I Play Dungeons in the Police Station-Chapter 229 - 161: Taboos of Vigil-Keeping

There were no footprints collected at the crime scene, the latter said, because the scene was a small shop with a heavy flow of people, making it difficult for the police to determine which footprint was the perpetrator’s.

"According to the position of the wounds on the deceased, especially the stab in the chest, which was angled into the heart, considering the deceased’s height, the killer would have to be at least 1.5 meters tall to stab from that angle."

Li Xiang, at a Grandmaster Level in Forensic Medicine, could see issues that ordinary people could not.

"I understand."

After understanding, Ding Youqiang quickly made a few phone calls in front of Li Xiang, instructing the special team to start taking action.

With these limiting conditions, the scope of the police investigation became smaller.

After Li Xiang saw that he had finished his calls, he asked, "Where is Old Qiao’s house?"

There was another matter he came for, which involved Old Qiao, who had cast a shadow over this seemingly ordinary case.

So Li Xiang wanted to go to his house in person to see if there was any connection between these two cases!

"His house is in the west of the village. I’ll take you there!"

After leaving the small shop, Ding Youqiang resealed the seal intact and then drove Li Xiang to Old Qiao’s house.

"Hello, is anyone home?"

At that moment, Old Qiao’s house was adorned with white lanterns, giving off a rather bleak feeling.

He was a well-known Funeral Guardian in the area, with lots of funeral items at home, and now it seemed he would use them on himself.

After getting out of the car, Ding Youqiang went up and knocked on the door.

In a moment, an old lady came out. Upon seeing Ding Youqiang, a light appeared in her eyes: "Ah, Captain Ding, if you hadn’t come, I would have asked my son to take me to find you."

"Oh? What is it? Is there a new clue?"

Delighted, Ding Youqiang hurriedly asked.

"When can my old man’s body come back for burial? Last night I dreamed of him, and he said he was cold and had no clothes to wear, let him come back first."

"..."

Things were getting more bizarre.

At this moment, Old Qiao’s body was indeed in the cold storage, so wasn’t he cold?

Can the deceased really appear in dreams?

Suddenly, Ding Youqiang shivered, then quickly dismissed all unrealistic things from his mind and kept reminding himself: I am a staunch materialist, no superstitions.

"Ma’am, it’s not possible yet. This time I brought an expert to learn more about Old Qiao’s situation that day."

"Alright, come inside."

Li Xiang followed behind Ding Youqiang, entering the house.

"I told him not to go, not to go, but he insisted. Normally, if someone died an unnatural death, he wouldn’t go, saying it was taboo, but this time it’s like he was possessed, insisting on going, and now he’s dead, what am I, this old lady, supposed to do?"

The old lady mumbled and complained as she walked inside.

Li Xiang followed behind, looking around. The room was filled with white silk and white lanterns used for funerals, and besides that, the walls and windows were plastered with talismans, as if to ward off something, like in the movies.

"Can you describe what happened that day?"

At this time, listening to the old lady’s words, Li Xiang also felt a sense of doubt. Old Qiao was a Professional Funeral Guardian in the village. Those in this line of work followed left-over superstitious bad practices, with rules not to watch over those who died unnatural deaths. From the villagers’ testimonies, several Funeral Guardians in the village had shown reluctance to watch over Qin Qinglian, indicating this.

Old Qiao couldn’t have been unaware of the taboo, so why did he still go?

This question could probably only be answered by the late Old Qiao himself.

Li Xiang didn’t communicate with spirits, so he couldn’t ask the deceased directly.

This led him to speculate if there was a connection between Old Qiao’s and Qin Qinglian’s deaths.

"In my husband’s line of work, there are various rules and taboos, and watching over those who died unnaturally is the biggest taboo. Such a person has heavy resentment; other funeral guardians in the village are aware and won’t go. My husband also avoided such work, but this time, when called, he grabbed a coat and rushed over, not heeding my and my son’s advice, determined to go, and in the end...."

The old lady, saying this, began to cry again: "The ancestral rules aren’t to be broken easily. Usually, he claimed to have a strong fate, but at the critical moment, he wasn’t strong enough. The very first night of watching over, something happened~"

The old lady’s accent was peculiar, a mix of crying and singing, requiring Li Xiang to concentrate to barely make out her words.

"Did he say why he was going?"

Where there’s an unusual occurrence, there’s a reason. There must be a rationale behind this.

However, now that Old Qiao had passed, no one could ask him directly.

"He wouldn’t say, just mentioned that Qin Qinglian died pitifully, and if he didn’t go, no one would watch over her."

Were it not for the age gap between Qin Qinglian and Old Qiao, Li Xiang might have suspected some emotional entanglement between them.

Not gleaning any new information, Li Xiang had to abandon the inquiry, realizing this doubt would go with Old Qiao into the grave.

Back in the car, Ding Youqiang seemed to recall something and asked, "Team Leader Li, I’ve remembered that Qin Qinglian’s lover, Chen Wei, is over 1.75 meters tall."

"Then conduct a thorough investigation into him, ensuring all his activities on that day are clearly examined."