CHAPTER 12: CHAPTER 11: STRAW CORE

"Madam, let me handle this!" Fu Lu noticed what Zhu Yu intended to do and quickly spoke up.

He squatted down, clenched his fist, and pounded the spot used to patch up the mouse hole. The mud that had been tightly packed there visibly loosened under the heavy blow.

Then Fu Lu scooped a few more times, and managed to reopen the original mouse hole.

"Well done, well done!" Zhu Yu praised him with words, as she reached out to touch the ground beneath the mouse hole and did indeed feel a not-so-obvious bump.

She crouched on the ground, gradually inspecting toward the altar with the light filtering in through the mouse hole.

From the mouse hole to the altar, the ground appeared smooth with no anomalies at first glance, but upon closer inspection, the compactness of the soil was exactly the same as that of the mouse hole.

"Madam, shall I find a handy tool to dig this up?" Fu Lu asked eagerly from the side.

Zhu Yu waved him off, "No need, you go out the front, circle around to the back of this ruined temple, and look outside the wall to see if you can find a bamboo tube or something similar buried in the ground."

As she spoke, she gestured in a direction for Fu Lu.

Fu Lu promptly acknowledged and hurried out, while Zhu Yu circled around the statue, carefully examining it inch by inch, as a faint scent seemed to waft into her nose.

As she moved around the altar, she sniffed cautiously, sensing that the scent was gradually intensifying, becoming clearer the closer she got to the front of the statue.

Returning to the front of the statue, Zhu Yu looked up closely at the deity statue she hadn’t paid much attention to the previous night.

The statue she thought to be a stone carving last night turned out to be a clay sculpture over a straw skeleton upon a second look in the daylight. Through the damaged face of the statue, she could vaguely see the texture of the straw inside.

Zhu Yu squinted her eyes, her suspicions growing firmer, and as she looked up at the statue, she pondered, already placing her hands on the offering table, intending to prop herself up for a closer inspection.

"Hold on, Madam."

Lu Qing’s voice came from behind, prompting Zhu Yu to turn around to look at him.

"Rune, you go up," Lu Qing first instructed Rune, then told Zhu Yu, "It’s a virtue to use one’s skills, but not necessary to do everything personally.

For some things, you only need to give instructions, Madam."

Rune regained his vigor, with Lu Qing’s instruction, he swiftly climbed up with a single hand, flipping onto the altar: "Madam, what do you need me to do?"

"Help me sniff the spot where the straw skeleton is exposed on the statue’s face, and see if it carries the same peculiar scent you smelled last night," Zhu Yu pointed to the damaged part of the statue’s face.

Rune leaned in close to the statue and sniffed, his expression immediately changed, as he jumped down from the altar with urgency, fearing that he might faint again if he delayed a moment longer.

He turned to Zhu Yu and Lu Qing with some concern, "It’s the same! Exactly the same! This strange fragrance is it!

Sir, Madam, please step back! Stay away from this statue!"

"No need to worry," Zhu Yu reassured him seeing his anxiety, "The seductive fragrance has dissipated; it disperses quickly, and now, after all this time, it poses no threat. Only the scent left by the incense itself remains."

Rune calmed himself, realizing he indeed didn’t feel the least bit drowsy, understanding his reaction was somewhat like jumping at shadows, and feeling slightly embarrassed, he sheepishly climbed down from the altar.

"Madam, you’re truly knowledgeable, to determine the properties of the seductive fragrance by smell alone!" He expressed his admiration in his tone.

Zhu Yu, a bit embarrassed by his praise, replied, "I don’t actually know the properties of that seductive fragrance.

It’s just that those rascals knocked you out past the hour of the ox last night, and before long daylight would break, they didn’t have much time to move the corpses.

If the effect of the seductive fragrance lingered and didn’t disperse promptly, wouldn’t they knock themselves out when they entered?

To avoid trouble for themselves, they must have used a fragrance with fast-acting and rapid-dissipating properties."

Rune nodded emphatically, feeling his mistress’ reasoning made quite a lot of sense, remembering how he fell victim to the villains the previous night, and a doubt arose, "But last night I was on high alert, there wasn’t anyone near nor at the temple gate, or even outside in the yard—let alone people, there wasn’t a single stray cat.

Why did I suddenly get knocked out by the seductive fragrance, and why is the scent lingering on the straw skeleton of the statue?"

"That question is premature," Zhu Yu shook her head, pointing outside the ruined temple, "We will have to wait for Fu Lu to come back for the answer.

However... do you want to change your clothes? Don’t catch a chill."

Rune’s clothes, thrown into a puddle just earlier, were half-wet and looked uncomfortable and cold stuck on him.

Rune shook his head, "Thank you for your concern, Madam, but I’m fine! After waking from the seductive state, I always feel groggy, this actually helps to clear my head."

As they conversed, Fu Lu burst back inside with gusto, "Found it! I found it!

Madam, the thing you asked me to find has been found! Just about ten feet out from the back of this ruined temple, amidst some rocks, I found a bamboo tube, roughly as thick as a bowl!

The mouth of the bamboo tube was stuffed with a wad of cloth, and when I got on the ground for a look, it was definitely hollow inside, connected through!"

Rune looked at his brother, bewildered, then at Zhu Yu, seeming not to understand what this all meant.

"It’s no wonder you didn’t notice anyone approaching last night and were knocked out by the seductive fragrance." Now fully confirmed, Zhu Yu breathed a sigh of relief, pointing to the statue, "The statue is a clay sculpture with a straw skeleton, originally overlaid with a thick layer of clay, but the straw skeleton inside is breathable.

Someone took advantage of the clay peel-off at the statue’s head allowing air through the straw skeleton, and buried a hollow bamboo tube underground, channeling through the mouse hole at the wall to the outside.

Before those villains came to move the bodies, they burned the seductive fragrance, tossed it into the bamboo tube, and sealed it; the hollow tube carried the fragrance to the breathable end, allowing it to emerge from the straw skeleton of the statue. When the people inside the temple were sedated, they would enter to do the killing or move the corpses.

If I’m not mistaken, the inside of the altar and beneath the statue might also have been hollowed out by them."

Upon hearing this, Fu Lu immediately ran over, leaped up onto the altar, and pushed the statue with both hands, forcing it one foot aside.

Indeed, beneath the altar, there was a hollow round hole exposed.

"Sir! Madam! Look, there really is one!" Fu Lu’s eyes sparkled, looking at Zhu Yu with increased admiration.

Lu Qing stepped forward for a look, and there indeed sat a section of bamboo tube in the center of the hole.

"Go, fetch some mud beside that puddle outside, and seal this bamboo tube tightly with mud, then restore the statue exactly to its place." He retracted his gaze, instructing the brothers, Rune and Fu Lu.