Chapter 138: Search

Jiang Yuan finished dissecting the corpse, cleaned everything up, and placed it in the ice coffin; the three officials had nearly finished their pork intestine, pig stomach, and chicken stew.

Everyone worked together to clean the instruments and autopsy table, soaking and scrubbing them with disinfectant, washing their hands, and putting away the pots, bowls, and utensils used for eating.

The autopsy room was now spotless, bright, and tidy—far cleaner than a five-star hotel if used for sleeping.

Finally, Jiang Yuan held the clay pot of pork intestine, pig stomach, and chicken stew and asked, "Where should we put this?"

"Store it in the cabinet," said Doctor Ye, casually deciding to keep the pot for future use in collecting gastric contents.

Jiang Yuan had ordered the large pot, which contained about ten pounds of food—more than enough to hold a normal person's gastric contents.

As a female forensic doctor, Wang Lan strongly disliked this casual attitude toward eating anything without discrimination; she fanned her nose with her hand and said, "Don't mess around—the words 'pork intestine, pig stomach, chicken stew' are still on the pot."

Doctor Ye laughed heartily: "So what?"

Wang Lan rolled her eyes: "This is one of Longli County's famous restaurants—county leaders who come here might eat here. Then, when they come to inspect your autopsy, they find you bringing up a pot of gastric contents… using this exact pot."

Before Wang Lan finished speaking, everyone burst out laughing.

"It'd be amazing if it actually happened," said Doctor Ye, sounding genuinely disappointed.

Everyone imagined the scene, their minds drifting with longing.

If a leader vomited, they'd just clean it up. Among all professions, forensic doctors are surely the least bothered by their workplace getting dirty—if I say we're number one, no one would dare object.

Wang Lan also laughed, her expression relaxing: "So don't put the pot in the autopsy room."

"Alright, won't put it," sighed Doctor Ye. "I just didn't think of that."

"Exactly."

Doctor Ye nodded: "The autopsy room is public property. Keeping my personal pot here isn't appropriate. I'll wait until the leaders finish eating and leave the pot behind—then I'll take it."

This time, all four of them burst into laughter.

Behind the deep green path of the funeral home, their laughter echoed repeatedly, boundless and joyful.

…

Back at the assigned guesthouse, Jiang Yuan bid farewell to his master, Wu Jun, and each went to their own room to sleep.

The shabby guesthouse of this poor county had one advantage: since it didn't exceed standards, everyone got their own room—much friendlier for old men who snored, farted, or smoked.

On business trips to big cities, criminal investigators had to share rooms—quality of life dropped drastically.

Only then did you realize how ugly ordinary little leaders and polished young colleagues looked while sleeping—snoring, grinding teeth, all grotesque.

Only then could you truly understand women's frustration.

Jiang Yuan didn't set an alarm, rinsed with mouthwash, and fell straight to sleep.

Twenty-four hours of on-site investigation wasn't just about lack of sleep—maintaining intense focus while making judgments was exhausting.

Jiang Yuan could afford to be reckless only because he was young. But by this point, once his emotions eased, he couldn't hold on any longer.

At the same time, Longde Village was in chaos.

Longli County had mobilized nearly 300 personnel and entered Longde Village to begin full-scale DNA sampling.

Blood scabs yielded DNA results fastest, but if no match was found, it was equally frustrating.

Hou Lejia acted decisively on this front: he immediately reported to superiors and pulled together the largest possible team to surround Longde Village—the area where the scavenger's courtyard was located—and begin DNA sampling.

Too few people wouldn't do; Longde Village, as an urban-rural fringe area, was a mix of all kinds, with a large population of young people and industrial workers.

History showed that young people with some organization, accustomed to discipline, sharing a unified goal, yet owning no home, car, savings, or family, were easily incited.

As a police officer, Hou Lejia knew better than anyone the power of deterrence.

Domestic police force ratios were one to two per ten thousand, meaning police made up roughly 0. 2% of the population, with one-third being traffic police and another third armed police.

With such a ratio, deterrence was the only viable strategy.

Over three hundred officers, mostly concentrated together, did project considerable presence.

Hou Lejia personally directed and led teams, checking every single point, terrified of missing anyone.

No matter how many suspects there were, only one had left DNA—miss that one, and all work was wasted.

The task sounded hard; doing it was even harder.

Fortunately, Hou Lejia had experience and borrowed some local police officers, allowing them to systematically cover the area in sections.

When Jiang Yuan woke up, it was already noon the next day.

Back in Longde Village, about half the DNA sampling had been completed.

Jiang Yuan went straight to the crime scene; at the gate, he heard the Criminal Investigation Team Captain, Hou Lejia, on the phone:

"We can finish in two days."

"If we don't, I'll bring my head."

"Old boss, in Beijing, police handle cases like this with over a thousand, even two or three thousand officers—it's routine. How can we compete?"

"Yes, I'll try to cut investigation costs."

After hanging up, Hou Lejia complained to those nearby:

"No one's given me personnel, no money's been allocated, yet they keep pushing for results—where am I supposed to find them?"

Jiang Yuan hurried into the courtyard, still seeing the red, bloodshot eyes of the Criminal Investigation Team Captain.

Clearly, since being woken, he hadn't slept or eaten properly.

Hou Lejia probably knew this would happen, so he'd taken a nap before the major operation.

For criminal investigators, encountering a murder case with an unknown suspect meant going seventy-two hours without sleep was common. Though he held the title of Team Captain, Hou Lejia was still a detective.

Seeing Hou Lejia like this, Jiang Yuan held him in higher regard—major operations sounded glamorous but were brutally difficult.

In cultural events, you could use brilliant writing to paint victory—end it with triumph.

Police operations were different: they began with a clear goal; if the goal wasn't met, there was no success.

The scavenger's courtyard.

Fewer items were visible, but likely over a hundred had disappeared.

Jiang Yuan said nothing, changed clothes, put on mask and gloves, and silently joined the team.

The day passed quickly.

Hou Lejia's pressure mounted; his eyes visibly reddened.

Fortunately, DNA sampling was finally complete; the team withdrew without incident, giving him slight relief.

But the relief lasted only a few hours.

That evening, Hou Lejia found Jiang Yuan and said: "No DNA matches."

Wu Jun seemed to have anticipated this; he had already been waiting in the courtyard and stepped forward: "No match doesn't mean the suspect isn't among the samples."

He spoke gently, but meant: the killer isn't among those sampled.

If no one was missed, it meant the killer didn't live in Longde Village.

That wasn't surprising—people's mobility is high now, and Longli County's scope was clearly set too late.

But for Hou Lejia, the psychological pressure was immense.

"We'll have to adjust our investigation direction," said Hou Lejia, glancing between Jiang Yuan and Wu Jun.

Longli County's own forensic team had no good ideas; forensic doctor Ye Xiaoqun just kept saying "oh oh oh," the on-site investigation yielded nothing, and trace evidence officers were pretending to be dead.

Hou Lejia now looked at Jiang Yuan, hoping he might offer a new lead.

If he didn't, the case was in serious trouble.

Jiang Yuan recalled the bloodstain analysis—he still had no clear direction, but it confirmed his certainty: the bloodstain he'd found that day was very likely the killer's.

"I noticed there are surveillance cameras along the road into Longde Village," Jiang Yuan asked. "Can we check every vehicle and person entering or leaving that day?"

If not in the village, then at least they came and went.

Hou Lejia hesitated: "We've discussed this. Longde Village is a remote area—many people enter or leave by bus or taxi…"

"The killer likely has his own vehicle," Jiang Yuan countered. "Most likely a private car."

"Why?"

"Because the weapon hasn't been found. If he's not from Longde Village, he either discarded it, or took it away—or burned it."

Hou Lejia suddenly understood: "Right—the weapon's covered in blood, stinks badly. If he took a taxi, someone would've noticed. I'll send two people to follow this lead."

He meant buses and taxis—any strong smell of blood would draw attention. Asking a few people along the route wouldn't require many officers and could cover most cases.

As for remaining manpower, it would naturally be directed toward searching for vehicles and conducting DNA tests.

"Thank you, Forensic Doctor Jiang. You've worked hard," said Hou Lejia, thanking Jiang Yuan and rushing off with his phone.

Jiang Yuan merely smiled. He knew perfectly well: Hou Lejia's concern about searching cars was mostly psychological.

Because the search was based on the bloodstain Jiang Yuan found—if that blood was wrong, pouring massive resources into it would be a joke.

So he asked Jiang Yuan—to test whether Jiang Yuan was confident.

Jiang Yuan gave him a confident answer.

Jiang Yuan himself wasn't afraid of this.

Half of Longli County was turned upside down because of it.

At this moment, a private car driver, while undergoing DNA sampling, provided a crucial clue:

That day, when he picked up his car from a parking lot not far from the crime scene, he smelled a strong stench of blood nearby.