National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 506 - 506 465 Perfect Harmony

506: Chapter 465: Perfect Harmony 506: Chapter 465: Perfect Harmony The night was deep.

The small temple, which should have been shrouded in the night, was lit up everywhere, with officers responsible for searching for evidence, officers in charge of inspecting and securing the evidence, officers tasked with communication and running around…

From the sky above, beams of flashlights resembled shooting trajectories, always carrying an air of menace.

All eight people, including the head monk, were separated and placed under supervision.

Captain Han and Liu Jinghui unanimously decided to not send them down the mountain for the time being.

Firstly, traveling mountain paths at night was risky, even if the paths were well-trodden and the steps steady.

If someone tried to flee, accidents could easily happen, which made nighttime transfers unsuitable.

Secondly, they wanted to conduct a surprise interrogation.

This case had everyone in the temple keeping their own secrets, all knowing something.

If they were taken away now, the long journey down the mountain would stabilize their emotions, making it harder to extract any useful information later.

Since there were plenty of police officers on the mountain, Captain Han requisitioned several rooms and delegated some experienced officers to start preliminary interrogations.

He didn’t expect to get everything, and indeed, it seemed unnecessary to interrogate at all.

Just the love and jealousy story between the three lay Buddhists and Mr.

Qian could probably last a whole night.

But now, there was at last a direction to pursue.

If the victim was Qian Guoqing, then the issue of identifying the body would be solved.

Captain Han didn’t know if going back to Huang Qiangmin could recover anything more, but from his perspective, a chance at cracking the case had to be seized.

In the wee hours.

Captain Han personally interrogated Zhang Fen.

The 55-year-old Zhang Fen, when not made up, looked pale and sallow, a picture of exhaustion.

Resting her forehead on one hand, she sighed and said, “It’s so late, I normally would have been sound asleep by now, my mind is really muddled at this hour.”

“I saw your Moments; every night around one or two in the morning, you’d post about your insomnia.

Why aren’t you insomniac now?” Captain Han was an experienced detective, and though he may seem a bit simple compared to Jiang Yuan, Liu Jinghui, and even Huang Qiangmin, that was only in comparison.

On the streets of Qu’an County, Captain Han was not someone to be trifled with!

Zhang Fen furrowed her brow and said, “My insomnia is not something to be interrogated…”

“Let’s talk about your relationship with Qian Guoqing,” Captain Han was not here to haggle with her.

Zhang Fen blushed, “My relationship with Qian Guoqing… what’s there to say about my relationship with him…”

Seeing her reaction, Captain Han sensed something and prodded, “Some say you’re the other woman…”

“Who…” Zhang Fen’s voice sharpened immediately.

Captain Han smiled and said, “That, I cannot disclose.

But what’s the truth?”

“I had a mutual affection with Qian Guoqing…” Zhang Fen gritted her teeth and said, “Those hussies are just jealous of me…”

After the initial discomfort, including Zhang Fen, the lay Buddhists all started to open up.

If it had been any other line of questioning, Zhang Fen and the others might have cooperated but been physically unable to stay awake.

However, what Captain Han was asking about were the love and hate stories of Qian Guoqing and the ‘old babies,’ a topic the lay Buddhists were all too familiar with and were particularly interested in.

Jiang Yuan wandered around the rooms, listening to the discussions, and suddenly felt as if he had been transported to a village gossip session, the kind that takes place in the dead of night, off-limits to children.

These women who grew up watching Qiong Yao’s dramas were still discussing love passionately even at the age of 60… Of course, accompanying love were always strife, conflict, sweetness, and bitterness…

The group was so engrossed in their discussion that even the lay Buddhists who weren’t directly involved were speaking authoritatively on the subject of these romances.

However, since only a ‘Prince’ deserves to talk about love, Qian Guoqing’s status as a wealthy businessman was also repeatedly mentioned.

After listening for a while, Jiang Yuan felt it was getting boring and decided to go to bed.

His mission had been accomplished smoothly, and if the Skull Restoration Skill was no longer needed, it wasn’t a bad thing, because after all, solving the case was what mattered.

The next day.

Jiang Yuan still got up early.

The environment in the mountains is just like this, as soon as day breaks, the chirping of birds outside the window begins—there are fewer birds in the city, and hearing one or two calls is both dear and natural.

There are too many birds in the mountains, and each one starts chirping incessantly as if a bunch of kids are shouting, making it very hard to fall back asleep.

The air in the mountains is good though, and even with not much sleep, one’s mind is clear.

Jiang Yuan dressed leisurely and then went out to stretch his body, and immediately noticed the strong scent of braised meat.

“Mrs.

Li…

You’re cooking meat so early?” As Jiang Yuan noticed a police officer standing next to Mrs.

Li, he realized Captain Han must still be alert.

Mrs.

Li, catching Jiang Yuan’s gaze, smiled nonchalantly and added, “This braised meat needs to be boiled every day, and besides, you all need breakfast, don’t you?”

“Of course.” Jiang Yuan immediately nodded his head.

The temple doesn’t provide meals, previously it was the lay Buddhists who did the cooking.

The main task of a lay Buddhist, apart from offering incense, was to cook and sweep.

If there were more people, they would do some cleaning work; otherwise, even for a small temple, the abbot would have endless chores.

Unlike Mrs.

Li, lay Buddhists made only vegetarian food, and nobody, Captain Han included, wanted to endure that for a whole day.

“Meat in bread?

Still 7 yuan.” Mrs.

Li spoke while already starting to bake the bread.

“Give me two.” Jiang Yuan was quite happy to, and then asked, “Do you have soup?”

“You eat quite well.

Want some pork stomach soup?

I made it for myself,” Mrs.

Li said as she went inside and brought out a small porcelain jar.

Jiang Yuan nodded in agreement, thinking that one shouldn’t be too demanding while in the mountains, especially in the temple, and said, “Add some garlic greens, a bit more pepper, I just want the soup without the pork stomach and the oil, served in a small bowl, with a soup spoon, please.”

Mrs.

Li prepared it according to his request, then said, “I was going to give you the soup for free, but now a bowl is seven and a half yuan.”

“That’s fine.” Jiang Yuan cheerfully paid and then sat at a small table nearby, eating his meat-filled bread and sipping the soup.

The freshly-made pork stomach soup was steaming hot with a spicy kick from the pepper, which paired with the meat-filled bread, quickly made him sweat.

At that moment in the early morning, it felt incredibly comforting.

The police officer standing guard couldn’t help but swallow hard.

“Would you like some soup?” Mrs.

Li considerately scooped a bowl of pork stomach soup for him.

“Sure.” The officer took out his mobile phone to pay, but Mrs.

Li stopped him, “No need to pay for the soup, it’s because he had so many requests.”

“Let’s settle the bill anyway.” The officer insisted on paying, then began sipping the soup with enjoyment.

After a while, Liu Jinghui and Captain Han along with others, also got up one after another.

Jiang Yuan was already full by then, and seeing that they didn’t look too great, he simply stood and waited.

Seeing him, Captain Han didn’t even bother eating anything and took Jiang Yuan aside, saying, “Jiang Yuan, you still have to continue with the Skull Restoration Skill.”

Jiang Yuan asked, “What’s going on?”

“We found Qian Guoqing, he’s still alive and at his hometown,” Captain Han shook his head and continued, “He’s a local farmer who used to grow fruit trees and joined a low-cost tour, met one of the lay Buddhists here and ended up sleeping over.”

Jiang Yuan wasn’t surprised, as that made sense.

After all, a 60-year-old merchant from Yue Province spending several months a year in a small temple in Shannan Province, engaging in romance and grudges with a few old ladies…

“Is Qian Guoqing a suspect?” Jiang Yuan asked casually.

Captain Han shook his head slightly, saying, “He has an alibi.

He needs to work for half the year to have the money to come here and hang out.”

A temple can indeed have minimal expenses, but for a merchant, clearly, one can’t be too stingy.

Jiang Yuan nodded slowly—so the case had circled back to the start.

He glanced at Liu Jinghui, reasoning like this, pushing and pulling, it might move forward or it might go backward.

It’s not like technology; once you make a breakthrough, it remains a breakthrough; once proven, it stays proven.

“Alright, I’m going back to hammer away at the computer,” Jiang Yuan said, not even bothering to inquire further about the case details.

This business wasn’t worth involving in a homicide case, and it felt like in the end, it would likely end in some sort of administrative detention.

Compared to that, he’d rather send someone to their death directly.