Song Xingchen said, "Perhaps this location has some sort of special meaning to the victim and the murderer."

"Let’s move on to the next crime scene."

When we rejoined the girls, Wang Yuanchao was taking photos of them with his cell phone, albeit rather reluctantly.

Xiaotao and Bingxin were striking a pose in the pavilion when they noticed our presence. "You’re done?" exclaimed Xiaotao.

"Yes, let’s move on to the next scene!" I replied.

"Sorry, I got carried away by the excitement," Xiaotao smiled apologetically.

Outside the park, Bingxin discovered a special service for renting ancient costumes so tourists could take photos of themselves in ancient robes in the park. Right then, two foreigners walked out dressed in robes. There was something discordant about their costumes, though I couldn’t pinpoint what it was. Despite my inadequate knowledge about ancient costumes, I was well aware that the ancients were very particular about clothing–specific colors, styles and manner of dressing.

I turned to Song Xingchen. "You know more about ancient culture than I do. What's wrong with these clothes?"

"The one on the left is wearing a Xingfu, or ancient official’s daily garment. It’s considered rude to roll up the sleeves. The one on the right is wearing a Xiyi which is worn above the Qiuyi. It’s not supposed to be worn on its own," explained Song Xingchen.

"Wow, you seem to know a lot about this!" commended Bingxin.

"When I was little, the martial arts books I read were all written and painted by the ancients, so I know a thing or two."

I handed him the photo of the first victim. "Is there anything wrong with this?"

Song Xingchen glanced at it. "These are scholars from the Song and Yuan Dynasties. There’s nothing wrong with it. This person should be very knowledgeable about ancient clothing."

When I showed him the second photo, he said, "These two women's costumes are from the Han Dynasty. What they’re wearing–cyan and green–were mostly used by concubines."

In ancient times, cyan and green were relatively cheap dyes, which were worn by low-ranking members of the family, while bright red and purple were used by masters and aristocrats.

Besides clothing, the two female victims had their hair styled like the Han women on TV shows.

"It seems the murderer is trying to convey something!"

Bingxin clapped her hands. "I got it! The murderer must be an old professor who has studied the Hanfu for many years. Displeased with the garbage the actors on TV wear, he kills to publicize the proper way of wearing the Hanfu."

"You’re so amazing, you can solve the case alone!" mocked Xiaotao.

"Many murderers like to put their victims on display. From a criminal psychology standpoint, there are three motives for displaying the corpses. The first is to show off what they consider their accomplishments, that is, to demonstrate how cruel and violent they are. They get off on fear."

"The human skin kite falls under this category!" declared Xiaotao.

"You’re mistaken. The human skin kite is actually motivated by punishment. The murderer wants the world to know the victim’s identity. The subtext is, look how miserably this bastard died! However, since these murders aren’t gruesome and the murderer deliberately conceals the victims’ identities, they don’t belong to these two categories. Therefore, it falls under the third category–murder meant as a warning. The murderer designed an image to bring attention to his cause, educate and deter others. For example, the American movie ‘Seven.’ Although Bingxin was fooling around, her analysis on the motivation hit the bullseye."

"You mean, the murderer wants to educate the public on how to wear the Hanfu?" Bingxin wondered out loud.

"No, no, the motive is too trivial. Besides, wouldn’t the murders be counterproductive then? Who would dare wear a Hanfu in the future?"

"So, what is the murderer trying to express?" asked Xiaotao.

"I’m still uncertain!"

An hour later, we arrived at the Jiangling Vocational and Technical College. The guard let us into the premises as soon as Xiaotao flashed her badge.

Four days after the bodies were found, the lake had regained its usual tranquility. Just as I was meditating, a voice interrupted my thoughts. "I’m sorry, I’m late!"

We were greeted by a grinning middle-aged man who turned out to be Captain Tang, the leader of the local police and also the person in charge of the case. After a brief phone call with Xiaotao, he came down to meet us.

According to the procedure, we should have visited the station and greeted Captain Tang, but given our authority as the special team, Captain Tang came to welcome us instead.

"Aren’t you a little too dedicated? The first thing you do is come to the crime scene!” remarked Captain Tang. “You must be tired. I have booked a hotel for you. I’ll take you out for dinner once you’re settled in."

Xiaotao turned a meaningful gaze towards me, hinting that I should play the villain. After all, as a member of the public security bureau, there were certain pretences Xiaotao couldn’t forego.

"Captain Tang, you’re being too polite!” I said. “Forget about dinner. These murders have been characterized as part of a vicious serial killing. The murderer is very likely to commit another crime. We’d like to solve the case as soon as possible."

"You’re the Great Detective Song Yang!” exclaimed Captain Tang. “I've heard a lot about you. Won’t you do me a favor? It's a great honor to receive the special team at our bureau. Don't worry, we won’t use public funds. It'll be from my own pocket."

Switching the subject to the details of the case, I learned from Captain Tang specifics that were already reported in the case file.

"By the way, we found some drag marks on Qiushi Road[1]. Would you like to have a look?"

"Where’s this road?" I asked.

"It’s within the school premises,” explained Captain Tang. “God knows who came up with these names. They all sound so poetic."

"And what is this road called?" I asked curiously.

"Chunshen[2] Road!" replied Captain Tang.

When I heard the name, I felt the gears in my mind spinning wildly. Pulling out the second photo, I carefully examined every inch of it with Cave Vision and soon found a sparrow engraved on the metal cage.

"The brass bird locked up the two Qiaos[3]!" I burst out.

"What?" The others stared at me in bafflement.

"This is what the murderer is trying to convey!” I cried. “Chunshen Road, the sparrow on the metal cage, and the two girls in ancient costumes–piece those together and that’s what you get!"

"Was Xiao Qiao a concubine?"

"Yes, Da Qiao was Sun Ce's[4] concubine, while Xiao Qiao was Zhou Yu’s[5]."

"They’re so famous I assumed they were both official wives!" Bingxin uttered.

"It's better to be a concubine! Which man has ever loved his official wife?" Then, turning to me, Xiaotao asked, "What about the first victim?"

Having deciphered the pattern, I explained, "The clue from the first victim is the open gut and the old tree. The body was discovered at 5 in the afternoon. Isn't there a poem that matches this..."

"On the withered vine entwined gnarled tree, the evening crows come roosting. The sun dips down in the western sky. Heart-torn, lovelorn, the wanderer at the ends of the earth a-roaming[6]!" Xiaotao and Bingxin recited in unison.

"That’s amazing! You guys took no time at all to suss out the clues,” praised Captain Tang. “We had seven days and we still came up with nothing."

"But we need more information,” I sighed. “Captain Tang, please lead the way. I’d like to examine the bodies."

[1] Meaning fruits of autumn or the fall harvest. Metaphorically, it refers to a moral achievement or a virtuous person.

[2] Meaning late in spring.

[3] Excerpt from the poem called Red Cliff by Du Mu. The original line is 銅雀春深鎖二喬 (Tong qiao chun shen suo er qiao). If Wu and Shu hadn’t been victorious in the Battle of Red Cliffs, the Sun and Zhou concubines would have been captured by Cao Cao and locked away in his palace.

[4] Sun Ce (175-200): general and major warlord of the Later Han Dynasty.

[5] Zhou Yu (175-210): famous general of the southern Wu kingdom and victor of the Battle of Red Cliffs

[6] Tian Jing Sha by Ma Zhiyuan. Adapted from Andrew W.F. Wong’s translation.