"There was a thunder explosion. It turned out that someone was killed by lightning!"
"Li Cailiang was killed by a lightning bolt while passing by the river on his way home!"
"At that time, many fellow villagers were returning home after the busy farming season."
"Everyone saw the scene where Li Cailiang was struck to death by lightning."
"With a loud roar of thunder, earth and rocks flew apart, willow trees snapped at their waists, and a huge charred pit was blasted out on the spot. Li Cailiang, who happened to be walking on the riverbank, fell directly into the icy February water, and his body was not found."
"When Li Cailiang's body was fished out of the river downstream by a fishing net and pulled back to the Li family's home in Shangpan Village by oxcart, the sight of his death was horrific; his hands and feet had been blown off."
"The severed limbs were just thrown carelessly beside the corpse on the ox cart."
"The body didn't even have a straw mat to cover it. It was left exposed all the way back to Shangpan Village on an ox cart."
"Seeing her husband, who had been fine not long ago and had promised to return home for dinner after returning the cow, now dead and mutilated, Mrs. Li burst into tears. Her son in her arms was also terrified and cried loudly, crying for his father."
"Ah, that scene...it makes anyone cry."
"Li Cailiang's body is still warm, but rumors are already spreading in the village. The villagers are saying that Li Cailiang must have done something extremely unscrupulous, and that's why he was struck by lightning. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been punished by heaven, not only would he have been struck to death by lightning, but his body would have been mutilated."
"Ms. Li, already weeping bitterly, burst into even deeper tears when she heard the gossips from the surrounding villagers. They said her family's son, Mr. Li, had been honest his entire life, yet after his death, his reputation was ruined and he was slandered."
"But the truth is, gossip can only do what. Just one woman, Mrs. Li, can do anything. The villagers are all talking about why Li Cailiang was the only one struck to death by heaven when so many other families in Shangpan Village weren't killed by lightning."
"The old men and women in the village all said that this was God's will. God punishes the wicked and not the good. God will not wrongly accuse a good person. They cursed the Li family for not respecting God and that they would be punished by God. This year, Shangpan Village will definitely be implicated. The fields will be dry and there will be no harvest. They bared their teeth, jumped up and down, and shouted that they wanted to drive the Li family away to prevent the evil deeds of Li Cailiang's family from bringing disaster to innocent people in the village."
"It's a pity that Li Cailiang's body is still warm here, and over there, the orphan Li and her only son are being bullied by the surrounding villagers."
"Just when everyone thought the matter was settled, that Li Cailiang died from being struck by lightning, and even the head of the village and the village guards had no objection, a young man stood up from the crowd."
"Tsk tsk, that young man is quite something! He's eight feet tall and eight feet wide, with a sturdy build, delicate skin, and short hair like a monk. He introduced himself as Jin and An, and he was accompanied by a scholar and a rickshaw driver. They were the three strangers who had just stayed in Shangpan Village tonight..."
"This young master who calls himself Jin'an said that when lightning strikes a person, it only leaves a charred mark on the spot. It definitely won't cause earth and rocks to fly away, willow trees to break, and leave a huge crater in the place where they were struck."
"It's obvious that someone buried gunpowder by the river beforehand, deliberately luring Li Cailiang to a predetermined location, and then fabricating the scene where Li Cailiang was killed by lightning. They also used the river to wash away the riverbank and Li Cailiang's body, destroying the body and washing away the remaining gunpowder particles and smell."
"Because only gunpowder in this world can have such a violent and overbearing effect."
"The village head should report this murder to the authorities and have them investigate who recently purchased large quantities of gunpowder, sulfur, and saltpeter. Besides Li Cailiang walking to the river on his own, who else is most likely to have met him there, or who was walking with him at the time? Who would benefit most from Li Cailiang's death? Then, that person must be Li Cailiang's murderer."
"gunpowder?"
"The villagers were shocked when they heard this. The Kangding court had extremely strict control over gunpowder among the people. Gunpowder was a type of military weapon, and in Kangding, it was strictly forbidden for the people to possess it. Even the formula for gunpowder was forbidden to be circulated among the people."
"The villagers didn't believe that Li Cailiang died from gunpowder."
"Because no one in the civilian world has access to gunpowder."
"Everyone was furious and cursed these outsiders for being disrespectful to God. They wanted to drive them out of Shangpan Village along with Li's mother and son."
"But fortunately, the village head had studied in a private school for a few years and had more experience than these illiterate villagers from the poor and remote areas. He knew that if this matter involved gunpowder, it would be a serious matter and it was definitely not something a small village head could handle. It was better to believe it than not to believe it, and he must not conceal or lie about this matter. After stopping the villagers who were making trouble, the village head quickly sent several of the fastest villagers to report the matter to the Chang County government office that night."
"Hearing that a suspected gunpowder case had occurred in a small rural village in Chang County, Magistrate Zhang of Chang County dared not delay. He immediately mobilized all the county's police chiefs, accompanied by constables and fast horses, and divided them into several groups. Following the clues provided by Master Jin'an, they conducted an overnight investigation. As expected, they quickly apprehended the real culprit!"
"It really fits the folk proverb: If you don't want others to know, don't do it yourself."
"If you don't do anything wrong, you don't have to worry about the government knocking on your door in the middle of the night."
"The murderer of Li Cailiang was none other than Li Dashan, a relative of his from the same village. He was a compulsive gambler who had asked Li Cailiang and his wife to borrow money to help him through a difficult time. He had vowed never to gamble again. Li Cailiang and his wife, feeling sorry for him, believed his words and lent him their savings to help him pay off his gambling debts."
"In the end, that guy not only refused to repent, but even after his relatives paid him back, he continued his gambling addiction and kept owing Li Cailiang and his wife money. He even secretly asked Li Cailiang for money several times. But Li Cailiang knew that his gambling habit was hard to change, and lending money to a gambler was like drawing water with a bamboo basket, so he refused to lend any more money."
"This gambler relative saw that Li Cailiang's family had savings but was unwilling to help them, and felt that he would never be able to repay the debt due to his gambling addiction. So he became malicious and planned to kill Li Cailiang. He would then save the weak Li family orphan and widow from repayment. He even had a vicious plan. After Li Cailiang's death, he would incite the ignorant villagers who didn't know the truth to drive away the Li family orphan and widow, and then seize the opportunity to occupy the house and farmland."
“As the saying goes, help in emergencies but not in poverty.”
"A little bit of rice is a favor, a peck of rice is a grudge."
"Humans know the horror of ghosts, but ghosts know the viciousness of human hearts."
"It was supposed to be a 'lightning-scorched corpse case', but in the end it became a 'record of clearing an injustice', and finally it involved another 'strange case of privately storing gunpowder'. It was full of twists and turns and bizarre stories."
"And because that young man, Jin'an, had made great contributions in solving the gunpowder case, he was recognized by the county government and the magistrate, who hosted a banquet to invite him to Chang County. Magistrate Zhang, a man of integrity and clear about rewards and punishments, asked the county's merchants and gentry to raise three hundred taels of silver at the banquet, which he handed over in person to Young Master Jin'an, thanking him for saving Chang County and protecting its people from being implicated. The list of merchants and gentry who raised money has now been printed on a plaque and is still hanging on the Chang County memorial archway."
"The book is finished."