Hearing her following, Wu Chao stopped and said, "Miss Xu, just wait. I'll go to the forest to find out what's going on."
"Let's go together."
Xu Mingyi caught up with him in a few steps.
This was originally her business, and she was very grateful that he was willing to help. There was no reason to wait in the carriage and leave everything to him.
After all, they are not just paid laborers.
Wu Chao said nothing more. Just as he was about to take steps, he suddenly heard movement in the forest.
"Be careful—"
As soon as he finished his reminder, he saw a group of dark things bursting out of the forest, making noisy screams.
Wu Chao subconsciously took a step sideways and raised his arm to block Xu Mingyi's eyes.
Ah Zhu came over holding a lantern, and the surroundings quickly returned to silence.
Wu Chao put down his arm and walked into the forest, saying, "Don't be afraid, they are just fruit bats in the forest. They probably rushed out because they were disturbed by the Third Eye."
Xu Mingyi nodded and said "Yeah".
She didn't feel scared either.
It's just that Wu Shisun was very generous in protecting her. If she went out of her way to say she wasn't afraid, it would be a bit disrespectful.
The Tianmu flew low to guide the way. The group of people walked in the forest for about half a quarter of an hour. When they reached the depths of the forest, Wu Chao slowed down.
Xu Mingyi looked at him.
"Master Wu also smelled it?"
There is a faint smell coming from here, like the smell of rotting animals.
Wu Chao frowned slightly and nodded.
The two of them continued to walk forward with Tianmu, and the smell gradually became stronger and more pungent.
Xu Mingyi's expression became a little solemn.
This forest is more than twenty miles away from the city. It is just an ordinary wood forest and not a fruit forest. There are no households nearby. There are only some fields not far away from the forest. It is not a busy time for farming, so few people will set foot in it on weekdays.
Ruoqing's cousin's hairpin was really found here by the Third Eye, and she really appeared here...
Thinking of the worst possibility, Xu Mingyi's heart sank.
The third eye stopped, landed on the trunk of a tree and chirped.
This is where the putrid smell is strongest.
"Tianmu has been raised by me since he was a child, and he has never eaten carrion. However, vultures are naturally like this, so I guess it was attracted by the carrion nearby." Wu Chao looked around as he spoke.
The third eye squatting on the tree trunk shouted in agreement.
It doesn't bother to eat, it just likes to see which of its kind dies so miserably.
"Girl, there is a dead thing here."
Azhu found a rotten fur animal carcass under a tree and guessed: "Maybe it's the smell of this thing."
Xu Mingyi took a look through the lamp in her hand.
"impossible."
The young man on the side expressed her thoughts: "This is not a closed place. It is impossible for an animal carcass of this size to continue to emit such a strong smell."
Xu Mingyi nodded and said: "But if someone happens to pass by here, smell the stench, and see the animal carcass, cover their noses and walk away in a hurry, they will subconsciously think that it was scattered by this thing, without having time to think about it carefully.
"
"That's right."
Wu Chao said firmly: "Someone deliberately placed this dead thing here to cover up the real corpse smell."
Xu Mingyi's eyes moved around inch by inch.
The moonlight was thin, and the chirping of insects came and went all around. When one concentrated on it, it only made people feel that it was quiet but paradoxically noisy.
The girl's soft embroidered shoes stepped on the dead leaves, making an ear-splitting sound.
Xu Mingyi stopped by a sealed well.
Wu Chao followed closely and walked over.
There is farmland not far away. In recent years, the imperial court has attached great importance to farming and opened more new wells beside the fields.
Old wells in the forest like these have been abandoned and used over and over again. It is also common to seal the mouth of the well with stones to prevent someone from accidentally falling into the well when passing by.
But the smell here is obviously stronger.
Xu Mingyi even couldn't bear it and covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief, frowned and said in a low voice: "I'm afraid there is something in this well——"
Wu Chao nodded.
"You stand back."
When the young man was about to step forward and remove the stone, he saw the maid dressed as a servant walking over quickly. Without saying a word, she picked up the stone, threw it aside heavily, and patted the dust on her hands.
Wu Chao was silent for a moment.
There doesn't seem to be anything I can do to help.
Ah Zhu lifted up the lantern and stood above the well mouth to look into the well.
The next moment, he suddenly took two steps back, his face turned pale and said: "Girl, there is a dead person..."
No matter how brave the little girl is, she has never seen a human face that has rotted to such an extent. Seeing this scene suddenly, she was very brave not to scream in fear and lose her composure.
Xu Mingyi tightened her fingers slightly and asked quickly: "Is it a boy or a girl?"
"This slave didn't see clearly."
Xu Mingyi made a quick decision: "Get the body out."
Azhu, who had calmed down, looked at Wu Chao.
She seemed to have robbed Wu Shisun of what he wanted to do, so now she might as well give Wu Shisun the job of collecting the corpses as compensation.
"..."
Sensing the look in the maid's eyes, Wu Chao twitched the corner of his mouth.
Why does this maid think that he, a member of a noble family, can go down the well to retrieve the body?
I'm not afraid, but I really don't have such a habit of looking for smoke.
"Come out."
As soon as the young man's voice fell, four secret guards dressed in black appeared out of the darkness.
"Fetch the body out of the well." Wu Chao ordered.
When several secret guards heard this, they tried their best to look like qualified and calm secret guards.
Several people endured the stench of the corpse, quickly fished it out and laid it flat beside the well.
"It's a young man." Wu Chao took one look and judged.
Xu Mingyi breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at the clothes of the corpse and guessed: "This may be Qi Lin."
The other party's clothes were no different from what the waiter in the teahouse had just described.
Wu Chao said "hmm" and then ordered: "Search him, then dive into the well to see if there is anything else missing."
The secret guard responded.
"Sir, there are two silver notes hidden in this man's shoes."
"A woman's hairpin was found at the bottom of the well."
Wu Chao took the hairpin and handed it to Xu Mingyi.
"It's just the same pair as before." Xu Mingyi took another look at the corpse and had a rough guess in his mind.
This person was bribed by others to deceive cousin Qing out.
The pair of hairpins must have come from the unconscious cousin Qing. This shows how much he loves money - it is not surprising that such a person can be bribed easily.
After the incident was completed, he probably didn't dare to stay in the capital anymore, so he hurried out of the city, deliberately staying away.
But now that someone has thrown him into this dry well, he will most likely be silenced.
The pair of hairpins should have been accidentally dropped nearby when he was escaping into the dense forest. Later, he accidentally picked it up by the third eye. The third eye has very good eyesight. The reason why he picked up this hairpin is, She must have mistaken the hairpin for hers just like Wu Chao.
But……
Xu Mingyi frowned, suddenly feeling something was wrong.
When Tianmu picked up her hairpin, why didn't he send it back to the Zhenguo Palace instead of giving it to Wu Chao?
This can't help but make people feel puzzled, but there are other serious matters at the moment, and Xu Mingyi has no intention of thinking about such trivial matters.
At this time, a secret guard who inspected the body made a new discovery.
