When Peony’s spirit was taken, the sound of her gentle song and Bai Lixin’s pipa seemed to still linger in the empty backyard.
Bai Lixin carefully placed the lute aside, and with a long sigh, he looked up at the snow falling heavily in the sky and said to Liao Sufan and Huang Hongyuan: “My country, the Republic of China, is a great country with strict laws, and murder should be paid for. But Miss Peony committed suicide, and her soul was imprisoned here. But the man who led to her death is still out there. You do not believe in ghosts and gods, and that person has not broken the law. Please let me solve her affairs. ”
Bai Lixin found a spade in the corner and dug by himself in silence.
His back looked thin and lonely, and when Liao Sufan’s heart throbbed with pain.
There was a shovel standing in the corner, so Liao Sufan brought it over and also dug with Bai Lixin in silence.
Bai Lixin ignored him and pushed the dried up peach tree down, revealing the bones of the Peony’s body.
When she died, Mama of the Cuiyan House hastily dug a pit and buried her for fear of making a scene. The body was not in a coffin and was left bare in the soil. It had long since turned into a white skeleton after these two years.
Bai Lixin took off his coat and knelt on the ground, carefully picking out the bones of Peony’s body bit by bit, and placing them in his coat. After about two hours of picking through the bones, Bai Lixin weakly stood up when he was sure there was nothing left. He tightened the coat carefully and took it into his arms.
Mama had already woken up, and when she saw the peach tree that had been pushed over, she went into another trance and nearly fainted again.
Liao Sufan was annoyed and took this fat woman by the back collar of her coat and said, “Do you remember the appearance of the man who caused Miss Peony to kill herself that day?”
Mama’s face was sometimes pale, sometimes blue, and she was shivering and unable to speak.
Seeing this, Bai Lixin stepped forward and slapped her across the face.
When had she ever been slapped like that? Her body swayed and she wanted to fall, but her collar was in Liao Sufan’s hand, so she wanted to fall but could not.
Mama was a bit confused by the slap, and Bai Lixin threw another slap at her. After four or five slaps in a row, he said in a cold voice: “Have you come to your senses? Can you speak? ”
Strangely enough, after these slaps, she no longer panicked.
Seeing that the matter could no longer be concealed, Mama gulped and nodded her head, “I am awake, I am awake.”
Bai Lixin gave her a cold sweep and said, “Then sit down and talk.”
Liao Sufan heard this, and he pressed Mama onto the stone bench with a single push.
The snow was still falling outside, and the stone bench had long been covered with snow, which was cold to the bone.
Although she was wearing a thick cotton jacket, she could not resist the cold weather, and she shivered.
“Do you know the man?” Bai Lixin placed the jacket containing Peony’s bones in front of her eyes and said, “Speak properly to Peony. If there is a false word, you will have to weigh it yourself.”
Remembering Peony’s miserable soul that she had just seen, Mama was even more frightened, and hurriedly nodded her head repeatedly, “I’ll say the truth.”
“That man is a regular customer of my Cuiyan House, the master of the Wang family in the east of the city. I don’t know what happened that day, but in the middle of the afternoon, Master Wang was so full of fierceness that he looked like a different person. He came in and threw me a big bag of money, and without saying a word, he rushed into Miss Peony’s room. I didn’t want anything to happen to Peony. She was a lady of the house and earned me so much money each month. I am a sensible person, so I couldn’t just let Master Wang do what he wanted. ”
“It was strange, because after Master Wang had entered the room, I dragged some of the fellows to push the door, but the door was like a steel plate, it wouldn’t open. There was no movement inside, and I was afraid something would happen, so I banged on the door outside while screaming. ”
“After a while, the door opened and there was a big gash on Master Wang’s chest. He had blood pouring down, but he acted as if nothing was wrong. He threw me another bag of money and warned me not to make any noise about it or he would sue us at Cuiyan House for injuring someone, and then left in a huff. ”
“I then entered the room and sat on the floor in shock. ” Mama’s face was ashen, “Miss Peony had committed suicide! Her eyes were staring straight at me and her mouth was filled with blood. I was so stunned that I rushed to get those men to bury her in the backyard. I had nightmares for days afterwards, each time with Peony coming over to claim my life. I was so scared and when I heard that peach wood branches are special for calming evil spirits, I moved a peach tree from another place and planted it there.”
“Lord Liao! Commissioner Huang! Miss Peony really committed suicide. I buried her out of fear. You must believe me!”
Bai Lixin sneered, “The Wang family in the east of the city? The Wang family that organises gambling on stones from time to time?”
Mama hurriedly nodded, “Yes, yes, that’s the family.”
“I see. Then let me ask you again, what is the name of the man who redeemed Yue Xian’er? You said he lives here. Do you know where he lives? ”
Mama frowned and shook her head, “We just ran the building. How would we know that much? I only know that this man’s surname is Li. People call him Master Li. I know that he comes from the east, but as for where he lives, an old lady like me doesn’t know. ”
Bai Lixin had no more questions, so he stopped talking and looked at Liao Sufan.
Liao Sufan could not think of anything else to ask, so he let go of the hand that was holding the Mama’s collar and said, “If any more girls die in vain, I don’t think you need to open this building anymore.”
Mama’s face was so red and swollen from Bai Xin’s slaps. She hurriedly cried, “I won’t dare to do it again. I will treat the girls in the building well. Please don’t worry, Lord Liao.”
Bai Lixin didn’t bother to pay attention to them and walked into the inner hall with Peony’s bones in his arms. He picked up the blood-stained purse that had been placed on the table and turned back, “Let’s go, I’m hungry.”
Huang Hongyuan, who had been watching Bai Lixin’s interrogation, suddenly slapped his thigh, “Yes, I forgot about that. You’ve always had a bad stomach, so you can’t delay your three meals. Look at my brain. Lord Liao, let’s go now, or else Xian Zhi’s stomach will get sick again.”
Liao Sufan’s heart thumped, and he didn’t delay any longer. He stepped forward and grabbed Bai Lixin’s wrist with one hand and dragged him towards the door: “Let’s go to the Immortal House.”
Bai Lixin was dragged forward as he shouted, “What’s the point of going to the Immortal House? If I wait any longer, I’ll have ascended to heaven. I’ll just quickly find a noodle shop and drink a hot bowl of noodle soup. ”
Huang Hongyuan also took a few steps to catch up with them. He opened the car door for them and then got into the front, “Yes, Xian Zhi loves warm, hot soup the most, Lord Liao. Come up quickly, I know where it is.”
Liao Sufan’s face darkened, and he glared at Huang Hongyuan before pulling Bai Lixin into the car.
There was no air conditioning in the car at this time. It was insulated from the wind and snow outside, but not from the cold air.
Bai Lixin’s blue jacket was still in his arms. When he left home this morning, it wasn’t as cold as it was, so he wasn’t wearing much. He wore only the jacket over his long blue shirt.
The warm clothes were being used to coffin the bones, and Bai Lixin shrank from the cold weather.
Liao Sufan took off his green coat and draped it over Bai Lixin’s shoulders. Bai Lixin’s body warmed up and his expression, which had been condensed by the cold winter, instantly relaxed. He looked at Liao Sufan and said politely, “Thank you, Governor Liao.”
Liao Sufan nodded in response.
The snow that fell on the ground was already ankle-deep, and the pedestrians on the streets had gone home to escape the cold. There were very few people on the road. The car stopped moving after a while, and the adjutant who was driving the car looked back at Liao Sufan and said awkwardly, “Lord Liao, the snow is too thick, and the car can’t go any further because it is stuck in the snow.”
Bai Lixin beside him was still shrinking his neck, and hot air kept coming out of his mouth.
If he hadn’t stopped Wen Xuyao from leaving this morning, he wouldn’t be suffering here.
As far as he could remember, Young Master Wen had always been the kind of person who was idle and uneducated. He had never liked such people, and he had no good feelings toward him. And Fang Xuelin had spoken about him repeatedly, each time with a lot of criticism.
What irritates him the most are superstitious stories about “ghosts and gods”. So when he saw Wen Xuyao suing Fang Xuelin for the using evil spirits, he had his men give him twenty big boards of a beating without hesitation.
Twenty…big boards…Liao Sufan stiffened.
He knew his soldier’s strength best. With twenty big boards… even martial arts practitioners have to recuperate for a month and a half before they can get out of bed. So, Wen Xuyao was enduring his pain to visit Huang Hongyuan at the police station on purpose.
He felt like his heart was being pierced by a knife. I regret the fact that I gave the order for the 20 boards.
The snow had not yet stopped, and although the time on the clock said it was just 3 p.m., the sky was already darkening.
When Bai Lixin heard that the car could not leave, he sighed and said, “This is not far from my house. Why don’t we all go to my house and take a rest? You’ll go back when the snow stops. Although my house is now in decline, we still have a heater and a charcoal fire. ”
Huang Hongyuan observed Liao Sufan’s expression for a moment and asked Bai Lixin in a low voice, “So you’re not going to drink the noodle soup?”
Bai Lixin let out a laugh, “How can I think of drinking noodle soup when I’m about to freeze to death?”
Liao Sufan stiffened at these words. His heart twitched violently, and he blamed himself even more.
When Peony’s spirit was taken, the sound of her gentle song and Bai Lixin’s pipa seemed to still linger in the empty backyard.
Bai Lixin carefully placed the lute aside, and with a long sigh, he looked up at the snow falling heavily in the sky and said to Liao Sufan and Huang Hongyuan: “My country, the Republic of China, is a great country with strict laws, and murder should be paid for. But Miss Peony committed suicide, and her soul was imprisoned here. But the man who led to her death is still out there. You do not believe in ghosts and gods, and that person has not broken the law. Please let me solve her affairs. ”
Bai Lixin found a spade in the corner and dug by himself in silence.
His back looked thin and lonely, and when Liao Sufan’s heart throbbed with pain.
There was a shovel standing in the corner, so Liao Sufan brought it over and also dug with Bai Lixin in silence.
Bai Lixin ignored him and pushed the dried up peach tree down, revealing the bones of the Peony’s body.
When she died, Mama of the Cuiyan House hastily dug a pit and buried her for fear of making a scene. The body was not in a coffin and was left bare in the soil. It had long since turned into a white skeleton after these two years.
Bai Lixin took off his coat and knelt on the ground, carefully picking out the bones of Peony’s body bit by bit, and placing them in his coat. After about two hours of picking through the bones, Bai Lixin weakly stood up when he was sure there was nothing left. He tightened the coat carefully and took it into his arms.
Mama had already woken up, and when she saw the peach tree that had been pushed over, she went into another trance and nearly fainted again.
Liao Sufan was annoyed and took this fat woman by the back collar of her coat and said, “Do you remember the appearance of the man who caused Miss Peony to kill herself that day?”
Mama’s face was sometimes pale, sometimes blue, and she was shivering and unable to speak.
Seeing this, Bai Lixin stepped forward and slapped her across the face.
When had she ever been slapped like that? Her body swayed and she wanted to fall, but her collar was in Liao Sufan’s hand, so she wanted to fall but could not.
Mama was a bit confused by the slap, and Bai Lixin threw another slap at her. After four or five slaps in a row, he said in a cold voice: “Have you come to your senses? Can you speak? ”
Strangely enough, after these slaps, she no longer panicked.
Seeing that the matter could no longer be concealed, Mama gulped and nodded her head, “I am awake, I am awake.”
Bai Lixin gave her a cold sweep and said, “Then sit down and talk.”
Liao Sufan heard this, and he pressed Mama onto the stone bench with a single push.
The snow was still falling outside, and the stone bench had long been covered with snow, which was cold to the bone.
Although she was wearing a thick cotton jacket, she could not resist the cold weather, and she shivered.
“Do you know the man?” Bai Lixin placed the jacket containing Peony’s bones in front of her eyes and said, “Speak properly to Peony. If there is a false word, you will have to weigh it yourself.”
Remembering Peony’s miserable soul that she had just seen, Mama was even more frightened, and hurriedly nodded her head repeatedly, “I’ll say the truth.”
“That man is a regular customer of my Cuiyan House, the master of the Wang family in the east of the city. I don’t know what happened that day, but in the middle of the afternoon, Master Wang was so full of fierceness that he looked like a different person. He came in and threw me a big bag of money, and without saying a word, he rushed into Miss Peony’s room. I didn’t want anything to happen to Peony. She was a lady of the house and earned me so much money each month. I am a sensible person, so I couldn’t just let Master Wang do what he wanted. ”
“It was strange, because after Master Wang had entered the room, I dragged some of the fellows to push the door, but the door was like a steel plate, it wouldn’t open. There was no movement inside, and I was afraid something would happen, so I banged on the door outside while screaming. ”
“After a while, the door opened and there was a big gash on Master Wang’s chest. He had blood pouring down, but he acted as if nothing was wrong. He threw me another bag of money and warned me not to make any noise about it or he would sue us at Cuiyan House for injuring someone, and then left in a huff. ”
“I then entered the room and sat on the floor in shock. ” Mama’s face was ashen, “Miss Peony had committed suicide! Her eyes were staring straight at me and her mouth was filled with blood. I was so stunned that I rushed to get those men to bury her in the backyard. I had nightmares for days afterwards, each time with Peony coming over to claim my life. I was so scared and when I heard that peach wood branches are special for calming evil spirits, I moved a peach tree from another place and planted it there.”
“Lord Liao! Commissioner Huang! Miss Peony really committed suicide. I buried her out of fear. You must believe me!”
Bai Lixin sneered, “The Wang family in the east of the city? The Wang family that organises gambling on stones from time to time?”
Mama hurriedly nodded, “Yes, yes, that’s the family.”
“I see. Then let me ask you again, what is the name of the man who redeemed Yue Xian’er? You said he lives here. Do you know where he lives? ”
Mama frowned and shook her head, “We just ran the building. How would we know that much? I only know that this man’s surname is Li. People call him Master Li. I know that he comes from the east, but as for where he lives, an old lady like me doesn’t know. ”
Bai Lixin had no more questions, so he stopped talking and looked at Liao Sufan.
Liao Sufan could not think of anything else to ask, so he let go of the hand that was holding the Mama’s collar and said, “If any more girls die in vain, I don’t think you need to open this building anymore.”
Mama’s face was so red and swollen from Bai Xin’s slaps. She hurriedly cried, “I won’t dare to do it again. I will treat the girls in the building well. Please don’t worry, Lord Liao.”
Bai Lixin didn’t bother to pay attention to them and walked into the inner hall with Peony’s bones in his arms. He picked up the blood-stained purse that had been placed on the table and turned back, “Let’s go, I’m hungry.”
Huang Hongyuan, who had been watching Bai Lixin’s interrogation, suddenly slapped his thigh, “Yes, I forgot about that. You’ve always had a bad stomach, so you can’t delay your three meals. Look at my brain. Lord Liao, let’s go now, or else Xian Zhi’s stomach will get sick again.”
Liao Sufan’s heart thumped, and he didn’t delay any longer. He stepped forward and grabbed Bai Lixin’s wrist with one hand and dragged him towards the door: “Let’s go to the Immortal House.”
Bai Lixin was dragged forward as he shouted, “What’s the point of going to the Immortal House? If I wait any longer, I’ll have ascended to heaven. I’ll just quickly find a noodle shop and drink a hot bowl of noodle soup. ”
Huang Hongyuan also took a few steps to catch up with them. He opened the car door for them and then got into the front, “Yes, Xian Zhi loves warm, hot soup the most, Lord Liao. Come up quickly, I know where it is.”
Liao Sufan’s face darkened, and he glared at Huang Hongyuan before pulling Bai Lixin into the car.
There was no air conditioning in the car at this time. It was insulated from the wind and snow outside, but not from the cold air.
Bai Lixin’s blue jacket was still in his arms. When he left home this morning, it wasn’t as cold as it was, so he wasn’t wearing much. He wore only the jacket over his long blue shirt.
The warm clothes were being used to coffin the bones, and Bai Lixin shrank from the cold weather.
Liao Sufan took off his green coat and draped it over Bai Lixin’s shoulders. Bai Lixin’s body warmed up and his expression, which had been condensed by the cold winter, instantly relaxed. He looked at Liao Sufan and said politely, “Thank you, Governor Liao.”
Liao Sufan nodded in response.
The snow that fell on the ground was already ankle-deep, and the pedestrians on the streets had gone home to escape the cold. There were very few people on the road. The car stopped moving after a while, and the adjutant who was driving the car looked back at Liao Sufan and said awkwardly, “Lord Liao, the snow is too thick, and the car can’t go any further because it is stuck in the snow.”
Bai Lixin beside him was still shrinking his neck, and hot air kept coming out of his mouth.
If he hadn’t stopped Wen Xuyao from leaving this morning, he wouldn’t be suffering here.
As far as he could remember, Young Master Wen had always been the kind of person who was idle and uneducated. He had never liked such people, and he had no good feelings toward him. And Fang Xuelin had spoken about him repeatedly, each time with a lot of criticism.
What irritates him the most are superstitious stories about “ghosts and gods”. So when he saw Wen Xuyao suing Fang Xuelin for the using evil spirits, he had his men give him twenty big boards of a beating without hesitation.
Twenty…big boards…Liao Sufan stiffened.
He knew his soldier’s strength best. With twenty big boards… even martial arts practitioners have to recuperate for a month and a half before they can get out of bed. So, Wen Xuyao was enduring his pain to visit Huang Hongyuan at the police station on purpose.
He felt like his heart was being pierced by a knife. I regret the fact that I gave the order for the 20 boards.
The snow had not yet stopped, and although the time on the clock said it was just 3 p.m., the sky was already darkening.
When Bai Lixin heard that the car could not leave, he sighed and said, “This is not far from my house. Why don’t we all go to my house and take a rest? You’ll go back when the snow stops. Although my house is now in decline, we still have a heater and a charcoal fire. ”
Huang Hongyuan observed Liao Sufan’s expression for a moment and asked Bai Lixin in a low voice, “So you’re not going to drink the noodle soup?”
Bai Lixin let out a laugh, “How can I think of drinking noodle soup when I’m about to freeze to death?”
Liao Sufan stiffened at these words. His heart twitched violently, and he blamed himself even more.
