TGCFNM -Chapter 10 Who Are the White Bones?

After everyone had left, Chu Ling gripped the wooden stick tightly in her hand. Her gaze shifted slightly as she looked toward the female ghost standing to her left, and she sucked in a sharp breath of cold air once again.

Rewinding a bit—when Steward Zhang had lifted the stone to smash the white bones, Chu Ling had instinctively stepped in to stop him. At that moment, her arm had also been seized by this female ghost. Instantly, an icy chill pierced her bones, and a face slashed to ruin by a blade was thrust right in front of her eyes.

The blood drained from Chu Ling’s face in an instant. She hurriedly dismissed everyone below.

The female ghost also knew her appearance was frightening. She lifted her sleeve to cover part of her face, her expression full of panic. “My lord, this humble woman doesn’t know how I was able to touch you either.”

Chu Ling steadied herself and asked, “What is your name, and how did you end up buried here?” As she spoke, she examined the ghost before her.

To be honest, this ghost looked very plain. Her sturdy upper body was dressed in a blue coarse-cloth patterned jacket. Her drawstring hemp trousers were stained with plenty of mud, with patches at the knees—clearly the clothes of someone who often worked the fields, made for convenience.

How could such a rural woman have her face slashed and then be buried beneath a coffin?

“Reporting to my lord, this humble woman is Wu Lianzhi. I… I don’t know why I was buried here either.” At some point, Wu Lianzhi lowered her arm, revealing once again that horribly mutilated face.

“Who cut your face?” Chu Ling asked again.

Wu Lianzhi shook her head blankly. She didn’t know.

She knew nothing—aside from her own name.

At this moment, Ghost Scholar had already drifted deep into the pit. After examining the blackened area on the ribs of the white bones, he floated back up. “It was poisoning,” he said. “But I don’t know what kind of poison.”

Chu Ling looked at Wu Lianzhi, her feet seeming to be rooted to the ground. After a long while, she finally shifted slightly and said to Ghost Scholar, “I feel like… I must seek justice for her.”

She didn’t know why. This obsession didn’t even seem to originate from her own will. But she knew—she had to resolve it.

Ghost Scholar gazed at her solemnly. “Since my lord can see ghosts, perhaps this too is fate, ordained in the unseen.”

Chu Ling fell silent.

Not far away, a man had been staring in this direction the whole time. He saw Chu Ling’s body sway slightly, then stand motionless. Only her head turned a few times, as if she were conversing with someone—yet there was clearly no one there but her.

As dusk deepened, the sight became downright eerie. His scalp prickled, goosebumps rising all over.

Chu Ling waited in place for a bit longer. When she saw someone from the Zhang household heading down the mountain, she immediately told him to go to the mortuary and fetch the coroner.

The servant acknowledged and hurried down the mountain.

Chu Ling remained where she was, receiving a torch kindly sponsored by the Zhang family.

Not long after the Zhang household members had gone down, the coroner finally arrived. After carefully inspecting the remains, he cautiously lifted the bones out of the pit bit by bit.

Seeing the coroner’s overly young face, Chu Ling recalled how it was this very man who had discovered the tiny injury to Cui Xi’s head after she had been struck. A surge of admiration rose within her.

This was a real talent.

“Su He? Coroner Su?” Chu Ling called out.

Su He raised his head. His eyes, indifferent and cold, glanced at Chu Ling before he nodded.

“This female corpse—” Chu Ling was just about to speak.

Su He interrupted, lifting his head again. “My lord identified the remains as female with just one glance?”

“Yes. By the pelvis,” Chu Ling replied instinctively. A male pelvis is narrower, while a female pelvis is wider due to childbirth—this is the clearest distinction.

Su He looked at Chu Ling, genuinely not expecting her to know this, shock flashing across his face.

Chu Ling couldn’t help but wonder what kind of impression she had made on the people of Sishui County in just one month, that they seemed to think so little of her abilities.

“I understand these things,” Chu Ling said. “I also know she was poisoned. The poison entered her organs—the ribs are blackened.” She paused briefly, then continued, “Such a potent poison should have a strong smell. Logically, she would never drink it if it were given by a stranger.”

So the killer must have been someone Wu Lianzhi knew very well—someone she would never guard against.

Wu Lianzhi looked at Chu Ling’s calm face, then at her own remains, and an inexplicable sorrow welled up in her heart.

Su He turned back to the bones again and replied in a low voice, “My lord’s inference is correct. However, the remains still need to be taken for an autopsy. There are several fractures that do not appear to be caused by the weight of the coffin—they look like they were inflicted by force.”

Chu Ling sucked in a sharp breath.

Who on earth bore such deep hatred toward Wu Lianzhi? Breaking her bones, forcing poison down her throat, and even destroying her face?

“My lord, the remains are ready. Please help me carry them down the mountain,” Su He said as he climbed out of the pit, pointing to the stretcher nearby.

Resigned, Chu Ling walked over, lifted one end, and together with Su He slowly made their way down the mountain.

After the two of them left, the person who had been squatting in the shadows—his legs long gone numb—also cautiously slipped down the mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, Chu Ling found a way to tie the stretcher onto a donkey. She then walked along behind it. As they went, she suddenly realized something was off and asked Su He, “How did you get here?”

“A servant from the Zhang household drove a cart. I caught a ride,” Su He replied. With his tool pack on his back, he still wore that deadpan expression. His stiff manner of speech made him seem like a ghost himself.

Chu Ling felt that if she hadn’t already been able to see ghosts, encountering Su He’s face for the first time would definitely have given her a fright.

The night was moonless and windy. Apart from the torch in Chu Ling’s hand, there was no other source of light, and the cold wind kept blowing. After thinking for a moment, Chu Ling decided to make conversation. “Coroner Su, are all the members of your family coroners?”

Su He turned to look at her. He said nothing for a long while. Chu Ling even felt that, under the torchlight, his corpse-like face looked more terrifying than a ghost. Only then did Su He finally speak.

“My lord is making small talk… are you afraid of ghosts?”

Chu Ling: “……”

She currently had a ghost on each side of her, and Wu Lianzhi was still clutching her sleeve in fear. If she weren’t bold, she would have been scared to death already.

“I’m not afraid of ghosts,” Chu Ling said helplessly. “I’m afraid of the dead.”

“Oh. I can’t see ghosts, but I deal with corpses all the time.” After saying this, Su He suddenly smiled, a trace of barely perceptible excitement flickering through it. “These corpses can talk. Every part of them leaves behind information. Use your brain just a little, and you can understand what they’re trying to say.”

Chu Ling: “……”

If this were a novel, this would be a yandere—specifically, a deadpan yandere who specializes in dealing with corpses.

“My lord, the dead are far more interesting than the living. The living wear masks all the time. The dead don’t. On their faces, there is only fear.” After speaking, Su He looked at Chu Ling again.

Chu Ling subconsciously touched her own face. She wasn’t wearing any mask.

“My lord is the first person who’s dared to chat with me. Next time my lord asks me to conduct an autopsy, I’ll charge you less.” A glint flashed in Su He’s eyes as his gaze returned to the road ahead.

Ghost Scholar coughed lightly, pulling Chu Ling out of her stiff daze, and explained in a low voice, “The Su family seems to have been a prominent household in Sishui County in the past. Later, they encountered bandits on horseback. The entire family was wiped out—only one young master who had gone out to play survived. That’s probably him. And those bandits didn’t seem to be after money; their goal was killing.”

“When did that happen?” Chu Ling asked quietly.

“Fifteen years ago.”