The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 326 Tiny Wounds

“You lied. You had an argument with Dong Ziwu before the incident.” In the interrogation room, Qi Fei sat opposite Meng Qian, gazing at her beautiful face as he spoke.

Meng Qian's eyes reddened, and she bit her lip, trying hard to control her surging emotions. After a long while, she finally spoke: "That's right, I lied. I was afraid you would suspect me. But I only argued with him, I didn't kill him. I wouldn't bear to kill him."

Why are you arguing?

“Because he broke up with me that morning. He said that Li Shuangshuang was introduced by President Tian and was pregnant with his child, so he could only marry her, and our relationship had to end.” Meng Qian’s voice began to tremble as she said this. “But I was the one who was with him for five years. For those five years, I was the one who took care of him from behind. Every time I asked him for a title, he would coax me and say that he would propose to me when he joined the company.”

I foolishly believed him and waited for five years. And what was the result?

"So you harbored resentment and decided to kill Dong Ziwu." Qi Fei used a provocation tactic.

“I didn’t!” Meng Qian almost stood up from her chair. “He said it wouldn’t be good if people saw us arguing at the company entrance, and he wanted to drag me home. I refused, and when he couldn’t coax me, he made an excuse that he had an appointment to talk to someone and ran away. Humph, kill him? He didn’t even give me a chance to do it. You wouldn’t understand the feeling of heartbreak. Seeing him ignore my pain for the sake of his reputation, I didn’t even have the heart to kill him.”

"Who did he make plans with? Did he say who he made plans with?"

"I don't know, and I don't care."

“Oh, maybe it’s just an excuse to get away, right?” Wu Shanqiu’s words provoked Meng Qian’s rebuttal.

She immediately retorted, "I saw him run off and get into a black car! Surely this wasn't arranged specifically to deceive me?"
-
Qi Fei sat on a rock, watching the narrow mountain path, barely wide enough for one person, disappear into the deep green and dark pine forest. The winter mountain wind was biting, brushing against his cheeks like tiny blades.

Wu Shanqiu opened her thermos and took a sip of hot water, slightly out of breath, and said, "When we found Dong Ziwu, we didn't find any drag marks. This is a scenic area, and the footprints are very messy, so it's hard to say whether there's a suspect. Meng Qian couldn't find the license plate number, or even what kind of car it was, so this clue is practically nonexistent..."

“If someone frequently hikes along the Path of No Two, it won’t be difficult for them to find their way out. Whoever brought Dong Ziwu here knows very well that he’s not familiar with the area,” Qi Fei said.

"This shows that this person knows Dong Ziwu very well," Wu Shanqiu said.

"Hmm, if he came here when he was conscious, then he would at least remember the way up the mountain, right?" Qi Fei was a little confused.

“Indeed, judging from where he fell, this guy must have been completely lost and had no idea where to go,” Wu Shanqiu said.

Qi Fei stood up and looked around.

He traced his route back from where he found Dong Ziwu, and this seemingly unremarkable crime scene held many things he didn't understand.

Whoever brought Dong Ziwu here was someone familiar with the victim. If someone close to the deceased wanted to commit a crime, they would have countless opportunities and methods. Why would they go to such lengths to bring a tall, grown man to this scenic area far from the city center?

As far as the eye could see, there was only the bleak scene of winter. Qi Fei seemed to feel a kind of sadness, which made him unconsciously think of the snowy field with the scarecrow standing there. What secrets was Nancheng Investment hiding in this place?
-
In the cold dissection room, Dong Ziwu lay on his back on a stainless steel table. This young man, who was sought after by many girls and had a bright future in the workplace, was now nothing more than a broken shell.

"There was almost no food left in the deceased's stomach, so it seems he died hungry." Xiao Tao tidied up his tools, the stainless steel utensils clinking against each other in the quiet room.

Qi Fei bent down to examine the corpse more closely and noticed something on the edge of the mutilated face. He pointed and asked Xiao Tao, "There seems to be a wound here."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Tao put down his tools, looked in the direction Qi Fei was pointing, and couldn't help but exclaim "Eh!"

At the edge of the wound where the wild animal had bitten him, there were bluish-purple bruises the size of fingernail marks, which were indeed not easy to notice unless you looked very closely.

"I didn't even notice." Xiao Tao's usually calm tone carried a hint of annoyance as she turned and took a magnifying glass to examine the tiny scratch closely.

“Skin peeling and subcutaneous bruising,” Xiao Tao said as she looked, “and some tiny, barely noticeable yellow scabs…”

"What does this mean?" Qi Fei asked.

"Minor injuries sustained before death," Xiao Tao concluded decisively.

"So, Dong Ziwu had a conflict with someone before he got lost?" Qi Fei asked.

"Hmm..." Xiao Tao remained noncommittal, intently staring at the remaining wound, which was barely thicker than a few strands of hair. "Wait!" He seemed to have discovered something. He took out tweezers with his other hand and carefully examined the tiny wound. After a while, he removed a pebble, about the size of half a sesame seed. "It could also be from a fall."

"You landed on your face and got scrapes when you fell?" Qi Fei pieced together the marks and speculated on the possible scenario. "It might have been a larger wound, but a wild animal ate most of it?"

"Possibly." Xiao Tao carefully placed the gravel he found. "Let's take a look later and see if the composition of the stuff in this wound is similar to that of the stones at the crime scene."

“I just went to Buerjing this morning to re-examine the area where Dong Ziwu had been. I didn’t find any obvious signs of broken branches or landslides. Where could he have fallen?”

“That’s strange. Judging from the seepage of tissue fluid and the scab formation, this wound must have been caused within hours before he died,” Xiao Tao said, puzzled. “Moreover, I’ve examined other parts of his body and there are no obvious injuries. If it were a fall, we would usually do this.” Xiao Tao made a demonstration, “It’s hard to avoid impact on the upper limbs, knees, and palms.”

Qi Fei was silent for a moment, then realized the reason: "No, Xiao Tao, what you're saying is that when this person is conscious, they would have an instinctive defensive reaction when they fall. But Dong Ziwu was anesthetized, so this injury might have been caused while he was unconscious. Even so, there should be traces of someone falling nearby. It hasn't rained in Nancheng since Dong Ziwu died, so why aren't there any traces nearby? Could it be that he fell near Bu Er Jing?"

Xiao Tao glanced at the tiny, almost invisible grain of sand: "This little thing embedded in the wound might tell you the answer..."