The reason the two were lost in thought was not because the newly discovered bones offered no clues.
On the contrary, the appearance of these few bones had directly overturned Zhuge Ji’s previous deductions!
This was because, with the appearance of these bones, the skeleton of one child was completely pieced together.
In other words, the twelve child skeletons were not, as Zhuge Ji had previously stated, missing limbs.
The fact that this child’s limbs were intact meant that the children might not have had their hands and feet broken to beg, and the alleged human trafficking organization might not be real. All of Zhuge Ji’s judgments were wrong.
“This child’s limbs are intact, all my previous deductions were in vain,” Zhuge Ji said with regret. “We found a few more bones, but it only made the clues less clear.”
“Not necessarily.”
Yan Shouyi squatted in front of the only skeleton with intact limbs. After some assessment, he said, Da Feng Novel Network
“Judging by the condition of the bones, this child should have been around three years old when he died. However, his bones are in much better condition than the other skeletons, indicating that this skeleton’s owner was different from the owners of the other skeletons. He should have been a child from a well-off family, well-fed and healthy.”
Human traffickers would certainly not provide children with good food and drink. Most children would be skin and bones, underdeveloped, which could be inferred from the condition of their bones.
But the condition of the skeleton with intact limbs was clearly better than that of the other skeletons, which precisely indicated the difference between him and the owners of the other skeletons.
Zhuge Ji asked doubtfully, “President, do you have any guesses?”
“I surmise that this special skeleton was either just snatched by the human trafficking organization, or… he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Just as Yan Shouyi was about to reveal more of his deductions, Zhu Shanzao made a discovery.
It dug a hole with its nose nearby, and soon dug half a meter deep, finally unearthing a broken jade pendant from the bottom of the pit.
Zhu Shanzao, holding the jade pendant in its mouth, walked directly to the child’s skeleton and placed the jade pendant next to the skeleton.
“Old Zhu, what does this mean?” Yan Shouyi asked.
Zhu Shanzao replied, “This jade pendant belongs to him.”
The aura on the jade pendant was the same as the aura on this skeleton.
“As expected…”
With this new clue, Yan Shouyi became even more certain of his deduction: “This child was not kidnapped at all; he just happened to be here and was cruelly murdered by human traffickers!”
Yan Nanfei frowned, “That’s not right. How could a three-year-old child be in the wilderness and stumble upon human traffickers killing and burying bodies?”
“Did you forget him?”
Yan Shouyi pointed to the only adult skeleton and asked.
Yan Nanfei and Zhuge Ji suddenly realized!
Only Tian Jue’er had not yet reacted. She said with distress, “What do you mean? What do you mean?! Ah… I really don’t want to think. I’m hungry again… Zhuge!”
Tian Jue’er had gotten used to calling Zhuge Ji when she was hungry. Zhuge Ji himself hadn’t noticed this and habitually offered Tian Jue’er snacks.
Noticing this detail, Yan Shouyi sighed inwardly: Zhuge Ji is really suited to be a simp.
Yan Shouyi patiently explained:
“The truth back then should have been this: for some reason, the human trafficking organization planned to kill all the disabled children and bury them here. But unfortunately, while they were committing the crime, a man passing by with his child stumbled upon their deed, and the human traffickers killed them to silence them!”
This would explain why there was an adult male corpse among the thirteen bodies, and why there was a child’s corpse with healthy limbs.
Yan Shouyi stated his deduction, but as soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly seemed to remember something, and his expression even became somewhat uncontrolled.
“Jue’er!”
He suddenly asked anxiously, “Can you deduce how long ago these skeletons died? The more precise, the better!”
Tian Jue’er replied, “The Origin Gu can deduce how many years the owner of the bones has been dead by sensing the residual life force on the bones.”
“Very good! Help me check when these two, the adult and the child, died! This is very important!” Yan Shouyi said rapidly, and Tian Jue’er took a while to understand.
She quickly squatted beside the skeletons and touched the adult skeleton. A green light gradually lit up on her palm, enveloping the bone.
After a while, Tian Jue’er had an answer:
“They have been dead for eighty-seven years, and it was summer when they died.”
Eighty-seven years…
Yan Shouyi firmly remembered this number and instructed the three of them:
“Before I return, absolutely no one is allowed to touch these two special skeletons! No one!”
The three of them couldn’t understand why Yan Shouyi was suddenly so agitated. Zhuge Ji asked, “Not even Xiao Long Ge?”
“No!” Yan Shouyi’s attitude was exceptionally firm. “If he dares to mess around, you beat him for me! In any case, these two skeletons must not have any problems!”
After speaking, Yan Shouyi jumped onto Zhu Shanzao’s back and shouted, “Hurry up and take me back to the mountain!”
Zhu Shanzao didn’t say a word. It pushed off with its hind legs and rushed out. Yan Shouyi rode steadily on its back, darting rapidly along the mountain path.
The person he wanted to find back at the mountain was not Abbess Guan Yun, nor his grandmother Wen Yuxian, but Ling Xiaoxiao, who was in the Sutra Repository researching the life deeds of Abbess Miaohui!
At this moment, in a corner of the Sutra Repository, Ling Xiaoxiao found a dusty notebook.
In a chest in this corner were stored many of Abbess Miaohui’s personal belongings, but disciples who were interested were not allowed to touch these items, and those who were qualified would not be interested in them.
Thus, the chest had been placed in the corner for many years without anyone opening it.
The notebook Ling Xiaoxiao found recorded some of Abbess Miaohui’s daily life with the “unfaithful man.” It was similar to a diary, but the content was more about her inner monologues.
From Abbess Miaohui’s perspective, the diary described the flutter of her heart when she first met the “unfaithful man,” the shyness as they confessed their feelings to each other, the passion as they broke through the window paper, the happiness as she gave birth to a child, and… the fear and trepidation when the Emei Sect came knocking.
But these were not the main points.
The main point was that a photograph was tucked inside this diary!
It was a family photo taken in winter. Abbess Miaohui was holding her child who could not yet walk, and the “unfaithful man” stood beside her. The family of three was smiling brightly at the camera.
“Is she my grand-master, Abbess Miaohui?”
Ling Xiaoxiao held the photo and examined it for a long time.
The photo was black and white, small in size, and had very low resolution, but it still couldn’t hide Abbess Miaohui’s beauty and temperament.