Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 323 The Person Who Emptys the Night Soup

Zhou Zhao looked at the corpse on the ground and called out to the corner of the wall, "Ah Huang, it's time to perform an autopsy."

When everyone turned around, they were surprised to find a boy carrying a wooden box and wearing a straw hat standing in the dark corner that had been overlooked.

This isn't a coroner at all; he's clearly a born assassin.

Ah Huang felt the gazes focused on him and couldn't help but pull his straw hat down even lower. He walked close to the wall and approached the corpse.

Su Changying sensed his discomfort and glanced displeasedly at the Northern Army soldiers who were standing there in a daze. The soldiers came to their senses and quickly scattered to search the vicinity.

Once the blocked alley was cleared, Ah Huang finally felt better. He squatted down and looked at the corpse that had fallen out of the night-fragrant carriage.

"The cause of death was a slit throat. There were no defensive wounds on the body, indicating that the victim was killed instantly from behind without having time to react."

The deceased had multiple old wounds on his body, and there were marks of whipping and branding on his chest and abdomen.

His right index finger was severed at the base, and his left leg bone was broken. Aside from these injuries, there were no other new injuries.

Ah Huang paused as he spoke, "The deceased had previously been castrated."

Zhou Zhao listened without surprise.

"This case is almost identical in modus operandi to the several missing persons cases that He Tingshi mentioned. Except for the addition of a birthday banquet token, it is very likely that it was committed by the same murderer."

The killer targeted people who had been crippled by corporal punishment.

If He Tingshi hadn't been of upright character, Zhou Zhao would have almost thought that the old man had gone mad with the desire to abolish corporal punishment, which was why he was killing people one by one according to the list, and making a big fuss about it at this juncture.

As she spoke, she walked forward, squatted down in front of the toilet, and reached out to push it open. Sure enough, the bottom side could be pushed open; someone had made a partition there.

Just as Zhou Zhao was about to speak, he heard a loud thud, and the sound of a stool falling to the ground came from the room next door.

She turned her head in the direction of the sound and immediately met a cloudy eye through the crack in the door.

"come out!"

The door creaked open, and Su Changying immediately stepped forward, blocking Zhou Zhao. His long sword flashed like lightning, piercing directly into the crack in the door and resting against the man's neck.

The person who opened the door was an elderly man with gray hair. He was somewhat hunched over and had a very noticeable mole on his face.

Seeing the long sword held to his neck, he was so frightened that the muscles on his face began to tremble.

The old man's legs went weak, and he knelt down, kowtowing repeatedly.

"Your Honor, Your Honor, I'm innocent! My name is Li Chu, and I'm the one who collects night soil around here. Everyone calls me Uncle Alley. The night soil cart parked in front of this door is mine, that's true, but I really didn't know there was a corpse hidden underneath!"

"This scoundrel is going to be killed."

Zhou Zhao looked at the old man in front of him but did not stop him. "Who would want to harm you? The body was just put in there, the blood is still wet. You're saying you didn't know?"

Uncle Xiang was so frightened that he burst into tears.

"It wasn't me! It wasn't me! I wasn't the one who went out to empty the chamber pot tonight. My wife passed away early, leaving behind a son who is seriously ill in bed, constantly needing medicine. I was bewitched by that little bit of money. About a month ago, someone came to me and said he wanted to empty my chamber pot for me, offering to pay me ten taels of silver each time. I knew this was wrong; who would pay out of their own pocket to empty someone's chamber pot?"

But that person gave so much! I dared to ask, and he said he was going to meet his lover that night and was afraid of violating the curfew.

I know he's talking nonsense—who would push a boudoir to meet a beauty? But what he's offering is just too much! I can't refuse!

Zhou Zhao listened, seemingly lost in thought.

"The murderer probably thought that the night-scavenging carts had no curfew... and that the alleyway elder was a hunchback, so the night-scavengers would cover their faces with cloths to avoid the smell... and those who saw it would be like Cai Yan just now, blind to the light."

As Su Changying spoke, she did not remove the longsword from Xiang Bo's neck.

"Why does your carriage have a hidden compartment? This is a serial murder case. That person must have borrowed the carriage to transport the body more than once. Didn't you notice anything amiss?"

Hearing this, Uncle Xiang forgot all about crying. His eyes darted around, and after glancing at the corpse on the ground, he steeled himself and spoke.

“I need money to buy medicine. The reason there’s a hidden compartment in the cart is that sometimes I think I can just steal something… I don’t steal from poor people, they know what they have. I steal from rich people, some inconspicuous things, and then hide them in that hidden compartment.”

I even helped transport a corpse once…

When Uncle Xiang saw Zhou Zhao's expression change, he immediately waved his hand, "I didn't kill him. It was the body of an infant who died at birth. There was already curfew at the time, and it was considered unlucky to keep it at home. The family gave me five taels of silver and told me to take it out and find a place to bury it."

Just that one time.

Out of curiosity, when the man first returned the car, I checked the hidden compartment. It was damp, but I didn't find any blood or anything. I haven't checked it since.

Zhou Zhao listened attentively, "What does that person look like? Is it a man or a woman? How old is she? Does she have any physical disabilities?"

Uncle Xiang shook his head. "I don't know what that person looked like. He was wearing a straw hat... If I had to say..."

As he spoke, he pointed at Ah Huang, "He looks almost exactly like this young master, and not only that, he's also wearing a face mask. His voice is very gentle, and judging from it, he shouldn't be very old. I didn't notice any physical defects on his body."

Although he dressed very modestly, I could tell that he must be a rich young master.

Well, people with more money tend to have more backbone. If they weren't rich, they wouldn't give so much—ten taels of silver for cleaning toilets all night…

As Uncle Xiang spoke, he touched the ten taels of silver in his pocket that he hadn't even warmed yet. This much was enough for his daughter, Achan, to have herbal medicine for a long time.

"My lord, I am truly innocent! I cannot be taken away. If I am taken away, my Achan will be left without anyone to care for him, and he will die alone."

I only saw that man once. After that, whenever he came to use the carriage, he would throw ten taels of silver into my yard during the day. After I found it, I wouldn't come out at night. I would only come out again after the carriage was returned…

"My lord, I am truly innocent! I did not kill the musician Meng."

Zhou Zhao was taken aback. "You know the deceased?"

Uncle Xiang nodded. "I know him, how could I not? Everyone around here knows him. He used to be a famous musician, but he got into trouble. I heard it was because of a jealousy between a noblewoman and someone else that he got into trouble and became crippled... He earns a little money by teaching music and etiquette to people from poor families."

People often come to his door and laugh at him.

Hey everyone, it looks like the make-up update will have to be postponed until tomorrow. There will definitely be three updates tomorrow, goodnight!