In the afternoon of May 28th, Ad led people to check the three households that had previously reported missing persons. The result was not unexpected:
Two households didn’t match, and to everyone’s surprise, the third household’s missing person had already returned home!
They found nothing.
As the capital city, Kaifeng Prefecture constantly attracted countless people. With more people came more conflicts, and almost every year, a few unidentified bodies were discovered under its jurisdiction.
Cases involving people dying away from home were the hardest to solve. Simply identifying the deceased was already a major challenge. Therefore, despite their best efforts, many cases remained unsolved.
But this case was different from all previously discovered.
Firstly, the murderer was clearly extremely cautious, leaving no items that could help identify the victim.
Secondly, whether intentionally or not, the deceased’s flesh and internal organs had been completely devoured by rats, making even creating a likeness impossible.
Xie Yu began searching the entire city for the legendary bone-touching expert.
It was said that some people were born with an extraordinary sense of touch. Simply by feeling someone’s face and analyzing the general contours and direction of the bones and muscles, they could draw the person’s appearance.
Although the muscles and skin were gone, the bones remained. If they could find such a person, they might at least get a rough outline.
Tu Yao, upon hearing this, recalled someone.
“Many years ago, when I served as an official elsewhere, I heard about a peculiar individual. He had lost his eyesight as a child due to illness but remained cheerful by nature. He became a Taoist apprentice and specialized in fortune-telling by feeling people’s bones on the streets. Although I’ve never experienced it myself, his reputation was widespread among the people, and they all said it was remarkably accurate. I believe there must be some truth to it.”
At this point, with no other options available, they had no choice but to try this unconventional method.
Xie Yu said, “Whether his fortune-telling is accurate isn’t important. What matters is his skill in bone-touching.”
Tu Yao, while preparing to write a letter to local officials for help in locating this person, chuckled and said, “Well, we shouldn’t say it like that. If he really can tell fortunes, he’s a great talent. Perhaps we should have him feel your bones first and see where your romantic fate lies.”
People tended to become overly concerned once they reached a certain age. Having found happiness themselves, they wished to see the younger generation settled down as well.
It was rare for Tu Yao to joke like this, and Xie Yu couldn’t help but smile.
Tu Yao looked at him for a moment, shook his head with a wry smile, and said, “Forget it. I suppose I’m meddling.”
This young man must already have someone special in his heart.
He had worried for nothing.
Xie Yu didn’t deny it but asked curiously, “Since he’s blind, how can he draw a portrait?”
Tu Yao laughed. “That’s precisely where fate comes in. He lost his eyesight at five or six years old and began learning his craft. But when he was in his twenties, his vision gradually returned! Later, when he met skilled physicians, they said it wasn’t truly blindness but likely some internal blockage or blood clot. If he had received proper acupuncture back then, he probably would have recovered quickly. But over the years, the blockage gradually cleared, and his vision returned.”
After hearing this, Xie Yu sighed, “Truly, fate can be cruel.”
It was never a life-threatening condition, yet due to the lack of skilled doctors, he had suffered for over a decade.
Shortly afterward, Tu Yao finished writing the letter. After letting the ink dry, he placed it in an envelope, sealed it with an official stamp, and handed it to a servant, saying, “Send it with utmost urgency.”
With lives at stake, every additional day made the case harder to solve.
“Handle this case as you must, but don’t take it too much to heart. If there are other important tasks, set this aside for now,” Tu Yao said earnestly to Xie Yu after pouring him a fresh cup of tea.
With only a skeleton left, such a case was extremely rare. Where could they even begin?
If they were unlucky, it might take years to solve. They couldn’t afford to waste all their resources on it.
Of course, these words couldn’t be spoken publicly. But the reality was that they, as officials, had to prioritize.
Xie Yu took a sip of tea and said, “Understood. Still, we should send officers to nearby villages to inquire.”
Judging from the current situation, it must have been a local who committed the crime. Otherwise, the murderer wouldn’t have gone to such lengths.
The deceased was known to enjoy pleasures and must have had family or friends. Even if only neighbors, his sudden disappearance for months should have raised suspicions.
Yet no one had reported it.
Why?
According to past experience, there were several possibilities:
Either he often disappeared for long periods, and people had grown accustomed to it without finding it strange.
Or he was preparing to leave town before his death, or the murderer intentionally made people believe he had left, so no one suspected anything now.
As Xie Yu analyzed, Tu Yao nodded continuously. “That’s right.”
“There’s a third possibility,” Xie Yu added, placing his teacup down. “The deceased was disliked by everyone, and all wished for him to disappear.”
“True,” Tu Yao changed his posture. “But these are only speculations for now. Without new clues, this case will remain very difficult.”
To put it bluntly, all they knew now was that the deceased was a young man who had once lived comfortably.
That was it!
How could they find anything?
Two days passed like this, and the case still showed no progress.
On the first day of June, Ma Bing returned from buying vegetables and encountered Zhang the coroner sighing in the courtyard. She casually asked what was wrong.
“Nine out of ten, nine out of ten!” Zhang lamented.
It turned out that Zhang had spent several nights hugging the skeleton, drawing several sketches, but gradually felt something was off:
Several finger bones were missing from the skeleton!
He felt deeply regretful.
Recently, people in the yamen (government office) began to suspect that Zhang might have gone mad, as those passing by his room often heard eerie “hehehe” laughter emanating from within.
Sometimes he wouldn’t sleep at night, just laughing like that, which was quite unsettling.
As a medical practitioner, Ma Bing somewhat understood Zhang. Not only him, she herself had frequently gone to observe the skeleton these days—it was such a rare specimen!
If every student could have one, many difficult medical conditions could be better understood and treated.
Ma Bing advised, “Be content. This is already very rare.”
Zhang knew he was being greedy, but human nature was never satisfied. Having one, he wanted two, then three…
With his sunken eyes, he kept muttering, “Maybe I should find a craftsman to make a mold from the other hand’s bones to complete a pair. Otherwise, it’s just too uncomfortable to look at.”
Zhang had a habit: he liked everything neat and orderly. Otherwise, he felt uneasy.
Ma Bing said helplessly, “First, you need to find a craftsman willing to do this!”
Sure enough, after explaining what was needed, no one was willing to take the job!
Zhang became stubborn and started gathering tools himself, preparing to do it personally.
Then, early on the morning of June 4th, before dawn, he showed up at Xie Yu’s door, covered in dirt and ash, knocking frantically. “Master, Master! I’ve made a discovery! A discovery!”
Fifteen minutes later, everyone, led by Xie Yu, gathered in the herb garden, all sleepy-eyed and yawning.
Ma Bing was especially puzzled:
Why did everyone now instinctively meet at the herb garden?!
In recent days, Zhang had been preoccupied with making molds, exhausting himself to the point of looking like a beggar, visibly thinner and more tired. Yet now, he seemed unusually energetic, almost like a dying person experiencing a final surge of vitality.
He pulled out the incomplete hand skeleton from his pocket, pointing at the missing part, saying, “Look here! Originally, I didn’t think much of it because the skeleton was full of rat bite marks. But these past few days, as I repeatedly made molds, the more I looked, the more suspicious I became. Look at this spot!”
He had even drilled tiny holes in the bones, threading all the small fragments together with split sinew cords!
Zhang suddenly thrust the skeleton hand forward, nearly in Yuanpei and Huoping’s faces.
They both instinctively leaned back, resisting the rattling hand skeleton with all their might, groaning, “We see it! We see it! No need to get this close!”
This guy had truly gone mad!
Xie Yu suppressed a laugh and stopped Zhang, asking him to place the hand on an oilcloth for everyone to examine in turn.
Zhang’s excited voice continued, “Look at this spot! This is clearly an old injury, definitely not a recent bite mark from the past few months.”
Ma Bing and Xie Yu leaned in for a closer look and were overjoyed.
“Zhang is right. This was indeed caused by a sharp object.”
“The cut shows clear signs of healing. It must have been an old injury.”
Human bones were extremely hard. Ordinary household knives or sickles might be able to cut through them, but they couldn’t create such clean cuts. This looked more like the work of a heavy tool like an axe.
If it was indeed an axe, it could be almost certain that the injury was intentional.
The perpetrator might have originally intended to chop off just a segment, but the strike wasn’t precise, or they simply didn’t care, taking off a bit more of the second joint. Later, it healed, leaving a cut surface slightly thicker than a normal finger.
Since the amount chopped off wasn’t much and the cut was at an angle, it was hard to notice unless examined carefully.
Moreover, other small bones were also missing, so initially, no one had considered this possibility.
What kind of person would lose fingers like this?
Huoping, Yuanpei, and others who had long been on the streets immediately answered, “Gamblers.”
Xie Yu frowned.
The imperial law clearly prohibited gambling, yet these people truly had no fear of death.
However, he also knew that achieving a nationwide ban on gambling was extremely difficult.
For gamblers, anywhere could become a gambling den!
Shut the door, and the kang (a traditional heated bed) turned into a gambling table!
Even without a specific location, a simple verbal bet, a dice, or even a copper coin on the road was enough to start gambling.
Huoping further explained, “This kind of injury is typically a form of private punishment, commonly found among two types of people: gamblers and gang members. But previously, we deduced this person didn’t work or associate with gangs, so it must be a gambler.”
Yuanpei added with disdain, “Gamblers like this aren’t even considered human anymore. Once they sit at the gambling table, they abandon all ethics and morality. It’s common to see someone lose everything overnight. When they get desperate, they gamble not only their money but even their lives…”
Nine out of ten gamblers lose, not because of bad luck, but because the house often colludes to cheat, specifically targeting the naive.
Even if you lose everything, down to your last pair of pants, as long as the gambling house believes there’s still profit to be made, they’ll even offer high-interest loans on the spot.
Those addicted gamblers, hearing this, think, “It’s just borrowing a few hundred taels now. After winning a few rounds, I’ll earn thousands and repay it easily, with some left over!”
Once that money is lost, the gambling house will come with the loan contract to seize their belongings. If they still don’t repay, fingers get chopped off.
After reaching this conclusion, everyone became excited.
There were many idle troublemakers who didn’t work, but young men who gambled and had fingers chopped off were definitely rare!
Moreover, such incidents weren’t exactly secret. Even if their families didn’t report it, asking around the neighborhood would surely reveal the truth.
“If the deceased was indeed such a person,” Xie Yu said, “then it’s understandable why his family hasn’t come to report his disappearance after several months.”
To his family, this person was likely seen as nothing but a burden in life. Perhaps they even preferred him to die outside.
Then came the next question: Who killed him?
Was it someone from the gambling house?
Unlikely.
Those debt collectors usually acted with caution. After all, they preferred gamblers to stay alive, as long as they lived, there was hope of squeezing more profit. Once they died, everything was over.
Perhaps the deceased went to someone else’s house to borrow money, and the person, fed up with the disturbance, acted impulsively and did something extreme?
Regardless, with this new clue about the missing finger, the investigation scope was significantly narrowed. This was undoubtedly excellent news.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage