Siheyuan: Hang Jia Dongxu, smash Banggeng to death!

Sha Zhu wanted to follow, but Wang Gang stopped him and closed the iron gate.

"Sister Qin, Sister Qin, police officer, let me out, I need to see Sister Qin, Sister Qin needs me."

Wang Gang turned around and gave him a cold look: "He Yuzhu, stay put!"

"I'm just concerned about Sister Qin."

"care?"

Wang Gang scoffed, "I've been a criminal investigator for twenty years, what can't I see? You call that concern? You're just being shameless, lusting after her body!"

Sha Zhu stood frozen in front of the iron bars, his lips trembling, as if someone had spoken his secret.

Qin Huai rushed into the hall, which was full of people.

The mother-in-law, Jia Zhangshi, slumped onto the cold cement floor, her hair disheveled, pounding her chest and wailing:

"Old Jia! Dongxu! Our Jia family line is wiped out... Damn the Lin family, sob sob... God, you have no eyes..."

Qin Huairu's gaze swept across the hall: the familiar Third Uncle's family, the Second Uncle's wife, the First Uncle...

Eh?

Where are the eldest and third uncles?

Xu Damao and He Yushui also arrived.

Qin Huairu had no interest in these things; she only cared about her child, and her gaze fell on the floor in the center of the hall.

Underneath the white cloth was a small bulge.

At that moment, time seemed to stand still.

Qin Huai seemed unable to hear Jia Zhangshi's wailing, the whispers of those around him, or any other sound.

She mechanically walked step by step toward the white cloth.

"Little Dang... damn it, Little Dang..."

The short distance of just a few meters felt like an eternity to Qin Huairu.

She came to the table, her trembling hand reaching for a corner of the white cloth.

"Sister Qin..."

He Yushui couldn't help but call out, her voice filled with reluctance.

The white cloth was lifted.

"ah--!!!"

A piercing scream echoed throughout the hall.

Under the white cloth was Xiao Dang's tiny body.

But it's almost unrecognizable now.

His entire body was covered with dense blisters, and his skin had an eerie, burnt yellow color.

Xu Damao covered his mouth, his stomach churning. He had just arrived and only knew that Xiao Dang was dead, but he had no idea how he died.

Qin Huai stared intently at her daughter's corpse, her eyes almost bursting out of their sockets. She reached out to touch her child's face, but her hand remained suspended in mid-air, trembling violently.

"Little Dang, oh my god, Little Dang, how...how did you become like this...Waaah...Haha..."

Suddenly, she smiled.

Hysterical laughter mingled with tears.

"Hahaha...karma...karma..."

Qin Huairu laughed and then burst into heart-wrenching sobs, "God! How could you be so cruel? She's just a child! What kind of retribution is this? Come at me! Come at me! Xiao Dang! You're awesome! Haha..."

She knelt on the ground, her forehead pounding against the cement floor, and blood quickly seeped out.

But he seemed oblivious to the pain, merely repeating the act of kowtowing, muttering over and over again, "Come at me if you dare...come at me then..."

Qin Ming shouted, "Stop her!"

Two police officers immediately stepped forward and pulled Qin Huairu firmly until she stopped struggling before letting go.

Jia Zhangshi crawled over, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law embraced and wept bitterly.

One is an old woman who has lost all her children and grandchildren, and the other is a young widow who has lost her husband, son, and daughter.

"The Jia family... is finished..."

As Yang Ruihua, the third aunt, wiped away her tears, she thought of her deceased eldest son, Yan Jiecheng, and whispered to Xu Damao beside her, "The whole family is wiped out..."

The second aunt's face turned pale. Her husband had been arrested and imprisoned, and her second and third sons had both died.

Now only her eldest son, Liu Guangqi, who is studying at a junior college, remains. She prays in her heart: Guangqi, nothing else can happen to you, even if it means my death.

Xu Damao was shaking violently.

He looked at Xiao Dang's gruesome corpse, then at the insane Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi, and a chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

Thinking back to what I had done to the Lin family's young master, although not as outrageous as Yi Zhonghai and his group, it had still indirectly hurt Lin Tian...

"I can't stay here... I have to leave..."

He muttered to himself and turned to run outside.

"Comrade Xu Damao, please wait. Where are you going?" Qin Ming called out to him. "The investigation hasn't even started yet."

"I...I really don't know anything."

Xu Damao's voice trembled, "I'm just a movie projectionist, the Lin family's affairs have nothing to do with me."

Qin Ming gave him a cold look: "Whether it matters or not, we'll find out after the investigation. Now, please accept the interrogation."

Two police officers stepped forward and restrained Xu Damao.

"Chief Li." Madam Jia suddenly raised her head, her face blurred with blood and tears. "How...how did my granddaughter die?"

Director Li sighed and gestured for the forensic doctor next to him to speak.

The forensic pathologist tried to use a calm tone, saying, "According to the preliminary autopsy, the child died from shock and organ failure caused by burns."

The burns covered more than 90% of the body surface area, with a second to third degree of burns. Judging from the shape of the wounds, the person was likely thrown into a vat of very hot oil.

She didn't finish speaking, but everyone present understood.

"Damn evil spirit!"

Suddenly, Madam Jia erupted in a hysterical outburst, screaming, "They poisoned my two-year-old granddaughter, smashed my beloved grandson to death, and hanged my son! I'm going to fight them to the death!"

Qin Ming continued objectively, "No other fingerprints or footprints were found at the scene, the area around the oil pan was cleaned very thoroughly... and there were no signs of forced entry on the kitchen door lock."

This statement plunged the hall into an eerie silence.

No trace...means it wasn't done by a human.

"It's a ghost...it must be the ghosts of Lin Tian's parents returning for revenge..."

The auntie, Yang Ruihua, said in a trembling voice, "Otherwise, how can we explain... so many people..."

"Comrade Yang Ruihua!"

Chief Li interrupted sharply, "Watch your words! Promoting feudal superstition in the police station? Do you want to go in there and join your Liu Haizhong?"

The three women immediately shut their mouths, but the fear in their eyes did not diminish at all.

Qin Huairu smiled and suddenly hugged Xiao Dang's cold body into her arms, just like she had done countless times when she coaxed her to sleep.

She pressed her face against the child's yellowed forehead and softly hummed a nursery rhyme:

"Little swallow, wearing a flowery dress, comes here every spring... I asked the swallow why it comes, and the swallow said, 'Spring here is the most beautiful...'"

The singing was gentle, yet it brought tears to the eyes of everyone present.

Seeing this scene, Jia Zhangshi suddenly stopped crying.

She stared blankly at her insane daughter-in-law and dead granddaughter, her eyes vacant, muttering, "Gone... all gone... the Jia family line is extinct... extinct..."

"Take Qin Huairu away," Director Li said, unable to bear the sight any longer. "Let a doctor take a look... If it's really bad, send her to the hospital. As for Jia Zhangshi, her injuries have almost healed, so she can be temporarily detained in the small dark room."

Two police officers stepped forward and took Xiao Dang's body from Qin Huairu's arms.

Qin Huai did not resist, but just watched with a silly smile as Xiao Dang's body was covered with a white sheet again and the police helped him to the infirmary, while Jia Zhangshi was sent to a small dark room to be detained.

As she reached the door, Qin Huairu suddenly turned around and glanced at everyone in the hall.

Those eyes were as empty as two deep wells, no longer reflecting any light.

"Karma..."

She said softly, then laughed, "It's all karma, hahaha..."

The person left, but the laughter still echoed in the hall.

Yang Ruihua then remembered something and hurriedly asked, "Chief Li, you asked us to come here to cooperate with the investigation, but where's my husband? I can't find him!"

Director Li said, "I don't know. I'd like to know too. Where did he go with Yi Zhonghai?"

Qin Ming frowned: "Director Li, we haven't found Yan Bugui and Yi Zhonghai? Weren't they both there when we parted ways at the Red Star Hotel?"

Director Li sighed and spread his hands: "We really haven't found them. We don't know where they went or if they escaped. The police officers at the police station and the security personnel at Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill are still helping to search."

Qin Ming gave Director Li a deep look, but said nothing more.

He sensed something was wrong, but now was not the time to ask questions; the fish would surface.

……