As soon as the words left my lips, the villagers stared at me in shock and many accused me of slander. I urged them to calm down so I could share my deductions.
According to the size of this iron walnut, it was almost impossible for the human esophagus to swallow. Even if swallowed, a foreign object in the stomach would cause serious pathological changes!
The idea that the iron walnut chose the witch was fabricated by the first shaman because widows in ancient times had low status and no means of earning a living. The first shaman fabricated such a ritual in order to grant future shamans a means of livelihood. In fact, it was worn on them all the time, and the swallowing ritual was merely a smokescreen.
The secret was passed down by each shaman to the next one. However, outsiders thought that the iron walnut remained in the shaman’s stomach the entire time which the murderer exploited to set me up. Of course, this little trick couldn’t fool me. First of all, it was chicken blood smeared on the iron walnut. And secondly, Granny Yan’s stomach and intestines were intact.
Who could have known that the iron walnut was with Granny Yan and she had access to it? There was only one person who fit the criteria, that is, Cui Huan.
In fact, I had solved the mystery during our discussion in the ceremonial hall. At the time, I never imagined Cui Huan would kill and pin the crime on me so I had no intention of exposing the shaman’s lies. However, considering Cui Huan was the murderer, I had no qualms about letting the cat out of the bag.
Upon hearing my explanation, the villagers fixed their gaze on Cui Huan.
"Apart from this clue, I also found that Granny Yan was strangled by a hair tie and the murder weapon should still be on the murderer,” I said. “Additionally, she struggled violently before she died and scratched the murderer's arm. Cui Huan, please show us your hands! If there are no wounds, then you’re innocent."
Cui Huan bit her lip so hard she was bleeding and deliberately covered the back of her hand with her sleeve. Her guilt was evident.
"Did you murder the man in the banyan tree as well?" I demanded.
Cui Huan vehemently shook her head, "It wasn’t me!"
The village chief suddenly shouted, "Cui Huan, how dare you commit such a heinous crime! Lock her up while we wait for judgement from the elders!"
"Wait a minute!" Song Xingchen strode out of the crowd with a scroll in his hand.
"That's ..." the village chief blurted in shock.
"I asked Song Xingchen to bring the Song family genealogical records!"
"You’re not allowed to take the records out of the ancestral hall! How can you..." the village chief trailed off.
"Don’t worry. I will plead my wrongdoings to Aunt Song," I assured him.
The genealogical records revealed that Cui Huan was married twice, to two brothers. Her first husband was named Song Qinghe and the second was Song Qingyang. Song Qinghe died eight years ago and the cause of death noted on the records was a sudden illness, while Song Qingyang died unexpectedly in the process of logging three years ago.
"Cui Huan, is the man in the banyan tree your first husband, Song Qinghe?" I asked.
"Yes!" she trembled.
"The truth has been revealed,” interrupted the village chief. “What a vicious woman. She murdered her husband and Granny Yan! Take her away."
"If I’m going down, you’re all coming with me!” Cui Huan maliciously spat, “I’ll bring the village secrets to light!"
"Enough with your lies!” roared the village chief. “Take her away!"
As two men approached Cui Huan, she suddenly turned around and kicked one of them, ferociously charging towards the village chief.
"This woman is crazy, stop her!" the village chief shouted in a panic.
Another man dashed into the scene, exchanging a few moves with Cui Huan before sending her flying with a punch. Having sustained injuries, Cui Huan vomited a mouthful blood all over her chest.
This group of seemingly unprepossessing martial arts practitioners charged towards Cui Huan immediately. Song Xingchen hit one of them in the chest with his scabbard, causing the man to fall back. With a slash of the sword, Song Xingchen carved a line on the ground which no one dared cross.
"Song Xingchen," growled the village chief. "You’ve gone too far. How can you draw your sword against your own people?"
"Forgive me for my rudeness. I fight on the side of truth, not blood relationship. No one is allowed to touch the suspect until she has revealed the truth!"
"What nonsense!" shouted the village chief. “We have our rules, and this woman has sinned. She should be disposed of according to the family law."
Right then, a clear voice broke the deadlock. "The family law is decided by the elders!"
The others seemed afraid to see Song Heting slowly sauntering up the hill. She was no longer dressed like a housewife, but wore an elegant scarlet hanfu with a pike in her hand.
"Mom, you’re finally here!" Song Jie shouted excitedly.
Stroking Song Jie's hair, Song Heting turned to the crowd and apologized, "I'm sorry I'm late. It takes time for a woman to leave the house. Now that it’s come to this, let's get straight to the point! I want to hear everything."
"But certain things..." the village chief grimaced.
"You can say all you want, but the elders have given full authority to Song Yang regarding the investigation,” Song Heting coldly interjected. “I’m just here to watch the excitement and lend my influence."
I smiled at Song Heting. She clearly knew there were secrets hidden in the village yet she played dumb, using me to act instead since her position as head of the clan made it hard for her to speak out.
Turning to Cui Huan, I said, "Go ahead, but let me remind you that I can see through your lies, so you'd better tell the truth!"
Cui Huan sighed, "I know that I’ve committed a terrible crime. Since I’m already at the end of the road, I might as well come clean. I promise I won’t lie."
In fact, it wasn’t much of a secret. About twenty years back, the villagers began discreetly selling poppy ointment in exchange for the huge profits. Many of the villagers present had a share in this matter.
Although the elders forbade it, the villagers involved were happy to forego the rules in the face of interests. The village chief was the one who contacted the drug lords and he sold most of the poppy ointment.
This matter was merely a stain on the family, but they never expected the events that happened eight years ago.
At the time, Cui Huan had an affair with her husband's younger brother, Song Qingyang. There was no concealing the truth and the affair eventually came to light. Despite noticing something amiss, Song Qinghe who worked away from the village wasn’t aware of Cui Huan’s lover so he beat her in retaliation.
Enraged by the abuse, Song Qingyang came up with an idea to get rid of his brother by using someone else’s hand. When he shared his thoughts with Cui Huan, she was initially frightened. Wouldn’t that make them Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing from the Water Margin? Outlaws of the Marsh?
But under Song Qingyang’s constant persuasion, she finally wavered. Song Qinghe had a terrible temper and often beat her after getting drunk, even when she was pregnant. Suffering a heavy kick during pregnancy caused a miscarriage that made her barren for life.
Thus, Song Qingyang created a fake Hong Kong buyer who was willing to purchase poppy ointment from Song Qinghe at a high price. Naturally, the village chief also participated in this matter. Driven by their interests, the two men handed ten kilograms of poppy ointment to the swindler invited by Song Qingyang. Unfortunately, the man ran away with the goods.
The ten kilograms of poppy ointment had another buyer who was part of the mafia. Song Qinghe originally planned on selling the goods at a high price and purchasing ten kilograms of poppy ointment from elsewhere to make up the shortage. But now that the goods were gone, the mafia was sure to get even if he failed to deliver on the agreed-upon date!
In fact, the Song family needn’t fear the mafia, but the problem lay in the legitimacy of the entire business. They sold the poppy ointment under the table, without the knowledge of the elders and the head of the clan. If the incident was revealed, none of them could escape punishment.
The village chief shirked his responsibilities, leaving Song Qinghe completely powerless. At this point, Cui Huan put forward a plan–fake his death to avoid his debts. Without a second thought, Song Qinghe agreed, never imagining that he had stepped into the trap designed by Cui Huan and his younger brother!
Water Margin is a 14th-century Chinese novel attributed to Shi Nai'an and is considered one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.