The Sweetness of the Seventies
Chapter 473 - 444 Unity, Suspicion_1

Chapter 473: Chapter 444 Unity, Suspicion_1

Qi Ling explained that it was all from his grandfather, who often told them about it in private.

Such matters, in this era, simply could not be openly discussed.

"That matches what Elder Brother Qi said," Third Grandma Qi remarked, "You know, although I can communicate with Country M, it isn’t frequent. The next time I write a letter, I will ask someone to carry a message to your second granduncle. Even if he can’t return to recognize his relatives, at least he could send some photos back, and you could prepare some photos as well."

Qi Ling knew that dealing through Third Grandma Qi’s household was the safest.

"Thank you, Grandma Qi," Qi Ling gratefully said, "Once this matter is taken care of, I will go back and take pictures, a family portrait."

"That would be great!" Third Grandma Qi replied, pleased that there would be another family reunion.

He Tiantian, sensing the conversation was wrapping up, asked, "Big Brother Qi, have you found the whereabouts of those tomb robbers yet?"

"I just went up the mountain to check, but haven’t found them," said Qi Ling, "However, I can be sure that those people couldn’t have left this area; they should still be somewhere behind the mountain."

He Tiantian was surprised; those people were behind the mountain, but they had died there!

"Oh, then I hope you, Big Brother Qi, can investigate and solve this quickly. We’ve heard that those tomb robbers are extremely brutal, daring to murder and set fires," He Tiantian said, making a fearful expression!

"Yes, so when you go to the back mountain, you must stick together and not walk alone," Qi Ling warned, knowing that until those people were found, the villagers of Qijia Village wouldn’t feel at ease.

One by one, Qi Ling took written statements from Village Chief Qi, He Jingyu, and the others.

Of course, everyone automatically ignored the incident about witnessing the Flood Dragon’s Tribulation.

Even if they had seen it with their own eyes, they could only mention it privately among family members; it simply wasn’t something to be discussed outside.

If mishandled, one could even be labeled as a superstitious believer in feudal superstitions, a loss outweighing the gain.

Furthermore, the villagers of Qijia Village had their selfish motives; they credited the good weather over the past two years to the blessings of divine creatures and did not want outsiders to disturb or harm the Flood Dragon, the divine beings.

Except for that, they reported everything they saw and heard.

Qi Ling’s analytical skills were strong, and he immediately shifted the focus onto Hu Sanchuan from Hujia Village.

So after completing the written statements in Qijia Village, he directly took Old Wu and Xiao Chen to Hujia Village.

Village Chief Hu of Hujia Village trembled when he saw Qi Ling; this was a policeman from the city.

Whenever Hujia Village was visited, it was never for a good reason.

"Officer Qi, what brings you here?" Despite Secretary Hu’s inward dislike of seeing Qi Ling, he couldn’t just send him away; wouldn’t that seem very guilty?

Qi Ling smiled and said, "This time, there’s a matter for which I wanted to find Hu Sanchuan from your village to understand the situation."

"Hu Sanchuan?" Secretary Hu was taken aback, "He’s just a hunter, straightforward and generous. He’s strong and works hard, and his family has a good reputation in our village."

"Xiao Chen, take note," Qi Ling reminded Xiao Chen on the side to quickly record, "We just want to understand the situation about a little matter. We haven’t said it’s related to the case now, have we?"

"Ah!" Secretary Hu sighed in resignation, hoping no trouble would arise.

Originally, there was a thriving Qijia Village near the village, which had already outshone Hujia Village.

After the previous murder and poisoning cases, Hujia Village’s reputation had totally tanked. Now, the young men couldn’t find wives, the young women couldn’t find marital homes. The situation that once existed in Qijia Village had all moved to Hujia Village.

Alas, now, going to the county commune for meetings, Village Chief Hu wished he could shrink his head into his crotch—it was too embarrassing.

Village Chief Hu brought Qi Ling to Hu Sanchuan’s house.

Hu Sanchuan was at home nursing his injuries. Seeing Qi Ling enter, he felt nervous, but he forced himself to appear calm.

The most significant blunder that night was discarding the hunting gun; otherwise, they would not have been able to trace things back to him.

"Captain Qi, hello, what can I do for you?" Hu Sanchuan asked cautiously. Qi Ling had visited Hujia Village several times before, so almost everyone in Hujia Village recognized him, hence they would naturally address him as Captain Qi, which did not surprise Qi Ling.

Qi Ling looked around and asked, "Where were you on the night of January 2nd, the night before last?"

Qi Ling didn’t beat around the bush and went straight to the question.

After thinking for a moment, Hu Sanchuan said, "That night, I was chased by a boar on the back mountain and fell into a trap. I guess I warmed up a poisonous snake by sitting on the ground. It bit my arm, and the whole arm went numb. Realizing it was a venomous snake, I used a knife to amputate the arm and save my life."

"And your hunting rifle?" Qi Ling asked, staring into Hu Sanchuan’s eyes.

"At that time, thinking I was near death, I don’t know where the strength came from, but I climbed out. After amputating the arm, I hurried down to find a doctor," Hu Sanchuan said. "I have no idea where I lost my hunting rifle."

"Have you encountered any strangers while hunting in the mountains recently?" Qi Ling asked. Hu Sanchuan’s story seemed to make sense and was well articulated, but upon closer thought, it didn’t stand up to logic.

Hu Sanchuan thought for a moment, then slapped his unharmed hand on the bed, saying, "I’ve seen some. One individual was rather short, the others were quite tall."

"Did they have guns?" Qi Ling inquired, knowing that tomb robbers definitely carried guns.

"Yes," said Hu Sanchuan. "When I saw they had guns, and there were several of them, I didn’t dare to approach and hid instead."

"When and where was this?" Qi Ling pressed on.

After a pause, Hu Sanchuan replied, "The afternoon of the day before last. I was setting traps at that time..."

"How’s your health now, can you take us to see the pitfall where you fell?" Qi Ling asked seriously, gazing at Hu Sanchuan.

Hu Sanchuan smiled bitterly and said, "Captain Qi, I’d like to take you, but as you see, with this arm, and these legs, I can’t climb mountains; I just can’t make it."

Qi Ling nodded and said, "Alright then, I won’t force anyone beyond their means. If there’s no problem, please sign your name here."

"I can’t write my name, can I use a fingerprint?" asked Hu Sanchuan, a rough fellow who couldn’t read or write.

"That’s fine!" said Qi Ling, taking out the inkpad, and Hu Sanchuan pressed his remaining hand into it.

About half an hour later, Qi Ling left Hu Sanchuan’s house.

"Captain Qi, I think Hu Sanchuan is lying," said Old Wu. "It’s winter; even if someone were setting traps it would be during the day, who would dig traps at night? Spending the night on the back mountain, wasn’t he afraid of freezing to death?"

"Yeah, Captain, I also think there’s something off with that guy," Xiao Chen added. "Even though he’s a hunter, speaking quite calmly to us, it’s as if he had it all figured out beforehand." Xiao Chen said, finding it very odd.