Qiming Chapter 37

Chapter 37

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"What extermination case?" Seeing Gu Yunfeng put down his phone, he shifted his position slightly.

"The news just pushed the story about Jiang Ronghua. The entire Jiang family was murdered in their home." Gu Yunfeng gave a bitter smile. "This happened just after the case was filed."

All killed? Accompanied by a violent cough, Xu Chengyue threw off the blanket covering him, feeling suffocated. "I'll get up and walk around." He had either been sitting or lying down these days, and maintaining the same posture made him feel restless. He got up, lifted his arm to hold the IV bottle, and walked barefoot to the window to open it, watching the ripples form on the artificial lake below.

"Where did that doctor go?" Gu Yunfeng asked.

"Hearing you mention the extermination case, he got scared and ran off."

"......" Hearing this, he pinched the bridge of his nose, unsure of what to say. Looking down, he saw Professor Xu barefoot and sockless, walking on the cold floor of the hospital room. He quickly found a pair of disposable cloth slippers from the cabinet and placed them by his feet.

"Xu Chengyue, hurry up and put on the slippers."

After saying this, he called Wen Xin, asking her to come help take care of Professor Xu, switching shifts with her.

Xu Chengyue put on the slippers expressionlessly, feeling as if his chest was weighed down by countless stones. He stared at the slowly flowing IV fluid, uncertain whether his unease was due to his physical condition or poor mood. Logically, he had no connection to the family involved, they were complete strangers. Even if the extermination shocked him, it shouldn't overly affect his emotions.

"What's wrong with you? Your face suddenly looks terrible."

"Nothing, just feeling uncomfortable hearing about the case." He shook his head, saying it was nothing. "The people in the Jiang family who were killed... who are they?"

"Jiang Ronghua himself, as well as his wife, son, and daughter," Gu Yunfeng replied. "His youngest son just returned from his holiday abroad today. He fainted upon opening the door and reported the case after waking up."

—————

Outside the Jiang family villa on Qianyuan Road, layers of police tape had cordoned off the area. The standalone villa, built by the river, stood three stories high in a faux-European style, complete with a large garden.

As it was a high-end neighbourhood, outsiders couldn't enter, and only a few residents stood nearby, whispering about the brevity of life. A young boy knelt outside the police tape, clutching a baseball cap tightly in his hand, dressed in designer clothes, and dragging a huge suitcase, crying loudly.

"Who's that kid?" Gu Yunfeng stepped over the police tape and into the villa garden, vaguely able to smell a bloody odour.

"Jiang Ronghua's youngest son, Jiang Quan," Qin Wei looked at the sobbing boy with sympathy and shook his head helplessly. "This kid is really pitiful too."

"What's the situation on the scene?" He raised his hand, striding towards the villa. When he stopped next to Jiang Quan, the boy looked up, his eyes filled with the shock and sadness of a sudden tragedy.

"There are four victims in total," a young officer answered nervously. "They are Jiang Ronghua's current wife, Yin Shaoxing, his second son, Jiang Yang, his youngest daughter, Jiang Shuishan, and Jiang Ronghua himself."

Jiang Yang, Jiang Quan, Jiang Shuishan... How lacking in water was this Jiang family? Even their residence was by the river, yet it didn't protect them from disaster.

Old Qin walked slowly, seemingly unwilling to get too close to the villa. Noticing his reluctance, Gu Yunfeng didn't think much of it, donned shoe covers and gloves, and pushed the door open, walking straight inside.

As soon as he stepped into the double-height living room on the first floor, he was stunned.

The entire living room was covered in winding bloodstains. In the centre of the room stood a square dining table with a bouquet of flowers and two candleholders, one of which was still burning, having burnt all night.

In the four cardinal directions around the dining table, north, south, east, and west, there was a chair placed in each, and on each chair sat a deceased person. They were seated at the table, their bodies leaning back against the chair, with their hearts pierced by sharp daggers, killed with a single blow. Each of their faces was a twisted mixture of astonishment and fear, with an exquisite dinner plate in front of them, complete with knives, forks and chopsticks, and neatly arranged fresh slices of bloody meat.

The next moment, as he looked up, he couldn't help but retch a few times. The male corpse seated directly north was different from the others. His body had not been pierced by a dagger, and his heart was intact. He had been dismembered, his limbs hacked off, leaving his flesh mangled and his face grotesquely contorted with extreme pain.

His chest bore no wounds, but he had been dismembered alive, dying from massive blood loss. The meat slices on the plates might very well have been from this man's severed limbs.

Perhaps he watched his own flesh being sliced thinly by a knife. The overturned seasoning bottle on the dining table suggested that – the murderer had even seasoned his sliced muscles and served them to the others as a dish.

Gu Yunfeng retreated from the villa, struggling to lift his legs as he walked outside. He looked up to see Qin Wei standing there, wearing an expression that said, "I understand."

Qin Wei casually lit a cigarette, flicking the ash lightly and taking a deep drag. The boy kneeling outside the villa gradually stopped crying, sitting there in a daze, completely lost.

"Let's wait for the autopsy results," Old Qin said, looking at the boy, who was about the same age as his daughter. The boy had originally come home for the holidays, longing to see his family, only to open the door to such a gruesome scene.

"So young, and already lost his parents. Captain Gu, remember to have our people take him away for questioning later."

Gu Yunfeng nodded, pulling out his phone to see a WeChat message from Xu Chengyue.

– What's the status of the case now?

– The murderer seems to care a lot about ceremony, everything is arranged very neatly... I'll tell you the specifics when I get back to the hospital.

Mid-August was typically the hottest time of the year, causing the bodies to decompose quickly and the scent of decay to mingle with the smell of blood. He stared at the darkening screen, lost in thought, his mouth dry. He picked up a bottle of mineral water provided by the police team, gulping it down. Some water trickled down his jaw, over his Adam's apple, and soaked his collarbone.

"Old Qin, is the dismembered victim Jiang Ronghua's second son?" He screwed the cap back on, squeezed the air out of the empty bottle, and tossed it into the recycling bin.

"Yes, Jiang Yang, thirty-two years old." Old Qin leisurely scrolled through his phone. "Heh, I see people online calling him a big thief, saying he deceived women all over and liked to... scam for sex? This kid really made people hate him."

Jiang Yang the big thief, truly living up to his name. (Angel: 江洋大盗, Jiangyang Dadao is a Chinese idiom, which means a robber who robs and commits crimes in rivers, lakes and seas.)

"He was married, right? Are they still together?" He recalled a woman around thirty years old who had repeatedly called the police because of domestic violence, possibly Jiang Yang's wife.

"Married five years ago. His wife's name is... here it is, Lin Xiangrong, two years older than him. They're still married and should still be together," Qin Wei said, shaking his head with dismay as he browsed through local forums. "We just arrived and someone has already posted about the case online, digging up the Jiang family's entire ancestry."

"... Make sure they delete any sensitive information when we get back," Gu Yunfeng said, massaging his shoulders and joints. Vicious cases like this, happening in a residential community, spread quickly. No matter how distant they are in normal times, they are still neighbours in the same community. Even if neighbours don't know each other well, they'd recognise faces, then ask a few questions. As the story spreads from one person to another, word of mouth could distort the facts. He had to do his best to prevent case details from leaking, avoiding undue panic and potential copycat crimes.

"Where's Lin Xiangrong? Why wasn't she at the Jiang house?"

"I spoke with the youngest son of the Jiang family just now," Qin Wei glanced towards Jiang Quan. "The kid said his second sister-in-law is travelling in Northern Europe, scheduled to return next week. But with this incident, she'll probably return in the next day or two."

"This couple is strange. Married five years and no kids, she doesn't work, and is just a full-time housewife," Qin Wei muttered, lighting a cigarette. "Seems she has a pretty easy life as a rich wife."

"Are you envious, Old Qin?" Gu Yunfeng teased. He knew Jiang Yang was a bad character, violent enough to beat his wife, totally a social scum who does wrong because he has money.

"Envious of what? This family's either dead or in jail, it's tragic," Qin Wei said nonchalantly, squatting by the police tape and stubbing out his cigarette. "She's lucky to be away on holiday, otherwise, there'd be another body."

"Is that so?" He asked rhetorically.

Jiang Yang, the second son, has been notorious in Nanpu's social circles since childhood. He was well-acquainted with various models and internet celebrities, often spending lavishly on them. Recently, he'd been chasing after a group of underage idols, buying them expensive gifts worth six figures.

The guy looks like he hasn't had enough fun, how did he willingly get married five years ago when he was only in his twenties?

Surveying the area, the security of the villa complex was quite tight. Entry required a special access card, with surveillance at entrances and some intersections. Inside the Jiang villa, he'd seen at least five or six home security cameras.

"Old Qin, Jiang Yang is the second son, where's their eldest?" Gu Yunfeng suddenly realised someone was missing. The other victim was a young girl who was only twelve, and Jiang Yang's brother Jiang Quan...

Where were the other family members?

"How should I know? That family has so many messy affairs," Qin Wei grumbled, giving him an irritated look. "If you don't know, I don't either. Back at the station, we'll dig up his hidden siblings, how many girlfriends he's had, every shady affair, I'll find everything for you."

"That sort of thing, ah, he's certainly not done a lot of it."

A forensics officer hurried past them, overhearing their conversation. He paused, holding several evidence bags. "Captain Gu, are you asking about the Jiang family's eldest?"

Gu Yunfeng nodded eagerly.

"He's at the nearby Jinping Hospital."

"Hospital?"

"Mhmm," the officer looked around cautiously before speaking quietly. "His name is Jiang Hai, the only son of Jiang Ronghua and his first wife. He's five years older than Jiang Yang. Seven years ago, he was in a car accident and has been in a coma at the hospital ever since."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: July 10, 2024 by Angel

Edited: September 3, 2024 by Angel