Chapter 4 – The Fog is Clearing

Li Hao finally recalled!

If it’s a sword, the Lee Family did have one… or should say it’s a piece?

He was uncertain because the sword that was in his memory… didn’t look like a sword.

However, Li Hao knew that it’s a sword.

It was very contradictory.

But that was the truth.

Back when Li Hao was still a kid, his dad put on a necklace with a jade pendant that resembled a sword on him, and told him in a solemn manner, “This is the Sword of Starry Sky, the only object that Lee Family passed down as an heirloom. In the future, pass this on to your kids. Do not call it jade, this is a sword.”

Father was serious when he talked.

Of course, that was only for a moment. When he saw Li Hao looking baffled, he felt he had no choice but to explain, “This is what your grandfather told me, it was passed down from our great ancestors. This is exactly what was passed down, to insist that it’s a sword. Anyway, you just need to call that a sword.”

That was why Li Hao was able to remember that the Lee Family really do have a sword named the Sword of Starry Sky.

In fact, he’s currently wearing that small piece of sword-shaped jade pendant over his neck.

Li Hao was feeling slightly confused at the moment.

If the Lee Family’s Sword that was mentioned in the lyrics is this piece of jade pendant, then, the Lee Family does indeed have a sword.

Does the Zhang Family have the knife?

Li Hao might not be familiar with the others, but he’s very familiar with Zhang Yuan as he had known him for years. Zhang Yuan’s parents passed away at an early age.

“The Zhang Family’s Knife…”

Li Hao tried to recall for a while, but was the knife in possession with the Zhang family?

As he recalled the past, Li Hao’s eyes wavered. The Zhang family might really have the knife in their possession.

It’s something different from his jade pendant. At least, jade is something valuable. Furthermore, it’s an old piece of jade. No matter what, it’s something that the Lee Family places importance on.

But for the Zhang family’s knife, Li Hao suddenly recalled the time when he went to play at Zhang Yuan’s house. Zhang Yuan had sneaked out an item to play with Li Hao but was soon busted by his dad, and was even badly beaten by him after that.

That item… seems to be a stone that’s shaped like a knife.

Currently, Li Hao’s memory seemed distant and ambiguous, but he still vaguely remembered the day that Zhang Yuan’s father scolded Zhang Yuan. He said that although that item was just a stone and not something valuable, it was still an item that was passed down from their ancestors, it’s not something to fool around with.

In actual fact, Li Hao saw Zhang Yuan’s father casually throwing the stone aside. Li Hao suspected that Zhang Yuan’s father was just finding an excuse to beat his son up.

“Could that be the Zhang’s Family Knife mentioned in the lyrics?”

If that’s the truth, he’ll be able to piece the puzzle.

After that day, Li Hao never got to see that piece of stone again. Besides, there are tons of stones by the roadside, and they aren’t that free to go and play with a stone. In fact, Li Hao and Zhang Yuan became busier as they grew older too.

At this moment, Li Hao is generally certain that what’s mentioned in the lyrics might be true.

He unconsciously touched his chest, the jade pendant felt cool, and there weren’t any changes.

The coolness awakened Li Hao in an instant. He looked towards Chen Na with desire and asked, “Sister Na, can I meet your grandma?”

He wanted to know the origins of this song, who propagated it, how long has it been in circulation, and was that tune the complete version?

Why were the lyrics from this folk song related to the self-combustion cases?

What was that red shadow, and why did it kill the eight families mentioned in the lyrics?

And if it were to kill, does it kill only one person or everyone from the eight families? If that’s the case…

“hmm?”

Before Chen Na could respond, Li Hao was startled all of a sudden.

He quickly flipped open the documents. Although he had read them countless times, he is currently speed reading through them and started to mumble, “Hong Qiao’s parents had passed on, she was still young when she died too. That is why there isn’t anyone left in her family after her death.”

“On Zhong Qing’s side, although he doesn’t have any children after he and his wife failed to conceive after many years, his lover is still alive.”

“As for Zhang Yuan, it’s needless to say…”

The Zhang family had only a single seed which is Zhang Yuan. Zhang Yuan’s parents died at an early age, that is why Zhang Yuan was the only descendent of the Zhang Family.

“Wang Hao Ming was still unmarried when he died. But Wang Hao Ming is not the only son, he has a brother…”

“Liu Yun Sheng is an elderly who has been single all his life.”

“Zhao Shi Hao has a daughter. After his death, his wife left the city with his daughter. Their whereabouts are unknown.”

Li Hao quickly browsed through the files and noticed that not all of them were single, some of them were married and some had kids, that was why Li Hao did not find any problem with this previously.

But at this moment, Li Hao suddenly had his attention on himself.

“My parents died in an accident three years ago… The car lost control and crashed; it was definitely an accident. But now… was it still an accident?”

Li Hao’s parents passed away three years ago.

It was caused by an accident.

Li Hao had never taken his parents into consideration because it has no relations to the self-combustion cases.

Currently, Li Hao has a multitude of things going through his mind.

Zhang, Hong, Zhou, Liu, these four families were totally wiped out with no one left who is related by blood.

Wang Hao Ming had a brother, and Zhao Shi Hao had a daughter. If I’m the Lee mentioned in Lee’s Family Sword… then I’m the only one left.

“This is not a simple homicide, but… the elimination of the whole family line!”

He felt terrified. But the more terrified he was , the angrier he felt.

Did my parents not die from an accident?

Naturally, all of these are unverified as there are still people left from the Wang and Zhao family.

……

“Li Hao!”

Chen Na’s shout woke Li Hao from his thoughts.

“You are fine, right?”

Chen Na saw Li Hao seems to be distracted when she answered his question but did not get any response back from him.

“I’m fine!”

Li Hao hurriedly shakes his head in denial. Chen Na took a glance at him and said, “You… You think that these people are related to the families in that song? Those are just folk songs from the village, some are rearranged in accordance with legends while some are just tunes that were sung casually. I feel that this might just be a coincidence. Aren’t we short of two more?”

She was startled all of a sudden when she was about to laugh, and looked at Li Hao.

Still short of two families. One from Zheng, and the other from Lee!

Li Hao?

Is this related to Li Hao?

No matter what, she’s still an officer from the Inspection Division. She has the fundamentals for logic and analysis and is able to link everything up that leads to Li Hao. Li Hao has been investigating these people, he is not related right?

“Li Hao, your surname is Lee, right?”

“……”

Li Hao laughed bitterly; was he able to say he’s not?

Chen Na grimaced, “Tell me the truth, is there a problem with their deaths?”

She had seen the documents. If one didn’t look at them in detail, it’ll look like they died from accidents as they didn’t take place within the same year.

“Sister Na, let’s talk about this later. Can I meet your grandma?”

Le Hao did not wish to comment on that.

Sister Na caught on and stopped probing, “I said earlier but I guess you weren’t listening, my grandma passed away a few years back…”

“My apologies!”

“It’s fine, she was already in her nineties when she left.”

Chen Na wasn’t bothered by it, “As for that song, many others at my grandma’s place know how to sing it too… but that’s when I was still a kid. I haven’t been back for a few years, I’m unsure how many of the elderlies are still around.”

Chen Na added, “If you are really interested, why not find a time and make a trip to my old house and check it out? If we can find an elderly who can sing that song, we might be able to find some clues.”

Li Hao nodded after some contemplation.

“Sister Na, the day after tomorrow is our off day. Are you available?”

“Sounds good!”

Li Hao stopped pursuing this topic, “Sister Na, your network in the Investigation Division is better than mine. Can I get you to help with something?”

“Let me hear about it.”

The current Li Hao stopped hiding anything since he had shown Chen Na the case files, “Can you help me check the whereabouts of some people? The first person is Wang Hao Ming’s brother, he’s the only family member left in his family. He isn’t in Silver City. He hasn’t been back here since Wang Hao Ming died.”

“The second person, Zhao Shi Hao’s daughter! After he died, his wife and his daughter left Silver City, there isn’t any news from them after that.”

The Silver City Inspection Division only manages the Silver City. It doesn’t have any authority or access to other jurisdiction’s information.

Roping Chen Na into this is because her network in the Inspection Division is wide.

Li Hao isn’t familiar with his colleagues, but there’s bound to be someone who has colleagues, classmates, or friends that’s working at the other branches. They should be able to find something through their network.

Chen Na’s eyes wavered.

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To check on the family members of the deceased?

What does Li Hao mean by that?

“Sister Na, can you see if you’re able to find something?”

Chen Na nodded after some contemplation, “In general, if it’s under a jurisdiction, it shouldn’t be a problem. I’m just afraid that there aren’t any traces of them. The world is huge once they are out of Silver City. We do not have regional enforcement authority, nor the authority to check on their database. If we are getting help from others, it’s better if we know where our targets are.”

“Understood. I have some of their particulars, I’ll pass them to you later. Although I do not know their exact location, I do at least know which city they are in.”

Li Hao had been following this case for some time, he’s somewhat familiar with the deceased’s family. It’s just that he’s unable to contact them as they’re not in the city.

“In that case, it’ll be easy. Just leave it to me!”

Chen Na agreed heartily.

Li Hao quickly thanked her.

After chatting for a little while, Chen Na suddenly spoke softly, “Li Hao, there something… Anyway, you need to be vigilant! I feel that… feel that this isn’t a simple matter.”

She’s not dumb, generally, she was able to guess what happened.

Currently, Chen Na is in contemplation. Should Li Hao turns out to be the Lee’s Family Sword mentioned in the song, will he be in danger?

The Investigation Division isn’t afraid of danger, but it’s only when they know where the danger is coming from.

The cases of those people are caused by accidents.

Li Hao didn’t say anything, but just nodded lightly.

As for Li Hao, he had many things to look into and verify them.

He needed to check the files that were more than 10 years ago. Did someone from the Zheng family die?

If the situation allows, he wants to make a trip to Zhang’s house. After Zhang Yuan died, the house was left empty. Li Hao wanted to take a look to see if Zhang’s Family Knife is still around.

Other than the Zhang’s Family knife, there’s also the Hong’s Family Mace and Zhou’s Family Rifle. Do the weapons mentioned in the lyrics even exist, and are they still around?

The red shadow had its eyes on the eight families, or is it after the eight families’ weapons mentioned in the lyrics?

Since the people are dead, the fist and leg are gone for good.

(TL: Zhao Family’s Fist & Liu Family’s Leg mentioned in previous chapter)

But for the weapons, if the respective families pass it down as an heirloom like the Lee Family, there’s still a chance to find some clues.

By confirming the red shadow’s motive will allow us to understand the other party better, which will also better our response to the crisis.

……

Li Hao didn’t head over to the Zhang Family directly nor back to his home. He has other things to attend to.

Inspection Division.

The Archives.

Aunty Zhao is the one that is managing the archives. From the dusty storehouse, she brought out a stack of documents. She patted off the dust on it but created a cloud of dust instead.

[TL note: In Chinese culture, one calls another woman aunty in private if she is older than them (usually women who are married or women aged above 25). It is different from the western culture where aunty is someone related in the family.]

She handed over the documents that had turned yellowish to Li Hao, and asked curiously, “Xiao Hao, what do you need these for? From 1715 – 1719, the list of people with the surname Zheng who died in Silver City are all here. There’s a few hundred of them, and they’ve all died for quite some time…”

Li Hao in his innocent smile, “Sister Zhao, there are some suspicious cases at the Confidential Chamber that involve these. It’s inconvenient to talk about these. I’ll treat you to a meal after I find some clues.”

[TL Note: Women don’t like to be called aunty because it makes them sound old. Therefore, the younger ones usually address older women that’s older than them as elder sisters as a form of respect.]

“Forget about the meal. Xiao Hao, you’re already 20 years old, you aren’t that young either. My daughter is 22 this year, she’s two years older than you…”

“……”

Li Hao felt helpless, but was still smiling, “Sister Zhao, I’m still young, let’s chat again.”

As he was replying, he took the files and fled in a hurry.

The aunties in the Inspection Division are nice except this, they like to introduce their daughters to him.

If it isn’t their daughter, it’ll be their niece, else, it will be someone’s daughter.

It can’t be helped since he was a student from the Silver City Ancient College. Although he had dropped out, he is still a good catch.

After getting his hands on the name list, he started to look through it quickly.

There isn’t much on the name list as their cause of death was stated in the documents. Li Hao only needed to filter some information to find out if there’s anyone from the Zheng family that he’s looking for.

The best result is that there’s a cause of death that indicates self-combustion.

Li Hao had found out that the red shadow uses a self-combustion method to kill the only child or direct line of descent from the eight families. From the actions of the red shadow, it might have a strong backing.

If that isn’t the case, Li Hao wouldn’t be able to narrow down the few people in front of him right now.

Within this, there must be a secret, and Li Hao is unable to uncover it at the moment.

“There’s a self-combustion case in 1720, followed by another one in 1723. Therefore, the one before these should have a longer time gap. The biggest possibility should be a death that took place before 1717.”

Li Hao read as he walked. He had to confirm if someone had died from the Zheng family.

If there is, it’ll prove that his conjecture is right.

If there isn’t… It isn’t bad at all if someone is still alive in the Zheng family. They’ll be able to provide clues to Li Hao. In fact, Li Hao felt that it’s better to have survivors from the Zheng family as the possibility of them having a connection to the red shadow is high.

“In the song, the lyrics mentioned that the Zheng Family’s Young Master is a hinder, which is different from the other families… therefore, the Zheng family might have differences too.”

While still in thoughts, Li Hao had reached the last page.

“Zheng Yun Qi, Date of Death: 12 September, 1715, Cause of Death: Gas Explosion…”

Li Hao squinted his eyes, gas explosion?

If that’s the case, there won’t be any remains, which is similar to self-combustion.

And to die in this manner, it won’t attract much attention.

“Is that him?”

Li Hao muttered, gas explosion, there might be more than one that was victimized from this accident. If that’s the case, the whole Zheng family can be eliminated in one shot!

After flipping through these name lists, this person has the highest possibility to be the one from the Zheng family mentioned in the song.

“Maybe… I can go and check it out.”

As Li Hao was pondering, he looked at the address written on it. Naturally, it’s not impossible that the place is no longer around after 15 years.

Today, the song from Cheng Na provided tons of clues to Li Hao all of a sudden.

In his mind, he was also having a clearer idea of this self-combustion case.

If this Zheng Yun Qi is the one from the Zheng family that Li Hao is looking for, it’ll mean that out of the eight families, he might be the only one who is still alive.

“Revenge? Or is there another reason?”

“Is the red-shadow man-made, or is that a kind of peculiar power, or maybe it’s just a deceptive trick?”

Li Hao touched the jade sword on his chest again. This jade sword, is this just a normal heirloom or does it have other uses?

“Seven families have perished, I’m definitely the next. How did the other party find the whereabouts of the others and mine?  We do not have anything peculiar, how did the red shadow narrow down its targets to us?”

The crisis of death seems to be inching in.

At this moment, Li Hao can already feel that a storm is coming. He quickly checked his mobile on his hand to see when the next rainy day would be. According to the requirements, the next rainy day will also be the time that the red shadow appears.

“18 July, cloudy.”

Li Hao turned pale, it’s 12th today, the weather for the next few days is good, it’ll turn cloudy on the 18th, after which, it’ll be followed by a few days of overcast and rain.

“In other words, the earliest, six days later, the red shadow will appear again? Even if it isn’t six days later, the other party might appear during the bad weather on the following days.

At this moment, Li Hao felt his heart clenched.

Previously, he was still unsure if the other party was looking for him, if he was their next target, but now, he is sure that he is the next target of the red shadow.

“Xiao Yuan wanted me to escape, could it be that he had guessed it, or did he find out from the red shadow that their next target is me?”

“Why didn’t the red shadow kill me the previous time, why do they have to wait for a year?”

“For the red shadow to commit murder, there might be a restriction. Or maybe, for the self-combustion method, it can only be used once, and to get me killed, they can only use the self-combustion method?”

After massaging his temples, he suddenly smiled. 

“I’m relieved!”

The fear of facing the unknown is greater than the impending danger.

Previously, his understanding of the red shadow was low. The purpose, origins, target… Li Hao was clueless. Therefore, he was terrified in the past year.

However, once he had a clearer idea from the clues, knowing that he’s their next target, Li Hao isn’t as terrified anymore.

What’s left is anger, and resentment!

An eye for an eye!

This time, if the other party really shows up, he’ll even risk his life to look for the night watchers, to tell them that he can see the red shadow!

If he can eliminate the red shadow, even if he ends up dead, it’s worth it!

“Xiao Yuan…. As well as dad and mom, if you really died in the hands of the red shadow, this time, I’ll definitely avenge you!”

Li Hao clenched his fists, and his gentle face showed a hint of ferociousness.

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