"This is all your speculation, isn't it?" Zhang Qing continued to retort.
"Heh, didn't I tell you? I just came from your wife's grave," Hu Jia said leisurely.
"You?" Zhang Qing's expression changed; he seemed to have realized something.
"That's right, we dug up your wife's grave and found that both her leg bones were not broken." Hearing Hu Jia's words, Lu Qingqing's mouth twitched involuntarily. No wonder he had asked her to go to the grave hill and dig up a leg bone from an unmarked grave earlier; he was bluffing them.
"How dare you dig up someone else's grave without the consent of their family? That's illegal!" Zhang Qing's eyes turned red, and he lunged forward, intending to punch Hu Jia.
But how could Hu Jia, with his skills, be touched by him? With a stumble, Zhang Qing fell directly to the ground.
"Now, will you talk or not?"
"Since you've already dug up the grave and examined it yourself, what difference does it make if I speak or not?"
This statement was equivalent to an indirect confession of the bone replacement.
Lu Qingqing never expected this to be the truth of the case.
She exploded, "You replaced your wife's broken bones with someone else's. You want your wife to not suffer from short legs in her next life, but did you ever consider Zeng Yuqin? Did she deserve to suffer from broken legs?"
"Besides, whether there's an afterlife is another matter. Even if there is, you're letting your wife carry the sin of stealing someone's leg bones. She might not have a happy afterlife, and perhaps she's already being punished now because of the sin you've imposed on her."
Zhang Qing's face changed slightly. "No, no, I just wanted her to have a good life in her next existence."
Lu Qingqing was about to say more, but Hu Jia interrupted her. "Whether she lives well or not depends on whether you confess everything you know next. Make amends."
Hu Jia was adept at understanding people's hearts.
"Did you really dig up her grave?" Zhang Qing, who truly loved his wife, was still concerned about her at this critical moment, his first thought being of his wife.
"No!" Hu Jia answered decisively.
"Then you..." Zhang Qing paused, seeming to understand. "Thank you!"
This thank you was for Hu Jia not resorting to unscrupulous means.
"If her legs hadn't been a problem, perhaps she wouldn't have died," Zhang Qing said, sitting numbly on the ground, his eyes vacant, and slowly began to tell his story.
Previously, Zhang Qing was responsible for the purchasing for their shop. However, after his wife became paralyzed in both legs, she took over the purchasing task. She said that only by walking around more and seeing the scenery along the way would one know the warmth of the sun, the beauty of birdsong, the gentleness of the breeze, and the fragrance of flowers and grass.
So, sometimes Zhang Qing wondered, if his wife's legs hadn't had a problem, would this purchasing task have fallen to her?
If her legs were fine, would she have had a chance to escape when the accident happened?
Therefore, when his wife was buried, he specifically made prosthetics out of wood and placed them in the coffin, hoping his wife would have good legs in the netherworld. But a year later, someone anonymously sent him a letter, saying that human bones were available on the black market for bone replacement.
Hu Jia was aware of the concept of bone replacement. Many people with missing limbs wished to have prosthetics when buried, whether made of wood, straw, or paper. The deceased only sought a complete body.
However, bone replacement was different because wood, straw, or paper were not real bones. Thus, some people specifically dug up unmarked graves and stole corpses to sell the bones to those in need.
Zhang Qing had once considered it absurd feudal superstition, but when faced with such a choice, he no longer found it absurd.
"The person said that by replacing the broken limbs with real human bones, my wife could stand up in her next life." It was because of this sentence that Zhang Qing made the wrong choice.
Since human bones would only become fully ossified a year after burial, the commonly stolen graves were those where the deceased had been buried for over a year. Of course, the time could not be too long, as the bones would lose their hardness if buried for too long.
At this point, Zhang Qing thought of Zeng Yuqin.
The timing was right, and he knew Zeng Yuqin well; she was strong and agile, so her leg bones would likely be suitable.
However, little did he know that Yang Yunniang discovered him while he was making the transaction. To silence Yang Yunniang, he paid her off with five silver dollars.
"Who was the other party? How did you contact them?" Lu Qingqing asked.
Zhang Qing bit his lip. "He always wore a mask."
Meaning he didn't know?
"You don't know? I think you have an answer in your heart," Hu Jia's voice was cold. Digging up graves and stealing corpses was horrifying to even think about.
Zhang Qing pursed his lips. "I never saw his face, so I wouldn't dare to speak carelessly."
"Then let's see if we're thinking of the same person?" Hu Jia said, as if he understood Zhang Qing well. "It was Li Yuanjue."
Zhang Qing looked at Hu Jia with astonishment. "As expected, nothing escapes you."
Having obtained the answer he wanted, Hu Jia had no reason to linger. Before leaving, he said, "Go and meet Zeng Yuqin's family. Perhaps their forgiveness is also what your late wife would have wanted."
...
After leaving Zhang Qing's house, Lu Qingqing remained silent the entire way.
Selfishness was the most terrifying human attribute. Zhang Qing thought he was acting out of enduring love, but he didn't realize he had become the root of evil.
Just like those who harm wildlife: there would be no killing without a market.
Just like those who are swindled by seeking bargains: without greed, there would be no loss of wealth.
As for Li Yuanjue.
Right, who was Li Yuanjue?
"You've met him!" Hu Jia said.
Lu Qingqing blinked. Met him?
Suddenly, a figure flashed before her eyes. It was him?
The shopkeeper Li, known as a great philanthropist in Qixinggang.
Hu Jia explained that, firstly, Zhang Qing's wife needed someone to prepare her body for burial, a task usually handled by employees of the coffin shop. Therefore, those employees would know best what was placed in Zhang Qing's wife's coffin. Li Yuanjue was the one who helped prepare Zhang Qing's wife's body for burial and was aware of the Zhang family's requests.
Secondly, Li Yuanjue's recent behavior was itself suspicious. It wasn't that he was performing rituals, moving graves, or relocating bones for people, but rather that he had stumbled on graves multiple times.
An experienced mortician who kept making mistakes was suspicious. The only explanation was that he might have deliberately disarranged the skeleton during his falls to prevent anyone from noticing the missing bones.
"But what's the point of him doing this? It doesn't guarantee that the matter won't be exposed, as he can't oversee all the graves," Lu Qingqing found it very strange.
"We'll have to ask him about that." As they spoke, they arrived in front of Shopkeeper Li.
...
Tongyuan Gate Police Station, Interrogation Room.
"When the first incomplete skeleton was unearthed, I knew I might not be able to escape. But I still harbored a sliver of hope, thinking, what if no one finds out?"
"But later, the rumors of ghosts in the city grew, and I became more and more frightened. One day, I personally saw ghost fires flickering. I was so worried, worried that they would come for me."
"So, I decided to offer them free rituals, hoping to make amends as much as possible."
"You're right, I deliberately fell. At first, I thought I could manage all the graves. After all, only rotten coffins posed a risk of exposure. But then..."
"As expected, once you do something wrong, it leaves a mark."
Li Yuanjue confessed that not only he, but also several workers in his shop were his accomplices. They specialized in digging up graves. Cases like Zhang Qing's, where a specific grave's remains were requested by name, were rare. Most of the time, they chose grave-digging targets based on records kept during business transactions.
Sometimes, if they were in a good mood, they would only take some of the bones. Other times, if they were in a bad mood or if market demand was high, they would remove the entire skeleton and sell it retail.
Li Yuanjue hung his head. He offered no struggle or denial. His deliberate falls were the giveaway, as as soon as Hu Jia checked all the porcelain jars where he had moved the bones, he would discover that the remains inside were incomplete.
Heh, perhaps this was retribution.
Because of Li Yuanjue, Zhang Qing resorted to bone replacement; because of bone replacement, Yang Yunniang left; because Yang Yunniang left, Tang Kai was misled; because of that misunderstanding, the wife-murder case occurred; because of the wife-murder, ghost fires appeared; because of ghost fires, rumors of ghosts spread; because of the rumors, Li Yuanjue performed rituals; because of the rituals, his loophole was created...