Chapter 43: New Case A body was found on the mountain...

Chenjia Village is a remote village located in the southeast corner of Anxi City. It is close to a very high mountain. A stream flows quietly from the mountain into the village. The scenery is very beautiful, so people often come here to climb the mountain.

The person who reported the case this time was a tourist who was climbing the mountain.

When they saw the police, they were still panicked, and the girl was even so scared that she kept crying.

The boy was clearly terrified, his hands shaking as he tried to comfort his girlfriend, his voice raspy. "We were planning to hike here a couple of days ago, but it started to rain and snow a bit, so we worried it would be difficult to hike up the mountain, so we didn't come. We figured the sun would be high at noon today, so we decided to hike. And, what happened..."

He swallowed hard, his expression horrified. "We were passing this creek when we saw a child lying there. We thought she'd fainted, but when we got closer, we saw she was covered in blood. She was already dead—"

"There were cut marks all over her body, her eyes were wide open, and the color of her body had changed. Woohoo, how could this happen? I really... didn't expect it..." The girl was staggering and her feet were unsteady, and the tears from crying had smudged her makeup.

This would be a nightmare that would last a lifetime for either of them.

Qiu Jiang felt something was wrong after hearing their description, but when she followed Chen Da to the little girl, she realized how horrifying the scene was.

The girl was only about eight or nine years old. Her whole body was still covered in mud and she was lying cold on the ground. Her beautiful white skirt was cut into pieces by a sharp weapon and soaked with blood. Her eyes were wide open as the girl just said, full of fear and terror. It is conceivable what a terrible thing she had encountered before her death.

Qiu Jiang felt a buzzing in her ears, and soon a black shadow carrying a black shadow that was still shaking desperately on its shoulder ran quickly towards the mountain. She had no other thoughts at all, and chased after it like an antelope.

"Qiu Jiang, where are you going? -" Deng Xingwang shouted at her anxiously, but it was absolutely difficult to catch up with her. She disappeared in almost the blink of an eye, and people were needed to record.

Now that she has run away, he has to take over and he is completely unable to do anything else.

He waved his hand vigorously and repeatedly asked who could take notes. Soon someone in the team stood up.

"Let me do it."

Deng Xingwang was overjoyed, "Thank you, brother."

After saying this, he hurriedly ran towards the direction where Qiu Jiang had just disappeared. At this moment, a figure faster than him had rushed over. When Deng Xingwang saw that figure, he suddenly stopped and was a little confused.

That shadow is...

At the same time, Qiu Jiang stopped on a high flat slope with a chill all over his body, sparks of anger and cold murderous intent in his eyes.

However, the shadows in front of her were simply impossible to get rid of no matter how hard she tried to grab or push. She tried to grab or push them randomly, but her hands would always go through the two shadows and fall heavily to the ground. She could only watch the small figure below being violated and hit on the head until she stopped breathing. Not only that, she also witnessed with her own eyes the beast taking out the knife he was carrying and stabbing fiercely at the girl who had already died.

"Don't--" she screamed heartbreakingly, but nothing could stop him, and she had to continue looking at his disgusting face laughing wildly after killing someone, as if he was praising his own atrocities. Perhaps in his eyes, he was just like God, wantonly infringing on others and committing murderous acts.

She was so angry that she was filled with strength, and her whole body was tense and trembling. However, she had no place to vent the anger in her heart, and it was stuck in her heart and was about to swallow her up.

Behind her thin and stiff figure, a figure looked at her quietly. Seeing that she could not calm down, he sighed softly, patted her shoulder gently with one hand, and forcefully moved her head over.

"Qiu Jiang, go back and have a good rest." Ji Mingcheng lowered his eyes and looked at her, with some guesses in his mind about her abnormality.

He has been in the police force for so long and has seen too many police officers who have suffered mental breakdowns and need psychological counseling after witnessing various tragedies. Some are even so miserable that they can no longer continue to work in this field.

He has always felt that the little girl Qiu Jiang behaved very well. She was never afraid when facing a corpse and would always rush to the front when handling a case. She was really a very good subordinate.

But he ignored the fact that she was just a fresh graduate from the police academy and had not yet celebrated her 20th birthday.

It's remarkable that such a young girl waited until today to break down. He doesn't want to see her suffer from psychological trauma at such a young age, and he doesn't want to see her unable to work in this industry anymore because of this.

Seeing her dazed look, Ji Mingcheng gave her a hug, patted her head, and coaxed her, "Go back, we are here."

At this moment, Qiu Jiang seemed to come back to his senses and murmured, "...Captain Ji."

"Yeah." Ji Mingcheng responded.

Qiu Jiang clenched her hands and unclenched them, then slowly clenched them again. She lowered her head and said firmly, "Captain Ji, I want to stay and investigate the case."

She glanced back at the place she had been looking at. The dark shadow had disappeared, leaving only a pool of dark red leaves.

Qiu Jiang blinked suddenly, rushed over, squatted on the ground and picked up the leaves. After the leaves stained with dark marks were picked up, a stone and more dark soil were revealed. Qiu Jiang immediately turned around to look at him, and her eyes revealed only one message, which was clearly conveyed to him.

Ji Mingcheng also saw this scene, and his brows knitted instantly. He took out his cell phone and dialed Chen Da's number, "Take a few people up the mountain immediately, especially the trace examiners."

After saying that, he immediately hung up the phone and began searching with her location as the center. It would have been fine if he hadn't checked, but when he did, he actually found something.

Qiu Jiang hurried over to take a look.

He was holding an irregular piece of cloth about three centimeters long, which looked like cotton. There were marks on the edge similar to the ones she had just found on the leaves.

Qiu Jiang bit her lip and speculated, "Captain Ji, do you think what we found was blood?"

In fact, she had already confirmed that these traces were the bloodstains left when the little girl was killed, but she knew it from the dark shadows. However, others did not know that she could see those dark shadows. If she said it too confidently, it would be hard not to arouse suspicion.

That was all she could ask. Ji Mingcheng had no doubts and quickly replied, "It's blood. If nothing unexpected happens, this is most likely the first crime scene."

If this is the case, it proves that after killing the little girl, the murderer was able to move the body to another place to bury it, thereby increasing the difficulty of solving the case if the body was really found. With such skill, unless he is gifted and has a delicate mind, it is difficult to say that the murderer is committing a crime for the first time.

Ji Mingcheng felt a little serious.

Soon, Chen Da arrived with Deng Xingwang and the others. Seeing the marks on the ground, he spoke without hesitation, drawing on his years of experience as a criminal police officer. "There's so much blood, and even though a lot of the marks have been washed away by the rain, you can still see the radial marks. I felt something was wrong when I saw the body just now. Maybe this is the real crime scene, and what we just saw was just the murderer's burial place. This murderer is really fucking bastard."

Otherwise, considering the size of the mountain and the fact that these traces were clearly under the newly fallen leaves, it would probably be difficult to find them even if they sent out all the police officers.

"Captain Ji, how did you find this place?" Chen Da couldn't help but feel curious.

Ji Mingcheng glanced at Qiu Jiang, who immediately lowered her head in panic. After a while, she raised her head again and said, "I'm sorry, Brother Chen. I just saw that the person who died was a little girl. I couldn't bear it, so I ran up the mountain. I didn't expect that the marks on the ground looked a bit strange, so..."

Chen Da had just arrived and separated from her and Deng Xingwang. He hadn't realized what had just happened. Seeing her guilty expression, he waved his hand and said soothingly, "It's normal. Every police officer has to go through this. I was just like you when I was young, even more impulsive than you. But after seeing so many corpses and tragedies, I became numb to it."

"Yes, yes. I didn't dare to handle any cases in the first year after I came here. Later, I had no choice but to vomit after handling my first case. I had nightmares when I got home and had a fever in the middle of the night. I had to take a week off before I got better. You are already very capable." Deng Xingwang also quickly followed suit.

"Thank you, I'm much better now." Her chilly body slowly recovered, and she was able to nod slightly at them to express her gratitude.

"Captain Ji..." The technician investigating the scene called out to him. Seeing him looking over, he continued, "There's indeed blood on the ground. We've collected some, but a lot of it has been contaminated by rain and mud. We're not sure if we'll get anything useful."

Although this result was expected, it was still a bit disappointing. Ji Mingcheng frowned and asked them to help more and get as much information as possible.

"We'll do our best."

After more than half an hour, they had collected all the evidence and started to go down the mountain.

At this time, the body had disappeared from the place where it was found. It was said that it had been taken away by Forensic Doctor Lu and his team. The only ones left were the people from their Team 5 and the police officers from the nearby police station.

Other people's work has been completed, while theirs has just begun.

Next, at Ji Mingcheng's command, everyone rushed down the mountain to look for clues.

Because Chenjia Village is close to the mountain and there are no other villages around it, it has become a key area for search and investigation.

Everyone paired up and started visiting every household, and this visit lasted from day to night. By the time everyone packed up and returned to the police station, it was almost eight o'clock. No one had eaten dinner yet. Fortunately, they had already contacted the canteen in advance, so after they washed up, they went to the canteen together and filled their stomachs with food.

After dinner, everyone summarized what they had found during the day's search and found that there had been quite a bit of progress.

"People in Chenjia Village at the foot of the mountain said that their mountain is always crowded with people, but now that winter has arrived, there are very few people. They don't see any outsiders climbing the mountain for ten days or half a month. Their village is the most convenient route up the mountain, but apart from the couple they saw going up the mountain from their village today, they haven't seen any other strangers going up the mountain."

"That's what I understand. The villagers haven't seen any strangers go up the mountain except for them. But according to them, people from their village usually go up the mountain frequently. It's just that the weather has been very cold recently, there are streams on the mountain, and the roads are very slippery. The older people haven't gone there, but some younger people in their families still go up the mountain."

"What are you doing?" Ji Mingcheng suddenly interrupted and asked.

"Collect firewood." Chen Da knew he might not be familiar with this aspect, so he explained it to him. "Although liquefied gas is available now, not everyone has the conditions to use it every day, so people still use firewood to cook and boil water."

"In winter, almost every household will store some firewood, including corn cobs, dry branches, etc., but the amount stored is hardly enough to last the whole winter, so we still have to find firewood. They are close to the mountains, so where can we find firewood faster than going to the mountains?"

Ji Mingcheng understood what was said and asked the person who had spoken earlier, "How many households in Chenjia Village currently don't have access to liquefied gas?"

This time it was Qiu Jiang's turn to answer, "I've already asked, and only four households don't have it."

"Four households?" This ratio is a bit too low, Ji Mingcheng found it very strange.

Qiu Jiang immediately explained to him, "Captain Ji, I heard from the villagers that this mountain will soon be developed into a tourist attraction. Many families in Chenjia Village will have their land expropriated and included in the tourist attraction. So each family has received compensation, and as soon as the resettlement housing is built, they will move out. Because of this, each family is still relatively wealthy."

"In addition, the village secretary also allocated money from the village account to subsidize households using LPG. Therefore, every household in Chenjia Village has LPG. However, there are four families who do not live in the village on a regular basis. It is not practical for them to come back to the village every time to change their LPG. So they simply convert the subsidies into money. When they come back to live in the village, they use firewood to cook. People often see them collecting firewood from the mountains."

After saying this, Qiu Jiang directly expressed his opinion, "Captain Ji, so I think we can start the investigation from those four families. I have already found out where those four families live. Can you let me check it out?"

"Okay." Ji Mingcheng had no objection and asked the others, "Any other clues?"

"Captain Ji, no one in Chenjia Village knows that little girl, and no family has lost a child during this period. The deceased is probably not from Chenjia Village. It is very likely that the murderer kidnapped her from outside. Should we publish an advertisement in the newspaper to confirm the identity of the deceased?" Chen Da asked.

"Before placing an advertisement in the newspaper, first look at the city's recent missing children data. If you can't find them, then place an advertisement in the newspaper to avoid alerting the suspects."

"Do you think the murderer is probably still in Anxi?"

Ji Mingcheng shook his head. "I'm not sure, but the possibility is very high. If we can avoid increasing the risk, we should avoid it."

Chen Da nodded to show that he understood.

"Captain Ji, Forensic Doctor Lu extracted aqua from the body of the deceased. If we can find a suspected suspect, perhaps we can ask Forensic Doctor Lu to help with the identification." Deng Xingwang said with a sudden inspiration.

"Okay, then you and Qiu Jiang will go check on those four households tomorrow. If necessary, I'll contact your forensic doctor Lu to arrange for an appraisal."

"Yes, no problem, leave it to me." Deng Xingwang sat down excitedly.

Afterwards, others also shared their findings. After they finished speaking, Ji Mingcheng made unified arrangements and waited for the next day to fully launch the operation.

At this point, Ji Mingcheng announced the adjournment of the meeting.

Those who can go home are going home now, and those who cannot go home are just staying in the dormitory.

Qiu Jiang originally thought that it was too dark now, and there were still many things to do tomorrow, so she couldn't help feeling a little anxious and felt that it would be better to stay here.

Who knew that just when she was calling home to explain the situation, Ji Mingcheng suddenly picked up the phone and promised to send her back safely.

Qiu Jiang: "..."

She was a little dumbfounded, "Captain Ji, I..."

"Don't worry, you won't be short of work tomorrow, but our team isn't so demanding as to let a little girl like you sleep in the office late at night. Besides, you need to get some rest and sort yourself out."

Ji Mingcheng didn't beat around the bush, and Qiu Jiang immediately understood what he was worried about, and was a little confused for a moment.

In fact, she was just angry at the murderer's cruelty, and she didn't collapse because she was scared after seeing the little girl's body, but it was obvious that their team had misunderstood.

But she really had no way to explain it, and could only silently accept the care and love from her leader.

"Thank you, Team Ji."

"Um."

After the two of them agreed, Ji Mingcheng took her away.

There were only two of them in the car. Qiu Jiang looked out the window quietly. The lights as bright as stars were quietly flashing with brilliant light, making the world look as beautiful as the fairyland described in the storybooks. There was a lot of traffic everywhere. From time to time, you could see parents riding bicycles with their children sitting on the back seat, shaking their heads and hugging their parents happily. Every time this happened, you could hear bursts of laughter.

So harmonious and beautiful.

But what about that little girl? She was so young, yet she was killed so cruelly, and even after her death she was abused again and again.

She simply couldn't bear to recall what she had seen during the day, but the more she couldn't bear to do so, the more she wanted to carefully recall every detail of what she had seen.

Only in this way can we send that demon back to hell.

Qiu Jiang bit her lips tightly, still not letting go of the matter.

Ji Mingcheng suddenly said, "Take a deep breath."

Qiu Jiang was stunned for a moment and turned back to look at him.

Ji Mingcheng was concentrating on driving, staring straight ahead. When she thought she was hallucinating, he spoke again, "Just follow my instructions. Keep going until I tell you to stop. Start breathing in now."

She did as he said, not knowing why, and took a deep breath. When he told her to keep breathing, she followed his instructions. When she couldn't hold it any longer, she heard him say, "Now exhale slowly."

She was obedient again.

"Begin." He continued to order.

Qiu Jiang repeated this action again and again, taking a deep breath, and slowly releasing the breath when she could no longer hold it. Every time she did this, she could feel the congestion in her chest seemed to be slightly relieved.

She finally understood his purpose and murmured, "Thank you, Captain Ji."

"Yeah." Ji Mingcheng seemed tired too. He spoke in a low voice and pointed to the place in front of her. "Press it."

"This?" She touched the glove box in front and looked at him.

Ji Mingcheng glanced at her and said, "Open it."

As soon as it was opened, a box full of candies was revealed. Because there were too many candies, several of them playfully jumped onto the ground. Qiu Jiang hurried to grab them, and after picking them up twice, she finally put all the candies back.

"Have some candy."

Qiu Jiang blinked, then suddenly realized what was going on and felt very upset.

She actually forgot that Captain Ji had just returned from the provincial capital. He had driven for such a long time and rushed to the crime scene as soon as he came back. Not only had he worked with them until just now, but now he had to send her home. You can imagine how tired he must be.

Not to mention that he is a picky eater. He didn't eat much of the food in the cafeteria just now. He must be tired and hungry now.

She quickly peeled off the candy wrapper, moved her upper body towards him, stretched out her arm to hand the candy to his mouth, and said "ah" to him as if she was coaxing her little nephew or niece.

Ji Mingcheng turned around and looked at her in surprise.

Qiu Jiang opened her mouth again and said "ah", signaling him with her eyes to eat faster, otherwise she would take more.

He pursed his lips, not wanting to remind her that she had misunderstood. He lowered his head with a slightly stiff body and took the candy away.

The sweet taste instantly explodes in your mouth.

Ji Mingcheng narrowed his eyes slightly, looking like he was enjoying it.

Qiu Jiang breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing that his throat had stopped moving, she quickly peeled one for him and offered it to his lips again, "Captain Ji, would you like another one?"

To be honest, the candy he picked was indeed delicious, but he didn't want to eat candy late at night. He just wanted to eat delicious food, such as the shrimp dumplings and pork rib soup made by her eldest brother.

Just seeing the little girl looking at him eagerly, he really didn't know how to refuse, so he swallowed it stiffly again. However, the more he ate, the more he wanted to eat something warm instead of these candies.

Seeing that she was still watching him eat the candy, as if she would replenish it as soon as he finished, Ji Mingcheng hurriedly used the tip of his tongue to push the candy to the left side of his mouth and immediately said, "You eat it, no need to give it to me."

Thinking that he didn't want to eat alone, Qiu Jiang responded obediently, "Oh, okay."

The taste of orange-flavored candy explodes in the mouth, sweet and sour, and seems to be able to cover up all the bitterness and sadness.

She felt her heart slowly calm down, and she played with the candy coating obediently, smoothing out the wrinkles of the candy wrapper bit by bit to reveal the beautiful pattern of the candy coating.

This is a craft that was impossible to achieve in ancient times. It is so ingenious, cute and vivid that it is hard for any girl to dislike it.

She couldn't move her dark eyes away from it, and her white, tender and smooth fingers traced the lines of the icing bit by bit, like a child who had found a favorite toy.

Qiu lowered her head at this time, and even though he couldn't see her expression, he keenly felt that her mood had improved a lot compared to before.

She is really a little girl who is easy to coax.

Ji Mingcheng glanced at her whorl of hair and thought so.