Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 20 Another Murderer
"Wu Qing, you're confused! You killed an evil spirit, what crime have you committed? The authorities have no evidence, so why are you rushing to confess?"

The senior disciple of the Nuo opera troupe looked at Wu Qing with tears in his eyes, heartbroken.

Two dynasties changed hands, war raged, and people were displaced.

Family separation is common in every household. His third brother joined the army and his fate is unknown; not even his body has been found. His fifth sister was sold to a wealthy family as a maid so that she would have food to eat and not starve to death. Now, her whereabouts are also unknown.

At that time, Wu Qing was just a young boy, how could he protect the young Jian Yue?
The world is like a war chariot, rampaging and crashing. How can ants like them control their fate of being crushed?
"The matter of seeing the moon is not your responsibility. My lords, Wu Qing is only seeking revenge for his sister. Could you spare his life?"

As the eldest brother spoke, his eyes flickered, and he suddenly moved, drawing a dagger from his waist and charging straight at Zhou Zhao, reaching out to grab her. "Let Wu Qing go, and I'll release this girl..."

He shouted, but the girl he was supposed to be holding hostage sighed softly. She stood still, not moving an inch, and her face showed no sign of the panic he had expected. The senior brother couldn't help but feel uneasy...

He always felt that things were completely in the hands of the girl surnamed Zhou in front of him.

She looked at him as if he were a little monkey leaping and bounding about on Mount Emei.

Sure enough, as the dagger approached, the girl moved her hand slightly, and he felt a sharp pain in his wrist, causing the dagger to fall uncontrollably to the ground.

“Wu Qing arranged the scene to resemble Xiong Bo eating a demon in order to expose Zhang Ruoqing’s true colors. He never intended to escape punishment from the beginning.”

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he looked speechlessly at his dazed senior brother, "Moreover, Wu Qing only said that he had a grudge against Zhang Ruoqing, but did not admit that he was the murderer. On the contrary, you admitted it for him. Min Wenshu, remember that this is a witness testimony."

Min Zangzhi nodded, her gaze towards Zhou Zhao somewhat subtle.

The person in front of her seemed indifferent, but in fact, she didn't mention a word about the Nuo Opera senior brother's intention to kidnap her and let the murderer go, and she was willing to let it go.

"Furthermore, I do not lack evidence, as you claim."

"Because you need to provide an alibi, Wu Qing has limited time to go to Wujin Lane. Moreover, after the murder was discovered, the Northern Army immediately launched a large-scale search in the vicinity. Since you performed the Nuo dance last night, it was already curfew time, so you had to stay at the Cao residence."

"I see you're not in a hurry to leave, still rehearsing here, and that youngest son of the Cao family is still quite restless. If I'm not mistaken, Madam Cao wants you to sing again tonight, isn't that right?"

Before the eldest brother could respond, Madam Cao chimed in, "That's right."

"Last night you were too busy to deal with the blood-stained clothes and the murder weapon, and today you cannot leave without permission and attract the attention of the Northern Army. Therefore, these two items are still with you."

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he gave Zhu Li a wink.

Zhu Li hesitated slightly, but nodded nonetheless and began searching around.

What was Zhang Ruoqing doing when you arrived at Wujin Lane?

This time, Min Zangzhi did not stop Zhu Li, but upon hearing Zhou Zhaoxin's question, she frowned thoughtfully, and an unbelievable conjecture arose in her mind.

Wu Qing then snapped out of his daze at his senior brother's sudden and unexpected feat. He took a step forward and pulled his senior brother behind him.

"Senior brother, and fellow disciples, there's no need to cover for me anymore. If there is an afterlife, I'll bring Jianyue back to dance the Nuo with you all."

The eldest brother's tears streamed down his face, his nose was bright red, he squatted down, buried his head between his legs, and began to sob.

"It's too early to talk about the next life, let's talk about this life first. What was Zhang Ruoqing doing when you saw her last night?"

Zhou Zhao asked again.

“It was raining outside, and the oil lamp was about to be blown out. When I arrived, Zhang Ruoqing was asleep on the table, and Han Ze wasn’t there. After I went in, I stabbed her in the neck with a dagger.” Wu Qing said, a fierce glint in his eyes.

He didn't say it, but the instant he saw Zhang Ruoqing, everything he saw was blood red, and his whole world was stained with the stench of blood. He trembled with tension, and sharp screams filled his ears. He had only one thought: to kill her, just as she and Cao Ben had killed Jian Yue.

The room was dimly lit, making it impossible to see clearly, yet he still managed to kill Zhang Ruoqing with a single, precise strike to the neck.

He had rehearsed it countless times in his dreams.

"Then I bit her face, hung her up, put the stone slab back in place, confirmed that Xiongbo's shadow appeared on the door, checked the footprints on the ground, and left."

"Ah Zhao!" Liu Huang, who hadn't spoken until now, stood up, his voice tinged with anxiety.

Zhou Zhao nodded at him, giving him a reassuring look.

"When you were cleaning up your footprints, did you see the blood-red wooden plaques with your name engraved on them scattered on the ground?"

Wu Qing gave an affirmative answer, "Yes, I stepped on one and almost slipped."

Zhou Zhao stared intently at Wu Qing for a moment, "You brought cloth and carved stones with you, which shows that you planned this in advance. The lamp, the stone, the corpse, and the door must be arranged in this order for the shadow of Xiongbo eating the demon to appear."

"You don't have much time left. The Cao family could find you at any moment, and Han Ze, along with the maid and coachman, could break in at any time."

"You didn't have time to try a few more times, which means you went there beforehand to scout the location. Who told you that Zhang Ruoqing would be meeting Han Ze in Wujin Lane last night?"

“In your perfect alibi plan, one crucial element is that you need to perform Nuo dance at a house very close to Wujin Lane at the time of the incident, so that you can go and return quickly.”

"In this way, Cao's youngest son was kidnapped and frightened, so this matter had to happen at this time."

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he walked to Wu Qing's side.

Her hands were behind her back, and the hair ribbon that seemed to embody the law of nature was blown by the wind, brushing against Wu Qing's shoulder.

"Who revealed the details of Jian Yue's death and told you that Zhang Ruoqing was your true enemy? And who gave you the opportunity to set a trap to kill Zhang Ruoqing and expose her crimes to the world?"

Zhou Zhao turned his head and looked at Wu Qing with eyes like a drawn blade.

Wu Qing was horrified. Under those eyes, he felt that all his secrets had been exposed.

“Now I can answer your senior brother’s question. Murderers must pay with their lives, but you did not kill Zhang Ruoqing, because she was already a corpse when your dagger pierced her neck.”

Zhou Zhao was lost in thought, ignoring the uproar at the scene.

She leaned close to Liu Huang's ear and whispered a few words to him, then watched him jog away.

During the autopsy, she was very puzzled. The murderer had clearly stabbed the victim in the chest first, causing her death, so why would he go through the trouble of stabbing her in the neck again some time later?

At the time, she had a bold conjecture.

And now this conjecture has been confirmed; that night, Wu Qing was not the only one who wanted Zhang Ruoqing dead.

(End of this chapter)