The night was cool as water, and a crescent moon hung low.

The mass grave was silent. A few people quietly hid in the nearby bamboo grove, eating dried meat by the light of ghostly fire.

“It’s a cold night. Girl, have a sip of wine to ward off the chill.”

“In June, A’gu, and you call this a cold night?” Despite her words, Shi Buyu still took a sip. She didn’t like alcohol, but one or two flasks wouldn’t get her drunk.

After a small sip, fearing A’gu might urge her to drink more, Shi Buyu turned to Yan Shian. “Where are your people hiding?”

“Nearby.” Before Yan Ze could stop him, Yan Shian put a piece of dried meat into his mouth. This was the first time he’d eaten without someone testing for poison first. Strangely, it tasted especially good.

Shi Buyu glanced at Yan Ze, whose face showed worry but didn’t know how to speak up. She shoved another strip of dried meat toward Yan Shian’s mouth.

Yan Shian paused, then bit down and took it.

Yan Ze: “……”

Shi Buyu laughed and collapsed onto A’gu.

Yan Shian lowered his gaze—the strip of dried meat seemed even tastier than the last one.

It wasn’t long before silence fell again. Shi Buyu grew restless. She leaned against A’gu and stared at Yan Shian for a while, then suddenly leaned in and whispered, “There’s a little ghost on your shoulder!”

Yan Shian brushed his shoulder off and asked earnestly, “Is it still there?”

“……” Shi Buyu flopped back down. Seriously—what’s the point of being so fearless?

Yan Shian also lay down, still chewing his dried meat leisurely. Ghosts were just ugly in appearance; it was people who had hearts like vipers. If one couldn’t win against them while they were alive and ended up dumped in a mass grave, what was there to fear once they became ghosts?

No one knew how long they waited, but finally, something stirred.

Shi Buyu watched a few wild dogs trot over, sniffing here and there as if they knew the place well. They made their way to the mass grave and began devouring the corpses.

They had seen that spot before—those corpses wrapped in mats were already mutilated beyond recognition. Now they knew why.

Hearing the sound, Yan Shian felt tight in his chest. He glanced at the girl beside him, but the mischievous side she had shown over the past few days was gone. Her face was cold, without a trace of sympathy. She even tossed another strip of dried meat into her mouth.

After a while, the wild dogs seemed to have had their fill and trotted away the same way they had come. Silence returned to the mass grave.

Shi Buyu lay back down. “We’ll wait another half-hour. If no one comes, then they won’t be coming tonight.”

“I’ll leave someone here to keep watch.”

Shi Buyu didn’t object. Missing this chance meant a long wait for the next. She added, “If they really show up, have them report immediately. I want to see it for myself.”

“Understood.”

That night yielded nothing. But after staking out the place for three more nights, they finally got what they were waiting for.

The three of them silently watched as several people skillfully lifted up a few straw mats and tossed them into the mass grave without even a glance, then pushed their cart and quickly left.

After waiting a bit longer, Yan Ze came forward to report, “Young Master, they’re gone. No tails.”

Only then did the three rise. Wan Xia took out a handkerchief to cover Shi Buyu’s face and reminded Yan Shian, “Young Master Yan, cover up as well, in case anything dirty or diseased gets on you.”

Yan Ze pulled out a handkerchief, but seeing his young master had already covered his mouth and nose, he used it on himself instead.

Five bodies had been thrown down, all wrapped in straw mats. When tossed, they scattered loosely.

Shi Buyu squatted beside the first body, pressing her face cloth tightly. Wan Xia lit a firestarter and squatted next to her, handing her a dagger.

Shi Buyu accepted it and first carefully examined the face. There were two knife wounds, the skin torn open, but not much blood. The expression was twisted in agony—clear evidence of extreme pain at death. The tongue was protruding, and there were marks around the neck—it appeared they had been strangled. She lifted the outer garment with the dagger. It was just rough brown cloth, the kind commoners and servants wore.

She checked the other four bodies—men and women. Their deaths were similar.

Yan Shian asked in a low voice, “Strangled?”

Shi Buyu’s eyes moved across the five faces. A thread of thought floated in her mind but she couldn’t quite grasp it. She asked, “Besides the strangulation marks on their necks and the facial injuries, do these five have anything else in common?”

Yan Shian looked more carefully. “If their faces hadn’t been slashed, they’d all be considered rather good-looking.”

Good-looking? A flash of insight struck Shi Buyu. She pulled open more of their clothing—each body bore various wounds. With a clearer direction now, she aimed the dagger lower.

Wan Xia quickly grabbed her hand. “Rest, young lady. I’ll do it.”

“I want to see with my own eyes…”

Wan Xia shook her head. “Be good. Let me.”

Yan Shian, guessing what she was looking for, reached out. “I’ll handle the men.”

Shi Buyu looked at him. “You know what I’m looking for?”

“Yes.”

She handed him the dagger. “Check carefully.”

Yan Shian nodded. Avoiding Yan Ze’s outstretched hand, he saw that Shi Buyu had turned away and A’gu was blocking the view. Only then did he begin inspecting the three male corpses’ lower garments.

Yan Ze wouldn’t allow his young master to touch corpses directly. He wrapped his hands in his coat and turned the bodies one by one for him. Even he felt sick seeing the bloodied lower bodies—the torture had been beyond cruel.

Once the clothes were replaced, Yan Shian handed the dagger to Wan Xia and returned to stand beside Shi Buyu. “All were mutilated before death. There isn’t a piece of intact flesh left down there.”

Shi Buyu showed no surprise. After A’gu checked the two female corpses and found the same result, she said, “With wounds this severe, there should have been a lot of blood. But their clothes were clean—it must mean they were changed after death. And their facial injuries too—if slashed while alive, there would’ve been blood everywhere. But look—there’s not. Were there any identifying marks on them?”

Yan Ze, who had been checking while turning the bodies, replied, “None that I saw.”

“No household could keep dying like this and still have people to use without acquiring new ones.”

Shi Buyu walked out, silent along the way. Only once they returned to their lodgings did she speak again. “Have someone watch the Zhu family’s servants—see which route they use to leave the city. Getting corpses out of the city requires assistance. With Zhu Ling only a fifth-rank retired official, he shouldn’t have that kind of power.”

Yan Shian nodded. “I’ll have someone investigate the people Zhu Ling is connected with more thoroughly.”

“We need to find a way into his home.” Shi Buyu thought aloud, “He likes poetry and literature, and often socializes with scholars. Could we get him to host a poetry gathering? If he does, can you get in? My seventh brother’s always hanging out with scholars writing sappy verses. He should be able to get in.”

“I can get in,” Yan Shian quickly said, seeing a breakthrough. “He has a nephew who attends the same academy as me, and is quite close with one of my friends. It shouldn’t be hard to make it happen through them.”

Shi Buyu didn’t insist further. Having outsiders do the work was, of course, better than burdening their own people.