TEFSCBSS Chapter 104

Chapter 104: Case Closed (Part 3)

Number Eight opened his mouth, hesitating for a moment. Telling a story right now might ruin the somber atmosphere, but what he had to share was crucial. In the end, he gathered his courage and slammed the table.

“Ahem! Everyone, I just questioned those earlier witnesses about stories related to women’s birthdates and such,” he began.

“And based on what Number Five mentioned, I specifically asked around about tales of spirits, monsters, and ghosts—the kind that are popular among the common folk in the southern part of the city.”

“And sure enough, I came across a story that seems deeply connected to our current case.”

“You all know that old saying, ‘you are what you eat,’ right?”

Everyone nodded. Of course they did. The author, for instance, gnaws on braised chicken feet and pig trotters every day just for the sake of diligent hands, all while chugging cola. (Unfortunately, the more he ate during winter, the sleepier he got.)

Ahem.

“But usually, when we talk about ‘you are what you eat,’ we’re referring to animal parts—like how eating liver is supposed to be good for your eyes.” (Old folk remedy—don’t believe it. Ate it for years as a kid, now just the sight of it makes me miserable.)

“However, there’s one type of illness that can’t be cured with such crude methods.”

“I’m talking about people who are born without a functioning heart meridian, yet somehow manage to cling to life.”

“It’s said that those missing their heart meridian can’t live past adulthood and are destined to die young.”

“And this isn’t something that can be fixed by eating chicken hearts or pig hearts. It requires—human hearts.” (Fictional plot device—do not believe! Trust hospitals. Trust science.)

At this, no one seemed particularly surprised. It appeared clear now that whoever was behind this had targeted innocent people to keep someone else alive.

Number Five stroked his chin thoughtfully. “That lines up with my suspicions. But judging from the cases five years ago and the ones this year, it seems the perpetrator has only grown more skilled over time.”

“Which likely means five years ago wasn’t their first time doing this.”

“If we follow this pattern, then ten years ago, there must have been other disappearances or cases involving the deaths of young women.”

“But… I don’t recall seeing any such mention in the case files?”

The others nodded. Indeed, all records of missing girls had already been sifted through, and what remained were minor, trivial incidents.

Just then, Number Two spoke up.

“No, there are still some clues.”

He pulled a file from his robes and passed it around the group.

“I found this in the records from ten years ago—a registry.”

“That year, in the eastern part of the city, a certain household took in a large number of new maidservants.”

Number One’s eyes narrowed. “New maidservants? Was the number of registered servants recorded?”

Number Two sighed. “Exactly twenty-seven.”

The group was shocked. “Were those the first batch of girls who were sacrificed?”

Number Two shook his head. “Not exactly.”

“My guess is, to avoid drawing attention, they probably chose suitable girls from among their unnoticed housemaids at first.”

“Then, to maintain the household’s daily functions, they recruited a fresh batch of servants.”

“After all, if a servant dies, her deed of sale is still in the master’s possession—no one will question it.”

Number Eight frowned. “Then why start using the matchmaking tactic later? Why not just keep using the girls from the estate?” He caught himself. “No—wait, not that those girls don’t matter. Their lives matter too!”

Number Two nodded, understanding the sentiment. If they had only used girls from within the estate, at least it wouldn’t have stirred up such a public storm. But—

“If they only targeted servant girls, it would have been too obvious. Every few years, they’d need to recruit a large batch of girls, all of a specific age and in the same month. If anything were to happen, that’d be solid evidence right there.”

“But with the matchmaking approach, they could mask their tracks. It muddles the narrative—makes it easier to blame it all on mountain spirits, flower thieves, or wandering bandits.”

The room fell silent.

It made grim sense.

Number Five tapped the table. “So… can we submit our answer now? Name the murderer and go make the arrest?”

As he spoke, he glanced toward the incense burning on the altar. Of the original three sticks, two had already burned down completely. Only a quarter of the last one remained.

Time was running out.

But Number Two shook his head beside him. “It’s not that simple. Right now, all we have are suspicions. We don’t have any solid evidence.”

“We’ve got nothing linking them to the matchmaker, nothing proving someone in their household has a heart condition and is consuming human hearts.”

“Most importantly, we don’t have any direct proof that they’ve committed murder.”

“If we try to storm their estate demanding a search and arrest based on this alone, we’d be thrown into prison before we even knock. And then silenced for good.”

He was right. That family wasn’t just wealthy—they had powerful connections. Without undeniable evidence, no one could touch them.

The group fell into a haze of confusion and frustration. As the incense stick grew shorter and shorter, many of the candidates on the platform began pacing anxiously, some even pulling at their hair in distress.

Someone went to ask Su Li if there were any other clues they’d missed. But she just shook her head. “Everything you need is already here. Keep going—don’t give up.”

…

In a private room on the second floor, Wang Bokao was practically stomping a hole in the floor. “What do we do? Time’s almost up!”

“Old Han, do you have any ideas?”

“It’s maddening! We know who the murderer is, but there’s nothing we can do about it!”

He was fuming. Could there have been someone so monstrous back then?

Across from him, Han Yueyi sat with a furrowed brow, staring at the clues and witness statements spread across the table. Finally, his gaze settled on the case of the young scholar and Chun Ya.

“There might still be a turning point,” he murmured.

Wang Bokao immediately leaned over. “What turning point?”

“Do you think the plan of that scholar and Chun Ya was just to expose everything and draw attention to the surface of the case?”

Wang Bokao thought it over. They wanted revenge, yet chose to begin it by dying themselves.

At first, he’d been moved by their sacrifice—but now he realized something else. Even if all the clues were arranged to prove that the heart-extracting killer was not some demon or flower thief, it still wasn’t enough to definitively identify the murderer.

But what else could they have done?

Or rather, what else had they planned that they hadn’t yet revealed?

Han Yueyi let out a quiet sigh. He seemed to have grasped the direction of things and spoke in a low voice:
“Someone else is going to die.”

As if to confirm his words, a sudden, heart-wrenching wail erupted from the crowd, drowning out all the anxious murmuring on the platform.

Everyone turned toward the sound, looking to the edge of the raised platform. It was Wan Niang, running and sobbing, utterly disheveled—she’d lost a shoe and even tripped on her dress, falling hard to the ground.

She scrambled back up, pushing forward with all her might, climbing the platform and crying out to the candidates:

“Help Yue Niang! Please help Yue Niang!”

“She’s dead! Dead in the Sun household! Her heart was cut out!”

“Please, my lords, save her! Save all of us!”

Her cries were so desperate, so raw, that for a moment, everyone was too stunned to even speak.

Yue Niang?

The most beautiful and talented singer of Moon Fairy Tower?

Dead?