What Zhang Qiang said seemed a bit strange. I had just taken a look at the photocopy of the old news about the reservoir when there was a knock on the office door.

Zhang Qiang called out, "Come in."

A young police officer pushed open the door, poked his head in, and looked somewhat nervous.

"Team Leader Zhang, Expert Han has arrived. He went straight to the cold storage and asked me to come and tell you that he seems to have something to discuss."

They arrived ahead of schedule?

I looked up from the documents and met Zhang Qiang's gaze.

Zhang Qiang stood up: "In that case, let's go."

The three of us got up and followed Zhang Qiang to the cold storage.

As soon as I arrived at the door, I saw a tall, thin old man wearing a dark gray Zhongshan suit with his hair neatly combed.

He must be the expert Han that Zhang Qiang mentioned.

To be honest, his appearance really surprised me.

I thought that old men who were quite knowledgeable about folk legends were all like Grandpa Jin.

It's not that I'm biased,

The main problem is that, so far, almost all the old men I've met who can be considered to have some spiritual attainment look like Master Jin.

They look somewhat sleazy and unkempt, like the Third Uncle I met in Blackwater Village before.

To be honest, my grandfather is somewhat similar, only his appearance is a bit better than Jin Ye's, but not by much.

Beside the old man was an old-fashioned black leather briefcase; without a doubt, it was clear he had been an official.

A thought suddenly occurred to me: Zhang Qiang said he was a veteran forensic doctor, but the forensic department also has a director, so he guessed he was a leader, at least in a position of authority.

Hearing our footsteps, the old man turned around and looked us over.

He was about seventy years old, with gray hair, but his eyes were exceptionally sharp, and he wore a pair of old-fashioned round-framed glasses on his nose.

His gaze lingered on Li Huai for a moment longer, clearly noticing something unusual about Li Huai.

Li Huai is practically a detector of powerful individuals.

If someone can tell that his destiny is extraordinary, then he must have some ability.

"Captain Zhang, who are these gentlemen?" Old Han's voice was steady, with the clear tone characteristic of an old scholar.

"Old Han, he's the cobbler friend I told you about. Don't let his young age fool you, he's really capable! He helped us solve several unsolved cases before. As for the two people next to him, they are his friends and funeral home employees."

Zhang Qiang introduced me, his tone full of admiration.

"I wouldn't call myself particularly skilled, just someone with a little bit of knowledge," I said with a laugh.

Li Huai also greeted the old man, while Luo Tianhe kept a straight face.

It wasn't that he had any problem with the old man, but rather that he was very dissatisfied with Zhang Qiang's introduction.

To put it bluntly, all my money comes from Luo Tianhe. So, no matter what, I should be working for Luo Tianhe!

But with him, it was completely reversed; he became my employee.

This made Luo Tianhe, a gang leader, somewhat unhappy.

"Oh, so you're the cobbler Xiao Zhang was talking about. I've heard some of your stories. You're really accomplished for your age. Don't be so modest."

Mr. Han smiled, and I couldn't help but look at Zhang Qiang. Just how many good things did this kid say about me to him?

Zhang Qiang ignored my gaze and looked at him instead: "Old Han, how is it? Any new discoveries?"

“I consulted local chronicles and some early archives, and also visited several elderly people who participated in the construction of the reservoir or the relocation of surrounding villages. There is a somewhat eerie rumor about this reservoir, especially the area downstream of the dam.”

He paused, seemingly choosing his words carefully:

"When the reservoir was being built, in order to meet the construction schedule, the treatment of some unclaimed graves was, how should I put it, somewhat rough... especially that mother-and-child grave in the downstream ravine."

A tomb with a mother and child?

Upon hearing this, I couldn't help but prick up my ears.

The concept of a mother-and-child grave was common in ancient times. It was usually erected when the mother died in childbirth and the baby also died.

With the advancements in modern medicine, such cases are now extremely rare.

However, there is a type of tomb with a mother and child that is considered very ominous.

That is the "son" born, Li Huai, whose fate is auspicious or inauspicious, and whose birth time is extremely yin!

It could also be said that his mother died during the childbirth process.

In such cases, after the joint burial, a ritual is usually performed to suppress the evil spirits and prevent them from causing trouble separately.

Thoughts about the mother-and-child graves kept flashing through my mind, while Old Han continued his narration.

"It is said that an old stonemason who participated in leveling the grave revealed after drinking that when they dug up the grave, the coffin was already half-rotten and no one knew how many years it had been. The skeletons inside were very strange. The pregnant woman's skeleton was complete, but the baby in her arms, or rather the baby in her womb, was just a clump of dark, blood-soaked cotton-like stuff wrapped around a few small, underdeveloped bones."

Upon hearing this, I couldn't help but frown.

This rumor is completely nonsensical.

I couldn't help myself and blurted out:

"Old Han, it's not that I doubt your ability to gather information, but what you're saying doesn't quite make sense to me."

“If the child hadn’t been born, it wouldn’t be wrapped in cloth, and what you said about the child’s condition in the mother’s womb is correct.”

“But you said at the beginning that the child was in her arms, which means you thought the child must have already been born.”

"But if it's born, how could it only have a few underdeveloped bones? At least it should have the skeleton of an infant. After all, the mother's skeleton is still there, so it can't be said that she has already turned to dust."

I spoke in one breath, and my logic was a bit chaotic, but everyone present understood what I meant.

"Could it be that the pregnant woman died in childbirth, and after her death the midwife took out the bloody, undeveloped embryo from inside, wrapped it in a cloth, and put it in her arms?"

Zhang Qiang, who was standing nearby, offered his own guess.

This speculation is somewhat plausible.

The baby isn't fully developed yet, it's just a few bones, how could it give birth?

Even premature births don't turn out like this.

The rumor is somewhat confusing, and it's unclear whether it's because it's been passed down for so long that it's become distorted, or whether reality is just that strange.

"That is indeed a point of doubt, and what Zhang Qiang said is possible, but to be honest, that's not the point."

Old Han spoke up, indicating that we didn't need to take this so seriously, and then continued:

"The cadre in charge felt it was bad luck and was afraid of delaying the project, so he had people stuff those things, along with the pregnant woman's remains, into a newly made thin-skinned coffin. They found a random spot, buried it a little deeper, and put several large stones on top of it."