Chapter Ninety-Two: The Game and the Living Target

A thunderous rap sounded from the dais.

Then came a voice stern as law, sharp as thunder: "Tao Qing, in your study of high-altitude throwing, you dropped an egg from the cliff and caused Han Lixing's death. Do you confess?"

"Heh. Not bad. You even play the part well."

Tao Qing, startled for only an instant, laughed instead. "But tell me, do you think I ought to confess? Or would it be more interesting if I refused?"

Di Ying, seated above him, looked at Tao Qing's expression and narrowed his eyes.

Leaning back in his chair, hands folded over his abdomen, he said with easy composure, "Tao Qing, tell me about the manner in which you killed Han Lixing."

"Killed? That's a bit too serious, isn't it? This young master..."

Unconcerned, Tao Qing had been about to continue, but just as the words were about to leave his mouth, he swallowed them back in time.

For this was something his grandfather had repeatedly warned him about.

Such solemn instructions, even in a dream, could not be spoken lightly. It was ancestral law as well as family discipline.

The houses of the powerful kept too many secrets. Children raised in such families were trained from an early age to guard their tongues.

Tao Qing straightened in his seat and shook his head. "I have never met him, nor had any grievance or enmity with him. How can you speak of killing? You have found the wrong culprit. I have done nothing."

"Done nothing?"

Di Ying rose to his feet, descended from the high platform, and stopped at Tao Qing's front right. With his hands clasped behind his back, he looked down at him. "You are fond of studying contrivances. Have you never discovered this: once a thing has been done, traces are certain to remain?"

"Traces? You're not wrong, there are indeed traces. But who could ever discover them? Don't tell me you found them yourself. That is impossible."

When Tao Qing heard this, he felt the young man posing as an official was growing more and more interesting. To mention traces as well—how clever. So he answered ambiguously.

Otherwise, if he rejected it outright or admitted it outright, the game would lose all its charm.

Di Ying looked at Tao Qing and smiled.

Then, with a faint smile, he explained, "County Magistrate Zhang Jian was actually quite capable at handling cases. That means the yamen constables under him were not all loafers living off the public purse.

"And as for Han Lixing's case, those constables said they found not the slightest clue at the scene. Then perhaps they were telling the truth.

"But if the murderer committed an act of killing, how could there be no trace left behind?

"So, I examined Han Lixing's remains.

"There was only one fatal injury: a heavy object had struck the very center of the crown of his head.

"You do not know the shape of that wound, do you?

"It was round. Quite perfectly round.

"Around the hollowed circle were fine, dense cracks caused by the impact.

"On both sides of those cracks, I found signs that ants and snakes had gnawed there.

"Isn't that strange?

"Doesn't that suggest that something had once remained within those fissures, something that interested those little creatures?

"I also speculated whether the implement used in the assault had been smeared with some liquid, such as syrup or egg, and whether it flowed into the wound when it struck Han Lixing's scalp.

"You surely understand this reasoning. A murder weapon is one of the crucial clues in solving a case precisely because it leaves traces.

"Iron filings, rust, whatever it may be. Once touched, it leaves something behind.

"But a weapon so absurd that liquid could run into the wound—doesn't that make the whole thing rather preposterous?

"Also, according to the constables, there were many eggshells and traces of egg liquid around the scene.

"Was the culprit really that careless?

"If he were so careless, how could he have left not a single clue at the scene?

"I could not make sense of it.

"So I turned my attention to the surroundings, and naturally I saw that cliff over there, like it had been cut by blade and axe, sixty or seventy meters high.

"Only by throwing an object from that cliff could one satisfy one of the necessary conditions for murder.

"However, although the condition was found, the culprit remained unknown.

"Until I heard of you, and heard that you often used living creatures for your studies, I could almost conclude with certainty that it was you who threw objects down from the cliff."

As he spoke, Di Ying shifted a step to stand directly before Tao Qing and continued, "You still do not know, do you? After I confirmed this point, I had your personal attendants and servants, those who had followed you for years, arrested and thoroughly questioned.

"They have already confessed: on the second day of the tenth month in the fifth year of the Great Xia calendar, at around one quarter past the hour of Shen, you stood atop that sheer cliff and threw eggs downward.

"One by one, until you heard cries of agony.

"You were aiming, weren't you? Holding an egg in one hand, looking down to judge the man's position, then raising your outstretched arm and letting go.

"You wanted the eggs to fall naturally, did you not?

"Only then could you measure the data you sought.

"So tell me, why did you choose Han Lixing as your target?

"Because only he passed his days beneath that cliff?

"Because only that cliff could satisfy the conditions for your successful testing? So you set a binding trap in advance at the place where he would rest, imprisoning him there, turning him alive into your target?"

"What are you talking about? I do not understand!" Tao Qing's eyes flickered, yet his mouth denied it flatly.

He had already realized that this dream was too real, as real as reality itself.

Only he did not believe that there was any official in this world who would dare to interrogate him.

"I am not playing with you anymore. It's boring."

Tao Qing's heart was pounding violently. He felt panicked, terribly panicked, and no longer wished to continue this game.

If this were a dream, then let him wake from it.

As he spoke, he struggled to his feet and was about to leave.

But then he heard a voice heavy as a mountain: "Apply the punishment!"

At those words, Tao Qing's legs turned to jelly. He dropped to his knees at once, striking the blue stone floor with a sharp crack.

The pain made him cry out.

The pain jolted him fully awake: this was no dream. Someone had truly seized him and was trying him in court.

The moment that thought arose, cold sweat burst out all over Tao Qing.

"You, who are you? How dare you try this young master! Do you know who I am? Just wait. You wait. My grandfather will take your life!"

"I am Di Ying."

Looking at Tao Qing, who had instantly become as limp as rotten shrimp, Di Ying said coldly, "Your murderous conduct has now been fully exposed. Tao Qing, if you insist on resisting to the bitter end, then this official does not mind letting you taste the instruments of punishment in the law hall!"

"Di... Di Ying?"

Tao Qing heard the name and thought hard, but could not remember ever having heard it before.

So he gathered a little more courage and shouted, "You're nothing but a petty official, and you dare punish this young master? Stop trying to frighten me. I was not born to be scared.

"Think of your family. Think of your office. I advise you to release me at once, or I will have your whole family buried with you!"