Chapter 858

Woof!

Woof woof!

Under the midday sun, Jiang Yuan leaned on a hiking stick, walked quickly down the small hill next to Tangui Village, and hid under the large locust tree at the entrance of the village.

The 19 domestic dogs of the village, along with the 3 police dogs on the payroll, naturally gathered around and fawned over Jiang Yuan.

Ever since the village dogs had eaten the LV5 dog meal, Jiang Yuan had ascended the throne in the dog world of Tangui Village. No matter whose house he passed, the dogs that smelled him would run out to wag their tails.

When Dazhuang had time, he would also be brought out by Li Li to play, and incidentally, he would bolster Jiang Yuan's momentum by his side, leading the dogs to respect Jiang Yuan even more.

In terms of combat power, a Rottweiler in the dog world is equivalent to a silverback gorilla in the primate world. The dog organization in the village, composed of mutts, Golden Retrievers, Labradors, and Huskies, proved in just one day that they deserved the description of "worthless dogs," and they remotely hailed Jiang Yuan as their king.

Jiang Yuan wasn't in a hurry to go back either.

The roads in Shi Tingxian were not easy to walk on to begin with, and Tangui Village was in a remote part of the county, so making a trip back was quite tiring. On the other hand, the conditions in the county weren't necessarily much better. The village, however, had aid-built housing for cadres stationed in the village—standard modern architecture. After changing into the four-piece bedding set brought from home, the conditions were about the same as staying in a homestay for 1999 a night during the holidays.

Jiang Yuan rested his feet for a moment under the large locust tree, then waved his hand and strolled along at a leisurely pace.

Under the command of Sanzhuang, the deterrence of Dazhuang, and the persuasion of Erzhuang, the 22 dogs formed a mighty dog formation and followed behind Jiang Yuan.

Li Li, on the other hand, fell behind. Looking at her back, she was as cool as a supermodel walking the runway.

"Come, come, let's dig some wild vegetables." As Jiang Yuan walked, he suddenly waved his hand to call people.

Someone cooperated and walked over, then stared blankly at the patch of green plants by the roadside.

"This is lamb's quarters, for making soup. And mustard greens, they're quite common for making steamed buns, but these are purely wild... Oh, there's also shepherd's purse here, which can also be used for dumplings, or boiled in water to drink..." Jiang Yuan used his LV2 wild vegetable identification skill, and in a while, he had picked several kinds of wild vegetables.

Li Li and Dazhuang stepped forward, one looking at the wild vegetables and the other helping to dig.

Jiang Yuan also picked a few easy ones, patted them clean by the roadside, and said, "Take them back to make dog food."

Li Li hesitated: "Dogs can't eat this, can they?"

"Dogs are omnivorous animals. They can even eat scalp, so what's a little wild vegetable? Just process them well." As an LV5 dog-meal expert, Jiang Yuan said it very confidently.

Li Li obviously didn't like this topic and couldn't help but say: "The... the scalp is, after all, different from wild vegetables, right?"

"It's the same. Logically speaking, the scalp should also be processed, at least the hair on it should be removed cleanly." Jiang Yuan laughed at himself as he said this and added casually: "If this were put in the forensic group, it should count as a funny joke."

Li Li spread her hands.

Regarding the three black sheep dogs of Tangui Village, Li Li felt they deserved to die. If one were to talk about it, the fact that the victim's face and scalp were actually torn off by them had an even greater impact on Li Li.

Although similar reports had existed before, this time, Li Li had seen the photos of the corpse and the scene. The fear stemming from the death of one's own kind and being eaten by one's own kind, honestly, is something a person can never forget in a lifetime.

As a type of animal, humans are not much higher than other animals in terms of animality. Therefore, humans will commit rape out of impulse, kill out of anger, and eat humans out of hunger... Similarly, the human desire for life, fear of death, and fear of corpses are innate and helpless.

"In short, dig more wild vegetables." Jiang Yuan waved his hand. Being a forensic expert has one thing that is particularly good, and also particularly bad: colleagues are particularly few, and communication between colleagues is also particularly rare. Occasionally, when one thinks of a brilliant joke, there is nowhere to tell it, and telling it to people outside the forensic industry easily makes one seem cruel or sleazy.

Li Li bent down to dig wild vegetables, her fit figure slightly prominent, causing the surrounding dogs to bark wildly, not sleazy at all.

After lunch.

The village dogs, full of dog food, lay all over the courtyard, each staring at the sky with dull eyes, as if doubting how they had lived their past days.

Huang Huang Qiangmin was also patting his belly, reclining on a lounge chair, revealing his white belly... or rather, the color of his T-shirt.

Hearing that Jiang Yuan was cooking for the dogs, Huang Huang Qiangmin rushed over at the first opportunity. After all, everyone knew that the food Jiang Yuan cooked for the dogs was truly delicious. And Jiang Yuan would always cook a bit more each time, so that the real dogs wouldn't go hungry.

Chief Bai Liu Jian arrived a little late. As soon as he entered the door, he saw Huang Huang Qiangmin picking his teeth and couldn't help but say disappointedly: "Finished?"

"Of course, they were all scrambling to eat. You came late, so there's definitely none left." Huang Huang Qiangmin said with a smile.

Chief Bai sighed: "That's true, with so many dogs scrambling to eat..."

Huang Huang Qiangmin raised his eyes: "Old Bai?"

"We screened one person, please ask Team Leader Jiang to verify it." Bai Liu Jian changed the subject.

This was serious business. Huang Huang Qiangmin sat up, and while having someone call Jiang Yuan, he asked: "What kind of person is it?"

"A self-employed individual from the neighboring village who does business collecting mountain goods. He ran away the day after the case occurred. The footprints we collected in his house last night just listed him as a suspect. We issued a notice, and this morning it triggered a warning, indicating that he wanted to leave the country from Nanyun Province..." Bai Liu Jian said with lingering fear.

If this person had left the country, although it didn't mean he couldn't be caught back, for the county bureau level, the case would be considered half-ruined.

Huang Huang Qiangmin felt the same way and said: "This was really caught in time. If this person had left the country two days earlier, it would have been really troublesome."

"He should have been a bit hesitant too. He made phone calls to people in the village and his own relatives and friends, learned that the situation here was bad, and only then decided to go out. He was still using someone else's ID card. If he hadn't left the country, or had left earlier, it would have been a bit difficult to find him." Bai Liu Jian said: "When he was collecting mountain goods, he was also collecting ID cards. After this matter is over, we must carefully sort out the situation in this regard."

"What is his relationship with the victim?"

"Currently, there is no special relationship. If one were to say, the victim Zhao Dong's small shop would occasionally collect some mountain goods. Some were brought by people from the village, and some were sold by people from neighboring villages. The mountain goods he collected would also be sold to the suspect. For those with relatively high value, he would also sell them to the outside world himself. This is very common in our county."

"The two were not in a competitive relationship either."

"Just normal business dealings. It doesn't count as competition. Our Shi Tingxian is an agricultural county, and now it's still a forestry county. Everyone knows what things produced in the mountains are worth, whether they are valuable or not, and how much they are worth. Every village's small shop, and the collection points in the town and county, will collect them if you are willing to sell mountain goods to them."

Huang Huang Qiangmin, on the contrary, had some doubts and said: "Then how did you screen him out?"

Chief Bai pouted: "Team Leader Jiang's screening conditions were so clear that we added all the eligible males from the neighboring village. Unexpectedly, we really screened him."

As he spoke, he nodded; it was Jiang Yuan coming out.

"Footprints received, right? Let me see." Jiang Yuan first asked for the pad in Chief Bai's hand, looked at several photos in a row, and after enlarging them and carefully comparing them, said: "The footprints and gait are both correct. It is undoubtedly the suspect who had a conflict with the victim in the small shop."

Jiang Yuan was now very careful when doing things outside. Footprint evidence alone could not prove that this suspect was the killer.

Bai Liu Jian nodded understandingly, but said firmly: "It should be this beast. He made multiple phone calls to people in the village, as well as his own relatives and friends, all inquiring about the situation of the task force and the case... I'll have someone bring him back and interrogate him slowly."