Chapter 534: Chapter 534: On Five-Flower Mountain

Five-Flower Mountain is a rather famous attraction in Haizhou City, with varieties of trees like camphor, birch, pine, and maple.

When autumn arrives, the leaves of different trees change colors; some turn brown, some yellow, others red, and then some black and purple.

Walking along the mountain paths feels like strolling through a sea of colorful flowers.

This is the reason why the mountain is named Five-Flower Mountain.

Today is the weekend, and Lu Chuan is taking Shen Yan for a hike.

"Wow! Lu Chuan, look over there, it’s so beautiful!"

The two of them had now climbed to a small hill on the side of the mountain, looking far ahead, the layers of forests were dyed in various colors, creating a particularly beautiful scenery.

Holding Shen Yan’s hand, Lu Chuan took a long deep breath. The air in the mountains was exceptionally fresh, with a hint of floral and herbal fragrance, making one feel delighted.

Recently, Lu Chuan truly experienced what it meant to live a peaceful life.

Ever since the mummified remains case was discovered at the East Sea Camping Area, there hadn’t been any decent cases reported to the Criminal Investigation Team for half a month.

Lu Chuan finally lived a nine-to-five life.

In the Crime Scene Investigation office, he would occasionally compare fingerprints sent in by local police stations or the Criminal Investigation Team.

Many fingerprint identifications that were difficult for others were resolved by Lu Chuan within a matter of minutes.

Identifying about eight to ten fingerprints a day was just a matter of one or two hours for Lu Chuan.

Other times, he did some crime scene experiments, and there was not much work left.

On Shen Yan’s end, it was even more relaxed: no cases meant no bodies, and without bodies, a forensic doctor could generally remain at rest.

So, when they got off work, the two would often go out together, having tasted almost all the delicacies in Haizhou City during this period.

Actually, they used to dine out together often when they had free time, just not as frequently as lately.

The reason for such frequent outings was the two wanted to dispel the rumor of them being the "death duo."

It can’t be that every time they go out together, they encounter a case.

In fact, there weren’t that many cases. Over the past half month, Lu Chuan and Shen Yan had been out every day, yet hadn’t stumbled upon any cases.

Nestling beside Lu Chuan, watching the distant pine trees swaying, Shen Yan’s beautiful eyes narrowed into crescent moons: "Lu Chuan, it’s really beautiful here."

Shen Yan had heard that Five-Flower Mountain was breathtaking in the autumn, but never had the chance to visit. This was her first time climbing the mountain, and it was indeed worth it.

Lu Chuan held Shen Yan’s small hand: "It truly is pretty."

"And over the past half month we’ve been out pretty much every day, right? And haven’t encountered any cases, those ’death duo’ claims are nonsense, those previous cases were just coincidences."

"Yeah, those guys, especially Brother Zhang’s team, were the ones yelling the loudest about it. We’ll make him treat us to dinner when we get back!"

"Alright, let’s have coconut chicken, the taste really is good."

"Ah!"

As they were chatting, suddenly a scream came from not far away.

They instinctively turned to look in the direction the sound came from.

But the woods were dense, the view completely obscured by leaves, revealing nothing.

"Did someone just scream?"

"Seems like it, came from the left."

"Should we go over..."

"Help! Help!"

As they were considering whether to go check it out, a terrified scream came again.

This time, mixed with cries for help!

The source of the sound was rather clear.

As police officers, hearing someone call for help, Lu Chuan and Shen Yan exchanged a glance and rushed towards the direction of the sound without hesitation.

"Help!"

"A dead body!"

"Ah!"

The voice grew nearer as Lu Chuan and Shen Yan rounded two mountain path bends, arriving at the location of the sound.

Below a walkway, they vaguely saw two figures in the woods below.

The sounds were coming from them, a man and a woman.

"What happened to you? I’m a police officer, what’s going on?"

Lu Chuan’s voice was like a lifeline to the two panicked individuals below, and they rushed towards Lu Chuan’s location. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

When they emerged from the woods, they were disheveled, especially the girl, whose top was half stripped off, exposing a large area of skin.

The skirt was also not where it should be.

Lu Chuan frowned slightly, the two were clearly a young couple, running down the walkway into the woods; it wasn’t hard to guess what they had been doing.

Shen Yan pointed at the girl’s clothes, making her aware of her disarray, quickly adjusting her outfit.

The boy’s face was pale, and his voice trembled as he spoke.

"Are...are you...you’re police?"

"Hello, I’m from Haizhou City’s Criminal Investigation Team. You just yelled for help; what happened?"

Lu Chuan had already noted that there was no one else chasing them.

Thus, they likely hadn’t encountered any danger.

Moreover, the lipstick marks on the boy’s face and neck confirmed what they’d been up to.

Perhaps after catching their breath or hearing Lu Chuan was from the Criminal Investigation Team, the boy calmed down significantly and spoke more fluently.

"It’s down there, we found a dead body below."

A dead body?

Lu Chuan’s expression changed: "Where?"

The girl quickly interjected: "Around thirty or forty meters down there, a dead body hanging from a tree."

Lu Chuan glanced at the woods below, his sight only reached ten to twenty meters, not seeing the body they mentioned.

"Can you point out the direction?"

"Over there!"

The boy and girl pointed towards the 10 o’clock direction simultaneously.

Looking over, Lu Chuan still saw nothing, turning to Shen Yan.

"Shen Yan, you keep an eye on them here, I’ll go down and take a look."

Shen Yan wanted to accompany Lu Chuan, but these two clearly couldn’t be left alone; she nodded: "Be careful."

Lu Chuan nodded, turning to the young couple: "You two wait here with my colleague while I go check it out."

"Don’t wander off, we’ll need to record your statements back at the Criminal Investigation Team."

They nodded quickly; what they had seen below almost scared them to death.

Especially the guy, who was interrupted by the sight of a corpse, utterly terrified.

It would likely take him a long while to get over it.

"Okay, officer, we won’t go anywhere. We’ll wait for you to come back."

Though they were on the walkway, it was still surrounded by thick forest.

The young couple was too scared to wander off, fearing they might encounter something else.

Lu Chuan nodded, following the path the two had climbed, descending into the woods.