Genius Detective

The reinforcements finally arrived. It took four policemen gritting their teeth with effort before they were able to carry the heavy corpse to the police vehicle. The body was not put into a body bag, but only wrapped in a layer of cloth, because it was impossible to find such a large body bag.

Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue surveyed the area surrounding the factory district and looked at the surveillance footage, but they couldn’t find any evidence of the murderers sneaking in. Lin Dongxue felt incredulous. That giant-like murderer had walked in but no one noticed him?

"They must have come in at night. The person in charge said that the victim had something happen at home in the morning and only came to work in the afternoon, so they lay in ambush inside the warehouse in advance." Chen Shi speculated.

"How cautious, they only took action when the victim was alone."

"According to the way they have been committing crimes, I think other victims have already appeared, but the bodies haven’t been found yet." Chen Shi frowned, "Hired killers. There was no clue about the person behind the scenes, how worrisome!"

"Can you ask your friends to help find out what channels they had used to hire these killers?"

"I was just thinking of that." Chen Shi took out his cell phone and texted Sun Zhen.

After returning to the bureau, Peng Sijue immediately performed an autopsy, and found that the murderer had a history of drug use. His stomach contents consisted of ordinary foods, and the last time he ate was last night, which was consistent with Chen Shi’s speculation. The murderers had laid in ambush in the warehouse beforehand.

The DNA of four people were found on the murder weapon, including that of the instructor and Crazy Lady, but not the warehouse manager. From this, it seemed that their work had already been completed!

The rescued victim was out of danger and was being hospitalized for observation. The entire stomach had been excised. Actually, the effect wasn’t too significant. Unfortunately, his capacity for food would probably decrease after he recovered.

At 9:00 in the evening, Chen Shi was still in the bureau. He sat in the conference room and looked up at the ceiling, thinking about various leads. Everyone else had already gotten off work. There were all kinds of materials messily scattered over the table, because he had to come here early tomorrow morning to continue the investigation.

Lin Dongxue came in from outside, placed a bowl of instant noodles in front of Chen Shi, and asked, "Captain, would you like to have something to eat?"

"Any progress?" Chen Shi asked.

"Captain Peng is still working on it."

"I'm waiting." Chen Shi picked up some strands of noodles. "If I said that I had no hope left, would you blame me? This case has no leads left. The killers have handed the internal organs to the person behind the scenes. The person behind the scenes would pay the balance, and hide somewhere to secretly carry out the ritual. We will never know all of this, and new clues will no longer appear."

"We can continue to track down the murderer."

"We can track down the murderer. The person was indeed killed by them, but they won’t confess who the person behind the scenes is to us. Just like how Zhou Xiao didn't say a word during the interrogation. We don't know who Zhou Xiao had worked for other than Lie Guoxiao. Even when the little evil is eradicated, the big evils are safe."

"Hurry up and eat the noodles. They’re clumping together."

Chen Shi ate large mouthfuls of the noodles. It could be seen that his mood was quite low because he was at his wits’ end with this case.

Lin Dongxue counseled him. "You don't have to be so depressed. Today, everyone was very excited. The murderer was shot dead and the victim was rescued. From everyone's point of view, we have achieved a partial victory."

"Partial victory." Chen Shi smiled bitterly.

At this time, the mobile phone on the table rang. The call was from kk. kk was very excited. "Brother Chen, the old Taoist master has promised to help. Tomorrow is Mid-Autumn Festival. Is the weapon ready?" 𝗳𝘳𝐞e𝙬𝙚𝚋𝗻𝚘𝚟𝗲l.𝑐𝑜ｍ

"What is the specific process?"

"We’ll discuss it face-to-face."

"I'm tired today, how about tomorrow…"

"It doesn't matter. We’re already outside, but the guards won't let us in!"

Chen Shi hung up the phone and went out to welcome them. The three people had been stopped at the door. With their disreputable appearances, it was no wonder that the police officer on duty had refused to let them come in.

Chen Shi brought them in. The old man was very happy. He looked left and right, "So the yamen[1] is actually like this!"

"Have you never been here before?" Chen Shi said.

The old man declared proudly, "This old man has been flawless white jade all his life and has never entered the octagonal archway."

kk translated: " ‘Flawless white jade’ means he has impeccable moral integrity, and the ‘octagonal archway’ refers to prison."

"Okay, okay, you have had a glorious life. In the end, you’re even working with the police. I know a writer. Would you like to have your deeds written into a book?"

"Except for Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng, this old man looks down on all the other writers!" The old man was filled with righteous indignation, probably recalling past memories.

"Did you read the illustrated version?" kk quipped, and the old man rolled his eyes at him. It seemed that the three of them were in a good mood.

When they got to the conference room, kk greeted Lin Dongxue with a grin, calling her ‘Sister-in-Law’ at every turn. The old man lifted up his clothes, sat down, and asked, "Where is the tea?!"

Chen Shi filled a glass of water using the water dispenser and placed it next to him. The old man said, "I want to drink Longjing."[2]

"Drink this or go thirsty."

"Young people these days…" The old man picked up the paper cup.

kk briefly talked about the situation in the afternoon. The three of them had gone to the hotel. The people in the hotel hadn't allowed them to enter but the old man showed them a few tricks and stunned them momentarily, so they immediately informed Old Man Lu.

The old man introduced himself in a rambling manner. He said that when he was passing by, he saw a ball of golden light being suppressed by dark energy. Taoist practitioners are compassionate, so he felt that he needed to remind the owner of the house, thus he came up.

Old Man Lu was very excited, and said that Master Liao had said the same thing. It seems that all fake Taoist priests all used the same rhetoric for bluffing others.

After all, the old man was from a senior generation. After meeting each other, he and Liao Chunhuang sounded each other out. Their banter was as brilliant as Chinese opera. Liao Chunhuang yielded to the old senior at every turn. After testing the waters, the old man asked Liao Chunhuang to give him a tour.

According to the old man’s observations, the disciples under Liao Chunhuang were called Qingfeng and Mingyue. The other “disciples” were all just helpers. They came from folk art schools or circuses and certainly possessed basic magic skills. Put together, Old Man Lu was hosting a circus at home but he actually thought that a real deity had descended to the human world.

There were no problems with these things, and Liao Chunhuang had followed the rules of this industry strictly.

Just as they were about to leave, kk grabbed a flat peach from the offering table and ate it. The big man named Qingfeng said that it couldn’t be eaten as it was an offering for their founding master. kk argued with him and the big man suddenly grabbed kk by the collar.

The old man said angrily, "If you want to beat a dog, you should see who its owner is. I brought this person along, and he actually tried to teach him a lesson in front of me? Isn't this not giving me face? So this old man has decided to help out and fight him in a magic duel!"

kk crossed his leg over the other triumphantly. "In the end, I was the one who made the contribution, unlike some slow-witted nerds."

Sun Zhen said, "Fuck your sister."

Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue displayed embarrassed expressions. Chen Shi asked, "What does this mean? Looking for trouble on purpose?"

"If he doesn't give me face, I don't have to give him face. Now, there’s a purpose for my actions." The old man stroked his beard triumphantly.

"Okay, it worked out anyway!" Chen Shi thought that after all, a brave man appears when a lot of money is offered. The huge reward that Wang Haitao promised had played a role in tempting this old Jianghu swindler.

Chen Shi's eyes were suddenly drawn to a small bit of red stuff on the sole of kk's shoe that he was shaking non-stop. kk placed his foot on the floor and said, "Brother Chen, we’ve successfully completed the task you gave us. We’re celebrating our success in the evening. We’ll be eating seafood. Will you come? The old gentleman will be treating us… Brother Chen, why are you looking at me like this? Have I become more handsome?"

"kk, why is there blood on the sole of your shoe?!" Chen Shi questioned.

1. As mentioned previously, this is the olden-day version of a police station/court. ?

2. A type of tea. ?