Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 303 The Dead Appear
Zhou Zhao and Su Changying exchanged a glance and walked to the front of the corridor. Just as she was about to leap up, she felt a tightness around her waist.

Su Changying wrapped his large hand around her waist, pulled her up the wall, and then gently landed on the snow.

"Mother, Mother! Someone has fallen from the sky!"

As soon as Zhou Zhao's feet touched the ground, she heard a child's innocent voice. She looked closely and saw a small head peeking out from behind the bulky snowman's body.

It was a little boy of about four years old. He was wearing a thick, soft leather hat, and his big, bright eyes looked over curiously.

The woman, called "Mother," picked up the child and handed him to the wet nurse, gesturing for her to take the child inside.

She then stared warily at the child with her almond-shaped eyes, took a small step, and subtly blocked the child from entering the room.

"Esteemed gentlemen, my words are innocent and unintentional. I wonder if you two..."

Zhou Zhao cupped his hands in greeting to the young woman, "Sister, please don't be alarmed. I am Zhou Zhao from the Court of Justice, and I have come here today to find Song Ran."

The woman looked at Zhou Zhao suspiciously, her eyes full of doubt.

"These days, does the Court of Justice not use the main gate when handling cases, but instead climb over the wall?"

As the woman was speaking, she saw three more people tumble over there. When Chen Yin landed, he lost his balance and fell to his knees with a thud, hitting his forehead directly on the ground and kowtowing loudly.

Zhou Zhao watched, her lips twitching involuntarily. She cleared her throat and explained, "The one kowtowing isn't from the Court of Justice."

It's so embarrassing!

A flash of surprise crossed the woman's eyes, but she quickly recovered and curtsied to Zhou Zhao. "My name is Xu Zhi, and I am Song Ran's wife. To be honest, I haven't seen Song Ran for several days."

Zhou Zhao raised an eyebrow. "Have you heard anything unusual from the neighboring courtyard these past two days?"

Xu Zhi bit her lip and finally sighed, "Since the adults have come from next door, they should already know. Song Ran and An Ning... When he lives next door, I take the children to live in his study."

As Xu Zhi spoke, her hands trembled slightly. "It would offend the adults' ears if I told you, but they always make a lot of noise at night. I'm worried it might be bad for the children, so I spend most of my time in the main room serving my grandmother."

Song Ran often doesn't come home, and even my father can't control him, so I certainly can't.

"Sir, has something happened to Song Ran?"

Just as Zhou Zhao was about to speak, he heard footsteps coming from the courtyard gate. A neatly dressed man walked in from outside. He was wearing a purple robe and looked somewhat frivolous. He also had a strong smell of ointment on him.

Behind him followed a servant carrying a food box.

The man in the purple robe yawned lazily and said casually without even looking at the person, "Song Li, your father brought you your favorite snacks."

Zhou Zhao stared at the man's face, his pupils dilated, and he immediately looked at Chen Yin.

Chen Yin was trembling with fear, his soul nearly leaving his body. "Song...Song Ran! What's going on?! Has a zombie come back to life? Ghost...ghost...a ghost in broad daylight!"

Just a short while ago, they saw Song Ran's head rolling on the ground in that secret room.

And now, the exact same face has reappeared vividly before them once again.

Upon hearing the voice, the man in purple robes looked at Chen Yin in surprise, "Brother Chen, Brother Huo, what brings you here?"

As he spoke, as if he had just remembered something, he said in a panic, “Oh no! Did I delay your business? That day I went out of the city to the mass grave, but I encountered a strong wind that gave me a headache. I was thinking of finding a tavern to take shelter from the wind. But I caught a cold that night and stayed in that inn for two days in a daze. I was very grateful that Guan Lin took care of me the whole time.”

As he spoke, he hurriedly bowed to Chen Yin, then raised his hand and slapped himself across the face.

"I'm truly sorry for delaying Brother Chen's important business. How about I treat you all to a drink to make amends?"

Chen Yin stared in horror at the person in front of him. His mouth was opening and closing as he spoke, but he didn't hear a single word.

"Damn it! What happened! How come you're not dead? Wait, I saw your body! With An Ning!"

The man in purple robes was taken aback, then pointed to his own nose. "My corpse? What corpse?"

Zhou Zhao frowned and interrupted the purple-robed man, looking at Xu Zhi, "Does Song Ran have twin brothers?"

Xu Zhi nodded blankly. "Yes, Song Ran has a twin brother named Song Ying. Sir, what exactly happened?"

So Song Ran is still alive, and the person who died was Song Ying?

Zhou Zhaofu looked more closely at the man in purple robes. She had seen twins before; the old man, a master of the imperial guards that His Majesty had sent to kill Li Huaishan, was a pair of twins.

Twins can look alike or not, but she was certain that Song Ran and Song Ying looked exactly alike, even the mole on their faces was in the same place, which was truly amazing.

Zhou Zhao's eyes flickered, and he looked at the purple-robed man in front of him with great interest. "Your brother was killed along with An Ning. Their bodies were tied to a wooden frame in a secret room. Their heads and limbs were all cut off."

We came here to find the murderer.

The purple-robed man's face instantly turned ugly, and the food box in his hand fell to the ground with a thud.

He clenched his fist and looked at Zhou Zhao. "You mean Song Ying was murdered? That guy impersonated me again to seek peace. This is his retribution!"

As he spoke, as if he had thought of something, his fair face was filled with fear.

He raised his hand and pointed to the tip of his nose.

"Could it be that the murderer actually wanted to kill me, but mistook Song Ying for me..."

Zhou Zhao looked at the man in purple robes and chuckled, "It seems that you brothers have a deep-seated grudge. There is another possibility: you caught Song Ying impersonating you to meet with An Ning in secret, so you killed them in a fit of anger."

The purple-robed man's expression changed instantly, and he looked at Zhou Zhao in disbelief.

“That’s my brother. Although I’m angry, how could I kill him? He’s always liked to compete with me for everything since we were little. Back when Xu Zhi and I were in love, he still interfered and tried to take advantage of my sister-in-law.”

I later met Anning, and he impersonated me to deceive her! I was angry with him, but how could I possibly kill him?
I haven't been in Chang'an for the past few days. There are many people in those taverns. You can find out whether what I said is true or not once you go and ask them.

"If you don't believe me, ask Xu Zhi. Everyone in the entire manor knows what kind of person Song Ying is."

The man in purple robes spoke, his eyes reddening. He looked at Chen Yin standing opposite him and asked in a choked voice, "Chen Yin, did you really see it with your own eyes, Song Ying, he..."

Chen Yin rubbed the goosebumps on the back of his hands and nodded.

"That's right, he looks exactly like you. Damn it, he scared me to death back then."