Hot-Hand Detective

Author: Wang Jianliang, Yuan Jin, Mi Ruo, Gu Qi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: Fan Xiaoshan is very happy today! Thinking of going home tomorrow to see his beautiful wife, he felt a surge of excitement in his heart. He had been doing business in a distant place for more than two months. Fan Xiaoshan couldn’t wait to leave that night, but it was already dark, and the road ahead was mountainous. He had to find an inn to stay and set off early the next morning, arriving home by noon.
In the inn, after dinner, Fan Xiaoshan took out a silver hairpin inlaid with jade and slowly admired it. It was a gift he had given to his wife, Yu'er. Holding the hairpin, he happily thought that Yu'er would surely love it. But he never imagined that his wife, Yu'er, was currently enduring suffering and would never be able to wear this hairpin again.
A sudden thunderclap jolted Li Yu'er awake from her dream. No, to be precise, she was woken up by someone harassing her. A flash of lightning illuminated the room, and she opened her eyes to see a stranger crouching at the foot of her bed, touching her body recklessly. Li Yu'er leaped out of bed and quickly drew out a dagger. This dagger was hidden under her pillow every night before she slept. Ever since her husband, Fan Xiaoshan, went away for business, people had been sneaking around her with ill intentions. Unexpectedly, she actually needed it today.
"What are you? What do you want?" Holding the dagger, Li Yu'er pointed its tip at the man and shouted loudly. "Don’t! Don’t call me, and I’ll leave!" Seeing the dagger, the man jumped in shock and quickly retreated a step, as if turning to leave. Li Yu'er breathed a sigh of relief. But seeing her slight relaxation, the man suddenly lunged back, grabbed her right hand, and pinned her down on the bed.
"Ah, what do you want? Get away! Help! Someone, help!" Li Yu'er struggled desperately while shouting for help. Seeing that she was always facing him with the dagger, the man couldn’t get close and feared that his shouts would alert the neighbors, making his escape difficult. So, he twisted her wrist holding the dagger and pushed it towards her throat. Li Yu'er was no match for him, and blood flowed profusely. The poor Li Yu'er quickly became limp, her legs twitched a few times, her mouth twitched a few times, and then she stopped breathing.
Seeing this, the man quickly let go and fled immediately. At that moment, it was raining heavily outside. The perpetrator ran frantically along the muddy path in the courtyard, but suddenly stopped. A folding fan fell to the ground. He glanced down hastily and continued running, climbed over the courtyard wall, and disappeared into the pitch-black night in an instant.
The neighbors of the Li family, Xue couple, had vaguely heard a few screams late that night, but after a while, there was no more movement. At that time, the raindrops outside had grown heavier, constantly striking the window paper and making a rustling sound. The couple suspected that the screams they had heard might have been just a illusion, so they didn’t get up to investigate.
The next morning, after the sun rose, the wife of the Xue couple remembered the previous night’s events and felt uneasy, deciding to go check on the Li family. However, after knocking for a long time, there was no answer. She found it strange that Li family usually woke up at this time, but there was no movement today. However, the main gate was locked, so she didn’t dare to break in. After lunch, she went to knock on the Li family’s door again, but still no one opened it. She couldn’t help but become anxious and asked her husband to climb over the wall to check. They found Li Yu'er lying stiffly on the bed, already lifeless.
"Yu'er, I’m back! Look what I brought back for you." Just as the Xue couple stared almost speechlessly at Li Yu'er lying in a pool of blood, Fan Xiaoshan returned. Seeing his gentle and lovely wife lying dead at home, Fan Xiaoshan suddenly fainted to the ground. When he woke up, Di Renjie was already leading Hong Liang, Qiao Tai, Ma Rong, and others to examine the scene in the courtyard and room.
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