Siheyuan: Hang Jia Dongxu, smash Banggeng to death!

The sky was still barely light.

The roar of car engines could be heard from the alley entrance, where five green jeeps were parked one after another in front of the police station.

More than twenty people in dark blue police uniforms jumped out of the car, each with a solemn expression.

Leading the group was Qin Ming, the captain of the city's criminal investigation team, a forensic doctor, and the head of the special task force in charge of this murder case.

Half a step behind him was Deputy Team Leader Lao Wang, and behind them was a group of technicians, some carrying cameras and others carrying survey kits.

There was also a forensic doctor wearing white gloves, carrying a heavy metal box.

Chief Li quickly stepped forward to shake hands and welcome him, with Xiao Wang and several other officers from the station who had been working through the night following behind him.

"Team Leader Qin, you must be tired from your journey."

Qin Ming's gaze fell directly on the row of stretchers in the backyard, the human silhouettes under the white sheets clearly visible in the morning light.

They were stacked in a neat row.

Qin Ming's lips twitched, and his face darkened further. "Chief Li, seven lives lost in one night. You have such a big case here, how come you haven't found a single clue yet?"

The body was just lying in the yard? Where's the forensic doctor? Where's the autopsy report?

Director Li's outstretched hand hung awkwardly in mid-air; whether he pulled it back or not was also awkward.

He finally took it back, rubbed it along the seam of his pants, and his voice carried an undisguised weariness and embarrassment:

"Team Leader Qin, it's not that we don't want to investigate, it's just that... the crime scene is too clean."

Jia Dongxu, Liu Guangfu, and Liu Guangtian were hanged from a tree and then killed by a club in the courtyard of the siheyuan.

The three Yan brothers were found dead in an alley. There was no murder weapon, nor any hair, footprints, or clues found at the scene. It was truly...

"Alright."

Qin Ming interrupted him, "I didn't come here to hear your explanations of the difficulties. This case is already a major case. The city bureau chief personally signed the order, giving us three days to arrest the murderer."

Three days, seventy-two hours, and now nearly eight hours have passed, leaving us with sixty-four hours.

Chief Li, do you understand what this means?

Director Li's Adam's apple bobbed up and down, and a fine layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Solved in three days?

I already knew about this when I received a call from the Municipal Bureau late last night, but Qin Ming is saying it to my face now.

An invisible pressure pressed down on him. After thinking for a moment, Director Li stepped forward, lowered his voice, and reached out to pull Qin Ming's arm.

"Team Leader Qin, come this way. I have a few words to say to you privately."

Qin Ming frowned, but still followed Director Li to the side, and the two stood in the corner of the police station.

"Team Leader Qin, I know how serious the situation is, but this case is very special."

"special?"

Qin Ming frowned even more deeply. "What makes it special?"

"that is……"

Director Li hesitated for a moment before saying, "It's just not easy to explain in a conventional way."

Qin Ming stared at Chief Li's face for a full five seconds. "Chief Li, you've been a veteran criminal investigator for over a decade. What do you mean by 'not easy to explain in conventional ways'? Explain yourself clearly."

Director Li took a deep breath: "Team Leader Qin, you can pretend you didn't hear what I'm about to say, or you can take it as me talking nonsense."

However… based on our current investigation, this case is most likely not the work of a human.

The moment the words left his mouth, the air seemed to freeze.

Qin Ming's expression changed three times in that instant. "Not done by a human? Who else could have done it? Is it a ghost?"

This was a rhetorical question, full of sarcasm. In his view, Director Li's words were utterly ridiculous.

The head of a police station, a state cadre in police uniform, actually said something like "not human" to my face.

To his surprise, Director Li actually nodded.

After Director Li nodded, he regretted it. He saw Qin Ming's expression of incomprehension, disbelief, and skepticism.

Qin Ming opened his mouth and an even harsher rebuke was about to come out: "Do you know what kind of situation you are in right now?"

How could the head of a police station lead the way in promoting feudal superstition?

Knowing the law and breaking it is an even more serious crime, don't you understand?

As a public security officer, wearing a police uniform and the national emblem, he faced a shocking case that resulted in seven deaths.

Instead of focusing on solving the case, they're spreading superstitious rumors here. What kind of problem is this?

But he ultimately didn't say these words.

It's not that I don't want to talk about it, but that I can't.

The task force had just arrived, and the case hadn't even started to be investigated yet. Breaking off relations with the local police chief in front of so many people would not help the investigation at all.

Moreover, Director Li is a veteran of the Hongxing Police Station, having worked there for over a decade, and is more familiar with the area than anyone else.

His cooperation will be needed for the next phase of the investigation.

At this critical juncture, it is unwise to push people to the opposite side.

Qin Ming took a deep breath and swallowed back the angry roar that was about to come out of his mouth.

"Director Li, some things are better left unsaid. Don't say anything that could be detrimental to unity. This is a new society now, and I don't believe in these things."

We must trust science. Solving cases relies on evidence, logic, and investigative methods, not on praying to gods or Buddhas.

Those feudal dregs should be forgotten, especially in the face of such a major case.

What else could Director Li say?

I knew Qin Ming would react this way.

In fact, any normal public security officer would react this way upon hearing such words.

He gave a wry smile and immediately went down the steps: "Yes, yes, Team Leader Qin is right. I was just half asleep and talking nonsense."

Team Leader Qin, please excuse my poor performance. I haven't slept all night, so my mind isn't quite right. Don't take it to heart.

Qin Ming glanced at him, then turned and shouted to the task force members waiting beside the jeep:

"Alright, everyone get ready. We'll be heading to the courtyard house at No. 95 Nanluoguxiang in ten minutes. Director Li, you lead the way."

"Xiao Wang, lead the way."

Director Li waved to Xiao Wang.

"Yes."

Qin Ming then turned to the deputy team leader, Lao Wang: "Lao Wang, you and the forensic team members stay at the police station and get the preliminary autopsy reports for the seven bodies done first."

Cause of death, time of death, and type of weapon—none of these can be omitted.

I don't care what methods you use, I need to see the preliminary report on my desk by noon.

Old Wang nodded steadily: "Understood, Captain Qin, don't worry."

After Qin Ming finished speaking, he strode into the jeep. The convoy drove through several alleys and made several turns before arriving near the courtyard house at No. 95 Nanluoguxiang.

The sky was getting brighter.

The morning mist has completely dissipated.

"Chief Li! Team Leader Qin!"

Xiao Wang suddenly exclaimed, pointing slightly in the direction of the crooked tree, "There's someone swinging on the crooked tree!"

Qin Ming squinted, carefully trying to make out the figure hanging in the tree.

Director Li stood half a step behind Qin Ming. He was more familiar with this area and with everyone in the compound than Qin Ming was.

"Xu Damao? What happened to him too?"

The members of the task force looked at each other, some instinctively taking a half step back, others reaching for the baton at their waists.

Seven lives lost in one night was already horrifying enough, but now there's an eighth.

Moreover, it was hanging on a crooked tree outside the courtyard gate, as if it were demonstrating to everyone.

Qin Ming suddenly turned his head and asked, "Do you know him?"

"I know... Xu Damao, nineteen years old this year, a projectionist at Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, who lives in the courtyard at No. 95."

"When we last came to the hospital yesterday, Xu Damao was fine. How... how did he become the eighth one?"

Qin Ming said in a deep voice, "Xiao Liu, go up and bring the person down. Be careful to protect the scene. Do not untie the rope. Cut the rope directly."

Old Zhao, take photos, take photos from every angle, don't miss a single detail.

Old Sun, lead your men to thoroughly search the ground within a 50-meter radius, looking for footprints, cigarette butts, and any suspicious traces.

The rest of you, follow me into the courtyard.

……