Chapter 1349: A Place Where Lives Were Lost

It jumped from the tree back onto its original master's shoulder and skillfully handed Dong Rui a small bag:

All the candies were taken back, not leaving a single one for that little brat. Dong Rui tucked them into his bosom without hesitation.

He had given the monkey away on the spot. As for whether others could keep the Ghost Ape, what did that have to do with him?

The livestock shed was very close to the west gate of the manor, and the grass shed was right next to the shed, only five square meters; one could smell the unique odor of the livestock pen without even leaving the room.

This was originally a fodder room, with only one wooden door more than a shack, and the board-nailed walls were leaking wind on two sides.

There was a table here, broken but thick, and two stools, but no bed.

For that mother and daughter, the thick pile of grass was the bed.

"It's such a small place, let's start looking for clues."

Dong Rui first found a sharp long grass fork behind the grass pile, the fork tips were all rusted. He looked at it carefully for two glances, it seemed there was nothing special.

The Ghost Ape jumped around and found several spider webs on the rafters.

There were several broken pottery shards in the corner of the room, either from jars or bowls.

"It's been a month, even if there were any clues, they might have been covered up by Chen Family Manor." Dong Rui muttered while looking, "No matter how you asked before, the Chen family patriarch said there was nothing unusual about the caravan entering and leaving the manor. Why did he not mention such an important clue, but instead wanted to cover up the existence of this mother and daughter? He must know something. If you ask me, you might as well grab him and interrogate him properly."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Soul-Absorbing Mirror in He Lingchuan's bosom shouted: "Look at the table corner quickly!"

Table corner?

He Lingchuan turned and walked out of the grass pile, squatting down to examine the table.

The bare broken wooden table was clear at a glance, and no one had the heart to look at it a second time.

But the Soul-Absorbing Mirror gave a definite answer: "Look carefully, there is a black stain on the tip of the table corner!"

Black stain? He Lingchuan saw it; it was indeed an inconspicuous little spot.

"This is a bloodstain."

Dong Rui also leaned over and dripped medicine on the table corner.

The table corner turned purple-red.

"Yes, it's a bloodstain, human blood."

Dong Rui was thoughtful: "If there is one on the tip of the table corner, then—"

He cleared away the dry grass under the table corner and dripped more than a dozen drops of medicine on the floor.

Right under everyone's gaze, the floor slowly turned red.

"Someone slammed into the table corner hard, got injured, and bled all over the floor." Dong Rui shook the medicine bottle in his hand, "As long as there is a bloodstain, even if it has been cleaned up afterward, I can make it appear with this medicine."

This guy was showing off again.

"Bleeding so much, this person was not lightly injured." County Magistrate Li muttered two sentences, "Could it be that monsters attacked living people here?"

He Lingchuan walked out of the grass shed and asked Old Man Chen outside: "Has this door been changed?"

"No, I don't think so." Old Man Chen looked carefully and pointed, "Not changed, there was originally a wooden scar on this door, and it's still there now."

He Lingchuan said to the others: "That afternoon, the grass shed was locked. If monsters rushed in, the wooden door would not be intact."

Therefore, this bloody conflict happened before the monsters attacked Chen Family Manor.

"The five people who died had no serious external injuries, except for the tooth marks on Chen Fu'ang's hand, so this blood is someone else's." County Magistrate Li said here, finally enlightened, "Ah, could it be the mother and daughter's?"

"These five all returned home and died strangely until night." He Lingchuan analyzed further, "But Sister-in-law Wu said that late that afternoon, when she came to the grass shed again, the A-Hui mother and daughter had already disappeared."

Fierce conflict, bloody incident, mother and daughter disappeared.

Stringing all these together, County Magistrate Li understood: "These five sent the injured mother and daughter away?"

"It seems so." He Lingchuan pointed to the west, "This is very close to the west gate of the manor; they only need to hide people in the cart transporting grass, and they can easily leave without attracting attention."

Dong Rui chuckled: "These are five murderers."

County Magistrate Li was startled: "How, how do you know the mother and daughter are dead?"

"If they were only injured, why not treat them in Chen Family Manor? Instead, send them out?"

"Uh, maybe the injuries were too severe, and they went out to find a doctor?"

"There is no one for miles around; how long would it take them to find a doctor in the nearest Baiting County? Don't forget, these five returned home for dinner before dusk." Dong Rui rubbed his hands, "So the most likely thing that happened is that they secretly dumped the bodies in the suburbs and then returned to Chen Family Manor."

"Oh—" County Magistrate Li finally understood, but then he thought again, "However, what does this have to do with the case of more than a hundred lives we are investigating?"

"The little girl kept saying monsters were coming, no one believed her, but in the end, the monsters really came."

"Chen Fu'ang and the five killed the mother and daughter and dumped the bodies in the wilderness, and as a result, the monsters attacked Chen Family Manor that night."

Dong Rui counted on his fingers for him: "This is the connection."

"Then what should we do now?" County Magistrate Li scratched his head, "Find the bodies of the mother and daughter?"

"Yes." He Lingchuan was experienced, "West of here, are there any mountain streams or cliffs that can be reached by carriage and horse?"

"Yes."

"That is an excellent place to dump bodies." He Lingchuan pointed out to him, "If you can't find them, go to the dense forest within seven miles west of the manor, avoid places where locals often go, and avoid the manor's water source."

What he didn't say was that the latter method of searching would be laborious; the five big men had the strength to dig the ground and bury the bodies.

"Ah, yes." County Magistrate Li hurriedly responded, "I'll arrange it at dawn!"

"According to the current clues, there is something on the mother and daughter that attracts those monsters." He Lingchuan pondered, "They were not in Chen Family Manor that afternoon, but the monsters still rushed here. That is to say—"

"That thing remained here that day, at least until the monsters arrived." Dong Rui understood, "No wonder they went on a killing spree in the west of the manor. What now, go search the homes of these few bachelors again?"

"No need." He Lingchuan waved his hand, "They died the most peacefully; obviously, these monsters that peel humans alive didn't come for them."

"Not coming for them?" That's right, He's heart is still meticulous.

"Not coming for them. So even if this thing really exists, it's not in the hands of these five." He Lingchuan rotated his shoulders, making a clattering sound, "That's it for tonight, let's go back and rest."

The three walked toward the courtyard assigned to them by Patriarch Chen. County Magistrate Li dismissed Old Man Chen, who was following like a tail, before whispering: "Inspector He, why did Chen Ling want to hide the existence of this mother and daughter?"

Chen Ling was Patriarch Chen, the person in charge of this Chen Family Manor.

Clearly, he could have made the official investigation take fewer detours, but Chen Ling insisted on hiding it.

What reason could be more important than the dozens of lives in his own family?

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1350 =====