It had already been two hours since the bridge had broken. For someone to have been able to arrive in this short a time really surprised them.
Qin Fang ran to open the door. It was indeed Bai Shui, but her clothes were scratched and her hair was disordered. She looked a little raggedy. His heart ached for her. “Shui Shui, what happened to you?”
Seeing that he kept on staring, Bai Shui reached out to brush back some stray strands of hair and said, “I’m okay. When I was climbing up from below, I got hooked by some ivy tree branches.”
Qin Fang was surprised. “You climbed up the cliff empty-handed?”
Bai Shui immediately laughed. “You think I’m a spider? Able to climb rocks vertically?”
Ming Yue also came over and lifted Bai Shui’s sleeves and collar. Seeing that there were no wounds, she said, “But the only way to get to the top of the mountain is by crossing a suspension bridge. According to the time you appeared, the bridge should have already been broken by then. How did you get here?”
“When I got to the suspension bridge, I found that the bridge was broken, so I went down the mountain and met an old woodcutter in the middle of the mountain. He said there was a steep, narrow passage. I thought my skills were enough to make it, so I followed the road he pointed to. I didn’t expect for it to be a shortcut that was faster than taking the suspension bridge road. “
Qin Fang frowned and scolded, “Why did you come up here when it was so dangerous?”
Bai Shui looked at him. “I promised you I would come.”
Qin Fang blinked. If the others hadn’t been present, he would have hugged her and spun her around. Instead, Qin Fang rubbed her head. “Don’t do such a dangerous thing in the future. How would I be able to live if you had had an accident?”
Han Le and He Xiaofang looked at them. These two men, what were they doing…
Bai Shui also saw that outsiders were present, so she caught his hand and put it down. Ming Yue said, “That means we can leave from there.”
“No.” Bai Shui looked at the five people in front of her and said, “That passage is a small cave and it is very narrow. Of the people here, only Ming Yue and myself would be able cross it. Furthermore, it’s more dangerous to go down the mountain than it is to go up. Even I can’t guarantee that I can head down safely. Furthermore, Ming Yue doesn’t know martial arts, so it would be even more dangerous…”
Su Yunkai asked, “Did you have anyone come to repair the bridge?”
Bai Shui nodded, “Yes. I asked the old woodcutter to go to the yamen.”
Fortunately, the people at the bottom of the mountain had been informed. Otherwise, they might be trapped for a long time and end up exhausting all their supplies. Even if the murderer did not commit further murders, the people would probably go stir-crazy. Su Yunkai said, “Thank you for your hard work. Go to the kitchen to get something to eat. You should also wash up.”
When Bai Shui had seen Qin Fang, she had felt relieved. Immediately following was the surge of exhaustion from her climb up the mountain. The fatigue seeped into each of her bones. As she headed to the kitchen with Qin Fang, she found that the four people had all followed. “What are you all doing?” she asked.
Ming Yue said helplessly, “We made a rule that we must follow in any situation…Shui Shui, a homicide occurred here. When we were about to go down the mountain, we found that the bridge had been cut off. Lord Su ordered everyone to stay in groups of five.”
“No wonder all five of you haven’t slept. It’s nearly morning and you were still chatting.” Bai Shui then asked, “My lord, do you have any thoughts?”
Su Yunkai replied, “Not yet. I’m going to check the area again.”
Bai Shui immediately said, “I am not hungry, nor am I tired. Let’s not waste any time. Let’s go immediately.”
Qin Fang pulled Bai Shui back. “Not tired? After going up and down the mountain, I was already so tired that I felt like my legs had broken in half.”
Bai Shui didn’t listen and shook off his hand. She said, “My lord, let’s go.”
Qin Fang couldn’t win over her stubbornness. He could only follow her to Yu Xianghong’s room.
Since they had been talking outside for such a long time, the people in the next room had heard the movements. When they came out to have a look, they found that there was one more than five. Shen Wei was startled. “Ghost, ghost!”
Bai Shui looked over and was about to respond when Yu Fenglin said, “He’s not a ghost. He’s a Kaifeng yamen constable. Eh? How can you be here? You weren’t among the guests tonight.”
Su Yunkai paused. Yu Fenglin recognized Bai Shui? After entering the capital, Su Yunkai had reported directly to the Ministry of Rites. Even the people in the yamen didn’t know that he recommended Bai Shui. How did Yu Fenglin know?
Had Yu Fenglin investigated Su Yunkai and the people around him?
Bai Shui saluted and said, “I am a constable of the Kaifeng yamen. My name is Bai Shui. I was invited by Lord Su to come to the villa. Unexpectedly, when I headed up the mountain, I found that the suspension bridge had been broken. On the way back down the mountain, I met an old woodcutter who often came nearby and got pointed to a road here.”
As soon he heard this, Shen Wei was overjoyed. “Where is the road? Take me there quickly.”
“The road is southeast of the entrance to the villa. Half a mile down, there is a thorn bush one person high, but that road…”
“Splendid. There is a way out!” People in the other room also heard the sounds and came out. Jin Fugui said in a loud voice, “I’m going to go too. I don’t want to stay in this terrible place for a moment longer. Even looking at the people here disgusts me!”
Shen Wei knew that Jin Fugui was talking about him, but he pretended he hadn’t heard.
Bai Shui, who had been interrupted, said, “I’m afraid that’s not possible because the road is very dangerous. There is a huge stone in the way. It cannot be moved. The hole is so small that only a petite girl would be able to cross.”
Shen Wei was disheartened when he heard this. Jin Fugui also flung his sleeves and said angrily, “What bad luck.”
Jin Fugui turned around and left. When Shen Wei saw that he was not returning to his own room, Shen Wei demanded, “Where are you going?”
“To relieve myself!”
The rest of Jin Fugui’s group was his servants. As Jin Fugui walked away, they headed over in unison. Jin Fugui, who was already upset, said angrily, “Don’t follow me.”
The servants immediately stopped. It was only with Su Yunkai’s slight nod that they had the courage to continue following.
As Jin Fugui’s angry shouts gradually faded into the distance, Shen Wei said, “If we aren’t able to leave, where were you all going?”
The words carried a little vigilance, as though Bai Shui had deceived him and was only planning on delivering her own people. Su Yunkai knew that Shen Wei was cautious and selfish. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so cold and shallow towards Jin Fugui. “We’re going to the troupe leader’s room. Is Mr. Shen coming as well?”
Shen Wei looked at them carefully and then looked at Yu Fenglin. Thinking that they wouldn’t have the gall to escape alone, he said, “I’m not going. Lord Su can go.”
When Su Yunkai and the other five arrived at Yu Xianghong’s room again, the body was still lying on the ground, as it had been when found. The only difference was that the blood had dried more, turning a reddish-black.
They didn’t find anything new here; everything had already been seen the first time.
Ming Yue noticed that Su Yunkai’s brows were tightly knitted, as though he was thinking with urgency. This kind of expression was very rare. Ming Yue said gently, “We have time. We will eventually find clues.”
Su Yunkai sighed. “I’m anxious.”
“Anxious? The leader in charge of the troupe has already passed away and the murderer is trapped in the villa and can’t escape. “
“Have you ever thought about why the murderer still cut off the bridge and trapped everybody— including himself—here, even after murdering Yu Xianghong?”
Ming Yue thought about it and then said in shock, “Yu Xianghong is not the only target.”
Qin Fang was startled and said, “There will be other deaths?”
Su Yunkai slowly nodded. “If we don’t stop the murderer, that will be a possibility.”
“But how do you know, brother-in-law?”
Su Yunkai replied, “If the murderer only wanted to kill the troupe leader, why cut off the suspension bridge? If the suspension bridge is broken, we will all be forced to stay at the villa. It’s easy for the murderer to kill anyone here.”
Qin Fang suddenly said, “So that’s why you proposed having groups of five.”
“If the murderer wanted to perform the crime again, he would have to leave his group. If we find out who leaves their group, that person will be the top suspect.” Then, Su Yunkai shook his head. “However, we can’t wait any longer. We must catch the murderer before there is another victim.”
“The murderer makes quick work of his targets and there are no traces left on the scene. There are more than seventy people in the villa. It will not be easy to catch him.”
Su Yunkai also knew that. Thus, he had come to Yu Xianghong’s room again, trying to find more clues. However, as Qin Fang had said, the murderer was capable. Little could be inferred from what the naked eye had seen in this room. “The murderer planned everything out. Whether it was coming to the resort, murdering the troupe leader, or cutting off the suspension bridge, it was all planned in advance. This person… must be an organized person.”
“Aside from this group, those other people are strangers to us.” Then, Qin Fang suddenly shouted, “Jin Fugui?”
Su Yunkai had also thought of him, but he quickly rejected that possibility. If it was Jin Fugui, he would not have been the last person to arrive at the crime scene. That would be too suspicious. Su Yunkai suddenly remembered something. He left the room to ask Han Le and He Xiaofang, who were waiting in the courtyard, “You said that your teacher knew Shen Wei long ago and that the troupe was privately raised by Shen Wei?”
Han Le nodded, “Yes. When I first joined the troupe twelve years ago, it had already been privately raised by Master Shen.”
Su Yunkai felt that it was time for him to ask Shen Wei who Yu Xianghong had possibly offended. After all, Yu Xianghong lived in the Shen residence all the time. Maybe Shen Wei could remember if Yu Xianghong had offended anyone. Perhaps that person was the one who had brought about his death.
It was almost dawn. Shen Wei’s group had all gone to bed, falling asleep messily. They were all startled when they heard a knock on the door and instantly shaken from their stupor. “Who is it?”
“Me, Su Yunkai.”
Shen Wei opened the door and welcomed them into the room. “Have you found any clues?”
Su Yunkai didn’t speak. After everyone had entered, he said, “I want to ask Lord Shen about the troupe leader.”
“Ask away, Lord Su.”
Su Yunkai was about to ask when there was a knock outside the door again. Four shivering figures appeared in the window. Su Yunkai instantly felt that something bad had happened. He opened the door and instantly saw that the four men were the ones in Jin Fugui’s entourage, but Jin Fugui was not present. Su Yunkai paused, “Where is Mr. Jin?”
Their four faces looked troubled. Their voices trembled as they said, “Our master is gone.”
.
A Hint of Spring 