Chapter 444: Slaughtering The Chicken (2/2)
”Oh, stop pretending! The iron walnut is clearly on you. You must have cut it out of her stomach.”
”This iron walnut...”
The man took advantage of my sudden silence to gain the upper hand in this argument. ”Tell us, what about the iron walnut?”
Song Jie tugged my sleeve and whispered, ”There’s no need to be afraid. We’re innocent. Just tell them the truth.”
”I don't know,” I muttered.
The man wanted to continue but the village chief rapped his knuckles against the table, “That’s enough. Granny Yan's whereabouts are still unknown. Before we accuse anyone of anything, there must be evidence. We can make a decision when we find Granny Yan!”
Right then, Song Xingchen came sauntering in with a dead chicken in his hand. Seeing my delight, the village chief asked, ”Song Xingchen, what is the meaning of this?”
”The blood on the iron walnut is chicken blood and it’s rather fresh so I asked Song Xingchen to find out if any villagers slaughtered a chicken tonight. Those who did fall under suspicion,” I explained.
Then, turning to Song Xingchen, I asked, ”Whose chicken is this?”
Song Xingchen scanned the room and pointed at the man who had just accused me. Panicking, he cried, ”That’s slander! How could I do such a thing...”
”What's your name?” I added.
”This is ridiculous. How did the blame suddenly fall upon me?” he badgered. “This chicken does belong to me, but I was drinking at Dazhuang's house tonight. Dazhuang can verify that.”
Another villager spoke out to prove the man’s innocence. It turned out the murderer was cunning enough not to slaughter their own chicken.
I picked up the dead chicken and examined the wound with Cave Vision. There were some rust and tiny skin tissues on the wound, suggesting it was caused by a dull knife that hadn’t been used for many years. I suspected the knife could still be found in the murderer’s home. Even if it was wiped clean, I could still obtain clues from the knife.
”Sir, I’d like to investigate each home!” I suggested.
The village chief frowned and the others raised the roof with their protests. ”Is he trying to fool us with his flimsy act?!”
”Clearly we were talking about the iron walnut. How did we digress to the knife now?”
”We’re all friends and family. He’s the only outsider here. He must have done it!”
A sense of powerlessness overwhelmed me. This was exactly what I feared most when investigating a case–what could’ve been open-and-shut was turned into a convoluted mess due to the disjointed ways of the world.
”Silence!” the village chief slammed the table. “Song Yang, there’s no evidence to prove your innocence at the moment. If I let you go, the villagers will be upset. I’ve decided to place you in the holding cell. We’ll ask the elders for their opinion tomorrow morning.”
Two burly young men immediately came to arrest me but were stopped by Song Xingchen and Song Jie who stood in their way.
”Don’t you dare!” threatened Song Xingchen.
One of the young men clenched his fists and accused, ”Song Xingchen, are you really helping an outsider over your relatives?”
”Have you forgotten who we are? Do you dare disrespect your elders?” added the other.
Unresigned to the situation, I gritted my teeth. If we played along to the villagers’ tune, the murder would never be solved and I would be falsely implicated in Granny Yan’s disappearance. Backed into a corner, I activated the Eyes of Yama. Upon noticing my eyes, the two men screamed in horror and shivered as they quickly backed away. ”No... That’s impossible. How could he have the Eyes of Yama...”
The others watched in utter shock. The Eyes of Yama hadn’t appeared in any of the Song family descendants for hundreds of years which made it almost a legend.
The village chief blurted in awe, ”Young man, who exactly are you?”