The word “wild” in the term “Wild Graveyard” does not imply that corpses lie everywhere with rotting flesh. Instead, it refers to the disorderly and chaotic distribution of graves, scattered haphazardly, appearing messy and disorganized.
Most of those buried here are nameless corpses. Folklore says that those who are not buried in ancestral tombs will become wandering ghosts after death, which is why this place is called the Wild Graveyard.
Right now, a male corpse lies face-down between two small graves.
The back of his head is severely damaged, with coagulated dark red blood spilled across the ground, staining his shirt and the earth in an eerie dark hue.
The air is thick with a strong metallic scent of blood, yet there is no sign of rot.
Though March nights are cold, the days are sunny enough. Since the body hasn’t decomposed, the death must have occurred recently.
In fact, it’s very likely that he died last night.
Ma Bing hesitated briefly before slowly walking closer.
Around the corpse, she discovered several crooked footprints.
It had drizzled here yesterday, leaving the ground slightly damp. However, the cold night air had frozen the earth solid, making the footprints very shallow.
Since the Wild Graveyard is rarely visited, the footprints remained undisturbed.
Ma Bing took out a rope to measure them and compared the prints with the deceased’s feet, concluding that the footprints belonged to two people.
The deceased and the murderer.
Quickly calculating in her mind, she looked again at the body.
The deceased’s face was turned sideways downward, so his front wasn’t visible, but from his physique, hands, and the exposed skin on half his face, she deduced he couldn’t be older than thirty.
His attire was very plain, all made of cheap cotton fabric, though the style was quite modern…
As Ma Bing was about to examine further, suddenly a set of hurried footsteps approached from afar, mixed with various voices:
“…I say we should’ve just waited in town instead of coming to this cursed place!”
“Stop being a coward! Show some guts! Don’t let the little bastard laugh at us!”
“It’s already daylight and Lao Liu still hasn’t returned. Could something have happened?”
“Could he really have been taken by ghosts?”
Lao Liu?
Ma Bing glanced down at the corpse.
At the word “ghost,” the group’s breathing faltered momentarily. After a brief silence, a flood of vulgar curses erupted from them all at once, piling abuse onto the speaker.
Damn it, why bring up the worst-case scenario? Coming to such a creepy place was already scary enough without this. If it weren’t for daylight and being in a group, who would want to come here anyway?
Yet this fool had to bring it up!
“Lao Liu!”
“Lao Liu!”
“Lao Liu, stop hiding. You win, we admit it, brother!”
After cursing, the men dared not wander off and instead stood still, shouting loudly.
Peeking from behind the grave mound, Ma Bing saw four men approaching, all in their early twenties, dressed similarly to the deceased, exuding a certain air of mischief.
They clung tightly to each other, huddled together, and called out with trembling shoulders and backs.
One of them happened to glance her way, unintentionally making eye contact with Ma Bing. He froze first, then screamed at the top of his lungs, “Mommy, it’s a ghost!”
The other three were already tense. Startled like this, their tightly wound nerves snapped, a buzzing sound filling their heads. Not caring about anything else, they too began shrieking wildly.
“Mommy, it’s a ghost!”
“Help! Save us!”
Ma Bing: “…”
Is this what men in Kaifeng are like?
“Don’t scream!” Ma Bing rolled her eyes. “Are you looking for someone about your age, wearing a dark blue jacket?”
The men’s shrill cries stopped abruptly.
Not a ghost?
The four exchanged glances, each seeing the word “embarrassing” in the others’ eyes before silently looking away.
After a brief silence, the four hurried over, but were stopped by Ma Bing before getting close: “Stop right there!”
Don’t mess up the footprints on the ground.
The four actually stopped, then looked up and saw the corpse on the ground.
“Lao Liu!”
“It’s really Lao Liu! That shoe was even stolen from me!”
“You… you killed Lao Liu?!” One of them stared at Ma Bing in shock.
Now, they truly dared not approach.
“As the saying goes, ‘A green snake’s mouth and a wasp’s stinger are not as venomous as a woman’s heart.’ She looks young and beautiful, yet how could she commit such an act?!”
Ma Bing was about to explain when another one trembled and shouted, “Oh my God, Lao Liu, you, how could you, a woman, be so cruel?!”
“There’s no justice anymore! To kill someone right under the emperor’s nose!”
Ma Bing: “…”
Will you all just listen to me?!
********
Meanwhile, in the Kaifeng Prefecture study.
“I heard you injured your eye. Is it better now? Have you seen Dr. Du?”
Tu Yao, the current Prefect of Kaifeng, asked Xie Yu, who sat across from him.
Dr. Du was a physician permanently stationed at the Kaifeng Prefecture, previously a royal physician, known for his exceptional medical skills.
With the imperial examination approaching and spring plowing season underway, government affairs were extremely busy. Last night, he and several ministers had been hosted overnight at the palace and had just learned about Xie Yu’s injury.
“I’ve seen him. He said the medicine used was excellent, and no further treatment is needed.” Xie Yu’s face was already free of bandages, though there were still faint bloodshot streaks at the corners of his eyes. Unless one looked closely, it was barely noticeable.
Tu Yao sighed in relief, “Good then. I heard she’s a very young female physician, quite rare indeed. Why not invite her to the mansion? I should thank her in person.”
Coming from prominent southern families and closely related to the imperial court, Tu Yao and his wife regarded Xie Yu as their own nephew, showing him great care.
Xie Yu simply said it would be difficult to impose.
Tu Yao nodded, “Well then, talented people often have pride; we shouldn’t force them. If we meet her again, you should properly thank her.”
Meeting again… Xie Yu only now realized that from the time of the injury to recovery, he still didn’t know what she looked like.
“Oh, by the way,” Tu Yao’s smiling words interrupted his thoughts, “I ran into the prince consort on my way out of the palace, and he asked when you’re going home.”
A hint of helplessness appeared on Xie Yu’s face, and he deliberately evaded the question vaguely.
His reluctance to return home wasn’t due to strained relations with his parents—quite the opposite. Princess Ningde and her consort were renowned for their deep affection. It was precisely because they were so harmonious that Xie Yu often felt… somewhat like an outsider.
“Your Honor!” Someone reported from outside, “A murder case has occurred at the Wild Graveyard on the west side of the city.”
Kaifeng Prefecture covered a vast area with numerous affairs, so Tu Yao couldn’t personally oversee everything. Routine matters were naturally handled by the subordinate officials like the judge and the magistrate. However, there was one exception—cases involving human life must be reported to the Prefect immediately.
“Oh?” Tu Yao and Xie Yu immediately composed their expressions and called the person in to report, “What’s the situation? Where is the informant?”
The yamen runner’s expression suddenly turned somewhat odd, his face wrinkling as if pondering how to explain.
“The informant is waiting outside. They say they’ve already apprehended the suspect on the spot, who is currently being guarded by his companions. However, the suspect is extremely brazen, actually forcing them to report the case and threatening to poison them all if they don’t hurry.”
Tu Yao: “…”
Xie Yu: “…”
Could there really be such a brazen criminal?!
Since Xie Yu didn’t want to continue discussing whether or not to go home, he immediately stood up and said, “Your Honor, I’ll personally go there with some men.”
Tu Yao pondered briefly, “Alright then. Since the criminal is so fearless, he must have some skill. Be careful.”
Two hours later, at the Wild Graveyard.
“Miss Ma?!”
From a distance, Yuan Pei spotted Ma Bing sitting under a tree, expressionless while eating a fried cake.
Xie Yu was startled. Ma Bing?
Before coming, he had been thinking about what she might look like, and now he had found out so quickly.
He saw a young girl, about seventeen or eighteen years old, squatting under a tree, her fair complexion enhanced by the light purple jacket she wore.
When Yuan Pei called out, she lifted her head. Her moist, rosy lips bore a slight sheen of oil, making her somewhat adorable.
Her eyes were neither large nor small, perfectly positioned on her face, bright, with upturned corners that showed vibrant energy and a touch of boldness.
Seeing Xie Yu, Ma Bing was also somewhat surprised, but still greeted him actively, “Director Xie, your eye is better?”
Indeed, it was her voice.
Suddenly feeling cheerful, Xie Yu was about to nod when his gaze fell on the oil-wrapped package in her hand, and his mood suddenly became complicated.
Following his gaze, Ma Bing blinked, swallowed the last bite quickly, then shook the oil-wrapped package at him, “All gone!”
She had bought it early in the morning from a fried cake stall at the city gate, with two fillings: red bean paste and brown sugar. The crispy, oily shell and the delicate sweetness inside made her want to eat another one after finishing one! She loved it.
Originally, she had planned to eat it when she got hungry while collecting herbs in the mountains, but her mind worked fast and made her hungry quickly. Aggravated by those fools, she had simply eaten it all.
Xie Yu: “…”
No, I didn’t want to share your fried cake.
Yuan Pei and Huo Ping looked at Ma Bing as if seeing a ghost.
In perfect synchronization, they looked at the bloodied corpse, then at Ma Bing’s slightly oily mouth, speechless.
“You actually ate here?!”
Yuan Pei couldn’t help but exclaim.
“I was hungry,” Ma Bing wiped her mouth expressionlessly, “A few hours ago, he was just a living person.”
Yuan Pei was stunned. Thinking about it that way, maybe it wasn’t that bad.
For some reason, Xie Yu really wanted to sigh, so he did softly and then asked the informant, “This arrogant, tyrannical, vicious murderer you mentioned?”
The tearful “murderer” and his companions pointed at Ma Bing in unison, “It’s this wicked woman!”
Oh no, this young lady seems familiar with the Kaifeng Prefecture officials. Then, what will happen to Lao Liu’s case?
Ma Bing: “…”
Xie Yu: “…”
The informant bravely whispered, “Heaven and earth, even the emperor is subject to the law. Director, you mustn’t show favoritism!”
The other three nodded, feeling a bit of courage squeezed out of them, and echoed, “Right! Right!”
“Even the Kaifeng Prefecture must give an explanation!”
Xie Yu rarely remained silent for a moment, then simply avoided looking at those faces and asked Ma Bing, “Miss Ma, what exactly happened?”
Yuan Pei, who was checking the corpse with others, interjected, “Yes, we heard you threatened to poison them.”
They were just crying and arguing here, what else could she do?
Ma Bing coughed dryly, “Acted in haste…”
She recounted the entire incident, then pointed at the footprints, saying, “I think these are likely the murderer’s footprints. The person is about five chi and three cun tall, maybe limping slightly on the right leg…”
As Ma Bing finished speaking, she saw Xie Yu and others gazing at her with burning eyes, full of surprise and astonishment.
“How do you know how to distinguish footprints?”
(Note: The measurement “chi” in the text follows the Song Dynasty standard, where one chi is approximately 31.68 centimeters.)
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