Chapter 9: The Scene of the Murder Case

  But on this day, Qin Wei returned to the camp, feeling suffocated with anger, and happened to run into Hua Yun, such a licentious woman. He summoned Zhou Ke to ask about the situation in the camp, who replied that a corpse had been found in the desolate outskirts of Xicheng Town, and Zhou Ke had taken people to investigate the scene.

  Just then, Zhou Ke arrived at the scene and saw the corpse. He was shocked to find that the deceased was none other than the merchant he had seen with Ma Haicheng's family's Xiaomozi at the wine house a few days ago. However, today he wasn't dressed as a merchant, but wore only one long gown, which made him look more like a scholar.

  Zhou Ke asked about the situation and found out that a passerby had discovered a person lying on the ground in a remote area, covered in blood. The passerby had reported the case after checking the person's breathing and finding no signs of life. From the scene, it appeared that there were no signs of struggle or dragging of the body, suggesting that this was the primary crime scene. The victim had been stabbed once in the abdomen, with a deep wound indicating a close-range, face-to-face attack. The killer seemed to be skilled and ruthless, likely a professional who knew the victim. The estimated time of death was around dawn. Zhou Ke asked people in the surrounding area if they had seen anything, but no one claimed to have witnessed the crime or knew the identity of the victim. He decided to send someone to investigate further. When reporting back to Qin Wei, he gave similar instructions and handed over full responsibility to him.

  The man's identity was soon verified, and it turned out to be a painter named Hong Yi who used to live in this place and specialized in landscape painting. He had moved away ten years ago, but no one knew where he went, and he just returned ten days ago. Zhou Ke's heart skipped a beat, and the first thing that came to his mind was Xiao Mozi. Was this related to him? Then he had to go to Ma Dashan's house for a visit.

  Zhou Ke arrived at the Ma residence, which was simple and unadorned, with only a few servants. According to what Ma Dashan had said, he donated most of his wealth to the public, wanting to make a small contribution to the country. Zhou Ke paid his respects to Ma Haiqing, exchanged pleasantries, and then asked about Hong Yi. Ma Haiqing thought for a moment before saying, "Isn't he that former landscape painter? He left this place several years ago, I haven't seen him." Zhou Ke said, "This person was killed around dawn today." Ma Haiqing was taken aback and felt regretful, but at the same time asked, "Deputy General Zhou has come for this matter, does it have something to do with me?" Zhou Ke replied, "The great philanthropist misunderstood, I just came because a few days ago I saw your servant Xiao Mozzi meet with the deceased Hong Yi." Ma Haiqing said, "I see. I'll order someone to call him over, Deputy General Zhou can question him in person." "That's perfect!"

  After a while, Xiaomozi came to the hall, paid his respects and stood aside.

  Zhou Ke asked: "Xiao Mozzi, do you know Hong Yi?"

  "Hong Yi? Oh... I recognize him, saw him just a few days ago."

  "Where shall we meet?"

  "In the Welcome Inn."

  "What brings you here?"

  "Oh, that's how it is. Hong Yi painted a landscape and wanted to sell it for a good price. He knew our family's master was extremely wealthy, so he asked someone to invite me out, thinking I could help facilitate the deal. But I thought Master usually only concerns himself with national affairs and the people's suffering, why would he spend extra money on decorations? So I declined. Feeling there was nothing more to it, I didn't even report back to Master when I returned. What? Did Hong Yi go to the yamen instead?"

  "No, he was killed by someone this morning!"

  "Ah!!!!!" Little Mozi's mouth was agape for a long time, utterly astonished.

  "So, I'll take my leave first, and if there are any further questions, please ask Ma Dashanren and Xiao Moziren to cooperate!"

  "This is natural! Vice General Zhou slowly walked over, and the servant presented it. Ma Haiqing said: 'Vice General has worked hard for the country to kill enemies, and now he is also working hard on the case, although I have a heart to help but my strength is not enough. In the future, if there is anything that can be used, just send someone to instruct me and it will be done. This is a small token of my sincerity, please accept it, Vice General Zhou!' Zhou politely declined several times before accepting it. This was also a common practice in official circles, as Zhou had benefited from Ma Haiqing many times before, and this time was no exception."

  After bidding farewell to Ma Haiqing, Zhou Ke walked slowly and savored the words of Ma Haiqing and Xiao Mozhi. It seemed reasonable, but somehow it didn't feel right, yet he couldn't quite put his finger on it. After leaving the Ma residence, he didn't immediately return to the camp, instead seeking out Hong Yi's home, hoping to find some clues there.

  As he entered the house, the interior was extremely simple, with only a bed, a bookshelf, and a desk chair. The items were also arranged very neatly, without any signs of struggle. Zhou Ke walked over to the desk, where a landscape painting was placed. Zhou Ke remembered that Xiao Mozi had said that Hong Yi came to him to sell a landscape painting, if it hadn't been sold, then this must be the one. He looked at it with great interest, but it was just an ordinary landscape painting, and he didn't notice anything unusual. Zhou Ke then went to browse through the bookshelf for a while, when suddenly an idea flashed across his mind, and he searched around, even rummaging through the trash can, but found nothing. An artist who specialized in landscape paintings, how could he only have this one work? Was it really just because he had just returned home not long ago?

  With doubts, Zhou Ke flipped through all the books on the bookshelf and finally found a folded ink landscape painting used as a bookmark in one of the books. Zhou Ke opened up the ink landscape painting and compared it with the mountain and water picture on the table. Although Zhou Ke was a military general, he was extremely familiar with calligraphy. In calligraphy, although there are similar strokes, each person's writing will have some subtle differences. Since ancient times, it has been said that "one family of books and paintings" - in Zhou Ke's opinion as an outsider, the two paintings still had different methods for handling mountains and water. Upon returning, Zhou Ke ordered his subordinates to divide into several groups: one part went to search for Hong Yi's previous works, another was responsible for collecting representative mountain and water pictures from all local painters, and he also asked someone to invite three experts from outside to compare them. These three things were carried out secretly and simultaneously, and the collection of paintings was also conducted in a way that mimicked ordinary people making purchases.

  After all the collections were gathered, experts from outside also arrived. Zhou Ke asked them to carefully compare all the landscape paintings, and the three experts unanimously believed that the one found on Hong Yi's desk was not created by him, but by He Tian in the city. Zhou Ke thanked the experts and immediately went to find He Tian. The unexpected result was that He Tian had disappeared! The time coincided with when he instructed his subordinates to collect the paintings, was someone monitoring his every move? Or did someone among his subordinates leak the news? Otherwise, how could He Tian disappear without reason at this moment?

  Now that it is known that someone asked He Tian to paint a landscape painting, how can it be explained that Hong Yi himself was a skilled painter and didn't need to ask for help in creating a landscape to sell? Now that this painting has been found in Hong Yi's home, it must have been left there by the murderer after they killed him. The only explanation is that it was done to avoid arousing suspicion from the confession. In that case, the main suspect would be Xiao Mozzi. Because he was the only one who said he had seen this landscape painting, and Hong Yi had gone to find him. But on that day, the two of them met for a very short time, so why did Hong Yi deliberately disguise himself as a merchant, hiding from everyone?

  Zhou Ke immediately rode his horse to the Ma Mansion to see Xiao Mozi, but coincidentally, Xiao Mozi had gone out. Zhou Ke had a bad premonition and ordered his men to search for Xiao Mozi when someone came to report that they had found Xiao Mozi's body, dead on the mountain behind, also killed by a single knife at close range. After investigating, it was discovered that Xiao Mozi's right hand finger was stained with blood, writing an incomplete "one" character - is this a message of death? What did he want to write? The killer's name or some other hint? There are countless words starting with the word "one", how can they be investigated?

  The case has become even more confusing. Now the only thing that can be done is to find He Tian. But what if the person he saw was Xiao Mozi?