Chapter 794 - 794: 794
Being with these brothers, no matter how many troubles he had, Ye Qing could still manage a smile. That's why, despite his deep concerns for Shen Qingyi and Huangfu Ziyu, he returned to Shenchuan City without hesitation, for here lay the brothers he could never let go!
After a good night's sleep at home, Ye Qing woke the next morning to a very important message: last night, a group from the Snake Form Gate had been abducted, and moreover, their bodies were found by the seaside!
Upon hearing this news, Ye Qing didn't even bother with breakfast; he grabbed a couple of steamed buns from the kitchen and, with a few brothers in tow, drove straight to the seaside.
The stretch of coast where the bodies were discovered was a rather secluded area, seldom visited by anyone. Consequently, many dark deeds for Shenchuan City took place here. Who knows how many unjustly killed had their bones buried in these waters - this place could well be considered a witness to the dark history of Shenchuan City.
When Ye Qing first arrived in Shenchuan City, Boss Lin had dumped the corpses of numerous children and disabled individuals here. Truth be told, bodies thrown into this spot rarely ever resurfaced. But this time, the situation seemed exceptional.
By the time Ye Qing arrived at the scene, Zhao Chengshuang had already personally led his team over, taking over from the local police to command the scene directly. Black Bear, too, had brought several brothers and was already there. Seeing Ye Qing approach, Black Bear immediately came over to greet him.
Black Bear said, "Captain, there are thirteen people dead, each with many wounds on their bodies. It looks like they were tortured before death. Moreover, most of the bodies are incomplete, seemingly chewed on by fish at the bottom of the sea. The time of death was probably around three in the morning; the bodies were moved from another place, so the actual site of death shouldn't be here."
Standing with Zhao Chengshuang was a deputy who had just been transferred from another area and didn't recognize Ye Qing or Black Bear, nor did he know their identities. After hearing this, the deputy was taken aback and said in disbelief, "Isn't this the forensic identification result of our police department? How can this kind of information be shared so carelessly?"
Zhao Chengshuang curled his lip and said, "Look closely; the forensic pathologist hasn't even arrived yet!"
"What?" The deputy was startled again and asked, "If the forensic pathologist hasn't arrived, where did this information come from?"
"Without a forensic pathologist, can't people use their eyes to see for themselves?" said Zhao Chengshuang.
"They saw for themselves?" The deputy looked dumbfounded at Black Bear and mumbled, "You... You've worked as a forensic pathologist before?"
Zhao Chengshuang, not bothering to entertain him, waved his hand and said, "Stop wasting words, go help out, and take the eyewitnesses to record their statements!"
The deputy left in confusion; he still couldn't fathom how Black Bear knew all this information. Having been a police officer for so long, he was well aware that such details could only be confirmed by a forensic pathologist after systematic identification. The police department's forensic pathologist hadn't even arrived yet, so how did they get this information?
Of course, he had no idea that both Ye Qing and Black Bear were veterans who had come from the battlefield as Special Forces; basic identification of corpses was a part of their essential training. In jungle warfare, even discovering a wild animal's carcass meant they had to collect the most critical intelligence from it to quickly judge the surrounding terrain and enemy situation. And when it came to finding human bodies, they had to inspect them even more meticulously to track down the enemy, which was an extremely important survival law for jungle combat. It could be said that Black Bear's ability in basic identification was in no way inferior to that of an experienced forensic pathologist from the police department!
"Can you tell where exactly these bodies were moved from?" Ye Qing asked in a grave voice. Last night he had almost had a conflict with the Snake Form Gate, and it had taken a lot of effort to hold off that incident for the time being. Now, thirteen people from the Snake Form Gate were dead, and his first thought was that this was undoubtedly targeting him.
Black Bear shook his head and said, "The bodies have been submerged for a bit too long, so for the moment, it's difficult to determine where exactly they were transferred from."
Ye Qing frowned slightly and was just about to check the bodies himself when suddenly, several cars rushed over like mad. The vehicles hadn't even come to a stop when a few men leaped out, with Snake leading them from the Snake Form Gate.
They too had received the news and immediately rushed over, each person's face displaying both grief and rage. From afar, seeing Ye Qing, their eyes held a chill, showing no good will towards him whatsoever.
Ye Qing couldn't help feeling resigned. He'd just had a confrontation with people from the Snake Form Gate the night before and was hoping to resolve the issue. Now, with this new discovery, it seemed truly too difficult to defuse the tension.
In truth, since last night any person of normal intelligence could easily see there was something fishy about these incidents. However, Snake's hostile perspective towards Ye Qing indicated one of two possibilities: either Snake had been bought to act against Ye Qing, or his intelligence simply wasn't up to par. Of course, judging by Snake's behavior, the latter seemed quite likely.
Ye Qing led his brothers over, just as Snake and his group were being stopped by the police. They were anxiously negotiating with the officers, hoping they would let them through to see the bodies of their fellow disciples. But the police were steadfast in barring their way, after all, it was a major homicide case.
Seeing the expressions on Snake and the others' faces, Ye Qing sighed and spoke to Zhao Chengshuang, who then allowed them to enter. As soon as Snake and his group rushed in, they went straight to the thirteen corpses and began to wail loudly, each one seething with rage, clamoring for revenge. As they cried for vengeance, their eyes were fixed on Ye Qing, looking as if they regarded him as their sworn enemy already!
Ye Qing didn't say anything, merely walking up to the corpses and meticulously examining each one. The injuries on the bodies were obvious at a glance—indicating that they had suffered a great deal of torture before death, which was precisely why Snake and his followers were so enraged. It was clear that the perpetrator had intentionally inflicted these wounds to enrage the people of Snake Form Gate and stir up their hatred towards Ye Qing.
Ye Qing knew it was useless to explain anything to Snake at this point, and without saying a word, he carefully searched for any potential clues. However, after a while, his brows began to furrow more deeply. He had found some clues, but these were increasingly unfavorable to him.
There was a noticeable presence of golden powder on the bodies, similar to the decorative powder used on walls. This golden powder seemed identical to the special gold dust used in Splendid Gold and Jade—a venue under Ye Qing's management. Most crucially, this gold dust was the trademark of Splendid Gold and Jade, rarely seen elsewhere. How could it be on these men's bodies?
Ye Qing's frown deepened. Had these men been to Splendid Gold and Jade? If that was the case, then this golden powder could be used as evidence and would be very detrimental to Ye Qing in the future!
Without showing any sign of concern, Ye Qing stood up and quietly beckoned Chen Jun over, instructing him to drive to Splendid Gold and Jade immediately to check if there were any unfamiliar bloodstains. Meanwhile, he continued to stay and observe the corpses for other clues.
While Ye Qing was meticulously searching, someone from Snake Form Gate suddenly exclaimed, "Snake, what is this?"
Ye Qing immediately turned his head to look and saw someone from Snake Form Gate holding the hand of a corpse. The hand was clenched tightly around something—it was unclear what it was.
Snake walked over and tried to pry open the corpse's hand. However, it was evident the deceased had grasped the object just before death when all their strength would have been concentrated in their hand, causing the joints to stiffen. It was impossible to open the hand without breaking the fingers, which seemed to be the only option.
Seeing that Snake was about to use brute force, Ye Qing quickly came over and said, "Wait, you'll break his fingers if you do that!"
"Get lost!" One man from Snake Form Gate glared back furiously and shouted, "Ye, stop pretending to be compassionate. I know it was you who killed them. The people of Snake Form Gate will never let you off!"
"Yes, the people of Snake Form Gate will never let you off!" Others joined in the angry shouting.
Snake, without looking back at Ye Qing, clenched his teeth and continued to force the hand open. But the force was too strong, and the corpse's fingers snapped with a crack, startling Snake and freezing the others from Snake Form Gate in shock.
Ye Qing sighed, walked past the crowd, placed his hand on the corpse's arm junction, and gently exerted pressure. The corpse's hand surprisingly stretched open on its own.
At this, everyone was stunned, especially the people from Snake Form Gate, who stared in disbelief. After a while, one of them suddenly cried out, "The corpse is coming back to life!"
Immediately, two of them turned and fled in terror, while the rest, though they didn't run, turned extremely pale. After all, a corpse opening its own hand was enough to frighten anyone.
Ye Qing said, "It's not a resurrection; the joints of the corpse relaxed automatically. I pressed down on the corpse's meridians, which allowed the stiff meridians to relax, and the clenched hand opened by itself."
Hearing this, everyone looked at Ye Qing with skepticism, still with faces of shock. The two who had run away hadn't continued their flight but stood a good distance away, too afraid to approach, in case the corpse would suddenly leap up.
Ye Qing paid no attention to them. The matter of the meridians was something he learned from the Acupoint Seeking Technique, which was indeed hard for ordinary people to understand. He carefully examined the object in the corpse's hand, but his expression suddenly changed drastically, as if struck by lightning, and his eyes widened in shock.