The two searched the surroundings and the results were shocking.
In the small pit, they found thousands of scattered white bones. According to Tian Jue'er's judgment, at least a dozen bodies had been buried here.
What shocked them even more was that most of these bones belonged to children, with only a few belonging to adults.
Zhuge Ji cleared a patch of ground, and Lele helped out. Tian Jue'er slowly arranged the bones, finally piecing together twelve children's skeletons and one adult skeleton.
From the condition of the children's skeletons, it was determined that most of them were young children, the oldest not exceeding eight years old, and the youngest as young as two.
However, due to the passage of time, many bones had been carried away by wild animals in the mountains. They were almost all missing limbs, and the skeletons were incomplete. Therefore, Tian Jue'er could not determine their cause of death for the time being.
The last adult skeleton did leave a clue. On the skull dug out by Lele from the soil, there were clear cracks from blunt force trauma, suggesting the person had suffered a heavy blow before death.
Lele played a significant role in finding the bones. Its sense of smell was much keener than humans', and it found many bones buried underground.
Tian Jue'er rewarded Lele with a banana for this, making Lele grin from ear to ear and work even harder.
Looking at the thirteen skeletons laid out before them, Tian Jue'er asked blankly,
"Did you figure anything out?"
Tian Jue'er often gave up thinking because she felt she wasn't smart enough. For her, since there were people around her who were smarter, why bother wasting energy thinking.
After all, thinking also required energy. If Tian Jue'er overused her brain, it would be like fighting with the Yuan Sheng Gu for energy, and she might even faint from "hypoglycemia."
Zhuge Ji adjusted his glasses and said,
"Thirteen skeletons appearing on Mount Emei and remaining undiscovered for so many years. The only explanation I can think of is that the murderer erased their souls after killing them!"
Without souls, it was impossible for them to form wandering spirits or accumulate malevolent energies here. Even a highly enlightened Buddhist monk passing by would only smell the scent of blood and decay, detecting nothing else.
And even the animals on Mount Emei were still subject to the law of the jungle, so the smell of blood appearing in the mountains was normal.
"The person who killed them was not ordinary. This also indicates that this was no ordinary murder."
Tian Jue'er nodded in agreement.
Zhuge Ji continued to speculate,
"There is only one adult skeleton among the thirteen. The rest are children. This makes me think of someone – Qi Dongqiang's master."
Qi Dongqiang's master was part of a human trafficking organization that specialized in kidnapping children. Apart from them, how could so many children appear on Mount Emei?
Moreover, judging by the age of the skeletons, Qi Dongqiang's master should have been active in the Mount Emei area at the time of their deaths.
Zhuge Ji squatted down and carefully examined the skeletons. Suddenly, he said in a deep voice,
"All the skeletons have one common characteristic: no matter how many bones were missing, not a single skeleton had complete hands or feet."
Tian Jue'er was puzzled, "Is there a problem with that? Perhaps they were carried away by beasts?"
"Most wild animals dislike eating corpses. Animals that do eat corpses prefer internal organs and are less interested in tough, meatless limbs. So, even if the skeletons were incomplete, the probability of not a single one out of a dozen having complete hands and feet wouldn't be this high."
Zhuge Ji continued to analyze, "Do you think it's possible that they were born without hands and feet?"
Tian Jue'er's expression changed dramatically. As a former caged canary, a pitiable person repeatedly tormented by Wu Tianfeng, even though her mind was not sharp, she instantly understood what Zhuge Ji meant.
These children were most likely kidnapped by Qi Dongqiang's master's human trafficking organization and brought to Mount Emei. According to the organization's rules, they would select children who were healthy and presentable to sell to buyers.
As for those who were not healthy, too old, or had physical defects, the organization would break their limbs and turn them into pitiable cripples, forcing them to beg on the streets.
These corpses, having been without hands and feet in life, belonged to the latter category.
But for some reason, the human trafficking organization had killed them and dumped them in this desolate wilderness.
Although the truth was not yet clear, their speculations were already close to it. Thinking of the suffering these children endured in life, Tian Jue'er's eyes turned red with empathy.
Zhuge Ji, being slightly more rational, analyzed the children's skeletons and finally turned his attention to the adult skeleton.
"The children's skeletons can be understood, but what about this adult skeleton?"
Immersed in thought, Zhuge Ji even forgot his fear. He squatted beside the adult skeleton and studied it intently.
The skeleton was male, and he was in his early twenties when he died. Was he killed by the murderer for accidentally witnessing the human trafficking organization's crime, or was he a member of the organization himself who was simply double-crossed?
If the identity of this male skeleton could be determined, many questions would be easily answered. It was a pity that too much time had passed, and no clothing or belongings could be found.
It was presumed that the killer would not have overlooked any valuables.
At this moment, Lele, who had been idling, sniffed the air, seemingly having discovered something. It dug under a large tree for a long time and finally unearthed something – a half-broken wooden fish.
This wooden fish had been buried underground for who knows how many years, but after wiping off the mud, it was still smooth. It was a pity that it was broken and could not make any sound.
Lele played with the wooden fish in its hand for a while and then, on a whim, directly inverted the wooden fish onto its head.
The broken wooden fish immediately transformed into a hat, fitting perfectly onto Lele's head and covering its bald spot.
"Jiji jiji!"
Lele danced with joy, swinging back and forth on the tree.
Zhuge Ji's thoughts were interrupted by Lele, and he glared at it angrily.
After regaining his senses, Zhuge Ji could no longer continue to deduce clues. He could only say,
"Let's search the vicinity again. If we don't find anything new, we'll go back and report this matter. Perhaps it will lead to some clues."
Tian Jue'er nodded, "Okay."
The appearance of twelve children's skeletons on Mount Emei, if it had happened last month, would have shocked the entire Xuanmen sect.
It was just that now everyone had bigger troubles to deal with, so this matter seemed less urgent.
Therefore, Zhuge Ji decided to report the matter first. As for the search for the Lotus Formation Eye, there was no need to rush it by a day or two.