Chapter 380: Search

The Jiang family kitchen.

Qiang Jiu held a kitchen knife, chopping the filling with duang-duang sounds, then piling it into a stainless steel bowl.

Jiang Fuzhen held a ostrich, skillfully butchering it.

Jiang Yuan stood before the stove, acting 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—don't bring them home. I'm afraid they'll kill our Dobermans with overfeeding."

"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 can finish it." Jiang Fuzhen stared at the ostrich under his knife and spoke with deep experience: "The first time I tried this, I almost paid a hundred yuan per bite just to get someone to eat it."

Jiang Yuan chuckled: "No problem. 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 catch 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, and even slightly unsettling, as if evoking primal fear from the dinosaur era.

Jiang Yuan applied his Level 5 Dog Meal skill, confidently preparing the food, and added: "Wild dogs don't eat beef either… 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, something entirely new, levels the novelty factor."

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

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

…

Beside the national highway.

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

Jiang Yuan patted the heads of familiar police dogs like Da Zhuang and Heizi, signaling their handlers they could freely serve the meals, then left the dog 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 areas.

Xu Taining wore a white shirt, collar buttoned tightly. He 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 are always happy with what you feed them. But…" Xu Taining shifted tone, "I can't guarantee this search will please everyone."

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

"…What I said before was that this might waste manpower and money with nothing found. Now I'm warning you—if we find nothing, we might be stuck here indefinitely." Xu Taining still held a very good impression of Jiang Yuan. This mission, beyond the 805 case and Luoyang Bureau's efforts, was driven by his belief that Jiang Yuan's cases were reliably grounded.

At this moment, Xu Taining was reminding Jiang Yuan: "The Luoyang Bureau appealed to provincial leadership and received some level of support. Consider it extra pressure on us."

Jiang Yuan paused, then laughed: "Luoyang spent so much money and mobilized so many people—it's reasonable to expect some guarantee."

"The logic is sound: keep searching until you find something. That's Luoyang Bureau's stance—we must be prepared. They only approached leadership right before departure, which shows they put real thought into this." Xu Taining merely mentioned it—he'd conducted many searches over the years, and not all ended successfully. Sometimes, no results were found—or worse, no desired results. Those footing the bill often grew unhappy; it was unavoidable.

Luoyang Bureau had reluctantly invited Xu Taining. But when other districts invited him, hadn't they done the same?

In this era, poor units had no money, and wealthy ones were just as broke.

Pressuring for funding was easy—but was Xu Taining someone who spent only a little?

Just look at today's scale: the initial search zone of 110 kilometers extended 30 kilometers beyond the first and second crime scenes. Sounds light, but consider: securing a marathon route only requires 40 kilometers. That extra 30 kilometers' cost could easily shatter several leaders' skulls.

Yet this was only the beginning.

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

Besides, machinery was cheaper than hiring laborers.

Add to that: over forty police dogs from various regions, over eight hundred initial officers, more than a hundred vehicles, metal detectors, walkie-talkies, powerful flashlights, gloves, raincoats, shovels, hoes, drones… the sheer volume of supplies and gear needed just for meals and rest could give a regular city bureau a headache.

Without experience, such a search could easily waste millions.

Jiang Yuan feared oversights even more.

Based on his current experience and knowledge, unsolved cases mostly stemmed from initial investigative errors. Killers couldn't erase all traces—that only created more. Only investigative mistakes could truly eliminate evidence. No need to cite domestic cases: the famous O. J. Simpson murder case proved it—no matter how dazzling Simpson's legal team was, the prosecution still botched it. The murder of six-year-old beauty queen Blue Sky was similarly hindered later by crime scene contamination.

"…It's started." Mei Fang, the forensic doctor, watched Xu Taining climb into his 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, feeling some tension.

This case was ultimately his driving force. While Xu Taining led the search, Jiang Yuan's case task force continued investigating the first victim Li Yuan's social circle, and Luoyang Bureau was also probing the nail salon lead.

Everyone's united effort and hard work all aimed for results.

Mei Fang, gazing at the massive scene, felt a surge of emotion: "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 just fear the killer won't cooperate." Jiang Yuan said.

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

"Rationally, yes. Emotionally…" Jiang Yuan spread his hands.

"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—this shows 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 to handle 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 led directly to this operation.

Mei Fang, however, had more doubts. 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 prostitutes were a crime drama staple; in reality, there were indeed many cases of truck drivers killing prostitutes.

Liu Jinghui shook his head: "Our truck drivers travel nationwide. If they wanted to bury bodies, they wouldn't limit themselves to Luoyang's jurisdiction—and no similar cases have been found elsewhere."

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

Jiang Yuan, however, chatting with him, gradually calmed his nerves.

"Liu Chu, shall we head ahead?"

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

At 80 km/h, covering 110 kilometers took nearly an hour and a half—the entire stretch was vast, awe-inspiring, and intimidating.

"Only you would make such a decision. Most outsiders from other units 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, his phone rang.

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

"We found a body bag," came Xu Taining's voice from the other end.

"A bag? How big?"

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

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