Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 87 Mountain of Corpses
Rong Wanyin almost gasped. No wonder the compass had suddenly spun wildly. She had misjudged it. Rong Wanyin blurted out, "This is Master's handiwork!"

A Bao was surprised, his eyes widened: "Sister Rong, are you telling the truth?"

"There's no mistake. 'This red bean' is my master's mark. Look carefully, there are words and a signature on it!" Rong Wanyin moved the wooden hairpin closer for Abao to see, and sure enough, there were very tiny words on it.

A Bao was still a little dazed and stammered, "But this is my sister's hairpin!"

"Your sister's?" Su Zhan opened his mouth wide. This world is too small!
"Well, I was still young that year, and there was a famine in the village. My sister and I were begging for food along the way. We finally managed to get a piece of bread, but we met a strange old man in a dilapidated temple. He was so hungry that he fainted there and was about to die. So my sister broke the bread into three pieces and gave one to the strange old man. The old man didn't hesitate. After he finished eating it all, he said that as a thank you, he gave me this wooden hairpin, saying that if I was hungry, I could go to the pawnshop and exchange it for ten gold coins. We knew that the poor old man was just bragging, and we didn't expect anything in return, so we didn't argue. Later, my sister got married, and since she liked the wooden hairpin, she took it away as a dowry."

Yan Mingzhang stared at Abao's face, watching every word he said. He didn't lie, but he was hiding something.

"Do you know who my master is?" Rong Wanyin asked. If they knew this wooden hairpin was worth a fortune, and that Sister Bao wouldn't have to marry far away, would they regret it? Would their situation be better? Maybe, maybe not. In these troubled times, isn't it a danger for a child to possess gold?

Po shook his head blankly.

"This wood is struck by lightning. It is extremely hard and a rare material." Rong Wanyin stroked the wooden hairpin and said nothing more. Sometimes, not exposing something is also a kind act.

Rong Wanyin handed the wooden hairpin over: "Please keep it..."

With red eyes, Abao took the wooden hairpin carefully, and his tears fell on the "red beans", breaking them.

A Bao sobbed first, then burst into uncontrollable tears. Almost unable to speak, he pulled out a crudely carved wooden hairpin from his bosom: "This is a hairpin I carved for my sister... My sister loves beauty, so when she got married, I promised her that I would make her a hairpin, but my craftsmanship is not good, and it looks ugly. My sister said that no matter how ugly it looks, as long as it's from me, she'll like it, but now..."

In fact, everyone knows that she probably can't wear it.

Rong Wanyin could only pat Abao on the back and whisper words of comfort. No one else said a word.

After walking for a while, they reached a dead end in the cave on the far right. The cave was blocked by something, and the pile of things was piled high like a small mountain. The light was too dim to see clearly. Curious, Su Zhan walked forward a few steps, picked up a branch on the ground and dug it out. The pile of things, the pile of rotten things, suddenly collapsed, and under the rags were corpses!
Su Zhan screamed in fear and took a step back. His legs went limp and he collapsed to the ground. He felt the ground was sticky and disgusting. He screamed in fear, but his legs were too weak to get up. His eyes were fixed on the pile of rotting corpses that looked like a small mountain. White bones were exposed under the tattered clothes. It was not quite accurate to call them bones. He could not tell whether it was rotten meat or black mud covered the bones, and they gave off a foul odor, like the stench of a hundred rotting rats, which was indescribably disgusting.

Su Zhan was so close to the pile of corpses that he was so scared that he forgot to close his eyes. He screamed in fear and collapsed on the ground, unable to move. Yan Mingzhang had already blocked Rong Wanyin behind him when the pile of corpses collapsed, preventing her from seeing. Seeing Su Zhan, he almost collapsed, and freed one hand to pull Su Zhan up and pull him back. He took a closer look and saw that what Su Zhan held in his hand was not a branch, but a leg bone! Yan Mingzhang raised his foot and gently kicked Su Zhan's wrist with the instep of his foot. Su Zhan was already weak, and the leg bone flew out of his hand.

When Su Zhan saw clearly that what he was holding was actually a leg bone, he screamed and rubbed his hands on his clothes again and again, tears and snot streaming, in horror.

On the other hand, Abao, despite his young age, seemed very calm. He just watched calmly, and I don’t know if he was scared silly.

"Abao, please help take Brother Su out. I'll cover the rear." Yan Mingzhang ordered and gave Su Zhan a light push. Su Zhan finally reacted and was supported by Abao as he crawled out.

Rong Wanyin didn't get a clear look at the bodies, but because the smell was so strong, and Su Zhan's reaction, she had a rough guess. These bodies were probably the "disappeared villagers." Although she had guessed so just outside the cave, the visual and olfactory shock of actually seeing them still made Rong Wanyin's heart race.

The four of them finally found a pool of spring water and cleaned up. Su Zhan, in particular, washed his hands over and over again, but the feeling of the hard and slightly sticky leg bones was still unforgettable.

"It seems that these corpses should be the real villagers of Niujia Village." Yan Mingzhang's face looked a little ugly. Although he had seen many corpses when handling cases, it was really difficult for him to remain calm in front of so many highly decomposed corpses.

Rong Wanyin slowed down, sighed, and nodded in agreement. She no longer had the strength to answer.

"However, we still have to wait for the coroner to come to find out how they died. It seems that this village has many secrets." Yan Mingzhang pondered for a moment.

"A Bao, your intuition is spot on. You were able to find this cave in such a chaotic situation, and you were able to find this one instantly after choosing one of the three forked roads. How could it be so coincidental?" Yan Mingzhang stared at A Bao, his eyes full of suspicion, and his tone was unfriendly. "And that strangely appeared wooden hairpin? It was so clean in such a dirty and messy place."

A Bao didn't avoid Yan Mingzhang's gaze, just looked at him calmly without saying a word.

Rong Wanyin looked at Yan Mingzhang and then at Abao. She wanted to ease the atmosphere, but Yan Mingzhang would never be so aggressive for no reason. He must have a reason for doing so, so she did not say anything.

Su Zhan was also surprised when he saw the tension, and quickly tried to smooth things over: "Chengxuan, Abao is just a child...Abao, if you really have any difficulties, why not tell us and we can solve it together."

Ah Bao bit his lower lip, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Brother Su Zhan, thank you. I'm not a child anymore. Yes, I was here before. I was the one who threw the wooden hairpin away."