The Sweetness of the Seventies
Chapter 323 - 294 This is Murder, Assisting in the Investigation_1

Chapter 323: Chapter 294 This is Murder, Assisting in the Investigation_1

The peaceful life had numbed He Tiantian’s nerves!

The death of Second Leprosy, though it cut off the leads, had sounded an alarm for He Tiantian!

"Even I am not clear on this, so now I’ll just transfer Second Leprosy’s last memories to you," said Snake King, finding the situation increasingly interesting.

Before long, He Tiantian received the memories of Second Leprosy’s last half a month!

In short, the wound on Second Leprosy’s face got wet and worsened. In order to cure it, he spent all his money, so he went to threaten Accountant Hu for twenty yuan. Accountant Hu agreed to give him ten yuan at that time, and promised to meet him later that evening to give the remaining ten yuan. After Second Leprosy got the money, he went to gamble secretly and lost it all. When he returned home, he found a note that said to meet at 10 pm near a small grove close to Hujia Village, but it was not signed!

This wasn’t the first time he had received a little note, so Second Leprosy didn’t find it strange and went to the grove two miles away from Hujia Village at night.

Sure enough, it was that masked woman, holding ten yuan in her hand.

Second Leprosy directly asked the woman for twenty yuan, but the masked woman didn’t give it to him and even insulted him verbally.

In a fit of rage, Second Leprosy chased after her.

Then there was a "thud," and he was dead!

As for how he died, Snake King didn’t have that information.

In this era, an unexplained death was a very serious matter, a homicide had occurred.

Huai City sent a commissioner to investigate in Taoyuan County, and Qi Ling was the person in charge of this case.

Hujia Village wasn’t far from Qijia Village, and the two had close ties. After He Tiantian returned to the village from the mountain, Qijia Village started to spread wild rumors about the death of Second Leprosy from the neighboring village.

He had died such a pitiful death!

He fell straight into a trap. At the bottom of the deep trap, which was two meters deep, were wooden spikes a foot long, sharpened to a point. The spikes penetrated his internal organs, and he died instantly on the spot!

Upon hearing the others’ discussions, He Tiantian finally understood why the last thing in Second Leprosy’s memory was a "thud."

During lunch, Third Grandma Qi said, "Jingyu, Shuping, the two of you are up in the mountains, so you have to be careful! I still have a firewood knife at home, take it with you. If you encounter a bad person, it might come in handy."

"A firewood knife?" He Jingyu laughed, "Stepparents, aren’t we overthinking it?"

"How can we overthink it!" said Third Grandma Qi, "Take it, it’s always better to be prepared. Just like Second Leprosy from the neighboring village, he was killed by someone... "

"Grandma, how do you know he was killed by someone?" He Tiantian knew Second Leprosy had been murdered, and it hadn’t been an accident or suicide, but how did Third Grandma Qi know this?

After enjoying a good meal and wiping her mouth, Third Grandma Qi spoke softly, "That grove is usually two miles away from the village. Because it was a chaotic graveyard in the past, people, children, and adults alike rarely go there. Moreover, there are at most rats in that grove, you hardly ever see wild rabbits or pheasants, there’s simply no need for traps that big, that deep, and with so many spikes. Lastly, who would go there late at night if not for someone asking him to come out?"

"You’re right, Stepmothers," said He Jingyu, "This is murder! If we can figure this out, the police can too."

Just then, Secretary Qi arrived with some police officers.

Upon seeing that the visitor was Qi Ling, He Tiantian smiled and said, "Brother Qi, why would you come here?"

"A homicide occurred, I specially came to investigate. We found out some things related to the Peach Orchard and wanted to look into it," Qi Ling explained, "These two are your parents, right?"

He Tiantian nodded and introduced, "This is my grandma, and these are my parents. Dad, Mom, Grandma, this is Brother Dajun’s comrade-in-arms Qi Ling, who is a police officer working at Huai City Public Security Bureau."

"Hello, Grandma, Uncle, and Auntie," Qi Ling greeted as he stepped forward, extremely polite.

He Jingyu chuckled and said, "You’re here on official business now, so you should start with the matter at hand."

Qi Ling nodded and said, "Here’s the situation. Last night, Hu Erlai was found dead under abnormal circumstances. Multiple pieces of evidence prove that it was murder, and we’ve come specially to investigate."

He Jingyu frowned and replied, "We should cooperate with the investigation; that is only right. But we’ve just arrived in Qijia Village. We haven’t even gotten to know everyone here, let alone anyone from the neighboring village."

Qi Ling smiled and explained, "During our interrogation of a man from Hujia Village named Hu Goudan, he confessed that Hu Erlai once took him along to sabotage your Peach Orchard, so we want to understand why Hu Erlai would have a reason to destroy the Peach Orchard of Qijia Village!"

Before He Jingyu could answer, Village Chief Qi gasped in shock and asked, "That incident was done by Hu Erlai?"

"Yes, according to Hu Goudan, who also went along that day. He even mentioned seeing a female ghost..." Qi Ling said, doubting the coherence of Hu Goudan’s rambling statements and not sure which parts were true.

He Jingyu said, "That day, when Village Chief Qi and I arrived in the morning, we found the fence already damaged and signs of it being cut with a knife, and there were a lot of footprints on the ground. But there was nothing more we could do; we didn’t know who it was, and we couldn’t find the person responsible. All we could do was build a house on the mountain and station someone to guard the place!"

Qi Ling’s assistant began to record the information.

"Is that all?" Qi Ling asked.

"That’s all," replied He Jingyu. "If you don’t believe me, ask Secretary Qi!"

Village Chief Qi nodded and said, "That’s correct, our knowledge of the events is about the same. Since the Peach Orchard wasn’t seriously harmed, we didn’t pursue the matter further."

"So, did you or Qijia Village offend someone?" Qi Ling inquired. "These people vandalizing property must have a motive that isn’t just a night-time stroll."

He Jingyu shook his head and responded, "I’ve just come to Qijia Village and haven’t offended anyone!"

He Tiantian and Third Grandma Qi exchanged glances, both thinking of Qi Jianguo’s family.

Especially He Tiantian, who remembered that Second Leprosy had said a woman had paid them to do it.

Could that woman be Qi Fangfang?

However, He Tiantian quickly dismissed the thought; Qi Fangfang was just a girl. How could she go to Hujia Village in the middle of the night? Even with ten times the courage, she wouldn’t dare.

Third Grandma Qi gave Secretary Qi a meaningful look.

Village Chief Qi understood and guessed that He Jingyu and his wife probably didn’t know about the incident!

"Alright, we’ve got what we need for now. We’ll visit again when we have more time. I have to continue with the investigation," said Qi Ling, ready to investigate elsewhere after getting an understanding of the situation.

"Official duties are a priority," He Jingyu courteously said. He didn’t have a personal relationship with Qi Ling, so he took the polite words at face value without reading too much into them.

After they left, Village Chief Qi disclosed to Qi Ling the indecent act Qi Jianguo had committed at the start of the year.

Upon hearing this, Qi Ling narrowed his eyes slightly and then proceeded to Qi Jianguo’s home.

Seeing someone heading to his elder brother’s house, Qi Shuli quickly followed.

The villagers all knew about the misdeed Qi Jianguo had done. If there was an act of sabotage against the Peach Orchard managed by He Jingyu, the first suspect would be someone who had previously had a conflict or grudge with He Tiantian.