Chapter Eight: The Fifth Life

My mind buzzed, and the scene before me was exactly as Lord Jun had described. I hurriedly dialed Lord Jun’s number, and before long, the call connected.

“Qiu Tong, you nearly scared me to death! I’ve been trying to call you for ages, but it kept saying you were out of service. Something terrible has happened.”

“Could it be that Ren Tai’an is in trouble? He called me dozens of times last night, but I only saw it this morning. When I called back, the number was no longer in service.”

A sigh echoed from Lord Jun on the other end of the line.

“Hurry to the Anhui Guild Hall at Liulichang. Ren Tai’an is dead.”

Upon hearing this, I quickly hung up and called Mengya, asking her to pick me up and take me to Liulichang. Soon, Mengya arrived downstairs, and together we drove to Ren Tai’an’s residence near the Anhui Guild Hall.

Arriving beside the guild hall, we found the entrance to the alley blocked solidly by people. We squeezed our way forward to Ren Tai’an’s door, and at first glance, a chill ran through me. The steps outside the main gate were stained with dried, black blood. The stone lions flanking the entrance clamped two arms in their mouths, fresh blood dripping rhythmically, the lion’s jaws now dyed red. What was once a red door and pillars had been painted a strange shade of blue. At the center of the door stood a corpse, its eyes gouged out and hanging beside its face, mouth agape with a long tongue protruding, hair wild as if tossed by a violent wind. It wore white clothes now soaked red with blood. In his abdomen, a massive steel spike had pierced him from behind, blood still pouring out. I stared intently—this was unmistakably Ren Tai’an, who ran his shop in the basement of Rongbaozhai Tower at Liulichang.

As I stood transfixed by the horrific sight, Mengya’s face had turned pale. I quickly urged her to step away, and she nodded, leaving the scene.

Just as she departed, someone tapped my shoulder from behind. I instinctively turned—Lord Jun and Xiao Xie stood there.

“I got Ren Tai’an’s call at four this morning, but there was only silence before it disconnected. I rushed over, but he was already dead when I arrived.” He sighed. “If only I’d come back with him last night. Maybe I could have protected him.”

I listened and gave a sardonic smile, my face twisting into an odd expression as I spoke deliberately, “Lord Jun, when will your knife be at my throat?”

Lord Jun stared, dumbfounded, before finally speaking.

“What are you saying? Are you suspecting me of killing Ren Tai’an?”

I quickly laughed and waved my hand. “Just joking, to lighten the grim mood.”

Lord Jun cast a peculiar glance at me, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

He ordered Xiao Xie to call the police, and together Lord Jun and I stepped onto the stairs to examine the corpse, searching the ground for any sign of the golden mask. Instead, we found a strange character written in blood—a reversed ‘Shang’. I nudged it with my foot; clearly, nothing was hidden beneath it. Looking over the door and pillars, once red but now blue, I touched them. The paint was damp, freshly applied. Scraping at the surface, the green paint came off, revealing the old, worn red beneath.

I wiped my hand clean of the paint, noticing Lord Jun nearby fiddling with something. As I approached, he suddenly turned, glancing at me and wiping the blue paint from his hands.

“Qiu Tong, did you notice something odd about the paint?”

“Not really, I just touched it and realized it was freshly painted. By the way, Lord Jun, did you call the police?”

He nodded, “Didn’t you see Xiao Xie go to call them? I want to find the mask first.”

“I’ve been looking too, but haven’t found anything.”

Half an hour later, the sound of police cars echoed from the alley beside the guild hall. Two patrol cars emerged from deep within the alley, scattering the crowd. From the vehicles stepped a male and a female officer.

The officers surveyed the murder scene, cordoning it off. They glanced at Lord Jun and me.

“Hello, we’re officers from the Tigerfang Bridge station in Xicheng District. I’m Officer Li. What is your relationship with the deceased?”

I was about to speak when Lord Jun stopped me.

“Ah, the old man’s son owes us money. We came to collect. Who knew he’d end up dead? Maybe he was hiding from his debts.”

I paused, then nodded.

Officer Li eyed us skeptically, instructing the female officer to take notes, then climbed the steps to examine the corpse, signaling for several forensic specialists from the car.

The forensic team took down Ren Tai’an’s body, inspecting it thoroughly for over half an hour, before rising.

“The deceased, Ren Tai’an, fifty-five years old, male, Han ethnicity, resident of Xicheng District, Beijing. Time of death was around three thirty last night. Cause: blunt force trauma resulting in skull fracture and brain injury.” Turning the body over, they revealed a massive indentation in the back of his head. The forensic doctor pressed it, and blood oozed from the sunken spot.

Officer Li looked at us. “Gentlemen, where were you last night?”

Lord Jun pondered, “I was drinking at home with friends. They can vouch for me.” He provided the officers with his friends’ contacts.

I nodded, “I was asleep at home. See?” I showed my phone’s call history to Officer Li, displaying Ren Tai’an’s calls.

Officer Li nodded, “Please accompany us inside the deceased’s residence. If you recall any clues, let us know.”

He opened the blue door.

We followed the officers into Ren Tai’an’s estate. The courtyard appeared calm and peaceful, showing no signs of struggle.

Inside Ren Tai’an’s study, we found the room in disarray. Books littered the floor, and the desk was piled high with them. The officers donned white gloves and began sorting through the books.

Lord Jun and I leaned in. Beneath the books lay a sheet of white paper, covered in strange blue-marker script, filling the page with repeated symbols.

I shivered. Weren’t these the Khitan characters from the mask? I frowned as the police took the note aside, revealing another, even stranger note below. The originally white paper had been colored red with a marker, with blue Khitan characters written in the center.

I reached out to take the red note for closer inspection, but the police officer stopped me.

“Please don’t disturb the scene.”

I nodded, but as I turned past the officer, a chill swept over me, cold sweat breaking out across my brow.

Lord Jun approached the desk, brows furrowed as he examined the notes.

“Do you know what these characters mean?” he asked.

We both shook our heads.

The female officer spoke, “The deceased was an expert in ancient scripts. These might be research materials.”

Officer Li nodded and placed the two Khitan-script notes into evidence bags.

We left the study and entered Ren Tai’an’s bedroom. Like the study, it was a mess, with white paper scraps strewn everywhere. Officer Li frowned, picked up a fragment, squatted, and began piecing together the scraps.

We watched in confusion and approached to see the paper fragments. Officer Li managed to piece together a partially incomplete note, which read: “Today… goods… Yue… Ren Bo.”

Lord Jun’s eyes lit up. “Officer, Ren Tai’an’s son owes a lot of money for goods at the antique market. We came this morning to collect. This must be one of the IOUs. Ren Bo probably stole from his own home, and when his father discovered it, he killed him out of fear.”

The officer paused, then shook his head. “Ren Tai’an was well aware of his son’s debts. Why wouldn’t he help him pay? That doesn’t make sense.”

I thought for a moment. “The officer’s right. Ren Tai’an even mortgaged his shop to raise money for his son. Why would Ren Bo steal?”

Lord Jun glanced at me, nodding. “Perhaps the creditors killed him instead.”

Officer Li waved his hand. “Where is this Ren Bo?”

Lord Jun and I exchanged glances and shook our heads. I took out my phone and showed Officer Li Ren Bo’s number.

Officer Li dialed the number, waited, then pocketed his phone, shaking his head. “It’s turned off.”

Lord Jun looked at me and sighed, “Qiu Tong, it seems we were right.”

I nodded, “Perhaps.” I glanced at Lord Jun from the corner of my eye. His face wore a bizarre expression, half-smile, half-frown, his helplessness exaggerated.

Lord Jun smiled at Officer Li, “Is there anything else for us?”

The officer shook his head. We left our contact information with the female officer and departed Ren Tai’an’s residence.