Chapter 385 - 283: The Murderer’s Schemes (Part 1)

Chapter 385: Chapter 283: The Murderer’s Schemes (Part 1)

The group of government officials was startled by Xu Jing. A few officials who were previously responsible for searching for body parts recalled after a moment, and said, "I’ve been here a few times, but since we didn’t find any body parts nearby, I stopped coming here afterwards."

"I... I am the same. I have an impression of this house; I think I’ve been here two or three times."

"I only passed by once, because Da Li and the others said there were no signs of body parts nearby, so I went elsewhere to look."

So that’s it, that’s what it was!

Xu Jing’s eyes suddenly darkened.

This is why the murderer suddenly left this house!

He wouldn’t leave the body near this house, of course. In fact, judging by the final result, the place where he disposed of the body is quite far from here. Even the nearest place would take nearly half an hour to walk to.

It’s likely that he spent the whole night just disposing of the body last night.

With so many people from the county government, it took them the whole day just to find all the body parts.

But when the county government people were searching, they didn’t know where he had disposed of the body parts, so they must have searched all over the forest and naturally passed by here from time to time.

However, to a murderer dismembering a body for the first time, even if the county government people weren’t after him, just seeing their silhouettes would have made him nervous for quite a while, not to mention their frequent presence near here.

At first, he could remain calm, but when he saw the county officials there from morning till night with no intention of leaving, he finally couldn’t stay calm anymore...

So, he left the half-eaten pancake and walked out.

Why would he walk out? Before the county government people had completely found this place, he might have still held on to a bit of luck. After all, even if they found him here, they might not necessarily discover the place where he dismembered the bodies.

And since he had already destroyed two bodies to that extent, the county government people definitely couldn’t determine their identities, and thus had no evidence to prove he was related to this case...

So, what he was most likely doing was monitoring them from nearby, observing their actions!

If he was right next to them watching as they approached this small wooden house, he would have certainly realized they already suspected him.

That’s when he truly felt it was time to escape!

But with so many people near here, even if he wanted to run, he surely wouldn’t dare run too quickly, for fear of making noise and attracting their attention.

Now is the time to chase him, and it might still be possible!

Xu Jing suddenly turned around, ran out quickly, and shouted, "Everyone, immediately spread out and search for the murderer! The murderer should be not far from here!"

The group was stunned for a moment, but since it was Xu Jing who said those words, many didn’t even think and instantly turned around to rush into the forest.

Xu Jing suddenly added, "Everyone be careful; he might very well have a weapon on him!"

On the wall of the house, there was only a rusty axe hanging.

In the basement, there was a long knife.

But those were not his hunting tools. Hunters generally use spears or bows and arrows, and since the house had none, he must have taken them out with him!

After the group of government officials ran out, only Xu Jing, Deng Youwei, and a few guards who came with Xu Jing remained in front of the wooden house.

The waiting time was destined to be tough. After an unknown duration, a male voice faintly came from afar, "I see him! Over there! Xiangui’er, Fang Tao, help me encircle him!"

"He’s holding a spear, be careful!"

Then, there was a burst of anxious sounds of weapons clashing.

After about a minute, several people slowly emerged from the forest ahead, and they were all government officials from their county government. One of them was fiercely restraining a man who was tied up with a rope, having a sturdy build, a ferocious expression, and a scar running across his left eyebrow, while the other officials circled around him.

Even at this moment, the man was still restless, struggling desperately to break free from his restraints, and because his mouth was stuffed, he couldn’t speak, only glaring fiercely at those in front of him with his eyes.

Xu Jing glanced at him and asked, "Is anyone among you injured?"

Lv Wei immediately responded, "Fang Tao got a cut on his arm while grappling with him, but it’s not serious, he’s walking back right now."

"Thank you for your hard work."

Xu Jing took out a small jar of Detoxification and Muscle Regeneration Ointment from the bag at her waist, tossed it to Lv Wei, and said, "Give this to Fang Tao later, have him apply it to his wound three times a day."

Having said that, she and Deng Youwei walked up to the man.

The man, seeing that there was still a woman here, and such a beautiful woman, seemed momentarily stunned, and there was apparent lewdness in his eyes as he stared at Xu Jing.

Seeing this, Chen Hu was infuriated, recalling the grisly state of Lin Fanghe’s corpse. He walked up and kicked him hard, snarling, "What are you looking at? Someone like you has no right to covet Miss Xu!"

Xu Jing coolly glanced at him, then said to Chen Hu, "Don’t mind him. Chen Hu, go bring Zhu Shunxi here for me, no need to bring the other two women."

Chen Hu promptly responded and hurried off to carry out the task.

After he brought Zhu Shunxi over, trembling with unease, Xu Jing said to the official guarding the man, "Take the cloth from his mouth."

As soon as the cloth left the man’s mouth, he spat to the side, gritting his teeth and shouted, "I didn’t kill anyone! Even if you’re from the county government, you can’t just arrest people randomly!"

"Oh?" Xu Jing looked at him with a hint of a smile, "Did I say the reason for arresting you was that you killed someone?"

The man’s face suddenly turned pale.

"What about you all?"

Xu Jing then leisurely turned to the other officials, "When you caught him earlier, did you say it was because he killed someone?"

"Of course not. He ran like a monkey, and we were so out of breath chasing him, how could we have the time to say all that crap?"

Lv Wei smirked mockingly and said, "He exposed himself. What an idiot."

Lv Wei and Fang Tao have always been close, and since this man injured Fang Tao earlier, Lv Wei held a grudge.

The man gritted his teeth and struggled again, "Anyway... anyway, I didn’t kill anyone! I’m not the murderer! Let me go!"

Xu Jing’s eyes turned slightly cold, saying, "How are you not the murderer? Are you going to say this wooden house behind isn’t yours? The basement full of blood and flesh isn’t yours? Unfortunately, even if you deny it, just ask the hunters and villagers nearby whose wooden house this is, and who was living here yesterday, and the truth will be clear."

As Xu Jing spoke, the man’s face grew paler and paler, and his body involuntarily trembled.

"Or maybe..."

Xu Jing suddenly changed her tone, sneering, "Because you were just ordered to kill, do you think you’re not really the murderer?!"