Chapter 45: Clues

Not every student who graduates from a police academy is skilled at sketching.

Therefore, Xia Baokun picked up the phone directly and called over a criminal police officer who excelled at sketching.

Then, based on Jiang Xiyue's oral description, a portrait of the person was quickly drawn out.

"Does she look like this?"

The officer in charge of the sketch handed the completed portrait to Jiang Xiyue.

Looking at the sketchbook, it depicted a young girl with a ponytail and delicate facial features. Her timid gaze, slightly furrowed brows, and even the subconscious action of biting her lower lip were all captured on paper, making it look as though the artist had witnessed the person in person.

"Yes, that's her. You drew her exactly as I saw her," Jiang Xiyue said with a look of surprise.

Before she could finish, a hand reached out from the side and snatched the sketchbook away.

Jiang Xiyue turned her head and saw it was Xia Baokun, who was now closely examining the sketch in his hands.

Station Chief Guan also curiously leaned in. Seeing Yin Xingyue's appearance, he said with some emotion, "She looks very young. I wonder if we can find her in our police database."

Hearing this, Xia Baokun glanced at Station Chief Guan. His remark clearly showed a bias toward Jiang Xiyue.

"Then have someone check and see if there really is such a young girl."

Xia Baokun handed the sketchbook to Station Chief Guan.

In fact, even without Station Chief Guan's intercession, Xia Baokun had already cleared Jiang Xiyue of suspicion.

That was because he had just called the forensic doctor and confirmed the victim's time of death. During that time frame, Jiang Xiyue was out on duty. Not only was she captured on law enforcement dashcams, but her presence also appeared on traffic surveillance cameras everywhere, making it impossible for her to have committed the murder.

However, this made the situation even more baffling. Could there have been a malfunction with the surveillance cameras?

Yet just now, while Jiang Xiyue was dictating the sketch, they had also checked the surveillance footage and found no issues at all.

Therefore, Xia Baokun was more inclined to believe that Jiang Xiyue knew the killer and was in cahoots with them. But what would be the point of doing that?

Moreover, he had already subconsciously ruled out this possibility in his mind. It wasn't because he trusted Jiang Xiyue blindly, but rather because she was Jiang Haitao's daughter, and Jiang Haitao's daughter would surely not knowingly break the law.

If not that either, then the only logical explanation was that everything truly was just Jiang Xiyue's imagination, and discovering the body was merely a coincidence.

Such situations did happen in reality, where various coincidences piled up to make things seem bizarre.

Xia Baokun felt a headache coming on.

Guan Xueming did not keep Xia Baokun waiting for long before he walked over excitedly, holding some documents.

"There really is such a person?" Xia Baokun asked in astonishment.

"Yes, take a look." Guan Xueming handed the documents in his hand to Xia Baokun.

Xia Baokun took them, glanced through them, and a look of surprise appeared on his face as well.

"Dead?"

"Yes, she jumped from a building and committed suicide a month ago."

As Guan Xueming spoke, he even pulled out his phone and brought up the news report covering the incident at the time.

Guan Xueming's words served as a reminder to Xia Baokun, because the serial murder case also seemed to have started about a month ago.

Could this be a vendetta triggered by the death of this young girl named Yin Xingyue?

Thinking of this, Xia Baokun hurriedly flipped further back through the documents and discovered a police report record.

Yin Xingyue's mother had reported her stepfather missing two days prior.

Flipping through the documents more carefully, he found that Yin Xingyue's interpersonal relationships were very simple. Aside from her mother, the only other family member she had was a grandmother living in the countryside.

If it were a vendetta, given her grandmother's age, she certainly wouldn't be capable of pulling this off. If it were her mother, then her mother must have had an accomplice...

And why a vendetta? Could it be because of something between the children...

This case seemed to be gradually clearing up.

"Little Jiang insists that this young girl was the one who came to report the case, but the girl has been dead for over a month. Could her ghost have come to report it?" Guan Xueming sighed from the side.

At this point, his mind was also beginning to lean toward the idea that Jiang Xiyue had developed mental issues. If not that, then she was lying. But why would she lie? What was she covering up?

Hearing this, Xia Baokun suddenly turned to look at Guan Xueming, a look of uncertainty and shock on his face.

Thus, when he went to work the next day, Yin Xingyue suddenly ran over and said to Shen Siyuan with a strange expression, "The police have arrested my mother."

"Why did they arrest her? Did she commit some crime?" Shen Siyuan asked with some curiosity.

Yin Xingyue shook her head. "I don't know either."

Before Shen Siyuan could continue, she added, "I don't even care about her."

Do not judge another's suffering; do not preach another's virtue.

Furthermore, Shen Siyuan was well aware of Yin Xingyue's background, and the role her mother played in it was deeply problematic.

Therefore, he naturally would not utter any high-sounding platitudes to accuse her of unfiliality.

So he asked, "What about that uncle of yours? Has he been found?"

"No."

Hearing this, Shen Siyuan frowned slightly, thinking to himself: Her stepfather is missing, and her mother has been arrested—could he have been killed by her mother?

But why? Could it be out of a sudden return of conscience?

Shen Siyuan could not fathom these complicated twists and turns, so he simply decided not to dwell on them anymore. The police would naturally have to worry about these matters.

The police were indeed worried. Xia Baokun felt like his head was about to explode.

After working busily for an entire day and night, they had figured out quite a few things.

First, the possibility of a vendetta motivated by Yin Xingyue's suicide was ruled out, because among the three victims, the children of two of them attended different schools from Yin Xingyue and had no intersection with her whatsoever, while the remaining victim had no children at all.

Meanwhile, Jiang Xiyue's suspicion was completely cleared. Although one was named Jiang Xiyue and the other Yin Xingyue, and both names shared the character "Yue," there was no relationship between them whatsoever. Everything truly might just be a coincidence.

Additionally, the suspicion surrounding Jiang Xiyue's mother was also cleared. However, the police obtained an important clue from her.

That was, several of the victims, along with Yin Xingyue's mother Yang Xuejiao and stepfather Fang Yunlou, had all studied at the same school in the past—they were all former students of the Cotton Textile Factory's affiliated school.

However, the cotton textile factory had long since gone bankrupt, and its affiliated school had long ceased to exist, which added to the difficulty of their investigation.

Xia Baokun guessed that Fang Yunlou was probably doomed as well, and they were just waiting for the killer to eventually notify them to collect the body.

Thinking about it made his blood boil. What did they take the police for? This was a provocation against the Binhai police system.

Moreover, there was the matter of Jiang Xiyue. Although her suspicion had been cleared, she insisted that she had seen the deceased Yin Xingyue. He could not simply ignore this matter because she was Jiang Haitao's daughter.

Therefore, he had come here. This was an old residential house, and looking in from outside the courtyard, one could see many flowers and plants growing inside.

Xia Baokun finished his last puff of a cigarette, extinguished it under his foot, and then walked up to knock on the courtyard gate.

"Is anyone home?" Xia Baokun's tone carried a hint of respect.

The courtyard gate was quickly opened from the inside, revealing a young girl in her late teens with delicate features and a head full of silver hairpins—a style unique to the Li ethnic group.

"Who are you looking for?" the girl asked, blocking the doorway.

"Is the matriarch home?" Xia Baokun asked.

Hearing this, the girl immediately turned around and shouted into the house, "Grandma, someone is here to see you."

"Who is it?" an elderly voice came from inside.

"It's me, Xia Baokun," Xia Baokun quickly said in a loud voice.

The person inside heard him and fell silent for a brief moment, seemingly just then recalling who Xia Baokun was, before speaking up, "Amei, let him in."

Hearing this, the girl opened the door wider and led Xia Baokun into the courtyard.

The courtyard was filled with blooming flowers and plants competing in beauty, making it very picturesque.

Walking along a small path to the main hall, right in the center was enshrined a statue of "Poulongkou"—this was the Li term, which translated into Mandarin as "Hercules." He was the ancestral deity of the Li people, equivalent to Pangu in the Han culture, and held a lofty status among the Li people.

(PS: This book features a setting of sole supreme magic with practitioners, but no one succeeds in genuine cultivation; there are only minor, bloodline-passed abilities, so readers can rest assured.)