Netherworld Investigator

Upon hearing this, I restrained the urge to charge up to him and grab him by the collar. Activating Cave Vision, I stared into his eyes, "Are you telling the truth?"

"It's true! I heard my dad yelling in the room two days ago, ‘Song Zhaolin, I'm going to kill you!’ I don't know if you noticed a broken window earlier. My dad did that the other day. He has a bad temper and argues all the time, but I have never seen him so angry."

To my surprise, what he said turned out to be true.

"What does this Song Zhaolin look like?" I continued.

He described a vigorous old man in his seventies or eighties, with silver hair, a goatee, and a solid wooden cane in his hand. However, this alone wasn’t enough to convince me.

To my utter surprise, he mentioned an important feature of my grandfather’s, that is, a faint Mongolian spot in the lower position of his right cheek.

Too shocked for words, I turned to Song Xingchen and Xiaotao who were just as surprised as I was. 

"What did Song Zhaolin and your father talk about?" asked Xiaotao.

"Officer!" The man squeezed out a sly smile. "I’ve already revealed too much. If I say more, how will I make any money? A thousand yuan and I’ll tell you everything they said."

"Since your father hates Song Zhaolin so much, how could he have sat down and chatted with him?" I argued.

His cheeks suddenly turned red as tiny beads of sweat trickled down his skin. "My dad kicked him away at first, and then they sat together and spoke for a bit. I heard everything!"

How could such an obvious lie deceive me? I smiled, "I'm sorry, we don't need this information. We’re leaving!"

"Don't! Can’t we discuss this? How about eight hundred? Seven fifty?"

He chased after us, but upon seeing our blatant disregard, he lost his temper. Standing on the steps, he cursed, "Fuck you, I hope you all get knocked by a..."

His voice came to an abrupt stop. I looked up to see that Song Xingchen had his Tang Sword unsheathed and against the man’s neck. "What were you going to say?" threatened Song Xingchen.

With a look of embarrassment on his face, the man slapped himself heavily and cried, "My mistake! I’m sorry!"

"What a detestable man!" sneered Xiaotao.

When we left the nursing home, I was still thinking of his words. It was impossible for Grandpa to have come back from the dead. Someone must be pretending to be him. I felt a nudge from Xiaotao and she pointed to the front. "Look, there’s a surveillance camera in front of that supermarket."

The camera was facing the gates of the nursing home. If Grandpa had been here, he would have been caught on camera. Thus, we spoke to the shopkeeper and asked to see the surveillance video over the past few days.

The shopkeeper pulled up the surveillance video from two days ago on his computer. My heart pounded like a beating drum. Even though I knew it wasn't true, how could I remain calm at the sight of my “resurrected” grandfather?

Sensing my nervousness, Xiaotao placed her hand over my clenched fist.

Suddenly, the video deviated from the main entrance of the nursing home. At the same time, the picture shook and recovered after a while. When I rewound the video, I noticed how quickly the camera had moved, suggesting it hadn’t been rotated by hand, but was struck by something.

When the shopkeeper asked the shop assistant what had happened, the man explained that the camera was somehow tilted. He only snapped it back in place after noticing it.

The video was restored after six in the evening, but the visitor we were looking for wasn’t caught on camera. That is to say, the man entered the nursing home during that period, so it was likely that he rotated the camera.

Song Xingchen walked out of the store without so much as a word, looked up, and stared at the camera. I noticed a small dent on the side. Narrowing his eyes, Song Xingchen said, "He used a stone."

"A stone? With that much strength, the man must’ve had training! " I conjectured.

Song Xingchen nodded. "If he’s worked with hidden weapons, this sort of thing would be child’s play."

"So powerful? Is he a great martial artist?" exclaimed Xiaotao. In fact, she was still unaware of Song Xingchen’s abilities. Attacking with hidden weapons was one of the basic skills of the martial Songs. It was nothing special.

Could the person who turned the camera be the man posing as Grandpa?

At the moment, my head was filled with doubts. I couldn't understand his motives for doing so.

"Is it possible that he killed those two victims?" asked Xiaotao.

"What could he be planning? I can only think of one possibility, that is, he was involved in the murders that happened twenty years ago! But why kill these two women..."

Xiaotao comforted, "It's no use thinking now. We need to know more about the victims first."

Right then, I received a call from Bingxin about the DNA comparison results. The two victims had a 98% match, undoubtedly proving kinship within three generations.

"Song Yang-gege, how did you guess that the two victims were related by blood?" asked Bingxin.

"It’s hard to explain over the phone. We’ll talk about this when I get back!"

"Yes, Uncle Wang has just returned. He’s found the victims’ identities."

"Is he with you?" 

Bingxin handed the phone over to Wang Yuanchao who reported that the second victim, named Ma Li, was a divorced saleswoman whose child had been awarded to her spouse. Hence, she lived alone.

"Thanks, Uncle Wang! Could you help me check one other thing? Bingxin has proved that the two victims are related by blood. I want a list of all their relatives, including those who have passed away. The more detailed the better."

"Alright, I'll get to it." Wang Yuanchao hung up the call.

"Do you suspect that the murderer is among their relatives?" wondered Xiaotao.

"Yes, these don’t look like random murders. The two clues left on the victim directly point to the murders that happened twenty years ago. I think the motive is revenge."

"I believe so as well. But even if the suspect is found, your grandfather destroyed all the evidence and the bodies have long decomposed. What can the police use to convict the murderer?"

Her question stumped me. After a brief moment of silence, Song Xingchen said, "Young Master, as long as you identify the man, you don't need evidence. I’ll punish him myself!"

I shook my head. "No, I won't do anything illegal. What's the difference between that and the Blade Master who prides himself on justice? I will try my best to seek out the truth. Even if I fail, I must know why Grandpa covered up for the suspect!"

"Stop frowning,” Xiaotao chuckled. “It's already noon. Instead of waiting around, let’s get something to eat first! What would you like?"