Bone Painting Coroner

Big Brother? The voice was clear and lilting, trailing off almost in a whine.

Urgh, all the hairs on my arms are standing up. Ji Yunshu looked all around her to see nothing but empty space, not even a shadow in sight. A shiver ran down her spine. She wasn’t scared, just leery of the strange happenings.

“Big Brother.” There it was again! The sound seemed to almost curl around her ears, but Ji Yunshu just couldn’t figure out where it was coming from.

Just then, Qiao’er passed by with a basin of water and saw her looking around in puzzlement. “Teacher Ji, are you looking for something?” She asked.

Ji Yunshu shook her head and asked, “Do you hear a voice?”

“A voice?” Qiao’er cupped her ears and listened intently, scanning the surroundings. Other than the lights at the door and the courtyard, everywhere else was pitch black - nothing could be seen. She shook her head. “I don’t hear anything. Teacher Ji, please don’t scare me.” Qiao’er’s own words had scared herself enough that her scalp felt numb. She timidly crept closer towards Ji Yunshu, peering warily at their surroundings. It was already late at night - this better not be just a prank!

Ji Yunshu let Qiao’er stand beside her, only to hear yet another quiet call. “Big Brother, I’m here.”

Where are you? I can’t see you!

After a moment’s consideration, Ji Yunshu plucked a hanging lamp from the stand beside her and moved it around them in a slow, wide arc. As the faint light slowly moved towards the left wall, a gleaming palm-sized face suddenly appeared.

Bang! When she saw it, Qiao’er jumped in fright and her entire face went pale. She loosened her hold on the basin of water and dropped it to the ground with a loud thud. “G...ghost!” She backed off frantically.

On the other hand, Ji Yunshu was already prepared for something similar. She used to love watching horror movies; be it American or Thai, she’s seen them all and was well-versed in all the tropes ghosts in the movies typically used to scare their victims. Moreover, she’s seen plenty of dead people and touched countless skeletons. Although she had never seen the formless ‘ghost’, she was naturally not scared silly like Qiao’er.

Ji Yunshu bravely lifted the lamp higher and walked forward to get a better look at that ‘ghost’. It had delicate features and a large pair of watery eyes that looked especially round under the orange light, covered by a layer of thick eyelashes. Its cheeks were still round with baby fat and held an air of childish naivety.

So it was that little lass Xiyue from the afternoon! Ji Yunshu finally realised. “It’s you?”

A brilliant smile bloomed on Xiyue’s face. “Big Brother, it’s me! I’m not a ghost!” The girl sprawled on the top of the wall, panting slightly.

“What are you doing here when it’s so late?”

“I’m bored.”

“Where are your parents?”

“They’ve never cared about me.” Little Xiyue’s tone was uncaring, as if she were long used to it.

Once Qiao’er realised it was a person, she heaved a huge sigh of relief and patted her own chest. “I was almost scared to death. I thought it was really a ghost.”

Ji Yunshu noticed that Little Xiyue’s body was leaning too far behind. If it continued, she would surely fall down. “It’s dangerous up there, quickly get back down.”

Little Xiyue shook her head. “No. I want to play with Big Brother.”

“Then come down.”

She was a little scared. “The wall in your courtyard is too tall. There’s a large box on my side that I can stand on.” That childish voice was as clear and pleasant to the ear as ringing bells!

Ji Yunshu smiled. “Don’t worry and jump down. I’ll catch you.”

“You can catch me?”

“Trust me.”

“Okay!” Bright and clear.

Little Xiyue’s whole body strained with effort as she scrambled up to squat on top of the wall. She looked down hesitantly. The wall was quite a few heads taller than she was. What if she fell to her death? Even if she didn’t die, she would be doomed to become a cripple for the rest of her life. That pair of inquisitive eyes again sought reassurance from Ji Yunshu. “You’ll really catch me?”

Ji Yunshu passed the lamp to Qiao’er, who was still recovering from shock. She tugged on her sleeves and stood below the wall with her arms outstretched. Although she wasn’t the strongest person around, she still would be able to catch a child with no problems. “Come on down.”

“Mm.” Little Xiyue’s body swayed for a moment before she leapt.

The little body landed right into the warm embrace of Ji Yunshu’s arms.

Although Ji Yunshu was a little sore from the impact, the child was very light. She put her down and shook her arms before she reached out to gently rub the head of the little one.

“Big Brother is so awesome!” Xiyue looked up at her in admiration.

She smiled warmly as the little lass blushed.

Qiao’er hurried over and scolded. “Xiyue, you were so scary just now. We could only hear a voice but could not see where it came from. I thought I saw a ghost! You can’t scare others like this in the future - someone could be scared to their death!”

Little Xiyue pouted guiltily, “Sister Qiao’er, I really didn’t mean to scare you! Don’t worry, there are no ghosts in this world. My father says that ghosts only exist in peoples’ hearts.”

Mm, your father is right.

Qiao’er tilted her head in puzzlement. “How do you know that I’m Qiao’er?”

“Didn’t Big Brother call you that just now?”

“Oh!” That’s true.

The two of them were four years apart, but both sounded like they were the same age. Their conversation was extremely adorable.

“Alright, let’s not stand around. Come over to sit.” Ji Yunshu tugged Little Xiyue over to the little pavilion.

When she saw the books on the stone table, Little Xiyue’s eyes lit up and she snatched up one of the books. She flipped through it and exclaimed jubilantly, “This is my favourite book!”

“Oh? You read books like this?”

“Of course! I first read it two years ago. I found this book in my father’s study and secretly borrowed it for a few days until I finished reading it. The contents inside are really interesting.” In her excitement, the little pair of hands flipped through the book and started rereading the book voraciously.

The lithe figure really looked like a little adult as she bent her head to read.

The book she held was called the ‘Hundred Annals’.

This was a book that Ji Yunshu had borrowed from the yamen yesterday. It documented the proceedings of over a hundred years’ worth of war and battles. If the ‘Sun Tze’s Art of War’ had thirty-six stratagems, then this ‘Hundred Annals’ had seventy-nine brilliant stratagems. She had read it once before in Liu Qingping’s study, but borrowed it to reread out of boredom.

Ji Yunshu would never have expected that Little Xiyue would actually like to read books like this. Qiao’er had said that she was intelligent and well-versed in the six arts - in hindsight, it wasn’t surprising that she liked books like this.