Chapter 117

"Should I notify this person to wait at the temple in seven days?"

"Hmph, he probably can't wait seven days." Zhong Kui said, flicking the wind chime. The crisp sound of the bell passed through the night, as if it could reach the Huang Daxian Temple at the foot of the mountain.

In the temple, the greasy middle-aged man named Ying Shuigen was clutching a letter anxiously, waiting.

The clay statue of Huang Daxian had its eyes slightly lowered, as if it could see him wherever he went.

The Golden Snake Immortal, who was currently living in fear, did not realize that weasels are the natural enemies of snakes, and that the sharp claws of Huang Daxian, covered by his robe, seemed to be waiting for an opportunity to pounce and choke his throat.

The police car sped toward Sanwu Town.

"Brother Fei, we have notified Huang Daqiu's family and company staff. The family is already rushing to the police station to identify the body. Fortunately, the reaction was fast. A few minutes later, the internet would have been flooded with news of Huang Daqiu's murder, and we would have been very passive." Wu Shanqiu said in the car.

"It's very strange. Such a big boss lost contact, and they didn't call the police?" Qi Fei asked.

"We have understood this situation. It's a coincidence. Huang Daqiu originally planned to take annual leave to vacation in Europe. The flight time is more than ten hours. The time of the murder happened to coincide with the flight time, plus the time difference, so everyone thought he hadn't landed yet."

"Sigh, the result is that he didn't land, he went underground."

"Hmm, celebrities have been killed one after another during this period, which is a lot of pressure for us." Wu Shanqiu said. "Before we set off just now, we summarized the clues at the scene. Currently, it is known that in addition to the four victims, after cleaning up all the snakes, the footprints on the ground are very interesting. We collected seven types of footprints in the house. Roughly, they can be divided into two types: bloody and non-bloody.

The non-bloody footprints match those worn by three of the victims at the scene, She Xiaohui and her two sons, when they were killed.

The other four sets of larger footprints were all stained with blood to varying degrees. Among them, only Huang Daqiu's footprints are known, and we have matched them with the shoes he was wearing."

"Hmm? That is to say, three other people appeared at the crime scene?" Qi Fei frowned.

"That's right. We collected blood samples from the footprints, and the composition of the blood samples is also worth pondering. Although the scene was severely damaged by snakes crawling everywhere, the blood composition on different footprints is different." Wu Shanqiu said, reading them one by one against the notes in her notebook. "Huang Daqiu's feet only had his own blood. The other three unknown footprints, let's call them one, two, and three. Footprints one and two have the blood of all four victims. Footprint three only has Huang Daqiu's footprints.

The direction of these footprints is also different. Footprint one is all over the building, in every room. Footprint two went around every corpse before leaving from the back door. Footprint three is also very interesting. It entered from the front door and only went as far as the side hall on the first floor, which is the room where Huang Daqiu was killed. Then, judging from the density of the footprints, it left the front door quickly. However, we collected fingerprints from the entire house, including the front door handle. Currently, we have only collected fingerprints of the four members of Ying Shuigen's family who lived here, and Huang Daqiu's."

"That is to say, there are two other people, and we only have footprints, no fingerprints?" Qi Fei listened carefully and summarized.

Wu Shanqiu nodded: "That's exactly what it means."

"And Huang Daqiu's soles were only stained with his own blood. This is also quite strange. Could it be that when he was killed, She Xiaohui and the two children were still alive?"

"No, Brother Fei, on the contrary, according to Xiao Tao's examination, She Xiaohui was killed first, then the two children, and Huang Daqiu was killed last."

"That is to say, Huang Daqiu either witnessed the murder scene and couldn't stop it or run away for some reason, or..." Qi Fei pondered.

"Or he didn't know at all that people had died upstairs." Liu Tong, who was sitting in the back row, suddenly spoke. "I looked at the position where She Xiaohui died. It was exactly at the corner of the stairs. If Huang Daqiu walked into the first floor after the other three were killed, he might not have noticed that anyone had died."

"According to the feedback from Huang Daqiu's company and family, since he was preparing to go on vacation, why did he suddenly appear on Jiangting Island?"

"His wallet is there, but his phone is missing. It seems the killer took it deliberately. What exactly are they trying to cover up?"

"Has the murder weapon still not been found?" Liu Tong asked. Before Wu Shanqiu and the others could answer, he answered himself: "Also, this is an island. As long as it's thrown into the river, I guess it will never be found."

"Hmm, we are already screening the villagers on Jiangting Island. In addition, we are screening outsiders who entered Jiangting Island that day. Fortunately, to enter Jiangting Island, one must take a ferry. We have already retrieved the surveillance of the pier that day. Based on the size of the footprints, we estimate that the three unknown footprints should all have been left by men. We can estimate the height of the three people through the footprints." Wu Shanqiu said.

Unknowingly, only Liu Tong and Wu Shanqiu were discussing the case, and Qi Fei's words became fewer and fewer.

Because they were getting closer and closer to Sanwu Town, for Qi Fei, it meant they were getting closer and closer to Zhong Kui.

There seemed to be an invisible bond between them. No matter how far apart they were, they eventually moved toward each other.

It's just that at this moment, Qi Fei couldn't be sure what this bond meant. He could accept all the good and bad, but the only thing he couldn't accept was letting Zhong Kui get hurt because of him.

Meng Apo's warning was still in his ears, and the heavy shadows outside the car window made his heart feel lost.

When they arrived at Sanwu Town, it was already dark. The residents of the town who were used to going to bed early had already closed their doors, and only the dim yellow light shone through the scattered windows.

At the end of the pitch-black bluestone alley, the bright red lanterns of the Huang Daxian Temple were lit, looking particularly eye-catching.

The night was deep, and the candles in the Huang Daxian Temple were lit. The temple was cold, and Ying Shuigen was huddled in a corner, shivering but unable to leave, not knowing what he was hoping for.

The night in Sanwu Town was terrifyingly quiet. In the whistling wind, an old voice came: "Follow me."

Meng Apo appeared in front of Ying Shuigen at some point, her withered face becoming even more terrifying in the flickering candlelight.

He followed Meng Apo toward the small side room behind the temple.

"Golden Snake Immortal, Ying Shuigen, a rare guest." Zhong Kui walked out from behind the screen of the side room, draped in black gauze, her lazy gaze sizing up the down-and-out "Master" in front of her.

Ying Shuigen had completely lost the spirit of a master, terrified like a stray dog. He knelt down in front of Zhong Kui with a thud and begged: "Great Immortal, you are the true Great Immortal, save me!"