TGCFNM -Chapter 88 The Dry Well

After kicking the door open, Chu Ling strode inside, only to discover that within the dilapidated courtyard stood a single room.

Pushing the door open, she was met with the sight of countless magpies bound together, barely clinging to life. Their eyes were half-closed, and the stench of grain mixed with bird droppings was so overpowering it nearly drove people back out.

Covering her nose, Chu Ling stepped forward and quickly assessed their condition. She immediately ordered Xiao Hua to call for help and bring water.

“Zhang Dong, go ask around among the townsfolk of Changzhou—see if anyone knows how to treat magpies,” Chu Ling instructed.

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

Wan Sanjin pulled Chu Ling back outside and let out a harsh breath. “Your Excellency, I’m afraid the odds aren’t good.”

“Temporarily… relocated,” the male ghost muttered.

Chu Ling’s expression darkened. “The Sun family must have known that magpies eat locusts. After capturing them, they were afraid I’d investigate, so in their panic they hid them here.”

What “auspicious celebration” needed magpies to offer congratulations? It was nothing more than an excuse to sell off their old, hoarded rice.

Before long, more and more people followed Xiao Hua over. Many brought rice and water taken from the Sun family’s kitchen. They hurriedly untied the magpies one by one, feeding them small amounts of food and water.

Zhang Dong soon jogged over with several others. “Your Excellency, they raise birds. Perhaps they’ll know what to do.”

The few men squeezed through the crowd and carefully lifted a magpie’s eyelid. After checking, they sighed in relief. “It’s alright. They’re just weak. With some care, they’ll recover.”

Only then did Chu Ling finally relax a little.

At that moment, the male ghost poked Chu Ling’s arm again. He stepped forward, then turned back to look at her.

Seeing this, Chu Ling followed him. They walked to the edge of the abandoned garden, where she discovered a dry well.

The male ghost pointed at it.

Seeing this, Ghost Scholar asked, “Are your remains in the dry well?”

The male ghost nodded.

“How did you die?” Bai Su asked curiously. “How did it come to be so tragic?”

The male ghost looked dazed. He silently sat by the well and glanced down, then lifted his eyes and gazed at Chu Ling with a pleading expression.

Chu Ling let out a soft sigh. With no other choice, she removed the jade pendant she always carried and tossed it into the well. Then she called out, “Master Wan! My jade pendant fell into this dry well.”

Wan Sanjin hurried over. “Your jade pendant?”

“Yes, the one I carry with me. I need to go down and retrieve it. Find a rope and lower me down—then pull me back up.”

Wan Sanjin acknowledged and turned to find Xiao Hua.

“Your Excellency, I’ll go down,” Xiao Hua said anxiously.

Chu Ling smiled and patted her head. “No need. I’ll go myself.” She looped the rope around her waist and secured it firmly. Then Xiao Hua slowly lowered her to the bottom of the well.

Once at the bottom, Chu Ling pretended to search for her pendant, carefully feeling around.

Finally, she spotted a protruding section of bone.

But it seemed to be buried in the dirt…

Chu Ling immediately crouched and brushed away the soil with her hands. When the finger bone was fully exposed, she saw gnaw marks on it. A chill ran down her spine, and goosebumps prickled across her skin.

“Your Excellency, have you found the jade pendant?” Wan Sanjin shouted from the mouth of the well.

The male ghost leaned over the edge, peering down as well.

Chu Ling picked up the jade pendant, then slowly stood. Looking up at the male ghost and Wan Sanjin by the well, she said gravely, “Call Coroner Su. We’ve discovered a set of remains here.”

Wan Sanjin cried out in shock, “Human remains? The Sun family is actually involved in a murder case?”

Chu Ling did not answer. She crouched down again, brushing aside the dirt with her hand, and picked up an object.

Outside the dried well, Wan Sanjin’s shout had alarmed quite a few people. The townsfolk immediately gathered around, craning their necks to peer down into the well, their faces carrying a mix of fear and curiosity.

Wan Sanjin hurried back to the yamen to fetch Su He.

At that moment, someone above called out, “Didn’t the Sun family buy this residence later on?”

“About twelve or thirteen years ago, I think.”

“I heard that after the Sun family bought this large estate, it was haunted. That’s why this back courtyard has always been locked up.”

“…So it really was haunted.”

“Bah, bah, bah—don’t talk nonsense. It’s just a skeleton. Where would a ghost come from?”

“…”

Chu Ling lowered her eyes to the item in her hand, then with a flick of her wrist slipped it into her sleeve.

After a short while, Wan Sanjin returned with Su He.

Su He had Xiao Hua lower him into the well as well.

Chu Ling stepped aside. The dried well was fairly spacious—more than enough room at the bottom for four or five people. Wan Sanjin climbed down too.

Su He opened his tool kit.

Chu Ling and Wan Sanjin used brooms lowered from above to sweep away the withered leaves covering the skeleton, then stepped back.

Su He frowned at the finger bones Chu Ling had uncovered. “These gnawing marks look like they were made by wild dogs.”

Wan Sanjin sucked in a cold breath. “Was this person treated so miserably before death?”

Su He pressed his lips into a thin line and slowly, bit by bit, cleared away the soil around the remains. As the bones were gradually revealed, the full shape of the skeleton came into view.

After one glance, Wan Sanjin felt a chill run through him. “Why are there bite marks all over the body? Who on earth was this person?”

Once Su He had fully unearthed the skeleton, he did not disturb it. Instead, he examined it carefully several times before speaking. “Before death, this person was likely torn at by a pack of wild dogs and had no strength to resist. That’s why there are gnawing marks in so many places. The bites cut down to the bone—it’s imaginable what inhuman torment he suffered while still alive.”

“And before he was thrown into this well, he must still have had a breath left in him, because there are signs of struggle. The twisted shape of the hand bones and the curled posture of the body show he was trying to seek help. Also, this well once contained water—that’s why there’s a layer of silt covering the bones. If not for Your Excellency’s accidental discovery, no one would probably ever have known there was a corpse here.”

Chu Ling gave a slight nod. “And the courtyard gate was locked. If we hadn’t come searching for magpies this time, we likely would never have entered—never discovered it.”

“Is this a murder case involving the Sun family?” Wan Sanjin asked. “Even if there’s Grand Tutor Sun in the court, if the Sun family is implicated in a murder, surely the case can still be tried?”

“When you left just now, the people above said the Sun family bought this residence twelve or thirteen years ago,” Chu Ling said. “When I return, I’ll check the household registry to see if we can find out who the original owner of this estate was.”

At that moment, Su He suddenly turned to look at Chu Ling and Wan Sanjin. On his usually expressionless face appeared a rare trace of confusion and unease.

“The reason he couldn’t resist was because he had been poisoned. There are also fracture marks at the wrists and ankles. I’ll need to examine them further back at the yamen to determine what poison it was. But one thing is certain—the killer may have been a physician.”

“A physician?” Chu Ling asked in surprise. “How can you tell?”

“Your Excellency, please look here.” Su He pointed at the wrist. “This kind of fine fracture would not truly cripple a person’s hands and feet, but it would cause tearing pain to the tendons, making it impossible to exert strength…”

Wan Sanjin pointed at the skeleton. “Isn’t it obvious the murderer deliberately wanted this person to suffer to death?”

Su He slowly rose to his feet and looked at Chu Ling, his voice trembling ever so slightly. “After Uncle Hu, the guard at my family estate, was killed, the old coroner conducted the autopsy. I secretly watched from the side. He later called me over and said… the killer was a physician, because that person had severed his tendons with great precision, leaving him too weak to hold a blade. He could only be slaughtered.”

How could such a skilled physician end up mingling among mountain bandits?

Even after all these years, he still could not understand.