Speak quickly!"

"."

Shang Shaoyang was used to it. Every time he went to court, his brother-in-law, who had become an official, would pretend not to recognize him. He was a perfect example of someone who forgets his friends when he is rich and forgets his family when he is successful!
"Shang Shaoyang, a native of Qianzhou and a tribute student of the Yisi year, greets Your Excellency."

Xu Qing looked at Shang Shaoyang in surprise, not expecting that this second-generation rich kid also had the title of Gongshi (a scholar who passed the imperial examinations).

"Xu Qing, a scholar from Tianjin, who is also the owner of a funeral shop, a coffin shop, a funeral clothing shop, and a paper offering shop, greets Your Excellency."

"."

Chen Guangrui's eyelids twitched. "You're going to send me out on the spot with such a long list of questions?"

After stating his name and place of origin, Shang Shaoyang was completely unafraid of the county magistrate's official authority. He strode forward, while the surrounding yamen runners kept their eyes down, pretending not to see him.

The clerk, Tang Zhou, kept flipping through blank sheets of paper, as if he were sorting out some serious case.

Arriving at the jury table, Shang Shaoyang placed the cloth-wrapped object in his hand flat on the table, and then lifted the covering cloth.

When the corpse, less than three feet long, was presented to everyone, Chen Guangrui's eyes widened suddenly.

When the advisor saw the small corpse that was not much older than his daughter, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"Oh my goodness! How did this child end up like this?"

Shang Shaoyang circled back down to the hall and explained the whole story of how the body was discovered. However, he concealed the fact that 'Guai Guai' had led the way, saying only that his own little mongrel had dug up the body.

Chen Guangrui looked at the little mongrel sitting at Shang Shaoyang's feet, its tongue lolling out in the heat, and shook his head helplessly.

The dog, however, cannot serve as a witness, nor can it be questioned in detail.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Guangrui immediately summoned the coroner on duty in the coroner's room to conduct an examination.

Wang Lingyuan is quite old and rarely works the night shift anymore; now, his second apprentice, Song Tu, is in charge of guarding the coroner's room.

When Song Tu saw Xu Qing standing below the hall, he was clearly stunned for a moment. With his martial uncle in front of him and the case at hand, he absolutely could not admit to being related to him.

The two pretended not to know each other. Song Tu came to the table, holding a candle, and confirmed the cause of death in a short while.

"The deceased's face was bluish, and there were pinpoint hemorrhages under the eyes. In addition, there were no fatal external injuries to the hands and feet. Based on my deduction, the girl died of suffocation due to obstruction of her mouth and nose."

After explaining the cause of death, Song Tu further analyzed: "When the deceased's breathing was obstructed, there would normally be signs of struggle, but there were no scratches or signs of self-rescue on the deceased's body. There are only two possible reasons for this: either the deceased died of suffocation after falling into a coma, or the deceased was held down by someone and had their mouth and nose covered with soft materials such as cloth, causing death."

"What puzzles me, however, is the deceased's legs..."

Upon hearing this, Xu Qing immediately stepped forward and placed the damaged wooden box on the table.

"This wooden box was used to hide a corpse. The box was pieced together and was less than three feet long, while this girl was four or five inches longer."

Xu Qing righted the side panel of the wooden box that had fallen off, then used his own arm as a substitute for the little girl's corpse, making a leg-raising motion.

However, when the 'lower legs' are raised, they push open the lid of the box, and no matter whether the other items are placed on their side or at an angle, they cannot be completely put into the small box in front of them.

Chen Guangrui was no ordinary man. He remained silent for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Are you saying that the person who hid the body cut off the deceased's two lower legs in order to put the body intact into the box?"

Xu Qing did not answer directly, but simply cupped his hands in greeting and stepped down from the hall, his meaning self-evident.

Beside the table, Song Tu nodded and said, "Whenever a living person is cut, the wound will turn outward and bloom like a flower due to muscle contraction. If the person is cut after death, the wound will be neat and without contraction. This girl's injury does indeed match the latter."

At this point, Song Tu suddenly remembered something and said, "The other day, a fisherman caught a human head on the banks of the Tanggu River. The head hadn't decomposed for several days and is still kept in the morgue, perfectly intact. This little girl's body is stiff, clearly dead for a long time, yet despite the current hot weather, there's not a trace of decay."

Chen Guangrui immediately slammed his hand on the table and said, "Post the portrait of this girl everywhere, along with the portrait of the person in the missing person case, and conduct a trial. Anyone who provides clues will be rewarded with fifty taels of silver!"

(End of this chapter)