Could a Fake Cart Track Really Fool Anyone?

The disciple leading the group stopped by the well.

"Can cart tracks be faked?"

Li Sanshun pointed toward the old canal.

"Last night, the corpse cart carried four 'bodies.' With that much weight on it, the wheels would have left deep tracks. Look at the bottom of the well. The two tracks are equally deep, and there aren't even any skid marks at the turns."

A Law Enforcement disciple jumped into the Abandoned Well and used a short knife to dig into one of the tracks.

Below the White Sand Soil was a groove only half an inch deep.

"That's definitely too shallow."

Li Sanshun continued, "Sun Erhe had driven corpse carts for nine years. He wouldn't drive one loaded with bodies like this. Find an old axle, attach two wheels, and drag it by hand, and you could leave tracks like these."

The fire outside the Herb Garden was still burning.

Heat poured down through the well opening, and the medicinal smells in the canal were growing more muddled. If they waited any longer, the poisonous smoke would cover every trace of the lingering scents.

Gu Qinghe took out a Wind-Cleansing Talisman and stuck it to the edge of the well.

The talisman drew away the smoke pouring into the well, and at last, the stench of rotten medicine in the canal began to fade.

"Why aren't there any crushed medicinal roots in the soil around the well?"

"Someone cleaned it up."

Li Sanshun crouched down and scraped away the White Sand Soil from the underside of a stone slab. Near the slab's pivot, several black specks were pressed into the dirt.

They were roots of the Corpse-Bone Vine.

The other party had cleared away the soil around the well, but hadn't managed to clean beneath the stone slab.

"The corpse cart passed by the north side of the Herb Garden. That's how its axle caught on the black roots. It reached the Abandoned Well, and the tracks on the west slope were added afterward."

Gu Qinghe scanned the bottom of the well.

"The cart could have entered the canal and continued west, which would still mean it reached the Abandoned Well. That only proves the route is suspicious. It doesn't prove anyone is still here."

"The Breath-Closing Powder can prove it."

Li Sanshun took off his Smoke-Avoiding Scarf and drew in a breath from the bottom of the well.

[You have inhaled a mouthful of mixed medicinal fumes.]

[Air quality: Poor.]

[Life energy increased by 0.01 points.]

[Detected scent components: Breath-Closing Powder, Corpse-Bone Water, old medicinal residue.]

The medicinal fumes came from the bottom of the well.

He walked to the west side of the canal and took another breath.

[Detected scent components: Corpse-Bone Vine, Sulfur Stone Powder, a small amount of Red Saltpeter Powder.]

There was no Breath-Closing Powder here.

The cart tracks extended far toward the west slope, but the Breath-Closing Powder Zhao Chong had taken hadn't dispersed along them.

"The cart reached the bottom of the well. Someone opened a body bag here."

Gu Qinghe jumped into the well and walked west along the canal for a dozen or so steps. She used her sword scabbard to turn over the dirt beside the path and found a frayed piece of hemp rope.

There was no blood or Corpse-Bone Water on the rope.

The disciple leading the group followed her down.

"Was this rope used to drag the axle?"

"Most likely."

Gu Qinghe placed the rope in an Evidence Bag.

Footsteps soon sounded in the canal. The two Law Enforcement disciples who had gone to check the west slope hurried back.

"Senior Sister Gu, we found the corpse cart beneath the cliff!"

"What was on it?"

"Two empty body bags and Sun Erhe's waist token. The cart was burned. Only the frame remains."

The disciple leading the group looked at Li Sanshun.

The person, the waist token, and the body bags all pointed to the west slope.

If they stayed at the Abandoned Well, they might miss their chance to catch the culprit.

But Li Sanshun didn't move.

"Are the wheels still there?"

"One burned out. The other rolled to the bottom of the cliff."

"Was there a chip in the edge of the damaged wheel?"

The disciple who had returned thought for a moment.

"Yes. A piece about the size of a thumb was missing from the outer rim."

Li Sanshun pointed at the tracks at the bottom of the well.

One of the wooden carts found in the Corpse Room had a chipped wheel. If it had really passed through the canal, the missing piece would have left a mark in the mud every so often.

But the two tracks before them were whole from beginning to end.

"The cart beneath the cliff is real, but these tracks are fake. Someone took the corpse cart to the west slope and burned it, then brought back a different set of wheels to make these tracks."

The Medicine Peak Deacon was sweating profusely.

"Why go to so much trouble just to lure us to the cliff?"

"Searching for bodies is easy beneath the cliff, and people can be tracked in the mountains. They knew the deception wouldn't work for long."

Li Sanshun looked toward the Herb Garden, which was still belching smoke.

"They only need to lure the Law Enforcement Hall away for half an hour. The fire will take care of the rest."

Gu Qinghe unfolded the North Mountain Old Map.

The Abandoned Well lay in the middle of the Herb Garden, and the old canal led to the west slope. The edge of the map also marked two sealed side passages: one connected to a poison-disposal outlet on the north slope, and the other to a medicine-transport tunnel on the east side.

When the well was sealed twelve years ago, all three exits had been blocked with stone walls.

If someone had dug one of them open again, they could get in and out underground.

"Zhou Yuan, take six people and guard the cliff on the west slope. If you find anyone alive, capture them. Don't kill them."

"Zhao Rui, take your people and seal the poison-disposal outlet on the north slope. Check the stone wall first. Don't rush to tear it down."

"I'll handle the medicine-transport tunnel on the east side."

After assigning everyone their tasks, Gu Qinghe handed a Message Talisman to Li Sanshun.

"Stay by the well. If the scent of Breath-Closing Powder changes, notify me immediately."

Li Sanshun shook his head.

"If someone is hiding underground, the entrance is near the Abandoned Well. I need to go down and look."

"The fire isn't under control yet. Poison could seep up from below at any moment."

"The poisonous smoke won't hurt me that quickly."

Gu Qinghe didn't press him.

Li Sanshun had been breathing in rotten medicinal fumes this whole time and could still stand there examining the tracks. He could clearly hold out longer than the Law Enforcement disciples who had taken Detoxification Pills.

"Stay with me. Don't go off alone."

The two entered the old canal.

They hadn't gone twenty paces before the tracks split in two to the west. One set continued toward the cliff, while the other looped around the bottom of the well and doubled back to where it started.

Someone had dragged an old axle by hand and deliberately made a loop here.

Li Sanshun ignored the tracks and moved close to the stone walls, checking for medicinal scents section by section.

There was only Corpse-Bone Vine on the left.

The scent of Sulfur Stone Powder was mixed in on the right.

When they reached the north side of the well, the system issued another alert.

[Breath-Closing Powder residue detected.]

[Hemostatic Medicine, human sweat, and Red Saltpeter Powder detected.]

The scent of Breath-Closing Powder came from the stone wall on the right.

A row of old blue-gray bricks was set into the wall, their joints sealed tightly with medicinal mud. Dust covered the surface, and there was no sign of an opening.

Gu Qinghe knocked on several of the bricks.

They were all solid behind.

"Could the scent be drifting in from somewhere else?"

Li Sanshun walked along the wall for a few steps, then stopped beside a drainage stone half-buried in mud. The scent of Breath-Closing Powder was strongest here, and a faint trace of lamp oil had joined the medicinal smell.

He moved the drainage stone aside.

A hole about as wide as a bowl was revealed beneath it.

A clump of Corpse-Bone Vine was stuffed into the hole, with medicinal mud plastered over it. The roots had dried out, but the creases showed they had been pressed down recently.

Gu Qinghe pulled out the Corpse-Bone Vine, and a pocket of trapped medicinal fumes seeped from the hole.

There was a space behind the wall!

She drew her short sword and scraped away the medicinal mud around the hole. A rusted iron plate appeared behind the blue-gray bricks, with an old Medicine Peak seal carved into it.

"The Old Herb Cellar."

Gu Qinghe turned the map over.

North Mountain had once held an underground herb cellar used to store Corpse-Bone Vine. The entrance had already been filled in before the well was sealed, so it hadn't been marked on the later canal map.

The fire outside had advanced several more yards.

Wisps of gray smoke slipped through the gaps between the bricks, and the sound of something heavy scraping came from behind the iron plate.

Gu Qinghe raised a hand, signaling everyone to move back, then wedged her short sword against the edge of the iron plate.

The plate didn't budge.

The seal was still linked to the underground mechanism. Forcing the door open might trigger the Incineration Array inside the herb cellar.

Li Sanshun leaned close to the hole and held his breath.

First came two scratches from within.

After a brief pause, there were three knocks.

A man's voice squeezed through the iron plate.

"Don't break the door... there's an Ignition Array buried beneath Zhao Chong's feet!"