~~~~~~PEONY Finale:  Friday June 21, 2024~~~~~~

Lady Peony’s body was kept in a hidden location. It wasn’t exactly a secret.

She was kept inside of the Ice Cellar, one of the most expensive places located inside of the Silver Clan Estate. A giant room made of stone that insulated the cold air radiated by the many blocks of ice that were sitting inside. Every block weighed the mass of 10 men, taller than a human, and cost more than 100 horses – each.

Their main purposes were to keep expensive meat from spoiling, chilling the wine, or chipped away to be served as a frosty dessert during the hot and unforgiving summer. A delight and luxury only the rich could indulge.

It was repurposed to protect Lady Peony’s corpse. She was laid on top of of one large block of ice like a bed, covered with expensive sheep skins to prevent the ice from damaging her body or whatever was left of it.

The location was deep underground, right under the Silver Clan Manor. Heavily defended by a series of soldiers who made sure every checkpoint was well watched and guarded. If any ‘visitors’ didn’t have an approved badge or permission from the Chieftess – they were to be shot, stabbed, or slashed on sight. No ‘ifs’ ‘ands’ or ‘buts’

That was why Moon Tavern hadn’t thought of examining the body due to such hassles.

So they had to be creative in solving this issue.

Martial Red Sister had to use her [32 Morphing Skills] to transform into an enchanted mole – not her favourite form of course. With her magical digging, she could create a tunnel under the entire estate and poke her head out right in the middle of the Ice Cellar without trouble. No one would be the wiser.

She did not stay, however. She chose to let Martial Kim and Martial Blue Sister to handle the business of corpse examination. So she decided to look around the Silver Clan manor to double check if there was anything they overlooked. Or at least find some dirt on the Chieftess and Deputy...well not literally.

In reality, Martial Red Sister couldn’t bring herself to look Lady Peony in the dead eye, not after what had happened. She just didn’t want to say it out loud, especially as a mole.

Martial Kim and Martial Blue Sister let her be, as they focus on the body. The first thing they noticed when approaching the corpse was--

“URG!” Martial Blue Sister did not wish to be rude, but she covered her face with her sleeve. “M-Martial Kim! The smell, it’s too foul!”

“Odd.” Martial Kim also gagged as he leaned in to get a better whiff of Lady Peony. “You said she died only a few days ago. Yet the stench of her decay speaks volumes otherwise. Did anything happen during her transit from Mutiny Hill to Silver Clan Manor?”

“I-I wouldn’t know.” Martial Blue Sister would gag. “I-I passed out right after finding her corpse. Martial Red Sister mentioned all went smoothly, nothing happened as she kept a close eye. She even watched the hand over from the Silver Clan soldiers to the clan’s Deputy of Security. After that, w-we’ve never seen nor asked about the body.”

She then recalled something as she covered her nose. “This smell, it reminds me of those salted fish that people sell in the market place. A pungent dead and salty fish odour. N-never been a fan of those kinds of meals. Uuurg.”

It was clear the stench of the corpse bothered everyone. So, Martial Kim pulled out something from his murder kit to solve the issue.

He fed Martial Blue Sister and himself several slices of dried ginger, then applied a small screen of sesame oil in the space above the lip and under the nose. The taste and burn of the ginger corroded the terrible aftertaste of the decayed corpse, while the sesame oil helped to mask the odour. After a few moments, Martial Blue Sister became less nauseous and less conscious of the smell of decay.

The two began to do a full autopsy...dear gods.

Lady Peony’s body was covered in bruises. Nothing like being surrounded and beaten up by a gang of men and women, but deep welds and injuries that look too violent to be made by human strength. Some of her flesh were torn apart with force, like someone ripping open holes in a piece of cloth.

“Incredible,” Martial Kim gasped as he palpated his hands across Lady Peony’s body. “Her internal organs, they’re all crushed! Completely pulverized! Bone matter, blood clot, even veins – practically mashed together into a near soup! Such a slow and paralyzing death she must have had!”

“Th-the cruelty!” Martial Blue Sister whimpered at the thought. “Who would do such a thing? B-better question WHAT could do something this terrible!?”

“I don’t think these were done by any man, not even a vicious animal.” Martial Kim answered, before his face paled. “Martial Blue Sister, how many hands did Lady Peony had when you found her.”

“Two? Why do you—GOOD GODS!”

Martial Kim revealed Lady Peony’s right arm, showing the right hand was completely missing.

It was a clever sever, bone and flesh showing a clean slice with little to no tearing. A series of black scarring ran up from the stump and up to the elbow, like flash of lightning bolts.

Metal fragments were embedded deep into the flesh of the arm, barely glimmering under the dim light. Deep and scattered all over like shrapnel.

“This is refined silver and iron.” Martial Kim whispered as he touched and examined the metal fragments. “I believe it is pieces of a weapon, a sword perhaps?”

“Ah. Martial Kim,” Martial Blue Sister called out, simply astonished at this gruesome sight. “Lady Peony used [Snake in the Sleeve Dagger Arts]. She may have tried to defend herself with her personal dagger before it erupted like that.”

“It might, but what would cause it to explode like a bomb in her bare hands?”

“W-was it what happened? An explosion that tore her hand off?”

Martial Kim shook his head. “Explosions do not slice off a hand as clean as carving a steak of meat from a roast. This was done by a blade, sharp and precise. One swing was all it took...But why would that be?”

He then eyed the blackened veins. “Lady Peony was attacked by another martial arts cultivator. These black lines, evidence of internal scarring caused by a mana-infused strike. The energy of the attack injected into her body, causing most of her nerves and Meridians to explode from the inside out. Why, this high level of power is enough to make Lady Peony’s heart stop in a few hours if she does not seek medical assistance in a timely manner.”

“Y-you mean, Lady Peony was assassinated!?”

“Yes...wait no...” Martial Kim would examine the body some more, feeling his hands on various parts of the body. “The attack on her hand would cause her internal organs to roast over time from the mana poison. Yet, everything is physically crushed to a pulp. Hold on one moment, I must confirm something.”

Martial Kim lowered the stump arm and he touched at the chest and collar bones. Fractured, every single piece, to the point where the bones sunk into the body like soft twigs in a pool of mud.

Then he gasped. “Her neck, it’s completely snapped!”

Martial Blue Sister covered her gaping mouth as her employer showed Lady Peony’s head dangling at a weird angle. She could see something white, piercing out of the back of the neck. It was so star bleach, she had to shut her eyes and turn around or throw up.

“Poor girl.” Martial Kim shook his head in dismay. “To suffer like this is inhumane. This is crueler than any work of a serial killer. Only a monster could be capable of such violence...

Which makes me come to the conclusion, Lady Peony was murdered – twice.”

“Twice!?” Martial Blue Sister yelped. It was only when Martial Kim turned the head to hide the spine did she turn around. “Why kill her twice? If the first attack would kill her within the hour, why all the effort for a second time?”

“Exactly my question,” responded Martial Kim. “The first attempt had precise killing intent. Yet the second attempt was completely barbaric. Killing someone twice is one matter, using two different methods is completely counter intuitive. What is the connection?”

“Maybe the first attack failed?” said Martial Blue Sister, “Followed up with a strangle?”

“No. In fact, there’s no bruising of human grip on her throat. Trachea is still intact. Her neck was completely snapped open...like...victims who fell down a flight of stairs? No no no, this makes no sense.”

Martial Kim paced around the body of Lady Peony. He ignored the chill in the Ice Cellar and put every energy into thinking of various possibilities. He kept imagining the results of how one killer would need to kill twice and reasons as to use two different methods.

To help with his thinking, he mentioned. “Now that I think about it. The missing hand. Judging by the wound, it was made some hours after she died...Which still makes no sense as to why the murderer would go through all this trouble.”

Martial Blue Sister tried to help. She wasn’t a talker, but she preferred thinking and working behind the scenes. Then a thought came to mind. “Martial Kim. Wasn’t there this book you lent me some time ago. Regarding how certain martial arts and fighting techniques leave a unique scar and how to identify wounds to the original attacks?”

“Hmm? Oh the ones that leave a bit of a calling card? Why yes, I do recall. What about...Wait.” Martial Kim stopped himself. A smile cracked on his lips. “Of course! Of course that is the reason! The murderer was not only a skilled martial artist, he used a unique ability that could easily be identifiable! It left a certain tearing or marking on Lady Peony’s hand, which is exactly why the murderer had to remove it or else experts like us can easily figure out who did it! Martial Blue Sister, you cracked the case! Well, at least 1/3 of this mystery! Which is a great achievement in my books!”

“P-please don’t praise me like that,” Martial Blue Sister whimpered, glancing at the body. “N-not when we’re in front of Lady Peony. You compliment me, but we still let her down. She died because we were careless.”

Martial Kim felt sad. He knew a truth that Martial Blue Sister didn’t. He wanted to console her, and tell her what he thought – even if it was preliminary – but he was distracted by the sound of rattling.

It came from a pebble that he kicked around by accident. A couple of them were on the floor. They weren’t the well cut or polished ones, definitely not something that would be used in gardens of school gravel.

In fact, the Ice Cellar was spotless. His guess it was constantly cleaned, given how rich the clan were. So it was strange for him to find a couple of loose pebbles. Just in case he was over thinking he looked around. It seems a few of them surrounded Lady Peony’s ice bed.

“...Martial Blue Sister,” called Martial Kim with a hum. “Were there any rocks inside of the trunk you found Lady Peony’s body? Or even the pits of Mutiny Hill she fell into?”

“What?” Martial Blue Sister snapped out of her thinking. “Oh, no. The trunk only had salt and some corpses. And there weren’t any rocks in Mutiny Hill, only mud. At most, a lot of bones. Why, Lady Peony had a lot of finger bones stuck in her hair after we pulled her out of the ditch and...and...Wait, where did they go?”

Martial Blue Sister swept her hands through Lady Peony’s hair. She was very delicate with them, even if they had rotted enough to fall off her scalp. She dug through every strand. Some rocks and pebbles of various sized fell out, even plates of rock chips, but no finger bones.

“Strange,” she murmured. “Did she sweep them out of her hair when she was in the bathchambers? Shouldn’t be possible, when the fake ghost appeared everything happened so fast Lady Peony didn’t even have a chance to remove her dirty clothing.”

Before either of them could come to a conclusion, a certain red mole returned.

Martial Red Sister poked her head out of the hole and crawled out, shaking off all the dirt, rocks, and other sorts of stuff from her fur like a dog fresh from a bath. She then shapeshifted back into her human form and started to slap her kimono to beat the dust out of the fancy fabric, like she was airing out and spanking a futon mattress on a clothes line.

“Nothing.” She mumbled. “High, low, left, right, absolutely nothing. Just dirt, rubble, and trash.”

Martial Red Sister shifted uncomfortably on the spot until she pulled out something that was stuck in the collar of her kimono. She tossed it aside, revealing it to be a small bar of silver with intentional designs and engravings. Martial Kim caught sight of it and he immediately picked it up from a cluster of rocks that look familiar.

“Why, this piece of silver is part of a dagger. The hand guard I believe. Blade and hilt completely missing. Could it be?” Martial Kim squinted at the designs. “Oh! This has Lady Peony’s name engraved on it! Martial Red Sister, where did you go outside of the estate to stumble onto this?!”

“What are you talking about? “Martial Red Sister mumbled at the soot ruining the designs of her kimono. “I told you, I was going to search WITHIN the grounds. Speaking of which, stay away from the South side of the estate. I think the Silver Clan are making a new silver ore mine or something. Whole place been blasted of rocks and boulders with explosives or whatever. Mess so big, I had to take several detours around and—”

“Go back there, this construction site you mentioned!”

“...Excuse me—HEY!” Martial Red Sister yelped as her employer started to shove at her. “S-stop! Martial Kim! I have legs! M-my geta sandals are essentially tiny stilts, d-don’t tip me over like a tea pot! I’ll break!”

“Hurry back to that construction site. Find anything that could be related to this case.” Martial Kim ushered his red haired companion to the hole. “The secret is buried in there! We have to find the answer by sunrise!”

“WHAT!? That’s in three hours! I haven’t slept! My eyes will sag terribly!”

Martial Red Sister objected wholeheartedly, but Martial Kim kept shoving her back to the hole. She tripped over and had to transform into a burrowing mouse to soften her landing, or else she would have twisted an ankle.

After throwing a string of curse words and found language in the form of violent mouse squeaks – she darted off with a huff.

“...Martial Kim,” Martial Blue Sister called out. She was confused, but she knew all this sudden action meant something. She just had no clue how to voice it without making a fool of herself. “...What do you need me to do?”

“There are two keys to solve this puzzle. Martial Red Sister is looking for the first.” Martial Kim explained as he took in a deep breath. “Return to Mutiny Hill, the area beyond it. Only you can find the second key.”