The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 169 Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth – All Five Elements Present! Liu Shuyi's Three Speculations!
"What? The Five Elements!?"

"Metal, Water, Earth!?"

Upon hearing Liu Shuyi's words, both Ding Feng and Li Xinchun showed expressions of surprise.

They never imagined that the murderer would dismember and dispose of the body according to any of the five elements.

What normal person would dismember and dispose of a body according to the Five Elements?
You think this is for naming? You even have to calculate the Five Elements.

Li Xinchun couldn't help but ask, "Doctor Liu, did the murderer really dismember and dispose of the body according to the Five Elements?"

With her eyes red and swollen, Yang couldn't help but look at Liu Shuyi.

Liu Shuyi stared intently at the charred severed arm and the hideous head, and said, "Whether it is or not, we can find out by verification."

"How do we verify it?" Li Xinchun asked hurriedly.

Liu Shuyi looked at him: "Magistrate Li, I wonder if there are any rivers or lakes within Anshan Ward?"

"River or lake?"

Anshanfang is under the jurisdiction of Wannian County. Li Xinchun knows everything about this place very well. Upon hearing this, he immediately said, "There is a river called Anding River. The river is not wide. It is just a small tributary."

"Go, go and have a look."

Liu Shuyi turned around immediately.

As Li Xinchun led the way, he asked, "Does Doctor Liu mean that... part of Doctor Yang's body is in the Anding River?"

Liu Shuyi said, "From the location where the severed arm and head were dumped, we can see that the murderer did not intend to hide Dr. Yang's body in the courtyard or in a corner that outsiders could not reach. This eliminates places like wells in people's residences. So if my deduction is correct, the murderer disposed of the body according to the Five Elements theory, and there must be a part related to water."

"The well inside the mansion can be eliminated. What remains is water that is outside the mansion, which is what you call the Anding River."

"Therefore, either my speculation on the Five Elements is wrong and I can't find anything in Anding River Valley, or there must be something in Anding River Valley!"

As they talked, the group arrived at the Anding River. Just as Li Xinchun had said, the Anding River was only a small river, about six zhang wide. The weather had warmed up, and the Anding River, which had been frozen, was now flowing again.

Without Liu Shuyi giving any instructions, Li Xinchun said directly, "Men, search the area by floodwater. Be thorough and don't miss any corner."

Upon hearing Li Xinchun's words, the constables felt bitter inside, but they all jumped into the water.

Although the ice on the river has melted, spring is still not as warm as summer. Standing on the bank is fine, but once you go into the water, a chill that penetrates to the bone rises up.

In order not to stay in the water too long and get rheumatism, the constables moved quickly. They lined up and walked along the river from east to west.

Li Xinchun's palms were sweating with nervousness. He glanced at Ding Feng and, taking the opportunity to pat Ding Feng's shoulder, wiped the sweat from his palms and said, "Imperial Censor Ding, do you think the murderer would really dump Doctor Yang's body here?"

Ding Feng shook his head: "I don't know either."

As an imperial censor, Ding Feng always spoke with facts. He never made wild guesses on uncertain matters, lest other officials find an opportunity to attack him.

"but……"

But this time, he surprisingly added, "With Doctor Liu's skills, I don't think there should be any problems."

Upon hearing this, Li Xinchun glanced at Liu Shuyi, who was standing on the bridge, intently watching the constables' search. He saw no sign of tension or worry on Liu Shuyi's face.

"Doctor Liu is really good at keeping his composure."

Li Xinchun sighed inwardly. It was a rare opportunity to find other parts of the body. He was now very worried that Liu Shuyi's approach was wrong, which would not only waste their precious time but also put the case back in a state of utter impasse.

To everyone's surprise, Liu Shuyi, who was in charge of the investigation, wasn't nervous at all; instead, Liu Shuyi was sweating profusely with worry.

"found it!"

Just then, a constable suddenly shouted in surprise, "There's something in the river!"

Upon hearing this, both Li Xinchun and Ding Feng suddenly raised their heads and looked in the direction of the voice.

Not far from the stone bridge, a yamen runner was seen lifting a bundle from the icy water, with a stone tied to it.

"Bring it up!" Liu Shuyi's voice rang out.

The constables dared not delay and quickly climbed ashore carrying the stones and bundles.

When Li Xinchun and Ding Feng arrived, Liu Shuyi had already made contact with the yamen runners.

As he unloaded the stones and took the bundle, he said to the constable, "You've worked hard. Go and change into some dry clothes with your companions so you don't catch a cold."

The yamen runner felt that Liu Shuyi was a kind and good official. Despite being a fourth-rank county magistrate, he still cared about the health of them, who were just lowly yamen runners. He quickly nodded in agreement.

"Quickly check if Yang Wanli's corpse is in the bundle."

As soon as Li Xinchun arrived, he immediately began to speak.

Ding Feng also stared intently at the bundle in Liu Shuyi's hand.

Then, they saw Liu Shuyi first place the bundle on the ground, and then slowly open it.

after that……

A swollen, pale upper body, soaked in water, came into view.

This is an upper body that was severed at the waist, with only a right arm remaining. There is a very gruesome scar on the upper body's chest and abdomen.

"It's really here!"

Even though Li Xinchun was mentally prepared, he still couldn't help but feel a little shocked when he actually saw the swollen and pale upper body.

Ding Feng couldn't help but say, "So, the murderer really did dismember and dispose of the body according to the Five Elements method."

"We've found the water element of the Five Elements. Now all that's left is metal and earth."

Upon hearing this, Li Xinchun immediately looked at Liu Shuyi and asked, "Doctor Liu, where do you think gold and earth could be?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Yangyuan and even the nearby yamen runners all looked at Liu Shuyi. The yamen runners of Wannian County were completely convinced. Originally, when they heard Liu Shuyi say that the murderer dismembered and disposed of the body according to the Five Elements and made them go into the river in the freezing cold, they were actually suspicious and dissatisfied. They felt that Liu Shuyi's conclusion that it was not a normal person's act of disposing of a body based on only a severed arm and a head, and his direct forced them to go into the river to look for it, was too arbitrary and domineering.

But now, looking at the bloated corpse before them, they had no more doubts about Liu Shuyi.

They felt that Liu Shuyi truly deserved the title of "Detective God," he was damn amazing! So now they were all looking forward to seeing how Liu Shuyi would find the other parts of Yang Wanli's body.

Liu Shuyi didn't keep everyone in suspense. After confirming that the upper body was hidden in the river, he had complete control over the murderer's methods.

He said directly to Li Xinchun, "The place where the murderer threw Dr. Yang's upper body into the Anding River is not far from where the arms and head were placed; they are in the same area. This matches my previous deduction that the murderer dismembered the body nearby."

"To avoid being discovered by the night patrol guards and watchmen, he dared not walk far, so Doctor Yang's remaining two legs should also have been disposed of nearby."

"His use of the Five Elements is very obvious, without any concealment, making it clear at a glance that it is a method of the Five Elements. Therefore, metal and earth must be the same."

"Therefore, to find the method of earth element, we should look for exposed soil in the surrounding area within two miles, such as streets, riverbanks, or other non-private residences. By distinguishing the color of the soil, we should be able to find directly where the murderer hid one of his legs."

Li Xinchun's eyes lit up: "That's right! The murderer acted last night. If he disturbed the soil, the color of the soil would definitely be different from other soil colors in such a short time, appearing darker."

He looked directly at the constables around him who were gazing at Liu Shuyi with admiration, and shouted, "What are you all standing there for? Didn't you hear what Doctor Liu said?"

Li Xinchun was a very dignified figure in the eyes of the yamen runners. Upon hearing this, the runners instinctively shrank back, not daring to hesitate for a moment, and quickly turned around to search.

Li Xinchun withdrew his gaze and turned to Liu Shuyi. The sternness on his face quickly turned into a kind smile: "Doctor Liu, what about the metal element? Metal is different from wood, water, fire, and earth. There are no large pieces of metal in Anshanfang that he could place the corpse in. I really can't imagine how he would do it."

Upon hearing this, Ding Feng and the others nodded in agreement. They had all racked their brains but had not come up with any idea how the murderer would use the element of metal to dispose of the corpse.

Liu Shuyi smiled and said, "Indeed, let alone Anshanfang, even if you searched the entire city of Chang'an, you wouldn't find such a large metal container that could be used to hide a corpse, and it was just casually placed on the street. The murderer only had a few hours last night, and the distance was limited to this area, so it's even harder to find him."

"Therefore, after realizing that he cannot take action like he did with the four elements of water and earth, he will probably change his approach slightly."

Ding Feng couldn't help but ask, "How do we change?"

"First, what is metal? Sharp tools are metal, so cutting off the corpse with a sharp tool, just like burning a severed arm, wouldn't that be considered a method of processing the metal element in the Five Elements?"

"This..." Ding Feng thought for a moment and said, "It seems to make sense. If that's the case, then wouldn't he be like that severed arm, easily disposed of?"

Li Xinchun's expression changed slightly: "But so far, no one has found the rest of the body. Without a more specific clue, it will be extremely difficult to find it again."

Ding Feng and Lu Yangyuan both frowned.

Liu Shuyi said, "What's the rush? I haven't finished yet. What I just said was only the first point; there's a second..."

"second?"

Everyone was startled.

Liu Shuyi said, "Using only metal for cutting is ultimately inferior to the other four elements, so the murderer should have added some metal elements to the hiding place."

Li Xinchun frowned and said, "But didn't we just say that there's no large metal object nearby that the murderer could use..."

"Yes."

Liu Shuyi nodded and said, "There is no usable metal around here, so the murderer needs to change his approach. If there isn't enough metal, could he look for a place that is closely related to metal? Or a place whose name contains the word 'metal'? Just like when a child is born, if the five elements are lacking wood, the word 'wood' will be added to the name."

"As long as there is a relevant connection, it can also be regarded as a metallic element."

Ding Feng pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "When there is no other way, this is indeed the only, and also the most widely accepted, method."

He asked Liu Shuyi, "Then, where would the murderer have chosen a place related to metal?"

Liu Shuyi turned around and looked back at the road they had come from, saying, "Just now, when we came here, we passed a place... it was making loud banging noises, and sparks were flying everywhere..."

brush!
Before Liu Shuyi could finish speaking, Li Xinchun's eyes suddenly widened as he realized something, and he couldn't help but ask, "You mean... the blacksmith shop!?"

"A blacksmith shop?" Ding Feng's eyes flashed, and he immediately clapped his hands: "That's right! The name of a blacksmith shop contains the word 'iron,' and it's a place that specializes in forging iron, which corresponds perfectly with the element of metal in the Five Elements!"

Liu Shuyi asked Li Xinchun, "Magistrate Li, do you know how many blacksmith shops there are in Anshan Ward? And how many blacksmith shops are there in this area around us?"

After a moment's thought, Li Xinchun said, "There are two blacksmith shops in Anshan Ward, one in the east and one in the west. This is the only blacksmith shop in our area!"

“One?” Liu Shuyi said slowly, “Then, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the last part of Doctor Yang’s body should be here.”

Upon hearing this, Li Xinchun said without hesitation, "I'll have someone go find it right away... no, I'll go find it myself!"

With that, he quickly turned around and strode towards the blacksmith's shop with his constables.

Upon arriving at the blacksmith's shop, Li Xinchun first had the yamen runners summon the blacksmith. After questioning him, he ordered his men to search the blacksmith's shop inside and out.

Ding Feng licked his dry lips and said, "I never imagined that Yang Wanli's death would be so complicated, that even finding his complete body was not easy..."

With no one around, Ding Feng was finally able to speak privately with Liu Shuyi. He whispered, "Doctor Liu, do you think Yang Wanli's death was related to the corruption?"

This matter was a heavy weight on his mind.

If it's related, then Yang Wanli's death happened faster than I could arrest him myself. This means that someone must have known about it beforehand and killed him to silence him. It also proves that either Yang Wanli had someone behind him, and he wasn't the biggest mastermind behind the cheating case, or the person who helped Yang Wanli cheat has already climbed to a very high position and has all the connections, cutting off all the clues.

In this situation, it would be extremely difficult to investigate Yang Wanli's cheating. However, if it's unrelated, it means that his investigation into Yang Wanli's cheating case hasn't been leaked yet, and he still has enough time to investigate who Yang Wanli had cheated for.

Liu Shuyi understood Ding Feng's meaning; in fact, he had been pondering this matter himself.

If it's related to a cheating scandal... then murder to cover it up is one thing, but why dismember the body? Even if dismemberment was necessary to hide the secret, there was no need to rely on the Five Elements to dispose of the corpse, was there?
Doing this would definitely take a lot of time and effort, and for a murderer whose goal is to silence witnesses, there is absolutely no need to do so.

However, to say it has nothing to do with the cheating case... Ding Feng arrived in Chang'an last night, and Yang Wanli just happened to be killed last night, so Yang Wanli had no chance to meet Ding Feng no matter what. The timing of this coincidence is really ridiculous.

So at this moment, even Liu Shuyi felt conflicted, feeling that Yang Wanli's death was shrouded in mystery.

"Dr. Liu!"

Just then, Li Xinchun, who was in the blacksmith shop, suddenly shouted to Liu Shuyi, "Come here quickly!"

Liu Shuyi's heart stirred, and he said directly to Ding Feng, "Imperial Censor Ding, don't be anxious. After we find all of Yang Wanli's body and obtain more clues and evidence, the truth will gradually come to light. At that time, we will know whether his death was related to corruption."

Ding Feng knew all this, but the matter was always weighing on his mind, and he couldn't relax until he was sure.

"That's all we can do," Ding Feng said. "We just hope that Physician Liu can solve this case as soon as possible."

Liu Shuyi smiled and said, "I will naturally do my best."

After saying that, Liu Shuyi quickly walked towards the blacksmith shop.

As soon as they arrived at the blacksmith's shop, Li Xinchun came over to greet them, saying, "Found it!"

Liu Shuyi had already anticipated this and asked, "Where is it hidden?"

Li Xinchun pointed to the pile of coal slag in the corner of the blacksmith's shop and said, "In the coal slag."

The blacksmith shop smelts ironware every day, which requires a lot of coal. There is a lot of coal slag, but the blacksmith is busy and cannot deal with the coal slag often. So the coal slag has piled up and is almost a small mountain.

In this situation, even if the murderer hid Yang Wanli's entire body here, let alone just one of his legs, the blacksmiths might not be able to detect it.

Liu Shuyi followed Li Xinchun to the front of the cinder hill, where they saw a hemp rope bag, stained black by the cinders, lying on the ground.

The bag had been opened, and inside was a severed leg stained with scarlet blood.

Moreover, the severed leg was covered with cuts from sharp blades.

It was densely packed, with marks of torn flesh everywhere, incredibly gruesome.

Everything was just as Liu Shuyi had said. In order to make the metal element in the Five Elements meet the requirements, the murderer not only kept cutting with a sharp blade, but also hid the corpse outside this blacksmith shop, which was related to metal.

Ding Feng couldn't help but say, "Doctor Liu is truly a prophet. Everything the murderer did seems to have been done under your watchful eye, without the slightest error."

Liu Shuyi smiled and said, "It's not that I'm particularly good, but rather that the murderer's thinking is very easy to apply to other situations."

Li Xinchun said, "Now only one leg is left—"

"Doctor Liu, Magistrate Li, the body hidden under the soil has been found!"

Before Li Xinchun could finish speaking, several yamen runners excitedly ran over.

Li Xinchun was surprised by the series of good news. He quickly looked at Liu Shuyi, who smiled and nodded, saying, "The bodies have finally been found."

Li Xinchun nodded emphatically.

It wasn't easy, it was incredibly difficult.

Only he, the one who initiated the investigation, knew how difficult it was to find all the remains.

These corpses were hidden too well. If Liu Shuyi hadn't been there, he probably wouldn't have been able to find all the corpses in his lifetime unless he dug ten feet into the ground in Anshanfang.

"Quickly, gather all the corpses together and piece Doctor Yang back together."

Li Xinchun immediately directed the yamen runners to take action.

Soon, the yamen runners brought over all of Yang Wanli's belongings.

As the pieces were pieced together like a jigsaw puzzle, Yang Wanli's body was finally complete.

Looking at the torn corpse on the white sheet, at Yang Wanli's head pierced by wood, his charred left arm, his swollen and pale upper body and right arm, his left leg covered in knife wounds and flesh turned upside down, and his right leg covered in mud and dirt... everyone felt an indescribable mix of emotions. Even Shang Yang, who was torn apart by five horses back then, was not as miserable as Yang Wanli, was he?

They were quite worldly-wise, having seen all sorts of cases and corpses, but they had never seen anything as tragic and unusual as Yang Wanli's case before.

"Dr. Yang's body is too tragic... Why did the murderer use the Five Elements method to dispose of Dr. Yang's corpse?" Lu Yangyuan couldn't help but ask as he looked at Yang Wanli's gruesome body.

Liu Shuyi pondered for a moment and said, "Three possibilities."

Everyone looked at him and heard Liu Shuyi say, "First, the murderer, like Yang Wanli, was obsessed with the theories of gods, demons, the Five Elements, and the Eight Trigrams. Therefore, in order to achieve some metaphysical purpose, he disposed of Doctor Yang's corpse according to the Five Elements."

Li Xinchun nodded, agreeing with this conjecture. After all, no matter how you look at it, this was not something a normal person would do.

"Secondly," Liu Shuyi continued, "because Doctor Yang was obsessed with the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, the murderer, in order to take revenge on Doctor Yang, chose the Five Elements method that Doctor Yang was most obsessed with and believed in, and tortured Doctor Yang's corpse so that Doctor Yang would not be at peace even after death."

Li Xinchun thought for a moment and then nodded.

It is indeed possible that they would retaliate against Yang Wanli with the very thing Yang Wanli believed in most.

This is like burning all the possessions of a greedy person before they die, so that they cannot rest in peace even in death.

Only a deep-seated hatred could drive someone to such a point.

"And the third..."

Liu Shuyi looked at the group and said, "This is some kind of religious or metaphysical ritual, just like in the case of the Ma Qingfeng family massacre, where the murderer Kong Xiang piled up the corpses of everyone in the Ma family into a tower of corpses, intending to resurrect someone."

Li Xinchun's pupils suddenly contracted.

His expression changed swiftly at that moment.

The initial investigation into the Ma Qingfeng family massacre was handled by the Wannian County government, so Li Xinchun had personally witnessed the Corpse Tower. Even now, recalling the scene of the Corpse Tower still sends chills down his spine.

This bizarre way of disposing of corpses does indeed bear some resemblance to the rituals of the Corpse Tower.

Could the murderer also be performing some kind of bizarre ritual?

Li Xinchun felt both chilled and bewildered. How could he feel that every possibility Liu Shuyi mentioned was the truth?
"Doctor Liu, what do you think... which possibility is possible?" Li Xinchun couldn't help but ask.

Liu Shuyi shook his head: "If I had known which possibility it was, I wouldn't have mentioned the other two guesses..."

“That’s true.” Li Xinchun rubbed his forehead and said, “Let’s continue investigating. With Doctor Liu’s abilities, he’ll eventually find out.”

Liu Shuyi smiled. He suddenly realized that in the eyes of others, he seemed to be invincible, to the point that these people believed in him even more than he believed in himself.

"The bodies have all been found. What's next?" Ding Feng was eager to determine whether Yang Wanli's death was related to the cheating case. Seeing that the bodies had all been found, he couldn't help but ask about the next steps.

Liu Shuyi was prepared for this and said with a smile, "Imperial Censor Ding should not have forgotten what I arranged for people to do on our way here."

Ding Feng's heart skipped a beat: "You mean... looking for Miss Du?"

Liu Shuyi nodded, looking at the corpse pieced together like shattered porcelain shards: "The corpses have all been found. Next, we should conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death and the time of death."

"give it to me……"

As soon as he finished speaking, a clear and melodious voice suddenly came from behind him.

Liu Shuyi's heart skipped a beat. He turned around and saw Du Ying, dressed in a dark-colored outfit, carrying the familiar wooden box. She had appeared behind him at some point.

"When did you arrive?" Liu Shuyi asked, completely unaware of Du Ying's arrival.

"The three possibilities you mentioned."

As Du Ying spoke, she took a paper package from her bosom and handed it to Liu Shuyi.

"What is this?" Liu Shuyi asked.

"I heard you came directly from the palace, so you must not have had breakfast. I passed by a steamed bun shop on the way here and brought you two. Eat them while they're hot."

Du Ying stuffed the paper package into Liu Shuyi's arms while putting the wooden box down.

Looking at the mangled corpse before her, she squatted down and said, "The condition of the corpse is rather complicated. Give me some time."

Liu Shuyi felt the warmth emanating from the paper package in his arms, and looked at the aloof beauty who had rushed off without a word of praise after hearing his news, and then immediately started working for him without even asking for credit. He felt an indescribable sense of comfort.

He said softly, "No rush, take your time to test it, time is not a problem."

"it is good."

When outsiders are present, Du Ying always speaks concisely and to the point.

Seeing that Du Ying had begun to seriously examine the body, Liu Shuyi knew that Du Ying did not like being watched or disturbed, so he gave Li Xinchun and the others a wink, signaling the constables to guard the area, and then he and Li Xinchun and the others retreated to a distance.

Li Xinchun took in what had just happened, and a look of realization immediately appeared on his face.

No wonder Du Ruhui valued Liu Shuyi so much; they had been having an affair for a long time.

He chuckled at Liu Shuyi, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Doctor Liu, is your good fortune nearing its end?"

Liu Shuyi opened the paper package, took a bite of the steamed bun, and, savoring its deliciousness and warmth, said with a smile, "I hid it so well, yet Magistrate Li still found out. Magistrate Li truly has sharp eyes."

After receiving confirmation from Liu Shuyi, Li Xinchun looked at Liu Shuyi with even more fervent eyes.

In Li Xinchun's mind, the significance and status of a rising star and a rising star who is also the son-in-law of the current prime minister are completely different.

The above only indicates that Liu Shuyi may achieve great things in the future.

The latter means that Liu Shuyi now possesses extremely terrifying energy and power.

He quickly said, "You must let me know on the day of Physician Liu's wedding. Even if I have something very important to do on that day, I will definitely go to celebrate with Physician Liu."

Liu Shuyi naturally understood that Li Xinchun was trying to curry favor with him, and he nodded with a smile: "Of course."

"Dr. Liu, Magistrate Li..."

As the two were chatting happily, a yamen runner suddenly rode up on horseback.

Upon reaching the two men, he quickly dismounted, bowed to them, and said, "County Commandant Gu instructed me to inform you two superiors... the location where the murderer dismembered the body has been found!"

"The location of the murder and dismemberment has been found?" Li Xinchun was taken aback at first, then looked at Liu Shuyi with great joy.

Liu Shuyi's lips curled up: "County Lieutenant Gu is indeed very efficient."

He looked at Li Xinchun: "Magistrate Li, let's go. The door to this case is now completely open to us."

(End of this chapter)