Chapter Forty-One: Buying Time!

Old Lin glanced at me, offering a faint smile, then addressed the villagers: “Everyone, please remain calm. Right now, we only suspect that Chen Da may be involved in theft—nothing has been confirmed. We’ve already checked; this vehicle does belong to Chen Da. Our original intention was to drive the car away, so that when Chen Da returned, he’d be compelled to go to the police station and turn himself in. But since everyone seems to have reservations about us, we’ll leave the car right here. However, if Chen Da does come back, please let him know we’d like him to come to the station and cooperate with our investigation.”

I thought to myself, what is Old Lin playing at? If we leave, this crucial clue will surely be wiped clean by the villagers—wouldn’t our whole trip have been for nothing?

Yet, with this reassurance from Old Lin, I noticed the villagers’ previously taut nerves instantly relax. The old man leading the group, however, wasn’t so easily convinced. He shouted, “You’d better leave! As soon as Chen Da comes back, we’ll notify you right away.”

Old Lin smiled and replied, “Very well, we’ll leave now.” With that, he turned around and started to go.

Just like that? Wouldn’t all our previous efforts be in vain?

I was still dazed when Old Lin turned back and scolded me: “Xiao Yang, what are you standing there for? The villagers are being so cooperative—let’s hurry up and go.”

Left with no choice, I nodded stiffly and hurried to catch up with Old Lin.

I couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time. “Old Lin, what’s your plan here? You’ve got me completely baffled.”

Old Lin said, “Just follow me.”

After we’d walked about ten meters, Old Lin suddenly stopped and whipped around. I turned as well, just in time to see the head villager walking toward the SUV, about to open the door. When he saw us turn back, he quickly drew his hand away in alarm.

Damn, so the old man really is up to something!

Old Lin suddenly shouted, “Hey, Xiao Yang, how could you be so careless? You dropped your watch—hurry and look for it. Once we find it, we need to get back immediately; the bureau’s waiting for us to attend a meeting.”

Wow, when it comes to playing tricks, I’m nowhere near Old Lin’s league.

We’re investigating a case—sure, you can refuse to cooperate. But if we’re looking for a lost watch, would you really stop us? That would be unreasonable.

Li Hong couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

I quickly played along: “Old Lin, I’m really sorry to trouble you, could you all help me look for it? That’s a mechanical watch that’s been in my family for three generations. If my father found out I lost it, he’d have my head.”

“Then what are you waiting for? Get searching!” Old Lin chided, and we began combing the area.

The old man’s face turned green, glaring at Old Lin in fury but helpless to do anything. This road isn’t your private property—how can you stop us from looking?

I searched especially thoroughly, from the road down to the little creek and then up the bank, staying close to the SUV and watching the villagers’ reactions out of the corner of my eye.

Finally, the old man couldn’t take it anymore and shouted, “Everyone help look!” With that, the villagers started searching in a chaotic swarm. In no time, they’d surrounded the SUV and declared, “We’ve helped you look—there’s no watch here. Leave now, or we’ll call the police…”

Perhaps the old man said it without thinking, but Li Xingchen, quick on the uptake, slapped his forehead and said, “Grandpa, you really are sharp! How about you help us call the police? Let them come and help us look.”

The old man was rendered speechless by Li Xingchen, and finally resorted to bluster: “Everyone, they’re clearly casing the place, planning to come back and steal things tonight—let’s drive them out!”

“Get out, get out!” The row of villagers armed with hoes and shovels rushed to the front, trying to scare us off. Seeing this, I realized a confrontation was inevitable and looked at Li Hong.

No matter what, we couldn’t let them destroy Chen Da’s body. Even if it meant standing our ground and fighting, we had to persist.

But this wasn’t a novel—fighting with villagers would have consequences, and at the very least, the law wouldn’t allow us to use force yet, since the situation hadn’t escalated to that point.

I looked at Li Hong, trying to gauge his confidence from his expression. I realized he was surrounded by a kind of aura—was this the so-called “killing intent”?

A clash seemed unavoidable. Just then, Old Lin suddenly shouted, “Found it! Xiao Yang, is this your watch?”

I walked over, half laughing, half crying, and examined the watch in Old Lin’s hand. “Let me take a closer look—can’t be sure just yet.”

“Look my foot,” the old man snapped in a fury. “Get out, or we’ll drive you out ourselves. Who knows if you’re thieves…”

I looked at Old Lin, feigning distress.

Old Lin smiled. “They should be arriving any minute now.”

Sure enough, as soon as Old Lin finished speaking, I faintly heard the sharp, staccato sound of police sirens in the distance.

To us, that sound was like heavenly music. To the villagers, it must have been a death knell.

I saw the old man finally lose his composure, secretly directing two villagers to climb in through the front window of the car. There was no time to lose. I ordered Li Hong, “Go! If anything happens, I’ll take responsibility.”

Before I’d even finished speaking, Li Hong leapt forward like a panther. With two meters to go he launched himself onto the roof, and with a sweeping kick, knocked the two villagers clambering up right off the car.

The old man’s face was livid. “Look, everyone! They’re attacking us! Get them—don’t hold back, they’re thieves!”

At his command, the villagers closed in around Li Hong.

I was about to rush in too, but Old Lin stopped me.

Li Xingchen, sweating with anxiety, cried, “Old Lin, don’t they say even heroes find it hard to resist a beauty’s charms—wait, that’s not right—aren’t we going to help?”

Old Lin smiled, eyes twinkling: “Have you ever seen Wolf Warrior 2? Li Hong is even tougher than Leng Feng.”

I was still worried, but looking at Li Hong, he didn’t let us down. He darted here and there like a missile, impervious to blows—a shovel struck his back, but he didn’t even flinch. He seized the shovel, lifted both tool and man, and hurled them into the crowd, knocking a group of old men off their feet.

I realized my worries had been completely unnecessary.

A squad of SWAT officers, holding ballistic shields and Type 95 assault rifles, soon arrived and fired two warning shots into the air. The villagers, terrified, scattered immediately.

Li Hong strode up, disappointed. “Didn’t even get to enjoy it.”

The SWAT captain, spotting Li Hong, was stunned. “Isn’t this Brother Li? What are you doing working at the city bureau?”

Li Hong was equally surprised. “You’re SWAT now?”

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry—just who were these two?

Turns out, they’d served together in the same unit.

Their reunion was so enthusiastic, they nearly forgot the matter at hand.

Old Lin reminded them, “You two can have your drinks and games later—first go apprehend that head villager. Even if we can’t confirm he’s the killer, he at least knows something.”

Li Hong nodded and rushed off.

To protect the scene as much as possible, we called for Mouse as well. With a few twists of wire, Mouse picked the car lock. As soon as the door opened, an even stronger stench of blood assaulted us.

The scene inside was gruesome, so much so that Mouse was frightened as soon as he opened the first door, and a few young SWAT officers vomited on the spot.

Though I felt sick myself, this wasn’t the time. I told the forensics team to take photos, then put on gloves and began to examine the scene carefully.

The deceased lay on the backseat, but we couldn’t be sure it was Chen Da—his whole face had been completely sliced off, exposing raw red flesh, horrifying to behold.

The victim was completely naked. Upon autopsy, the cause of death was determined to be exsanguination from his genitalia, which had been severed with scissors. There were clear signs of seminal residue at the scene, but no evidence of a struggle. The car windows bore no frantic handprints, and there were no additional scratches on the victim’s body.

Blood had stained the entire rear compartment red, but no murder weapon was found at the scene.

This immediately raised a question in my mind.

What about the bloody hammer we’d found earlier—whose blood was on it?