Mysterious Lotus Casebook

Chapter 26: Things Are Different Now

When Ji Hanfo, Shi Shui, and Li Lianhua slowly walked towards the tunnel entrance where the corpse was located. The light gradually became brighter, but with Ji Hanfo and Shi Shui’s eyesight, even with just a little light, they could clearly see within a few feet around them.

Suddenly, when they caught a glimpse of Li Lianhua’s face, their expressions changed drastically, “You…you…”

Li Lianhua blinked, “What…?”

Ji Hanfo’s usually calm face showed a rare look of horror, “Who are you?”

Li Lianhua looked confused, “Who am I? Since people were created, and those people began giving having children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, the question of ‘who am I?’ has been the hardest question of all.”

Ji Hanfo looked at Li Lianhua’s face carefully, took a long breath, and murmured, “No…”

Shi Shui’s expression was a very strange one, and he suddenly strode away, jumped out of the tunnel entrance, and walked away by himself.

Li Lianhua touched his cheek, “What’s wrong?”

Ji Hanfo coughed lightly, “You.. you look very much like an old friend, but your eyebrows are very light, while he had darker, thicker ones. Also, your skin color is a bit darker, while his skin was as pale as white jade. If he had lived to this day, he would have been twenty-eight or twenty-nine, but you… you look much younger than that.”

Li Lianhua just hummed, seemingly not knowing who he was talking about.

Ji Hanfo turned his head silently. The two of them walked forward about twenty feet, until the charred body was in front of them.

Li Lianhua knelt down to examine the body.. Ji Hanfo let out a long breath and told himself that this man was not their Li Xiangyi. Apart from his eyebrows and skin color, Li Lianhua had a slightly shorter nose and a few light pockmarks on his cheeks. Of course, these things were not at all ugly, but it was still far behind Li Xiangyi’s peerless looks. What’s more, Li Lianhua’s behavior was very different from Li Xiangyi’s. Even if the sect leader was resurrected somehow, he would never become like Li Lianhua. Their similarity in appearance may have just been a coincidence.

“This person was doused with oil, her hands were cut, she was stabbed, and her head was smashed in.” Li Lianhua looked at the body for a long time, “It’s like she was killed four times.”

Ji Hanfo nodded, still staring at Li Lianhua’s face intently. Li Lianhua let Ji Hanfo look at him, sighed leisurely, and looked around the tunnel. There was only a stove-like thing built with three thick branches in the tunnel, which was probably used to hold an oil pan, but no oil pan was seen. There were many branches on the ground, and many discarded chicken and duck bones.

Bai Jiangchun had also seen Li Lianhua’s appearance from outside. Like Ji Hanfo, he was extremely attentive and could see many differences at a glance. Though he was full of doubts and wondered whether his memory of their sect leader was merely skewed due to the passing of time.

The disciples of Baichuan Academy began to clean up the library and move the corpse. Li Lianhua studied it for a long time, but he couldn’t tell the age or appearance of the dead body. Feeling a bit annoyed and frustrated, he said that he wanted to go home and study his medical books. Ji Hanfo wanted to stay with him, but he couldn’t think of any reason why he should. He asked Bai Jiangchun to see Li Lianhua off, but he didn’t want to.

Ji Hanfo went back to his room by himself, looking out the window as if he was thinking about something.

With a creak, Ji Hanfo’s door suddenly opened. He turned around and looked at the person who walked in with his hands clasped behind his back. Ji Hanfo frowned slightly, “You?”