Chapter 37: Headless Male Corpse (Part 2)

In the end, a group of detectives from the Dali Temple turned almost the entire Xiaoqingshan upside down and dug many rabbit holes and rat holes, but they couldn't find any clues to the case.

This result was within Xie Hui's expectations. Xiaoqingshan was only the place where the body was dumped, not where the crime took place. It was normal that there were no clues left. When returning to the city, Xie Hui specifically asked the guard of the city gate. Since the victim died around midnight last night, if the crime took place in the city, then the body must have been dumped after the city gate was opened this morning.

There wouldn't be many people leaving the city early in the morning. If the murderer who dumped the body passed through the city gate, whether he carried the body on a cart or in some other way, the guards should have remembered it.

There are four city gates in the capital, located in the east, south, west and north. The South Gate is near Xiaoqing Mountain. When Xie Hui passed the South Gate on his way back to the city, he carefully asked several guards, but they all said that they did not find anything unusual this morning.

Most of the people who left the capital early in the morning were caravans. The guards usually checked the goods carried by the caravans and found nothing unusual. In addition, most of the ordinary people who left the city were traveling light. According to the guards' recollections, they did not see anyone leaving the city with "a lot of things".

In this case, it can be inferred that the crime took place outside the city, and the murderer killed the person outside the city and dumped the body overnight.

After returning to the Dali Temple, Xie Hui told Shen Yun about the city gate, and also heard from Shen Yun that the victim had stomach disease.

"Did the coroner find out what the deceased ate before he died?"

Before entering the Dali Temple, Xie Hui read many related books, in which he had seen someone solve a case using the contents of the deceased's stomach.

Unfortunately, they were not so lucky this time. The deceased's stomach also did not leave them any clues. "The coroner examined it and found nothing in his stomach except alcohol. This means he had not eaten for a long time before his death."

If one road is blocked, they try another one. They start to think about under what circumstances the murderer would just carelessly dump the body on a busy hill.

"I wonder if the murderer was in a hurry to deal with the body because Xiaoqing Mountain is closer to the official road, so he just dumped it on the hillside of Xiaoqing Mountain."

"That's indeed possible." Shen Yun nodded, and then he also put forward his own idea, "Compared to the popular Xiaoqing Mountain, the Daqing Mountain behind it is rarely visited by people, and even the road is difficult to walk on. It is also possible that the murderer dumped the body nearby in Xiaoqing Mountain to save trouble, or because he did not have enough strength."

However, the two speculations are almost useless, because the most critical part of this case, the identity of the deceased, has not been determined. Apart from random killings, in most murders, investigations around the people around the deceased can provide some clues. The case in Xiaoqingshan does not seem to be a serial murder case, so it is very important to confirm the identity of the deceased.

The notice was posted not long ago, and it was expected that news would not be received quickly. Xie Hui stayed in Xiaoqingshan for two hours today. It was already late at night. When Xie Hui and Shen Yun came out of the Dali Temple, it was already dark.

"Wen Mo, what are you doing here?"

"Master." Wen Mo was about to ask someone to help pass the message when he saw Shen Yun coming out. He hurried over to greet Shen Yun and Xie Hui, and then replied, "Master, you haven't gone home yet so late today. Miss is worried, so I asked me to go to the Dali Temple to check."

"What can happen to me? She's so worried at such a young age." Shen Yun said it with annoyance, but actually there was a smile in his eyes. This was a girl caring about her father, how could he not be happy.

Xie Hui was listening at the side and said very tactfully, "Your daughter is so filial and always thinks about your father. No wonder everyone says that Lord Shen is so lucky."

"She's a young girl, and she hasn't had much experience with this. She hasn't come home this late in the past." Shen Yun smiled, as if he thought the words of thanks were very nice.

When Xie returned home, he heard from the servants that the princess and the master were making lanterns in the garden. Although Xie didn't know what kind of lanterns they were making in April, he still went to the garden.

"Ask the kitchen to send some food." After an afternoon of running around at the Dali Temple, there was little left of the lunch.

"yes."

When Xie returned to the garden, he saw his father gluing a rabbit-shaped lantern, and his mother sitting beside him watching him. They were both very focused, and only looked up when Xie called them.

Princess Kangle was about to ask why he came back just now, but when she looked up and saw Xie Hui, she swallowed her words and asked him instead, "Where did you go today? Why are you back covered in dirt?"

His mother's words made Xie Hui look down at his body. There was indeed some dust on the hem of his clothes, but he didn't know how she could see it in the middle of the night.

"There was a case, so I went to the mountains outside the city."

"What case? Is it because of the case that you came back so late today? I thought you were in the palace."

When the princess saw that Xie Hui had not returned for a long time, she thought that her son had been called away by someone in the palace again.

"Murder case." Xie Hui answered his mother succinctly. Coincidentally, the servants brought the food over at this time. He had not planned to say more, so now was the perfect time to shut up.

Xie Hui pointed to the table where his parents had made lanterns and signaled the servants to put the food there.

When Xie Yuan saw him, he asked, "It looks like the case is very difficult? Why haven't you eaten yet so late?"

"Well, it's a bit tricky."

The princess knew that she couldn't disclose the details of the case casually, so she simply sat aside and signaled her husband to continue making lanterns.

As soon as Shen Yun arrived home, someone went to inform Shen Yuan, and she immediately went to the front yard to look for her father.

He also brought food that he had specially asked the kitchen to prepare.

Shen Yun saw his daughter sitting opposite him, also holding chopsticks, "You should have had dinner, right?"

"I've been waiting for you to come back and I'm hungry. It's a good time to have another meal. I'm growing taller now, so I need to eat more."

"Father never goes anywhere except the Dali Temple. What could possibly happen? You don't have to worry about me."

"Dad, I just want to show my filial piety. You just need to accept it now. There is no need to say anything else."

"You are the only one who has many crooked ideas."

"Dad, have you encountered any difficult cases today?"

When Shen Yun heard this, he knew that his daughter was planning something again. "It really won't work this time. Forget about it. Go back to bed after eating."

Shen Yuan was puzzled, "Why? It wasn't very useful last time. It doesn't matter what method he uses to catch the murderer."

Shen Yun sighed. Apart from anything else, the identity of the deceased had not been confirmed this time. Even if he asked his daughter to help, she would not be able to help.

"There is not even a suspect this time, so you don't need to work hard. And you just happened to run into him last time. From now on, you must not interfere in the affairs of the Dali Temple." Shen Yun said this seriously. The Dali Temple has its own rules. If he has to rely on his daughter to solve the case, then he might as well resign as the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple.

"Oh, I see." Shen Yuan responded honestly. Some tricks can only be used once. Besides, Mr. Xie already knows her now. If she goes to the Dali Temple again, she will be walking into a trap...