Chapter 25
All the teeth were missing from the skull. If it had only been missing the jaw or eye sockets, that would be easier to explain.
Maybe it was a birth defect, or maybe that part of the bone was smashed to dust in a fall.
But it was specifically the teeth-humans have 26 teeth, and this was a wide, open ground. Even if the skull had fallen here, the teeth should be visible.
Yet the open ground was perfectly clean-not a single one of those 26 teeth could be found.
It was hard not to be suspicious.
Wu Xiaojiu thought, maybe the skull had been here a long time, the owner’s teeth had loosened, plus Wang Xiao had just been shaking a branch up there.
When the skull rolled inside the hollow, the teeth could have scattered into the tree hollow.
Wang Xiao found this plausible.
He used his signature skill, scrambling up the tree like a monkey.
He climbed all the way to the spot with the bird’s nest and reached into the hollow.
But just as his hand went in, before he could search around-
Wu Xiaojiu, looking up from the ground, saw Wang Xiao freeze in place.
“What’s wrong?”
Wu Xiaojiu shouted upward.
Wang Xiao turned to look at him, forcing a very awkward smile.
“Tell me, can a person’s body grow four heads?”
“…”
There was only silence in response.
Wu Xiaojiu stared at him, unmoving.
Wang Xiao reached in again.
“How about five heads? Can a body sprout five heads?”
Wang Xiao’s smile was growing stiffer and stiffer.
Wu Xiaojiu felt his spine grow colder and colder, a chill spreading from inside out, so much so that even his old leg pain threatened to flare up.
Wu Xiaojiu shook his head mechanically.
“I really don’t think so-there wouldn’t be enough nutrition, would there?”
While the two were talking, one up high and one below,
Bo Suihan ran down from upstairs.
He looked up at Wang Xiao as well.
He saw Wang Xiao hugging a head under one arm, gripping the tree with his legs, and sliding down in a rush.
When he turned to look at the two of them,
He forced out a smile uglier than crying.
“What now? Five heads!”
For a moment, they all looked at each other in shock.
The courtyard was utterly silent. A cool breeze swept by, lifting the corner of Wu Xiaojiu’s T-shirt.
“Are you sure there are only five heads? Did you search the hollow carefully?”
Suddenly, Wu Xiaojiu spoke up.
Wang Xiao looked at him, shook his head, and hefted the two heads in his hands.
“Not at all. I was worried if I kept searching, I’d run out of arms to carry them.”
A Headless Corpse, five heads.
Anyone would find that bizarre. What was most striking was that the five heads were all about the same freshness-
It looked like they’d all been severed within less than half a month of each other.
“So what now? You said you wanted to find him. He’s killed so many people-you have to give us an explanation.”
Wang Xiao dropped the two bags onto the ground with a clatter and sat down right there.
Wu Xiaojiu spread his hands, then turned to Bo Suihan.
Bo Suihan was looking at him too.
“Just now, I think I heard Wang Xiao call you something-what did he call me to you?”
The question stumped Wu Xiaojiu. He turned away awkwardly and shrugged his shoulders.
He squatted alone, turning the heads over and over, and, without meaning to, muttered,
“But so many people are dead… these heads are linked to the feud among the wealthy families over a decade ago. Are you really sure there’s only one killer?”
“Look at how clean the cuts are. Judging by the timeline, the killer should be old by now. Killing is hard enough, let alone dismembering. Cuts this perfect-only a young person could pull that off, right?”
Checking the crime scene, then heading to the dead person’s quarters.
Over the course of one night, Wu Xiaojiu had grown much bolder. He poked one of the heads, showing the severed cross-section to the other two.
Wang Xiao sat on the ground, lit a cigarette, and squinted through the swirling smoke for a closer look.
When he finally saw clearly, the bone and flesh at the severed neck had been cut clean and sharp.
He lowered his head and cursed.
“You’re actually right. For more than ten years, I’ve only been asking around among those few people in the elite circles, but I never considered whether there might be a family that specializes in this sort of thing.”
“After all, once the Bo Family fell, some industries were left hanging. The Su Family could take the lion’s share, and some small businesses could take advantage of the chaos to get a piece too.”
Wang Xiao finally realized what was going on.
Bo Suihan also squatted down, examining the cross-sections of the other heads.
The two of them thought of the same thing at the same time-the identity of the Headless Corpse: someone from the Liu Family.
When the Su Family rose to power, the Liu Chengyi family was their right-hand man.
It seemed this time, he was going to target the elite Su Family.
“…If there’s really no other way, we’ll have to do it.”
Bo Suihan was silent for a while, then sighed.
Wu Xiaojiu thought he had some secret trick up his sleeve and looked over curiously.
The other party noticed his gaze, and with a mysterious air, pulled a wooden token out of his pocket.
“A wooden token? What, you want to relax at a bathhouse or something?”
Not understanding, Wang Xiao blinked.
“This is the Dragon King Token. I was thinking, if there’s really no other way, I’ll mobilize a hundred thousand soldiers from Dragon King Island and surround the Su Family. Even if he kills ten thousand people a day, it’ll take him ten days.”
Wu Xiaojiu was silent for a moment.
He looked at Wang Xiao, who was now gazing at Bo Suihan with eyes full of admiration.
No one could understand his feelings. Wu Xiaojiu could only turn to the System.
[System, isn’t this the plot of ‘Nine Masters After Breaking Off the Engagement’? Why is there a Dragon King Token now?]
[You don’t get it, do you? The times are changing, society is progressing. To make sure the audience gets the ultimate thrill, the nine masters and the Dragon King were merged.]
[Standing before you is-a master of all arts, martial arts and metaphysics, with nine masters, nine fiancées, the Dragon King Token, Medicine King Valley, Assassin Pavilion, and the power to mobilize a million troops: Long Aotian, Bo Suihan!]
Wu Xiaojiu was silent.
He scratched his head and replied to the System.
[If he’s so awesome, why is Long Aotian still living under a bridge?]
The System hissed.
[With that kind of attack, I have to admit, you’ve got a point.]
The summer night wind was a bit chilly.
The three of them stood around five severed heads and a token, all silent.
Wang Xiao and Bo Suihan were seriously considering the feasibility of mobilizing a hundred thousand troops.
Only Wu Xiaojiu looked around aimlessly, bored.
“I never expected that you, an orphan, could create such a world for yourself. Clearly, I was narrow-minded and shouldn’t have schemed against you.”
Wang Xiao sighed.
Bo Suihan patted him on the shoulder in comfort.
“It’s fine. If you’ve made it this far, your strength must be terrifying too. We all have a bright future ahead.”
“So, are you sure you want to mobilize a hundred thousand soldiers from Dragon King Island to protect the Su Family?”
“If there’s absolutely no other choice, that’s all we can do. If a hundred thousand soldiers can’t guarantee the Su Family’s safety, then the enemy’s strength is already terrifying. The only option left is to send out our Assassin Pavilion’s First Assassin.”
The two of them kept discussing.
It was at this moment that Wang Xiao’s phone rang. The three of them had been on edge, afraid it might be a call from the Police Station.
But when Wang Xiao saw the caller ID, his previously tense face relaxed.
“It’s fine, it’s just a friend of mine who’s an information broker. He probably wants to ask about the case here.”
With that, he answered the call.
But as soon as the call connected, the voice on the other end shouted, and the news wasn’t good.
“Wang Xiao, where did you go? Do you know there’s been another murder in your area?”