He paused slightly, quietly taking stock. Nothing went wrong yesterday, did it?
Why was she here again?
Yes, although the car had no distinguishing features, Lin Xiaosu's extraordinary eyesight was impossible to fool. Through the window, he recognized the driver at a glance—it was Zhou Mei, the policewoman from yesterday.
Zhou Mei executed a beautiful drift and stopped outside Lin Xiaosu's courtyard gate. She and another woman got out at the same time and walked over.
Lin Xiaosu's gaze swept over the other woman, and his heart gave a slight jolt. There was far too much about this woman that felt out of place...
But his gaze only lingered briefly before settling on Zhou Mei's face. "Officer Zhou, do you still think there's something wrong with me? Did you come all this way to arrest me?"
"Yes!" Zhou Mei said with a straight face. "We analyzed things all night and decided you're highly suspicious, so we'd like to invite you to the station for a bowl of noodles..."
"When government officials arrest criminals, shouldn't they say they're taking them to the station for tea? Why noodles?" Lin Xiaosu frowned.
Zhou Mei burst out laughing. "You still have the mind to worry about the difference between tea and noodles. Looks like you really didn't do anything bad."
"I didn't do anything bad in the first place."
"Then... would you invite us inside for some tea?" Zhou Mei asked.
Lin Xiaosu opened the courtyard gate...
The two women entered side by side. Carrying the teapot out from inside, Lin Xiaosu caught sight of the new beauty's eyes. They were strange—extremely clear, extremely deep, nothing like the eyes of a woman who lived in the mortal world.
"Is this lady an officer too?" Lin Xiaosu poured the newcomer a cup of tea first.
Zhou Mei smiled. "You're in luck. This is my superior, Officer Chang from the provincial department."
"Chang Ye." The beautiful woman softly spoke two words. Her demeanor was calm, and her voice was equally clean.
"Welcome, beautiful officers." Lin Xiaosu smiled. "What can I do for you?"
Zhou Mei turned her gaze toward Chang Ye...
Chang Ye spoke. "Mr. Lin, your investigative methods yesterday were nothing short of miraculous. I deeply admire them. I came today first to personally thank you, and second, because there is another case for which I would like to ask your help."
Lin Xiaosu said, "No need to thank me. If it hadn't involved my friend's Fighting Gym, I wouldn't have involved myself in a police investigation. As for another case... I really don't have the time. To be honest, officers, I'm preparing for the civil service exam, so time is tight."
Zhou Mei said, "Hey, helping the police solve cases is every citizen's..."
Chang Ye lightly raised a hand, stopping her slogan-like speech. "We saw your mother on the road just now. She was carrying a load of vegetables to sell at the market."
"Exactly. I haven't even helped my mother sell vegetables, leaving her to work so hard. That shows how truly busy I am," Lin Xiaosu said.
"Selling vegetables is for the family's livelihood. You could help ease your mother's burden. Help me with this, and I'll pay you."
Lin Xiaosu froze.
Zhou Mei froze too.
Was a provincial department leader this bold when handling cases?
Naturally, she had no idea of Chang Ye's true identity. Chang Ye had instructed the bureau chief not to reveal it.
Chang Ye smiled as she looked into Lin Xiaosu's eyes. Her smile was like an orchid blooming in a still night. "I can already see it in your eyes. Ten thousand yuan has been transferred to your account."
Ding!
At that moment, Lin Xiaosu's phone chimed with a text notification. He opened it and saw the message: Your bank card ending in **** has received a transfer of 10,000.00 yuan...
Lin Xiaosu was deeply conflicted.
After revealing that incredible ability yesterday, he had actually felt rather uneasy.
Facing Zhou Mei was one thing, but Chang Ye made him nervous. He always felt that this impossibly beautiful policewoman was no harmless soul. How could he tell?
Leaving aside his sixth sense, the details alone were enough. She knew his mother. She had never asked for his bank account number, yet she could transfer money to him with perfect accuracy.
That showed she had investigated him thoroughly. It was hardly a good sign...
Therefore, he truly did not want to get involved in whatever business she had.
But she was offering far too much!
Fine. For a civil servant's monthly salary, he would do it.
"Officer Chang's style... truly shows her sincerity." Lin Xiaosu sighed softly. "Go on. What case is it?"
Chang Ye explained...
Zhou Mei was stunned.
Her superior had told her to accompany Officer Chang from the provincial department on official business, but had never said it was for this. What could possibly come of this? It was an extremely typical accidental death, not a case at all.
Lin Xiaosu was also somewhat surprised...
Four days ago, inside a quiet meditation room at Qingyuan Temple on Tashan Mountain, a scholar who had lived there for many years suddenly died of a cerebral hemorrhage. The meditation room had been locked from the inside, there were no wounds on the deceased's body, and everything matched the symptoms of a cerebral hemorrhage. Even the doctors had concluded that it was a sudden cerebral hemorrhage. Yet Chang Ye had specifically asked him to solve this headless case...
"I want to know... why are you certain there was something wrong with his death?" Lin Xiaosu frowned.
"Because he once told me, 'Until my grand ambition is fulfilled, I will never die first!'" When Chang Ye spoke those words, her expression was filled with sorrow.
"'Until my grand ambition is fulfilled, I will never die first.' What a bold oath. But how many deaths in this world are voluntary?"
"No matter what, I want to try!" Chang Ye said. "Go to that meditation room. Use your method of catching scents, or the method you used to investigate Widow Feng's bathing case. Find every suspicious clue in that room, and you will have completed the task. Even if you find nothing, as long as you do your best, it will still count as completing the task."
"The body is gone already, right?"
"Yes!"
An empty room where someone had died four days ago—going there now to hunt for traces would probably be nothing more than going through the motions for an ordinary person. But after thinking for a while, Lin Xiaosu nodded lightly. "Let's go!"
The car sped out of Old Tashan Village.
The villagers were not disturbed.
After several turns, they reached the other side of Tashan Mountain.
Tashan Mountain stood between the county town and Old Tashan Village. Seen from either side, it offered completely different impressions.
From the Old Tashan Village side, it was an untouched mountain, with cliffs, forests, and the long-neglected Willow Forest Temple.
From the county town side, there was a children's amusement park at the foot of the mountain, the beautiful and tranquil Tashan Lake, the ever-improving Tashan Park, Qingyuan Ancient Temple in the mountains, a television broadcast tower at the summit, and a weather tower as well.
Such a place was the ideal weekend retreat for the county's 160,000 residents. With supporting facilities added year after year, this side of Tashan Mountain had gradually become a place where humanity and nature blended deeply together.
Qingyuan Temple was a very old temple, and its incense offerings were flourishing. How flourishing? A financial anecdote would make it clear. Several banks in the county racked their brains competing for the temple's incense offering accounts, unable to figure out how to curry favor with them. The other side was made up of monks—money, liquor, and women were all inappropriate gifts. So one bank came up with a clever trick. It arranged early retirement for its office director and had him join the Buddhist Association as secretary-general. In this way, it established ties with Qingyuan Temple and eventually secured the account handling tens of millions in cash flow. Everyone said this was truly "a winding path leads to a secluded place, where flowers and trees surround the meditation room." It was an unconventional interpretation of an ancient poem, and a fine tale in finance.
Qingyuan Temple had also opened up in recent years.
The clearest sign was that it had opened itself to certain scholars.
Tashan Mountain had abundant plant resources, including many plant specimens that had long gone extinct or were difficult to find elsewhere. Thus, some agricultural universities and research teams sent people to live here long-term, collecting plant samples from the mountains for various research projects.
Lin Xiaosu's target was one such person.
His name was Qu Taiqing, an elderly scholar from a research team. He had lived here for eight years and had little presence. Even when he suddenly died of a cerebral hemorrhage in his meditation room, hardly anyone knew.
Led by an old monk, they arrived at a meditation room in the rear courtyard of Qingyuan Temple. This secluded chamber was the room Qu Taiqing had once occupied.
The door opened. There was not much inside—only a few pieces of furniture, an incense burner, a grand armchair, and a bed. There were also several books on the table, all Buddhist scriptures from the temple.
At the doorway, Chang Ye told Lin Xiaosu that there had originally been some research materials and plant specimens inside. Those had been taken away, but everything else unrelated to the research remained in place. No unrelated personnel had entered the room after the incident. Everyone who went in to collect the materials had worn special protective clothing to ensure that not the slightest trace of scent was left behind.
The implication was clear: he could go in and sniff around. If there was another person's scent besides the one Qu Taiqing had left behind, that person would be the suspect.
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