Chapter 435: Small Temple

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

By the time the car drove here, the road had already narrowed. 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 followed this line of thinking to find people, but we never determined the identity."

"When it was discovered, the corpse's decomposition was quite advanced, right? Could you smell it?"

"When we came over, it was faint. Those who haven't smelled a corpse before might not necessarily know what it is; it's about the same as the smell of a dead rat 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 go directly from here; you have to go from the front, walk inside for a good sixty or seventy meters, a hundred meters..."

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

Since they were here to see the scene, the police officer didn't dawdle. He led a few people forward for another few dozen meters, passed between two trees, and stepped on the small path overgrown with cogon grass to walk inside.

The police officer introduced as they walked, "This road is a small path to an orchard inside. Now the orchard is abandoned, and even the children don't go to steal fruit, so almost no one walks this road."

Liu Liu Jinghui immediately asked, "So, only locals know about this road?"

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

"So, your first suspicion was the people in this temple."

The police officer didn't hide it, said "En," and added, "No one is missing locally, so it's mostly the volunteers who come to the temple. But we don't know how long the corpse had been rotting here, and the volunteers in the temple come and go, and the records aren't complete."

"People who come to do volunteer work should come in groups, calling friends and companions, right?"

"Maybe, but there are also those who come alone. This temple isn't big, and walking the night road before was always fine. Sigh..."

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

In addition, Jiang Yuan would need one or two weeks to do skull reconstruction, so he thought to himself, if he could solve the case with deduction, wouldn't that be wonderful?

Liu Liu Jinghui wanted to see the scene, and Jiang Yuan actually followed, just carrying a laptop, actually prepared to look at the body disposal site and then continue doing skull reconstruction. To Liu Liu Jinghui, it felt a bit like Jiang Yuan was using the original soup to cook the original food.

The police officer led a few people, winding around to the side of a puddle, and then said, "It's about here. The corpse was half-nested 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 puddle was pumped out at the time, and there was nothing inside. The water now should have accumulated recently."

"This isn't a place that strangers would know." Liu Liu Jinghui looked around. It was quite a good place for murder—quiet amidst the noise, not far from the road, the conditions were too good; it felt like a carefully chosen spot.

With all these factors, in his view, the probability of a stranger committing the crime in this case was already very low.

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

"Let's take a look." Jiang Yuan handed his backpack to Mu Mu Zhiyang, put on his head cover and shoe covers, and began to circle the puddle.

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

Coupled with the green grass and vegetation on the ground, Jiang Yuan didn't get any suitable footprints. Initially, there might have been a probability, 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 the 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 stores had the same owner.

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

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

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

"Haven't eaten yet. I've been thinking about your braised meat." The police officer smiled and introduced them to both sides, "Sister Li's braised meat is a specialty of 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 in the temple." Sister Li said as she stood up, opened a pot behind her, and sure enough, braised meat was bubbling inside.

A strong, intense aroma wafted over.

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

"Yes. Two each!" 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 stated the price calmly, then began to chop the meat, while sticking the bread into the fire barrel.

She first chopped the fatty and lean meat together, then took the hot, scalding bread from the fire barrel, cut it in the middle with a knife, and it naturally cracked open.

About more than an ounce of fatty and lean meat, with juices, was stuffed into the meat, followed by a spoonful of meat gravy, making people's appetites surge.

The most delicious meat must be meat full of juices; this comes from the body's craving. Food like a meat sandwich has a bit of a cheating nature. It doesn't need high-quality meat, nor does it need to control the heat, and because of the spices and boiling, it can even be stored for many days. As long as it is boiled until soft and rotten, add a piece of hot, easy-to-make bread, and add a spoonful of meat soup in the middle, ordinary meat juice and meat quality simply can't compete with it.

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

"Your skill should be used to make money in big cities," Liu Liu Jinghui praised, sticking out his thumb.

Sister Li smiled, "I just came back from a big city. Making money isn't that interesting."

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

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

"You have ideas." Liu Liu Jinghui laughed, wiped his mouth, and greeted the police officer to go to the front to take a look.

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

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

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

"Abbot." Liu Liu Jinghui couldn't wait for him to finish his round and shouted.

The abbot looked at the people, hesitated for a long time, and walked over.

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

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

"Sure, there is plenty of time. Do you want to offer a stick of incense?"

"Well... okay." Liu 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, breathe fresh air, and start doing skull reconstruction. He was skilled now and could operate on his laptop without any problems.

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

"You can call me Director Cheng. The Cheng of 'thousand mouths, one turtle'." The abbot seemed very easy to talk to; he even took the initiative to make a joke.

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

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

The skull on Jiang Yuan's screen was still bald.

"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." A light of honesty radiated from the abbot's face.

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