Chapter 294 - 292: Unfortunately, He Met Her (Second Update)

Chapter 294: Chapter 292: Unfortunately, He Met Her (Second Update)

Seeing the increasingly tense atmosphere between Yan Si and Xu Jing, the onlookers initially felt a bit nervous, some even ready to intervene at any moment. However, upon hearing the words, they looked at Xu Jing with disbelief.

Letting Little Dongzi fall into the river at their specified time?!

Where in the world is there such a miraculous way to kill someone!

Yan Si’s face turned slightly pale with Xu Jing’s words, while Xu Jing looked at him with a half-smile and said, "This method is actually quite simple. When I examined the body earlier, I saw a distinct ligature mark near the top of Little Dongzi’s waist, and this mark was quite peculiar, very noticeable on the front of Little Dongzi, but much fainter on the back.

This is almost like... Little Dongzi was tied around the waist by something, hanging face down somewhere, and hanging for a short period of time!"

The onlookers couldn’t help but imagine such a scene in their minds.

If it was indeed such a posture, it would surely create the kind of ligature mark that Miss Xu just described!

Some villagers who had just witnessed Xu Jing’s autopsy immediately said, "Indeed! There really is such a ligature mark on Little Dongzi’s body, I can testify to that!"

Chen Laosan at this point had a look of sudden realization and said, "Miss Xu, are you suggesting that the killer preemptively hung Little Dongzi somewhere by the river, allowing him to fall into the river precisely at a certain time? If that’s the case, the only place by the Wangzi River where someone could be tied would be that bridge!"

And the place where Little Dongzi fell into the water was right near that bridge!

Xu Jing nodded and said, "That’s right, the killer did exactly as Mr. Chen suggested, first tying Little Dongzi on the bridge. As long as they tie a slipknot on the rope tying Little Dongzi, that slipknot would naturally come loose at a certain time, and Little Dongzi would fall into the river at the time the killer wanted, creating a perfect alibi for themselves!

However, the killer miscalculated one thing—given the cold weather nowadays, the poor child couldn’t endure it and froze to death before falling into the river!"

Yan Si’s face had turned increasingly unsightly, yet he gritted his teeth and viciously said, "I only just found out about what you’re saying... If Dongzi really was killed like this, then anyone could have done it, Jiang Da could have done it too!"

"No."

Xu Jing looked at him with a half-smile, "While it’s true anyone could do such a thing, only you could have predicted so precisely when the child would fall into the river!

I just asked a few sisters who go to the river to wash clothes and fetch water every day. They all said that recently, you often go to the river to fish, and not only that, they also heard sporadic splashes as if something fell into the river. Those sisters couldn’t see what you dropped because of the distance and assumed you accidentally dropped the fish you caught.

Little did they know, fishing was just a cover. In truth, you were experimenting, using a rope with a slipknot to tie objects approximately the same weight as Little Dongzi, determining the length of rope and how to tie the slipknot so that Little Dongzi would fall into the river at your desired time!

The thing you used to tie Little Dongzi was the vine you normally use for fishing! Vines used for fishing lines are usually polished, but it’s difficult to completely smooth out the barbs, which is why the ligature mark on Little Dongzi was generally smooth but had a few small, punctured spots from the barbs!

Moreover, you were the person initially responsible for searching the Wangzi River area tonight, and only after returning on Mr. Chen’s suggestion did you return to the river.

In fact, even if Mr. Chen hadn’t suggested, you would have timed it to take someone back there again because you needed someone to hear Little Dongzi falling into the river with you to obtain a perfect alibi!"

Xu Jing’s words were logical and coherent, and the onlookers were already seventy to eighty percent convinced, their gazes at Yan Si and Sister-in-law Wang becoming increasingly wary and shocked.

Even a tiger doesn’t eat its cubs, so how could Yan Si bring himself to do such a thing!

Sister-in-law Wang was at a loss for words, while Yan Si clenched his fists tightly, viciously declaring, "I said it wasn’t me who killed Dongzi! No matter how despicable I am, I wouldn’t kill my own child! Jiang Da could have done what you said too! The Wangzi River is right by the forest, Jiang Da could have gone to the river at night to conduct experiments! It’s more convenient and wouldn’t attract attention! Why are you so certain the murderer must be me and my wife!"

Sister-in-law Wang suddenly snapped back, grasping at a lifeline, loudly stating, "Yes! Even though I’m just a simple, uneducated farmwoman, I know that the County Lord’s investigations must emphasize... evidence! Yes, evidence! Where’s the evidence that says we’re the murderers!"

Just as Xu Jing was about to speak, Chen Laosan thoughtfully added, "If the murderer used the method Miss Xu described to kill Little Dongzi, there should still be vine left on the bridge used to bind Little Dongzi..."

Before he finished speaking, Xu Jing noticed Yan Si’s mouth barely twitch, and the next moment, he loudly declared, "Then go and look for it! See if there’s really any vine on that bridge! If not, won’t you, woman, have to admit everything you said just now was nonsense, groundless accusations?!"

Some villagers were already eager and ready to run to the river to check.

Xu Jing, however, glanced at him, sneering, "You and Sister-in-law Wang went through so much trouble to kill Little Dongzi, how could you have left such an obvious flaw? When Sister-in-law Wang said you dropped something by the river and you went back to retrieve it, that was your chance to deal with that vine!

When we were by the river, busy saving Little Dongzi amidst the pitch-black night, with rampant weeds growing on both sides of the bridge, based on Dongzi’s falling position, you hung Little Dongzi beside those weeds, successfully deceiving everyone. Then, you secretly dealt with the vine afterwards. If all went well, no one in this world would discover your method of killing Little Dongzi!

Unfortunately for him, he encountered her.

The villagers all frowned slightly.

Does that mean they can’t find anything at the river now?

The only possible evidence is gone just like that?

Yan Si couldn’t resist any longer, a faint smirk appearing on his face as he said, "I don’t know what you’re talking about, but anyway, you have no evidence, right? Without evidence, what’s the point of investigating, talking about catching people, you might as well go home and take care of your children..."

His filthy words made several guards beside Xu Jing change their expressions in outrage.

However, Xu Jing raised her hand to stop them, coldly smiling as she said, "Who said I have no evidence? As they say, the net of heaven has large meshes, but it lets nothing through! When I examined the body, I found it strange that aside from the ligature mark on the waist, there were no other ligature marks or struggle marks on Little Dongzi’s body. Normally, if someone were hung like that on a bridge, they would struggle, or even try to escape, right? Moreover, Little Dongzi’s hands and feet were free, he totally had the capacity to do so, but why did he just hang on the bridge obediently without any sign of struggle?"