Chapter 10: Drowning

Magistrate Hu’s expression grew grim, for aside from the corpses sprawled on the ground, none of the constables assigned to guard the scene were present. Only now did they come rushing back from all corners of the Wang family estate. Their pouches bulged at their waists, and one constable, in his haste, lost a string of pearls that tumbled from his clothes, snapping apart and sending the lustrous orbs rolling in every direction. He immediately dropped to the ground, scrambling after them.

Just as Magistrate Hu was about to reprimand these derelict constables, the dense crowd of several hundred onlookers outside surged into the courtyard. His face turned livid with anger as he bellowed, “Stop!” One had to admit, his magistrate’s robe and hat still commanded considerable authority; the crowd halted abruptly in their tracks. They had little choice, for if they pressed any further, those at the front would have trampled the bodies.

“Stop pushing.”
“Don’t shove from the back.”
“Li the Scab, quit shoving! Do it again and I’ll give you a beating.”

Though the Wang family’s courtyard was spacious, two or three hundred people packed in still took up much of the space. Those at the back, unable to see the corpses, could only stare at the heads in front of them and tried to push forward, filling the place with chaos and clamor until the crime scene resembled a marketplace.

Naturally, some shrewd ones took advantage of the confusion and slipped off, sneaking toward the estate’s rear warehouses and other secluded corners.

Fang Yue was among the crowd. Though not squeezed into the very front, he was near enough and, being tall, could see over those ahead. He recalled the idle chatter with the inn’s servant last night, who had mentioned that the Wang household had been haunted. Servants and maids claimed to have seen a woman in red appear in the rear courtyard several nights in a row, leaving the family terrified and unsettled.

Later, a master from Guangyuan Temple was invited to perform rites to expel the ghost. Only then did tranquility return to the household.

But now, the Wang family was annihilated—clearly, something had changed.

“Could it be because of that woman in red?” Fang Yue was here not just to satisfy his curiosity but to seek the truth. In his nightmares, monsters and ghosts ran rampant—such horrors were likely in his future, so the more he understood, the better prepared he would be.

Despite the carnage, there was no heavy stench of blood in the Wang estate, only a faint chill that seeped through the air, eerie and unsettling—though perhaps it was just his imagination.

A sudden, gut-wrenching scream pierced the commotion, bringing the noisy crowd to a halt. Fang Yue’s heart tightened as he looked toward the source. It turned out a man at the very front had been shoved and toppled over, landing face-first atop a corpse. In his panic, he clawed frantically, pulling away the shroud and finding his face nearly pressed to the corpse’s own—no wonder he screamed in terror.

“What the devil? Nearly scared me to death.”

“I thought it was a ghost! Gave me a real fright.”

“You’re a grown man, how can you be so cowardly?”

“Wait, look at that corpse on the ground—his expression…”

The man who had fallen was so shaken his limbs turned to jelly. He scrambled clumsily to his feet, and without his body blocking the view, the onlookers could clearly see the corpse with its shroud half thrown aside.

It was a middle-aged man, dressed as a servant of the Wang family. His features were twisted in agony, veins bulged across his forehead and hands, his skin pallid as if soaked in water for a long time.

“How did he die so horribly?”

“Looks like he drowned.”

“Perhaps a vengeful spirit claimed him—the Wangs were haunted not long ago.”

“Gives me the chills, just looking at it.”

The onlookers fell gradually silent, unnerved by the corpse’s ghastly expression and the house’s haunted reputation. A sense of unease crept over everyone.

“The coroner is here, make way at the front!” someone called from behind. At the word, the crowd hurriedly parted.

The coroner was an elderly man, trailed by a young apprentice carrying a wooden chest.

“Commoner Cao Dekun pays respects to His Honor.”

“Commoner Cai Jin pays respects to His Honor as well.”

Magistrate Hu said, “Coroner Cao, get started at once.” He sounded impatient—so many bodies in the courtyard made lingering here most uncomfortable.

“Yes, Your Honor.” Coroner Cao Dekun replied, setting to his work with his apprentice.

“Step back, all of you, give Coroner Cao space for the examination!” Head Constable Li shouted, as several yamen runners worked to keep the crowd from pressing in too close.

In truth, Head Constable Li would have preferred to drive the onlookers out altogether, so they wouldn’t be in the way, but Magistrate Hu had given no such order, and they were woefully shorthanded.

If they tried to force the crowd out, the townsfolk would surely rely on their numbers to resist. Without enough men to maintain order, things could only descend further into chaos.

Truth be told, Head Constable Li’s lack of manpower was not entirely genuine—it was just that—

He eyed a few constables standing off to the side, their pouches bulging. When it came time to divide the spoils, Li was sure to take the lion’s share, so he couldn’t risk having them jostle with the crowd, lest their ill-gotten gains spill out and cause a scandal.

Even the yamen runners maintaining order were half-hearted, their eyes darting jealously toward the constables, their minds clearly elsewhere.

Li had no choice but to speak up, “What’s the matter, haven’t you eaten? Stand firm and do your jobs—keep order. Don’t let anyone push up and collide with His Honor. We’re all brothers here—do you think you’ll be left out of the rewards?”

His meaning was plain enough: when the spoils were shared, the yamen runners would get their cut—those who witnessed would get a share. Otherwise, if they returned empty-handed, resentment would fester and trouble would surely follow. Better to keep everyone content.

While this was going on, Coroner Cao began his autopsies.

He crouched before the middle-aged man whose shroud had been thrown aside, carefully examining the ears, nose, mouth, hands, and feet, then moved on to another corpse, lifting the shroud.

This next body was a young woman, clad only in a peach-pink silk bodice, her figure curvaceous and alluring.

But her face was twisted in a deathly grimace, her once-pretty features distorted, veins bulging on her forehead and hands, her skin pale as if steeped in water for ages. Her death closely mirrored that of the middle-aged man.

The young apprentice assisting Coroner Cao blushed fiercely, not knowing where to look.

“What a pity—she was a beauty,” someone in the crowd lamented, eyes lingering shamelessly on the body.

“That’s Master Wang’s fourth concubine! Even alive, she’d never look at you, Li the Scab,” someone teased.

Perhaps concerned by the woman’s state of undress and the crowd’s size, Coroner Cao performed only a cursory inspection before covering her again and moving to the next corpse.

The following body was a young man, his features likewise twisted, veins bulging, skin deathly pale as if soaked in water.

Coroner Cao’s expression shifted subtly. He bent once more, swiftly uncovering several more corpses in succession.

Now the onlookers, too, sensed something was deeply amiss, for each body bore identical signs of death.

Magistrate Hu felt a cold shiver creep up his spine. “Coroner Cao, what have you found?” he asked.

Cao Dekun’s face was clouded with doubt as he replied cautiously, “Your Honor, the hair, clothing, and skin of these bodies are all dry, yet based on their features, my preliminary judgment is that they all drowned.”