Chapter 254

Chapter 254: The Heir of Marquis Wu’an Backs Down

Marquis Wu’an’s heir studied the pendant for a while, noticed a hidden clasp, and reached to feel it, then with a soft snap it sprang open.

The pendant was hollow, and a small pile of ashes spilled out, drifting into the bathwater and staining it gray.

He froze.

If he remembered right, this pendant used to hold a talisman paper.

Thinking of the scene from a moment ago, he shivered, threw on his clothes in a rush, and hurried to the door of Yu Zhi Yi’s room.

Two guards were on night duty outside. They had set a small table with tea and a plate of fried peanuts. Seeing him come out, the two greeted him: “Captain, perfect timing, we just ordered two meat dishes and they’ll be here soon.”

Only then did he realize he had soaked for more than two hours. No wonder the water was cold and his skin was getting pruny.

He waved a hand, looked at the closed door, and wanted to speak, but stopped. After a long moment, he gave up the idea of knocking. After all, men and women should keep a proper distance, and he and Official Yu were not related. Even the Jiang clan’s father and son would not share a room with an adult daughter for no reason. He decided to wait until morning.

He remembered the errand Official Yu had given him and felt puzzled. But when he thought about the female ghost, he relaxed. Maybe this inn had a corpse hidden somewhere, and Official Yu had called the yamen to deal with it. That would make sense.

[What nonsense.] Who would bury a body in a proper inn?

Even though nothing was proven yet, once the thought took root he felt uneasy all over. Thinking about staying in the same inn as a corpse killed his appetite. His two men were still cheerfully talking about having a little wine, saying that eating meat and drinking at midnight was one of life’s joys. He frowned and said: “Let’s wait and eat meat somewhere else tomorrow.”

The two guards blinked: “?”

Boss, did that woman get to you too?

One guard muttered: “Boss, we’ll pay for the meat ourselves, it won’t come out of the rations.”

For field work like this, their food money came from public funds, which the heir happened to manage. He paused: this line sounded way too familiar.

Before he could reply, a racket burst out downstairs. The three exchanged looks. One guard stayed to watch the door, and the heir led the other down.

When they reached the kitchen and saw what was there, the heir’s eyes widened and the guard ran to the side to vomit.

Jiang Liu Yun was pinning down a chubby man. On the chopping block nearby lay a chunk of meat that had not been processed. The problem was, it was not pork, dog, mutton, or chicken, or any other normal meat. It was a big slab of human flesh.

How could they be so sure?

Because it was a human thigh.

The heir’s pupils shrank. He finally understood why Official Yu had stopped them from eating meat. This was not meat for people to eat. It was the flesh of their own kind. Thinking that he had almost eaten human flesh today, his stomach churned. The guard was already heaving up bile.

Jiang Liu Yun rolled his eyes and said: “Now you know my sister’s good intentions, you bunch of fools.”

Two constables stood behind Jiang Liu Yun. They were locals, and they were unhappy about being dragged out after their shift to do field work. A bunch of out-of-towners had shown up, ordered them to follow commands exactly, do whatever they were told, and never explained why they were staking out this old inn. This inn was a long-standing name in the city, open for more than ten years, paid taxes on time, and whenever constables patrolled past, the staff sent them off with something. Sometimes it was wine, sometimes snacks, sometimes food to take home. With an inn this good, of course the constables resented outsiders coming in to cause trouble. But no one knew who these strangers really were, and even the commandery governor did not dare offend them, so the small fry were pushed out to work.

Right up until the fat chef went into the kitchen, both constables were still annoyed. One of them kept shooting Jiang Liu Yun disgusted looks.

Then they saw something terrible.

After a guest ordered meat dishes, the fat chef entered the kitchen. He did not touch the half slab of pork ribs hanging from the beams. Instead, he walked to a wall, twisted a jar beside it, and the wall slowly shifted, revealing a huge hidden space. Watching from the window, they could not see what was inside. The chef went in. When he came back out, he was carrying a leg.

A human leg.

Remembering how many times they had eaten food from this inn, even meat dishes, both constables threw up on the spot.

Seeing that the time was right, Jiang Liu Yun charged in without waiting for them and fought the chef. The chef, though only a cook, had some skill. He traded two moves with Jiang Liu Yun before Jiang twisted his arm and pinned him to the ground. Jiang Liu Yun kicked the fat man and said: “Talk. Now.”

The chef glared with hatred and said: “Confess? No way. I have only one life.” His round face showed no fear, only a crazy smile: “But do you dare kill me?”

The two constables had just finished throwing up. Hearing the chef act so bold after doing something so evil, they kicked him again and again, saying: “You beast. Selling human flesh. You are heartless.”

The chef laughed: “Weren’t you happy enough when you were eating it?”

The constables’ faces changed and they rushed out again. Soon, the courtyard filled with the sounds of dry heaving.

The heir’s face changed: “Not good!”

He told Jiang Liu Yun to keep a close watch on the chef, then ran back upstairs.

The guard at the door saw him return, looking pale, and could not help asking: “Captain, what happened?”

The heir did not answer. He knocked hard on the door, again and again.

No one opened. No one answered.

A bad feeling rose inside him. He lifted his foot and kicked.

The noise brought the other couple staying at the inn and Jiang Yu Chuan out of their rooms. Strangely, the shopkeeper and the waiters were nowhere to be seen. Even with all this commotion, not one of them came to check.