The village had changed a lot; it looked completely different from the photos in the case file.

The only thing that hadn’t changed was Han Xiaolong’s house.

The courtyard gate was locked. Inside, piles of clutter were stacked on the left and right.

There was also a large amount of cardboard. Lai Yong explained that Luo Limei was old and couldn’t find a formal job. She only took occasional odd jobs, like landscaping, and often had to collect scrap to get by.

Shen Xin didn’t see the dog Liu Jie had described, and his heart sank.

Rural, free-roaming dogs weren’t meticulously cared for. It was already a feat for one to live for ten years or so.

Six years had passed. If this dog was dead, it wouldn’t matter how capable he was.

"She’s not home. We should wait."

Lai Yong glanced at the time. It was almost eleven.

Shen Xin nodded.

Seizing the opportunity, Shen Xin asked about the original investigation.

For example, the major suspect Liu Jie had mentioned, Wang Chenghui.

Lai Yong said, "Back then, Wang Chenghui was a few years older than Han Xiaolong. He didn’t have a steady job. He’d been married, but his wife divorced him and left with their child."

"To put it bluntly, he was a hoodlum. The villagers reported that Wang Chenghui would occasionally bully Han Xiaolong for fun."

"As for why they argued, Wang Chenghui’s story was that he was seeing Mao Yanru, and Han Xiaolong didn’t like it and even threw rocks at him."

"So he beat Han Xiaolong up once. But Han Xiaolong kept pestering him, which led to more arguments."

"On the night of the incident, he was in town having dinner with some people. After dinner, they went for karaoke. He left just after ten and headed back to the village."

"He claimed he went straight home and went to bed. But he didn’t live with his parents; he lived alone. So his alibi was a bit weak. The problem was, we couldn’t find any evidence to refute it."

"The neighbors were all asleep and didn’t know when he got home."

Shen Xin nodded and asked, "Captain Lai, I remember the case file mentioned that this Mao Yanru had a good relationship with Han Xiaolong."

"That’s right."

Lai Yong pointed back in the direction they had come from, toward a two-story house with a red roof. "That house right there. The two families are neighbors, you see."

"And Han Xiaolong’s dad was a coworker of Mao Yanru’s father at the same factory. They had a good relationship. When Han Xiaolong’s dad had his accident, it was Mao Yanru’s father who took him to the hospital, but he couldn’t be saved."

"Since they grew up together, Mao Yanru took good care of Han Xiaolong when they were kids."

"Mao Yanru later married a man from the neighboring town of Lishui, but they divorced, and she moved back home. She never remarried."

"She’s quite pretty, so she had some ambiguous relationships with some of the men in the village."

"After Han Xiaolong died, Mao Yanru was devastated. She came to the station quite a few times to ask about the case."

Shen Xin then asked about the other suspects.

They had all "taught Han Xiaolong a lesson" for one reason or another.

But in the end, just like Wang Chenghui, they were all cleared due to having alibis.

Just as they were talking, Luo Limei returned.

She was riding a tricycle, its cargo bed filled with cardboard and drink bottles. Her hair was a full head of silver. She wasn’t tall to begin with, and now, with her back slightly hunched, she looked even smaller and frailer.

Seeing the police car in front of her gate, she froze for a moment, then hurried over.

"I’ve seen you before."

Her face was covered in wrinkles, the corners of her eyes drooping, but she grabbed Lai Yong’s hand and said excitedly, "You’re the officer who investigated Xiaolong’s case! Have you found the monster who killed my Xiaolong?"

Her grip was so tight her nails left marks.

Lai Yong didn’t pull his hand away. He said, a little awkwardly, "Aunt Luo, I’m sorry. We haven’t solved the case yet, but we have reopened the investigation."

He then introduced Shen Xin and his companion.

Shen Xin quickly greeted her.

Luo Limei then eagerly shook Shen Xin’s hand.

"Thank you, thank you. I’m sorry to trouble you."

She spoke with a bit of a local accent, but Shen Xin could mostly understand her.

She hurried to unlock the gate, led the three of them into the house, and busied herself with pouring them water.

Shen Xin glanced around the room.

It wasn’t large and was quite messy. There were few furnishings or appliances, a clear sign of a hard life.

Then she sat down herself, started wiping away tears, and began thanking them again.

"Thank you, for not forgetting Xiaolong. I’ve thought about it since... and maybe it’s for the best that Xiaolong is gone. Tell me, I’m old now, how many more years could I have taken care of him? If I died, what would he have done with no one to look after him?"

She grabbed her sleeve protector to wipe her tears.

Ding Yuwei quickly took out a tissue and handed it to her.

Shen Xin felt a weight in his chest.

Working on cold cases, Shen Xin’s strongest feeling was that a case dragging on for years was a form of torture for everyone involved.

Time may heal all wounds, but an unsolved case was like a scar that would never close.

He thought back to when the case was first classified as cold. Back then, Luo Limei could still shout and question Liu Jie, asking if a simpleton’s life wasn’t still a life.

But now, six years later, that fire had been worn out of her; she could even bring herself to say it was for the best that he was gone.

Shen Xin didn’t rush to ask about what happened back then. He was sure Liu Jie and the others had asked countless times, and asking again would only dredge up Luo Limei’s painful memories.

He could ask her slowly later on in the investigation.

Right now, Shen Xin was most worried about the dog. It wasn’t in the yard. ’I hope it hasn’t died of old age,’ he thought.

"Aunt Luo, did you used to have a dog? Is it still alive?"

"A dog?"

Luo Limei paused, then nodded. "Yes, we did have a dog. I got it from a fellow villager for Xiaolong to play with. Xiaolong really loved it."

"Why do you ask?"

Luo Limei looked puzzled.

Shen Xin didn’t elaborate, simply asking where the dog was now.

Luo Limei shook her head. "It’s not dead. But I’m alone, you know. Sometimes I come home late from work and can’t look after it properly."

"The year before last, when Yanru came to visit, she saw the dog eating out of the trash and said she might as well take it and raise it herself. So I let her. I don’t know how it’s doing now; I haven’t asked."

Shen Xin breathed a silent sigh of relief.

’As long as it’s not dead.’

"Aunt Luo, that’s all for today. Please rest assured, we have reopened this case, and we will inform you immediately if we find anything."

After asking a few more questions, Shen Xin stood up to leave.

Lai Yong was inwardly amazed. He hadn’t expected Shen Xin to actually focus the investigation on the dog.

Luo Limei saw the three of them to the door, thanking them profusely again. Then she said that if they couldn’t solve it, it was okay, and that they shouldn’t trouble themselves running back and forth.

She said she didn’t have many years left anyway and didn’t want to be a bother.

The more she acted this way, the worse Shen Xin felt.

On a table inside the house, Shen Xin had seen box after box of medicine. It was obvious Luo Limei was not in good health.

’How tragic would it be if the case isn’t solved and she passes away with this regret?’

Outside, seeing that Shen Xin was about to head to Mao Yanru’s house next door, Lai Yong stopped him. "Don’t bother. Mao Yanru doesn’t live in the village anymore. She’s in Lishui. Opened a massage parlor. I know where it is."

He didn’t say any more, just got in the car, ready to lead the way.

’I get it now,’ he thought. ’This so-called expert, Shen Xin, is all about the animals.’

Qingyuan and Lishui were adjacent.

Shen Xin had been to Lishui before while investigating the Liu Laibin case.

It was inconvenient to get from Qingyuan to Pingyu, but Lishui was very close.

A drive of over ten minutes took them across the provincial border. A little while later, they arrived in Zhangwang Town, part of Lishui’s Nanlin District.

When they got out, they saw it: located off the town’s main street was a small storefront with a sign that read "Spring Breeze Health."

Shen Xin had been wanting to ask if Mao Yanru’s massage parlor was a legitimate one.

Now, it was obvious he didn’t need to.

Lai Yong didn’t explain either. After getting out of the car, he suddenly pointed to a black dog lying by the entrance. "Shen Xin, is that Han Xiaolong’s dog?"

The dog was tied up next to a sink by the door.

It was a standard "four-eyed" Iron-Clad Gold. It had to be the one, Han Xiaolong’s dog.

The glass door was padlocked. No one was there.

Shen Xin had come for the dog, so he walked straight toward it.

The dog wasn’t startled until he was right in front of it. It slowly turned its head to look at Shen Xin.

Shen Xin frowned slightly.

The dog’s fur was no longer glossy and sleek; it was coarse and rough, and there were signs of shedding.

The fur around its nose, and its whiskers, had also turned white.

Its eyes, especially, were cloudy, deep, and filled with the weariness of old age.

This was an old dog.

"Heaven-Howling Dog?"

Shen Xin called out with a smile.

According to Luo Limei, she hadn’t really taken care of the dog herself; Han Xiaolong had done it all.

And Han Xiaolong had named the dog Heaven-Howling Dog.

He must have gotten the idea from watching *Journey to the West*.

Hearing the name, a flicker of light flashed through the old dog’s cloudy eyes. It lifted its head and let out a single bark at Shen Xin.

Shen Xin’s heart leaped with joy. ’It still remembers.’