Chapter 101: The Small Path

"When I last came here, I considered this issue. Of course, back then I didn’t know Li Sanqiu had been shot to death."

"Killing someone and dumping the body—that’s basic common sense for modern people. With such a perfect environment here, dragging the corpse right up to the cave entrance is a waste."

"True, there aren’t many people around, but eventually someone will pass by. And it’s hard for a corpse to be completely eaten—once it starts rotting, animals won’t touch it..."

"Even tossing it downstream into this ravine would be better than leaving it here—it’d be far less likely to be found."

Liu Jinghui stood at the cave entrance, muttering incessantly.

Jiang Yuan, busy inside the cave, soon couldn’t take it anymore. To him, this kind of evidence-free reasoning was like playing a game—even if you guessed right, you still needed evidence to back it up.

If that’s the case, shouldn’t evidence be the first thing considered?

Still, Liu Jinghui was a Level Four Senior Police Officer; Jiang Yuan couldn’t just tell him to shut up. Annoyed, he finally said, "Why not give it a try?"

"Try what?" Liu Jinghui still took Jiang Yuan’s opinions seriously.

"I heard once a prosecutor, to prove a large suitcase could fit a corpse, actually lay down inside it himself—using the exact same evidence suitcase that had held the body..."

Before Jiang Yuan finished speaking, Liu Jinghui already understood.

Liu Jinghui rubbed his chin, thinking. "You mean we fake a corpse here and try dumping it?"

Jiang Yuan clearly saw the guide nearby stepping backward.

"You play the corpse, and let the two guides handle the dumping," Jiang Yuan said, sizing up Liu Jinghui’s body. "I saw how exhausted you were just climbing here—let’s skip the body-dumping part."

"Hmm... you’ve got a point," Liu Jinghui nodded slowly, then added, "I mean, the reason might be that dumping a corpse is too tiring. Let’s test it."

With that, Liu Jinghui called over two guides and told them to treat him as the corpse and practice dumping him.

The older guide sighed in relief, holding back the younger, more eager one. "Carrying is way more exhausting than dragging. This isn’t what we agreed on."

Liu Jinghui nodded quickly. "I know—it’s an unreasonable request, since the case is currently stuck..."

"Extra pay," the older guide cut him off.

Jiang Yuan smiled, turned, and re-entered the cave, continuing to sift through the bottom. There were still decaying grass and mud here; some patches of soil crumbled at a single poke, pitch-black. Occasionally a centipede or other insect crawled out—he’d silently thank his luck: at least I recognize it.

Far away, Liu Jinghui groaned loudly.

He weighed over one hundred and fifty pounds; fully relaxed, he was heavy. Beyond the immediate platform, the terrain was all rolling hills, tree stumps, roots, shrubs, and vines.

The two guides didn’t coddle Liu Jinghui. One grabbed his arm, the other his leg, dragging him over uneven ground.

After several hard bumps, Liu Jinghui couldn’t take it anymore. He struggled up. "No, I can’t—I’m done. Swap me out—I’ll carry the body instead. I’ll pay more! I’ll pay even more!"

About an hour later, Liu Jinghui returned to Jiang Yuan’s side, filthy as if he’d just been molded by Nüwa herself, his face smeared with mud and water, shivering slightly as he warmed himself by the fire.

"Too tiring?" Jiang Yuan organized the evidence bags.

"Exhausting. Extremely exhausting," Liu Jinghui exhaled, but his eyes gleamed. "But it proves one thing."

"Oh?"

"With even moderate stamina and strength, dumping a corpse isn’t difficult," Liu Jinghui said. "And any person capable of reaching this place should have that level of stamina and strength."

This logical deduction was somewhat interesting.

Jiang Yuan paused his work and looked at Liu Jinghui.

Liu Jinghui rubbed his aching shoulders, upper arms, elbows, forearms, wrists, chest, lower back, hips, thighs, knees, calves, ankles, and toes. "My conclusion: these people had the ability to dump the body—but chose not to."

"Same as your earlier judgment?" Jiang Yuan meant: you just went through all this for nothing.

Liu Jinghui understood. He smiled calmly. "Choosing not to dump a corpse is different from having no time to dump it."

"Not lacking time?"

"Not at all. Hiking through mountains isn’t that urgent—take a few steps faster or slower. We did it poorly earlier; thirty to forty minutes would’ve been enough. Do it efficiently, twenty to thirty minutes suffices."

Jiang Yuan nodded slowly. Indeed, there were ways to move faster on these trails—just crawl, scramble, get dirty, get scratched—but compared to the risk of the corpse being found, such discomfort was far more acceptable.

Liu Jinghui loved this kind of validation. He felt refreshed, his aches still there, but he pressed on: "Also, the issue I’ve been thinking about since yesterday."

This time Jiang Yuan hummed in agreement.

Liu Jinghui said, "If they’d been thorough and planned to dump the body, they could’ve simply used their gun to force Li Sanqiu to climb on his own—to wherever they deemed safe and suitable—then shoot him dead."

Jiang Yuan paused to consider it. Liu Jinghui’s reasoning had some merit.

Before he finished, Liu Jinghui added, "Looking at the outcome, I think they didn’t even care about hiding the fact they used a gun to kill."

"Then according to you, they’re desperate criminals," Jiang Yuan said.

"Exactly—desperate criminals," Liu Jinghui said, then picked up his satellite phone and dialed.

For him, finding direction in the "Wu Long Wildman Case" was the greatest achievement—he’d fully prepared for a long battle.

"Where are you? Can you make it in time? Good. Stay safe. Come up in shifts if needed." After giving instructions, he added, "Bring a few roosters when you come. Buy them from the village below."

The officer on the other end sounded tense. "Did you encounter something unclean? Should we bring donkey hooves or something?"

"I just think the roosters raised down in the village taste amazing," Liu Jinghui laughed.

The other side hung up, unsettled and confused.

Liu Jinghui ended the call, gave Jiang Yuan a victory gesture. "No rush. You focus on your investigation. We’ll retrace this path—we’ll find clues eventually."

Jiang Yuan was surprised by Liu Jinghui’s confidence. But having a confident team leader wasn’t necessarily bad—especially since he’d already thought of buying roosters.

"Bring some seasonings too," Jiang Yuan reminded him. "Our packs are full of evidence bags and investigation boxes—there's no room for seasonings."

"Got it." Liu Jinghui gave another OK gesture, then dialed again, showing off his generous budget.

Over the next three days, more than a dozen people thoroughly excavated the cave and its surroundings.

They ate ten large roosters.

All were over one or two years old, boiled in the morning and eaten at noon, the broth poured over rice—delicious.

If not for the lack of water from the ravine and no supply line, life near the cave had become surprisingly pleasant.

By the third day, two police dogs and two colleagues from the provincial bureau arrived. Liu Jinghui reorganized three search teams, each led by a senior provincial officer. Two moved forward, one backward, slowly searching.

Even though much time had passed, the involvement of firearms meant they’d search the area again—even if just going through the motions.

Liu Jinghui changed into his training uniform, but remained caked in mud as he led the team.

The mountain paths didn’t get easier with more people—in fact, on slippery spots, one fall triggered a chain reaction.

Yet everyone pressed on silently.

When first ordered to enter the mountains, officers had been reluctant. Now that they were in, those who’d complained the most had quieted down. Police were a disciplined force; normally there was some leeway, but in such complex terrain, everyone knew their leaders could make swift, decisive calls.

The team marched another day, setting up camp at a smaller platform cave, eating two more roosters.

Liu Jinghui called the two guides over. "We spent three or four days last time walking this small path, wandering in the mountains. Let’s find another route."

"With so many of us," the guide hesitated, "this path was just an old hunter’s trail. Any other route would be worse—some I don’t even recognize."

"The mountains are this complex?"

"Of course. This is still the outer edge of the primeval forest. Inside, it’s far more dangerous."

Liu Jinghui’s mind stirred. "The primeval forest is a protected area, right? How far is it from here into the primeval forest?"

"Not far—maybe a few hundred meters, maybe one or two kilometers. But the path is terrible. No one’s gone in for years. The trails might be overgrown or gone."

"There must be some way out, right? It can’t just end." Liu Jinghui adjusted his thinking. "We’ll go outward—but not back the way we came. Think: how should we arrange it?"

"That’ll be a long way."

"I’m not afraid of distance—but not too far," Liu Jinghui shook bugs off his pants, thinking. "Three days out, four days fine—no more than five."

"Then we’ll leave Liyuan City."

"Go."

"Extra pay."

"Fine," Liu Jinghui agreed immediately.

Jiang Yuan had no choice but to follow. They’d come this far—turning back was impossible.

Fortunately, the satellite phone still connected to the outside world. A team of technicians, carrying several roosters, walked for three full days before finally encountering people.

Standing on the ridge, the guide, muddy and sunbathed, relaxed. "We’ve circled around the western edge of the protected area. Ahead should be Langgu County. Keep going west, and you’ll enter Pingzhou Province."

"Crossing provincial borders?" Jiang Yuan and Liu Jinghui exclaimed together.