TEFSCBSS Chapter 57

Chapter 57: The Authentic Coffin Inn

The group followed Zhao Si away from the Earth God Temple and walked toward the village, stopping in front of a small courtyard. Inside, a couple stood waiting. They looked simple and honest, their skin pale and unblemished, without a single wrinkle—hardly the appearance of people accustomed to farm work.

At a single glance, Zhao Wen took in these details. However, before he could dwell on them, Zhao Si grabbed both him and Gu Qing, pulling them forward.

“Come on, you two will be staying here tonight.” Zhao Si then turned to the couple. “I’m counting on you. Whatever you do, don’t let them get hurt.”

The couple eagerly nodded, reaching out to pull Zhao Wen and Gu Qing inside before slamming the door shut behind them.

Wang Bokao, standing outside, felt a sense of unease. “Wait, Zhao Si, we’re not staying here too?”

“No,” Zhao Si shook his head. “The village is small, and there aren’t many empty houses. The only reason you’re being accommodated at all is that the village chief arranged it. Each household can only take in one or two guests at most. What, did you expect them to move out and let you all live together? That would be unreasonable.”

A little annoyed, Zhao Si waved his hand and led the rest toward another house.

“Wait, hold on!” Wang Bokao called after him. “Can’t I switch places with one of those two? I have trouble sleeping without familiar faces around!”

Unfortunately, Zhao Si was already walking away. The courtyard’s door, despite Wang Bokao knocking and shouting, remained tightly shut. No matter how loud he was, the two inside made no sound in response.

With no other choice, Wang Bokao allowed Wan Niang and Li Tiechui to drag him along after Zhao Si.

Meanwhile, inside the courtyard, Zhao Wen and Gu Qing stood frozen, unwilling to answer Wang Bokao’s calls. Because the scene before them was… unsettling.

The couple had led them into the main hall, where two black wooden coffins lay neatly side by side.

“Young sirs, this will be your resting place for the night,” the husband said cheerfully, giving them a slight push forward.

Zhao Wen stumbled, nearly falling onto one of the coffins, before scrambling back to stand beside Gu Qing.

“Ahem, sir, ma’am… is there anywhere else we could sleep?” Zhao Wen asked hesitantly.

The couple scratched their heads, looking puzzled. “But these coffins are perfect! So spacious!”

“We only have our own sleeping space besides these. Why don’t you pick one?”

“Alright! Sure! Anything but the coffins!” Zhao Wen nodded hastily.

“Then, follow us.”

The couple exchanged a glance, beckoned them forward, and cheerfully hopped toward another room.

With a bang, the door swung open, and an overwhelming stench of decay wafted out. Zhao Wen and Gu Qing immediately covered their noses, peering inside.

True, there weren’t two coffins in this room.

There was just one.

A single, massive coffin.

The husband chuckled shyly. “Hehe, don’t mind the mess. This is the coffin my wife and I sleep in.”

The wife giggled, lowering her gaze in mock shyness. “My husband is a scholar, you see. He read somewhere about ‘sharing a tomb and resting together’—an eternal bond. So we decided to start early! If you don’t mind, we can let you borrow it for the night. To be honest, I’m a little tired of looking at the same old wooden box every day. Sleeping apart for once might be refreshing. Hee hee!”

Zhao Wen: …

Are you kidding me? The phrase means ‘sharing a tomb in death’—not jumping straight into one while still alive! How could their relationship be this advanced?!

He wanted to refuse, to beg for another place to stay.

But before he could speak, the couple grinned, gave them a push into the room, and shut the door behind them.

“Ahhh, it’s nice to go out and have fun once in a while!”

“Heh, don’t be so sure we’ll get picked. Spots are limited.”

“We did a huge favor by hosting them! They have to let us go first!”

Their voices faded as they walked away, murmuring strange and incomprehensible things.

Zhao Wen and Gu Qing stood in silence, completely baffled.

Zhao Wen huddled close to Gu Qing. “Brother… we’re not sleeping here, right?”

Is playing a script-based game supposed to be this intense?!

Gu Qing ignored him, pacing around the coffin while muttering under his breath.

“What are you doing?” Zhao Wen demanded. “Can you not freak me out more than I already am?”

Gu Qing coughed lightly. “Zhao, come here. Take a look at this coffin.”

“…Thanks, but I’ve been looking at it just fine from over here.”

“No, I mean look. Stand where I am. This coffin… something’s not right about it.”

Hearing this, Zhao Wen walked over and looked down, following Gu Qing’s finger. “What the hell? Why is there black liquid coming out of the coffin? Don’t tell me that couple was eating inside the coffin and didn’t throw anything away?”

“No, it’s not water. Feel it for yourself.”

Zhao Wen reached out and touched it, rubbing his fingers together. “Huh? This… this feels like oil?”

He brought his fingers closer to his nose and sniffed. “Yue—this stinks! What is this?”

He quickly wiped his hands on the nearby canvas, but no matter how much he rubbed, his hands still felt dirty. “Yue—”

“Uh, this seems like… corpse oil…”

“WHAT?” Zhao Wen felt a bit dizzy, his vision darkening. What kind of script is this, and there’s corpse oil in it? Where did Su Li get this? Did she dig it up from a mass grave?

Gu Qing looked equally shocked. “Brother Zhao, I have a theory, but I don’t know if it’s right. Let’s open the coffin and take a look.”

Zhao Wen, suppressing his disgust, remembered that he was the son of the Minister of Justice. He had grown up reading about strange cases and was highly skilled—he wasn’t afraid.

With that thought in mind, he nervously followed Gu Qing as they pushed the coffin lid aside. Before they could catch their breath, a much stronger stench hit them.

Yue—

Zhao Wen couldn’t hold it in anymore. He ran to the side and dry-heaved. The smell was overwhelming, making his eyes burn. He couldn’t make out anything clearly inside the coffin, except for some white objects, stacked in chunks.

“Ah, I knew it! There are bodies inside! No, wait—these are bones!”

What? Bodies? Zhao Wen was still heaving, feeling dizzy, but he heard Gu Qing’s voice. The rationality, logic, and curiosity he had built up over the years suppressed his physical disgust for the moment.

He grabbed two small pieces of paper from his bag and stuffed them into his nostrils. Finally, he approached Gu Qing and lowered his head to examine the contents of the coffin.

There were indeed two skeletons, tightly pressed together and arranged neatly.

True to his background of reading countless case files, Zhao Wen barely felt the disgust anymore. “You take note of this. I’ll examine the bodies.”

“There are no visible signs of blunt force trauma on the bones. They probably weren’t killed by a heavy weapon or blow.”

“The bones haven’t turned black or shown any strange discoloration, so they probably weren’t poisoned.”

“The bone age is about 25 for the man and 24 for the woman. One male, one female. The woman had given birth before.”

…

Soon, Zhao Wen had noted down all the visible details he could gather about the bodies.

Gu Qing chewed on the end of his pen. “Are you sure about what you said?”

“You don’t believe me? I’m a professional at this!” Zhao Wen snapped. “Don’t you know who my father is?”

“I know. But your father isn’t a coroner.”

“Cough. You don’t understand. To become a master like Judge Bao, I’ve studied for years. I’m even better than my father!”

“Oh.” Gu Qing looked at him with clear disbelief.

But now, there was no other choice. After all, besides Zhao Wen, none of the six of them had any real expertise in extracting information from a body.

Gu Qing packed up his paper and pen. “If what you say is true, then the couple in the coffin must be the same couple from our yard—their size, age, it all matches. But there’s one thing: you said the woman had given birth, but we didn’t see any children with them.”

Zhao Wen nodded. “Should we go outside and ask them?”

“Ask who? The two ‘dead’ people?”