Free Web NovelChapter 357: Chapter 344 Look, this is a bloodstain_1
At such a roar, Zhou Ning immediately stopped in his tracks. He wasn’t afraid of corpses, but the things he loathed most were rats and snakes; these two creatures posed quite a sensory challenge.
After a moment, Sun Gaotie came out, holding two nearly two-meter-long snakes in his hand, squirming and struggling continuously, with red-brown patterns on them. Their heads were tightly pinched by Sun Gaotie, and their shapes were indistinct at the moment, making it impossible to tell if they were poisonous.
Yang Xuetong rushed out from behind, coughing along the way as he shouted to the outside.
"Quick, get us a woven bag; these are vipers."
Mr. Zeng had already rushed in with others, and hearing the word "vipers," they all got a fright. A large glass jar used for storing liquor was brought over. Sun Gaotie was nimble as he transferred both snakes’ heads into one hand, and then shoved their tails and bodies into the jar, before slapping their heads inward, causing the snakes to fall to the bottom of the jar.
The young officer quickly put the lid on, and one by one, they visibly relaxed. Zhou Ning ran over and grabbed Sun Gaotie’s hand to check it.
"Are you crazy? Why would you grab the snakes with your bare hands? Mr. Yang said these are vipers, highly poisonous, especially in a vacant old house like this where they can easily attack people."
Sun Gaotie chuckled stupidly.
"I liked catching snakes and stealing bird eggs when I was a kid. Don’t worry, boss; the vipers in Ludong aren’t that venomous, and they are small in size, so it’s no big deal."
Zhou Ning breathed a sigh of relief and glanced over at Mr. Yang and the others.
"If it’s not convenient to inspect inside, we should fumigate it first. After all, with this weather, the house has been vacant for years, so there might be animals inside."
Yang Xuetong smiled and shook his head.
"We’re pretty much done with the survey. There’s not much furniture or anything in the old house, just red bricks on the floor. Next to the table, we found pieces of bowls and dishes. We discovered dark brown bloodstains on these fragments and the red bricks. It looks like they might have fallen and cut themselves with the bowl."
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Good, we can send this for testing. In a while, we’ll go check out the Pear Orchard. Chen Gang wasn’t killed when he was climbing the wall there, but if we can find some traces that match up, we can determine it’s Chen Gang’s DNA he left behind."
Yang Xuetong smiled and packed up the evidence bag while Mr. Zhao also came out from inside.
"We took a look, and someone seems to have rummaged through the house after Chen Gang died. The cabinet and the only two camphor wood chests inside were all messed up. However, you can tell that Chen Gang didn’t have much clothing to begin with; there were just three decent sets of clothes in the chests, which were all work uniforms."
Zhou Ning surveyed the interior of the house. The ceiling beams were just high enough to touch the roof with a slight stretch of his arm. The red brick floor had worn paths in several places, and the kitchen had a broken stove with a cracked pot.
What could be in such a dilapidated, bare house that was worth someone’s while to come ransacking?
If anything was valuable, it was probably the house itself. During demolitions, no matter how old or decrepit the house was, the compensation wouldn’t be much different.
Mr. Zhao leaned in, saying with apparent understanding:
"Why bother, Chen Gang? Working honestly at the wholesale department, he earned a fair amount. I asked Mr. He. Cheng Zhi gave Chen Gang 2,600 a month. It doesn’t sound like much, but remember he ate all three meals there, wore the uniforms they provided, and basically didn’t spend money on anything else.
Why didn’t he see clearly and got talked into kidnapping Cheng Xinghui, extorting hundreds of thousands, and in the end, he didn’t get a dime and lost his life to boot? Even this shabby house of theirs has three rooms. At least they would get 1.2 million in demolition compensation. He could buy any house in the city with that kind of money. It’s just incomprehensible!"
Zhou Ning shook his head. freewebnoveℓ.com
"You’re looking at it from a different perspective. We’ve seen the 12 years after Chen Gang’s death, how society has improved, and talk of demolitions where many families made a good amount from old houses, becoming the ’demolition-rich second generation.’ But back then, he had no support from parents, and his uncles and aunts were angling for his little assets. Maybe his life lacked hope."
Mr. Zhao sighed.
"You’re right, if I could travel back in time, back to twelve years ago, I would definitely study hard in college, not continue to be a slacker, and I wouldn’t sell off the old house in the family courtyard. I might even buy more of those old houses and keep them for when they’re demolished for redevelopment, I could save myself decades of struggle."
Yang Xuetong slapped the back of Mr. Zhao’s neck, and with a crisp sound, Mr. Zhao jumped up.
"Daydreaming again? Hurry up, there isn’t much left to investigate here. I’ve already collected quite a few fingerprints and packed up the porcelain shards and red bricks with traces of blood. Let’s hurry to Pear Orchard and see. Though it’s been twelve years, I wonder if bloodstains on the walls can still be retrieved?"
Zhou Ning couldn’t answer either. No one knew the condition of the scene, but considering the outdoor elements like wind and rain, bloodstains on the wall would indeed be very hard to preserve. However, if it had dripped into crevices, there might still be a chance of preservation. It all depended on luck. freewebnøvel.com
"Less chatting, let’s head over and see for ourselves. Moreover, according to the traces of the broken porcelain on the ground, this place was probably smashed just before Chen Gang left. I’m just hoping for some unexpected good luck to have left something behind.
Besides, wasn’t Cheng Xinghui hidden in a cupboard? According to his dream, Chen Gang had an argument with the kidnapper. If we can find that cupboard and thoroughly collect fingerprints and DNA, discovering any residue would be our biggest gain."
Zhou Ning’s words boosted everyone’s confidence. They quickly gathered their equipment and left the yard. Xu Dayuan was about to ask something when he saw the group but was immediately stopped by Zhou Ning.
"Chief, we should head to Pear Orchard first. There wasn’t anything particularly significant found here. After we finish surveying the house in Pear Orchard, we can discuss it altogether. Oh, right. Has the house inside Pear Orchard been vacant all this time?"
"Let’s go. It’s always been vacant. After all, Chen Gang died there, and the old night watchman also died not long after. Everyone thought it was bad luck."
Xu Dayuan nodded and signaled everyone to get into the car. Under the guide of Director Sun, they arrived at a courtyard.
A large iron gate was ajar, with wire twisted around the latch. From the rust on the wire, it was clear it hadn’t been touched for many years, as parts were even corroded through.
Cutting through the wire, they entered the courtyard. Liu Yongxin, joining them this time, looked around and remembered everything vividly.
"The second room on the east side, that’s where the child was found back then. Inside the room, there was a table, a bed, and a ragged wardrobe—that’s all."
Liu Yongxin paused, then turned towards one side of the courtyard wall, pointing near a dog cage in the north and said:
"I remember, when Chen Gang was shot dead, he jumped up on the wall right by the dog cage, trying to climb over. But now, it seems impossible to spot any bloodstains on the wall. Maybe we should confirm the exact location with Mr. Sun?"
Xu Dayuan had already taken out his phone and, after a brief communication with Mr. Sun, nodded towards Zhou Ning and the others.
"Mr. Liu remembers correctly, the location is right next to the dog kennel. As for the situation inside the room, we’ll need to compare it with the case files from back then, as he can’t remember those details."
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Chief, shall we go take a look?"
Naturally, Xu Dayuan had no objections. The group, carrying their cases, split into two teams; Mr. Zhao took Zhu Xingxing and Liu Yongxin to the second room on the east.
Yang Xuetong, accompanied by Sun Gaotie, directly headed for the wall beside the dog kennel. The kennel’s roof was covered with blue tin, which was rusted in many places.
Yang Xuetong surveyed the area and noticed a clump of mud hanging on the wire netting at the edge of the dog kennel. He took a closer look and found that the mud contained cement and some grass clippings. No wonder it had remained there—it must have dried in place. But on the outermost layer, some traces of shoe soles could be seen.
Just as Sun Gaotie was about to speak, Zhou Ning, from the side, stopped him and pointed excitedly to the inner side of the tin roof of the dog kennel.
"Look quickly, this is a bloodstain."
