My Promotion Story Through Time Travel

Chapter 78 Clues

"Little Lin, you have dark circles under your eyes. Didn't you sleep well last night?" Old Huang teased Lin Ziping, winking and joking. "Young people need to know how to be moderate. I've been there."

Lin Ziping was speechless. He tossed and turned all night, with Hu Xinhua's bloodshot eyes constantly appearing in his mind. He finally managed to fall asleep, but was then plagued by nightmares. No wonder he couldn't sleep well.

"Uncle Huang, don't joke around. What happened yesterday was too scary; how could I sleep well last night?" Lin Ziping said with a wry smile.

Old Huang leaned closer to Lin Ziping with a serious expression and said, "This is your first time facing a scene like this, right? This is nothing. In the future, when you're catching thieves and bandits, and you encounter those vicious criminals, will you step in or not? You have to get used to what you're given.

One may not understand or agree with the experience of predecessors, but one must respect it. Lin Ziping was grateful for Lao Huang's teachings and sincerely said, "Thank you for your guidance, Uncle Huang!"

Old Huang didn't say much, but patted Lin Ziping on the shoulder to encourage him.

"Uncle Huang, how's the case of Hu Xinhua's family going? Have Brother Shi and the others returned?" Lin Ziping asked.

“I almost forgot if you hadn’t mentioned it,” Old Huang said, slapping his forehead. “They’re still in Pingding Village. Inspector Chai arranged for us to go with them. We’re taking our knives with us, and we’re setting off now. We still have to go to the mortuary.”

Lin Ziping responded and quickly ran to the third ward to collect his sword. The yamen runners' swords, like the pistols of modern police officers, were under unified management. He secretly thought that perhaps he could consult with Inspector Chai about repairing the damaged weapons in the barracks; maybe they could still be used.

After securing his knife, Lin Ziping followed Lao Huang toward the mortuary.

Villages were sparsely populated along the way, and a solitary courtyard could be seen in the distance—that was the mortuary. The mortuary was mainly responsible for collecting unclaimed corpses from the local area and belongings from government-related murder cases. Even before approaching, the stench of decay was already wafting in the wind, becoming unbearable once closer.

The smell was so strong that Lin Ziping frowned and wanted to cover his mouth and nose with his hand, but considering that he was investigating a case, he was worried that it would be inappropriate, so he endured it and held his breath. After a while, his face turned red.

"Fool, cover your mouth and nose with a cloth!" a voice came from the entrance of the mortuary.

The speaker was an old man with a limp, disheveled hair and beard, carrying a wine jug. He was sitting at the doorway, watching Lin Ziping.

Lin Ziping glanced at Lao Huang and saw that he was covering his mouth and nose with his sleeve. He quickly took out a handkerchief and covered his own mouth and nose.

"Old Huang, is this your apprentice? He doesn't seem very bright." The old man was obviously an acquaintance of Old Huang. After taking a sip of his drink, he said to Old Huang.

"Zhang the Cripple, this is the new guy at the county office, working under Inspector Chai," Old Huang introduced. "Xiao Lin, this is our county's coroner."

"Coroner Zhang," Lin Ziping called out respectfully. Despite covering his mouth and nose, the stench of decay was still pungent.

"New here, huh? No wonder," Coroner Zhang said, smacking his lips.

"Zhang the Cripple, stop talking nonsense, the smell here is too strong. How are the two corpses that were delivered yesterday?" Old Huang asked anxiously.

“I’ve put dead bodies here, it would be strange if there was no smell,” the coroner muttered, but under Lao Huang’s glare, he continued, “I examined them, both of them were poisoned with arsenic, and they had knife wounds on their bodies, which looked like they were caused by a kitchen knife. The man who was brought in was poisoned to death, with twenty-three knife wounds on his body, ten of which were quite deep and looked like they were cut after he died. In addition, his genitals were also cut off. The little girl died from excessive blood loss, and she had a fatal wound on her neck.”

"The child was poisoned by arsenic too?" Lin Ziping muttered to himself.

“That’s right, both of them ate it. It’s probably poisoned. But the little girl didn’t eat much.” Coroner Zhang glanced at Lin Ziping, looking somewhat impatient. “That’s all I found out. Is there anything else? If not, let’s go.”

Old Huang pondered for a moment and said, "Let's leave it at that for now, Zhang the Cripple. This case is unusual; the higher-ups are keeping a close eye on things. You'd better investigate carefully. Let me know immediately if you make any new discoveries. Xiao Lin, let's go."

"I understand. I won't welcome you two into the house." Coroner Zhang waved his hand, stood up, went into the house, and closed the door. The movements were smooth and fluid, completed in one go.

The smell was so unpleasant that Lao Huang and Lin Ziping didn't linger and hurriedly left the mortuary.

After walking a distance, Lin Ziping took off his handkerchief and took a few deep breaths. Even the ordinary air felt exceptionally fresh after leaving the mortuary.

"Uncle Huang, how come Hu Xinhua and his daughter were poisoned with arsenic while Qin Niang was unharmed? Also, where did the arsenic come from?" Lin Ziping was full of questions.

"Let's go back to the city first, but accidental ingestion could be fatal. Pharmacies selling arsenic are always registered," Old Huang said.

He thought to himself, "These days, without ID cards, how can we possibly achieve real-name authentication?" But he didn't say much to Lao Huang; he just silently followed him into the city.

There are three pharmacies in Fuchun County. They visited two of them but found nothing. The third one was where Zhu Zi worked.

Lin Ziping looked around the pharmacy and noticed that Zhu Zi seemed to be missing, but he didn't care. He directly asked the shopkeeper for the register of arsenic purchases to check, while Lao Huang asked the other people in the pharmacy.

Suddenly, Lin Ziping discovered Zhang Xiaohu's arsenic purchase record in the register.

"Uncle Huang, look! This record shows that Zhang Xiaohu recently purchased arsenic..." Lin Ziping hurriedly pointed out this discovery to Old Huang.

"Fifteen days ago, who was on duty and who sold it to him?" Old Huang hurriedly asked the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper took the register and carefully recalled, "Fifteen days ago, the one who sold arsenic was..."

"Young Master..." At this moment, Zhu Zi came in from outside and saw Lin Ziping, his face showing surprise and delight.

Lin Ziping quickly gave him a wink, and Zhu Zi understood, changing his address to "Ziping".

"You two know each other?" Old Huang asked, somewhat puzzled.

“This is my neighbor. We came to Fuchun County together, thinking we could look out for each other,” Lin Ziping explained.

At this moment, the shopkeeper suddenly asked Zhu Zi, "Zhu Zi, were you on duty fifteen days ago? Did you sell arsenic?"

All eyes immediately focused on the pillar.

Lin Ziping took the register from the shopkeeper, pointed to Zhang Xiaohu's purchase record, and asked, "Zhuzi, did you sell this?"

Zhu Zi took the register, examined it carefully, and then said, "I sold it. After we report to the manager, he will record it. To distinguish who sold it, I made a mark here after my record."

Lin Ziping examined it carefully and found that there was indeed an extra dot after the record. He had previously thought it was just a habit of the writer, but after careful observation, he realized that some records in the register had markings and some did not.

The shopkeeper took the register, examined it carefully, and nodded, saying, "That's true."

"Do you remember what the person who bought the arsenic looked like?" Old Huang asked Zhu Zi.

“My lord, I…” Zhu Zi seemed a little nervous, and his words became stammering.

"Zhu Zi, think carefully, who bought it fifteen days ago?" Lin Ziping encouraged.

Zhu Zi pondered for a moment, then said, "I remember a little girl came to buy it. She said her father sent her to use it to poison rats."

"Yes, I also found it strange that an adult would let a child come to buy arsenic. She led us to the door, pointed to a woman in a basket on her back, and said that she came with her mother, but her mother had difficulty walking, so she let her come in to buy it."

Zhu Zi thought for a moment, then led Lin Ziping and Lao Huang to the door, pointed to a spot, and indicated that the girl's mother was there.

"Qinniang!" Lin Ziping and Lao Huang exclaimed in unison.

"Young man, is what you just said true? Are you willing to testify to this, even to the county government hall?" Old Huang asked seriously.

Zhu Zi glanced at Lin Ziping, then nodded to Lao Huang.

“That’s good. You can stay in Fuchun County for now. The county government will summon you at any time. Xiao Lin, let’s go,” Old Huang said.

"Yes."

After leaving the pharmacy, the two hurriedly headed towards Pingdingshan.