Chapter 71: The Farming Peasant

Three women walked in with hurried steps. The one in the lead was a plump, well-groomed middle-aged woman with exquisite permed curls and a heavy jade necklace resting on her chest. She waved her arms angrily as she walked.

"Investigate, investigate! You've been investigating for days! Is there any result yet?!"

The plump woman’s shrill and angry voice instantly drew the attention of everyone in the lobby!

The police officer behind her tried to explain, but the plump woman shouted again, "Do you know what people outside are saying right now? The news is everywhere! Those business partners and clients keep blowing up my phones asking questions. Do you know how much money we've lost just because of this damn mess?!"

As soon as her voice trailed off, two other impeccably dressed women following behind her chimed in to support her.

"Exactly!" said the tall, cynical woman on the left, her voice equally piercing. "My husband is a gold-medal lawyer in this city, a man of status and reputation! Now look at him—dead in that... that kind of place. People point fingers at me wherever I go, I've lost all my face!"

"My husband..." Another short, curly-haired young matron took over, her voice slightly choked with sobs. "My husband was such an honest man... He was a doctor who saved lives, so how could he end up murdered... and killed in that kind of place using such sordid means? This is targeting, it's premeditated! Days have passed, and not only won't you let us take the body, but you haven't even dug up a single clue!!"

Facing the barrage of continuous roars, the expressions of the several police officers grew uglier by the minute—a mix of helplessness and suppressed fury.

When they finally quieted down, an officer seized the opportunity to interject, "Three ladies, please calm down. We are thoroughly investigating every direction you've suggested. Please trust the law, and trust us—"

"Trust?" The plump woman let out a cold laugh. "Five days! My husband has been lying in that disgusting place for five days, and all you can give me is 'we're investigating'? By the time you figure it out, the radishes will have rotted in the ground!"

With that, the lobby plunged once more into a flurry of shrill shouts and crying. After venting their remaining fury, amidst gazes ranging from sympathetic and annoyed to purely spectating, they clicked their high heels and stormed out of the police station gates, blazing with lingering resentment.

Leaving behind a dead silent lobby.

Le Dong silently watched the farce draw to a close, feeling a complex mix of emotions. It wasn't hard to tell that these three were likely the families of the three deceased men.

Yet, what transpired through their words was less the grief of losing a husband, and more a deep-seated shame and rage stung by an "indecent death."

They could neither comprehend nor accept why their glamorous husbands would die in the filthiest corner of an urban village. This massive gap was far harder for them to bear than death itself.

Le Dong pulled back his gaze, only to find that Lin Xun had finished her call at some point and was standing not far away at the entrance to the side corridor. Supporting her bandaged arm with one hand, she quietly watched the direction where the three women had disappeared, her gaze complex and unreadable.

Clearly, she had heard every single word of the farce just now.

"Mr. Ma," Lin Xun walked closer, her voice carrying a deliberate calmness, "I've reported to Mr. Chen. There are no other discoveries at the hotel for now. The bureau will take over subsequent investigations, and... we don't need to follow this case anymore."

She paused, as if organizing her thoughts—or rather, digesting the news from the phone call just moments ago. A moment later, she sighed and said, "We can leave now."

***

Her words were simple, but both Le Dong and Cai Kun could sense the tightly suppressed emotions beneath them.

It was likely that she had been severely reprimanned over the phone by this "Mr. Chen."

Ma Wenwen also caught the hint of hidden grievance in Lin Xun's tone. He silently nodded, stood up, and uttered two words in a low voice: "Thanks."

Naturally, this gratitude also encompassed the fact that Lin Xun had withstood the pressure to allow them to slip away.

With that, the four of them walked toward the police station exit. Just as they were about to step onto the broad steps at the door, a group of figures was walking up from below.

It was an old farmer, respectfully escorted by four or five police officers.

The old farmer looked to be in his seventies, wearing an old straw hat with frayed brims and a blue coarse-cloth jacket bearing several patches. His trouser legs were rolled up to his calves, and his feet were shoved into a pair of green Liberation shoes caked in dried mud.

His skin was dark and rough, and a similarly battered canvas bag hung diagonally across his shoulder.

The police officers were swarming around him with a level of respect Le Dong and his companions had never witnessed before, bordering on cautious flattery. As they guided him, they spoke in low voices, while the old farmer merely nodded slightly, his steps steady, unhurried, and unperturbed.

In a rush to leave, Le Dong and the others assumed he was some low-profile relative of a leader or someone with special connections, paying him no mind as they stepped aside to make way.

Guided by Le Dong's soft prompt, Ma Wenwen also stepped aside.

The two groups brushed past each other.

At the exact moment when Ma Wenwen's shoulder grazed the old farmer's coarse-cloth sleeve—

The old farmer's steps came to an abrupt, unheralded halt.

He paused on the step one level lower than Ma Wenwen, turned slightly, and directed a gaze—not cloudy at all, but exceptionally bright—from beneath his straw hat straight onto Ma Wenwen's face.

The look carried a sense of appraisal, slowly sweeping over Ma Wenwen as if weighing an ancient artifact.

Ma Wenwen frowned slightly, faintly sensing the examining gaze fixed upon him.

After a few seconds, the old farmer finished his assessment. The lips beneath the straw hat moved, speaking in a low voice thick with a heavy rural accent:

"Oh? Is this the other master you were talking about?" His tone was as flat as discussing crops in a field. "Judging by his foundation, not too shabby."

Immediately afterward, his tone shifted, injecting a trace of sudden pity into the flat cadence:

"However..." He shook his head slightly. "This physique... ruined by those two ghost things... Tch, what a pity, what a sin."

That final sigh seemed to float lightly into Ma Wenwen's ears, yet his body stiffened violently!

***

His complexion shifted to an ashen pale. He whirled around toward the source of the old farmer's voice, shock and suspicion written across his face:

"Who... are you?!"

The old farmer was still standing on the lower step, tilting his head up slightly to "look" at Ma Wenwen's violent reaction.

Faced with Ma Wenwen's interrogation, he cracked a smile, revealing yellowed teeth, and said:

"A farmer."

Having uttered these three words, he lingered no longer, paying no more heed to the frozen Ma Wenwen. He stepped up the stairs once more and walked deep into the police station's lobby.

This left Le Dong and Cai Kun completely bewildered. They looked from the back of the old farmer disappearing inside the doors back to Ma Wenwen, who stood rooted to the spot as if struck by an immobilization spell.

"Master Ma?" Le Dong called out cautiously.

Ma Wenwen didn't react at all. His eyes, hidden beneath the yellow cloth, were locked onto the direction where the old farmer had vanished. His lips were tightly pressed, and the muscles on his face twitched slightly, as if a silent storm was raging inside his mind.

"A farmer?" Le Dong glanced toward the police station, blankly repeating the words before looking at Cai Kun, who wore an equally blank expression.

They had no idea what this abrupt exchange signified.

At that moment, Lin Xun also walked over, having evidently witnessed the brief and bizarre scene just moments before.

Before Le Dong and the others could ask, a young police officer who had just finished parking and was walking up the steps happened to pass by. Lin Xun immediately stopped him: "That... old gentleman who just went in, what's his background?"

The young police officer paused, the trace of lingering respect still on his face as he explained, "Oh, that's Uncle Lao Gen, a pretty famous 'master' around our local area.

"We've wanted to invite him in for a while, but this old man has a rule: once he starts farming crops, no amount of begging works.

"Well, word came today that he finished farming, so the chief pulled strings through several layers, begging every which way until he finally agreed to spare some time to come take a look at this case... I hear he's extremely capable."

"A master?" Lin Xun repeated thoughtfully, her gaze shifting to Ma Wenwen, who remained petrified on the steps.

The young police officer nodded, seemingly feeling that this explanation was sufficient, and hurried off to attend to his duties.

People bustled in and out of the police station entrance under the scorching sun, while Ma Wenwen remained motionless in place.

The old farmer's inexplicable sigh of pity made him unconsciously reach out to touch the yellow cloth covering his eyes...