bgm: tension

As Su Shimeng peeled back the layers of flesh, a strong odor of earth and blood filled the air similar to the blackened jade. Mo Yixuan covered his nose as he peered into the cavity and saw a row of white bones—the ribcage.

“This stench again,” he muttered.

“Yeah, smells angry,” Su Shimeng said offhandedly.

“Angry?”

“You don’t think so? I can feel the bloodlust radiating off him like crazy.”

“It just smells like death,” Mo Yixuan creased his brows and tried to peer inside the chest cavity. “I can’t see a thing.”

“I’ll break a few of his bones,” Su Shimeng said decisively and snapped two ribs before Mo Yixuan could stop him.

“......” Where do you think we are, a biology dissection lab?

“It really is gone,” Su Shimeng said moments later. “Have a look.”

A blank-faced Mo Yixuan leaned over and checked. As predicted, the heart was missing. In fact, it seemed to have been cleanly snipped off its arteries, which were still inside the body and leading to nothing.

“No essence, no blood, no heart,” Mo Yixuan listed off the traits of the corpse. “Could a ghost have done this?”

“Not so quickly and definitely without leaving signs,” Su Shimeng replied. “The living are full of vitality; ghosts can wear them down over time with their auras of death, but it’s impossible for them to kill a healthy man overnight and take his heart.”

“What about demons?” Mo Yixuan asked next.

“Hmm...too roundabout,” Su Shimeng decided. “They wouldn’t go to all this trouble and leave the corpse behind. They’re more likely to just take the heart by force and burn the body afterwards. Eh, they’d probably burn down the whole estate for kicks.”

“And a ghost-demon hybrid?” Mo Yixuan suggested, thinking of their jade ghost.

“Now that I can’t say,” Su Shimeng admitted. “What bothers me is that we don’t even have a motive. Whoever they are, why are they doing this? Things would go faster if we knew.” He quickly patted the skin back in place and redid the robes on the corpse, making it look more or less untouched. “Thanks for the help,” he addressed the body.

Mo Yixuan stood up and backed away a few paces to get some fresh air. “I don’t like the feel of this. We need to hurry up.”

“Right,” Su Shimeng agreed. “I couldn’t get any intel from Ye Zhi, but I’ll try asking the head steward if he knows anything. You?”

“I’ve already finished my questioning, so I’ll track down Nan Wuyue,” Mo Yixuan said. “We can meet in the original meeting spot when you’re done.”

“Then wait a while so we can go together,” Su Shimeng suggested. “I won’t take long.”

Mo Yixuan thought that made sense, so he stayed outside the ancestral hall while Su Shimeng went off to track down the other man. His mind played over the particulars of the case: the ghost girl, Old Madam Su’s coma, the various haunting incidents—but couldn’t find any thread to connect them together. 

No, wait.

All of the victims he’d interviewed today were male and had some relations with the Su Clan. The Ye Family also worked with the Su’s jade business, but they were closer to a partner than a business rival. If he recalled correctly, Nan Wuyue’s list was full of males too.

So, was this a specter that only haunted men?

Then there was the smell. He was reminded of Nan Wuyue’s description of the scent lingering around Su Shiyu and the ghost girl and wondered if this was similar. Earthy and bloodthirsty with a metallic tinge, was how the teen had described it. Mo Yixuan hesitated and turned back towards the corpse. He wrinkled his nose and took a few more swiffs, finally catching a whiff of something sharper beneath all the blood and dirt.

After the initial triumph at confirming his suspicions, he only felt discomfited. To think, even cultivators had to do field investigations and deal with dead bodies…

Neither ghost nor demon...what other culprits could have done the deed?

He immediately ruled out humans, because the disappearing heart was too supernatural to manage by normal means. Cultivators could probably wrangle something, but the deed seemed too dark and petty for those sects in the Middle Realms. Then there were the Yao (妖). They were basically animals, plants, or elements of nature that had gained sentience and started cultivating Ways of their own. Sometimes they were higher beings who were banished to the Lower Realms with a beast form. 

In this world, only humans could cultivate to godhood. Animals and plants could only reach as high as divine beasts or guardians, not as gods of their own. Those who tried to aim above their station would inevitably be struck by the wrath of Heaven or deviate on their paths to be some sort of demonic beast. The collective cultivated Yao were further divided into yaojing, yaomo, and yaoguai. 

Yaojing (妖精) referred to any Yao with sentience and ran the gamut from peony spirits (plants), pipa spirits (objects), or animals. The jing in their names referred to “refinement” as most yaojing were powerful enough to maintain a human form. Yaomo (妖魔) were Yao who had willingly embraced and enlightened on a demonic path, while Yaoguai (妖怪) were simply those who preferred to stay in their true, monstrous forms as plants or beasts.

However, most of the Yao had been decimated in the Three Realms War over 200 years ago, making them a rarity in the Lower Realms today. Both the demonic and celestial sects were active participants in keeping their numbers down since their very existence was in defiance of the natural order. Stonecut Valley, being a prime source of jade for the Middle Realms, was also protected especially well.

Of course, exceptions to every rule existed. Perhaps a corrupt cultivator had done the deed, or a particular fastidious demon. Their main suspect, the demonically-tinged ghost girl, still had many unsolved mysteries of her own. The best they could do now was to keep digging for clues.

Soon enough, Su Shimeng returned with a summary of events and directions to the Ye Clan’s jade mines—the same one that had turned black for no reason earlier this month.

“The head steward couldn’t give me much details, but he did remember one thing,” Su Shimeng said as they exchanged notes. “When Ye Zhi came back from his inspection that day, he mentioned hearing a crying child.”

“A baby?” Mo Yixuan’s eyes narrowed. 

“That I don’t know, but it was definitely someone young,” Su Shimeng said. “What’s this about a baby?”

Mo Yixuan filled him in on Old Song’s story, to which Su Shimeng hastily took out a map. “Hang on, where did you say they found the kid?”

The two of them compared notes and discovered...that Old Song’s discovery was in a shaft just bordering Ye Zhi’s section of the jade mines. 

“There’s definitely something suspicious in that area,” Su Shimeng narrowed his eyes. “We’ll go there after we find your disciple.”

Mo Yixuan nodded and the two left the Ye Manor posthaste.

—

Because of Nan Wuyue’s age, his targets were mostly restricted to the elderly or very young. An established peak lord like Mo Yixuan might be able to coax a man like Old Song into talking, but the same worker would only laugh at the 15-year old if he tried the same thing. The most promising subject on Nan Wuyue’s list was the nine-year-old son of a jade mine worker who had followed his father to work one day and broken his arm after being led to a dangerous area in the jade quarry. He was currently recuperating at home, but Nan Wuyue managed to run into the child playing in front of his doorstop and stopped him to ask questions.

“You said you saw a big sister?” Nan Wuyue asked carefully. “And she told you to follow her?”

“Uh-huh,” the boy nodded as he balanced on the stones in front of his door with his arm in a sling. His house was near the outskirts of town, in a collection of small, mud-walled courtyard huts where most workers lived. As his family had no servants and his parents both worked, it was just him and Nan Wuyue in the simple dirt path in front of his gates.

“What did she look like?” Nan Wuyue asked next.

“Mm, pretty,” the boy decided after a bit. “She was wearing a skirt.”

Don’t all girls wear skirts? That wasn’t an answer at all. “A pink skirt?” he tried, thinking of the jade ghost. “And long dark hair?”

“No, not pink,” the boy shook his head. “Yellow!”

Nan Wuyue raised his eyebrows at that, but went on, “Where did the big sister take you?”

“To the quarry,” the boy went on. “That’s where I got hurt. But daddy got me out and I got a special present after.”

So far, that matched the story Nan Wuyue read. The boy claimed to have followed a spirit into the quarry grounds while the men were moving jade deposits. He’d lost his balance and fell amongst the rocks, breaking his arm. Afterwards he claimed it was a girl who led him there, but since nobody saw any girls, they assumed he’d been making up stories to get out of trouble. Later on, rumors of the ghost girl haunting the jade mines spread and everyone assumed it was a shade who’d led him astray instead.

“What kind of present?” Nan Wuyue asked.

The boy grew reticent after that, so Nan Wuyue had to bring out the candy he’d purchased for bribery to coax him into sharing. Very slowly, the boy took something out of his pocket. Upon closer inspection, Nan Wuyue saw that it was a piece of round jade, pale green and cool to the touch.

He couldn’t sense anything strange about it after examining it for a while and was about to return it when he heard a harsh voice behind his ear.

“What are you doing with my son?!”

Nan Wuyue looked back to see a tall man looming over him. He smiled as he pushed the jade into the boy’s hand. “I'm just a passerby,” he said. “Your son was telling me about his accident at the mines.”

The man immediately glared at the boy. “Who told you to come out? Get back inside the house!”

“But daddy…” the boy frowned, obviously unhappy. There was a ring of sticky sugar around his lips, clear evidence of the sweets that Nan Wuyue fed him.

Incensed by the sight, the man only bumped brusquely past Nan Wuyue and grabbed his son by the arm. “Come on, inside! Now!”

Nan Wuyue almost fell over from the sudden impact to his shoulder. He looked incredulously at the man, not understanding why he was so blunt. Maybe the topic of the accident was a touchy issue for him? 

Well, I got what I came for at least. He filed away the intel and turned to leave when there was a sudden thump. The sound reminded him of a sack of flour being dumped on the ground, but he didn’t register it until a little while later when a hoarse cry suddenly pierced through the air.

“Yu’er! Yu’er!”

The father was yelling. Sensing something amiss, Nan Wuyue turned to see the man kneeling next to the little boy who was lying on the dirt. 

Did he trip?

“What’s wrong?” Nan Wuyue asked and walked over, only to be stopped by a roar.

“Don’t get any closer!” the father screamed at him.

Nan Wuyue stilled, not because of the shout, but because he’d seen the boy clearly. It was as if the child had aged in an instant, the plump cheeks now sunken and ashen-gray, his skin completely devoid of moisture like a months-old dried out corpse. 

No way...I only turned around for a minute at most!

“You—you monster! Yu’er was only a child, how could you…!” 

“What happened?” Nan Wuyue blurted out.

“You killed him!” 

Nan Wuyue couldn’t decide what he found more ridiculous, the baseless accusation or the improbable reality lying dead on the ground. “You...that can’t be. All I did was talk to him…”

“What’s going on, what’s all the fuss?”

“That’s old Jian’s voice, isn’t it?”

“W-what’s that thing on the ground? Why is it all curled up like t-that?”

“That’s...look at that bandage and those clothes. Isn’t it little Yu’er?!”

“What?! Old Jian’s Little Yu’er?!”

“Did he say the other killed him?”

The commotion soon attracted a small crowd as faces peeked out from the surrounding huts. It was currently early afternoon and many of the families were breaking at home for lunch. Their suspicious eyes and grave expressions made Nan Wuyue inherently uneasy.

What’s with this tense atmosphere…

“Dressed in white on the Ghost Festival…” someone muttered unpleasantly as he pointed a shaking finger at the teen.

Nan Wuyue felt he had to defend himself. “I’m a cultivator,” he began. “These are mourning robes—”

“Cultivators cultivate immortality, why do they need to mourn death?”

“White all over...just like the rumors said!”

“It’s White Impermanence! He’s really come to collect our souls!”

“Those marked by ghosts will go first. Yu’er...Yu’er was…”

“Cursed! Chase him away before he takes more of our own!”

“Burn him! The undead fear fire!”

The whispers were getting more and more nonsensical. Nan Wuyue wanted them to face the facts: if he really was some undead spirit, could he be standing here in broad daylight completely unharmed? 

“Hold on a minute,” he tried, but the workers didn’t hear him. A crowd of them quickly moved to hem him in on all sides, their expressions ugly. The father of Yu’er was the first to step forward with a stricken expression on his face.

“I shouldn’t have left Yu’er alone...but you!” he snarled, “How dare you come to our house!”

What’s wrong with these people? Nan Wuyue narrowed his eyes as the crowd murmured around him. Their reactions were completely abnormal!

—

Thump!

With a satisfied burp, Old Song plunked his second tankard of wine on the table and patted his stomach in satisfaction. It had been ages since he drank such good liquor. He considered buying a third tankard to share with Fang and the others, but those bastards were such wine hogs he’d barely get a drop for himself if he did.

Heh...after this I’ll still have enough money left over to buy something nice. Mm, maybe a gift for my future missus?

The image of his darling rose in Old Song’s mind, rosy-cheeked and plump-faced. He grinned like a fool at the sight and impulsively decided to get her something nice. Maybe new silks would do? Or even jewelry? What was his darling’s favorite color again…

Old Song dug in his sleeves for the handkerchief his woman had given him a few weeks ago. It had her favorite flower embroidered on it, so maybe he could get her something with the same design. Calloused fingers fumbled until they found a familiar lump and pulled it out from his robes.

His vision swam hazily as he opened up the silk, carefully moving aside the smooth round jade stone he’d wrapped in it beforehand. It was a lucky jade apparently, something the Su Clan had been kind enough to distribute to all workers after the recent spate of hauntings. Old Song was more focused on the splotch of pink against the handkerchief that was his future wifey’s sewing.

Eh now, are these roses or camellias…

He lost himself in thought as a pleasant buzzing filled his ears. The aftereffects of the alcohol no doubt, warming his toes and fingers too. If he knew that cultivator would give him such a windfall today, he would’ve never bought that medicine. Nothing beat the chills better than good old fashioned wine!

—

Five minutes later, a Joyous Spirit waiter in charge of the upstairs customers climbed up to check on the jolly mine worker who’d ordered the shop’s most expensive wine. The manager had told him to raise the man’s spirits, maybe persuade him to buy three or even four tankards. Business was booming for the Ghost Festival and it wouldn’t hurt to get a little more profit where they could. After all, the positive energy would be a form of protection when the hungry ghosts descended at night.

From a distance, the waiter saw the old man lying facedown on the table. He seemed to have drank himself unconscious, but sometimes all it took was a strong nudge to get them awake (and drinking) again. 

“Sir,” the waiter began as he bent over Old Song’s prostrate form. “You won’t believe this, but we’re having a limited time deal on our most popular brew!” He placed a hand on the man’s shoulder and gave it a firm push. “Why not try anoth—”

Old Song’s body shifted with the motion and slid out of his seat, crashing to the floor below.

“Sir?!” Alarmed, the waiter hastened to help him up, but froze when he grabbed the man’s arm.

It was so...thin and light. His eyes drifted past the sleeve to catch sight of the fingers: shriveled and pale, the bones clearly outlined against paper-thin skin. With a scream, the waiter dropped the limb and backed away in fright. 

“D-dead?!”

Atop the table, a single piece of pale green jade rested innocently on a silk handkerchief embroidered with pink camellias.

—

{extra}

Su Shimeng: Actually, how are we supposed to find your disciple?
Mo Yixuan: ………
Mo Yixuan: How many streets are there in this town?
Su Shimeng: Enough to keep us hunting for a while.
Mo Yixuan: Then how did you find me?
Su Shimeng: I was actually gonna grab a drink before I kept looking...then I spotted you on the second floor.
Mo Yixuan: So you’re saying it was dumb luck.
Su Shimeng: Hey, luck is a skill too!

—

Ruyi

i’ve been subtle with clues but they’re there, i promise. unfortunately we don’t have the complete picture yet...but hey, maybe you can narrow down the suspects in the meantime? feel free to share your theories in the comments because heck, i’m winging my way thru my first mystery-styled story arc and i don’t know how it’s working out hahaha~ *nervous*