Chapter 294: Not all clay is born the same

BONUS CHAPTER#2

The wooden bucket usually hung inside the well or sat by the edge. But today, it was stuck up near the top, clinging to the pulley like it had stage fright, as if something heavy was hanging on the other end.

The Yabuchi family mostly lived out in Gunma and didn't run into many corpses in their daily lives. So when they saw the bucket dangling like that, they assumed something had just fallen in—maybe a stray cat or dog—and walked over without thinking much of it. They grabbed the rope, ready to hoist out whatever unfortunate animal had taken a dive.

Then Yabuchi's younger brother—solidly middle-aged and possibly trying to prove something—gave the rope a tug. And found it... weirdly heavy.

Jiangxia Tongzhi strolled over and offered a hand.

The pulley squeaked and groaned like it was dying for retirement. Together they pulled, the rope slowly slithering in as the weight on the other end drew closer.

And then—out of the well came a body, bent awkwardly in half like some cursed origami.

It was Machiko—the stepmother who'd been at the wedding feast earlier. Her face was puffed up, mouth gaping, and eyes bulging as if she'd seen the bill for her funeral.

Yabuchi's younger brother stared dumbly at the corpse for all of two seconds before letting out a scream, dropping the rope like it was on fire, and bolting like a bear child caught stealing snacks.

Jiangxia hadn't expected his teammate to be that useless. The rope slipped a little, pulling him forward a step. But he recovered fast and reeled it back in smoothly.

From the outside, it looked like even Jiangxia had been caught off-guard by the corpse surprise.

Yabuchi Hiromi didn't make it as far as her brother. She'd been so scared by the horrifying state of the body that she just collapsed like an unplugged marionette. Running was out of the question.

Fortunately, her legs were noodles, but her eyes still worked. She stared at the face of the dead woman, trembling.

"A-Auntie?!"

…

The police arrived quickly. The body was taken down from the well and laid out properly.

But they'd need a whole basket of clues to figure out what happened, so the officers scattered to search.

Jiangxia watched for a moment and noticed the evidence was scattered all over the place, even down in the well. So he decided to chill for now, wait for the police to collect everything, and just check their work afterward.

He casually wandered around the courtyard and ended up leaning on the well, striking a pensive pose. Meanwhile, his consciousness zipped over into a puppet he'd parked inside the Buddhist hall.

The Buddhist hall was empty and silent, save for a soft ticking from inside a cabinet.

Using the puppet—crafted out of cheap noob clay—Jiangxia investigated. Sure enough, there was a crack in the cabinet. Inside, a loaded crossbow was hidden alongside a primitive timer.

The setup was designed to fire at a specific time. A sneak attack machine.

This particular tool had been installed to take out Yabuchi Yoshifusa. The person who'd set it up? Yabuchi Keiko—the daughter-in-law of the family's old patriarch.

Jiangxia examined it for a bit, nudged the crossbow to adjust its angle, then stuck a small blob of puppet clay onto the timer.

Now, logically, he should've just disassembled the puppet and been done with it.

But he stood back, looked at the white lump of clay stuck quietly in place… and was struck by an intense feeling of déjà vu. He clapped his hands together in a weird pose and whispered,

"Explosion is an art, Hah!"

Nothing.

The clay just sat there, calm as ever. The timer kept ticking peacefully like it had never heard of drama.

The ghosts watching him went from confused, to tense, to completely flabbergasted.

Jiangxia lowered his hands like nothing had happened, gently closed the cabinet, and showed no hint of disappointment.

As expected, it was just regular clay. No chuunibyou powers today.

Still, even if it couldn't explode, it could shift shape and firmness under Jiangxia's will. That was enough to mess with the timer and trigger it a little early, if needed.

With that done, Jiangxia disbanded the puppet—based loosely on Xiao Bai—and returned to his main body.

He opened his eyes, casually brushed some dust off his shoulder from leaning against the well, and adjusted his posture. Calm. Composed. Just a totally normal, rational high schooler.

…

Meanwhile, the courtyard was chaos.

It was late, and thanks to a recent flu wave knocking out most senior officers, the night shift police force had been replaced by rookies. Leading them was none other than Inspector Yamamura.

Fake Yabuchi Yoshifusa, a first-time murderer, was already a nervous wreck. His original plan was: let the professionals handle it, let them solve the case, maybe they'd even catch whoever sent the threatening letters. Then he could fess up and take the proper legal route.

But this was the police?

Inspector Yamamura was not only nonsensical in his deductions, he actually shook like a leaf at the sight of a dead body.

The more Fake Yoshifusa watched him, the angrier he got.

Fed up, he grabbed the Brazilian youth and decided to just go rest. With the cops here—even if they were clowns—the other assailant probably wouldn't act again tonight. He'd get a few hours of peace, then hear the will in the morning.

The two of them walked off, slipping through the courtyard and vanishing into the hallway.

A few minutes later, a long-haired figure who'd been lurking in the shadows hesitated—then followed.

It was Yabuchi Keiko. The one who'd sent the second threatening letter. The crossbow Jiangxia had been fiddling with? Also hers.

Despite her money troubles, Keiko had sympathized with the now-dead stepmother. She'd even imagined they were fellow yinbi revolutionaries—comrades with a common goal.

But now, her "comrade" was gone. And in such a grotesque way.

Though the family suspected some creeper lurking near the side door, Keiko still had her doubts about "Uncle Yoshifusa."

She didn't fully believe he was the killer—but she couldn't rule him out either.

So she followed him.

Not because she was convinced he was guilty. But because she wanted to believe he wasn't. If she could prove it to herself, maybe she could accept that her stepmother had died because of something else entirely. Then she'd have the guts to move forward with her own plans.

But just as she crept near their door, passing the Buddhist hall… someone suddenly tapped her shoulder.

Keiko froze. Whipped around in the dim light.

Behind her stood a not-quite-familiar young man.

It was Jiangxia.

Her first instinct was relief. Then immediate dread.

Because she had secrets. And Jiangxia—being a detective—was a walking alarm bell.

Keiko had, like Hiromi, looked him up the second she heard his name.

What she found online had left her… shaken.

His case-solving speed, his terrifying achievements—it was all too much.

Keiko forced a stiff smile and tried to act casual.

"…Something wrong?" she asked.

*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.

Progress: 6/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS

Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.

Progress:2/10*