TEFSCBSS Chapter 14

Chapter 14: On-Site Investigation in Locust Tree Village (Part 2)

Wang Qingmu furrowed his brows and turned to ask Wang Bokao, who was wandering around, “Did you see this embroidered shoe just now?”

“What embroidered shoe? Where’s the embroidered shoe?”

Wang Bokao widened his eyes. Wasn’t this the typical prop in folk ghost stories? How did it show up here?

He quickly strode over and grabbed Wang Qingmu’s arm, almost pulling his clothes off.

Wang Qingmu: …

“Look, it’s right here on the table by the door,” Wang Qingmu pointed it out to him.

To be honest, it wasn’t that scary. It wasn’t a bright red color, and with the table full of pig’s trotters and braised elbow meat, it lost some of its terrifying vibe.

Wang Bokao slowly calmed down. He reasoned that this was a place decorated by Su Li, a former small restaurant where he’d eaten a few times without hearing any ghost stories, so this was probably just a prop.

With that thought, his courage grew. He poked his head out from behind Wang Qingmu’s shoulder, slowly extending it forward. His long hair lightly brushed against Wang Qingmu’s neck, making his heart race. Damn, you’re the real ghost behind me, far scarier than any spirit! What’s going on here?!

Wang Qingmu began to seriously question whether teaming up with him was a good idea.

He shoved Wang Bokao aside and walked over to the embroidered shoe. It was indeed a pale pink color, not faded from washing, which put him at ease.

Not sure where he found a rag, he wrapped it around his hand, picked up the shoe, examined it closely, and even sniffed it. Wang Bokao, who had been shrinking in the corner, could only watch, utterly speechless.

“It looks like it was just accidentally placed here. I’m going to check the room.”

Wang Qingmu decided to move away from this disgusting guy who was sniffing shoes.

…

Following the path into the inner courtyard led to a small house with windows and wooden doors plastered with “double happiness” symbols. By all accounts, this should be the newlywed’s house in the story. Wang Bokao waved his folding fan and pushed the door open.

The room was entirely red—red curtains, red tablecloths, red bedding…

Honestly, Wang Bokao felt even colder. The atmosphere was supposed to be one of celebration, yet there wasn’t a single person inside. The only sounds he could hear were the occasional squeaks from Wang Qingmu rummaging for clues, making the place even eerier.

He began to feel a little uneasy and quickly started searching the room.

Remembering that Han Yueyi had mentioned being poisoned and unable to speak, he quickly searched the table for a wine cup.

Sure enough, there were two cups, and one of them contained a white powdery substance and sediment.

Wang Bokao pulled out a piece of paper he’d swiped from Wang Qingmu earlier and used a small knife to scrape some of the powder off, hoping to test it for poison later as evidence.

He continued to scan the room, moving to a desk-like area. With his experience in big houses, he managed to find a hidden compartment under the desk, which contained a few letters. He immediately became excited—there was gossip to be had. “Wang Xiu Cai, Wang Xiu Cai!”

Hearing his call, Wang Qingmu rushed in. “What’s up?”

“There are letters! Read them to me!” Wang Bokao waved his hand grandly, dropping the letters into Wang Qingmu’s arms and nonchalantly plopping himself into a chair.

Wang Qingmu wanted to punch the shameless guy but knew there was no time to waste. He silently took the letters and began to read them:

Dear Brother Xiao Lang,

When are you coming back? I’m so bored at home. Father locked me in my room and won’t let me go outside to play. He says I’m a troublemaker, and everyone hates me and doesn’t want to see me.

Father says everyone likes my sister. Only she is the best.

My sister is really pretty, and I like her too, but I don’t understand why, every time I talk with her and Father comes in, she starts crying. Is it because she misses Father?

I heard my sister got lost before and just came back. She must have suffered a lot, so that’s why she’s always crying. It’s so sad.

Father always says I bully my sister, but I don’t. I know she’s pitiful, and Father is just disappointed in me, so I didn’t argue. I’ll be a better girl and take care of her in the future.

When you come back, let’s play together!

Signed, Xiao Hong

Both of them were stunned. Didn’t they say Xiao Hong was supposed to have a wild and venomous personality? The tone of this letter was that of a naive little girl!

They exchanged puzzled looks and continued with the next letter:

Dear Brother Xiao Lang,

I miss you so much, wu wu wu, Mother died, and I’m so sad.

I don’t know why Mother, who was so healthy, suddenly fell ill. Was it because I was bad?

But before she died, she held my hand and told me to leave, to run away. Where should I go, Brother Xiao Lang? Please take me with you.

Mother’s gone, Father’s changed, and my sister doesn’t play with me anymore. Big Brother’s so silly; he only knows how to give me sweet cakes and doesn’t even know Mother’s dead. What should I do…

Signed, Xiao Hong

Hiss, this letter didn’t seem to have anything to do with her mother’s death. Wasn’t Wu Zhen’s testimony that the laundress thought Xiao Hong had killed her mother?

If it wasn’t Xiao Hong, who could it be?

There were three more letters. The first was from Xiao Hong:

Brother Xiao Lang, Father told me to give the marriage contract to my sister so that you could marry her. What should I do?

The second letter was from Zhao Si:

Brother Lang, yesterday we both attended Xiao Hong’s funeral. To be honest, I thought her body was strange. You know I’m interested in mysterious things, and I’ve heard of a secret method that can make people appear dead, with breathing suspended, only to come back to life after three days. I think… there’s a secret here. Be careful with Xiao Hong.

The third letter was from Li Tiezhu:

Ha, Xiao Lang, how could I have trusted you so much before? Yanran did nothing wrong, but Xiao Hong killed her! You’ve always known how arrogant and domineering Xiao Hong is, and now she’s killed Yanran, and you still want to marry her? Don’t you care about Yanran’s feelings for you?

These letters revealed a lot of information, and Wang Bokao and Wang Qingmu exchanged looks.

“I’ll sort this out… No, Wang Xiu Cai, you help me sort it out…” Wang Bokao said, feeling completely confused. He had never seen such a complex web of letters before—his head was spinning.

Wang Qingmu silently took out his notebook and a fresh sheet of paper, beginning to make notes and diagrams.

Known facts: The bride, groom, Zhao Si, and Li Tiezhu grew up together, with the groom at the center of their relationships.

Wang Bokao nodded vigorously. That’s right, exactly.

“Earlier, Wu Zhen said that Li Tiezhu was a bad tiger, only listening to the groom, but the last letter points to a conflict between them.”

“It seems like they disagreed over a woman named Yanran.”

“If my guess is right, this Yanran is Xiao Hong’s sister.”

“Li Tiezhu probably liked Yanran, and Yanran liked the groom…”

Wang Bokao frowned. “But in this letter, I get the feeling that Li Tiezhu… how do I put it? It’s strange. Why doesn’t he actively fight for the woman he likes? He gives her away and then blames others for not taking care of his beloved?”

He was at a loss.

He knew that Su Li wrote this story based on Han Yueyi, but who exactly was this bad tiger? Why was he so eager to let someone else steal his girl?