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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 446: Human Skin Puppet (Part Nine)
What was Xie Ke planning to use this cave for? It couldn't be that he anticipated his own death and found a burial site to set himself on fire, could it? Ling Juan immediately entered the cave to examine the charred corpse, while Qin Jian and I conducted a thorough investigation of the surrounding area.
We then verified the time and location of Xie Ke's incident.
Before the incident at Gousi, Xie Ke had been in his hometown, Anong Village. The shroud showed no signs of decomposition, and there were no suspicious items aside from Xie Ke. We dug deep but found no information regarding any other bodies. The shroud lay on the ground, covered with some dirt.
Using the magnifying glass that Qin Jian had brought, I examined each detail until an inconspicuous thread caught my attention. Ling Juan handed me a pair of tweezers, and as I picked it up, it looked familiar—wasn't this the same high-quality hair we found at both the first and second scenes?
The same strand of high-quality hair appeared at three different locations, which was quite unusual and eerie.
Once Ling Juan finished the autopsy, her findings left us all in disbelief.
Xie Ke hadn't died from being burned; rather, he had been burned after his death, leaving his body in such a disfigured state.
Was this human intervention?
Qin Jian prepared to contact the bureau to report our findings but had to climb to a higher spot to get a signal. The call was intermittent; he could barely hear anything on either end, making him fidgety like an ant on a hot pan.
In the end, we decided to take Xie Ke's body with us, which put Thank You, Master in a difficult position.
Why?
Thank You, Master’s hometown was adjacent to an ethnic minority area, and their burial customs were somewhat similar to those of the minorities.
Considering Xie Ke's age, he was an unmarried young man. In local culture, this situation represented the purest form of life—untainted by worldly corruption—so he could only be given a Tree Burial.
A Tree Burial involves wrapping the body in clean cloth and inviting a High Monk to perform rituals and chants before hanging it on a large tree trunk in a designated forest for such burials.
There were various burial methods here, and the Xie family would never agree to move their deceased member elsewhere. Years ago, when Thank You, Master married outside his community, his family considered it a great dishonor. Now that his son had returned to his roots and died locally, the Xie family had ancestral halls. News of Xie Ke's death had spread long ago; if it weren't for Thank You, Master’s constant vigilance here, his body would have already been taken to the ancestral hall.
What should we do? This was a matter of ethnic unity. Given the large number of Xie family members, relying solely on Qin Jian and me wouldn't be enough to exert any deterrent effect. As a temporary measure, we could only follow local customs for Xie Ke's burial; as long as we preserved all relevant data to take back with us, everything else was secondary.
The designated burial forest was shrouded in mystery. All male members of the Xie family appeared except for women. Thank You, Master wrapped Xie Ke's body in clean cloth without any additional covering and then wrapped it again in ceremonial fabric. Four strong men lifted him up while a High Monk led several disciples behind him, chanting Supernatural Scriptures as they proceeded toward Deadwood Forest.
The vast expanse of Deadwood Forest seemed endless. At its edge stood an elderly caretaker of the deceased bones—reportedly a monk from a nearby temple—who had lived there for many years. This area was known as a Dead Zone; even Baymax wouldn’t dare step further inside, especially not at night.
I stood at a distance with Qin Jian and Ling Juan, feeling the cold wind biting at my neck and seeping into my pants, leaving me shivering all over.
"Are those four people from an ethnic minority?" Ling Juan whispered to me and Qin Jian, noticing the strange attire of the four individuals.
Behind us stood quite a few others, including some from the Han ethnicity. Worried about causing a scene, Qin Jian shushed Ling Juan to stop her curiosity.
Images of Xie Ke flashed through my mind. I recalled his voice when he promised to come immediately; it still echoed in my ears. That must be his spirit! Though his body was gone, his soul had long returned to City A.
City A was where Xie Ke had lived since childhood; he could only be there. The corpse before us was merely a foul shell.
Xie Ke's funeral concluded swiftly. His grandmother did not appear, nor did I see any other women from the Xie family. This was the rule of funerals: women were not allowed to attend Xie Ke's service.
The few of us returned to the gray-tiled house with Thank You, Master. Xie Ke's grandmother seemed indifferent to her sorrow or whatever else she felt; she remained as usual, repeating to Thank You, Master, "Xie Mu, you have four friends here looking for you. I told them you are in the back mountain with Ke'er."
Thank You, Master understood that Old Mother was getting forgetful. We were clearly three people, yet she insisted there were four. He explained, "Mother, they are three people, not four."
Mother Xie ignored her son's explanation and continued, "Xie Mu, your four friends are all from big cities. Treat them well; if you have goat milk, bring it out. We will roast a whole lamb tonight."
"Mother, they are three people, not four."
Hearing this, Mother Xie pointed at us and said, "Four people, four people! I'm not that confused yet."
Ling Juan glanced nervously left and right; there were only five of us in the room: us three plus Thank You, Master and Mother Xie.
Before long, Thank You, Master's other brothers arrived along with their wives.
They seemed ready for a family meeting. Qin Jian, Ling Juan, and I took the hint and got up to leave since there was no place for us to sit but in the car.
Ling Juan asked, "Thank You, Master’s Old Mama is really intimidating."
Qin Jian replied, "What's so scary? That's just how old people are."
"Ah, Old Mama has had it tough; she gave birth to so many children. Thank You, Master is the eldest; he has seven or eight siblings beneath him."
I remained silent as I listened to their conversation.
Thank You, Master's family was large; according to his Old Mother, she had given birth to thirteen children in total, nine of whom survived. He was the eldest while his siblings were scattered far and wide. This time Xie Ke returned home felt like it was destined by fate.
Xie Ke rarely returned to his hometown. When he was younger, he came back a few times with his wife and children, but due to work commitments, he seldom visited home afterward.
His siblings had a lot of grievances against him, and with the recent incident involving Xie Ke, they all believed it was karma catching up to him. At the same time, these siblings hoped that Thank You, Master would provide a concrete explanation to their elderly mother, specifically by contributing some money for her support.
Thank You, Master had come prepared this time but never expected that he wouldn't be able to bring his son back home successfully. While the Xie Family was preparing for the Tree Burial, Thank You, Master quietly carved a wooden plaque for Xie Ke's spirit, intending to take it away discreetly. He also wanted me to chant a spell to guide Xie Ke's soul back to City A.
The family meeting of the Xie Family was ongoing, and Qin Jian and Ling Juan's conversation shifted from the Xie Family matters to several cases they were discussing.
I was jolted awake from my nap by Qin Jian calling my name. He asked me, "Lao Qi, do you have any leads on this return trip?"
"What do you mean?"
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