There is a god in the sky

Chapter 244 Beauty Bones 4

In the western district of Bianjing, low and dilapidated shacks can be seen everywhere.

The ground was filthy, and even the air smelled disgusting.

"How did you find the body?" Xiao Ji asked as he walked.

Officer Xing was covered in sweat. "We came here with the sketch and found someone who remembered the deceased. He didn't remember his name, but he remembered that he lived nearby, so we came here."

The residents in this area have changed many times. I finally managed to ask one person who said that the person lived in the largest house in front of me fifteen years ago.

No one had lived there for so many years; the house was long abandoned and had become a gathering place for beggars. The human bones were found in the cellar.

Shen Lan has already seen the house he mentioned.

Compared to the thatched huts and wooden houses by the roadside, that house still vaguely shows its former glory, with its blue tiles and walls, making it much more eye-catching.

"What is the name of the owner of the house?"

Officer Xing had also investigated and replied, "That man's name is Ding Yousheng. He is said to be a martial arts master who has taken on several apprentices and also does some guarding work for people."

The group had arrived at the gate of the house.

The gate is gone, and the courtyard is now overgrown with weeds.

Officer Xing led the way. When Shen Lan entered the room, she saw several heads sticking out from behind a pillar.

They were a group of little beggars.

In this cold weather, they were all dressed in only a single layer of clothing, and were as thin as skeletons.

Xiao Ji remained silent and continued to follow Constable Xing towards the backyard.

The cellar is in the backyard, and the entrance is very well hidden.

"We found this place ourselves. The lid had been in disrepair for years, and it cracked as soon as you stepped on it."

We interrogated the refugees here, and they all said they had never gone down there.

The cellar lid had been lifted, and a musty smell was wafting out.

A wooden ladder led down, and everyone went down one by one, only to be shocked by the scene before them.

Now everyone believed that no one from the outside had come in, because the cellar was filled with many rotten boxes containing not only food but also cloth.

Unfortunately, none of them are usable anymore.

Around these things, there was a bamboo bed, on which the human bones that Constable Xing and his men had found lay.

Shen Lan walked over and saw that the human bones' hands and feet were nailed to the bed with an iron spike.

She is a woman who is being held captive here.

The skeleton was still covered in women's clothing.

Who would be so cruel as to imprison a woman in this way?

“Look, these boxes and boxes of food are arranged around the bamboo bed, as if they are for her.”

"But she can't move her limbs, how could she possibly get food? Could she have starved to death?"

"I have a feeling that this cellar is gloomy."

At this moment, a constable's foot caught on a piece of cloth. He stepped forward, pulled the cloth, and revealed an offering table that had been covered by the cloth.

"How could someone be making offerings in the cellar?"

The official leaned closer to the altar and glanced at it, but couldn't recognize what was being offered; he could only make out that it was a human figure sculpture.

Xiao Ji walked over. The offerings on the altar were gone, but half of the candles remained, and the incense sticks were still firmly inserted in the incense burner.

It's clear that the owner of this house didn't leave in a planned way, but rather by accident.

Perhaps he really was one of those eight dead.

Shen Lan roughly examined the human bones and said, "The deceased has been dead for about fifteen years. She was a woman and should not have been more than twenty years old at the time."

"vomit……"

As Shen Lan turned over the human bones, a swarm of small insects scurried away from below, a sight that sent chills down one's spine.

She said to Constable Xing, "It's too dark in this cellar. We need to take the human bones upstairs for examination."

"it is good."

Xiao Ji looked around and saw a large water vat and a chamber pot, indicating that the woman had been living in the cellar for a long time.

But why would a normal family allow a woman to live in a cellar?

Furthermore, if they live here, why would they drive nails in?

"Go up first and then talk."

Once they reached the ground, Xiao Ji sent someone to bring several beggars over for questioning.

Unfortunately, the longest any beggar has stayed here is no more than three months, and no one can explain the details of the cellar.

In the first few years, people might have fought over this dilapidated house, but now it's so run-down that no one will come here except for beggars who have nowhere else to go.

"Another headless case. People who have been dead for more than ten years can't even be identified."

"Yes, let's transfer this case to the Jingzhao Prefecture."

The cases handled by the Criminal Investigation Department are usually major cases. This kind of nobody's death seems to be an accident and does not constitute a murder case at all.

"First, check the homeowner's information to see who lives in his house. As for this woman..."

Xiao Ji had a gut feeling that this woman was not related to the homeowner, but was being hidden in the cellar.

Shen Lan peeled the clothes off the skeleton. "Although more than ten years have passed, the clothes still retain their luster, which shows that the fabric is quite valuable."

This room looks decent, but I probably can't afford fabric like this.

"So this woman was kidnapped?"

This is really a case of one problem after another.

"Sir, this case is not related to the mummified corpse case. Perhaps... we should stop investigating for now?" Officer Xing really didn't have any more manpower available.

A number of officials have just been killed or wounded, and there are very few people available in the yamen.

Xiao Ji did not object, but instructed him: "Go and bring up the altar in the cellar, especially the statue that is enshrined, put it away first."

Officer Xing understood that Lord Xiao had agreed, and replied with a smile, "Yes."

Shen Lan also put the clothes into the bag, and then carefully examined the remains again.

Officer Xing asked timidly, "Does Coroner Shen need vinegar and wine?"

An officer standing nearby leaned over and asked, "Shall we light another fire?"

"I'll go fetch water!" Everyone volunteered to do the work.

Shen Lan helplessly stopped them, "No need."

She didn't need to know if the deceased had been injured before his death.

Her remains were intact, with no other injuries except for the four iron nails that had driven through her hands and feet.

As someone just mentioned, she may have starved to death.

But a person who is starving will find it difficult to remain calm even if their hands and feet are pinned down, when faced with food all around them.

However, the specifics of what happened have been buried for a long time and are difficult to verify.

Xiao Ji contacted the Jingzhao Prefecture and arranged for all the beggars in the house to be moved elsewhere. The dilapidated house was also sealed off.

The Jingzhao Prefecture easily found the homeowner's name, Ding Yousheng, and his registered occupation was martial arts master.

All right.

Officer Xing perked up and continued to question people in the surrounding area with his men.

There are elderly people who have lived here for more than fifteen years, and quite a few of them still remember Ding Yousheng.

"He's really strong and robust, and he looks like a good man, but it's a pity he doesn't like women."

"How to say?"

"At that time, matchmakers were lining up to propose to him, but he refused them all and wouldn't even meet them."

"Does he have any women he knows well?"

Officer Xing didn't believe that Ding Yousheng didn't like women; after all, he had one hidden in his cellar, and who knew how deeply he loved her.