Chapter 380 The Fire is Merciless [2 in 1]

According to the Hong Kong Country Parks and Special Areas Regulations, no one may damage or pick any plant or its part in country parks and special areas without permission, otherwise a maximum fine of HK$2,000 and imprisonment for 3 months may apply.

But mushrooms can be picked.

Every year, the Hong Kong Fisheries and Conservation Department appeals to citizens in various ways not to pick mushrooms. Most citizens simply cannot distinguish between poisonous mushrooms and edible mushrooms with the naked eye - they often look very similar.

But every year, many citizens are still hospitalized for eating poisonous mushrooms by mistake. For many people, planting and picking have an irresistible charm.

The old Taoist priests in the Eight Immortals Taoist Temple in the Eight Immortals Mountain Country Park are so good at mushrooms that they have launched a 7-day "spiritual retreat" activity in early autumn when mushrooms can be picked. If

you are exhausted and your mind is tired in the fast-paced city of Hong Kong, then come to the Eight Immortals Taoist Temple. There are no telephones, no bosses calling you day and night, and no family and friends scrutinizing you. You can live a primitive life in the countryside where no one knows you, working from sunrise to sunset. Get close to nature, pick mushrooms, eat healthy food without various additives, cleanse your mind, let go of your ego, and find a healthier self physically and mentally.

The project has just been launched on the market, and the first wave of participants in the spiritual retreat are two young people.

One of the pretty girls was a top student since she was young. She ranked first and entered the best school. She was praised all the way until she graduated from college. The society is not as simple as the school. People who adapt to the school environment are suddenly thrown into a big melting pot with chaotic rules... Although she still got a good job, when her friends who were not as good as her before were quickly promoted to middle-level management of Chaoyang Enterprise, she could only be an ordinary clerk in the finance department of Rimu Enterprise. Her mentality suddenly became unbalanced, and she felt like a loser. Her emotions became more and more unhealthy. So she chose to come to the Taoist temple to "get rid of her ego". She didn't want to have such thoughts as "what I should do", "what society should give me", "how others should treat me", "what I should get". She needed to leave everyone's attention and quietly find herself.

Another was a young man who had just broken up. He couldn't accept the blow of the breakup. He felt that everyone around him seemed to be looking at him with pitiful and gossipy eyes. So he wanted to escape to heal his emotional intelligence and change his overly sensitive and fragile mental state.

They paid money to work hard in the Taoist temple, and they were actually very happy.

As soon as the sun rose during the day, the young Taoist priests would take them to collect firewood and mushrooms. After returning, the old Taoist priests would pick out the poisonous mushrooms and throw them away. Then they would simply remove the mud from the remaining good mushrooms, and then pack them into boxes according to their quality and sell them to merchants who came to collect wild mushrooms.

The money they made had nothing to do with them, but when they found a new mushroom, they would still whisper and scream tirelessly. If the mushrooms were particularly complete when they picked them, they would still feel extremely satisfied and happy.

The small baskets carried on their elbows were so heavy, but the heavier they were, the happier they were.

There was no more insomnia at night. The wide blue sky without the obstruction of the buildings was dotted with stars, so beautiful that it made people sigh and tirelessly.

"Will you come again next time?" The old Taoist priest asked with a smile when he took them to the courtyard to pick tea in the evening after a busy day's work.

"Come again." The two people said almost in unison.

The early autumn rain has not come yet, and the weather has been dry for more than a week.

"The weather this year is so annoying." The Taoist priests spread the firewood they picked today on the ground to ventilate and dry, and put the winnowing baskets filled with rice or mushrooms on top to ventilate and dry them together to prevent moisture and rot.

"Wangcai seems to have an upset stomach these two days. He lies down all day long and his tail doesn't even wag."

"I'll take him to the village to see a veterinarian tomorrow." The young Taoist priest walked to the doghouse and patted Wangcai on the head.

The moon was rising, and after cleaning the temple and completing all the work for the day, everyone went back to their rooms one by one. In the wooden hut, they listened to the chirping of insects and the rustling of trees in the wind, and fell into a sweet dream.

...

That night, a huge fire broke out in the Eight Immortals Taoist Temple under the Eight Immortals Ridge. The villagers were only thinking about putting out the fire and saving people, and they didn't even care about the fire spreading to their own vegetable fields, but they still couldn't save a single person. The weather was

dry and the fire burned the people in the Taoist temple. At first, the villagers who came to put out the fire could hear the cries for help from the temple, but gradually, only the raging fire remained.

There were crackling sounds, and everyone poured water on the fire, running back and forth, listening to the sound of the small building collapsing, the sound of broken and shattered bodies, the roar of the roaring, and the cries of some unknown firefighter.

The mountain road was difficult to walk on, and when the ambulance arrived, the fire was already beyond saving.

The firefighters first poured water around the Taoist temple to effectively control the fire by cooling it down, and then rushed to the center of the fire little by little.

The villagers also did auxiliary work under the command of the firefighters. Many of them were so tired that they could no longer lift their arms. They sat on the ground and cried loudly after their emotions got out of control.

……

……

"……The Eight Immortals Taoist Temple at the foot of Eight Immortals Mountain in the northeast of the New Territories was hit by a fire last night. The police are still confirming the cause of the fire... No one survived in the Taoist temple, and the exact death toll is still being counted..."

While eating breakfast, Jiayi heard the news reporting the tragedy caused by the fire.

Inspector Wang Jiewang, who had once investigated a serial murder case, and his sergeant Hugo appeared in the bumpy background of the broadcast.

Jiayi stopped eating. Could the fire not be a simple accident?

After a quick breakfast, Jiayi picked up her bag and ran out of the house. The neighbors she met on the road and the property managers who were patrolling the community in suits greeted Yi Jiayi one after another. She nodded in response, turned into the garage to find her car, and stepped on the accelerator to rush to the police station.

Walking into the Yau Ma Tei Police Station with the air conditioner fully turned on, everyone I met was talking about the fire news they saw in the morning.

"All the Taoist priests in the Taoist temple were burned to death. It's really tragic..." Sister Yin held her morning tea, with a bitter face, and sighed with regret.

"It's been very dry recently. If it doesn't rain, I'm going to die."

"Even if it was dry, the oil lamps and eternal lamps were knocked over by rats and the like, causing an accident. How could no one escape?"

"Yes, if it was an accident, the fire started from the oil lamp, it must have started from a certain room. From this point, it spread outwards, and the front and back doors must have been able to escape. Even if everyone wanted to stay to put out the fire, it would not be possible that no one escaped."

The police only had a few words to talk about the strangeness of the fire.

"Morning, Eleventh Sister~"

"Madam Yi, did you see the news this morning? It's so terrible..."

"Inspector Yi, come and have some egg tarts, I made them myself~"

Yi Jiayi took the egg pie, leaned on the table and looked up at the small TV on the wall with others to watch the news.

She was frowning and thinking about the problem, wondering who would burn down the small Taoist temple, when the phone on her waist suddenly rang.

She apologized to everyone and went to the police station to answer it.

"Eleven, have you arrived at the police station?" It was the voice of Superintendent Huang. "

Yes, Sir Huang, I'm at the police reception desk on the first floor."

"Come to my office."

"Yes, sir."

Jiayi put away her mobile phone, strode back to the police station, walked through the lobby and walked towards the stairs.

Sister Yin specially pulled her aside and handed her a cup of Earl Grey tea.

Jiayi took the teacup from Sister Yin and found that the tea set she used was getting more and more exquisite. She drank the whole cup in one gulp, thanked her, and walked away with her head held high. Sister Yin

looked at Jiayi's back and said with emotion: "Eleven is getting more and more sharp."

"We have been running the business for three years. Sister Yin, do you want to join?" A face popped out from behind the counter and asked Sister Yin.

"What 3-year plan?"

"Can Sister Eleven be promoted to superintendent within 3 years?"

"..."

...

...

As soon as Yi Jiayi knocked on Superintendent Huang's door, Huang Zhongcheng slapped a stack of documents on the table for Yi Jiayi to see:

"The fire at the Eight Immortals Taoist Temple halfway up the Eight Immortals Mountain may be the biggest case with the highest number of deaths this year. Did you see it in the newspaper this morning?"

"Yes, I saw everyone chatting about it when I entered the police station just now." Jiayi was sitting opposite Sir Huang's desk, picked up the document and took a quick look, and captured all the important information:

1. The fire found traces of burning gasoline, and the police force has preliminarily determined that it was arson. The serious crime unit in the New Territories North has been dispatched to open the investigation;

2. So far, 12 bodies have been found, and rescue operations are still ongoing, and the number of bodies found is still increasing. The Forensic Division and the Forensic Medical Department of the New Territories Crime Unit are seriously short of staff and have sought support from the West Kowloon Crime Unit;

3. Inspector Wang Jiewang, who participated in the investigation of the North New Territories Crime Unit, applied to join forces with the West Kowloon Crime Unit to solve the case, hoping that Inspector Yi Jiayi of Group B could lead the team to support.

Jiayi raised her head:

"I'm OK, Mr. Huang, when will we leave?"

One month ago, Fang Zhenyue was promoted to senior inspector and transferred to the O Division to lead the major case team.

The position of inspector of Group B was vacant until last week, when Jiayi's transfer order was finally issued and she took over Group B smoothly. Yesterday, we interviewed new detectives and selected our old friend Qin Xiaolei, who has less experience but has exceptionally good performance in the police academy and during patrols, to complete the team.

This fire case will probably be the first case she investigates after being promoted to inspector.

"..." Huang Zhongcheng looked at the high-spirited female inspector in front of him, as if he saw himself when he was young.

She was full of passion and energy, and was not afraid of any difficulties.

"Let's go now, and go directly to the scene of the Eight Immortals Taoist Temple in Baxianling. I will call Chen Guangyao from the Forensic Department and Xu Junhao from the Forensic Department, and they will also go to support. The investigation there has not started yet... Go." Sir Huang nodded to Jiayi. "

Yes, sir." Jiayi stood up and saluted, then turned around and swept out like the wind.

...

Jiayi had seen many terrible fire scenes on TV, but it was the first time for her to stand here in person and look at the burnt and broken trees and the collapsed and burned buildings.

The existence that was once so stable and could protect humans from wind and rain was now destroyed to such an extent by a fire.

Everything on the scene was so shocking. Everyone who came and went at the fire scene had a dull and blank look in their eyes. In the face of such a disaster, humans can't help but feel their own insignificance. The feeling of powerlessness pressed down by nature completely trapped these people's emotions on this day.

There was an indescribable strange smell in the air, the smell of burnt food, the smell of charcoal, and some strange, indescribable breath...

Jiayi wiped her face, turned around and nodded to Sanfu and others, then walked past the staff whose faces and bodies were covered with charcoal ash, and headed straight for the police car in front of the Taoist temple.

Wang Jiewang was directing the uniformed police to inquire about the identities of everyone at the scene one by one. The citizens who came to put out the fire were asked to leave the cordon and stay to assist the police in recreating the firefighting process one by one. The firefighters were taken to the other side and asked to give their statements.

Because everyone was covered in dust and had two circles of black dust outside their nostrils, in order to distinguish who had been recorded giving their statements, the detectives of the serious crime team would stamp their wrists...

Order was slowly being established.

When Jiayi approached, she was stopped by the uniformed police, and she immediately took out her ID.

The uniformed police officer took a look and finally pulled himself out of the situation where he was too busy to look at people's faces. He looked up at Yi Jiayi and saluted, "Madam Yi!"

"Thank you for your hard work." Jiayi patted her shoulder and waved to Sanfu and others. Everyone took out their ID cards and showed them to the uniformed police officer, and then walked towards Wang Jiewang together.

Wang Jiewang just made a small report to the superiors through the explanation, turned around and saw Yi Jiayi, and hurriedly went forward to greet her.

"Madam Yi!"

Jiayi stretched out her hand and shook it, then went straight to the point: "What's the current situation?"

Wang Jiewang turned to face the Taoist temple with a bitter face, and said to Yi Jiayi one by one:

"14 bodies have been found. They were all moved out and placed at the entrance of the Taoist temple, covered with white cloth. Most of the bodies were moved out from somewhere, and what postures were they in before they were moved... Saving people is urgent. Everyone is still hoping that maybe someone is alive, and they are all anxious to put out the fire and find people. These memories of the scene have basically been erased.

"Many villagers came to put out the fire, all on their own initiative. Some were burned but still rushed back and forth to carry water to help. They all hoped to put out the fire quickly, if only they could rescue even one person from the fire..."

Wang Jiewang said in a dry voice. He tugged his hair impatiently before continuing,

"All traces of the temple perimeter have been destroyed."

"Sir Wang, another body was found. "Hugo helped to carry out a body from the Taoist temple, and then came over to report: "There are 15 bodies now... The latest one to be found is the temple owner, who was found next to a water tank. He must have been trying to fetch water to put out the fire... I used white chalk to mark the body's posture and position when it was found on the outside of the body."

"Thank you for your hard work." Wang Jiewang nodded.

"Madam Yi." Hugo finally turned around and greeted Yi Jiayi and others.

"Eleventh sister, you have seen the current situation. I have a feeling that even if this case is determined to be a deliberate arson and murder, it will probably be difficult to find clues. I just randomly asked a few citizens, and they didn't see any suspicious people. They were sleeping at home late at night. I don't know who first discovered that the Taoist temple was on fire, and then almost everyone in the village woke up with shouting. The village chief summoned the strong men to volunteer to put out the fire, and they all came..." Wang Jiewang felt so difficult in his heart and needed Yi Jiayi's help so much that he changed the way he addressed her and just called her sister like Sanfu and the others:

"If you want me to solve the case... I really don't see any hope. Eleventh sister, you have to help us."

Jiayi thought about it and realized that foreigners' research and summary on arson cases were actually more in-depth than those on homicide cases.

"I'll call criminal psychologist Tannen." After saying that, she stepped aside and turned to Wang Jiewang and said, "Can we set up a temporary office nearby? It will be convenient for visiting citizens to understand the situation, conduct on-site inspections and hold meetings?"

"No problem, I'll arrange it now." Wang Jiewang waved his hand and asked Hugo to come back to help him, and added to Yi Jiayi:

"The best hospital near the village has cleared out its morgue. The New Territories Forensic Department will move all the tools to the hospital and perform autopsies and other work directly here. The forensic officer from West Kowloon, Mr. Xu, is here, and we will also help arrange a special autopsy bed there. Many interns in the hospital have volunteered to cooperate with the forensic officer to do autopsies and record..."

The morgue and autopsy room of the New Territories North Police Station combined can't hold so many bodies.

Jiayi made an OK gesture, and the phone happened to be connected at this time. Jiayi immediately said:

"Tannen, the fire at the Eight Immortals Taoist Temple is temporarily determined to be arson. Do you have time? Do you want to join?"

"Where are you now?" There was a voice and echo from Tannen's side, as if someone was speaking in the conference room.

"I'm in front of the Eight Immortals Taoist Temple." Jiayi said.

"I'll be right there." Tannen immediately heard the sound of him standing up and pushing his chair, followed by the sound of him hanging up.

Jiayi put away her mobile phone, looked up and saw the medical examiner with two assistants, carrying all of their most important forensic tools, climbing the stairs with serious faces.

Behind him were six colleagues from the Forensic Department, including Diane, carrying more tool boxes. The team leader, Brother Da Guangming, was talking on his newly bought mobile phone.

After approaching, Chen Guangyao hung up the phone and said to Yi Jiayi, "Teresa, a senior chemist in the Forensic Department of the Serious Crime Unit of the Central Police Station, once specialized in fire scene investigation in the UK. I just called her and she is willing to come over to help. She is on her way over."

"Thank you." Jiayi nodded, and then walked side by side with him towards the Taoist temple.

"Sir Wang, I'll follow the medical examiner Sir Xu to look at the body." Jiayi turned to the person in charge of this mission, Inspector Wang Jiewang,

and said. "No problem, Sister Eleven, tell me anytime if you need anything."

Jiayi nodded, took a deep breath, and climbed up the last dozen or so steps.

Xu Junhao was standing in front of the last step. His face was slightly pale, and his eyes moved from the smaller bodies on the far left to the right one by one.

Jiayi felt that her body temperature was also dropping.

"Did you see the body under the white cloth? Is it very small?" Xu Junhao's voice suddenly rang in her ears.

Jiayi turned her head to look at him, followed his gaze and caught the much smaller body, and nodded.

"It may not be because the deceased was small, but perhaps most of his body has been burned and integrated with the building, so the fire could not find it..." Xu Junhao's voice was a little cold, as if he was poured with ice in the middle of winter, "Are you ready?"

He turned his head and looked at Yi Jiayi with some worry.

He knew that she liked to find clues by observing corpses, and she also liked to learn anatomical knowledge and methods of observing corpses from him like his assistant when he was performing autopsies.

But in this case, there were more than a dozen horrible corpses...

"Huh..." Jiayi let out a long breath. Although her face was not very good, her expression was particularly firm:

"I'm ready."