Chapter 50 - Can You Still Live With a Piece of Your Heart Missing?
The stunned expressions on everyone's faces were as if they had just heard an absurd story; their eyes were filled with confusion and doubt.
Old Madam Zheng, however, shivered, her eyes darting away evasively.
“First, let's talk about Qinqin's case.”
But at this mont, Li Nan Ke changed the subject, no longer bringing up the details of the infant’s drowning.
He walked up to Old Madam Zheng and asked, “Six days ago, your son took his daughter hunting in the mountains, and your daughter-in-law was at ho doing chores. So, may I ask, where were you?”
“Mother-in-law went to Dustless Temple to offer incense,” Mrs. Zheng said.
“Was I asking you?”
Li Nan Ke fixed his sharp, sowhat cold gaze on Mrs. Zheng. Her face paled, and she lowered her head in fear.
A bitter expression appeared on Old Madam Zheng’s wrinkled face.
“Officer, on that day, this old woman did indeed go to Dustless Temple to offer incense. I never imagined that when I returned, I would hear from the neighbors that my granddaughter was missing. This old woman nearly fainted on the spot and rushed into the mountains with my daughter-in-law to search. Fortunately—”
“Tell the ti you went to the temple!” Li Nan Ke interrupted her.
Old Madam Zheng hesitated for a mont, then said,
“I went at the beginning of the Hour of Wei (1 - 3 PM) and only returned around the fourth quarter of the Hour of You (5 - 7 PM).”
Old Madam Zheng didn’t dare to lie about the ti, as her daughter-in-law was present.
“About two and a half shichen (5 hrs).” Li Nan Ke did a quick calculation.
[N: 1 shichen = 2 hours]
“The round trip from your house to Dustless Temple is less than half a shichen. At that ti of day, there would have been few worshippers, so you wouldn’t have been stuck in a long queue. Even if we generously give you one whole shichen to offer your incense, what were you doing for the remaining shichen?”
“Well…” Old Madam Zheng was unable to answer for a mont.
“Do you really need to think about that? It’s not as if I’m asking how many tis you used the latrine last year.”
Li Nan Ke practically interrogated her, forcing her to answer.
He even deliberately took a step forward, as if his entire presence was bearing down on her, making Old Madam Zheng feel as if she couldn't breathe.
He wasn't giving her any extra ti to think.
“Oh, that’s right,” Li Nan Ke said, as if suddenly recalling sothing.
“My wife also went to Dustless Temple that day. When she returned, she told that Dharma Master Hengming was chanting sutras and giving a sermon in the main hall. A large crowd had gathered to watch. You didn’t happen to go as well, did you?”
Old Madam Zheng slapped her thigh and nodded. “Yes, this old woman did listen for a long ti, but I didn’t really understand much of it.”
“Well, go fuck your grandfather's entrails!”
Who would have thought that in the next second, Li Nan Ke would suddenly erupt with profanity.
“My wife never goes to that damn place! I fucking made the whole thing up!”
The smile froze on Old Madam Zheng’s face. She stood stunned on the spot, one hand trembling uncontrollably.
His opponent’s skill level was too low; she posed no challenge to Li Nan Ke at all.
His tone of voice carried a hint of laziness.
Li Nan Ke said calmly, “Although Qinqin is only eight years old, she frequently accompanies her father to learn hunting and is particularly cautious about the forest terrain. The possibility that she would wander off on her own is negligible.”
“That leaves only one possibility: while Butcher Zheng was chasing his prey, soone deliberately led Qinqin into an unfamiliar environnt.”
“This person was definitely not an outsider; Qinqin isn’t that foolish.”
“Therefore, the person who led her away must have been soone Qinqin knew and trusted without reservation!”
“That leaves only two people: Old Madam Zheng and Mrs. Zheng.”
Li Nan Ke placed the two pairs of shoes he had selected earlier in front of the Zheng family and said in a cold voice,
“One of these pairs of shoes is Qinqin’s, and the other is Old Madam Zheng’s.”
“Only their two pairs have the sa traces of animal droppings and pollen on them. Butcher Zheng, you yourself said that your wife has a terrible sense of direction and gets lost easily.”
“Old Madam Zheng, on the other hand, used to go with your father into the deep mountains to forage for wild ingredients when you were a child, so she is very familiar with the terrain. From this, it can be determined that it was Old Madam Zheng who intentionally abandoned Qinqin in the deep mountains that day!”
“This also explains why Qinqin has been unwilling to speak since her ordeal. Because in the mind of an eight-year-old girl, her grandmother—the person she was closest to—transford… into a demon.”
The courtyard fell as silent as if soone had pressed a mute button.
Everyone stared at Old Madam Zheng in utter shock. No one could have imagined that this kindly, amiable-looking old woman would actually abandon her own granddaughter in the desolate wilderness.
“Mother, you… you…”
Butcher Zheng couldn’t believe his ears, stamring as he spoke. “Was it really you who… intentionally abandoned Qinqin?”
Seeing Old Madam Zheng’s resigned silence, Butcher Zheng almost went insane. With reddened eyes, he demanded,
“Why, Mother? She is your own granddaughter! Why in God’s na would you do sothing like this!”
At this mont, Old Madam Zheng finally tore off her hypocritical mask.
She stomped her foot and screeched, “Oh, my son, that girl is a jinx on the Zheng family’s ancestral line! The reason you still have no son to carry on the family na is all because of her!”
Butcher Zheng’s face was filled with rage. “Mother, after all this, you still believe that rubbish from so so-called Divine Lord or Heavenly Master?”
Old Madam Zheng said stubbornly, “I don’t want to believe it either, but the facts are plain to see! Ever since this girl was born, both your sons have been lost, and you haven’t been able to have another one. It’s because this girl is a curse on our Zheng family’s ancestral line!”
“My son, I had a dream a few days ago. I dread of a Divine Saint, and he told that as long as that girl is gone from the Zheng family, your wife is guaranteed to give birth to a big, healthy boy to continue the family line, and then your father can finally rest in peace!”
“Are you out of your mind!?” Even Leng Xinnan couldn’t stop herself from lashing out.
“You’d harm your own granddaughter just for so baseless nonsense about gods and ghosts?”
Old Madam Zheng’s face twisted, a deranged look in her eyes.
“What do you know! If the Zheng family line ends with my son, how could this old crone possibly face his father or our ancestors in the afterlife? I did this for my son! I did this for the Zheng family!”
Unable to stand it any longer, Leng Xinnan snapped, “Arrest her! Take her to the county yan!”
Two Night Patrol mbers stepped forward and restrained Old Madam Zheng’s arms.
“My son! Qinqin must be driven away!”
Old Madam Zheng struggled desperately, still trying to persuade Butcher Zheng without giving up.
“This was guidance from the Divine Saint! He would not deceive us! Son, I don’t want anything to happen to Qinqin either, but I have no other choice!”
As she spoke, she turned and yelled toward the house,
“Qinqin! Grandma doesn’t want to hurt you, otherwise I wouldn’t have waited this long to do sothing! But you have to leave this house! Only when you’re gone can your father have a son! Only then can the Zheng family line continue! Qinqin…!”
Li Nan Ke shook his head, speechless, and asked, “You were the one who drowned that infant, weren't you.”
“I was trying to cure my grandson!” Old Madam Zheng refused to admit that she had killed her own grandson.
“If I hadn’t done sothing, that child might have really died prematurely. That day, I went to pray to a Taoist deity, and he told that because my son is a butcher, he has incurred a bloody calamity, which caused my grandson to be tainted by a foul and evil entity.”
“I had to use the ‘body cleansing’ thod to soak him in water. That way, the evil entity he was tainted with would be gone. I was saving my grandson!”
“When my son caught a bad cold years ago, this is the sa thod I used to cure him. The only reason it didn’t save my grandson is that the girl is a curse on our family line! Son, you have to drive her away…”
“Drag her out of here, now!”
Rage burned in Leng Xinnan’s eyes. She couldn’t even be bothered to glance at the old woman again.
Amidst continuous wails, Old Madam Zheng was forcibly dragged out of the courtyard.
Butcher Zheng made a move to follow, but then stopped, not knowing what to do. He just stood there, stunned and lost.
After a mont, he collapsed onto a stool by the door, clutching his head in his hands and repeatedly striking his own forehead with his fists.
One was his daughter, the other his mother… The situation plunged him into deep anguish.
“Sister Leng!” ng Xiao Tu suddenly called out.
It turned out Qinqin had awakened. However, upon seeing the room full of people, the little girl curled into a ball again, her reaction fearful and intense.
“Don’t be afraid, little sister.” ng Xiao Tu rushed forward and gathered the girl in her arms, comforting her warmly.
Perhaps it was because she recognized this kind older sister, or perhaps because ng Xiao Tu’s chest was sufficiently warm; the little girl’s emotions gradually stabilized, and she was no longer so resistant.
“Can we ask what this girl actually saw that night?” Li Nan Ke said.
Based on an analysis of the dream, after Qinqin got lost, she fell into an abandoned pit trap and remained there for an entire night. During that night, she saw sothing in the pit that left her with a psychological scar.
After daybreak the next day, she worked up the courage to climb out of the pit, which was when she was found by the town’s old hunter and taken ho.
Therefore, the only remaining puzzle was, what exactly had she seen?
“Let Little Rabbit ask.” Leng Xinnan suggested.
After all, ng Xiao Tu’s cute appearance and lively personality gave her a natural advantage in questioning children.
Li Nan Ke nodded and signaled for everyone else to leave the room, leaving only Little Rabbit and Qinqin inside.
Li Nan Ke looked at the tear-faced Mrs. Zheng and said coolly,
“You suspected that it might have been Old Madam Zheng who abandoned Qinqin, but you didn’t tell your husband. Is it because after listening to her ramblings for so long, you also began to believe that your son was jinxed to death by Qinqin all those years ago?”
Mrs. Zheng didn’t make a sound, her face a mask of grief and sha.
Butcher Zheng rushed over and slapped the woman hard across the face, but the next mont he pulled her into an embrace and couldn’t stop himself from crying.
The others in the courtyard watched this scene with complicated expressions.
Li Nan Ke sighed. “Superstition kills.”
To him, this case presented no difficulty and was nowhere near as complex as the one at the Lin residence, yet it was sohow even more chilling.
Lin Jiao Yue was purely out to harm people.
But Old Madam Zheng had wholeheartedly believed she was saving her grandson and her family.
It was precisely this kind of ignorant “salvation” that was the most heart-wrenching of all.
“Want to go outside for so air?”
Perhaps noticing the man’s somber mood, Leng Xinnan gestured toward the courtyard gate with her chin.
Li Nan Ke nodded, and the two of them walked out of the gate.
The clear moonlight bathed the alley outside, draping it in a silent, silvery veil.
Feeling the night breeze on his face, Li Nan Ke’s mind cald considerably.
“Are you tired?”
Not minding if her clothes got dirty, Leng Xinnan leaned lightly against a gatepost, crossed her arms, and asked softly.
“Not at all.” Li Nan Ke shook his head.
Leng Xinnan said quietly, “Once you join the Night Patrol, you will experience many unforgettable things. You will witness all sides of human nature, and you will feel a great deal of helplessness.”
“Are you preparing to give so early psychological counseling?”
Li Nan Ke gazed with so amusent at the profile of the woman beside him. Bathed in moonlight, her captivating face held a faint trace of sorrow, causing his heart to stir for so unknown reason.
Li Nan Ke gathered his thoughts and said with a smile, “I’m just a bit lost.”
“Lost about what?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“I understand.” The corners of Leng Xinnan’s mouth curved up, but her smile was tinged with lancholy.
“I’m also very lost right now, and I don’t want to talk about it either.”
“Alright, I’m listening.” Li Nan Ke leaned against the gatepost next to her, ready to listen.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Go on. If you don’t, I’m really leaving.”
“……”
Her thoughts seen through, a rare blush crept onto Leng Xinnan’s face. Fortunately, the darkness of night concealed it, sparing her the embarrassnt.
The young woman felt an inexplicable sense of vexation, as if he could effortlessly see right through her.
She asked in a pouting tone, “Since you’re so smart, why don’t you try and guess what I’m lost about?”
“Your family is pressuring you to get married?”
“Piss off!”
“So it is that, then.”
“…”
Leng Xinnan took a deep breath to calm herself and said coolly, “There is that, but it’s not what I’m feeling lost about right now.”
“Oh, then I can’t guess,” the man conceded.
And here I thought you were so kind of god…
The corners of the young woman’s lips curled into a small, triumphant smile, but her expression imdiately darkened again. After a long silence, she asked,
“Do you think… if a piece of your heart were missing, could you still live?”
“Missing a piece of your heart?” Li Nan Ke frowned.
“Are you sure you don’t want to add the word ‘wit’ after that?”
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