Chapter 49 : A Crime Committed by a Family Member
Chapter 49 - A Crime Committed by a Family Member
Li Nan Ke opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was a fair, round face with large eyes and curved lashes. It was so close it was nearly touching his own, staring intently at him.
He could even feel the warm breath from her nostrils.
“Aiyo, you scared me to death.”
Seeing Li Nan Ke awaken, Meng Xiao Tu patted her large melons and breathed a long sigh of relief.
“I thought some mishap had occurred. If I had known, I would have just shot you to bring you back.”
Beside them, the little girl Qinqin had not yet woken up, but she was no longer having a nightmare.
“Where is Lord Leng?” Li Nan Ke asked subconsciously.
Meng Xiao Tu gestured with her chin toward the corner.
“She was there when I woke up. I’m not sure what’s wrong, but she seems to be in a bad mood. It might be because her internal injuries were too severe, preventing her from entering the dream successfully, and she’s upset about it.”
Li Nan Ke turned to look at the woman in the corner.
The young woman sat quietly on a low, round stool, her eyelids drooping as she stared blankly at the floor, lost in thought.
In the lamplight, her slender and captivating figure cast a lonely silhouette upon the wall.
She only became alert when the man walked up beside her.
Looking up to see it was Li Nan Ke, a faint smile touched her slightly pale face.
“Are you alright?”
Li Nan Ke sat down beside her. “I should be asking you that.”
Leng Xinnan shook her head and said in a self-mocking tone, “I’m fine, but you must think I’m a joke. I promised to protect you, yet I couldn’t even do that.”
“Focus on healing your injuries first. Don’t push yourself.”
Evidently, Li Nan Ke also thought she was dejected because her internal injuries had prevented her from entering the Red Rain dream.
Leng Xinnan didn’t feel like explaining. A current of warmth flowed through her heart at the man’s concern. She stood up and said,
“Now that the Nightmare has been safely removed, let’s go back for now.”
“The Nightmare may be gone, but the secrets surrounding this girl haven’t been unraveled.”
A sharp glint appeared in Li Nan Ke’s eyes.
“What exactly did she see in the forest that night? And another thing, did she get lost by accident, or was she intentionally left there?”
“You think there’s something wrong with this family?” Leng Xinnan heard the implication in his question.
Li Nan Ke nodded and walked out of the room.
In the courtyard, Butcher Zheng, Mrs. Zheng, and Old Madam Zheng were waiting anxiously.
Seeing Li Nan Ke emerge, Old Madam Zheng hurried forward to ask, “Officer, how is my granddaughter? She’s going to be alright, isn’t she?”
“Rest assured, she is fine now.” Leng Xinnan said comfortingly.
Hearing this, the heavy hearts of the family finally settled.
Old Madam Zheng was so overcome with joy that she started to cry, pulling her daughter-in-law to the ground with her to kowtow in gratitude to Leng Xinnan’s group.
Leng Xinnan helped them to their feet and said calmly,
“We were only doing our duty. However, you should keep a better eye on your child in the future. How could you be so careless as to leave her outside?”
“Yes, yes, it was all our fault for being so careless.” Old Madam Zheng wiped her tears as she scolded her son.
“You are forbidden from taking Qinqin into the mountains to hunt ever again! If anything had happened to my granddaughter, you little whelp, you might as well have just died out there!”
Butcher Zheng nodded repeatedly in assurance.
Mrs. Zheng, however, kept her head lowered, her thoughts unreadable.
After the trio finished expressing their gratitude, they were about to head inside to check on the girl but were stopped by Li Nan Ke.
“Wait, I have a few things to ask you.”
Mrs. Zheng forced a smile. “Officer, what is it that you’d like to ask?”
Li Nan Ke walked over to Butcher Zheng and asked, “Tell me the specific details of what happened six days ago. How exactly did your daughter get lost?”
Butcher Zheng’s bronze-colored face was full of self-reproach as he slowly explained,
“That day, just like usual, I took her hunting in the mountains. I was planning to head back as the afternoon drew on, but I happened to spot a fawn.”
“The fawn was caught in a trap I’d laid, but it managed to escape in a panic. So, I told Qinqin to wait where she was, and I went after it. But when I returned, Qinqin was gone.”
Li Nan Ke asked again, “Did you often take Qinqin hunting before?”
“That’s right. The girl takes after me; she’s rather outgoing and energetic and enjoys hunting.” As he spoke of his daughter, a look of doting affection appeared on Butcher Zheng’s face.
“Sometimes I even teach her some hunting techniques.”
Li Nan Ke raised an eyebrow. “So, you’ve often left Qinqin to wait in place while you pursued prey before?”
Butcher Zheng nodded.
“She’s a very obedient girl, and I only take her to hunt in areas I know well. It’s easy to get lost deeper in the forest, so I would never dare take her there.”
“This time, perhaps Qinqin saw a wild rabbit she liked and chased after it out of curiosity, only to run into the deep woods and get lost.”
As he finished speaking, Butcher Zheng couldn’t stop himself from slapping his own face hard.
It was clear that he genuinely blamed himself.
Li Nan Ke thought for a moment, then asked, “Have you hunted in the deep forest?”
“Of course, I have.” Butcher Zheng didn't hide a thing.
“I’m quite familiar with the deep mountain forests around here. My father taught me how to hunt when I was young.”
“He used to take me hunting deep in the mountains all the time, and sometimes my mother would tag along to forage for wild ingredients. When I’m not with Qinqin, I go into the deep forest, and my wife sometimes joins me. She has a terrible sense of direction, though, and has nearly gotten lost a few times herself.”
A terrible sense of direction?
Li Nan Ke glanced at Mrs. Zheng, a thoughtful look on his face.
He let Leng Xinnan continue the questioning while he himself slowly wandered around the courtyard and the other rooms.
His intuition told him that there was definitely more to this story.
In the courtyard were some hunting tools, animal pelts, and smoked meat. Aside from a single tree, there were no other flowers or plants for decoration.
Li Nan Ke entered the house and inspected the rooms one by one.
He found that in the main house, a deity statue was enshrined directly opposite the door, and the pillars on either side were painted with strange-looking talismans.
Entering Old Madam Zheng’s room, he saw that it also housed deity statues of various sizes.
It was clear that the old madam was a very devout person.
After wandering around for a bit, Li Nan Ke came to a side room, where his gaze was suddenly caught by several pairs of shoes in a bamboo basket, waiting to be washed.
The shoes were somewhat dirty, and there were pairs for both children and adults.
They looked like the shoes worn six days ago when the family went into the mountains to search for Qinqin, which they had changed out of upon their return.
They were probably too busy and hadn't had time to wash them yet.
Li Nan Ke picked up the shoes one by one, inspecting them. Gradually, the corners of his mouth curved into a cold sneer.
“Just as I suspected.”
Li Nan Ke returned to the Zheng family just in time to hear Leng Xinnan questioning Mrs. Zheng.
“I hear your child passed away just two months after being born?”
Mrs. Zheng froze for a moment, a look of anguish on her face, before nodding slightly. “Yes.”
“What was the cause?”
“He caught a chill. We took him to a physician, who said he had a lung infection. He prescribed medicine, but there was no improvement. And then…” Mrs. Zheng’s tears began to fall.
“Caught a chill?”
Li Nan Ke was taken aback, his suspicion piqued.
“Are you certain he died from a chill? Can you describe the circumstances at the time?”
Mrs. Zheng choked back sobs and said,
“That day, my mother-in-law and husband were out. I was at home by myself watching the baby and had just given him medicine for his fever. While he was sleeping, I decided to rush to the nearby apothecary to fetch more medicine, worried that my husband might return late and find the shop closed.”
“When I returned with the medicine, I saw the baby was still sleeping, so I didn’t think much of it and went to the kitchen to prepare a meal. Who would have thought that a little while later, when I went to check on him again, he was no longer breathing.”
“After you left, who else was in the house?”
“Only Qinqin was there. She was asleep in another room at the time.”
“Do you remember the condition of your child at the time of his death?”
This was just a casual question from Li Nan Ke; after all, it had been so long, it would be difficult for anyone to remember.
But Mrs. Zheng replied sorrowfully, tears in her eyes, “Of course I remember. Even now, I still sometimes dream of how my son looked when he died.”
Li Nan Ke’s eyes narrowed. “Could you describe it in detail?”
Mrs. Zheng did her best to recall.
“When I picked him up, his body was cold, his little fists were clenched tight, and his abdomen seemed a bit swollen. His face and body also looked reddish, and there was a sticky, bloody foam coming from his mouth and nose…”
“Those are the clear signs of death by drowning! How could it be from a lung infection due to a chill? Did you not report this to the authorities and have a coroner perform an examination at the time?”
Hearing the woman’s description, Li Nan Ke’s face turned icy cold as he demanded sharply.
Drowning?
The entire Zheng family was stunned.
Judging from their reaction, it was obvious the family had not reported it to the authorities at the time.
“Officer, how could my son possibly have drowned?” Butcher Zheng’s face flushed as he argued, completely baffled.
“He was lying in his bed! Where would water have come from in his bed!”
After so long, he had always believed his son died from a chill, only for it to now be called a drowning.
How could he possibly accept that?
Li Nan Ke asked Mrs. Zheng, “I’m asking you, were there any other injuries on the infant’s body at the time?”
“Aside from a small bruise on his ankle, there were no other injuries.” Mrs. Zheng said.
Hearing this, Li Nan Ke had already made his judgment.
He walked to the kitchen entrance, patted a large, old water vat standing by the door, and said calmly,
“The infant was held upside down and submerged in water until he drowned. Furthermore, judging by the time frame, this was definitely not the work of an outsider. Which means—”
Li Nan Ke’s gaze locked onto Old Madam Zheng.
“—it was one of you!”