Chapter 371

The Jiang family kitchen.

Qiang Jiu held a kitchen knife, chopping filling with duangduang sounds, then piling it into a stainless steel basin. Jiang Fuzhen held an ostrich, skillfully disassembling the meat.

Jiang Yuan stood before the stove like a master chef, simmering a secret recipe for meatballs using sweet potatoes, pumpkins, chicken eggs, duck eggs, duck meat, ostrich meat, and fish.

Everyone worked feverishly, but Jiang Fuzhen wiped sweat from his brow with a hint of worry: "Jiang Yuan, if these dog meals aren't eaten by the police dogs, just feed them to stray dogs—but don't bring them home. I'm afraid they'll choke our Dobermans to death."

"We might not even have enough. Tomorrow we'll probably need ten or twenty dogs." Jiang Yuan stirred the meat filling, ensuring even heat, and said: "We'll be busy for several days straight."

"If you cook it well, of course it won't be enough. If you cook it badly, no matter how much you make, no one will finish it." Jiang Fuzhen looked at the ostrich under his knife and spoke with deep experience: "The first time I tried this, I almost paid a hundred yuan for someone to take a bite."

Jiang Yuan chuckled: "Don't worry. Dogs like flavorful food. As long as the ostrich is cleaned properly, it's fine."

"Where would wild dogs even find ostriches? They couldn't hunt them anyway." Qiang Jiu also looked disgusted by the plucked ostrich. It resembled a giant chicken, but with an unnaturally long neck and coarse pores—hard to inspire appetite, even evoking a faint dread, perhaps inherited from dinosaur-era fears.

Jiang Yuan applied his Level 5 Dog Meal skill with full confidence, preparing the dog food, and added casually: "Wild dogs can't even get beef... We use ostrich meat to stand out. Tomorrow's dogs have different diets—some eat beef and lamb regularly, others chicken and pork. Their taste perception varies. Giving them ostrich meat offers novelty they've never experienced."

"Has being a forensic examiner become this messy? Back in the army, our main unit never had to help out in the mess hall." Qiang Jiu paused mid-chop, suddenly doubtful.

Jiang Yuan scooped a spoonful of meat filling from the pot and held it beneath Qiang Jiu's nose.

Beside the national highway.

The police dogs, having caught the scent of the dog food, were more excited than Qiang Jiu. Had their handlers not held them back, they'd have rushed in for a buffet.

Jiang Yuan patted the heads of familiar dogs like Dazhuang and Heizi, signaling the handlers they could freely serve the dog meals, then left the canine team.

Soon, under Xu Taining's command, the police dogs followed their handlers—some set off on foot, others boarded vehicles—to begin searching their assigned zones.

Large numbers of officers also boarded vehicles, heading to their assigned sectors.

Xu Taining, in a white shirt with the top button tightly fastened, walked two steps over to Jiang Yuan and smiled: "Where did you learn to cook for dogs?"

"I never formally learned, but dogs like my cooking." Jiang Yuan smiled back. That was the extent of the small talk.

"The dogs always seem happy eating what you make. But..." Xu Taining shifted tone, "I can't guarantee your search will yield a happy outcome."

"Yes, you mentioned that before." Jiang Yuan said.

"Earlier, I warned you it might waste manpower and money with nothing found. Now I'm telling you plainly: if we find nothing, we might be stuck here indefinitely." Xu Taining still held Jiang Yuan in high regard. This mission, beyond the 805 case and Lu Yang City Bureau's efforts, was driven by his belief that Jiang Yuan's cases were reliably grounded.

Xu Taining added: "The Lu Yang City Bureau appealed to provincial leadership and secured some support. Consider it extra pressure on us."

Jiang Yuan paused, then laughed: "After spending so much money and mobilizing so many people, it's reasonable they want some assurance."

"Your thinking is right—keep searching until you find something. That's Lu Yang Bureau's stance. We must be prepared. They only approached leadership at the last minute, showing real effort." Xu Taining spoke casually—he'd conducted many searches over the years, and not all succeeded.

Sometimes searches yielded no results—or no desired results. Those footing the bill often grew unhappy. That was unavoidable.

Lu Yang City Bureau had reluctantly invited Xu Taining. But so had every other district or city that ever invited him.

In this era, poor units had no money. Even wealthy ones were running on empty. Squeezing out funds was easy—but was Xu Taining someone who spent only a little?

Just look at today's scale: the initial search spanned 110 kilometers—extending 30 kilometers beyond Sites One and Two. Sounds light, but consider: securing a marathon route only requires 40 kilometers. That extra 30 kilometers? It could shatter several leaders' skulls.

Yet this was only the beginning.

Xu Taining had also mobilized over forty engineering machines—mostly excavators, plus flatbeds and small cranes. In his words, if someone suspected a spot, they'd have to dig it themselves—and there'd be too few such spots.

Besides, machinery was cheaper than hiring laborers.

Beyond that: over forty police dogs from various regions, over eight hundred officers deployed initially, over a hundred vehicles, metal detectors, walkie-talkies, high-intensity flashlights, gloves, raincoats, shovels, hoes, drones... the sheer volume of supplies and equipment for meals and rest alone would overwhelm a regular city bureau.

Without experience, such a search could easily waste millions. Jiang Yuan feared oversights even more.

Based on his current experience and understanding, unsolved cases almost always stemmed from initial investigative errors. Killers can't erase all traces—they only create more. Only investigative mistakes truly erase evidence. No need to cite domestic cases: the famous O. . Simpson murder case proves it—no matter how dazzling Simpson's legal team was, the prosecution botched it. The 6-year-old beauty queen Blue's murder case also became unsolvable later due to crime scene contamination.

"It's started." Mei Fang, the forensic doctor, watched Xu Taining climb into a vehicle to inspect operations, then walked over to Jiang Yuan and greeted him: "Let's hope we two forensic doctors can get to work soon."

"True," Jiang Yuan admitted—he was nervous too.

This case was his driving force. Meanwhile, Jiang Yuan's cold case team continued investigating the deceased Li Yuan's social circle, and Lu Yang City was also probing the nail salon lead.

Everyone's united effort, their hard work—all aimed at one outcome.

Mei Fang, gazing at the massive scene, felt stirred and said: "If it's there, we'll find it." Jiang Yuan smiled. When searching for Liu Jinghui, the scale had been even larger—and they'd nearly failed. "I'm afraid the killer won't cooperate."

Mei Fang glanced at Jiang Yuan in surprise: "I thought you were certain, which is why you organized this search."

"There must be more bodies buried." Liu Jinghui walked over from the other side, handed Jiang Yuan and Mei Fang each a bottle of water, then tilted his head back and took a sip himself. "The handling of Body One and Body Two is clearly different—Body Two was dismembered. This shows the killer's methods are escalating, and during this process, he couldn't have killed only one person. If you were killing just two chickens at home, would you change your killing method? Upgrading and optimizing methods is done to handle large numbers of similar situations."

"There are still bodies buried." Liu Jinghui walked over from the other side, handing Jiang Yuan and Mei Fang each a bottle of water, then drank from his own: "The disposal methods for Body One and Body Two are clearly different. Body Two was dismembered—that means the killer's methods escalated. And during that escalation, he couldn't have killed only one person. If you killed two chickens at home, would you change your killing method? Escalation and optimization happen when facing large volumes of similar situations."

"Makes sense." Mei Fang nodded repeatedly.

Jiang Yuan had already heard Liu Jinghui's similar theory. Their mutual discussion and agreement had directly led to this search.

Mei Fang, however, had more questions. Seizing the chance, he asked: "If the killer operates along the national highway—say, a truck driver—could the bodies lie beyond this 110-kilometer range?"

Truck drivers and sex workers were a crime drama staple. In reality, there were indeed many murdered sex workers and killer truck drivers.

Liu Jinghui shook his head: "Our truck drivers travel nationwide. If they were burying bodies, why limit themselves to Lu Yang's jurisdiction? Besides, no similar cases have surfaced elsewhere."

"True..." Mei Fang was a capable forensic doctor, but he rarely participated directly in investigations, so his guesses remained generic.

Jiang Yuan, however, speaking with him, gradually calmed. "Liu, shall we head ahead?"

Jiang Yuan pulled Liu Jinghui into a vehicle, driving slowly forward.

At 80 km/h, covering 110 kilometers would take nearly an hour and a half. The full search stretched out—awe-inspiring, almost terrifying.

"Only you would make such a decision. Most outsiders wouldn't dare." Liu Jinghui watched the window, clicking his tongue. Jiang Yuan stared ahead: "They're there. It's just a matter of time."

As he spoke, Jiang Yuan's phone rang.

The two exchanged glances. Jiang Yuan immediately answered: "This is Jiang Yuan. Speakerphone on."

"Found a body bag." It was Xu Taining's voice.

"A bag? How big?"

【57】 "A quarter to a third of a body. At least one leg visible. No clothing. Packed in a woven sack. Severe decomposition—nearly ossified." Xu Taining exhaled sharply: "I think we need to add more personnel."