CHAPTER 77: CHAPTER 63: THE NEW WORLD [PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH] (4.7K)_2

Just when I relaxed and drank tea and played chess with them, a truck suddenly collided heh heh heh.

This was a storefront on the first floor.

"Old Zhang, what are you looking at?" The officer, a member of the investigation team, noticed Zhang Feng peering against the window, immediately sensing what he was scrutinizing.

"Nothing, just looking at the night view," Zhang Feng replied as he glanced out onto the street.

But before Zhang Feng could ponder for a few seconds.

Ring ring, the officer’s phone rang.

He answered it, chatted briefly with the caller, then told Zhang Feng, "Sorry, Old Zhang, can’t join you for dinner tonight, there’s a situation."

"What’s going on?" Another person asked the officer, "Team matter?"

"Yes." The officer nodded, "There’s been a murder in the west suburb."

"Invite Old Zhang along," another person suggested as they stood up, "Old Zhang is practically a colleague in our team, an expert in our city’s investigation field."

Official investigations, under confidentiality conditions, can call in professionals from relevant fields.

Especially since Zhang Feng has assisted them many times, they often jokingly call him ’half a colleague.’

...

Woo woo—

The police car was driving towards the crime scene.

The officer was driving, another was on duty for just one day, now dozing in the back seat.

Zhang Feng sat in the front passenger seat and noticed discarded newspapers on the street, whisked by the wind, briefly sticking to the window.

The date read 2003.

Whoosh, the newspaper was swept away by the wind again.

Revealed in the distance was a factory cordoned off by police tape.

"We’re here, wake up."

The driving officer called as he parked the car outside the police line.

It was almost midnight, yet there were many onlookers and some media personnel trying to squeeze in.

"What’s going on?"

"Excuse me, what happened here?"

"Hello hello, can you explain specifically?"

Voices were chaotic outside the police line, and there was quite a crowd.

But most of the people here were factory workers, waiting for the latest news from inside.

They didn’t know if work would resume the next day since their boss had died.

However, some people wore smiles.

"He deserved to die, holding back wages for so long, he’s getting his retribution!"

"Good that he’s dead, but what about the wages?"

"I heard he harmed Sister Lin’s daughter a few days ago; such a person deserves to die! Must’ve feared the police would catch him, so he killed himself first!"

"Even if he didn’t kill himself, I was ready to break his leg! To seek justice for my master’s daughter!"

Nearby, there were quite a few people cursing the boss.

Some even held weapons, suggesting that if the boss hadn’t died, he would’ve at least gotten a beating today.

"Hello, could you elaborate?" This prompted several media personnel to turn their attention toward these audacious individuals.

Meanwhile, in the car.

After Zhang Feng got out, he saw a crowd gather around.

"Make way, folks!"

The two officers got out and courteously began to disperse the crowd, though it wasn’t very effective—they regrouped—but at least a path was cleared for the time being.

"Officer, may I ask..."

"How’s it inside?"

Following the officers through the crowd, Zhang Feng heard the most frequent inquiries about ’how the case is going, and how the situation is.’

The officers said little and proceeded directly inside.

Zhang Feng ignored the onlookers and entered the factory.

Clunk clunk—

There were many people gathering evidence, and in the corner of the factory behind the machines was an unusual corpse.

It was strange because he had a wooden sword sticking out of his chest, with Taoist talismans, deliberately placed incense ashes, and incense burners beside the corpse.

Meanwhile, an officer approached and roughly briefed Zhang Feng and the two officers on the deceased’s information.

"The deceased was named You Shouzhao, male, forty-five years old, owner of this machinery factory. Judging by the state of the body and blood congealing, the estimated time of death was about an hour ago.

By that time, the factory had closed, and the on-duty personnel had been sent away by him.

Many people outside said someone was lurking outside the factory, so he didn’t dare go out or keep the on-duty personnel around, fearing they might secretly open the door?"

As he spoke, he glanced at Zhang Feng, "Why did you bring Old Zhang here? This scene is a bit strange... Can he handle it?"

Usually, when Zhang Feng assisted them, he dealt with seemingly intact people or normal criminal cases.

But this death was bizarre, with a sword plunged into the chest and the arrangements nearby evoking a tremendous psychological discomfort.

Many officers here had vomited once or twice.

Only some veteran officers could endure it, though it felt disturbing to them too.

"Ugh..." Coming closer, the two officers who brought Zhang Feng were disgusted by the sight of the corpse and rushed to the side to vomit.

Zhang Feng also furrowed his brows, feeling a wave of nausea.

Initially, Zhang Feng thought it was normal, given how eerie the corpse was.

But soon after, Zhang Feng sniffed the air and suddenly felt something was off.

’Besides the smell of nearby machine oil and blood, there’s no other scent in the air, but there are burnt incense ashes and some burned talisman paper, which should emit some sandalwood scent or a burning smell.

And having seen it all, why would I feel sick over a corpse with a strange death appearance?’

Zhang Feng thought for a few seconds and quickly figured out the issue, resisting the nausea in the quiet environment where everyone was collecting evidence and observing, he spoke up: