Chapter 435: Small Temple

The wilderness of Qu'an County is less than 10 kilometers away from the county seat.

By the time the car drove here, the road had already become narrow. Walking another two li along the small path took more time than driving 100 kilometers on the highway.

"The corpse was discovered 20 meters behind here." The police officer who discovered it that day pointed to a patch of grass. After clarifying the location, he pointed forward and said, "This leads to a temple on the mountain. Occasionally, some people come to the temple to do free volunteer work; they are called lay Buddhists. Initially, we also followed this line of thinking to find people, but we never determined the identity."

"When it was discovered, the degree of decay of the corpse was very high, right? Could you smell the odor?"

"When we came over, it was faint. Those who haven't smelled corpse odor might not necessarily know what it is; it's about the same as the smell of a dead mouse on the side of the road." The police officer knew what Jiang Yuan was asking, so he continued, "Walking from the side of the road, you can't walk directly from here; you have to walk from the front there, walk inside for a few dozen meters, a hundred meters..."

He pointed to the road, and Liu Jinghui said straightforwardly, "Let's walk over and see."

They were here to see the scene anyway, so the police officer didn't talk nonsense, led a few people forward for a few dozen meters, passed through between two trees, and then stepped on the small path overgrown with thatch to walk inside.

The police officer introduced while walking, "This road is a small path to an orchard inside. Now the orchard is deserted, children don't go to steal fruit anymore, and almost no one walks on the road."

Liu Jinghui asked immediately, "So, those who know this road are locals?"

"The volunteers in the temple also know. In previous years, they were still willing to go and pick a few fruits to eat. This year, it hasn't reached the season for the fruit to ripen, so no one has walked on it yet."

"So, you first suspected the people in this temple."

The police officer didn't hide it, gave an "en," and said, "There are no missing people locally, so most of them are volunteers coming to the temple. But it's unclear how long the corpse had been rotting here, and the volunteers in the temple come and go, and the records are not complete."

"People who come to do volunteer work should come in groups, calling friends and such."

"Maybe, but there are also those who come alone. The temple here is not big, and walking on the night road before was fine, sigh..."

Liu Jinghui nodded as he listened. He had originally wanted to rest these past few days, but not going home and staying in Qu'an County was a bit boring.

In addition, Jiang Yuan needed one or two weeks to do skull restoration, so he thought, if he could solve the case with his own reasoning, wouldn't that be fast and happy?

Liu Jinghui wanted to come to the scene to see, and Jiang Yuan actually followed, just carrying a laptop, actually preparing to see the body disposal site and then continue skull restoration. To Liu Jinghui, it felt like Jiang Yuan was somewhat using the original soup to dissolve the original food.

The police officer led a few people, turned a few corners, and arrived at the edge of a water puddle, then said, "It's about here. The corpse was half curled in the water at the time. When we arrived, the upper body was already unrecognizable, the lower body still had some things, and the clothes were all rotten."

After a simple description, the police officer continued, "The water in the water puddle was drained at the time, and there was nothing inside. The water now should have accumulated recently."

"This is not a place that strangers would know." Liu Jinghui looked around. It was a pretty good place to kill someone, quiet in the middle of the noise, not far from the road, the conditions were too good, it felt like a carefully chosen place.

All these things, in his view, meant the probability of a stranger committing the crime in this case was already very low.

"Do you want to survey the scene?" Liu Jinghui turned to ask Jiang Yuan.

"Let's see." Jiang Yuan handed his backpack to Mu Zhiyang, put on a head cover and foot covers, and began to circle around the water puddle.

It had rained a few days ago, which made the field scene survey exceptionally difficult to do.

Coupled with the grass and vegetation on the ground, Jiang Yuan didn't get a suitable footprint. There might have been a probability initially, but it was estimated to be very difficult.

"Let's go to the temple." Jiang Yuan delayed for half an hour, took photos, and left the place.

A few people swayed and climbed up the small hill.

When they reached a flatter position on the top of the mountain, the ground began to be paved with red bricks and cement.

There was actually a small grocery store and a tourist specialty store in the temple. Looking closer, the two shops had the same owner.

The owner was a woman in her forties, originally bored and scrolling through her phone. Seeing people coming, she stood up with interest. Seeing that they were police, she felt a bit helpless and took the initiative to say, "Here to investigate a case?"

"Sister Li." The police officer looked very polite and asked, "Are there many people coming to play recently?"

"People have already died, what kind of people can come? Those who come are all old customers. Have you eaten?" The owner finally felt a bit more intimate at the end.

"Haven't eaten yet, I've been thinking about your braised meat." The police officer laughed and introduced to both sides, "Sister Li's braised meat is a unique skill in our Qu'an County. If she didn't come to the temple, she would be doing business in the city, earning a temple a year."

"Don't talk about money all the time in the temple." Sister Li said as she got up, opened a pot behind her, and sure enough, braised meat was bubbling inside.

A strong aroma hit their faces.

"Do you want a sandwich? 7 yuan each." Sister Li asked.

"Yes. Two for each person!" After the police officer finished speaking, he added, "Many people in our Qu'an come to this temple to eat Sister Li's braised meat sandwich."

"There aren't that many people. Especially recently, very few people come." Sister Li said the price calmly, then began to chop the meat, and at the same time, stuck the pancakes into the fire barrel.

She first chopped the fat and lean meat together, then took out the hot pancake from the fire barrel, cut it in the middle with a knife, and it naturally cracked open a mouth.

About a liang of fat and lean meat, with juice, was stuffed into the meat, and then a spoonful of meat juice was added, making people's appetite move.

The most delicious meat must be meat full of meat juice; this comes from the body's desire. Food like the meat sandwich has a bit of a cheating nature. It doesn't need good meat quality, nor does it need to control the heat, and even because of the spices and boiling factors, it can be stored for many days. And as long as it is boiled soft and rotten, plus a hot flour pancake that is easy to make, and a spoonful of meat soup in the middle, ordinary meat juice and meat quality simply can't fight it.

A few people climbed up the mountain and were already a bit hungry. At this moment, they wolfed down the meat sandwich made by Sister Li.

"Your technique should go to the big city to make money." Liu Jinghui praised and stretched out his big thumb.

Sister Li smiled: "I just came back from the big city. Making money is not that interesting."

Liu Jinghui: "Isn't it fragrant to make money to buy a house and a car?"

"After buying it, it's just like that." Sister Li looked back at the main hall and said, "I am more willing to cultivate my heart and nature here and entertain those who are destined."

"Good idea." Liu Jinghui laughed, wiped his mouth, and greeted the police officer to go to the front to see.

In the courtyard, there were two other lay Buddhists sweeping the floor.

Further inside, the abbot of the temple was offering incense to the Buddha statues one by one, muttering words: "Every Bodhisattva is the first person responsible for their own faith. Everyone, watch your own stall, don't let it be occupied by others..."

There are many Bodhisattvas worshipped in the main hall, including Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, Manjusri Bodhisattva, as well as Guan Yu and Maitreya Buddha, etc. There are small porcelain basins in front of each Bodhisattva, some filled with money, some not.

"Abbot." Liu Jinghui couldn't wait for him to turn around and shouted.

The abbot looked at the people, hesitated again and again, and walked over.

"Are you here to investigate that case?" The abbot was in his thirties and looked very young.

"Yes, take a few minutes of your time, I have a few questions." Liu Jinghui asked with a smile.

"Yes, there is plenty of time, do you want to offer a stick of incense?"

"Well... okay." Liu Jinghui obediently handed over the right to speak he had just regained.

Jiang Yuan looked around, preparing to find a good place for himself, sit down, and while breathing fresh air, start doing skull reconstruction. He is proficient now, and it is no problem to operate on his laptop.

Liu Jinghui asked with a smile: "What is the abbot's surname?"

"You can just call me Director Cheng. Cheng as in the 'Cheng' in 'Wang Ba Cheng' (a pun on 'bastard')." The abbot was very easy to talk to, and he even took the initiative to make a joke.

Liu Jinghui couldn't make a joke. The situation in this temple was far more complicated than he imagined, and the number of suspects increased several times instantly.

Liu Jinghui couldn't help but look at Jiang Yuan.

The skull on Jiang Yuan's screen was still bare on the face.

"If you want to investigate the case, you can stay for two days. There will be more lay Buddhists coming tonight." The abbot extended a warm invitation.

"Are you holding an event today?"

"Not really, it's mainly because Sister Li cooked too much meat. If no one comes to buy it, it will go bad." The abbot's face radiated an honest light.

Liu Jinghui said decisively: "Then please arrange a few rooms for us to stay." ===== CHAPTER 436 =====