Eyes that are the same as those of evil

Chapter 142 Fourteen Years of Pursuit 8
With this suspicion in mind, Tan Jia asked someone to retrieve more photos of Grandpa Wu's body.

Judging from the photo, the body was slightly curled up, with its hand covering the wound and its eyes wide open, as if it had died with its eyes open.

There are no discernible clues.

However, these photos were taken after Grandpa Wu died and the police arrived at the scene. Before that, he had about ten minutes left in his final moments. Amidst Grandma Wu's cries and the neighbors' frantic moving of the body, there may be some noteworthy details.

Tan Jia called Wu Yang.

"Sister Wu Yang, did you find out anything?"

“Not yet,” Wu Yang’s voice was heavy. “Those who could remember what happened back then are either dead or gone, leaving only a few people, and their answers are similar to before.”

"Is that enough to reconstruct the scene? I saw in the case file from back then that Zhu Qizhong, the butcher, was the first to recognize the murderer's face. He stared at him for a while, and the murderer realized something was wrong before Zhu Qizhong could shout, so he ran past him and jumped into the rapeseed field. That rapeseed field had exits on three sides, making it difficult to block someone, so at the time they guessed that the murderer was quite familiar with that area."

"Yes, but no one suspected it was a knife seller at the time, because selling knives on credit wasn't a legitimate business and had been involved in fraud, so both parties involved were doing it secretly, and it wasn't mentioned during interrogations."

She understood and continued reading the information from the case file: "After the murderer jumped into the rapeseed field, Zhu Qizhong shouted that the robber was here. The people who were hit saw the murderer's path and chased after him. According to their statements, the rapeseed field that was first trampled belonged to Wu Youhu, and your land was only a dozen meters away. At that time, Grandpa Wu happened to be on the embankment and immediately rushed in to help."

"Yes. The rapeseed flowers in our area grow very tall, almost like cornfields. When people are crawling inside, it's hard to see them from the outside; you can only hear them. Back then, many people crawled in to try and outflank Jiao Hua'an, but because they couldn't see the way, they just crawled around randomly. Who knew my grandfather would run into him head-on?"

Maybe it's just fate.

Others were also rummaging around in the field looking for people, some even carrying sticks. If Jiao Hua'an had run into those people, he would have been the one to lose his life.

Who knew it would be her grandfather, a grandfather who was empty-handed and determined to catch someone.

Tan Jia mentally recreated the scene, and said thoughtfully, "Grandpa Wu and Jiao Hua'an got into a fight. After they fell, along with the person who didn't help, the three of them should have been positioned with Jiao Hua'an standing at Grandpa Wu's feet and the third person standing at Grandpa Wu's head. That way, Jiao Hua'an could see the other person."

"Yes."

"Given his position, is it possible that Grandpa Wu also saw that person?"

Wu Yang was somewhat surprised: "It's possible that he saw it... When he fell down, he was resting his head on the stem of the rapeseed flower, which might have had a slight effect of elevating him. If he had been at a slightly different angle, he could have seen it completely... But that doesn't make sense."

“If my grandfather had seen it, why would that person have stood by and watched someone die?” Wu Yang raised a question. “If he hadn’t helped, and my grandfather had told others about it after he recovered, that person wouldn’t have been able to make a living in the village.”

"Unless he was certain that Grandpa Wu would die, or he was so frightened that he left instinctively and only returned after thinking about it later," Tan Jia guessed.

These two guesses are completely different. If it is the former, then he is undoubtedly an accomplice.

Wu Yang fell silent, probably deep in thought.

Tan Jia continued, "Did you see Grandpa Wu's body at the time? Was there anything strange? If he saw someone who was dying and didn't help, he might have tried to point it out, such as who he was staring at or whose name he was talking to Grandma Wu about."

“I’ll have to ask about that. I only saw the body being carried out.”

Blood was everywhere, and everyone was in a panic, so probably no one noticed that something was wrong with the body.

After all, it was a generally accepted fact that the fleeing robber had killed someone, the murderer was obvious, there was nothing to doubt, and no one noticed anything amiss back then.

Wu Yang rushed home and ran into his parents, who were also rushing back, along with his uncles and their families, as well as his grandfather and grandfather.

"I heard the murderer who killed your grandfather has been found?" Wu Yang's father asked anxiously as soon as he entered the door.

They too had waited fourteen years, each one gazing at her. Wu Yang took a deep breath and nodded, saying, "Yes, but the investigation is still ongoing..."

"Who is it? Who is the murderer? They investigated for so long but couldn't catch anyone. Weren't they supposed to be from out of town?"

"He was from out of town, a knife seller who used to roam the streets back in the day. Do you remember him?"

Fourteen years have passed, and they have no recollection of it. Besides, their family had never had any contact with the knife peddler back then. It was all because Grandpa Wu was kind-hearted and wanted to help that the tragedy occurred.

The room was silent for a few seconds, then people started cursing one after another, wiping away tears and forcing bitter smiles.

Grandma Wu's loose eyelids were filled with tears, and she said in a trembling voice, "It's a good thing. Fourteen years. I thought I wouldn't live to see this day before I died. Yangyang, when the murderer is found out, come back and let us know. We'll go and offer incense to your grandfather. He's waiting for us too."

Wu Yang nodded, took her grandmother's hand, and asked, "Do you remember anything strange about Grandpa when he passed away? Did he say anything to you?"

"Why did you ask so?"

“We need to find out all the details of what happened back then. It’s not enough to simply identify the murderer. I always felt that Grandpa could have been saved back then.”

"Sigh, you always get stuck on one thing. Let me think, your grandpa was barely clinging to life. He opened his mouth and made a few gasps, spitting out blood bubbles. I couldn't make out what he was saying, but he was probably screaming in pain. You know, he can't stand pain. His eyes were wide open. I was so anxious I lost my mind. I shouted for help, but you weren't home, so I called every single neighbor in the neighborhood..."

Choking back tears, Grandma Wu's forehead drooped onto the back of her and her grandson's clasped hands. Her shortened spine and forward-leaning neck made her look like a withered, shrunken tree bark.

The old man was older and a bit hunched over. He sighed and said, "Yangyang, pay attention. It will be easier to explain when you offer incense to your grandfather later."

“Yangyang needs to be taken more seriously,” the eldest uncle said after a moment of silence. “Among the three of us brothers, your grandfather loves your father the most, and among all the grandchildren, he loves you the most. If you don’t take care of him, who will?”

Wu Yang's face turned cold, and he wanted to retort, but looking at his grandmother's gray hair, he forced himself to hold back.

My second uncle's family remained silent, focusing only on drinking water.

The old man got angry when he saw that the family was outwardly harmonious but inwardly at odds, said a few words, and left.

Wu Yang escorted them downstairs and was about to leave when Lin Chunzhi called him back from the corridor.

"Mom? What are you doing outside?"

“Let me talk to you. You found the murderer? It’s been fourteen years. I knew you couldn’t forget this. You even insisted on taking the police exam back then,” Lin Chunzhi held her hand and observed her closely. “You’ve lost weight. You must have found the murderer soon, right? Your grandfather’s birthday is coming up. We can go to offer incense that day so he can rest in peace in the afterlife.”

"Not so fast, there are still some things to investigate."

"The murderer has been found, but the case can't be closed? What else is there to investigate?" Lin Chunzhi asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Actually, there was a third person who discovered Grandpa long ago, but that person couldn't be saved. I want to find out who that person is."

A few seconds after he said that, Lin Chunzhi's hand suddenly tightened.

"...In this situation, there's no need to investigate further. Maybe it's just an old man who had some grudge against your grandfather, and it wasn't intentional. The person might already be dead. Isn't finding the murderer enough?"

Seeing the somewhat stiff reaction on her face, Wu Yang's eyelids suddenly twitched.

(End of this chapter)