Chapter 172 The Corpse Beneath the Straw
By dusk, we came upon a crumbling roadside temple. Half the roof had collapsed, the weathered green tiles had long since yellowed, and the stone lion guarding the entrance had lost half its head. The place looked about as inviting as a graveyard.
Lian stopped.
“We'll rest here for the night.”
I glanced at the darkening sky. It was nearly sunset, but I still couldn't shake the feeling.
“A ruined temple in the middle of nowhere...” I muttered. “Why do I have such a bad feeling about this?”
Hua shot me a sideways glance.
“If you find it so inauspicious, you're welcome to sleep outside in the north wind.”
I shivered.
“...The temple suddenly doesn't seem so bad.”
No sooner had I said that than—
Thunk.
Something smacked me square in the forehead.
I jumped a foot into the air.
“Who did that?! Who's launching sneak attacks?!”
Everyone turned to look.
The temple courtyard was empty.
Not even a tree stood nearby.
Yet the object that had hit me rolled across the ground—a wild fruit, still fragrant.
Mu Cangli stroked his chin.
“A wild fruit?”
I frowned.
“There aren't even any trees here. So where did it come from? Don't tell me there's... someone up there?”
Just then—
Squeeeak—
A furry little shape burst through a gap in the broken roof and landed lightly on one of the beams overhead.
It crouched there, black eyes gleaming as it stared down at us.
...
A monkey.
I nearly forgot how to breathe.
“D-Did it throw that?”
Mu Cangli actually smiled.
“There's nothing unusual about monkeys in North Ridge. Hua and I ran into a few near the hot spring.”
I slapped my forehead.
“Right! The hot spring! Back when I was scrubbing Eunuch Wang's back—”
The instant the words left my mouth, everyone turned to stare at me.
I coughed awkwardly.
“That's... not the important part.”
“The important part is that I saw monkeys there too! The monkeys around North Ridge are... kind of shameless.”
Lian tilted his head.
“You're certain?”
I puffed out my chest.
“Absolutely. One of them watched me bathe for ages!”
Feng Yu: “...”
Mu Cangli: “...”
Hua quietly turned his face away.
“Well. That's something I never needed to know.”
We settled inside the temple.
I built a fire while the monkey remained perched on the beam above us, dangling lazily by its tail as it watched.
Oddly enough, that made me feel a little safer.
The wind howled throughout the night.
Loose roof tiles rattled overhead with dull, hollow bangs.
Curled up in a corner with my knees hugged to my chest, I drifted in and out of sleep while the cold slowly numbed my feet.
Just as I was about to doze off completely, someone tapped me lightly on the shoulder.
I blinked awake.
Lian was crouching beside me, his brows drawn together.
“Move over.”
His voice was quiet, carrying a trace of helpless reproach.
“You're sitting right in front of the broken wall. The wind's hitting you directly.”
Before I could react, he'd already caught hold of my sleeve and gently pulled me closer.
The dry straw rustled beneath our feet.
Little by little, he drew me into the shelter of his cloak, blocking the worst of the wind.
Then he casually spread his outer robe across my legs, as naturally as though he'd done it countless times before.
“Go back to sleep.”
“...Okay.”
Only after moving closer did I realize his hand was cool.
Even so, it carried a familiar sense of reassurance.
The fire flickered softly inside the ruined temple.
Wrapped in that small pocket of warmth, I drifted back to sleep almost immediately.
Just before unconsciousness claimed me, I heard Lian sigh quietly.
“...You really are impossible.”
Half asleep, I tucked my neck a little farther into my collar.
If only he could meet that troublesome system of mine, I thought.
Then he'd realize I'm practically the easiest person in the world to deal with.
The next morning, the first thing I noticed was Mu Cangli's expression.
Something was wrong.
“My pouch is gone.”
I blinked.
“Your what?”
His face darkened.
“It contained my knife, a woven cloth, the map... everything I keep on me.”
Hua raised an eyebrow.
“A thief? In a ruined temple? The Prince's men were still trailing us last night. They couldn't possibly have caught up already.”
Slowly, Mu Cangli turned toward Hua Xiang.
The air tightened instantly.
I hurriedly raised both hands.
“Wait! There are monkeys here! Maybe one of them stole it!”
Hua Xiang merely snorted, clearly not interested in defending himself.
Mu Cangli wasn't convinced.
“A monkey?”
“You take me for a fool?”
I swallowed.
“Well... otherwise, you think Hua Xiang stole it?”
“Why would he steal your cloth? To wipe his face?”
Hua Xiang finally spoke.
“If I wanted something, why would I bother stealing it behind your backs?”
I nodded vigorously.
“Exactly!”
“If he really wanted it, he'd probably just take it right in front of you!”
Mu Cangli: “...”
Hua Xiang: “...”
At last Lian spoke.
“Enough.”
Silence fell over the temple.
“If the pouch is missing, it must have left traces.”
“We search the temple first.”
I muttered under my breath.
“I still think it was the monkey...”
Hua looked at me.
“Dear Gong, you seem to trust monkeys more than people.”
“It's not that I trust monkeys.”
I answered honestly.
“I just don't trust people.”
Everyone turned toward me.
I coughed.
“I mean... I don't trust there being other people here.”
Cold wind poured through the cracked walls.
Broken roof tiles rattled overhead.
The five of us searched every corner of the temple.
Nothing.
Hua Xiang stood where light met shadow, his expression unreadable.
Hua idly brushed dust across the floor with the tip of his boot, looking more concerned with how filthy the place was than with the missing pouch.
Mu Cangli lifted rotten prayer mats one by one, his face growing increasingly grim.
Lian stood at the entrance, quietly watching the dense forest outside.
As for me...
I was watching the monkey again.
It had climbed back onto the rafters.
Something rested in its tiny hands.
It chewed away contentedly.
A thought suddenly occurred to me.
I edged closer and lowered my voice.
“Hey... little ancestor.”
“That thing you're chewing... did you happen to swipe it from Mu Cangli?”
Crunch. Crunch.
The monkey ignored me completely, happily munching away while its tail swung back and forth.
I stepped even closer.
“How about this?”
“If you nod, I'll find you something better to eat later.”
“But if you don't... then I'll have no choice but to tell everyone it was you.”
The monkey stopped chewing.
Tilting its head, it stared at me as though trying to decide whether I was an idiot.
I swallowed.
“Look, if you really did take it, I won't blame you. You're quicker than any human.”
“But that pouch has our map inside.”
“We really need it.”
“So... could you at least give me a hint?”
The monkey let out a sharp screech.
My eyes lit up.
“You admitted it?!”
At that exact moment—
Thump.
Something fell from a dark corner of the temple.
The sound wasn't loud.
Yet every one of us froze.
I darted over immediately.
“Who's there?!”
Instead, I found a small cloth pouch lying quietly beside a pile of straw.
“Huh?”
“Mu Cangli! Come look! Is this yours?”
He strode over.
Before he could say anything, I bent down, picked up the pouch, and brushed the dry straw off it.
Then I paused.
The straw pile beside it...
Something underneath looked oddly raised.
I narrowed my eyes.
Just as I leaned in for a better look, Mu Cangli arrived behind me.
“Wait—”
Before the word had fully left my mouth, my hand had already reached out instinctively, pushing aside the mound of straw.
The straw scattered.
Beneath it—
A pair of swollen, stiff feet.
They lay there silently.
Pointing straight at me.
My mind went completely blank.
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
“AAAH!! A GHOST!!”
The shout nearly shook the roof apart.
My knees gave out instantly.
Fortunately, Mu Cangli caught me before I hit the floor.
The others rushed over.
With the straw cleared away—
A body lay underneath.
More precisely...
The corpse of a young man.
Dead beyond any doubt.
His face was pale and grotesquely swollen.
One eyelid had split open.
The corners of his mouth were stained black, as though corroded by poison.
His skin was bloated and waterlogged, suggesting he'd been submerged for quite some time.
Then the smell reached me.
“Ugh—!”
I staggered outside, clutching my collar and vomiting violently.
Between retches, I gestured wildly toward the temple.
“How... how is there a dead body in a ruined temple?!”
“Who is he?”
“How did he die?”
“This place is cursed... absolutely cursed...”
Inside the temple, Lian had already knelt beside the corpse.
His expression was grave.
Hearing my shriek, he answered calmly,
“We don't know who he is yet.”
“But judging from his clothing... he was most likely a government official.”
I gulped down several mouthfuls of water, rinsed my mouth until my scalp tingled, then staggered back inside, pinching my nose shut.
“A government official...?”
“How can you tell?”
“Was he one of the Eighth Prince’s men?”