Chapter 184: Clearing the Mist

“Ugh, cough cough cough~”

Watching Dong Zhen take the chopsticks out again and then lower her head to keep dry heaving, Mo Xiaobai was indeed shocked by her idea.

Can dead people be fed like this?

It looked like it was very likely to work.

It was just that this process made people involuntarily prone to thinking the wrong way.

“Jun Xin, you could have just told me directly just now. Why did you have to demonstrate it yourself? It must be very uncomfortable to have wooden chopsticks inserted deep into your throat, right? I will go pour you a bowl of water to drink.”

After Mo Xiaobai finished speaking, he walked into the room, poured a bowl of water, and handed it to Dong Zhen. Dong Zhen swallowed a mouthful but immediately vomited it all out. After vomiting, she seemed to feel a bit better and said, “Whether it is comfortable or not, why doesn’t My Lord try it himself and see?”

Me try?

This, I think I will pass.

The corner of Mo Xiaobai’s mouth twitched, and he waved his hand to change the topic, “I already know the matter you wanted to tell me. Although the rice grains were swallowed during the Chou Hour, whether Zhou Yi was dead or alive at that time was completely an unknown, right?”

“Yes.”

“Since the time of death can no longer be confirmed, then certain people’s alibis can no longer be counted as valid.”

Mo Xiaobai now truly wanted to thank Dong Zhen. If not for Dong Zhen suddenly providing such a godly assist, he would never have thought that people could still eat after death even if he racked his brains.

“Jun Xin, you rest first. I will go find Guo Jia and the others to discuss what to do next regarding this matter.”

Having discovered a major flaw in the entire case, Mo Xiaobai could not care less about eating breakfast. He ran towards the Guest Room where Guo Jia was temporarily staying and directly dragged the man out of the room.

“My Lord, what time is it even?”

Guo Jia was always a lazybones who would not get out of bed before eight or nine o’clock. He squinted his eyes as he was dragged out the door by Mo Xiaobai, glanced at the sky, and began to yawn again.

“Don’t sleep. You are the only one still sleeping among so many people. Just now, Jun Xin made a new discovery. It has already been proven that Zhou Yi did not die after the Chou Hour that night.”

Mo Xiaobai dragged Guo Jia and explained. Hearing My Lord say this, Guo Jia, who was originally still drowsy, was first stunned, and then said in shock, “Then Zhou Yi didn’t die during the Chou Hour? What hour would it be then?”

Seeing Guo Jia reveal a surprised expression, Mo Xiaobai immediately repeated what Dong Zhen had just said, only omitting the process of her personal demonstration.

However, even without the demonstration, Guo Jia understood.

It was not only the living who could eat; the dead could too!

“The murderer went to great lengths to create false evidence. Fengxiao, where do you think we should start to find him?”

“My Lord, there is no need to rush to find the murderer for now.”

Guo Jia shook his head upon hearing this. He frowned and pondered for a moment before revealing a trace of suspicion, “The rice might have been fed after death, but the murderer feeding the rice must have been present at the time. However, according to everyone at the Restaurant, no one entered or left that room during the Chou Hour. The times on both sides still do not match, unless!”

“Unless what?”

“Unless it was indeed the Chou Hour at that time, but everyone inside the Restaurant mistakenly thought it was not the Chou Hour.”

After Guo Jia spoke this convoluted sentence, the light in his eyes kept flashing, “I understand. To tamper with the time, one not only needs the method of feeding the rice but also the cooperation of the watchman. Only by having the watchman mistakenly report the Chou Hour as the Zi Hour, or even a time before the Zi Hour, can this act of feeding the deceased rice truly take effect.”

When the confirmation of the time of death was overturned, all other evidence related to time aroused Guo Jia’s suspicion.

Undoubtedly, there was a big problem with the watchman!

Because if the watchman reported the time according to the normal schedule, then at least someone in the Restaurant would have seen that there was still someone in the room where the County Magistrate stayed during the Chou Hour.

Only if the watchman faked it, in this ancient era without wall clocks, watches, or mobile phones, would people mistake the Chou Hour for the Zi Hour, and thus unknowingly provide false testimony for the murderer.

“Good, I will have someone arrest that watchman immediately for interrogation!”

Having obtained a new clue from Guo Jia, Mo Xiaobai planned to start making arrests immediately without even thinking. However, before he could turn his head, Guo Jia immediately stopped him, “My Lord, there is no need to alert the enemy at this moment. You only need to send people to keep a close watch on the watchman and secretly investigate who he associates with usually. Additionally, you can go to the Restaurant again and ask where those specially made wooden chopsticks actually came from.”

“Secretly investigate?”

“That is right. After all, we do not have conclusive evidence in our hands. Instead of announcing Physician Dong’s discovery to the public, it is better to wait until we obtain truly useful evidence before making the arrest publicly.”

Guo Jia’s meaning was very simple. Although Dong Zhen had cracked the secret of “dead people eating,” after all, this was only a speculation. Speculation could not be used as evidence.

It was better to secretly follow the vine to get the melon, and wait until they found the “melon” before making a move. At that time, no one would be able to deny or make excuses.

“Then who should I send to secretly investigate?”

“I am not talented, but I am willing to make another trip to the Restaurant.” Guo Jia hehe laughed and volunteered.

“You?”

Seeing Guo Jia speak with a smile, Mo Xiaobai immediately laughed as well, “Investigating the case is fake, wanting to go drink wine is the truth, right?”

“How would I dare to be greedy for wine and delay My Lord’s important business? I am just going to ask, just asking.” Guo Jia definitely would not nod and admit it, but his pair of flickering eyes had already betrayed everything.

“Drinking wine is definitely not allowed, but if you want to go, I will still agree.”

Mo Xiaobai spoke with a smile, and then pouted towards the direction where Dong Zhen lived, “Miss Dong’s nose is even more sensitive than that Bear-Lion Dog in our Territory. If you have even a hint of wine on you, she can smell it out. She really hates disobedient patients like you. Be careful that Jun Xin no longer prescribes medicine for you, and your body, which has just gotten a little better, will collapse back to how it was before.”

Guo Jia, who was always free and unrestrained, indeed showed a somewhat unnatural expression on his face when he heard the two words “Dong Zhen.” He laughed dryly twice, “Then I will go now, touching not a drop of wine, only investigating this case.”

“Go, go.”

Waving his hand to signal Guo Jia to leave, Mo Xiaobai called over Li Guang, who was practicing boxing. After instructing him a couple of times, he also sent Li Guang to investigate the watchman. In case an accident happened, with Li Guang’s skills, it was really hard to say who would be the one in danger.

After arranging these two matters, Mo Xiaobai walked leisurely towards the County Government Office.

Although he was mainly investigating the case and doing missions now, the daily work of the County Government Office also needed him to complete it. So going home to sleep was definitely not an option. He could only put on the official uniform that came with the mission and return to the main hall to work.

Saying work, it was actually just handling various miscellaneous matters of the county. Scanning the village work reports sent by the Three Elders and the officials of various townships recently, Mo Xiaobai quickly made annotations with a few strokes.

When Mo Xiaobai had handled the accumulated official business more or less, Guo Jia, who had been gone for an hour, finally came back.

“My Lord, I quietly asked the kitchen chef at ‘Chun Li Lou,’ and that man has already admitted that it was he who helped Miss Yun, the woman who accompanied the drinking that night, whittle two thin, long wooden strips.”

Guo Jia jogged into the main hall and immediately reported after seeing Mo Xiaobai, “Moreover, he also saw Miss Yun go to the kitchen and personally burn the wooden strips. The time was exactly the moment when Zhou Ding left drunk, and the watchman passed by the back street of the Restaurant.”