County Hospital.

The traffic officer rushed Shen Xin to the hospital.

From a distance, he saw someone.

Zhao Helin.

The Deputy Director of the Public Security Bureau.

In that instant, he knew this was a serious matter and quickly parked the car in front of Zhao Helin.

Shen Xin got out of the car quickly. He hadn’t expected Zhao Helin to come in person.

After greeting him, Shen Xin hurriedly asked about Li Xingping’s condition.

"He’s been sent to the city."

Zhao Helin’s expression was grim. "His injuries are severe," he said in a low voice. "Multiple fractures all over his body, including his head. He also has a degloving injury on his lower body. They had to resuscitate him once when he was brought in. The county hospital can’t handle it, so they had to send him to the city."

A degloving injury is when the skin and flesh are torn away from the underlying tissue.

Shen Xin had seen the scene. The skid marks were so long; the car had been moving fast.

And he’d been run over. A degloving injury is most likely to occur during sudden braking.

Zhao Helin said he had already been resuscitated once. Sending him to the city now... he might not even make it there alive.

Sighing, Shen Xin took out the bag.

The bloody clothes were inside.

Zhao Helin immediately arranged for someone to take it to the bureau for evidence collection, then thanked Shen Xin.

He knew Shen Xin had been planning to leave today, but this incident had delayed him.

Shen Xin quickly replied, "Director Zhao, you’re too kind. I’m a criminal police officer. When something like this happens, how could I not help?"

’Even if I weren’t a criminal police officer, any regular cop wouldn’t just stand by and do nothing.’

Zhao Helin nodded, his attention finally shifting to Tian Kui, who was standing beside them.

"Good boy, Tian Kui."

He praised the dog, saying, "Several kilometers... and from so far away. The suspect even caught a ride, yet you still managed to track him. That’s truly amazing."

Once before, the county had requested K-9 support to track a suspect.

But the suspect had ducked into crowded areas and wandered around the county town a few times, and the police dog completely lost the trail.

Shen Xin patted Tian Kui’s head.

’This guy did a great job today. He didn’t drop the ball when it mattered most.’

Zhao Helin invited Shen Xin to go with him. He was planning to check out the crime scene.

After all, Zhang Kaiyong was a village chief.

The traffic officer who had brought Shen Xin over hurried to help unload the electric scooter.

Zhao Helin waved a hand dismissively. "Don’t bother unloading it. You come with us."

The traffic officer said, "Oh," and quickly agreed.

Shen Xin led Tian Kui into the car.

On the way, Zhao Helin was inevitably very courteous, repeating that they had delayed Shen Xin’s trip.

Shen Xin said it was no problem.

’I’m not some big shot who’s incredibly busy. Going back a day or two later won’t make a difference.’

During the drive, Zhao Helin was constantly on the phone.

Hou Yaxin called to ask about the situation.

Then someone from the Huaiyi City Bureau probably called, asking if they needed backup.

He also called the town government to exchange information.

Setting aside the fact that Zhang Kaiyong was a village chief, this was a homicide. It was no small matter.

Just look at the national homicide statistics from last year.

This refers to actual murder cases, not cases like intentional injury resulting in death.

There were 0.8 cases per 100,000 people, which works out to just over 11,000 cases.

And there are over 1,300 counties in the entire country.

That means a county of several hundred thousand people might not even see 10 homicides in an entire year.

Failing to solve this one homicide wouldn’t just drag down the county’s clearance rate; it could affect the clearance rate of the entire city.

Meanwhile, a little after nine o’clock, Li Xiaowen and his team finally arrived at the crime scene.

Including the technical reconnaissance team, there were nearly thirty people in their group.

Everyone from the criminal investigation division who wasn’t on another assignment had been brought to the scene.

Li Xiaowen got out of the car quickly and went to meet Guo Jin.

Seeing the police tape cordoning off the area and blocking the road, Li Xiaowen breathed a small sigh of relief.

’The scene seems to be in decent condition, not too heavily compromised.’

Of course, the fact that the family had taken the body and even washed its face was just unbelievably frustrating.

He called over the bureau’s chief medical examiner, Luo Xiaolong, and told him to examine the body immediately. The technical reconnaissance team also entered the scene swiftly.

He then had Deputy Captain Zhu Qiuwei take a team and start canvassing the area without delay.

"Captain Li, these are the canvassing notes Xiaoshen took when he surveyed the scene. See if they’re useful," Guo Jin said, handing over a notebook.

Li Xiaowen was surprised and quickly opened it to take a look.

He saw that Shen Xin had even drawn a rough sketch of the scene, specifically marking the direction the body had fallen.

He had also recorded a timeline and noted the statements of several key witnesses. Li Xiaowen was surprised yet again.

’He really is a criminal police officer,’ he thought to himself. ’So experienced and quick-witted. He knew exactly what to do.’

He immediately handed the notebook to Zhu Qiuwei, telling him to follow up on the information, and then asked where Li Xingping’s house was.

While they waited, the beat-up pickup truck started again and drove to the base of the mountain. The group then drove up.

They parked the car at the school gate.

Just as they were about to head over, a school teacher, Liu Shasha, came up to them. "Officers," she said, "there’s something I need to report. Your colleagues already asked me about it earlier, but should I tell you again?"

Li Xiaowen quickly asked what it was.

After Liu Shasha finished, Li Xiaowen followed up, "So, you’re saying you saw Li Xingping around one in the morning. Was he running down the mountain or coming back up?"

"He was coming back."

Liu Shasha was certain. She pointed at the school gate and said, "I saw him through the iron gate of the school. We have a light here at the entrance that’s on at night, so I saw him very clearly. It was definitely Li Xingping."

"He’s usually sick, you know, so he walks very slowly. But last night, I saw him jogging. He seemed to be in a panic."

Li Xiaowen nodded and immediately called an officer over to take a detailed statement from Liu Shasha.

"Looks like it really was Li Xingping. *Sigh*... what was he thinking? He should have just talked things out," Guo Jin sighed heavily.

Li Xiaowen took the opportunity to ask him about the conflict between Li Xingping and Zhang Kaiyong.

After hearing the story, Li Xiaowen felt that the suspicion on Li Xingping had grown even stronger.

The motive was strong.

They had argued again yesterday. Although they didn’t come to blows right then and there, he probably got angrier the more he thought about it after returning home. That’s why he snuck down the mountain, laid in wait on Zhang Kaiyong’s way home, and ambushed him in revenge.

The murder weapon was a brick he picked up off the ground. Everything pointed to a crime of passion.

Now, all they had to do was collect the blood samples from here, send them to the bureau for comparison with the bloodstains on Li Xingping’s clothes, and if they got a match, they could almost certainly confirm Li Xingping as the killer.

They arrived at the courtyard of Li Xingping’s house.

Seeing the mess all over the ground and hearing Guo Jin’s account of what had happened, Li Xiaowen patted his shoulder in understanding.

Given the situation at the time, just as Guo Jin had said, if Fu Lianghui hadn’t followed him up, things could have gotten ugly.

"By the way, how is Li Xingping’s mother?" Li Xiaowen asked.

Guo Jin slapped his thigh. He just remembered he’d forgotten to ask and quickly called Xiaochen.

"What? That bastard!"

Guo Jin stomped his foot in anger.

Li Xiaowen hurriedly asked what was wrong.

Guo Jin’s face was flushed with anger. "It was Zhang Deli! He went to town to find Zhang Xi—that’s Zhang Kaiyong’s son—and then they ran to the school and beat up Li Shi. They cracked his head open! He’s at the clinic now."

"Oh, Li Shi is Li Xingping’s son. Zhang Kaisheng must have put him up to it. That guy... he’s just making more trouble."

Li Xiaowen frowned. "Lao Guo, we’ve taken over here anyway. Why don’t you head back to town first? Keep an eye on Li Shi, and this Zhang Xi too. Make sure nothing else happens."

Guo Jin nodded and hurried away.

Li Xiaowen then instructed his men to secure the scene.

Zhang Kaisheng had already caused a disturbance and compromised it, but it still needed to be investigated.

When he came back out, Li Xiaowen didn’t rush down the mountain. He stood on the high ground, looking down at the surrounding area.

Comparing it with Shen Xin’s tracking route, he got a good sense of the situation.

He couldn’t help but marvel at how experienced and accurate Shen Xin’s judgment was.

By the time Shen Xin returned to Baijia Post with Zhao Helin, it was almost eleven o’clock.

The preliminary investigation at the crime scene was finished, and they were now investigating Li Xingping’s home.

Li Xiaowen’s team was canvassing the village, interviewing residents.

Baijia Village wasn’t large, with only 83 households.

Excluding those who worked elsewhere, there were 147 permanent residents in the village.

After subtracting the old, weak, sick, and disabled, and even including the women, less than half of them would have been capable of committing the crime.

Relatively speaking, the investigation should be straightforward.

Zhao Helin quickly listened to Li Xiaowen’s report and then reminded him, "Xiaowen, the case seems pretty clear, but we can’t let our guard down. This is a homicide, after all. The chain of evidence must be complete, and the case has to be airtight. There can’t be any loose ends. Only then can we give the victim’s family the closure they deserve."

After speaking, he turned to talk with the people who had come from the town.

Only then did Li Xiaowen have a moment to speak with Shen Xin. With a solemn expression, he said, "Shen Xin, thank you."

He had asked around. The local police station lacked experience, but Shen Xin’s handling of the scene had been spot-on. Plus, he had immediately taken Tian Kui and tracked down Li Xingping.

"And Tian Kui, of course. He’s a real credit to the force."

Li Xiaowen gave Tian Kui another thumbs-up.

He had once again witnessed Tian Kui’s capabilities.

If Li Xingping hadn’t gotten into that car accident and had just run off...

By the time he himself arrived and arranged a search, Li Xingping might have already escaped.

Shen Xin quickly said it was nothing and asked about the current status of the investigation.

Even though Shen Xin wasn’t a Shiyao police officer, Li Xiaowen didn’t hide anything and summarized the important details.

Luo Xiaolong had already completed a preliminary examination of the body.

The estimated time of death was between 12:00 AM and 2:00 AM.

There were signs of a struggle on the deceased’s body, but no defensive wounds were found. The attack was likely sudden.

Of course, there was another common possibility.

Zhang Kaiyong saw Li Xingping pick up the brick but wasn’t afraid.

He might have stuck his head out and taunted Li Xingping, saying something like, ’Go on, hit me if you’ve got the guts.’

And Li Xingping actually did it. He knocked him down with one blow, then hit him a few more times, killing him on the spot.

In a scenario like that, there wouldn’t be any defensive wounds either.

The presumed cause of death was mechanical craniocerebral injury resulting from a skull fracture and intracranial hemorrhage.

The murder weapon was a red brick.

It wasn’t a new brick, but a broken one that was still mostly intact.

It still had cement on it, probably a leftover brick from someone’s home construction, picked up randomly from the roadside.

And Li Xingping didn’t hit him with the flat face of the brick.

A person’s head is actually very hard. Hitting it with the flat face of a red brick would more likely just break the brick in two.

He must have gripped it by one of the narrow sides and used the other narrow side to strike.

The narrow side concentrates the force, making the blow more powerful, and the brick is less likely to break.

Li Xiaowen said, "Zhang Kaiyong was hit multiple times, and there are several bloodstains at the scene. This suggests that after the first blow, he wasn’t completely unconscious, so Li Xingping pursued him and struck him repeatedly. This fits with someone venting their rage."

"And the brick was just left right there at the crime scene without any attempt to hide it. I think that also fits the mentality of a crime of passion."

Shen Xin nodded in agreement.

A crime of passion is when you’re overwhelmed by emotion in the moment. You grab any weapon at hand and, with your mind a blank, just start swinging.

After it’s over, when the person stops moving, your mind might finally clear.

That’s when the fear sets in. You drop the brick wherever you are and just think about running away.

If it were a premeditated, carefully planned murder, they would have at least found a place to dispose of the brick.

Li Xiaowen then brought up the motive.

They had interviewed the people who played cards with Zhang Kaiyong yesterday, and their stories matched.

Li Xingping had indeed brought Li Yao over and started an argument.

Then they played until almost one o’clock, but the game broke up because Zhang Kaiyong had lost too much money.

And to get home from Zhang Haomin’s house, where they were playing, Zhang Kaiyong would have had to take that road.

It was entirely possible that Li Xingping lay in wait there for his chance to strike.

After the murder, he fled the scene in a hurry and was coincidentally witnessed by Liu Shasha.

At some unknown time after that, he fled to escape justice and ended up in a car accident.

The direct motive was likely still the health insurance issue.

Whether Zhang Kaiyong intentionally didn’t pay it for him or simply forgot hadn’t been determined yet.

Li Xiaowen added, "However, last year, Li Xingping went to the town to file a complaint about the poverty assistance issue, so there was already bad blood between them."

"My personal theory is that Zhang Kaiyong didn’t pay Li Xingping’s health insurance precisely because of that incident."

Understanding dawned on Shen Xin.

’In that case, the motive is even stronger.’

"So now we’re just waiting for the DNA analysis," Shen Xin said.

They were waiting for the results from the bloodstains on the clothes to confirm if it was Zhang Kaiyong’s blood.

And the brick—if he had held it, it was possible to extract DNA from it. That would be irrefutable proof.

So, at this point, although the case was tragic, it seemed to be solved.