mtl008 Chapter 85 The Vanished Lion Spirit
Chapter 85 The Vanished Lion Spirit
"I heard my father mention before that you were looking for a six-fingered strange man. He said he came to our Cailian Manor but then disappeared without a trace. Do you suspect it might be him?"
As soon as Guo Huo finished speaking, an object flew towards Li Lianhua. Fang Duobing quickly reached out and caught it. Looking up, he saw Di Feisheng walking in from outside.
Fang Duobing looked at the object in his hand; it was a rolled-up piece of paper. He unfolded it and saw a drawing on it. Somewhat puzzled, he quickly asked Li Lianhua beside him, "What is this?"
Li Lianhua took it and looked at it: "This is Lion Soul's handwriting."
Guo Huo suddenly realized: "This person is indeed at Cailian Manor."
Di Fei said, "This was found in the backyard. Come with me."
Li Lianhua and the others followed Di Feisheng's footsteps to a room in the backyard.
Guo Huo began, “This is the room where my father’s first second wife, Xu Heyue, lived.”
"Is she the first woman to die at Cailian Manor ten years ago?"
Guo Huo nodded: "The six-fingered monster you're looking for did indeed have contact with Madam Xu. Could he be the murderer? Did he kill Madam Xu and my fiancée? He's been killing people at our Cailian Manor all along."
Upon seeing this, Li Lianhua quickly said, "Young Master Guo, we can't be so hasty. However, the manner of death of these victims is the same, so perhaps this case is related. Why don't we investigate what we might find in this house?"
They all agreed with this statement, so they split up and searched around the room.
Fang Duobing carefully examined the paintings in the room and said with some curiosity, "Take a look at this one."
"What's wrong with this one?"
"Then let this young master, who is proficient in calligraphy and painting and well-read, explain it to you. Look at this painting, its brushstrokes, trends, and ink application are basically the same as that one, so I can conclude that this painting was also made by Lion Soul."
"Moreover, look at the paper used for this painting. It is batik-dyed Xuan paper with tortoise-shell patterns, and there are also faint gold powder embellishments. If I am not mistaken, it should be the work of Han Yue Zhai. When I was young, calligraphy was also popular for a while, which was about ten years ago."
"However, the ink wash on this paper was not very good, and it was never produced again after that."
Li Lianhua guessed: "Then these two paintings were indeed created by Lion Soul at the same time."
"It was probably around May or June ten years ago, because this paper also had an elegant name, called May Gold Xuan."
"So that means the last letter of reassurance that Miss Qiao received from Lion Soul was in May ten years ago? If that's the case, then Lion Soul disappeared around that time?"
Di Feisheng took the drawing paper from Li Lianhua's hand: "The inscription on this paper reads: 'Daily Temple, Family Six's Self, Mirror Mouth Square, Small Eyes Preserving Pity.' What does this mean?"
Li Lianhua carefully compared the two paintings and discovered some differences.
"Look at this, why is this painting of flowers, plants, and trees so messy, while the other one is so neat? Have you figured it out? Are these the only two paintings by Lion Soul in this room?"
Fang Duobing replied, "These are the only two paintings we can find at the moment."
Just then, Guo Qian led his men in: "Why are you so rude, daring to trespass into the backyard of my Cailian Manor?"
Upon Guo Qian's arrival, Guo Huo, standing nearby, was so frightened that he could barely speak: "Father...father...father."
Guo Qian rebuked Guo Huo: "You're becoming more and more daring to act on your own."
He then said to Li Lianhua and the others, "This place is the former residence of the late second wife, Madam Xu. I respect you all as heroes of Baichuan Courtyard and have been treating you well. I did not expect you to be so rude."
Di Feisheng scoffed, "Master Guo lies so easily, is that what you call manners?"
What do you mean by that?
"If you've never seen Lion Soul, why are his calligraphy and paintings in this room?"
Guo Qian suddenly realized: "I remember now. So the Lion Soul you're looking for is that person. Ten years ago, before Madam Xu married me, she did indeed treat an injured person. Unfortunately, this person stayed at my Lotus Picking Manor for two or three days before leaving. It's been so long, I almost forgot."
Li Lianhua asked, "Master Guo, are you leaving already? Where are you going?"
"I'm not too sure about that. As for this painting, perhaps he made it to thank Madam Xu for saving him. It's been here all these years without being touched."
"So, Lion Soul did indeed stay briefly at this Lotus Picking Manor, and the murders that happened there were indeed unrelated to him. It's our fault for guessing wrong before."
"Of course, as I said before, these things were all accidents. You all came to investigate today, so you should believe me now."
"We were indeed overthinking it. I do have a favor to ask. Our detective Fang has always disliked the noise of inns. Could he please stay at your esteemed estate for the night?"
Li Lianhua was making fun of Fang Duobing to his face again. Fang Duobing didn't get angry when he heard it, and even cooperated with Li Lianhua.
Because Fang was ill and had a certain status, Guo Qian could not refuse and could only say, "My Cailian Manor has always only entertained scholars and poets."
"What a coincidence!" Li Lianhua exclaimed. "I have always loved composing poems. Tonight, I will compose a poem about lotus flowers for Master Guo in exchange for the night's lodging. I hope Master Guo will agree?"
Having said all that, Guo Qian had no choice but to speak up: "My Cailian Manor has always been open and aboveboard, welcoming scholars and artists alike. Please feel free to stay here."
Thank you.
"Good work."
Li Lianhua and the other two then arrived at the places where the bodies had been found three times.
"Aside from the slippery, wet grass along the bank, which makes it easy to slip and fall into the water, we haven't found anything unusual. But so much time has passed, if there were any clues, they would probably be gone by now."
Fang Duobing examined him for a long time but couldn't find anything wrong.
“That’s not necessarily true,” Li Lianhua said. “For example, when you first arrived at Cailian Manor, you noticed that it was easy to fall in. So why are the people who live here constantly slipping and falling into the water? Look around again.”
The three searched around Cailian Village but found nothing suspicious, so they went to Xueyu Town for lunch.
"Restaurants and restaurants are places for gossip. Ah Fei, you've become smarter; you've chosen a good place," Fang Duobing praised.
The group sat in the hall, listening to the diners discuss the strange events in Xue Yuzhen and the third bride who had died at Cailian Manor. Li Lianhua would occasionally chat with them.
At this moment, Guo Huo also came to this restaurant. Upon inquiry, he learned that Guo Kun had fallen ill again, and Guo Qian had ordered him to come here to buy Guo Kun's favorite Eight Treasure Duck.
When Fang Duobing heard Guo Huo say he was treating everyone, he immediately said to the waiter, "Give me a squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, braised pork knuckle with rock sugar, beef with coriander, steamed pork ribs with rice flour, crispy chicken wings, braised pig's trotters, and stewed lamb chops."
Fang Duobing's manner of ordering food like a big client left Li Lianhua and the others nearby completely bewildered.
That night, the group was very curious about the so-called murderous wedding dress, so the three of them quietly went to the room in Cailian Manor where the wedding dress was stored.
When the group arrived at the small courtyard where the bride-to-be lived alone, they saw that the door was locked with a complex lock.
Fang Duobing quickly unlocked the door and complained, "It's just a wedding dress, but it uses a complicated Eight-Road Panwen Lock. Unfortunately, it's no match for this young master."
Several people pushed open the door, lit a tinderbox, and began to carefully observe the room.
Looking at the extremely simple clothes, Fang Duobing exclaimed, "I have never seen a bride dressed so simply."
When they went around to the back of the screen and saw the so-called "murderous wedding dress," they were all shocked by its design.
"This is no wedding dress, it's a mountain of silver."
Li Lianhua clasped her hands together and said to the wedding dress, "No taboos, no taboos."
However, Fang Duobing criticized him for looking like he had never seen the world.
Di Feisheng observed carefully: "The crown is made of silver, and with this skirt, it must weigh several dozen kilograms."
"It's so heavy, wearing it would be exhausting." Fang Duobing couldn't quite imagine it.
"Guo Huo has already mentioned that this dress is a family heirloom and is extremely valuable. But even if it is very valuable, it has been used to save several lives, so no one should wear this wedding dress anymore."
"Especially the daughter of the Weiyuan Escort Agency, she comes from a wealthy family, so there's no reason for her to compromise. So I think this murderer is very strange, because he specifically targets women wearing wedding dresses when he kills them."
“All you guys, I’m saying if, if someone is willing to act as bait, maybe the murderer will appear.”
Li Lianhua told Di Feisheng a solution.
Fang Duobing fully agreed with this approach since Li Lianhua did not select him.
Thinking that Di Feisheng wouldn't agree, he replied directly, "Good idea."
Li Lianhua thought he had agreed and praised him repeatedly.
"Afei, you've not only grown along the way, but your ability to understand things has also become stronger. Okay, hurry up and put it on."
Seeing Li Lianhua's admiring expression and Fang Duobing's amused look, Di Feisheng didn't want to pay them any attention and turned to leave.
"The investigation is none of my business, so I won't participate."
Seeing that Di Feisheng was about to leave, Li Lianhua quickly reminded him, "Afei, have you forgotten what you promised?"
Di Feisheng stopped walking, remaining silent and offering no direct answer.
Seeing the flute playing, Li Lianhua knew he couldn't possibly agree, so he turned to look at Fang Duobing, who was watching the play from the side.
Fang Duobing didn't know how it had come to his turn, so he quickly said, "I'm sure none of us three grown men want to wear this pomegranate skirt and wedding dress. To be fair, let's play rock-paper-scissors."
Li Lianhua and Di Feisheng both agreed with the proposal.
Rock, paper, scissors.
Looking at the two people opposite her who chose rock and the ones she chose scissors, Li Lianhua felt a pang of resentment towards her luck today; she had indeed had a bad day.
"You have to accept the consequences of your bet."
Li Lianhua had no choice but to accept this ending.
So she turned around and walked behind the screen, took down the pomegranate-red wedding dress that was hanging there, and put it over her coat.
Li Lianhua stepped out from behind the screen and exclaimed, "These clothes are so heavy!"
Li Lianhua, wearing a silver tassel headdress and a dark red pomegranate skirt with silver ornaments, walked up to the two of them, taking three steps at a time.
Di Feisheng and Fang Duobing, who were waiting outside, both managed to suppress their smiles when they saw Li Lianhua like this.
Di Feisheng couldn't stand it any longer and quickly said, "Forget it, I'll go kill someone instead."
Fang Duobing, who was standing next to him, nodded repeatedly: "I'll go with you."
Li Lianhua stopped them: "Stop laughing, what's so funny? Never mind, I'll go see for myself."
Li Lianhua looked up at the house and around the house, but found no bronze mirror, which made her a little curious.
"Why isn't there a mirror in this room? This is the bride's room before she gets married. How can she do her makeup and try on her wedding dress if there's no mirror?"
Fang Duobing and Di Feisheng looked around, but indeed found no bronze mirror.
"Did someone move the mirror out of the house?"
Di Feisheng saw a stone mirror in front of the pond outside the window, so he helped Li Lianhua walk to the stone mirror outside.
Fang Duobing asked curiously, "Is this a mirror stone?"
Di Feisheng was also a little curious: "Does the bride always come here in her wedding dress to look in the mirror?"
Li Lianhua, dressed in a heavy pomegranate-colored wedding gown, found it difficult to walk and accidentally stepped on a slippery stone slab, nearly falling backward before being caught by Fang Duobing.
Having nearly slipped and fallen just now, Li Lianhua looked at the stone arrangement here, which led directly to the pond. After a moment's thought, she understood the whole story.
"I see."
Fang Duobing and Di Feisheng wanted to ask Li Lianhua what she had figured out, but suddenly they heard a loud shout: "You can't escape now!"
Li Lianhua and the others looked in the direction of the sound and saw a figure flying towards them quickly, striking Li Lianhua, who was wearing a pomegranate-colored wedding dress, with a palm strike.
Li Lianhua stepped back with her left foot and twisted her waist to dodge the palm strike that was coming at her.
Upon seeing this, Fang Duobing and Di Feisheng immediately stepped forward to stop Li Lianhua, blocking her way.
Li Lianhua had just steadied herself when she looked up and saw a ghostly skeleton standing in front of her. She was so frightened that she took a step back.
Little did she know that the stone was slippery; as soon as she stepped on it, Li Lianhua fell down and rolled down the slope into the pond.
Seeing a protruding rock below and the pond she was about to roll into, Li Lianhua disregarded everything else. She channeled her inner strength, slapped the ground with her palm, and instantly rose into the air, standing in mid-air.
However, she used a bit too much force, and tore the hem of the pomegranate-colored wedding dress in half.
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Lotus Tower Small Theater
Fang Duobing: I heard you were all scared by the way I ordered the food?
Li Lianhua: No, it's just so-so.
Di Feisheng: Is it a pig? It eats so much.
Guo Huo: My poor wallet, it's a bit sore. Looks like I'll have to think twice before treating people to dinner in the future.
Fang Duobing: You haven't seen any more yet! There's steamed lamb, steamed bear's paw, steamed deer tail, roast duck, roast chicken, roast goose, braised pork, braised duck, soy sauce chicken, cured meat, preserved pork belly, dried meat, sausage, assorted cold dishes, smoked chicken belly...