Occasionally, constables would pass by the Red Sleeve Pavilion, and from time to time, people walked along the street.
But since it was dark and the lighting dim, busy passersby rarely noticed this side.
“Don’t try to get clever. If you make one more sound, I’ll take your life! Walk straight ahead and get in the carriage!”
Shen Weimu obeyed and climbed into the carriage, sitting calmly in the center as if he were the owner.
The man wore a White Sash Man headpiece, his true face hidden.
He hesitated for a moment, then sat down beside Shen Weimu.
The carriage moved on, the cramped interior filled with a distinct mix of smells: sweat, alcohol, dust, and pine wood.
Just now, inside the Red Sleeve Pavilion’s main hall, when the wind stirred the red silk, Shen Weimu had also caught a faint scent of pine wood.
The man’s figure was very similar to his own, much like the man Dong Xing had described — the one who ordered him to stab the corpse’s foot.
“……”
Suddenly, Shen Weimu gagged.
Outside the window, a constable on horseback happened to ride past.
The man thought Shen Weimu was trying to seize the chance to call for help and raised his knife, swinging it toward him.
“I said, don’t—”
But his waving hand suddenly froze mid-air.
The White Sash Man was startled by the large patch of blood on the white cloth and sheepishly lowered his hand.
This sickly person is in such poor health?
No need for him to act; the man would probably die on his own first.
As the carriage left the city, the man kept coughing frequently, seemingly still suffering from a lingering cold.
Shen Weimu noticed that under the man’s blue robe, he wore a pair of official boots, slightly worn, with a tiny white feather stuck to the sole.
When they reached an open area, the man tried to pull Shen Weimu out of the carriage.
When he grabbed Shen Weimu’s collar, his grip was forceful, but then he suddenly thought better of it, loosened his hand, and let Shen Weimu get down on his own.
He jumped out first, showing no concern that Shen Weimu might escape.
How far could a coughing, coughing, sickly man run?
“Speak. How do you know about the mushroom growing?”
No sooner had Shen Weimu stepped down and steadied himself than he broke into a violent cough, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood, then another.
The White Sash Man nervously took a step forward, then two steps back.
He moved forward to check if Shen Weimu was still alive, then retreated, afraid that moving too fast might scare this paper-thin youth to death.
“Cough, cough… You know the Eight Trigrams Tower? That’s where I got the information.”
Shen Weimu coughed continuously, blood spewing nonstop.
Newly acquired spiritual energy was slowly flowing into his body, naturally causing more bruising and bleeding than usual.
“Eight Trigrams Tower?”
The White Sash Man frowned, racking his brain but coming up empty.
“Never heard of it!”
He couldn’t believe such a secretive place in the Jianghu would be able to uncover their long-hidden secrets so clearly.
Shen Weimu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
“The Jianghu is huge; it’s normal if you haven’t heard of it. Besides, the Eight Trigrams Tower hasn’t officially opened yet. No worries — once I return to the capital, I’ll pick a cheap corner shop and open it up.”
“How much more do you know about the mushroom growing?”
The White Sash Man drew his knife, aiming it threateningly at Shen Weimu’s neck.
Yet the blade was a good three inches away from his throat — clearly, he feared killing him.
“I don’t know.”
“Run away.”
“But because you appeared, I learned a bit more.”
With a whoosh, an arrow flew through the air, aiming at the White Sash Man’s head.
He reacted quickly, swinging his knife backhand to block the arrow, then cut the reins of the lead horse, mounted, and galloped away.
White Kaizhi, who had been chasing behind, slapped his thigh angrily.
“He actually escaped!”
Kang Anyun was right behind him, ready to urge two guards to give chase, but Shen Weimu stopped them.
“We won’t catch him. It’s deep night, the roads fork ahead, and he knows the terrain better than us.”
The coachman was terrified and silent the whole time but finally reacted and shouted.
After questioning, White Kaizhi learned that the coachman had been temporarily hired near the Red Sleeve Pavilion and had no connection to that man.
“Kang Guard told me immediately after noticing you were missing. I guessed he’d take you out of the city, and sure enough, I caught up. Are you all right?”
White Kaizhi held a lantern, inspecting Shen Weimu for injuries.
“I’m fine.”
“Ah, you say you’re fine, but you spat so much blood!”
White Kaizhi pointed anxiously at three discarded bloody cloths on the ground.
The next morning, White Kaizhi was carrying a pickaxe, heading to the Suicide Forest, when he ran into Shen Weimu.
“Let me go with you.”
“You should rest indoors with your condition. Why bother coming along?”
White Kaizhi urged repeatedly, but Shen Weimu was adamant.
Moved beyond words, White Kaizhi declared that from now on, Shen Weimu was his sworn brother — such brotherly loyalty was rare!
At the Suicide Forest, Shen Weimu didn’t bother with whatever White Kaizhi was searching for.
He took the basket Kang Anyun handed him and walked a bit farther.
Sure enough, he found the patch of spring mushrooms he had seen last time.
In no time, Shen Weimu filled a basket with spring mushrooms.
Seeing the young master happily picking mushrooms, Kang Anyun brought two more willow baskets.
When they filled those as well, this entire patch of spring mushrooms was finally harvested.
“Strange. This place isn’t too deep in the forest; why haven’t any villagers come to pick?”
Kang Anyun grew up in the mountains and knew local habits well.
Villagers nearby would definitely know if such a ‘mushroom nest’ existed in the woods.
“Maybe they dared before, but not anymore.”
The Suicide Forest had existed for at least half a month.
Though it was spring mushroom season, no one had found a corpse or reported it to the authorities.
When Shen Weimu and his retinue returned with three baskets of mushrooms, White Kaizhi was still vigorously digging holes in the forest.
He chose spots directly below where bodies had been hung.
So far, six pits had been dug, but they only contained roots and soil.
Seeing White Kaizhi sweating profusely, Kang Anyun suddenly felt a little guilty for leisurely picking mushrooms with his master.
“What are you digging for? Let me help.”
After smiling and thanking him, White Kaizhi wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Song Shaoqing got a theory from a Taoist: those who hang themselves grow fungus beneath their feet; their souls ascend to heaven. But if someone stabs the foot three times after death, the soul descends to the earth, and mushrooms sprout from beneath. These mushrooms carry the spirit of the hanged, and whoever eats them will hang themselves too.”
Shen Weimu blinked.
“So that’s why you’re digging for mushrooms?”
“Exactly!”
Looking at the six half-a-zhang-deep pits White Kaizhi had dug, Shen Weimu was silent.
He called Kang Anyun over.
“Three inches is enough.”
“Three inches? That’s barely digging—just scratching the soil with your hand.”
White Kaizhi insisted that Shen Weimu needn’t worry about him; he was only pretending to follow Song Shaoqing’s orders, but would carry out the task seriously.
“Shen brother, don’t worry. I’m healthy enough to dig all night!”
White Kaizhi patted his chest to prove his strength.
Shen Weimu handed White Kaizhi his water pouch.
“Have a drink.”
White Kaizhi thanked him with a smile, took a sip, and his eyes lit up.
The water inside was sweet with a faint, fresh green plum flavor.
“What is this water? It tastes amazing!”
“Green Plum Honey Syrup.”
“Can I drink it all?”
White Kaizhi looked at Shen Weimu with shining eyes full of simple desire.
He tipped his neck back and gulped it all down.
The moment he finished, he felt refreshed but immediately regretted it — such delicious Green Plum Honey Syrup should have been savored slowly.
He felt so foolish!
White Kaizhi couldn’t help but grumble in frustration.
“I made several jars last night out of boredom. If you like it, I’ll give you a jar later.”
“That sounds great, thank you! I’ll also bring gifts for Shen brother next time.”
“Found it!”
While they chatted, Kang Anyun had finished digging the remaining spots.
In three places, he uncovered white threads, and in another patch of soil, he finally dug out two sprouting small mushrooms.
They were bright yellow, with a blue ring around the edges of the caps, looking quite beautiful.
Kang Anyun reached out to touch them but suddenly felt pain in his wrist and quickly pulled his hand back.
“Kang Guard, you absolutely can’t touch these!”
White Kaizhi scolded himself for being careless, arriving just in time to check Kang Anyun hadn’t actually touched them before letting out a sigh of relief.
He wrapped his hand in gauze, then used a small shovel to carefully scoop the soil and mushrooms into ceramic jars.
“But I still don’t understand. All this trouble and so many lives lost, just for growing mushrooms? That’s nonsense.”
In the county office hall, Kang Anyun looked at the jars of small mushrooms as White Kaizhi let out his sixteenth confused sigh.
“We’ve found something.”
Wei Chi Feng arrived, dust-covered and breathless, carrying three case files.
“These are three bizarre suicide cases reported over the past two years in Gu Su, Yongzhou, and the capital. One victim was the infamous Tiger Gang leader; another was the governor of Yongzhou from the prestigious Cui Family; and the last was the Wan Grand Tutor who took his own life on the night of the Palace Banquet two months ago.”
White Kaizhi sighed,
“I remember the Wan Grand Tutor’s case. One moment he was passionately criticizing the Shengren for building palaces that wasted the people’s resources, and the next, he’d hanged himself in the purification room.”
“Exactly. They investigated everyone at the time, but there was no chance for foul play. Evidence indicated Wan Grand Tutor took his own life alone in the purification room. Everyone thought he was despondent and used death to warn the Shengren. But the odd part was that Wan Grand Tutor was a man of letters, an outstanding scholar — if he wanted to die, the purification room was an unlikely choice. Also, the Shengren hadn’t rejected his advice, and the timing of his death was strange. The other two suicides were similar — all extremely bizarre.”
Soon after, Song Qiyun and Lu Yang rushed in, setting a red paper packet on the table.
“What’s this?”
Shen Weimu, who had been quietly munching on dried crispy fish in a secluded corner, paused to look over.
“Jing Shang Jue. This packet of poison costs a thousand taels of gold at Yao Wang Pavilion.”
Song Qiyun said.
Yao Wang Pavilion was famous in Jianghu for its medicinal drugs, both life-saving and lethal — all for the right price.
“A thousand taels of gold! Where do you get that kind of money?”
White Kaizhi had a bad feeling.
Lu Yang chuckled,
“Temporarily borrowing your promissory notes. Once we raid that place, we’ll pay you back.”
White Kaizhi shot him a glare but wasn’t too angry.
“This poison is also called Zi Ji Fen. After ingestion, the victim experiences hallucinations, actively seeking ropes or bands to hang themselves, and there’s a certain scent that intensifies this behavior.”
“Pine wood scent.”
Shen Weimu added, biting off the head of his crispy fish, crunching loudly.
The head tasted even better than the body.
Song Qiyun glanced at him in surprise, not expecting such sharp observation.
“Exactly, pine wood scent.”
“No wonder those people all rushed to the Suicide Forest — it has the most pine wood and the strongest pine scent.”
White Kaizhi suddenly understood.
“Mm, and the red silk that Li Hongxiu used to hang herself also carried the pine wood scent. That’s why she didn’t kill herself inside but suddenly sought a red rope to hang before everyone’s eyes.”
“This poison is worth a fortune because it can kill invisibly without leaving a trace. It’s especially perfect for eliminating high-profile or influential people.”
“The way Jing Shang Jue’s poison acts matches the suicide cases in our investigation so well that I suspect its origin is the ‘mushroom growing’ happening in Tang County. ‘People die for money as birds die for food.’ One packet of Jing Shang Jue is worth a thousand taels, roughly the amount of powder made from a single mushroom. One tael of gold could feed a six-person family with plenty of meat and fish for a whole year. If they manage to grow a ‘Jing Shang Jue’ mushroom, their entire family, even the whole village, would never have to work again.”
Before returning to the county office, Song Qiyun had already dispatched two hundred reinforcements from the capital to search every village.
“No wonder so many people have killed themselves in the Suicide Forest and no one reported it for half a month. When we questioned villagers, everyone was vague, clearly controlled by a ringleader.”
White Kaizhi suddenly slammed the table.
“I know who’s behind all this!”