Wu Xin: The Monster Killer

Chapter 81 Mystery

The Ma residence was an old house, and the small building housing the mourning hall was over twenty years old. Due to its age, it had long been vacant and unused. Only recently had it been cleaned and furnished, specifically to house the second concubine, because of the spacious hall downstairs. The fire started upstairs, and flames leaped along the electrical wires, spreading to the ground floor in the blink of an eye, turning the mourning hall into a sea of ​​fire. In the dead of night, all was silent except for Saiwei and Shengyi; Saiwei and Shengyi had no reason to sit idly by and wait for death, but they also lacked the power to salvage the coffin. Lifting their mourning robes, they fled the small building. Once they were steady, they turned back to find the entrance already sealed off by the fire.

Both were dumbfounded. Saiwei, being an athlete, could still support his body despite his panic, though his thin legs were still strong. Shengyi, on the other hand, was a shivering stick, trembling in his mourning robe. Before alerting the servants, Wuxin had already run back like a gust of wind, crossing two bushes and a large lawn, taking a shortcut.

Although he returned, it was to no avail; he could only offer the siblings some emotional comfort. Shengyi, who had originally relied on Saiwei, immediately switched sides upon seeing Wuxin. She tightly gripped his trouser suspenders with her sweaty, cold hand and whispered, "Sister, sister, come here too."

Saiwei and Shengyi stood together beside Wuxin, while the servants arrived shouting. Their arrival was useless, as the fire department would be slow to arrive. The fire scene was chaotic; Ma Yinghao, whom Wuxin had abandoned earlier, had also arrived with several followers. Before he could ask, Saiwei ran forward, crying, "Brother, what do we do? What do we do? We can't get Mother out!"

Ma Yinghao was clearly at his wit's end. He patted his second sister's shoulder reassuringly and began to give instructions with exaggerated gestures. Meanwhile, Saiwei took advantage of the chaos to retreat, quietly withdrawing with Shengyi and Wuxin.

They returned to the second concubine's courtyard, but before they could even enter, a group of beautiful young women greeted them. Upon closer inspection, they saw several playful maids surrounding a slender young lady. The lady was dressed simply, appeared to be sixteen or seventeen years old, with an oval face and almond-shaped eyes, possessing a certain alluring charm. She frowned slightly at Saiwei and said, "Second Sister, Third Brother, what's wrong? I heard you've encountered misfortune again?"

Savi sighed softly, "Yes, yes, I'm so unfortunate. I just lost my mother, and then the funeral hall caught fire. Unlike my fourth sister, who was carefree and so happy."

The fourth young lady paused for a moment, then continued without changing her expression, "After seeing the misfortunes of my second and third elder sisters, how can I, as their younger sister, be happy?"

Saiwei craned her neck and sighed in a high-pitched voice, "Fourth Sister, don't talk nonsense. We have no objection to you sharing our misfortune, but there are gods watching over us. What if it really implicates Fifth Aunt? As children, we must be filial and not speak carelessly!"

After she finished speaking, Sheng Yi added lightly from behind, "Fourth Sister, don't be afraid. Fourth Sister is still young, and children say the darndest things!"

Saiwei immediately chimed in, "Oh, Fourth Sister, look how much your Third Brother favors you."

Then she turned and walked into the courtyard. Sheng Yi followed, leaving without looking back, saying, "Fourth Sister, it's getting dark, so Third Brother won't keep you inside. If you want to see the fire, you'd better hurry. Once the water hose is set up, make sure to spray your clothes thoroughly."

Miss Ma had gone out to see a spectacle, but before she could finish her sentence, she was thoroughly ridiculed by the twins. Gritting her teeth and swallowing her anger, she suddenly felt a darkness before her eyes, as if a shadow was chasing Sheng Yi. Before she could see clearly, Sheng Yi was already far away.

The shadowy figure was Wuxin; he silently followed Shengyi into the house. The courtyard gate closed, and the door to the room closed as well. Saiwei didn't rush to remove his mourning robes; instead, he first extended a clenched fist to Wuxin: "Look."

His fist loosened, and an iron needle fell into Wuxin's hand. The needle was about the length of a palm, covered in a dull rust, sharp at one end and rounded at the other. Wuxin held the needle up to the light, but couldn't discern anything. Suddenly, he caught Xiaojian's scent and asked, "Why are you being so conscientious today, hiding right away?"

Xiao Jian hovered far behind the curtains: "I'm afraid of your needles."

Wu Xin paused for a moment, then asked, "You're afraid of it? Why?"

Xiao Jian replied, "I don't know, I'm just scared."

Saiwei and Shengyi couldn't hear Xiaojian's words, but they were used to his mutterings and weren't surprised. After he fell silent, Saiwei said, "Wuxin, there's one more thing I need to tell you. When I pulled the needle out, I heard someone sighing from the coffin... it was Mother's voice."

Shengyi then spoke up: "There was only one sound, we wanted to look but dared not. Then it caught fire..."

After a moment's thought, he finally asked, "How did the fire in the mourning hall start?"

Savi shook his head and said in a low voice, "We don't know how it happened. Logically, it shouldn't have caught fire; however, aging wiring could also be a factor... it's hard to say!"

Wuxin then asked, "If I said someone deliberately set the fire, what do you think their motive would be?"

Savi, overthinking things, was speechless for a moment; Sheng Yi, with a relatively simple mind, immediately had an answer: "Burn us to death?"

Savi immediately shook his head: "No, no, with our skills, how could we just wait for the fire to break out? The funeral hall isn't locked, so how could the arsonist not know we'd escape? Besides, we weren't supposed to be keeping vigil in the first place; wasn't it a last-minute decision?"

Without thinking, she asked softly again, "If you can escape, who can't?"

Saiwei looked at Wuxin, his voice becoming a whisper: "Everyone can escape... only Mother cannot escape."

Sheng Yi broke out in a cold sweat and slowly took off her mourning robe: "My mother is already dead. Do you think she can be killed again?"

Wu Xin continued, "If the other party intends to turn your mother to ashes, what would be the purpose of doing so?"

Sheng Yi dared not think further. She slowly moved to Wu Xin's side, dragged a chair over, and sat down. Sai Wei also began to untie his mourning robe: "The person has turned to ashes...we'll never see her again."

He casually flicked the iron needle at her.

Savi suddenly realized: "If the fire starts, the world will be in chaos, and no one will notice the needle in Mother's head!"

Sheng Yi said softly, "The coffin will be closed tomorrow morning. Even if it's closed, won't anyone find out?"

Savi piled the mourning robes on an empty chair, revealing a blue shirt with lace trim underneath: "That's true."

Wuxin stared at the iron needle in his hand: "If the coffin is closed, the body remains; if it's burned, nothing remains." Then he leaned forward slightly, his large, dark eyes gleaming: "Do you know about possession and resurrection?"

Savi and Sheng Yi shuddered together: "I—I don't know."

Wu Xin lowered his voice to the lowest possible level: "After a person dies, their soul doesn't dissipate and becomes a ghost. If a ghost's power is great enough, it can possess the corpse, manipulate and control it, and even move and speak, appearing at first glance like a living person."

Then he held the needle upright: "If it's just to cover it up, there's no need to set a fire. Just send someone to secretly take it out."

Savi stared at him in disbelief: "You mean our mother... turned into a ghost?"

Wu Xin shook his head again: "Becoming a ghost would be easier; at least it wouldn't harm you." Then he brandished his iron needle: "Perhaps someone cast a curse on your mother!"

A moment of silence fell over the room, then Sheng Yifu had a sudden inspiration and, imitating Wuxin, began to ponder: "Sister, if our second branch of the family were to fall into misfortune, who would be the happiest?"

After asking the question, he lightly smacked his lips, realizing he had spoken nonsense. Excluding other unrelated members, the Ma family only had five actual children. When the inheritance was divided, it would also be among all five; losing any one of them would save money. The second branch had more members and two children; if they were all killed, the remaining three would naturally benefit. However, his father was still in good health; to say that the other party had harmed him for the sake of the inheritance was premature.

Savi sneered, "Hmph, they're all suspects! The eldest is obviously a sworn enemy of the family; the fourth is obviously a sworn enemy, he practically wants to devour us; the fifth, though young, has a cunning aunt who's as shrewd as a monkey, and with her pretty face, she's bullied Mother a lot." She slammed her thin, bony fist on the table. "Let's not talk about the distant future, just the present—how are we going to sleep later?"

Sheng Yi immediately replied, "I sleep with Wu Xin."

Savi, being a grown woman, naturally knew she couldn't share a bed with them. After a moment's thought, she adopted the air of an older sister and made arrangements without further ado: "I'll sleep in Mother's bedroom. You're not allowed to leave; you'll sleep outside the bedroom."

Sheng Yi looked at her blankly: "Sister, there are no beds outside."

Savi raised his eyebrows: "Isn't there a daybed and a small sofa? Just make do!"

Sheng Yi was no match for Sai Wei. The bedroom did indeed connect to a small room, where the second concubine smoked opium. He spread out bedding on the daybed, didn't wash up, took off his shoes, and rolled onto the bed. Wu Xin, not having thought of anything further, simply squeezed in as well.

Saiwei entered the bedroom, thinking that with two grown men lying just a wall away, she felt safe enough. She asked for hot water to wash her face, then sat down at the dressing table to comb her hair. She thought that tomorrow morning would certainly be uneasy again, so she needed to rest for now. Her mother was gone, and Shengyi wasn't a tough young man. If she didn't pull herself together, wouldn't he be devoured alive?

Thinking of this, she decided not to take off her clothes. She reached out and turned off the light in the room, her eyes half-open as she prepared to get into bed. However, just as she turned and sat on the edge of the bed, she suddenly froze, feeling as if she had caught a glimpse of something.

Slowly turning her head to look at the dressing mirror, she saw a faint light flickering in its reflection. Her muscles tensed instantly, and she abruptly stood up, instinctively clenching her fist. She spat at the light in the mirror, then shouted menacingly, "What is that? Don't try anything funny! I'm not afraid of you!"

(End of this chapter)