Daming: Internship also counts as work experience

Chapter 127 Corpse
The village chief wiped his face, choking back tears, and said:
“If it were just a missing person, the silver would be divided up and no one would know. But yesterday, a child found a corpse in the dry well. As for the silver… few people know about it yet, but the corpse in the dry well became the talk of the whole village in just one hour. Last night, people from neighboring villages even came to ask why, and some even wanted to see it today. I realized that this matter could not be hidden any longer. If we report it to the authorities after the New Year, it will be even more difficult to explain…”

“You’re not afraid of not being able to explain yourself, you’re afraid of not being able to stay! The instruments of torture in the county government are enough to make you vomit up everything you’ve eaten, and you won’t even be able to keep the money you’ve saved up over the years. Even so, whether you can escape responsibility depends on Magistrate Zhao’s mood.”

The village chief was truly crying, whether from fear or something else, his whole body was trembling, and he said sorrowfully:

"It's hard to say right now. We only kept a little over five taels, thinking that the remaining constables could have a good New Year and wouldn't cause us any trouble..."

"You're still spouting nonsense! When you filed this report today, you never even considered that anyone from the county government would come! You just wanted to create the illusion that you filed a report before the New Year, and then use the time while the county government is under lockdown to slowly resolve the issue of the silver. As for how to resolve it... it would be best if the first people you see got their share. If the county government can find out who the two Taoist priests are, or if someone comes looking for you in these ten days or so, then you can decide how to distribute it. You were right about how greedy you are for money. You'll spare no effort to keep even a tael or two if there's any chance to do so!"

Gao Yuntian released the man in his arms and asked, puzzled, "Why don't I understand? Where is the body? The murdered person was carrying silver? Did they want to pocket it? They could have just taken it all. Is there someone else who knows the truth?"

Jia Chuan said with his hands behind his back, "What I know right now is that there were originally two elderly monks in this temple. On the day before the Lunar New Year, two Taoist priests came and insisted on staying at the temple. Later, the villagers found that there was no smoke in the temple for several days. Someone climbed over the wall and found that the temple was empty. The bodies were in a dry well at the foot of the mountain. I don't know how many people died yet. The bundle should have been brought by the Taoist priests. As for how much silver they brought... I'm afraid no one can say for sure."

Chen Mo asked, "You just said that something was arranged on the table. How do you know that something was arranged and that it was originally there?"

Jia Chuan pointed to the table in the room and said, "A few days is enough time for a layer of dust to accumulate on the table. I didn't want the yamen runners to touch the bundle because I noticed that there was no dust on the water bowl and the bundle. I picked up a bowl and looked at it; there was dust under the bowl, which means that these things were placed on dust. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I'm not Gao Yuntian."

"What kind of talk is that?" Gao Yuntian said urgently, "I understand too. There was nothing on the table originally. The bowl and bundle were put there later."

Jia Chuan smiled and said, "Besides, the ice in this bowl of water is broken. How could it have broken in the first place?"

"Because the water in the tank has frozen, the only way to get it out is to break it up first," Gao Yuntian suddenly realized.

Jia Chuan was used to this. He nodded and said, "When I came, the village chief said the villagers had arrived earlier. I thought I was mistaken. When I saw the village chief in the village, there were clearly three people standing behind him, but there were four people in the temple..."

“If someone comes up first and leaves these things, it means that the monks and Taoists have all been killed by them for their money!” Gao Yuntian said with certainty.

The village chief was so frightened that he kept kowtowing: "It's really not true. There was really no one in the temple when we came up. Otherwise, why would we have waited several days to report it?"

"Of course you all thought it was foolproof. I just said, you thought the county government wouldn't send anyone to investigate the case. Even if someone came after the New Year, what could they find? They'd just take the body away and add another unsolved case. As the village head, you hadn't neglected your duties. Who knew Magistrate Jia would come..."

“County Magistrate Song!” Jia Chuan reminded him.

"Whatever, since it's the county government officials who've come. You didn't know what to do, so in your panic you took out some silver and put it back where it was..."

“It’s not in the original place.” Jia Chuan interrupted Gao Yuntian again: “We still need to carefully investigate where the bundle was placed before. They just wanted to use the silver on the table to send the people from the yamen away as soon as possible. When you came, the yamen runner was planning to do just that. I just don’t understand why they would put four bowls of water here?” Jia Chuan turned to the village head and asked.

The village chief sighed and said, "I was just saying that, and I didn't think about the water freezing up. I was just trying to make it look more realistic. If someone comes and there's no tea, you should at least give them some water to drink, and then the person disappears... Who knew that when Lao Liu came up and saw that the water vat was frozen, he broke it and put it in a bowl. Lao Liu is so stubborn."

Jia Chuan nodded, turned his head, and muttered, "In the panic, I forgot that the water at this temperature would freeze. I only thought that the yamen runners would leave this morning once they saw the silver..."

Gao Yuntian shrugged and said, "They're the ones who killed that person. Otherwise, why would they be in such a hurry to kick you out?"

Jia Chuan ignored him and said, "I'll go check the small kitchen."

The kitchen was very low, and Jia Chuan had to bend over to enter. It was clean inside, with chopped firewood stacked at the back. Near the stove was a water vat. The stove was at the entrance. Jia Chuan lifted the pot lid and saw that the bottom of the pot had yellowish water stains and ice crystals. The firewood in the stove was burnt out.

Jia Chuan lifted the water vat again, and there were obvious signs that it had been disturbed, with some water seeping out from the ice.

Jia Chuan came out, looked at the village head, and asked, "Who helps fetch water from the temple on weekdays?"

The village chief was taken aback for a moment, then said, "The villagers took turns helping out, whoever was available helped out, and the firewood was also brought by the villagers."

Who helped fetch water on the day before the Lunar New Year?

The village chief shook his head and said, "I don't know about that. They've never lacked water over the years, but who delivers the water every day... I haven't asked them about that in detail."

"Let's go check on the body first."

……

The group descended the mountain from the west. Jia Chuan carefully watched his footsteps as he carried the corpse down the mountain... If four people came and carried it together, the footprints on the road would be different from those left by a single person, and they would not be able to remove them, nor would they know how to remove them. If one person carried the corpse up and down the mountain multiple times, deep footprints would also be left behind.

To this end, Jia Chuan had a villager carry Old Zheng on his back for a few steps on the snow where no one had stepped on it, and then had him put Old Zheng down and walk a few more steps, so that he didn't have to keep an eye on the ground by himself.

No one thinks about removing the footprints left on the snow, but after being trampled on repeatedly, they are no different from being removed.

The hillside wasn't very high to begin with, and there used to be a path leading down the hill. After the snow fell, the original path was covered up, but as more people walked on it, a path naturally appeared again.

Jia Chuan was puzzled. Was this a popular spot for taking photos? Why were so many people passing by?
Although the group kept a close eye on the road, they reached the dry well in no time. They did not find any deep footprints along the way, or rather, they were all trampled and unrecognizable. The few half-complete footprints on the roadside were not from people carrying heavy loads.

Just as Jia Chuan had expected, the snow around the dry well had been trampled down and was no longer soft; it was all solid and slippery to stand on.

Two of the three constables were injured, but they had no choice but to take care of removing the body. Jia Chuan went to check on the straw mat that had been thrown aside. This straw mat had been used as a well cover and was weighed down with stones. Now, the straw mat was left alone, with stones scattered around it.

The stones weren't small; it would be difficult for a child to lift them, but for an adult, it would be easy to kick them away with one hand... no, with one foot.

Jia Chuan looked at the traces on the ground again. Although they had been trampled by the villagers, Jia Chuan still wanted to find the traces where the body had been placed. Unfortunately, he couldn't find them. He was a little discouraged. If the forensic technicians were here, they would definitely be able to find useful clues.

Jia Chuan was puzzled. Was it really that interesting to find a corpse hidden in a dry well? It would be one thing if a few brave people came to take a look, but why did they trample the surrounding area like this?
By this time, the first corpse had been dragged up by the constables, and Old Zheng began to busy himself with the matter.

The second body was relatively easy to handle and was quickly pulled up by two Taoist priests. However, the bodies further inside were much more difficult to retrieve, requiring someone to go down into the well and tie a rope around the deceased's waist and legs.

Who should go down?

The three constables were very modest, but in the end Gao Yuntian made the decision, and the one who was uninjured went down.

At that moment, the man desperately wished he had been the one thrown out. He thought that the pain would eventually subside, but he didn't know how long he would be haunted by nightmares after today.

Chen Mo approached Jia Chuan and said, "Right now, we don't know if there's one or two bodies down there. If it's just one, that's fine, but if all four of them are here..."

Jia Chuan stood up and said:
“Even if there’s only one body, it’s still difficult to handle. The surviving person is most likely the murderer, but why would he kill? Murder is usually either a momentary rage or premeditated. The two Taoist priests who came up now suggest that the people below are probably monks. If one of them escaped and is the murderer, then he should have conspired with the other monk beforehand to commit the crime together. The two monks are said to be elderly. At this age, in this weather, where could he have gone after killing someone without returning to the temple? Murder is usually caused by revenge, money, lust… Murder for love? That’s unlikely. Look at these two Taoist priests, they’re not young either, at least fifty or sixty years old. Money? The silver is still in the temple…”

Jia Chuan then noticed that the two corpses that had been brought up were curled up.

Chen Mo nodded and said, "But if there are two old monks below, wouldn't it be even more difficult for you to make a deduction?"

Jia Chuan turned to Chen Mo and asked, "Do you think I didn't suspect the village chief and the villagers?"

“If you had any doubts, you would have made us tie them up first. The fact that you only let them follow you means you thought it might not be them.”

Jia Chuan smiled and said, "When I entered the village, I deliberately dismounted at the entrance and walked, wanting to see the villagers' reaction."

"In this freezing weather, who would be wandering around the village?" Gao Yuntian heard this and turned to ask.

“You’ve hit the nail on the head. When I entered the village, a villager led the way. He rode a donkey straight to the village head’s house, while I strolled around on foot. At that time, I should have been in a similar situation to the two Taoist priests entering the village. No one knew about it yet. If no one knew, why would anyone follow me up the mountain to watch the excitement? And why would I hear the old monk talking to the Taoist priest after he opened the courtyard gate?”

"What did you say?" Gao Yuntian asked, leaning closer.

The monk refused to let the Taoist stay overnight, but the Taoist said, "Master, why are you so confused? As the saying goes, the three religions are one family. Although we belong to Buddhism and Taoism respectively, you help others, and we help ourselves. We are all helping people in the world. How can you distinguish between us?"

Gao Yuntian hurriedly asked, "So the monks agreed to let them stay?"

Jia Chuan frowned and asked, "Shouldn't you be asking this: How did the villagers remember it? And how can they tell me about it?"

"Yes, why do they remember it so clearly?"

Jia Chuan looked at the village chief who was slumped on the snow and said, "They didn't expect me to come. I only found out on the way up the mountain that the Taoist priest had asked a villager for lodging first. When no villager offered him lodging, a lot of people followed him up the mountain. Everyone was just there to watch the excitement and thought they would tell others about it when they got back. So he should be telling me the truth. He shouldn't be lying about that."

"When you entered the village, were there really people wandering around?" Chen Mo asked.

Jia Chuan shook his head and said, "There's no one here, so I deduce that not only did no one take them in, but the villagers also deliberately led them to the small temple, thinking they'd see what would happen when the Taoist priest clashed with the old bald monk."

Gao Yuntian and Chen Mo exchanged a glance. Gao Yuntian asked, puzzled, "Does this mean that the villagers didn't commit the crime?"

"It was them... There was really no need to put on this show... The two Taoist priests were complete strangers to the villagers, with no past or present grudges. Plus, it was the end of the year, so it's understandable that the villagers didn't want to take them in. If one family refused, waiting to see the spectacle, another would come. The two monks had lived here for many years and had always been on good terms with the villagers. If they truly had a grudge, they would have already taken action. Why would they let them live like old monks? The villagers didn't even know the old Taoists had money on them; if they did, it would be even more illogical. They all went up the mountain with the intention of watching the spectacle. After the two old Taoists entered the small temple, the monks chased away the villagers who came to watch. It was already dusk that day. Even if someone had malicious intentions and climbed over the wall after dark, how could they get out? If there were such people among the villagers..."

At this moment, Old Zheng looked up at Jia Chuan and said, "That's strange, neither of the two corpses has any injuries."

"Is it possible to determine the time of death?" Jia Chuan stepped forward and asked.

Old Zheng roared, "How can you tell the difference in this kind of weather?!"

Jia Chuan squatted down, frowning as he looked at the two curled-up corpses that Old Zheng had stripped of their clothes. It was quite troublesome to take off their clothes in this position, especially in the freezing cold outdoors, and Old Zheng's fingers were not very flexible either.

An idea flashed through Jia Chuan's mind...

Not long after, another body was pulled up; it was a monk. There was another body below.

The sun was already setting in the west, and Chen Mo reminded him that if they didn't leave soon, the city gates would close when they entered the city.

Jia Chuan felt that conducting an open-air autopsy here would easily lead to him being taken away to meet the four old men. He had already sneezed several times in a row. Old Zheng was shivering from the cold. It was better when he was moving, but as long as he was still for a moment, the cold would seep into his bones.

(End of this chapter)