Chapter 036: The Countryside? Impossible!

After confirming that Old Nine might have betrayed us, Luo Feng immediately ordered someone to focus on investigating him. Luo Feng instructed our associates on the mainland to look into whether Old Nine had exhibited any unusual behavior, met with anyone, or done anything out of the ordinary in the time leading up to his death. Meanwhile, as Luo Feng was driving, his subordinates reported back with news.

Previously, Luo Feng and I suspected that Yun Gao had made Yun Qing confess in order to protect another important person. Anyone significant to Yun Gao was a potential suspect, so we planned to start our investigation from that angle to identify the real perpetrator. However, the news Luo Feng’s men brought us was disappointing.

We had been looking into Yun Gao for some time, and more and more information was coming to light. This time, Luo Feng’s men discovered that Yun Gao rarely socialized in private. He had almost no friends, and if he could be said to have any, they were nothing more than drinking buddies or business contacts.

Within his own company, Yun Gao’s relationships with subordinates and colleagues were perfectly normal. He was courteous and approachable in daily life, but became stern at work, so it was impossible for anyone in the company to get particularly close to him. With so many eyes in the company, if Yun Gao had been unusually close to anyone, someone would have noticed.

“Yun Gao doesn’t have a girlfriend either,” Luo Feng said, joking, “He’s like you—no interest in women. My people couldn’t find any woman he’s especially close to.”

Ruling out the possibility that Luo Feng’s men had overlooked something, it meant Yun Gao hadn’t made Yun Qing confess to protect a woman he loved. It was common knowledge in the industry that since Yun Gao left Sansong Temple, his career had flourished. He was a workaholic who spent most of his time at the company, rarely even being at home with Old Master Li and Madam Li—let alone making friends or dating.

By the time Luo Feng finished briefing me, we had already driven out to the countryside. The village was quiet; we saw no one along the way, only heard dogs barking furiously. We got out at the entrance to the village, and as soon as Luo Feng set foot outside, several large black dogs lunged toward us. Luo Feng shouted at them several times before finally driving them off.

But the black dogs only retreated a short distance, continuing to bark at us from afar. Their noise drew quite a few villagers out of their homes. With their help, we finally chased away the dogs for good. As we entered the village, some of the simple villagers explained that there were many stray dogs around—they belonged to no one and roamed freely all day.

Cursing his luck, Luo Feng led the way toward the house the short-haired woman had described. The little ghost was quiet, as if sensing the seriousness of our task, and simply held my hand without saying a word.

Luo Feng asked the villagers if they had seen any vehicles enter the village or any strangers on the day Old Nine and the others were drugged. None had. If the short-haired woman was telling the truth, and Old Nine and his companions had really been brought here, it must have happened after Old Nine asked the landlord for the key—by which time it was already late at night.

Villagers in the countryside rise with the sun and sleep early; it was normal that no one had seen a car enter the village. They also said they hadn’t heard any vehicles at all—the village was exceptionally quiet at night. Luo Feng and I took a look around.

The countryside was quite open; houses were spaced far apart, and the village covered a large area. If a car drove very slowly, it wouldn’t make much noise, so it was understandable the villagers hadn’t heard anything. They told us that the village had been especially quiet that night, and everyone had slept soundly.

Soon we arrived at the house the short-haired woman had mentioned. It was obvious the police had already been here. With so few people around, the police probably hadn’t been particularly cautious, and the crime scene tape had only been put up perfunctorily. Chen Fan had informed us that the police had already processed the scene and collected all the evidence; he was currently at the station waiting for the official list.

Stepping over the limp police tape, Luo Feng and I circled the house. The village was laid out almost like a square, and this house was on the edge. It was a mud-brick building, standing in an empty area with no other houses nearby. Luo Feng and I looked around and soon found faint tire tracks near the house.

It had been a long time since the incident, and the tracks were barely visible. The car the police had towed away had previously been parked behind the house. I noticed that the back door was even more secluded; it was a spot few villagers ever passed, so with the car parked back there, no one would have noticed it from a distance.

After circling the house and finding nothing else, we went inside. The house was small, with only a bed, a table, and a stove. It was almost empty. Luo Feng glanced around and asked me what I expected to find in such a bare room.

I let go of the little ghost’s hand and began to look around, answering Luo Feng that sometimes the most important clues are the least conspicuous. Luo Feng stopped asking questions and started searching with me, checking every corner. The police in the harbor district had taken the short-haired woman’s testimony seriously, so they must have combed through the crime scene thoroughly too.

Not long after we entered, I got a call from Chen Fan. He told me he’d already found out what evidence the police had recovered from the country house.

After the short-haired woman’s confession, the police had come to the village immediately. They collected multiple fingerprints and footprints from the scene—none visible to the naked eye. After analysis, they determined that the prints belonged to Old Nine and his companions, as well as the short-haired woman.

They also performed DNA tests on the hair samples they collected and confirmed they belonged to Yun Qing. Hair from Yun Qing was also found in the car the police had impounded. What Luo Feng and I had most feared had come to pass; this discovery was highly unfavorable for Yun Qing.

Luo Feng cursed angrily, “Whoever the killer is, not only did they get hell money with Yun Qing’s fingerprints—they even obtained her hair!”

Compared to Yun Gao, Yun Qing had even fewer close contacts, and the police and I had already investigated her colleagues, ruling out most as suspects. I could sense the cunning of the killer—it was unlikely to be anyone close to Yun Qing, and yet they somehow got hold of distinct physical traces from her.

I noticed something intriguing: whether in the house or the car, Yun Qing’s fingerprints only appeared on small objects. In this house, for instance, the police found no footprints from Yun Qing, and apart from her fingerprints on a handkerchief in a corner, there was nothing else.

“Yun Qing never set foot in this house, nor got in that car, so it’s impossible for her to have left traces on any large items,” I explained to Luo Feng. In a room, the places most likely to bear fingerprints are things like tables, beds, and windowsills—large, stationary objects. Since Yun Qing had never been here, she couldn’t have left prints on them.

But the handkerchief and the hell money were both small items. Difficult, but not impossible for the killer to find ways for Yun Qing to touch them inadvertently. Once contaminated with her fingerprints, these objects could be placed at various crime scenes, deepening suspicion on her.

Yun Qing’s hair was also easy to transfer.

This house was quite dilapidated. The villagers told us it had originally belonged to a bachelor who died of alcoholism, and had stood vacant for many years since. I ran my hand along the floor—there wasn’t a speck of dust, just like the rental where Old Nine and the others had died.

“This place has been cleaned too. No matter how careful the killer is, he can’t guarantee he’s left absolutely nothing that could identify him. So he cleaned the place, and once it was spotless, left only the physical traces of other people,” I said. “That’s why, at every crime scene and in the car, the only biological traces belong to Yun Qing, the short-haired woman, and the deceased.”

Luo Feng nodded, continuing to search with me for clues, while the little ghost stood silently by.

Chen Fan relayed all the evidence and forensic results the police had. Fingerprints and DNA from a crime scene are usually the strongest objective evidence in court. Even if Yun Qing and the short-haired woman never confessed to the supernatural aspects of the crime, the police already had enough to convict them. What’s more, their refusal to explain the method might even be seen as defiance of the law, resulting in harsher punishment.

We found nothing else in the house. Luo Feng asked what to do next. After thinking for a moment, I led Luo Feng and the little ghost outside. Based on my deductions, the killer had cleaned the crime scenes. Some things would have been taken away, but not everything cleaned up was suitable to carry off. Therefore, I wanted to try my luck in the more secluded corners or garbage heaps near the house.

I didn’t have high hopes, but as long as there was any chance, I wouldn’t give up.

“Fang Han, do you think we found nothing of the killer’s because he never actually came here?” Luo Feng asked. “Could it be that, up to this point, everything was done by the short-haired woman alone?”

I nodded, “It’s possible.” But just as the words left my mouth, something struck me. I whirled around, suddenly reversing what I’d just said: “Impossible!”