Chapter 368: A Face-to-Face Phone Call
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
When Zhao Yu told them that he thought that there was a connection between the Tomb Murder Case and the Female Corpse in the Ancient Costume Case from eighteen years ago, the police detectives were divided on how to respond.
Some of them, including Mao Wei, didn’t believe that there was any connection between the two cases. But, Zhang Jingfeng and Lianghuan, who were familiar with cold cases, were supportive towards Zhao Yu’s hypothesis. They agreed with Zhao Yu’s a.n.a.lysis, as both cases were related to the tomb. Hence, it might be the same person’s doing!
The reasons that led to Mao Wei’s rejection of the idea was that the methods used in both cases were different, and also that the time interval in between the cases was sizable. Da Fei, who also disagreed, had also pointed out that the female corpse in the Ancient Costume Case was strangled, while the Tomb Murder Case victim was killed with a pickaxe! Hence, the methods of murder were completely different!
But Zhao Yu still insisted on the plausibility of his idea, saying, “Eighteen years ago, the murderer had never killed anyone before. So, I’m guessing that was why he resorted to the simple strangling of his victim. But, eighteen years later, I’m guessing that the murderer had grown up and become more sophisticated and calculated. Hence, he had advanced in his technique to incorporate weaponry!”
Zhao Yu said this because he had always been involved in fights in his previous life, so he was quite familiar with people that were ruthless. From studying the wound of the victim in the ancient tomb, he could tell that the murderer had killed with just one hit. It had been a brutal and accurate blow. If the murderer wasn’t someone that had strong will, they definitely wouldn’t have been able to commit such a violent deed.
“Captain Miao, what Zhao Yu is saying can’t be ignored,” Liang Huan said. “If the Female Corpse in the Ancient Costume Case is indeed related to the Tomb Murder Case, it could be that there were even more homicide cases that occurred in the years between the two! Try to imagine this scenario: the murderer was a ferocious grave robber, who was also quite wicked and psychopathic. After he killed, he discarded the dead bodies inside the grave…”
“Mm!” Although Miao Ying thought that Zhao Yu’s speculations were still a little far-fetched, she had to agree with what Liang Huan was saying. Such possible connections and evidence could not in good conscience be ignored.
So, she said, “Alright, I agree that it is indeed necessary for us to reopen the investigation of the Female Corpse in the Ancient Costume Case. Who knows, we might even be able to find some new clues from this line of thinking, thanks to Zhao Yu!”
“And…” Mao Wei suddenly said, “If the murderer was really a grave robber, he might have a criminal record. So, I think we should look for any details we can find on arrested grave robbers in the past. Then, if we get lucky, maybe the murderer is hidden among the profiles already in our record!”
“True!” Everyone nodded, followed by Miao Ying’s deciding to appoint Mao Wei to lead the investigation.
“Zhao Yu, regarding the Female Corpse in the Ancient Costume, let Zhang Jingfeng and Liang Huan handle it!” Miao Ying told Zhao Yu, “I’d like you to focus your attention on investigating the relics! Why don’t you head to the antique market to see if there are any relic sellers that are suspicious…”
“Mm…” Zhao Yu really wanted to look into the Female Corpse in the Ancient Costume Case instead. But, as Miao Ying had already given the orders, he couldn’t refuse and simply nodded quietly.
“Li Beini!” Miao Ying then said to Li Beini, “You are in charge of keeping watch on the updates coming from the munic.i.p.al bureau. Once there are any new updates, report all findings to us immediately!”
“Okay!” Li Beini made an OK hand signal.
“I will look into the details surrounding the three old experts’ situation, when they went missing with Zhang Yaohui!” Miao Ying said. “Alright. Everyone has their orders, so let’s work together to solve this case!”
As Miao Ying finished speaking, everyone made the same OK hand signal like Li Beini.
…
As Zhao Yu left the police station, the sky was quickly growing dark with clouds and stormy weather. Good thing he had brought his umbrella!
The rain was getting heavier, seeming almost like it was going to become a torrential downpour soon. Although Zhao Yu had his umbrella, his trouser legs were already completely soaked with rainwater.
Zhao Yu quickened his footsteps in an attempt to return home more quickly. Just when he was turning onto Shun Feng Street, a breeze blew toward him and he couldn’t help but sneeze!
Achoo…
When he sneezed, the system in his mind was suddenly activated, resulting in his receiving a hexagram, right there in the rain! Zhao Yu only then realized that it was already past midnight! So, it was indeed not that unusual that he could get a new hexagram at the moment. However, after he looked at the hexagram, Zhao Yu felt a little disappointed, as the system had given him a “Dui-Kan” hexagram!
Tsk tsk…
It was a crucial time for Zhao Yu, as he was deep in the throes of investigating the case. Because of this, the hexagram that he most looked forward to was the “Gen” hexagram, which represented the development of the case investigation. It’s a pity, he thought to himself, that there wasn’t one of those this evening instead.
He was, of course, disappointed. It almost seemed to even forebode that the case investigation the next day wouldn’t go well.
Looking at the hexagram, Zhao Yu recalled that, while his mother had been helping him look for the book, she had searched up and down at both of his two uncles’ houses. She had even found his uncles’ private money stashes! Yet, she couldn’t find any ancient book that was related to Ghost Ba Gua whatsoever.
In the end, however, his mother did come up with another lead. She told Zhao Yu that Zhao Yu’s grandfather used to have an a.s.sistant, who stayed in Lingyun City. This person was already more than eighty years old by now, she said. However, he still might know something about Ghost Ba Gua.
Then, his mother found the address and pa.s.sed it on to Zhao Yu, so that he could him visit Lingyun City personally. Of course Zhao Yu wouldn’t normally let such a chance slip by. But, just when he was getting ready to visit Lingyun City, the Tomb Murder Case happened, so he had to postpone in order to deal with that.
“Dui-Kan” hexagram!
Zhao Yu thought to himself: “Dui” represents wealth and “Kan” represents woman. So….hmmm….Regarding wealth…Recently, I didn’t see any signs of my gaining wealth…
Last month, the gym had made a net profit of one hundred and fifty thousand, and there had been one “Dui” hexagram during that time. The other time that the “Dui” hexagram was received, was when the twenty thousand cash reward for the Bank Hidden Corpse Case was transferred.
Although there were many victims in the Bank Hidden Corpse Case, and the case was very serious, as it was not a reward case, the cash reward wasn’t much at all. Hence, Zhao Yu had done the work himself on the case as a favor, at little cost to him, and then was able to distribute the twenty thousand to everyone!
He considered this handling of the reward as the only fair way. Although he had risked his life to arrest Qiu Xinyang during the case investigation, everyone on the team had given an effort, and Pengxin and the rest were even knocked out by anaesthesia smoke! Hence, it wouldn’t be nice if he greedily kept the reward only for himself.
Besides, the pouch filled with the two hundred thousand in old notes that Mr. Tao had given to him, Zhao Yu no longer intended to sell! He felt that firstly, he was not short of money, and secondly, the old notes had too much of sentimental value to not keep them.
So, in the end, he went to deposit the money back into the safe deposit box in Qinshan bank. Luckily, the safe deposit box system in the bank had been upgraded, so it could definitely ensure its security.
After this was completed, he had to wonder: If money that should be received was already in his hands, what would happen the next day that would be related to money?
Besides the “Dui” hexagram, there was the “Kan” hexagram. Zhao Yu could read people very keenly. So, when he was in the cab on his way back from the bank, he could tell that the female driver was definitely interested in him. In fact, he was pretty sure that, if he were to carry on with the woman, they might already be in a motel by now! But, Zhao Yu’s heart belonged only to Miao Ying, so he didn’t have any wicked ideas.
At that moment, when he saw another “Kan” hexagram, he could only hope that the hexagram related to his relations.h.i.+p with Miao Ying. Then, it could possibly mean that he would get to “know” Miao Ying further!
But, the miracle system was unpredictable. When Zhao Yu reached the fruit store on Shun Feng Street, he knew that the “Kan” hexagram that day would not be related to Miao Ying! He could tell this because of the scene the greeted him at the fruit store.
He could see that Yang Hong was standing at the stairway anxiously. She had just taken out her phone and seemed to be making a call to someone. Coincidentally, when Yang Hong was making the call, Zhao Yu’s phone rang. Zhao Yu looked at the display screen, only to see that it was indeed Yang Hong calling him!