102: Chapter 100 The Path 102: Chapter 100 The Path “Last time I was here, I already thought about this problem.

Of course, at that time I didn’t know that Li Sanqiu had been shot to death.”

“The basic operation of killing someone and disposing of their body is something modern people should all understand.

With such good conditions in the mountainside, simply dragging the body to a cave entrance is just a waste.”

“It’s true that there are few people around here, but after a period of time, there will always be someone passing by, and it’s not easy for a body to be completely consumed by animals.

Once it starts to decay, animals won’t eat it anymore…”

“Even if you threw it downstream in this ravine, it would be much better than leaving it out like this.

The chances of it being discovered would be a lot smaller.”

Liu Jinghui stood at the entrance of the cave, muttering nonstop.

Jiang Yuan, who was busy inside the cave, soon could not bear to listen any longer.

In his view, such reasoning without evidence was like playing a game— even if you guessed correctly, you still needed evidence to support it.

Therefore, shouldn’t the first consideration be the evidence?

However, since Comrade Liu Jinghui was a senior police officer with the rank of Senior Fourth Level, Jiang Yuan did not think it appropriate to just tell him to shut up.

Tired of listening, he simply said, “Why not give it a try?”

“Try what?” Liu Jinghui was still very appreciative of Jiang Yuan’s opinions.

“I heard previously that a prosecutor from the procuratorate, to prove that a large suitcase could fit a corpse, actually lay down in it himself, using the same evidence suitcase that had contained a body…”

Before Jiang Yuan could finish speaking, Liu Jinghui already understood.

Liu Jinghui stroked his chin in thought and said, “You mean, the two of us should simulate disposing of a body here?”

Jiang Yuan clearly saw the guide not far from the entrance taking steps back.

“You can play the role of the body and let two guides help with disposing of the ‘body’.” Jiang Yuan looked Liu Jinghui over and added, “Considering you were so tired just from climbing earlier, maybe skip the heavy lifting.”

“Hmm…

you have a point,” Liu Jinghui slowly nodded, then explained, “I mean, disposing of a body is too tiring, and that might be the reason.

Let’s give it a try.”

After saying this, Liu Jinghui called the two guides over and proposed that he play the corpse to be disposed of by the two of them.

The more experienced guide was relieved and held back the eager younger guide, saying, “Carrying is more tiring than dragging, it’s different from what was agreed upon.”

Liu Jinghui hurriedly nodded in agreement: “I know, this is an unreasonable request, because the case has reached…”

“We’ll need more money,” the more experienced guide interrupted.

Jiang Yuan smiled, turned around, and went back into the cave to continue digging through the decomposed leaves and mud at the bottom.

The soil in some areas was so soft one could poke a finger through it, and it was all as dark as could be.

Occasionally, a centipede or similar insect would crawl out, and he had to feel grateful just to recognize it.

From afar, the sounds of Liu Jinghui’s yelps started to rise.

His weight had reached around 150 or 160 pounds, and he felt quite heavy once completely relaxed.

Beyond the immediate platform, the surrounding environment featured various hills and slopes, tree stumps, roots, bushes, vines, and so on.

The two guides did not indulge Liu Jinghui: one grabbed his arms and the other his legs, bumping him across both the level and uneven terrains.

After a few rough impacts, Liu Jinghui couldn’t take it anymore.

Struggling to his feet, he said, “I can’t do this anymore, let’s switch roles.

I’ll carry people…

I’ll pay more!

More money should do it, right?”

About an hour later, Liu Jinghui returned to Jiang Yuan’s side, his body as dirty as if he had just been molded by the goddess Nüwa herself, with cheeks smeared with mud and water, roasting by the fire, his body trembling slightly.

“Too tired?” Jiang Yuan was organizing evidence bags.

“Tired.

Very tired,” Liu Jinghui breathed out, his eyes shining as he said, “But it further proves one thing.”

“Oh?”

“As long as you have a certain amount of energy and strength, disposing of a body is not a problem,” Liu Jinghui said.

“And the energy and strength I’m talking about should be possessed by anyone who is able to make it here successfully.”

This logical deduction was somewhat interesting.

Jiang Yuan stopped what he was doing and looked toward Liu Jinghui.

Liu Jinghui, rubbing his sore shoulders, upper arms, elbows, forearms, wrists, chest, back muscles, pelvis, thighs, knees, calves, ankles, and toes, concluded, “My verdict is, these people had the capability to dispose of the body but disdained to do so.”

“Is that consistent with your previous judgment?” What Jiang Yuan meant was, you endured this suffering for no good reason.

Liu Jinghui understood nevertheless and with a calm smile replied, “Disdaining to dispose of a body is different from not having time to do so.”

“Not because they didn’t have time to dispose of the body?”

“It’s not that they didn’t have time.

Walking in the mountains is not so rushed.

Taking a few steps faster or slower can make a difference; our simulation just now could have been done in forty minutes with poor execution.

If done more quickly, twenty to thirty minutes would suffice.”

Jiang Yuan nodded slowly, indeed, if one wanted to move faster on these kinds of mountain paths, it was indeed possible: it just involved more crawling, dirtier clothes, and some injury, but when compared to the risk of a body being discovered, this was much more acceptable.

Liu Jinghui loved this feeling of being acknowledged, and it made him feel wholly invigorated.

His injuries were still painful, but he bravely said, “Another thing, something I’ve been considering since yesterday.”

Cooperatively, Jiang Yuan gave an affirming “Hmm.”

Liu Jinghui said, “If they were more meticulous and had thought about disposing of the body, they could have carried a gun and forced Li Sanqiu to climb by himself to a place they deemed safe and suitable for body disposal, and just shoot him dead.”

Jiang Yuan thought it over; Liu Jinghui’s reasoning had some merit.

Liu Jinghui hadn’t finished speaking when he continued, “Looking at the results, I think they might not have intended to hide the fact that they were involved in an armed murder.”

“According to what you’re saying, these are desperadoes,” Jiang Yuandao said.

“Exactly, desperadoes,” sighed Liu Jinghui before picking up the satellite phone again and dialing.

For him, finding a direction in the “Wu Long Wild Man Case” was the greatest achievement, and Liu Jinghui had already prepared for a long-term stakeout.

“Where are you now?

Can you make it on time?

Okay, then be careful, and it’s fine to come up in batches,” Liu Jinghui advised before adding, “When you come up, bring some big roosters.

Buy them from the village at the foot of the mountain.”

The policeman on the other end of the line clearly became nervous, “Did you run into something unclean?

Should we bring donkey’s hooves or something?”

“It’s just that I find the big roosters raised at the foot of the mountain to be quite tasty,” Liu Jinghui laughed.

The person on the other end hung up the satellite phone, feeling unsettled and confused.

After finishing the call, Liu Jinghui gave Jiang Yuan a victorious gesture, saying, “No need to rush.

You guys continue with the investigation, and we will walk this path again.

We’ll definitely find some clues.”

Jiang Yuan was a bit surprised at Liu Jinghui’s confidence, but having a confident leader in the team didn’t seem to be a bad thing, especially since the man had thought of something as trivial as buying big roosters.

“Also, bring some seasoning,” Jiang Yuan reminded him, “Our bags are full of evidence bags and survey boxes; we don’t have any seasoning.”

“Got it,” Liu Jinghui replied with another OK gesture, then made another satellite call, displaying expandable funding extravagance.

In the following three days, over a dozen people thoroughly excavated the cave and its surroundings.

They ate 10 big roosters.

All were one or two-year-old roosters, stewed from the morning, and by noon when we ate them with rice soaked in the rich broth, the taste was extraordinarily good.

If it weren’t for the limited water supply in the mountain streams, and the lack of resupply from logistics, living near the caves would have become quite enjoyable.

On the third day, two search dogs and two colleagues from the provincial office arrived, and Liu Jinghui reassembled three search teams, each led by a senior sergeant from the provincial office.

Two teams advanced forward, and one team went back, searching slowly.

Even though a long time had passed, since firearms were involved, they intended to search the surroundings again, even if it was just a formality.

Liu Jinghui changed into a new set of fatigues but still slogged through the mud and water with his team.

The paths in the mountains did not become easier to navigate with more people; on the contrary, at slippery spots, one fall would lead to a whole string of them.

Nevertheless, everyone continued to move forward with their heads down.

When the order to enter the mountains was given, none of the policemen were willing, but now they were already there, and the complaints became fewer.

Police are, after all, a disciplined force.

There might be some leniency in normal times, but in complex environments like this, those with clear heads knew that this was when leaders really made life-or-death decisions.

The team walked for another day and settled down in a smaller plateau cave, where they ate two more big roosters.

Liu Jinghui then called over the two guides and asked, “We’ve spent three or four days walking these small paths, just wandering around the mountains.

Let’s try taking a different path.”

“With so many of us,” the guide said with difficulty, “These are old hunter’s paths.

Taking any other routes would only be more difficult, and there are some I don’t even recognize anymore.”

“Are the mountains that complex?”

“Of course, this is just the periphery of the primeval forest.

It’s even more dangerous inside the primeval forest.”

A thought struck Liu Jinghui, “The primeval forest is a protected area, right?

How far is it from here into the primeval forest?”

“Not far, a few hundred meters, maybe a kilometer or two, but the paths are tough to navigate, and with so many years gone by, people haven’t gone into it much anymore.

Who knows if the paths are even passable.”

“There must be a way through somewhere; it’s not like the path would just end as we walk,” Liu Jinghui’s train of thought shifted slightly, and he instructed, “Let’s head outwards, but not on the same path back.

Think about it, how should we arrange it?”

“That’s going to be far.”

“I’m not afraid of far, but it can’t be too far,” Liu Jinghui flicked bugs from his trousers, pondering, “Three days to get out is fine, four days works too, but no more than five.”

“Then you’ll have walked out of Liyuan City.”

“Let’s go.”

“It’ll cost more.”

“Okay,” Liu Jinghui readily agreed.

Jiang Yuan could only follow the team.

Having come this far, it was no longer possible to turn back.

Thankfully, satellite communication kept them connected to the outside, and a team of technicians, lugging a few big roosters, took a full three days to finally see signs of human habitation.

Standing on the ridge, the guides too were covered in mud.

Basking in the sun, they relaxed and said, “We’ve come out on the west side of the protected area.

That ahead should be Langgu County.

If we keep going west, we’ll directly enter Ping Zhou Province.”

“Crossed provincial borders?” exclaimed Jiang Yuan and Liu Jinghui in unison.