Chapter 1172 - 599: An Unexpected Clue!_2

Just as the three were having a heated discussion, Jiang An walked while meticulously observing the surrounding environment.

All around were rolling hills, and at the foot of them stretched endless fields.

It was springtime, the fields vibrant and lush, with patches of rapeseed flowers blooming in golden waves, creating an exceptionally delightful and refreshing sight.

At that moment, Qin Feng also turned to gaze into the distance, smiling as he said, "If not for a murder case being involved, this place would indeed be a great spot for a spring outing or hike."

"Look at this place, the open fields, decked with patches of golden rapeseed flowers, offer quite a nice view."

Chen Guan glanced back at him, smiling as he reminded, "Alright, Qin Feng, let’s focus on solving the case, this isn’t the time for sightseeing or chatting."

Soon, the four of them arrived again at the spot where the body was discovered.

Police caution tape had been set up around the site, enclosing a large pit formed during the initial excavation.

The four stood at the edge of the pit, surveying the surroundings in silent observation for a prolonged period.

Jiang An’s gaze finally settled on a pine tree beside the pit. This pine tree had a thick trunk and abundant branches and leaves, indicating it’s decades old, a perfect spot for summer shade.

However, the tree was still nearly ten meters away from the burial pit,

After observing for a while, he looked into the distance following the direction of the pine tree and vaguely saw someone shepherding sheep about two kilometers away.

At this moment, Qin Feng said puzzledly, "Seems like apart from being quiet, secluded, and easy to hide, there aren’t other unusual issues here."

Chen Guan also agreed, "Yeah, I don’t see anything special about this place either."

Jiang An remained silent, just pointed to the distance and softly said, "Look, there’s a silhouette moving over there, why don’t we go ask about the situation?"

Qin Feng hesitated a bit, "That place looks kind of far, the herd and people look really small, besides, the murderer wouldn’t be foolish enough to dig a pit and bury a body here during the day, right?"

At this point, Director Hou glanced in the direction Jiang An pointed, saying, "Let’s go, we should take a look over there, it’s not that far anyway, might as well ask if there’s any special saying or lore about this place."

"Just like Captain Jiang mentioned, the murderer must have chosen this place for an unusual reason."

Soon, the four of them began walking towards the shepherds.

The rugged mountain path was exceptionally challenging, the four of them trudging for nearly 20 minutes.

When they reached the side of the herd, they found an old man sitting on the ground, smoking a pipe, with several cigarette butts scattered on the ground beneath him.

Jiang An approached softly and asked, "Grandpa, are you shepherding the sheep?"

The old man, upon hearing this, turned to take a look, startled to see four unfamiliar men standing behind him, he cautiously asked in a low voice, "Who are you? What do you want?"

Jiang An squatted down, his tone calm as he said, "Grandpa, there’s no need to be afraid, we’re the city’s criminal investigation team from the Public Security Bureau."

"Oh, so it’s the police officers, I thought you were bandits from the mountains."

"Bandits?" Jiang An smiled helplessly.

The old man breathed a sigh of relief, "Speaking of it, this place was called Bandit Mountain before, during my childhood, bandits were lurking here until they were eradicated when I grew up."

"Because of this, usually, people are reluctant to come here."

Hearing this origin of the place’s name, Jiang An looked back at his three companions and asked, "Grandpa, do you often come here to shepherd sheep?"

"Not often, the usual grazing places are almost grazed bare, the grass here grows a bit better, so I only come occasionally."

Jiang An looked up, pointing towards the distant pine tree, continued asking, "Grandpa, can you see that big pine tree in the distance?"

Older people often had some farsightedness, he looked closely, nodding as he said, "I can see it, why are police officers interested in a pine tree?"

Jiang An asked, "I noticed it’s the stoutest around here, it must have been here for many years, right?"

Upon hearing this, the old man pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "That pine tree is indeed the oldest among these hills, but..."

Mid-sentence, a look of aversion appeared on the man’s face, and he didn’t continue.

Jiang An immediately sensed something unusual and hurriedly prodded, "Grandpa, did something happen under that pine tree?"

The old man took a couple of puffs from his pipe, then slowly started speaking, "Young man, to tell you the truth, someone died under that pine tree."

"Someone died?" The four were taken aback by the revelation.

"Yes, more than a decade ago, a young girl hanged herself on that pine tree."

Jiang An immediately asked, "Grandpa, you said how many years ago?"

"Eighteen years ago," the old man affirmed, "back then this matter was widely discussed in the village, many people knew about it."

"Was that girl from your village?"

"She was, the girl was lively and bright usually, and also pretty, but suddenly chose to hang herself."

"Did her family know why she committed suicide?"

"Not really, even her family couldn’t figure out why she would choose such a way to end her life."

"Since then, people thought that tree had a sinister aura, and no longer wished to rest under its shade, even when shepherds pass by, they go around it."

"Did you know the girl?"

"I did, she was from the east end of our village, her nickname was Yanzi."

"Yanzi? But what was her real name?"

"I can’t really recall her real name, in the village, everyone called her Yanzi, if you inquire in the village about Yanzi, everyone knows who you’re talking about. She was the eldest daughter in her family, ever since her incident, that tree became a taboo in the village."

Upon hearing this, Jiang An furrowed his brows tightly, his mind quickly sorting through the information the old man provided.

Following this, Director Hou added, "Grandpa, may I ask, back then, did the police finally determine that the girl who hanged herself on the pine tree committed suicide?"

"Yes, it was suicide. She left a suicide note, reportedly asking her family to take care of her mother, to be filial to her parents. Later, the police officers also came, after investigation, it was concluded as suicide."

Director Hou nodded slightly, pondering that since the police handled the case back then, perhaps the case files might still be retrievable.

"Thanks, Grandpa, we’ll not disturb you anymore."

The old man initially wanted to ask more, but the four had already turned and swiftly departed.

After walking about two hundred meters, Qin Feng couldn’t help but ask, "Captain Jiang, do you think there’s a link between the burial pit and that pine tree? But the tree is nearly ten meters from the burial site."

Jiang An nodded, "I can’t completely determine for now, but that pine tree makes me feel something’s not right, there must be something behind it."

Chen Guan also inquired, "Is there a connection between the suicide case from eighteen years ago and the current case of three burials?"

"But back then, the deceased left a note, and it was investigated by the authorities, the conclusion shouldn’t be wrong, right?"

"Whether the conclusion was accurate or not, I can’t say for sure now, but I think we can pull out and re-examine this old case."

Jiang An said in a deep voice, "Let’s go, we should first find Yanzi’s family in the village to ask about the specifics of that year, and then obtain the old case files."

Qin Feng pursed his lips, expressing some concern, "The case files from eighteen years ago might not be easy to find, especially since it’s just a suicide case."

"In those days, many unnatural death cases rarely warranted detailed scene investigation by police authorities."

Jiang An nodded, "Mr. Qin, the chances of finding the case files aren’t high, but we must try, maybe there’s a hidden link between these two cases..."