Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 109 A Corpse Hidden in an Empty Pillar
Zhou Zhao squatted down and looked at the shriveled corpse lying on the ground.

The corpse was a waxy yellow, as if it had been smoked, with a thin layer of skin clinging to the skeleton, making it look particularly gruesome. The corpse was completely naked, and upon closer inspection, it was clear that it was a woman's mummified body, and it was quite old.

"Brothers, where was this mummified corpse found?"

The older of the corpse retrievers wiped his face and hurriedly cupped his hands to Zhou Zhao, saying, "Young Master Zhou, I dare not accept such a title. This mummified corpse was found next to a broken wooden pillar. We noticed that the pillar was hollow and found it very unusual, so we carried the mummified corpse up with it."

This corpse retriever had clearly been in this line of work for a long time. After thinking for a moment, he couldn't help but add:

“A corpse submerged in water will soon swell up, like a white film soaking in water. Even a mummified corpse will be gnawed by catfish when it enters the water, and will gradually rot, with green growing on the white bones. This mummified corpse must not have been in the water before.”

"My ancestors have been corpse retrievers for generations. These are just my humble opinions, and I don't know if they are right or wrong."

Zhou Zhao cupped his hands in greeting to the corpse retriever, "Brother is absolutely right. May I ask if you would lead me into the water to take a look at that broken pillar?"

The body retriever nodded, and with a light leap, he entered the water like a slippery fish, without splashing a drop.

Without hesitation, Zhou Zhao went back into the water and followed the corpse retriever straight to the place where the mummified body had been found.

There lay a large pillar, with a narrow hollow that could just conceal a corpse. The color of the pillar's interior indicated that it was not newly hollowed out.

As Zhou Zhao was looking around, she suddenly felt a large hand touch her shoulder. She looked up and saw Su Changying, who had also entered the water at some point.

Su Changying pointed in a direction and swam forward. Zhou Zhaotong and the corpse retrievers immediately followed. They saw that in the ruins, the corner of another large pillar was exposed. The pillar was also broken in the middle and was hollow inside.

However, the dent marks in the cavity are very fresh, indicating that it was recently hollowed out.

The hollow section wasn't long, but the pillar was clearly hollowed out, leaving only a thin layer. If this were the main pillar, even a slight bump or any vibration could cause it to break, leading to the collapse of the building.

Zhou Zhao and Su Changying exchanged a glance, both with solemn expressions.

When the two surfaced again, Liu Huang had already examined the corpse.

"This mummified body is that of a woman, about thirty years old, who had given birth to children. There were no obvious fatal wounds on her body. However, when I went deep into her nasal cavity, I found a lot of white fur, which looked like fox fur. The deceased may have been suffocated by having her mouth and nose covered with a fox fur."

The body had become a mummified corpse, and many of the clues used to determine the cause of death had been destroyed.

All Liu Huang could offer was his own judgment.

Zhou Zhao nodded, took a dry cloth that Min Cangzhi threw to him, wiped the water off his face, and then draped the cloth over himself.

"Where is the corpse that the body retriever brought earlier?"

Zhou Zhao looked at Liu Huang and moved to the corpse next to him. This corpse was also a young man, dressed in brocade, with delicate features and quite handsome. A jade pendant hung at his waist, on which was engraved a simple character "成" (chéng).

Zhou Zhao frowned as she looked at him. She felt as if she had seen this person somewhere before.

"The child's skin was pale, cold, and sticky, with fine white foam under his mouth and nose, goosebumps on his shoulders, and cyanosis on his face. He must have drowned."

When Liu Huang spoke about the autopsy, he was eloquent and answered questions fluently, showing no signs of abnormality.

Zhou Zhao examined the corpse in his mind and came to the same conclusion as Liu Huang.

She pondered this in her mind and did not continue to let Liu Huang explain the cause of death of the problematic corpse. She nodded to Min Zangzhi and said, "First, transport the body back to the Court of Justice. The owner of Zhaixing Tower and the people in the tower will come with me."

After Zhou Zhao finished speaking, his gaze fell on the young man who was squatting beside the corpse and crying. "You should also help transport your brothers' bodies."

The young man wiped away his tears, nodded, and followed the group, sobbing.

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he walked to Min Zangzhi's carriage and lifted the curtain.

Chu You sat there, holding a charcoal pencil for drawing eyebrows, sketching several pictures on the silk. Her face was pale, her eyes were bloodshot, and her hand holding the pencil was trembling. When she saw Zhou Zhao, Chu You grabbed her hand and said excitedly, "Zhao, do you believe me? The little building I built is absolutely fine. I've tested it many times, and it's impossible for it to collapse."

"The only reason for today's collapse towards the east side of the river is that the main pillar on that side has a problem."

"It's Dazhu! Someone tampered with Dazhu!"

As she spoke, she looked out of the carriage and saw the corpses lying on the ground. Tears instantly filled her eyes. "I killed them. Even if my map was correct, I still couldn't find out that Dazhu had been tampered with... I killed them."

Zhou Zhao reached out and gently patted the back of Chu You's hand.

"If there are problems with the building you built, that's your fault; if there are no problems, then it's not your fault. If you're wrong, you should pay with your life; if you're not wrong, you don't need to take the blame on yourself."

"How is there any difference between Sister Chu You thinking of herself this way and my grandmother believing that I killed my brother?"

There was something she didn't say: of the five people found so far, all sharing the same mummified corpse, most of them didn't die from drowning due to the collapse of the Star-Picking Tower. There was more to the story, but as an official of the imperial court, and with Chu You now a prime suspect, she couldn't reveal the details of the case to her at this time.

Chu You was taken aback and wanted to say something more to Zhou Zhao, but Zhou Zhao shook his head at her.

"Sister Chuyou is now going to Tingwei Temple with me."

Chu You pursed her lips and nodded emphatically, "I'm sure there's absolutely no problem with my drawing."

……

The news of the collapse of the Star-Picking Tower had spread throughout Chang'an by now. When Zhou Zhao and his party returned, they were followed by a large number of onlookers from a distance.

She had just dismounted when she saw a figure fluttering like a moth, rushing straight toward Li Youdao.

"Li Tingshi, I led my colleagues to help, but we were stopped by the Northern Army. Someone has a general from the Northern Army backing him up; he's really quite powerful!"

Zhou Zhao glanced at Li Youdao's men waiting in front of the door, then at Xu Jin who was directly trying to sow discord, and rolled his eyes.

"Could Senior Xu dive into the water to rescue them?"

Xu Jin puffed out his chest, somewhat guiltily asking, "How...why not?"

Zhou Zhao raised an eyebrow. Anyone with eyes could see that this fat, bloated fellow was spouting nonsense.

"It was us who were blind to his greatness. If Senior Xu were to go into the water, he might just float on it, since oil is lighter than water."

Xu Jin was a little confused for a moment. By the time he came to his senses, Zhou Zhao had already walked past him without any politeness and entered the gate of the Court of Justice.

Seeing her like that, Xu Jin was furious. He stomped his foot, but forgot that his foot injury had not healed and he suddenly grimaced in pain.

He glared angrily at Li Youdao, "Li Tingshi, look at Zhou Zhao! He's disrespectful to his seniors! He's speaking rudely!"

Li Youdao picked at his ear, then spread his hands. "You think you can do it? Five corpses, one mummified corpse, a collapsed building... If Zhou Zhao won't come, you will?"

Xu Jin fell silent...

He can't do it, he can't come.

Li Youdao stretched out an arm and placed it on Xu Jin's hand. "Didn't you see I'm all soaking wet? Zhou Zhao has no sense of propriety, and neither do you?"

Xu Jin instantly perked up again. He bent down and carefully helped Li Youdao up. "Lord Tingshi, I have already prepared hot soup."

Listening to the conversation between the two people behind him, Zhou Zhao couldn't help but praise them both in his heart:
Good dog!

What a great dog trainer!