Chapter 131 The Thousand Paper Cranes Fold by Prince Jing's Own Hands

“Every morning around 1:45 AM, I go to Tianji Bakery behind our neighborhood to buy some sweet cakes for my granddaughter and some vegetables.”

The old man's face was covered in tears, and the wrinkles on his cheeks deepened even more because of this unexpected disaster.

“When I came back, I stood in the yard and called to her, but she didn’t answer.” The old woman’s back was hunched, and she held her granddaughter’s hands tightly in her hands. “Then I went in to check on her and saw her lying on the bed.”

At this point, the old man's voice choked with emotion. He frowned, pursed his lips, and looked helplessly at Li Jin and Feng Chao standing in front of him.

Perhaps it was with all his might that he managed to utter the following words, his voice trembling.

“I said, ‘Why are you still sleeping? It’s already broad daylight.’” He wiped away his tears. “At the time, I didn’t even notice the bloodstains on the ground and just walked straight past them.”

"Later, I noticed something was wrong with her expression; she was staring blankly without making a sound. I was startled, so I suddenly pulled back the blanket..."

The old man's back bent even deeper.

He covered his mouth and waved his hand, the immense pain rendering him unable to utter a single word.

Feng Chao looked at his face, cupped his hands and looked at Li Jin, and added the following words: "Later, it was the neighbors who were attracted by his crying that hurriedly reported it to the authorities."

This small courtyard isn't exactly wealthy, but it's brimming with life.

Beside the white walls and black tiles, a small persimmon tree is growing vigorously.

Li Jin looked around, lifted his robe slightly, and knelt down in front of the eight or nine-year-old girl. He looked her up and down, and asked with a faint smile, "Little girl, where did you go at noon?"

The little girl looked aggrieved at Li Jin's face and said timidly, "I went to my cousin's house to play."

"Where does your cousin live?" Li Jin took out a square piece of paper from his pocket and folded it in half.

The little girl looked at the white paper in his hand and pursed her lips: "It's in the west alley of the next neighborhood."

Li Jin didn't look up, nor did she stop what she was doing: "When did you get back?"

"When I came back, Grandpa wasn't home yet. I called out twice, thinking Grandma wasn't home, so I sat in the yard and played by myself."

"Was the gate to the yard open when you came back?"

The little girl nodded: "It's open. My grandparents don't usually lock the yard, but the door to my grandma's room is closed."

As she said this, she burst into tears, "My grandma, will my grandma never wake up? Will I never have a grandma again?"

Li Jin paused for a moment, looking at her bright eyes where his own face was reflected.

Seeing that he remained silent, the little girl's cheeks flushed, and she sobbed as she lowered her head deeply.

Hearing the little girl's cries, Li Jin remained calm and slowly folded and turned the piece of paper in his hand for a long time.

Only when a paper crane landed in his palm did he reach out and wipe away the tears on the little girl's cheek.

“It’s not your fault,” Li Jin said. “Life and death are predestined, and it has nothing to do with you.”

He smiled faintly and repeated, "It's not your fault."

The little girl took the origami crane from his hand, pursed her lips, and stared at the crane with her bright eyes. Her trembling lips could no longer hold back, and she burst into tears.

Li Jin gently patted her shoulder, stood up, and glanced at the four corners of the courtyard wall.

Inside the room, Jin Shu opened the box she had brought with her, lit a small lamp, tidied up the blood-stained clothes on the victim's body, and slowly made her knife along the mark of a wound.

"The blade is about four and a half inches long, and it is a double-edged sword-style dagger." Jin Shu said while examining it. "The murderer's strikes were fast and powerful, and each strike was made with full force. He should be a young adult over 16 years old."

As she spoke, she demonstrated the small dagger in her hand, using both forehand and backhand techniques. Just as she was about to bring it down, Yunfei, standing to the side, added, "It's a forehand."

Jin Shu was taken aback.

Yunfei drew a short dagger from behind him: "There are generally two ways to hold this kind of dagger."

He pulled out the dagger, the tip pointing outwards, in the same direction as the tip of his thumb: "This is called a backhand, but the common name is the opposite, which is called a forehand."

He raised his chin slightly, gesturing to the victim lying on the bed: "I looked at the angle, and judging from the marks, it wasn't this kind of stabbing."

Yunfei paused, then turned his hand, pressing his thumb against the hilt of the dagger, so that the blade naturally formed a 45-degree angle with his arm.

He raised his hand slightly and showed it to Jin Shu: "This is called a forehand."

He stood to the side, gripping the dagger tightly in his arm, the tip naturally perpendicular to his chest: "Assuming the victim was standing upright at the time, then..."

Yunfei suddenly stepped forward, using his left palm to push the dagger in his right hand, and thrust it forward: "This angle and force of the thrust best matches the appearance of this wound."

As expected of an expert in traces, he left Jin Shu speechless.

Seeing her nod knowingly, Yunfei closed the dagger and put it back behind him.

"Lord Yun," Jin Shu frowned, "you seem to know so much about dagger wounds, so why didn't you step forward to help in the case of the second young master of the Chen family?"

She clicked her tongue: "They even made me ask the sect leader to bring me a pig."

Yunfei raised his hand to cover his lips and chuckled, "I mainly want to eat meat."

"Huh?" Jin Shu frowned even more deeply.

Having finished asking the questions outside, Li Jin stepped into the room and glanced at the two people in front of him.

Seeing Yunfei's smiling face, Li Jin frowned, stood between the two, and glanced to the left at Jin Shu, whose face clearly showed "bizarre": "Is the test done?"

Before Jin Shu could answer, he glanced at Yun Fei to the right and said irritably, "Have you finished investigating?"

Yunfei paused for a moment, then nodded, somewhat puzzled, "I've finished investigating."

“There were signs of ransacking in the victim’s house. The corners of the bed, the cabinets, the boxes, and several bundles were all messed up.” He stood with his hands behind his back and said seriously, “The intention to steal money is very obvious.”

After listening to Yunfei's words, Jin Shu also glanced at the victim on the bed: "The victim was stabbed seventeen times, concentrated on the chest and back. There were as many as eight fatal wounds, three of which overlapped, and five of which stabbed the lungs and heart from front to back, causing massive bleeding."

"The murder weapon is about four and a half inches long, double-edged, most likely a sword-style dagger, and it was stabbed with the right hand." As she said this, she mimicked Yunfei's gesture of how it was stabbed.

Li Jin looked at her, then glanced at Yun Fei, and nodded.

But Jin Shu didn't stop.

“Judging from the scene and the messy knife wounds, the murderer should be a young adult over sixteen years old with excellent physical condition.” She looked at Li Jin. “Both the timing of the murder and the method of killing cannot rule out the possibility that it was committed by someone known to the victim.”

"Although Lord Yun has suggested that it might be for financial gain, I personally believe that the probability of it being a revenge killing is much higher."