Chapter 303 Mr. Ma Jiang’s Secret
"He was familiar with the time and route that the eldest brother took when he went up the mountain to collect firewood. He knew that the second brother would visit the eldest brother at the funeral hall on the seventh day. He also knew that the third brother would be hiding at home because the eldest and second brothers were murdered."
"The three Daba brothers are tall and strong. To be able to subdue them one by one and kill them with one blow, the murderer must be a very agile and skilled person. Moreover, he was able to commit the crime before nightfall and escape in the dark. He might even be a fortune teller."
Xiao Yu thought for a moment and said, "And there's Luosang."
"What happened to Luosang?" Xu Chuchu asked.
"He seems to believe in the legend of the Seven Warriors very much, even more than the other elders in the village," Xiao Yu said. "He's polite and well-spoken, and he might be literate. But believing in it so deeply... I think it's a little unusual."
Xu Chuchu said, "I think he also seems to dislike the three brothers of the Daba family. Maybe seeing them being taken in by the seven warriors makes him feel happy? So he believes them so deeply?"
"It's possible." Xiao Yu did not rule out this possibility.
Xu Chuchu tried to pull her hand out of his sleeve, but failed. She had no choice but to say, "Then I'll tell you what I think."
"I'm all ears." Xiao Yu deliberately bent down.
Xu Chuchu glared at him. "I think Mr. Ma Jiang's death was related to the water in Tianshan Lake that we were talking about. When we mentioned Tianshan Lake, he reacted so strongly, as if he was afraid of something. And then, coincidentally, the thing he was afraid of came true. Someone really killed him."
"Let's go to his house and see, maybe we can find something." Xiao Yu said.
…
The door of Mr. Ma Jiang's house is open at this moment.
Xu Chuchu and Xiao Yu saw that several houses had their doors open along the way. This might be because the villagers were familiar with each other and trusted each other.
But in all likelihood, the door of Mr. Ma Jiang's house was opened by the murderer.
Just as the two were about to go in, Xiao Yu suddenly stopped Xu Chuchu: "Wait."
He squatted down, gently scratched the grass with his hands, and said after a while: "There are footprints here."
"Can footprints be left here?" Xu Chuchu was a little surprised, because the land in the north is dry, even the mud is very hard, and generally there will be no footprints when you step on it.
"Yes, as long as the person walking by is heavy enough." Xiao Yu narrowed his eyes. "It seems that the murderer strangled Mr. Ma Jiang at his home and then carried him out."
"Because it's the weight of two people, it can leave a footprint?" Xu Chuchu nodded. "Can you measure the length?"
If we can tell the length of the footprints, finding the murderer will be much easier.
"No." Xiao Yu shook his head regretfully. "The soil here is still too hard, and the edge marks are too shallow to measure."
He searched around for a while longer. "There are no footprints. It seems the murderer was very confident in his disguise and didn't return to clean up the scene."
The murderer's method was very crude, and Xiao Yu could see the clues almost at a glance.
But after all, the people in the village are easy to fool. He has succeeded three times. If he hadn't met Xiao Yu and Xu Chuchu this time, he would definitely succeed again.
The two men entered Mr. Ma Jiang's house and smelled a foul odor as soon as they pushed the door open.
It’s not anything else, it’s just that Mr. Ma Jiang doesn’t like cleanliness and the house is a mess.
I don’t know how many pieces of dirty clothes were piled up in the corner, all stiff, and shoes were hanging upside down on the nails on the wall, with several holes in them... But the unsmoked tobacco was neatly placed.
He is really an old smoker who lives from day to day.
There was a box under the bed, which contained some broken gold, silver and jade. It should be the reward given to him by the fortune teller who came in the past.
There were two quilts and a few wearable clothes in the closet, but nothing else.
Thanks to Mr. Ma Jiang's bad cleaning habits, there was a thin layer of dust on the ground, and the two men found traces of dragging.
Xiao Yu compared the dragging process and retreated step by step towards the door: "Mr. Ma Jiang was strangled while being dragged."
Xu Chuchu said, "So the murderer was in a hurry? He didn't even care if anyone saw him committing the crime."
"That's right." Xiao Yu stood in front of a desk piled high with miscellaneous items. "Mr. Ma Jiang was standing like this when he was attacked."
Then he turned around: "He probably heard a noise and saw the murderer coming, so he turned around to look... Before he could fully turn around, he was strangled by the neck. The murderer was taller than him and much stronger, so he strangled him to death quickly."
Xiao Yu fell silent after saying this. They simulated the murder scene, but could not find any clues about the murderer's identity.
"What was Mr. Ma Jiang doing standing here before he died?" Xu Chuchu suddenly asked, "Didn't he prefer lying down or sitting?"
The two began to examine the ornaments on the table.
There was an empty water cup, a few moldy books that seemed to have not been opened for a long time, a yellowed towel... and a small incense burner.
Xiao Yu picked up a handful of incense ash and examined it carefully.
"It's a little damp. It wasn't burned recently. It's been a long time." He scattered the incense ash back in disappointment.
"What about these?" Xu Chuchu suddenly pulled out an unlit incense stick from behind the moldy books.
After checking again, I found a few incense sticks scattered on the table.
They smelled each one and found it had a rich, dry scent, as if it had just been taken out, unlike the books that had been piled here for years.
"Is it possible that when the murderer arrived, Mr. Ma Jiang was preparing to burn incense, and because he was frightened, the incense scattered on the table and rolled away?" A light bulb went off in Xu Chuchu's mind.
"That's it!" Xiao Yu suddenly moved the things on the table one by one.
"What are you looking for?" Xu Chuchu asked hurriedly.
"Find what he's worshipping!" Xiao Yu said, "He can't be worshipping a blank wall. There are no Bodhisattvas or gods here, so he must be worshipping something. Finding it will be a clue!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Yu picked up a woman's earring from under the corner of the table.
"Look." He blew away the dust. "This isn't something an old bachelor should have in his home."
Xu Chuchu quickly sorted out all the clues: "So, Mr. Ma Jiang was frightened when we mentioned Tianchi. And since today was the day the Seven Warriors would appear, he rushed back to worship this earring? But before he could even do so, he was strangled to death!"
"Why should I worship this earring?" she pondered. "Has he ever wronged the owner of this earring? Is he worshipping it in the hope of forgiveness?!"
"Yes." Xiao Yu confirmed, "The murderer may have killed him for the owner of this earring. And it is very likely related to Tianchi."
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