Shen Hao hadn't expected that just taking a stroll would actually turn up a new lead—and it just so happened to be linked to the matter of those three unidentified corpses.
Previously, Shen Hao had guessed that the three extra corpses were probably a few unlucky souls who had gone missing in Five Rams City. But the information returned from the Government Office proved his guess wrong. There had only been two missing persons cases in the past month, and neither matched the identities of the three unknown corpses found at the Qi Mansion.
Yet according to the forensic doctor, those three filler corpses actually died only about half a day before the people from the Qi Mansion. By all logic, they should have been locals of Five Rams City too. So why didn't anyone report them missing to the authorities after they were killed? It wasn't until he saw those two vagrants at the oil tea stall that he understood.
The oil tea vendor referred to them as "second-tier" and "a nuisance," even called these vagrants "Earth Dogs." All this reminded Shen Hao—maybe only the lives and deaths of these Earth Dogs were truly ignored by others. Who would bother to go to the Government Office to report a few "Earth Dogs" missing out of boredom?
Now all he had to do was check among these "Earth Dogs" to see if anyone fitting the basic descriptions of those three corpses had gone missing in the last couple of days. That would confirm whether his theory was correct.
Luckily, this time Shen Hao was right.
"Sir, it's strange. The other guy around our age didn't show up today."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. That guy's name is Xie Mountain. He's even older than me—probably sixty-five or so. He usually eats at Ci'an Hall, but he hasn't been here these past two days."
"Yeah, it's really weird."
The few "Earth Dogs" eager to help Shen Hao find people were really frustrated. They'd searched every corner of Ci'an Hall but still hadn't found the "Xie Mountain" they spoke of—which meant they might not get their hands on any silver after all.
But Shen Hao wasn't in a hurry. He continued, "If you're still looking to make some silver, I have another job. Will you take it or not?"
"We'll take it!"
"Sir, just tell us what to do!"
Shen Hao said, "Even if you can't find that Xie Mountain, it doesn't matter—but I want you to find out who last saw him, when, and where. Also, I'm looking for two other people: one around forty-one, another about fifty. Like Xie Mountain, they probably vanished recently. If you can get to the bottom of this, the reward is yours."
Shen Hao jiggled a bag of broken silver in his hand. The soft clink of coins was enough to get these "Earth Dogs" fired up.
...
Less than half an hour later, the message came back, instantly lifting Shen Hao's mood.
"Sir, you were right! Aside from Xie Mountain, there really are two others who suddenly vanished. The one just past forty is Chen Erniu. The one in his fifties is Ma Jiu."
"And there's Xie Mountain from before. We've figured out all three of their situations."
"So... do we get..."
Shen Hao said, "I'm not stingy with this money. But if you want to get your hands on it, let's see if your info's good enough. Go ahead, what have you found?"
The group started talking over each other, quickly spilling out everything they'd managed to dig up.
Xie Mountain, about sixty-five, always in poor health, usually spent time near Ci'an Hall. Last seen by an acquaintance two mornings ago, heading toward the east side of the city.
Ma Jiu, about fifty, liked to drink, spent any begged money on booze. Also last seen by an acquaintance two mornings ago, reeking of alcohol as he walked toward the east side of the city.
Chen Erniu's situation was much the same—the last time anyone saw him was also two mornings ago. But this guy was a lecher. Whenever he had money, he'd hit the brothels—even without money he'd loiter around them. As luck would have it, the brothel Chen Erniu frequented was also in the east part of the city.
"East City?"
Shen Hao muttered, then turned to leave, tossing the money bag with more than ten taels of broken silver to the ground as he went—payment he'd promised the "Earth Dogs."
For now, Ma Jiu and Xie Mountain could be set aside. People just saw them heading toward East City, but exactly where was unclear. Chen Erniu was different—he was last seen loitering near a seedy brothel in East City, which made it very likely more clues would show up there.
He asked around all the way there. The brothel that Chen Erniu couldn't stay away from was in Qingmen Lane in East City—a shabby, run-down alley.
The alley was filthy and chaotic, with a strong and weird fishy stench. You saw women leaning against the alley wall, hawking for business—none of them even remotely attractive, in fact, most were downright ugly. Anyone with a bit of money wouldn't come to a place like this for amusement.
The black Taotie Patterned Brocade Robe and the Yanji Saber—his identity as a Xuanqing Guard was even more intimidating in this sleazy place, almost like a street-cleaning force.
Of course, not everyone in the alley could run away. There'd always be some caught by Shen Hao before they could escape.
A woman in her early forties, thin and pockmarked, was stopped by Shen Hao. She shrank against the wall like a quail, fearful and anxious.
"How long have you been working here?"
"F-Five months, sir. I-I haven't done anything wrong, have I?"
"Do you know Chen Erniu?"
"Uh? I... yes." She wanted to deny it, but didn't dare.
"When did you last see him?"
"I can't really remember... maybe yesterday, or was it the day before? Sir, has that guy done something?"
"Think carefully before you answer."
The moment Shen Hao shot her a look, she gave a shudder and confessed obediently, "The day before yesterday! It was the morning before yesterday. I ran into him at the entrance of the alley—he was looking for Liu Damei!"
"Liu Damei? Where is she now?"
"She's... she's inside the house."
"Take me to her."
Liu Damei certainly lived up to her name—she was massive, practically the shape of a ball. Perhaps someone with unique taste could find some extreme beauty in that.
"Chen Erniu? Yeah, he came looking for me two days ago, but after a few words he left."
"What'd he say?"
"He said he was about to make a big score and told me to wait for him that night instead of taking customers. Bah! Haven't seen a hair of him since. Who knows where the hell he's gone?"
"Did he say how he was going to make that 'big score'? Or where he was going?"
"Uh... he didn't say what he was up to... oh right! He did mention going to Fengyuan Inn to meet the boss!"
A vagrant with a 'boss'?
That meant the person Chen Erniu went to see at Fengyuan Inn was probably connected to the "big score" he told Liu Damei about. If Shen Hao's guess was right, Chen Erniu must have been conned to his death by this so-called "boss."
With this clue, Shen Hao didn't linger any longer in Qingmen Lane. He left two broken silver pieces and returned to the Qi Mansion.
...
By the time he got back to the Qi Mansion, it was already dusk. The forensic doctor had already cleared away all the bits and pieces—including those dozens of human heads.
He sniffed the air a few times. The scent of blood was already faint.
"Xiaoqi, you're back? Want me to fix you some dinner?"
"Mm, prepare something for me. I'm hungry. By the way, where's Wang Jian? Tell him to come see me."
"Yes, Xiaoqi."