Bone Painting Coroner

Chapter 93 - She Belongs to a Better Place

The truth was ever so shocking.

Ji Yunshu could no longer see any guilt or regret in Yu Sao's eyes, but only hatred that has been completely twisted by jealousy. Yu Sao was jealous of her own daughter, jealous that she received the "favour" of Lord Jiang when she herself was rejected.

I'll never be able to understand her thoughts.

Yu Sao gave a loud laugh after she heard what Ji Yunshu said. The teeth she showed took on a strange air of ferocity, like a wolf stalking its prey. She moved her hands, which were raised in the air, and grasped the wooden pillar in front of her in a frenetic swing. Her long nails sank into the wood and pushed back against her flesh, instantly drawing blood, "He actually loves me, and he should love me. Everyone looked down on him because he was a yin-yang man, but I was the only one who took care of him and treated him well. Why did he marry someone else? Why does he like my Ah Yu, and not me? Why, WHY..."

A tangible wretchedness was intertwined with her feverish laugh. Ji Yunshu, for once, sincerely wished for someone's death. Yu Sao deserved it a hundred times, if not, ten thousand times more than anyone else.

But Yu Sao was not finished, "Oh no, it wasn't just Lord Jiang, even my own husband. He said that he loved me, but he cheated on me with another woman. He also deserved to die, and he deserved to be quartered!"

Oh! Ji Yunshu remembered the dream she had. It sent shivers down her spine and she asked in a trembling voice, "So you killed your husband?"

"He deserved to die, just like Ah Yu did. So I killed him with a knife, I sliced him into pieces in front of Ah Yu. I even plucked out his eyeball and fed it to Ah Yu. Ah Yu said that it tasted good and I think so too. Oh yes, it tasted great!"

"Such cruelty."

"Was it as cruel as these men?" roared Yu Sao. "I thought Lord Jiang was sincere to me; I thought he liked Ah Yu, so I let him carry her away. I saw my Ah Yu cry beneath him. I'm really sad, why does he not like me? Why? Even though I'm so nice to him, why..."

Yu Sao repeatedly struck the wooden pillar wildly; she had surpassed the boundaries of someone mentally broken. She was but an empty husk; a human husk without feelings, thoughts or a soul.

Ji Yunshu struggled to maintain her composure, but her eyes still reddened, and tears appeared within them, "Do you really not regret anything at all?"

Yu Sao smiled. She took a few steps back until her back touched the cold stone wall. She laughed mindlessly, slowly knelt down, and suddenly started to scratch her own face with her bloodied fingernails, which were still sprinkled with wooden chips. Yu Sao did not answer. Instead, she resumed her humming.

She doesn't regret it a single bit. Ji Yunshu understood her silent answer. Ji Yunshu's hands were also clenched into fists beneath her sleeves, and her nails sank into her flesh.

Magistrate Liu interposed himself and cut through the emotional heaviness. He looked at Yu Sao, glanced back at Ji Yunshu and sighed, "Yunshu, I know that you don't feel so well right now, how about you leave the rest to me?"

Ji Yunshu turned around and left in silence. Around the corner, she saw Jing Rong waiting for her, looking forth compassionately. She kept walking without uttering a single word and tried to skirt around him, but Jing Rong seized her wrist, "If you are upset, don't hide it. It'll be better if we talk about it."

"I'm fine," said Ji Yunshu without much emotion as she pulled her hand out of his and walked to Ah Yu's corpse. Jing Rong followed her steps quietly.

Ji Yunshu looked at Ah Yu's corpse, felt sadness stream into her heart again and smiled melancholically, "Maybe this is the best ending for Ah Yu. A release found in death."