TGCFNM -Chapter 198 Bone Inspection

Chu Ling led everyone out of the city again and went up the mountain. Upon finding Old Master Cheng’s grave, she had people start digging it open.

It had to be said: with so many people, the work went quickly. Soon, a small mound of earth had piled up next to the grave, and the shape of the coffin gradually became visible.

Chu Ling glanced around, then looked toward Ghost Scholar.

Ghost Scholar, taking Chu Ling as the center, began searching the surrounding graves with General Ghost.

Soon, Ghost Scholar stopped in his tracks and called out to Chu Ling: “Here!”

Chu Ling casually strolled over and stopped in front of a tombstone bearing the surname Ma.

The deceased was named Ma Zhao; this tombstone had been erected by his wife, Lady Tian. The inscription was already somewhat faded—after all, the wooden tablet had endured years of wind and rain, leaving it badly damaged.

Wild weeds had grown unchecked around the grave, almost completely obscuring the tombstone.

Ghost Scholar looked at Ma Zhao’s attire and then at his grave, showing a puzzled expression. “Given your outfit, your grave shouldn’t be this plain.”

Chu Ling rubbed her jaw, glanced at the small mound of dirt, then at the broken wooden tablet, and without hesitation kicked it.

The wooden tablet split into two pieces and fell to the ground.

“Master Wan, a wooden tablet here accidentally broke right in front of me,” Chu Ling called out.

Wan Sanjin turned in surprise. Seeing Chu Ling mostly hidden by the overgrown weeds, he called out curiously, “Sir, what are you doing there?”

“The grass is tall here, so I’m catching grasshoppers for fishing,” Chu Ling replied offhandedly.

“…”

Wan Sanjin had the weeds cleared and then walked in. “Sir, you came to investigate a case—why catch grasshoppers all of a sudden?”

Chu Ling pointed to the broken wooden tablet. “See, the tablet broke. Isn’t that unlucky?”

Wan Sanjin hesitated. “It’s… probably not a good omen.”

Chu Ling nodded heavily. “Very unlucky. So you go ask if anyone knows who’s buried here. I’ll try to find his descendants and pay respects at the grave.”

Wan Sanjin acknowledged her and went to ask around.

After a while, an older man carrying a spade approached. Upon seeing Chu Ling, he hurriedly bowed, only to be steadied by Wan Sanjin.

Chu Ling smiled warmly. “No need to kneel, sir. Just tell me who’s buried here—I’ll try to find their descendants.”

The elderly man sighed, bending his back. “Sir, this is where a former city guard is buried. He reportedly died of a sudden illness. Poor man had no family; it was all the lady’s relatives who helped bury him.”

Chu Ling asked again, “What about his wife?”

“She remarried, to Master Xuanyuan’s household. She’s the lady now.”

Chu Ling nodded, then turned toward General Ghost to carefully examine his attire.

When passing the city gate earlier, she had noticed that Jiang Wu, portrayed by Qinglong, wore similar armor. Ordinary soldiers’ armor was usually light and simple—not like his.

The elderly man added, “Sir, it’s been over ten years. You probably won’t find any descendants. Better not bother.”

Chu Ling smiled and acknowledged him, and the man returned to help with the work.

Wan Sanjin looked at Chu Ling, curious. “Sir, are you planning something?”

Chu Ling nodded. “I want to dig up this grave.”

Wan Sanjin looked shocked and asked, “Sir, why did you dig up someone’s grave?”

Chu Ling pinched the bridge of her nose, her eyes suddenly shifting as she pointed to the dark circles under her eyes. “Last night I kept having a nightmare… I dreamt a ghostly general was chasing me. I ran and ran until I saw a graveyard, one that looked a lot like this place…”

Wan Sanjin shivered along his arms and asked, “So it’s a ghost sending a message in a dream? Do you want to burn some paper money for them?”

Chu Ling waved her hand. “No need for paper money. It’s probably that the grave was facing the wrong direction, affecting their reincarnation. That’s why they came to me—to have me adjust it to the proper orientation.”

Wan Sanjin thought for a moment, then said, “Then once the other grave is dug up, we can bring them over here.”

Chu Ling nodded.

At that moment, a loud shout came from over there: “Raise the coffin!”

Wan Sanjin spoke up, “Sir, they’re raising the coffin over there. Su He should prepare for the bone examination.”

Chu Ling temporarily set aside the matters here and said, “Let’s go take a look over there first.”

The redwood coffin thudded heavily onto the ground, sending up a cloud of dust.

Although it had been buried for over ten years, the quality of the wood was still evident. The coffin was perfectly intact, with no warping, and the carefully carved patterns were still clearly visible.

Wan Sanjin gathered a few men to pry open the coffin lid and pushed it aside.

Su He covered his mouth and nose as he glanced at the skeletal remains, then carefully had them lifted out and began preparing his tools for the bone examination.

While Su He was inspecting the bones, Wan Sanjin called for people to start digging the other grave, promising double pay for the labor.

Su He glanced over and looked at Chu Ling. “The other grave isn’t right?”

Chu Ling nodded, then pointed to the remains of Master Cheng. “It’s obvious he was poisoned. The toxin passed through the cervical vertebrae and spread to the ribs. So… did he die from poison?”

“Both yes and no,” Su He said softly, scraping at the blackened areas of the bones. Once he collected some powder, he carefully put it aside. “Besides the poison, there should also be a fatal wound in the abdomen.”

Chu Ling half-squatted and looked closely.

At the spot Su He indicated, there was a clear knife mark on the bone. It appeared that a long blade pierced through, causing Master Cheng’s death.

“Right now, it’s unclear whether he was poisoned first or stabbed first,” Su He said.

Chu Ling nodded. The poison could have been administered by one person, the blade by another. The culprit mustn’t be confused or wrongly apprehended.

But—

Cheng Yunshu had suffered unjustly. Her father died such a cruel death, yet she could still be used again. Her heart was truly black.

Su He continued examining Master Cheng’s skull, limbs, and then paused again at the hand bones. “He struggled before dying. He likely reached out to stop the person in front of him, which caused some misalignment.”

Chu Ling folded her arms and nodded. “If the struggle was with the hands, it means the person he saw was someone familiar. He had no weapon at hand, so he could only use his hands to defend.”

There was also another possibility—he didn’t want to injure the person in front, so he chose to block with his hands.

After carefully checking for a while longer, Su He slowly stood and said, “Sir, actually, his health probably wasn’t good to begin with. Even if no one had attacked, he likely had only a year or two left.”

“Some people can’t even wait a year or two,” Chu Ling murmured.

Su He furrowed his brow tightly. “Was it a deep hatred?”

“Go check and you’ll know,” Chu Ling said, pressing her lips together. She planned to personally visit the Cheng family ancestral home tomorrow to see for herself. Meanwhile, today Zhang Dong had also gone out with the constables to follow up, hoping to find clues.