: The Art of Communicating with the Dead

Song Ci reached into his robes and pulled out a black cat.

Qiao Ye blinked, making sure he wasn't seeing things.

It was indeed a black cat that was pulled out.

Song Ci glanced at the black cat's pupils and determined the moment.

He put the black cat back into his arms.

"It's about time, let's go."

The two set off from the manor.

They crossed the wasteland and walked onto a dirt road.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, a small town appeared ahead.

The town was small, and the houses were low and dilapidated.

A middle-aged man dressed in coarse cloth stood at the entrance of the town. Upon seeing them, he quickly came to greet them.

"Mr. Song Ci!" the man bowed respectfully. "You've finally arrived!"

Song Ci nodded.

"Where is the body?"

"It's in the church," the man said. "We dare not move; we're just waiting for you."

He led them into the town.

On the way, Qiao Ye asked in a low voice, "Master, who is this person?"

"Mayor," Song Ci said.

They went into the church.

The church was small, but it was already packed with townspeople.

The benches were pushed to the sides, and a person lay in front of the central preaching platform.

The man, in his early thirties, had a pale face and his eyes were closed.

He was wearing ordinary coarse cloth clothes, with dried bloodstains on them.

A woman dressed as a peasant was kneeling and weeping beside them.

"His name was Pierre," the mayor said. "He was a tanner, and last night he was found dead in the woods outside town. His wife was crying beside him."

Song Ci nodded, then looked at Qiao Ye.

Qiao Ye also looked at him.

The two fell silent, not uttering a word.

Finally, Song Ci couldn't hold back any longer.

"What are you standing there for? Go get to work!" he said irritably.

"oh oh!"

Qiao Ye nodded, his attitude extremely sincere.

He wondered why the old man was staring at him; it turned out he wanted him to do some work.

Why didn't you say so earlier?

"What should I do?"

"You! Cough cough..."

Song Ci almost couldn't catch his breath and coughed incessantly, so Qiao Ye quickly went over to pat his back.

"Don't touch me!"

Song Ci shoved Qiao Ye aside and roared, "Go examine the body!"

"Okay, okay!"

Qiao Ye had no reservations and walked to the body.

Excuse me.

He first sent Pierre's wife away, then lifted the body's clothes and began to examine it carefully.

The corpse had no wounds, but its face was frighteningly pale.

Qiao Ye returned empty-handed.

"Master," he said, "there was nothing found on the body."

Looking at this wicked disciple, Song Ci only wanted to kill him with one blow.

"Is this how you examine corpses?"

He said, "Who gave you permission to look for clues on a corpse? Do you really think you're a coroner?"

"Why not just ask the deceased who the murderer is?"

Should we ask the deceased directly?

Could it be that...?

Qiao Ye finally saw the light.

Yes, yes, in the end, it was my own preconceived notions that prevailed.

Seeing Song Ci makes me think of forensic doctors.

But in fact, his current identity is [Necromancer Scholar].

"What are you still standing there for?"

When Song Ci saw that Qiao Ye was still standing there, he suddenly had a very bad feeling.

He spoke in a trembling voice, "How much of the 'Art of Communicating with the Dead' that I taught you do you remember?"

"I've forgotten everything, Master," Qiao Ye said.

Song Ci almost lost his breath.

It took him a long time to recover.

"Fine, fine, I'll take you as my disciple; consider it my retribution!"

He gritted his teeth and said, "I'll teach you one more time!"

He took out a parchment scroll with the title "The Necronomicon (Introduction)" written on it and handed it to Qiao Ye.

Qiao Ye took it and opened it; a line of information appeared before his eyes—

[Skill 'Communicating with the Dead' detected. Do you wish to learn it?]

Techniques for communicating with the deceased

[Rank: C-level skill]

[Source: Song Ci, the Chief Censor of the Song Dynasty]

[Effect: Grants a corpse the illusion of life, enabling it to answer five questions. The corpse can only talk about what it knew in life, and requires at least one mouth to answer questions. The corpse will not speak to the person who killed it.]

[Note: Only corpses do not lie. — *The Necromancer's Scroll: The Chapter on Injustice Rectified*, by Song Ci]

"study!"

Qiao Ye confirmed it in his heart.

You have learned the "Art of Communicating with the Dead".

He put down the parchment scroll in his hand.

"What's wrong?" Song Ci frowned. "Don't tell me you don't even know how to read anymore."

"No, Master, I just suddenly remembered how to use the [Communication with the Dead] technique."

Qiao Ye returned the parchment to Song Ci, and then went to Pierre's body again.

He stretched out his hand, and an eerie green light appeared in the air.

A green light outlined a symbol and entered Pierre's body.

Suddenly, the corpse opened its eyes.

Some people took two steps back, and others covered their mouths.

They were all quite frightened by this bizarre scene.

"Well--"

The corpse sat up and let out a long, drawn-out hiss.

Qiao Ye stared at that pale face, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

But he still spoke up.

"Pierre, who killed you?"

The body remained silent for a moment.

"Mayor...Mayor..."

The townspeople watching gasped and looked at the mayor, hardly believing their ears.

thump--

The town mayor knelt on the ground.

He wept uncontrollably, filled with fear and trepidation.

"I confess! I confess everything! I had an affair with Pierre's wife, but I really didn't kill anyone!"

Upon hearing this, Pierre's wife screamed and fainted.

The townspeople who were watching were clearly surprised to see such a scene, and their eyes widened immediately.

But the impartial and incorruptible Qiao Ye couldn't stand these words at all.

"Still trying to deny it! Are you trying to say the corpse is lying?"

He turned to Song Ci, "Master, he's looking down on the 'Art of Communicating with the Dead' that you taught me, which means he's looking down on you!"

Song Ci remained expressionless.

At this moment, Pierre's corpse continued, albeit haltingly:

"The mayor... his wife..."

thump--

A woman knelt on the ground.

"I'll confess! I'll confess everything!"

She, too, was in tears, saying, "I did have an affair with Pierre's wife, but I really didn't kill anyone!"

Ok? !

Qiao Ye glanced at Pierre's wife, who was lying on the ground pretending to be unconscious.

No, sis?

You're bisexual!

The town mayor knelt on the ground, and his wife also knelt on the ground.

The two people were less than two meters apart. They glanced at each other and then turned their heads away at the same time.

This time, Qiao Ye didn't rush to conclusions.

Pierre's corpse tends to gasp for breath when it speaks, so let's wait and see.

really--

"The mayor's...wife's...nephew!"

This time, Pierre finally finished speaking in one breath.

The killer has been identified.

He's the mayor's wife's nephew!

Qiao Ye looked around.

"Has my nephew arrived yet?!" he shouted.

In the crowd, a young man in a gray coat was quietly backing away.

"stop!"

The man paused, then turned and ran.

Song Ci gently raised his eyes, and two pale, skeletal hands emerged from the ground, grabbing the man's ankles.

He fell to the ground, his face covered in blood.

"I didn't kill him!"

The nephew screamed, "I was just helping him lure him out! Someone else killed him!"

Qiao Ye walked over and squatted down in front of him.

"The other person? Who?"

"I don't know! I really don't know!"

The nephew's face was pressed to the ground, his voice trembling. "He gave me money and told me to lure Pierre to the woods, saying he had a few questions to ask."

"What does that person look like?" Qiao Ye asked.

"He looks... ugh!"

The nephew's voice suddenly stopped. He screamed, choked on his throat, struggled a few times on the ground, and then stopped moving.

His face turned as pale as Pierre's.

"Dead?"

Qiao Ye never expected things to unfold this way.

But it's okay.

He would ask the same question even if he were dead.