Chapter 521: Conducting a Funeral
The child expressionlessly handed over the puzzle to Du Lai, “Daddy can’t play with me. He said he will only come back home when I can solve this.”
Du Lai chuckled and gently took the puzzle from the child’s hand.
For street magicians, the puzzle and the Nine Linked Rings are basic skills and must-practice items.
In just two or three moves, Du Lai disassembled the puzzle into separate pieces. Placing it back in the child’s hand, he once again “kindly” asked:
“Kid, do you know what happened to this family? Who died?”
This time, the child replied quickly: “Everybody knows, Lizheng was decapitated last night. The Ma Family slept next to the headless man the whole night and wet her pants when she woke up in the morning. How embarrassing! Is it embarrassing? How can an adult pee in their pants!”
After saying this, the child made a face and ran off!
Watching the child run off, Du Lai stood up pensively and said to his companion: “In this conversation, two people were mentioned, one is Lizheng who was beheaded last night, the other is Mrs. Ma, who should be Lizheng’s wife.”
“Who is Lizheng? Is it a name?” Fu Miaoxue asked.
“It refers to the village head.” Du Lai explained, “Last night, the head of this village was beheaded.”
Fu Miaoxue frowned, “That’s gory. I don’t want to see a headless corpse.”
“This is getting interesting.” Bai Youwei mused thoughtfully. “Her husband was lying next to her, decapitated, and the wife remained completely oblivious, only finding out in the morning… Strange isn’t it? Decapitation is neither quiet nor bloodless. How could the person sleeping in the same bed remain oblivious?”
Shen Mo added, “The murderer is either a local or a pallbearer from last night. There’s no third possibility. Let’s go in and take a look.”
They attempted to enter the house again.
At the entrance, the homeowner asked them, “Who do you grieve for?”
Shen Mo replied: “We grieve for Lizheng.”
The owner respectfully stepped aside, “Please come in, honored guests.”
Having received permission, they somewhat relaxed.
If this method works, then the same pattern should apply when looking for other clues.
Shen Mo, who was pushing the wheelchair, stopped and slightly furrowed his brows.
Du Lai also paused solemnly before the threshold.
The barrier at the entrance … still existed.
They couldn’t get in.
Why? They had correctly answered the homeowner’s question, so why couldn’t they enter?
Just as they were puzzled, Fu Miaoxue walked briskly over the threshold. She tried to take Du Lai’s arm in habit, but ended up grabbing only air. She turned to look back and found-
All her companions were still outside!
“Why aren’t you coming in?” Fu Miaoxue asked, perplexed.
Shen Mo, Bai Youwei, and Du Lai all looked at her with complicated expressions, simultaneously realizing a very basic etiquette.
There are certain dress codes when visiting someone’s house to pay respects.
One should wear neutral colors as far as possible, preferably black, gray or white.
Among them, Fu Miaoxue was the only one dressed all in black.
Sure, Shen Mo’s shirt was black too, but it was a short-sleeved T-shirt. In ancient times, wearing short sleeves to a mourning visit was considered disrespectful.
As for Du Lai, he wore a grey hoodie, but his hiphop shorts were adorned with patterns.
Bai Youwei wore a white dress covered by a camel colored shawl.
So, in the end, only Fu Miaoxue was “dressed appropriately”.
“I don’t want to go in alone!” Fu Miaoxue couldn’t accept this. She had just said that she wouldn’t go see the headless male corpse! Why now not only does she have to go see it, but she has to do so alone?! No way! Absolutely not!