The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure-Chapter 103: The Real Technique

Wang Yongzhu could still seem to smell the stench of blood, his brother’s blood!

He couldn’t help shivering, forcing himself to stay calm as he walked over to the rock to examine it closely.

Song Chongjin took a few steps closer, pointing to the side of the rock, "Right here, look—"

Wang Yongzhu looked and sure enough, half of the rock still bore the traces of being buried in the soil for years, now dried by the sun and particularly evident.

Wang Yongzhu squinted, taking in a sharp breath of cold air. Who could be so heartless? Who, exactly?

If such a huge rock had hit the head, Wang Yongfu would have probably died on the spot.

However, now was not the time for rage. Be calm! Wang Yongzhu was grateful at that moment, maybe because his feelings for Wang Yongfu were not that deep. Even though he was angry, he had not lost his sense of reason!

"Can you take me to see where the rock fell from?" Wang Yongzhu surveyed his surroundings. The area was at the bottom of a slope with rocks and mountains all around, making it hard to discern from which direction the rock could have rolled down.

"Over here—" Song Chongjin didn’t say much but gave Wang Yongzhu an extra look, somewhat surprised by her composure.

But he wasn’t one to pry, so he didn’t ask.

Climbing up the slope, on the northern side, under Song Chongjin’s guidance, she discovered where the rock should have originally been. It was haphazardly covered by branches and leaves.

After lifting these coverings, a shallow pit was revealed underneath. On closer inspection, there were some stone chips nearby, likely left behind when the rock was pried loose.

Song Chongjin was right. This indeed was intentional murder!

Wang Yongzhu was initially at a loss. Even though she had discovered that someone had intentionally tried to kill Wang Yongfu, who could know about incidents that happened deep in the mountains? Perhaps even Wang Yongfu himself didn’t realize he had been attacked, right?

How could the murderer be found?

Alas, there were no police or anything like that in this era, but it seemed there were Yamen. Could she perhaps report the incident there?

After thinking, Wang Yongzhu turned to ask Song Chongjin, "Now that we’re sure someone attempted to murder my brother, can I go to the Yamen to report the crime and ask the constables to track down the culprit?"

Song Chongjin was taken aback, he hadn’t expected Wang Yongzhu to think of reporting to the Yamen.

He hesitated before saying, "To report a case at the Yamen, you need to pay silver first to file the case. Then you must also pay for the constables’ travel and hardship expenses. Whether or not the criminal is caught is another matter, but the silver must be sufficient!"

Wang Yongzhu got it in a second!

In other words, if she were to report the case at the Yamen, it would cost a hefty amount of silver.

The Wang family was precisely lacking silver at the moment.

Moreover, even if they paid the silver, there was no guarantee that the case would be solved!

Reporting to the Yamen was a no-go.

Wang Yongzhu was stumped. If she were in the modern world, surveillance cameras or a detective agency might unearth some clues. But now, deep in these remote mountains, what could possibly be found?

Straining her thoughts, Wang Yongzhu wondered what methods there were in the TV shows and books she had seen about solving cases.

The first thing that popped into her mind was footprints.

If someone indeed had pried the stone loose, they would definitely have left footprints, and possibly even the tool used to do it. What exactly was used to pry it?

Wang Yongzhu’s eyes lit up, feeling better now that she had a clue.

"Brother Song, when you found this place yesterday, did you notice anyone’s footprints? Are there any discarded tools nearby that could have been used to pry the stones?" Wang Yongzhu knew she could only theorize on paper. Searching for footprints and the such—that should be within Song Chongjin’s abilities as a hunter, right? Identifying animal tracks is part of hunting, so human footprints should pose no problem either, right?

Song Chongjin couldn’t hide his astonishment this time, his gaze turning particularly intense, which made Wang Yongzhu involuntarily step back, her spine tingling, "What’s wrong? Did I say something incorrect?"

So terrifying! Wang Yongzhu’s internal alarm bells started ringing; Song Chongjin’s look just now made her feel a hint of danger.

Seeing Wang Yongzhu retreat, Song Chongjin quickly recollected himself, lowered his gaze subtly, and also took a step back before replying, "No, I was just surprised. How did you think of starting with footprints?"

His tone was full of suspicion.

Wang Yongzhu stiffened; the alertness she had against Song Chongjin’s odd behavior was immediately replaced by fright. Oh no, this was going to destroy the persona she had built up, wasn’t it?

Then again, she quickly remembered that Song Chongjin didn’t truly understand Wang Yongzhu. Even if she had pestered him in the past, his understanding of Wang Yongzhu was only superficial. So, stay steady! Don’t panic! freeweɓnovel-cøm

Attempting to relax, Wang Yongzhu looked innocently at Song Chongjin, "Is it so strange? Since someone wanted to harm my brother, they would have pushed the rock from here, and surely they left their footprints nearby. To pry open the rock, naturally, they would need a tool. I just saw some small shattered pebbles; it must have been done with some kind of tool, maybe even metal, to have the strength to pry it, because the soil next to it looks like it’s been dug up by something like a shovel—"

Wang "Conan" Yongzhu analyzed everything one by one.

Song Chongjin’s eyes became brighter and brighter as he watched Wang Yongzhu. There was an indescribable feeling in his gaze, which he quickly concealed when Wang Yongzhu looked his way.

After a long while, he nodded, "What you said makes sense. This way—"

As he led the way he explained, "Yesterday, I noticed some traces that someone had been here. Because it was dark, I didn’t see the footprints. I was afraid of stepping and destroying any clues, so I only made a mark."

Following Song Chongjin led them to a tree which had a mark etched into it—this was the mark Song Chongjin had made.

Walking a few steps downhill, they indeed found more signs of activity; the grass was flattened and on the bushes alongside a few branches had been broken. Everything indicated that someone had spent a considerable amount of time here.

It was now that Wang Yongzhu realized Song Chongjin displaying the real skills of a hunter. He squatted on the ground, observing a cluster of grass for a while, then examining the broken branches, occasionally plucking a root of grass or snapping off a twig and putting it in his mouth to taste...

Wang Yongzhu watched his precise and bewildering operations and couldn’t help feeling it was rather impressive, though she couldn’t grasp the meaning behind his actions. She decided not to trouble herself with it; this was not her area of expertise.

All she could ascertain was that, given Song Chongjin’s solemn demeanor, it seemed they were in for a while longer.

With nothing else to do anyway, Wang Yongzhu walked around, peering into the bushes and behind the rocks, thinking that perhaps the murderer, not daring to bring the tool back to the village, might have discarded it nearby.

A metal detector would have been useful now. No, wait—doesn’t she have a system?

Wang Yongzhu felt she had been sidetracked by Song Chongjin, relying on primitive methods. Didn’t she have cutting-edge technology at her disposal?

In her mind, she called out to the System: "Tian Tian, can you help me out? You can scan for Level C edible mushrooms; surely scanning the vicinity for any metal objects shouldn’t be a problem, right? Or, can you scan and find out who is behind harming my brother?"

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