Chapter 228: The Real Culprit?

Chapter 228: The Real Culprit?

Under the full search efforts of the bailiffs and constables of the Deqing County yamen, the families of the other two unidentified bodies were quickly found.

Among them, one household belonged to a cart driver who had no grudges in daily life; even if he had occasional quarrels with rivals over business, it would not have led to murder.

The cart driver often left for days to months at a time, sometimes even without informing his family when urgent jobs arose, so his family still did not know that their husband/father had already died.

The other household was rather peculiar—they showed no concern for the deceased. Even though the person had been missing for nearly half a month, they remained indifferent. It was not until the local villagers told the bailiff that the woman of the house had not been seen for a long time, and upon further inquiry at the house, they learned that the only female corpse was that household's wife.

"Your Honor, the Zheng family refused to speak. I visited the local villagers and only then found out that the Zheng woman had been involved with another man. The Zheng family found it shameful and thought she had run off with her lover, so they did not search for her." Fei Jing, having uncovered some clues, hurried to ingratiate himself with Song Tingzhou.

Song Tingzhou remained expressionless, "Who is this lover? When did the affair begin? Did you hear about the lover from her family, or did you personally investigate it?"

Struck by Song Tingzhou's three pointed questions, Fei Jing's neatly trimmed three-strand beard drooped dejectedly. "I haven't had time yet. I will investigate again."

Just as he was about to leave, Song Tingzhou said coldly from behind, "Magistrate Fei, if you again report such superficial information to me, then your annual review will definitely not pass in my hands."

Fei Jing's heart skipped a beat. He immediately straightened his back and, with a serious expression, said, "Rest assured, Your Honor. From now on, I will verify thoroughly before reporting to you."

As the local county magistrate, he had an easier time gathering information from the villagers than Song Tingzhou did. He took his men to the Zheng family, threatening and bribing them, and soon the Zheng family, terrified, spilled the truth.

It turned out that Zheng's wife had grown up as childhood sweethearts with a man named Lu Chuang. However, Lu Chuang later fell into debt, left his hometown, and disappeared without a trace, so Zheng's wife married into the Zheng family instead.

Last year, Lu Chuang returned to the village, looking decent and well-off from somewhere unknown. He and Zheng's wife were seen several times pulling at each other by the Zheng family. The Zhengs dragged Zheng's wife home and beat her severely.

If that were all, it might have ended there. But after being beaten, Zheng's wife took the initiative to go find Lu Chuang again. This was seen by others, and gossip began to spread in the village.

In Fei Jing's view, this was simply an immoral woman brazenly carrying on with an old lover. But remembering Song Tingzhou's stern face, he could only stir his pampered legs and go to Lu Chuang's house, the lover of Zheng's wife, to investigate further.

Meng Wan had established a commercial station in Deqing County. Coincidentally, Lu Chuang worked at this station, and because he was literate, he had even been promoted to temporary supervisor.

The term "temporary" was because the station had just opened. Meng Wan had not yet had time to inspect every location, so he first let Yu Yandong oversee the arrangements. Later, if Meng Wan deemed a person capable and of good conduct, they could be promoted to a full supervisor.

Lu Chuang was about forty years old, with a few hints of gray at his temples, but he was smooth-talking and slick. A few words left Fei Jing feeling flattered and lightheaded.

However, given the overwhelming authority of Song Tingzhou, Fei Jing still did not forget the purpose of his visit.

"What is your relationship with Lin Qiao Niang?" (Lin Qiao Niang was the given name of Zheng's wife.)

Lu Chuang's expression turned awkward. "Well... Your Honor, it's... not easy to explain between us."

If a man were entangled with another man's wife, he would at most be ridiculed as a playboy. Lu Chuang was not afraid of people knowing about his relationship with Lin Qiao Niang.

Fei Jing snorted coldly, "What's not easy to explain? It's disgraceful, isn't it? I ask you: on April 16th, did you have a secret meeting with Lin Qiao Niang?"

Lu Chuang answered firmly, "No!"

"From April 8th to April 16th, our boss called all the station supervisors to the prefectural capital for unified training. We ate and lived together for nine full days. I didn't return to Deqing County until the 21st."

Lu Chuang spoke with evidence. "Your Honor, if you don't believe me, you can ask the supervisors from other county stations. Alternatively, you can go to the prefectural city and ask our boss. He taught us personally, day by day, and saw me every day."

Fei Jing thought it over. The owner of the commercial station was none other than Lord Song's husband. When the station was being built, someone had come to the county office with a letter from him.

Since Lu Chuang was under Lord Song's husband, it would not be appropriate to arrest him for interrogation at the county court. Besides, the man had an alibi for the time of the incident. So Fei Jing decided to go through the motions and let it go.

Just as Fei Jing, having made a big show of bringing men to investigate, was preparing to withdraw self-righteously to the county office, Lu Chuang unexpectedly offered him a piece of valuable information.

"Your Honor, I've actually heard a little about Qiao Niang's death. As a matter of fact, before I left Deqing County, I met her once. She said..."

Fei Jing slammed his hand heavily on the table beside him, raising his voice, "Stop playing games with me! Speak quickly!"

Lu Chuang, fearing he might anger the county magistrate, said with trepidation, "Yes, yes. Calm down, Your Honor. I'll speak right away. That day Qiao Niang came to see me, looking quite unsettled. I initially thought the Zheng family had made things difficult for her because of us..." Lu Chuang glanced awkwardly at Fei Jing.

"But she said to me that she had been feeling like someone was following her lately, and she suspected the Zheng family had hired someone to kill her."

Fei Jing's eyes lit up. "And then?"

"Qiao Niang said she was afraid the Zhengs wanted to kill her and asked me to take her away." Lu Chuang gave an awkward laugh. "I was about to leave for the prefectural capital, so I refused. After that, she left alone."

After hearing this, Fei Jing thought about it more and found the Zheng family increasingly suspicious. Their indifferent attitude after learning of Lin Qiao Niang's death—apart from hating her adultery—might also be because they already knew she was dead, since they had killed her!

He rushed back to the Zheng family in a flurry. After a thorough beating with clubs, the Zheng family, from young to old, cried out in pain and finally "confessed."

Ten days ago—April 16th.

Zheng Er followed behind Lin Qiao Niang, gnashing his teeth. He had seen Lin Qiao Niang enter Lu Chuang's house a few days earlier and had wanted to kill both adulterers right there.

But he didn't do it. He knew that murder would be punished by death. Lu Chuang, that bastard, deserved to die, but he couldn't handle him.

The anger in his heart had no outlet. Then Lin Qiao Niang went to find Lu Chuang again. The whole village was mocking him for being a cuckold. As long as that slut lived, he would never be able to hold his head up.

On April 16th, Lin Qiao Niang was feeding the pigs at home when she suddenly dropped the bucket of slop onto the ground and walked straight out.

Zheng Er, enraged, thought she was going to see Lu Chuang again. He grabbed the axe from beside the woodpile and followed her.

He followed Lin Qiao Niang all the way, but she walked farther and farther, as if she never tired. He didn't know how many hills they crossed. Zheng Er rested several times along the way, but driven by his murderous intent, he kept following. He wanted to see where that slut was going to meet her lover.

At that moment, Lin Qiao Niang seemed like a tireless puppet. He could see the toes of her cloth shoes were stained with blood, but she never paused. She walked all the way to an unfamiliar mountain. Zheng Er was exhausted. He rested at the foot of the mountain for a while before climbing up.

When he reached the top, to his shock, he found that, besides Lin Qiao Niang, there were four other men in the woods!

Zheng Er, mad with rage, let out a strange shout. Just as he raised his axe to attack, he suddenly noticed something eerie.

The five people didn't react at all to his shout. They stood rigidly in place, not even turning their heads.

By the time Zheng Er rushed in front of them, he saw that their eye sockets were filled with dense black lines. On closer look, they didn't seem alive at all!

More terrifyingly, a small black snake as thick as a little finger slid out from somewhere, slowly coiled around Lin Qiao Niang's neck, and bit her once. She fell to the ground. The next moment, the snake leaped into the air and reappeared on another man's neck. Another bite, and that man fell.

Within ten breaths, all five of them, looking so strange, collapsed one after another. Zheng Er was so scared he nearly wet his pants. He dropped the axe, and with hands trembling, legs weak, rolled and crawled down the hill.

"I was scared out of my wits. I didn't care about catching anyone in adultery. I just wanted to survive." Zheng Er now still felt terrified recalling that scene, and cold sweat broke out all over him as he spoke.

Fei Jing could tell his expression seemed genuine and was furious. Damn it! If Zheng Er had confessed, Fei Jing could have reported to Lord Song. But now he had come up with this bizarre method of killing!

"Are you saying no one killed them? They were all bitten by a poisonous snake?"

Zheng Er nodded quickly, but Fei Jing burst into rage, "Nonsense! Everyone knows the five were killed by snake bites! But how could it be such a coincidence that five unrelated people all get bitten to death in the deep mountains?"

Was he supposed to tell this ridiculous story to Song Tingzhou? He wouldn't last until the end of the year before the prefect suspended him. It would be better to just arrest this Zheng Er and make him the scapegoat!

Seeing Fei Jing's expression change, Zheng Er quickly shook his head again. "Your Honor, I saw that little snake before I ran down the hill... It crawled into the sleeve of a young man."

"Yes, and then that young man threatened me with the snake and ordered me to take him home and provide for him. I was so scared that I had no choice but to bring him back." Zheng Er's voice grew weaker.

Fei Jing immediately brightened up. "Speak quickly! Where is that young man now?"

Zheng Er glanced toward his family's cellar. "We were afraid of his cruelty, afraid he would harm others, so we... we locked him in the cellar."

In the evening, Fei Jing returned to the county yamen under the cover of darkness.

"Is Lord Song in the second hall?" he asked the gatekeeper in a hushed voice, sneaking around as if he were entering someone else's territory.

The yamen runner was confused. "The Prefect has gone to the countryside to investigate another case."

Fei Jing straightened up and muttered disdainfully under his breath, "A bunch of ignorant fools, what more is there to ask? I've already found the real culprit!"

The yamen runner: "Ah?"

"What 'ah'? Go call the men from the guardhouse. I'll hold court immediately!" Fei Jing thought that by quickly extracting a confession, he could show Lord Song his abilities.

Though he said he was holding court, the man brought to the court was clearly unconscious.

Fei Jing changed into his official robe and returned to the courtroom, only to see the man still lying face down on the ground.

He muttered to himself: "What kind of knockout drug did Zheng Er use? That stuff is really strong."

Aloud, he ordered the yamen runners, "Someone, fetch a bucket of well water and splash it on him to wake him up!"

After a bucket of well water was thrown on him, the man finally reacted. He struggled to get up, swaying, and as he looked around the unfamiliar surroundings, he muttered a series of unfamiliar words.

Fei Jing saw that he was wearing strange clothes, exposing sun-bronzed arms and calves, extremely tall, with handsome features. His hair was disheveled, and above his eyebrow was a small crimson mole. Fei Jing exclaimed in surprise, "He's actually a young man? Why is he dressed like this? Could he be working in the dark alleys in the flesh trade?"

He secretly felt relieved that they had woken him up first. "These young men are just a bit taller than average; how could he have killed five people consecutively? Zheng Er must be lying!"

"Someone, take the suspect to the prison first." Then send someone to bring Zheng Er back to confess!

The yamen runner, hearing Fei Jing's order, strode quickly to the young man's side. Just as he laid his hand on the brown arm, he was unexpectedly thrown off.

The young man was obviously still affected by the knockout drug. After throwing off the two yamen runners who approached him, he held his forehead, looking as if he was about to collapse.

Fei Jing was dumbfounded, then immediately got excited. "So strong, weird clothes, barbaric, and can't speak our language—he must be the murderer! All of you, go! Capture him for me! Broken arms and legs are fine."

The yamen runners swarmed in. Although they could land a few punches, their losses were clearly greater. For a while, they simply couldn't subdue this young man.

Fei Jing watched anxiously from his bench. If this young man escaped, where would he find another culprit to hand over to Song Tingzhou? "A dead corpse is better than letting him escape. Draw your swords—if he dies, it's on me!"

As the presiding county magistrate, Fei Jing had the authority to "accidentally" kill the suspect if they couldn't be subdued. With his words, the yamen runners felt even more unrestrained.

The young man, still affected by the knockout drug, saw more and more yamen runners arriving at the commotion. Soon he could no longer hold his ground, and his body was covered with wounds from their blades.

Just when it seemed that fists could not withstand so many hands, the yamen's main gate was kicked open from outside. Song Tingzhou strode in with a group of men.

The Snow Wolf, following Chu Ci's instructions, pounced on the yamen runners, tearing at them and protecting the barely alive young man.

Fei Jing ran out from behind the desk. "My Lord, you've come just in time. I've already found the real culprit. But this young man was truly ferocious; we couldn't subdue him for a while, so we had to use our blades."

Song Tingzhou looked at the half-dead young man on the ground, his wounds still bleeding. The veins on his forehead bulged. He said through gritted teeth to Fei Jing, "Magistrate Fei, what a fine method! I've never seen a county magistrate resort to lethal force before the case has even been properly investigated."

He waved for Tao Ba to bring a man into the courtroom, his sharp gaze piercing Fei Jing. "Magistrate Fei says this young man is the real culprit, then who is this suspect in my hands?"