Chapter 444

Faced with censure and criticism from everyone, I stared at the iron walnut for a few seconds and suddenly burst into laughter.

"He’s laughing! What a cold-blooded monster!" yelled a villager.

Song Jie shook my arm, "Song Yang-gege, what’s wrong with you?"

"It’s really fascinating,” I sneered. “There weren’t any clues before but now there is one."

"I have a message for one of you,” I said, scanning the crowd. “I already know your identity and purpose and I’m coming for you!"

My threat was half bluff but I observed each and every person’s microexpressions. Someone quietly left quietly as if guilty. Unfortunately, I didn’t catch who it was.

The village chief interrupted, “Young man, this has just gotten more complicated. I’m afraid you’ll have to explain yourself."

"We should ask the elders to preside over the matter!" suggested a villager.

"No, no,” the villager waved his hand. “We will handle the matter ourselves. We shouldn’t disturb the elders."

Walking up to me, the village chief tried to remove the iron walnut from my hand. Since I was afraid of leaving fingerprints, I asked Song Jie for a handkerchief and carefully wrapped the evidence.

A bunch of villagers surrounded us for fear that I would flee.

"Where are we going?" I whispered to Song Jie.

"The ceremonial hall is the place where the village decides on internal affairs." Song Jie frowned and anxiously muttered, "Why hasn’t my mother come forward?"

"And what will that do?" I asked.

"Are you silly? My mother is the current head of the martial Songs. If she’s here, we won’t have to be so passive," explained Song Jie.

"Song Xingchen, you don’t have to come with us. Find out who slaughtered chickens tonight!" I instructed.

In fact, the blood on the iron walnut wasn’t human but chicken blood which wasn’t a smart idea. Since the entire village would gather in the ceremonial hall, it was the perfect time to look for clues.

Song Xingchen agreed to check the village while I followed the village chief and the others to a simple, unadorned two-story building. As soon as I entered, I saw the plaque "Leaving A Good Reputation For Generations To Come" hung on the wall. The village chief sat at the top while the other Song family descendants stood on both sides.

"Song Yang, tell me what you did today. Why were you there when the fire started? How did the iron walnut get into your pocket?" the village chief interrogated.

"I visited Granny Yan with Song Jie and Song Xingchen in the morning to inquire about a murder that happened in the village eight years ago."

"What murder?" asked the village chief.

Much to everyone’s shock, I detailed Granny Yan’s little trick with the bones and the body in the banyan tree. The villagers stirred in a noisy discussion once more, prompting the village chief to knock the table. "Where do you think you are? Silence! Song Yang, continue!"

"Eight years ago, a man faked his death in this village. He was probably trying to avoid something,” I began. “When he came back, the person who knew of the truth killed him and hid his body in the banyan tree. Granny Yan has a certain relationship with the murderer so she did two things–piece together a skeleton and declare the banyan tree sacred so people would be afraid to get too close."

"That’s just speculation," said the village chief. "Why do you think it’s murder?"

"If it wasn’t so, the murderer wouldn’t have to go to such lengths! Additionally, the corpse in the banyan tree shows signs of struggle, indicating that the victim was still alive when he was stuffed inside."

The elders ordered me to investigate the case, yet Song Heting never showed up even after such a huge commotion. My intuition told me that the elders and Song Heting were well aware of the facts of the case but couldn’t come forward due to certain reasons. Thus, they needed an outsider to reveal the truth.

There must be secrets hidden within this village!

As the village chief hesitated, another villager standing next to him said, "Don’t change the subject. Where’s Granny Yan?"

"I don’t know, but if I’m allowed to investigate, I’ll be able to find her!" I replied.

"Oh, stop pretending! The iron walnut is clearly on you. You must have cut it out of her stomach."

"This iron walnut..."

The man took advantage of my sudden silence to gain the upper hand in this argument. "Tell us, what about the iron walnut?"

Song Jie tugged my sleeve and whispered, "There’s no need to be afraid. We’re innocent. Just tell them the truth."

"I don’t know," I muttered.

The man wanted to continue but the village chief rapped his knuckles against the table, “That’s enough. Granny Yan’s whereabouts are still unknown. Before we accuse anyone of anything, there must be evidence. We can make a decision when we find Granny Yan!"

Right then, Song Xingchen came sauntering in with a dead chicken in his hand. Seeing my delight, the village chief asked, "Song Xingchen, what is the meaning of this?"

"The blood on the iron walnut is chicken blood and it’s rather fresh so I asked Song Xingchen to find out if any villagers slaughtered a chicken tonight. Those who did fall under suspicion," I explained.

Then, turning to Song Xingchen, I asked, "Whose chicken is this?"

Song Xingchen scanned the room and pointed at the man who had just accused me. Panicking, he cried, "That’s slander! How could I do such a thing..."

"What’s your name?" I added.

"This is ridiculous. How did the blame suddenly fall upon me?" he badgered. “This chicken does belong to me, but I was drinking at Dazhuang’s house tonight. Dazhuang can verify that."

Another villager spoke out to prove the man’s innocence. It turned out the murderer was cunning enough not to slaughter their own chicken.

I picked up the dead chicken and examined the wound with Cave Vision. There were some rust and tiny skin tissues on the wound, suggesting it was caused by a dull knife that hadn’t been used for many years. I suspected the knife could still be found in the murderer’s home. Even if it was wiped clean, I could still obtain clues from the knife.

"Sir, I’d like to investigate each home!" I suggested.

The village chief frowned and the others raised the roof with their protests. "Is he trying to fool us with his flimsy act?!"

"Clearly we were talking about the iron walnut. How did we digress to the knife now?"

"We’re all friends and family. He’s the only outsider here. He must have done it!"

A sense of powerlessness overwhelmed me. This was exactly what I feared most when investigating a case–what could’ve been open-and-shut was turned into a convoluted mess due to the disjointed ways of the world.

"Silence!” the village chief slammed the table. “Song Yang, there’s no evidence to prove your innocence at the moment. If I let you go, the villagers will be upset. I’ve decided to place you in the holding cell. We’ll ask the elders for their opinion tomorrow morning."

Two burly young men immediately came to arrest me but were stopped by Song Xingchen and Song Jie who stood in their way.

𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Don’t you dare!" threatened Song Xingchen.

One of the young men clenched his fists and accused, "Song Xingchen, are you really helping an outsider over your relatives?"

"Have you forgotten who we are? Do you dare disrespect your elders?" added the other.

Unresigned to the situation, I gritted my teeth. If we played along to the villagers’ tune, the murder would never be solved and I would be falsely implicated in Granny Yan’s disappearance. Backed into a corner, I activated the Eyes of Yama. Upon noticing my eyes, the two men screamed in horror and shivered as they quickly backed away. "No... That’s impossible. How could he have the Eyes of Yama..."

The others watched in utter shock. The Eyes of Yama hadn’t appeared in any of the Song family descendants for hundreds of years which made it almost a legend.

The village chief blurted in awe, "Young man, who exactly are you?"

"Sir, I’m just an ordinary criminal consultant. Since this has completely spun out of hand, I’d like to simplify things. Let’s call in the police and discover the truth!"