The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#302 - Strange Case

Lu Jing continued reading and discovered that the strange occurrences on the case file were not limited to these two.

In the west of the city, there was a fishmonger who was deeply in love with his wife. Every morning, he would get up early to sell fish, and his wife would always grind him a bowl of soy milk and serve it with a steaming hot baked cake.

However, misfortune befell them. His wife contracted a terrible illness two years ago and couldn't overcome it, eventually passing away.

The fishmonger was heartbroken and vowed never to remarry. Then, not long ago, he woke up one morning and found a bowl of soy milk and a baked cake on his table again.

The fishmonger was shocked. Especially after he tasted the soy milk and the crispy cake, tears welled up in his eyes. He was certain that the soy milk and the cake were made by his deceased wife because they tasted exactly the same as he remembered.

However, when he told his relatives and friends about this, they didn't believe him. They thought he was just hallucinating because he missed his wife too much.

But the fishmonger didn't think so. So, ten days later, he lay in bed at night, but he didn't sleep. Instead, he closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep, wanting to know who was delivering the food.

After waiting all night, just as dawn was about to break, he finally waited for that person.

Accompanied by the creaking sound of the door opening, the fishmonger, who was already a little drowsy, instantly perked up again. Then, he heard footsteps approaching his table.

The fishmonger was overjoyed and was about to step forward, but she, seeing him wake up, softly said, "Take care," and turned to leave.

The fishmonger had finally seen his wife again, and he couldn't let her go so easily. He pleaded, "Xue Niang, I miss you so much. Whether you are a human or a ghost, please don't leave me again, okay?!" He chased after her out the door.

Then, he saw a large goose descending from the sky, and his wife, Xue Niang, climbed onto the goose's back and flew away riding the white goose.

Besides this, Xin, the shopkeeper of Jie Shen Lane, was the greediest. The pawnshop he ran offered the lowest prices, and the deadlines for live pledges were the shortest. People called him Xin the Skinflint behind his back.

One day, Xin the Skinflint saw a scholar bring a treasure basin to pawn. The scholar said that when water was poured into the basin, dragon shadows would appear. Xin the Skinflint didn't believe it, so he filled the basin with water. Afterward, he saw nine black shadows faintly visible inside the basin, playing with each other.

Xin the Skinflint knew he had encountered a treasure, and his greed arose again. In the end, he tricked the scholar into pawning the treasure basin for two thousand taels of silver.

Two thousand taels was not a small sum, especially for Xin the Skinflint, and it pained him. But when he thought about the value of what he had obtained, which was probably more than two million taels, he felt that the deal was very worthwhile.

After getting the treasure basin, Xin the Skinflint first washed it thoroughly. Then, he sent out invitations to Qi Wang, who loved collecting oddities and treasures and was extremely generous, as well as a group of guests, to come to his home and admire the treasure basin.

Xin the Skinflint placed the treasure basin in the courtyard. Then, he poured clear water into the basin. Qi Wang craned his neck to look and indeed saw nine black shadows in the basin, with serpentine bodies and claws, swimming in the water. He was greatly shocked and marveled at it.

However, before Qi Wang could open his mouth to offer a price, the nine black shadows suddenly leaped out of the basin. Then, they carried the treasure basin away and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Seeing this, Qi Wang sighed, "It seems it is still a celestial treasure. Unfortunately, I have no celestial affinity to obtain it, but being able to witness this spectacle is worth the trip."

After saying that, he walked away with a hint of regret.

The dumbfounded Xin the Skinflint only reacted after a moment and let out a mournful cry, "My two thousand taels!" Afterward, he was so angry that he fell seriously ill.

… … … …

After reading the four cases on this file, Lu Jing felt they were quite interesting, a bit like reading "Three Words and Two Beats." There were many bizarre elements, and the ending even had a cautionary meaning.

It's just that he couldn't see any connection between the four cases for the time being. However, since the Department of Heavenly Surveillance had written them on the same file, there must be a reason behind it.

Perhaps they had already investigated almost everything before taking it out as an exam question.

However, it couldn't be ruled out that the academy deliberately added interfering options here. After all, the productivity of the Chen Dynasty was not as developed as Lu Jing's previous life. There were always many similar strange anecdotes circulating, most of which had nothing to do with strange objects. It was purely people spreading rumors, lacking understanding of the objective laws of nature, and scaring themselves.

Even in Lu Jing's previous life, there was a "Approaching Science" program, so it was necessary to conduct an on-the-spot investigation first before drawing conclusions.

And these four cases happened to be listed in chronological order. That is to say, the earliest case was Li Er's ox being lost and found again. Then, almost three days later, Member Miao picked up a nine-tailed human pillar on the road and took it home.

Then, the next day, the fishmonger saw his deceased wife riding away on a white goose. Finally, a week later, Xin the Skinflint's Nine Dragons Treasure Basin ran away.

No, no, that's not right. Lu Jing reorganized his thoughts and found that he was almost deceived. The first case that happened among these four cases was clearly the case of the fishmonger's deceased wife.

Because his deceased wife riding the goose was strictly speaking just the result. In fact, this matter had already happened ten days ago. His deceased wife suddenly appeared again after two years and brought him breakfast.

If calculated in this way, it was earlier than Li Er getting the ox. Moreover, if these two cases were taken out separately, they actually had many similarities. Both were people or things that had been identified as dead, but reappeared.

And after that, the encounters of Member Miao and Xin the Skinflint were more like some kind of punishment.

After sorting out the timeline, Lu Jing also made up his mind to go to the fishmonger's place first to take a look.

The latter's residence was not difficult to find, it was on the file.

Located on Niuhang Street in the west of the city, this area was mostly inhabited by common people. In addition to various small vendors, there were also some waiting officials and actors. It was quite lively during the day.

However, the fishmonger was not at home. It was estimated that he had already gone to sell fish. So, Lu Jing asked the neighbors where he did business. It wasn't too far away, in a market below the Panlou Hotel.

Lu Jing went there again and finally saw the person in question.

He saw a man with a somewhat haggard face sitting behind a fish stall. Unlike the other vendors around him who were working hard to hawk their wares, he didn't speak unless customers took the initiative to ask. The whole person looked a little lost.

Lu Jing observed him for a while and felt that he shouldn't be faking it. Then, he stepped forward and said, "Han Erlang?"