Reunion
Lin Yan leaned against a tree, with the chatter of her teammates in her ears.
She raised her gaze to the empty sky, a formation of geese passed over the treetops flying southward.
Regret…
The reason she couldn’t forget the death of Chu Nan, besides wanting to uncover the truth, was there any other reason for regret?
She thought there was, for the words unspoken over the years, the things they hadn’t had a chance to do together; she regretted for fourteen years, the best fourteen years of her life.
Now…
Lin Yan’s gaze fell on that person.
She was wearing a black training uniform, without a hat, her slightly disheveled hair piled behind her ears as she struggled to carry a large bag of sweet potatoes down the mountain.
Song Yuhang didn’t rush her, focused on her own path, but suddenly felt her load lighten. She turned around, and Lin Yan had held onto one side for her.
“Let’s go.”
Song Yuhang’s lips curved into a gentle smile. “Alright.”
When they reached the bottom of the mountain, the police car was still parked on the side of the road, its engine having soaked overnight, undergoing emergency repairs.
Song Yuhang took off his jacket, washed a few sweet potatoes in the drainage ditch, and wiped them on his clothes before handing them to her.
(Originally translated on littlepandatranslations.com, let's go!)
“Here, eat them raw; they’re very sweet. Use them as a cushion, or else you might get motion sickness again.”
Just having a bowl of goat’s milk in the morning is definitely not enough.
Lin Yan looked somewhat disdainfully at the water in the mountain ditch, “Is it safe?”
“Of course, it’s pure natural spring water. Why wouldn’t it be safe?” To assure Lin Yan, she took a bite as a demonstration.
“Here, it’s very sweet, crunchy, and thirst-quenching.”
Lin Yan, with some skepticism, took it from her but hesitated to eat it.
Song Yuhang couldn’t help but smile at her reaction and reached over, taking one for herself. “Come on, you really do live a pampered life, fussing over every little thing except for when it comes to forensic work. It’s really quite maddening.”
As she scolded, she took out a tactical knife from her pocket to peel the sweet potatoes.
Lin Yan stood by and watched her busy herself. “Hey, you’re mistaken. The reason I don’t fuss during forensic work is because I’m fully equipped, and contaminants are kept at bay. If you ask me to touch a corpse with my bare hands, I wouldn’t do it either. Besides, this is a wild environment now. Can you see any microorganisms or bacteria in the water? Getting an upset stomach is one thing, but ingesting parasites is a different story, Officer Song.”
She stretched out her words and called out, making Song Yuhang laugh. She handed her the peeled sweet potato. “Alright, you’re quite the worrier. I shouldn’t have discussed these things with a forensic expert; it’s killing my appetite.”
“And what about tomato and egg stir-fry, knife-cut noodles, green bean fly stew with brain flowers, five-spice spare ribs? Have you heard of the four famous dishes in the forensic field?”
Lin Yan pursued relentlessly, determined to nauseate her even if she couldn’t win the argument.
As Duan Cheng spoke, he thought of those colorful scenes under the camera, and his face turned pale, making him feel nauseous.
“Officer Song, Officer Song, can you please control her? Can we even eat anymore…”
Song Yuhang shrugged. “If I could control her, do you think I’d still be getting hit?”
Lin Yan didn’t hold back. She raised an eyebrow, a slight curve at the corner of her lips, finally showing a smile from the heart she hadn’t shown for days.
“Officer Song, the city bureau is calling.”
Zheng Chengrui called out.
Song Yuhang rushed over with a quick step, opened the car door, and pulled out a walkie-talkie from inside.
“Hello, this is Song Yuhang.”
“Did you find Li Hai? What? He’s already dead?!”
* * *
(If you're not reading on littlepandatranslations.com, it means this has been stolen)
The car was fixed and speeding along the mountain road.
Song Yuhang took out a notebook from her bag and was in the midst of searching for a pen when Lin Yan already handed one over.
She didn’t even lift her head. “Thank you.”
The notebook contained the new clues they had obtained, and Song Yuhang had categorized and written them neatly, making them easy to understand.
She spoke while writing, and everyone listened attentively in silence. “After returning from Xiaohe Village, Li Hai, who had graduated from medical school, secured a job at Jiangcheng City Hospital through his family connections…”
Whenever Jiangcheng City Hospital was mentioned, Lin Yan’s mind started to recall something vague.
That evening.
A woman sat on the couch, wiping away tears with a tissue. “My husband passed away early, leaving us as a widow and orphan. If it weren’t for our son’s severe illness, I would still have to take care of him. At the very least, I would have to raise him to adulthood, or else I would have gone with him long ago.”
“What kind of illness?”
“Chronic kidney disease.”
It was as if a bolt of lightning had split through the chaos.
Lin Yan blurted out, “I know who Wei Fengzhen is!”
Song Yuhang also looked up at the same moment. “If I’m not mistaken, Li Hai’s current wife, Wei Lihong, is the former wife of Yu Xinye, who was Wei Fengzhen.”
Fang Xin finally recalled the memory as well. When they went to the family quarters at Jiangcheng City Hospital last time, they had some impression of this middle-aged woman named Wei Lihong. However, they didn’t think much about it at the time because their focus was on middle-aged men over 30. Who could have imagined that a single, child-rearing, and frail woman would also have some connection to a series of serial murders?
“Why are you still standing around? Hurry up and bring her back to the station!” Lin Yan was anxious, fearing that the newly discovered lead might slip away.
Song Yuhang rubbed her temple, and as the mountain road twisted and turned, everyone was being jostled around. However, she couldn’t afford to be disoriented; she needed to maintain clear thinking and a rational mind at all times.
“You just said, Wei Lihong’s son has what illness?”
“Chronic kidney disease,” Lin Yan repeated again. “But having a sick child can’t be a reason for not restraining her, can it?”
Song Yuhang shook her head. “No, do you remember? The old lady mentioned that Wei Fengzhen gave birth to a daughter for Yu Xinye back then. However, after the mining accident, she and her daughter disappeared, and now there’s only a son by her side. So… what happened to that daughter?”
Lin Yan felt an inexplicable chill. “Is she dead, or…”
“Let’s not forget, there’s also a key figure, Li Yang, who has also disappeared.”
(Support me at littlepandatranslations.com)
During crucial moments, Song Yuhang’s words always helped clear the fog for everyone.
“Let’s make a hypothesis: if that child from back then didn’t die, they should be around twenty now, and most of the victims in the ‘White Whale Case’ were of a similar age. Is it a coincidence, or did the perpetrator plan it this way?”
“Why would they plan it like this? Why not target and manipulate younger children, which should be easier, both mentally and physically?”
The perpetrator using psychological manipulation for murder might seem seamless, but in reality, the more they committed, the more traces they left behind.
Whether it was appearing at the scene during the “He Miao Case” initially or later detecting gamma-hydroxybutyric acid in the bodies during the “Wu Wei Case,” it was all guiding the police step by step closer to the truth.
Song Yuhang closed her eyes and immersed herself in that scenario. “If I were the perpetrator, why would I choose teenagers? Why… why…”
“Teenagers are lively and full of vitality, their bodies are at their peak metabolism, they have the healthiest physique, the freshest blood…”
“Most importantly… they are of a similar age to her!”
As if a single statement had awakened a dreamer, Song Yuhang suddenly opened her eyes, grabbing Lin Yan’s hand.
“Is chronic kidney disease hereditary?!”
Fang Xin was a forensic examiner with a basic knowledge of biology. She shook her head, saying, “It’s not, right? The likelihood of it being hereditary is very low.”
The gaze of several people suddenly turned to Lin Yan, waiting for her authoritative answer.
Lin Yan furrowed her brow, recalling the literature she had read abroad. She pinched her brow, leaving a red mark. “The likelihood is very low, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Whether it’s hereditary depends on the cause. If it’s due to congenital kidney diseases like polycystic kidney disease, Alport syndrome, etc., there is a possibility of it being hereditary.”
She didn’t quite catch the name of the disease, but she understood the meaning. Song Yuhang immediately picked up her walkie-talkie.
“Hello, this is Song Yuhang. Take a team to Wei Lihong’s house immediately to protect her and her son. Yes, do it right now!”
The unspoken words she didn’t voice were that any delay might be too late.