“What is this?”
Wen Chaosheng picked up the small bottle, then took out a few pieces of firewood, sat down by the fire, and added some wood to it.
“Intestinal Perforation Poison.”
A Shui’s voice was light as she gently rotated the horse meat skewered on a stick. Under the scorching flames, golden-yellow grease dripped from the meat, sizzling. The gamey smell from stewing had now transformed into an aroma.
All the horse meat had been torn into strands, and the clear muscle fibers further stimulated one's appetite.
“That stuff is Wangchuan’s signature poison, formulated by Tao Zhuxian. The poison is colorless, odorless, and has a taste. An ordinary person would die immediately upon drinking it, their intestines perforated and their internal organs dissolved.
This poison acts extremely fast and is only effective on humans. Other animals show no abnormal reaction after drinking it, so it is extremely difficult to detect once mixed into food and water.”
Wen Chaosheng couldn't help but ask curiously after hearing A Shui’s description:
“Since it’s colorless and odorless, how are you so sure it’s poison?”
A Shui glanced at him, picked up the bottle of poison from the ground, and gently shook it. A sloshing sound came from inside.
“Half of it was drunk.”
Wen Chaosheng’s breath caught. He had imagined A Shui having a special method for identifying poison. Although he didn't know A Shui deeply yet, her eyes were sharp and keen, seeing a vast ocean in a single grain and knowing autumn from a single leaf. He could tell A Shui was no ordinary person.
But he truly hadn't expected A Shui’s way of confirming the poison to be so… direct.
“…”
The two looked at each other for a moment. Wen Chaosheng felt his mouth dry. He racked his brain to continue A Shui’s unanswerable reply:
“Was it tasty?”
A Shui’s right eyebrow slowly lifted.
“Extremely salty.”
Wen Chaosheng was silent, warming himself by the fire for a while. As more firewood was added, the fire slowly grew larger, and the warmth it emitted even countered the strong wind blowing from outside the dilapidated temple.
“Fate is a strange thing. After waiting three years, I didn’t die, but Liu Jinshi did.”
“Who would have thought that three years ago?”
As he spoke, his tone suddenly shifted:
“However… Liu Jinshi’s death is truly peculiar.”
“According to Chun Qiong, the new Ku Hai County Magistrate who arrived today, Liu Jinshi should have been promoted and gotten rich, so there was no motive for suicide at all.”
“Unless Chun Qiong lied, and Liu Jinshi was not promoted and got rich. But as the new Magistrate, Chun Qiong has no need to lie, whether Liu Jinshi committed a crime or was removed from office for other reasons. He is the new Magistrate of Ku Hai County and holds absolute power in Ku Hai County.”
“Therefore, this analysis leads to two possibilities.”
“—Either Liu Jinshi was murdered due to a personal vendetta, and Chun Qiong has nothing to do with it.”
“—Or, Liu Jinshi’s death… was orchestrated by Chun Qiong and his team.”
Listening to Wen Chaosheng’s calm analysis, A Shui’s gaze towards him subtly changed.
“Wen Chaosheng, I didn’t realize you could investigate cases?”
Wen Chaosheng shook his head:
“This isn’t investigating a case, just a simple analysis.”
A Shui sat up straighter, her voice seeming to become more serious as she said to Wen Chaosheng:
“Then which situation do you think is more likely?”
Wen Chaosheng replied without hesitation:
“The latter.”
A Shui:
“How so?”
The firelight in Wen Chaosheng’s eyes emitted danger.
“The timing is too coincidental.”
“One just died, and the other arrived.”
“Of course… that’s just my wishful thinking. I have no evidence to confirm it.”
“Didn’t you also discover a problem when you stopped for so long at Liu Jinshi’s mansion this morning?”
A Shui’s gaze shifted to the corner of the dilapidated temple, where a stack of weapons was piled.
“Actually, I went to Liu Jinshi’s mansion last night.”
“Some foolish assassins, driven mad by money, came looking for me. I buried them in the snow behind the dilapidated temple. One female assassin had her heart on the right side. I pierced her lung with a sword, and she didn't die then, so I chased her into the county town and killed Eleven more.”
“Later, there was a person holding a lamp. He didn't make a move, so I didn't kill him.”
“This morning, Liu Jinshi died.”
“I guessed it was related to Wangchuan, but I wasn't sure, so I investigated the scene. What I can confirm is that Liu Jinshi indeed committed suicide.”
“But the facts align with your deduction: his suicide was not his own idea, but he was forced to die.”
“The reason he chose to hang himself was intentional on Liu Jinshi’s part.”
Wen Chaosheng was stunned by the words:
“Intentional?”
“Why?”