Chapter 193: Retracing

Aunt Cuihua had rarely dealt with officials in her life, let alone encountered a murder case. And since news traveled so slowly in those days, she naturally knew nothing about forensic techniques like fingerprinting.

When she heard Cheng Beilin mention fingerprints, she asked with a look of curiosity.

So, Cheng Beilin patiently explained what fingerprints were and some other forensic knowledge, like how the police used them to identify criminals.

Aunt Cuihua was completely bewildered, her eyes practically spinning in their sockets. "Good heavens, that’s so complicated! It sounds amazing."

As she spoke, Aunt Cuihua looked at Cheng Beilin with admiration and gave her a thumbs-up. "Xiao Lin, you’re really something else, kid. To know so much... that’s incredible."

Cheng Beilin gave a small smile. "It’s nothing, really. I just read a few books and remembered some things."

"See? Getting an education really is useful." Aunt Cuihua nodded. "When my little grandson gets a bit older, I’m going to send him to school, too. Education is so useful."

Su Qing, who was standing nearby, smiled. "Aunt Cuihua, you should send your little granddaughter to school, too. Girls are just as good at learning as boys."

"Right, right. I’ll go talk to my husband and son about it later. Once the kids are a little older, we’ll send them to school. They’ll surely have a better future than us old farmers who just scrape a living from the dirt," Aunt Cuihua said, nodding eagerly.

They chatted a while longer. Seeing it was getting late, Aunt Cuihua decided it was time to leave. Su Qing quickly fetched some pastries and candy and pressed them into her hands. When Aunt Cuihua found she couldn’t refuse, she accepted them with a smile. After returning home, she had her daughter-in-law send over some homemade pickled vegetables and dried string beans, which Su Qing also accepted with a smile.

Once they were the only two left in the room, Cheng Beilin said worriedly, "Su Qing, do you think the culprit could be a serial killer? He killed one girl... what if he looks for another victim? That would be terrifying."

"It’ll be alright. Don’t worry. I’m sure the police will catch the criminal soon," Su Qing said reassuringly.

"Yeah, I hope so." Lying on the bed, Cheng Beilin scooted closer to Su Qing. "Nope, I’m sleeping right next to you tonight. I’m too scared otherwise."

Su Qing couldn’t help but laugh. "You seemed pretty brave this afternoon when you were asking Aunt Cuihua to tell you all about what happened at the Pond."

"Gossip is one thing, being scared is another. There’s no conflict," Cheng Beilin said, pouting stubbornly.

"Alright, let’s get some sleep." Su Qing blew out the kerosene lamp and whispered to Cheng Beilin.

"Mm," Cheng Beilin nodded and closed her eyes. Su Qing secretly infused a wisp of green mist into her. Beilin felt her racing heart gradually calm, and she soon drifted off to sleep.

Once she saw Cheng Beilin was asleep, Su Qing quietly got out of bed. She gave an order to the Landmine Flower she was raising in the room, then slipped out of the courtyard and headed for the Pond under the cover of darkness.

A murder had occurred near Lihua Village. If the case wasn’t solved quickly, she knew the villagers wouldn’t be able to rest easy. Su Qing decided to see if she could find any clues and secretly give the investigating police a helping hand.

Su Qing’s Wood Ability had now reached the Fourth Rank. This was all thanks to the uninhabited primeval forest deep within Da Hu Mountain. The dense Spiritual Energy in that forest had allowed her to reach the same level of power as in her previous life in a remarkably short time. After all, even during the apocalypse in her past life, it had taken her several years to raise her Wood Ability to the Fourth Rank.

Moreover, Su Qing had discovered that her current Fourth Rank Wood Ability was somehow different from the one in her past life. She wasn’t sure if it was because she was in a new world or because she had fused with the Lingkong Grass.

She had discovered that she could use plants to turn back time—in other words, she could see past events from a plant’s perspective.

Of course, this time-reversal ability had its limits. At her current Fourth Rank, her Wood Ability could only look back a maximum of three days.

Su Qing didn’t know if three days would be enough. ’Perhaps this trip will be for nothing.’ After all, Aunt Cuihua had said the body was bloated beyond recognition, which meant it must have been in the water for a long time.

But as she thought about it, Su Qing frowned. ’If the body has been in the water for a long time, that hole in the ice should have frozen solid by now. It’s behind a patch of reeds where people rarely go. And yet, Little Heizi, a boy of eight or nine, just happened to crack the ice right over that very spot...’

With this question in her mind, Su Qing crept toward the Pond. Just as she’d expected, there were police officers standing guard nearby. This was no obstacle for her. She deftly avoided the two officers’ lines of sight and slipped silently into the ice hole, which had not yet frozen solid.

The moment she entered the water, Su Qing used the green mist to drive the chill from her body and swam toward a patch of aquatic plants.

It was a dark night, and the water was even murkier. Su Qing had to rely entirely on memory to find the patch of plants.

After finding the aquatic plants, Su Qing gently took hold of a single leaf and began to channel the superpower in her body. Instantly, her point of view shifted to that of the plant. At the same time, the scene in her vision began to rewind.

Su Qing closed her eyes, carefully observing the images that unfolded.

In the dead of night, the aquatic plants swayed gracefully in the water. Su Qing saw herself swimming toward them.

Su Qing saw dense aquatic plants tangled around a woman’s body. It was a young woman, her features bloated and her skin a ghastly white from being submerged. Her long hair was entwined with the plants. There were distinct purplish-blue ligature marks on her neck. The poor girl had been strangled to death.

Su Qing saw two people in black wetsuits and diving masks swim over. They pulled the woman’s body from the plants and brought it to the surface.

Su Qing saw herself carrying Little Heizi as she swam to the surface.

Su Qing saw Little Heizi fall into the water. He struggled to get back to the surface, but his ankle got tangled in the aquatic plants and the dead woman’s hair. He couldn’t break free. He thrashed desperately in the water until, finally, his movements slowly ceased.

...

The events flashed before Su Qing’s eyes, one after another. Even with a hardened heart, watching a small child like Heizi drown so helplessly stirred something within her.

Su Qing let out a soft sigh and continued to peer further into the past.

Further back in time, everything was calm and still, without any sound or movement. It seemed she was about to reach the limit of her time-reversal.

Su Qing felt a pang of disappointment. ’It looks like I’m going to come away empty-handed tonight.’

Just when Su Qing was about to give up hope, a sound suddenly came from the direction of the ice hole.