novelraw Chapter 210 210: New Skill, Gold-Picking Drill!
Chapter 210 210: New Skill, Gold-Picking Drill!
Chen Xiao looked at the information in his hand.
As Xie Wensheng said, there was no doctor, nor any so-called fortune-teller.
But as Xie Wensheng also mentioned, the people in the information he compiled were very limited.
These people are just what he found out, the real culprit might be hidden among those not yet discovered.
Chen Xiao silently memorized the information, then glanced at the time, and said:
"I'll head back first, Captain Xie. If you have any updates, feel free to let me know, and I will do the same."
"Alright, thank you. Would you like to grab a late-night snack?" Xie Wensheng asked politely, though he felt a bit embarrassed as soon as he said it.
Chen Xiao hurriedly shook his head: "Even if it were a feast, I would be very resistant right now."
"Okay then, I'll arrange someone to take you back."
"Thanks a lot."
Chen Xiao said with a smile, then got into a police car.
In the car, Chen Xiao did not chat much with the officer.
He silently closed his eyes, and the calendar reappeared in his mind.
[August 30, 2006]
[Lunar Calendar: Leap Seventh Month, Seventh Day of the Lunar Year 2006]
[Golden God Seven Evils Day, avoid important matters!]
[Suitable for: Praying for Blessings, Funeral, Traveling, Groundbreaking... ]
[Avoid: Getting Married, Moving, Opening a Business... ]
There was no stamp on the calendar.
This meant that the reward for this calendar day would be a skill from the suitable activities.
Chen Xiao had already learned the skill of the calendar while at the hotel, this time it was—Groundbreaking!
A skill that's very easy to misunderstand just by the name.
The old almanac has two interpretations, one: a suitable day for groundbreaking, which means it's apt for starting construction, still related to the field of architecture.
But another explanation is, Gold-Picking and Bone-Cleansing!
Gold-Picking means collecting bones, Bone-Cleansing refers to the cleansing of skeletons.
After a person dies, some may require this kind of bone-burial ceremony due to local customs or after some period post-burial when relocating the coffin to a new grave.
This ceremony is not common.
However, it has a significant connection to Feng Shui.
For instance, if a family faces continuous misfortune or illness, they might consult an expert to calculate if the problem lies with the ancestral grave's Feng Shui.
If it is, then the family might relocate their ancestors to a spot with better Feng Shui and bury them again.
But after a person is buried, as time goes by, the remains will exhibit different levels of decomposition.
If a long time has passed, they will mostly be reduced to just bones.
Descendants collect and clean these bones from the coffin, this process is called Gold-Picking and Groundbreaking.
After understanding the meaning of Groundbreaking, Chen Xiao vaguely knew that the reward for this new ability was aimed at facilitating his understanding of skeletons.
In fact, Chen Xiao felt that this was a stepping-stone to comprehending forensic science!
Chen Xiao's mind revisited the newly acquired knowledge information.
This information would be ingrained in his heart once he revisited it.
The three corpses he saw earlier began to gradually reappear in his mind, frame by frame.
Until then, the car stopped, and the officer reminded him: "Mr. Chen, your hotel is here."
Chen Xiao returned to his senses: "Thank you, I've troubled you."
"You're welcome, Mr. Chen, rest early. I'm heading back to the station."
Chen Xiao nodded, bidding farewell to the officer with a smile.
Watching the officer leave, he wasn't in a rush to find a forensic pathologist.
If he had such a desire, he could have stayed earlier.
The reason he didn't was that he wanted to digest the knowledge first.
Waiting until dawn, it wouldn't be too late!
Chen Xiao returned to the room; Xiaoji, Knife Man, and Liu Dayou were all busy outside.
However, he could foresee that Liu Dayou would soon come back, perhaps in a bit of a bind. After all, if there were still fortune tellers wandering the streets at this late hour, even those with no issues would be troubled.
Chen Xiao took another shower and lay on the bed, continuing to digest the Gold-Picking and Groundbreaking knowledge.
Just as he finished digesting it, the doorbell rang.
"Brother Chen, are you asleep?"
Chen Xiao got up, prepared to open the door when Liu Dayou turned around, muttering to himself:
"Ah, when will I, Old Liu, react as quickly as Xiaoji?"
"Alright, alright, keep working hard. I have to hold onto this job steadily!"
Standing by the door, Chen Xiao listened to Liu Dayou's self-talk fading away, and couldn't help but smile as he returned to the bed.
As long as Liu Dayou saw it as a job, Chen Xiao felt that there was no difference between a thirty-year-old Liu Dayou and a forty-year-old Liu Dayou.
Not long after returning to bed, Chen Xiao fell asleep.
By the next morning, Xiaoji and the others had already risen.
Seeing this, Chen Xiao asked: "When did you guys get back last night?"
Liu Dayou replied first: "We got back almost around three or four, and just happened to meet in the hotel lobby!"
Chen Xiao glanced at Liu Dayou, patted his shoulder: "You're quite concerned about your reputation."
Before Liu Dayou could respond, Xiaoji replied: "It was too late by then. The shops were all closed. Still, we noted signboards along the way, roughly counting seven clinics. Two mainly focused on traditional medicine, and four were Western medicine practices."
"What about the other one?"
"Miao Medicine."
Chen Xiao was a bit surprised: "You all gathered in a room so early, thinking to take a look?"
"Yes, I think most places would be open by now." Xiaoji replied.
Liu Dayou excitedly brought out his old turtle shell: "I calculated as soon as I opened my eyes today, Brother Chen... good fortune awaits us!"
Chen Xiao nodded: "Let's hope for good fortune, I will accompany you for a look, and then head to the criminal investigation team."
The four left the hotel together.
Soon, under the guidance of Xiaoji and Knife Man, Chen Xiao arrived at the street where Xue Xiangdi and Wu Rui lived.
Getting out of the car, Xiaoji asked first: "Brother Chen, shall we have a look at that Miao Medical Clinic first?"
"Isn't the closest one that clinic just ahead?"
"No, I'm just curious about Miao Medicine since you must have heard of the legendary Gu poison!"
Chen Xiao understood Xiaoji's point.
It made Chen Xiao turn serious: "You realize you've already made a mistake, right?"
Xiaoji was stunned, and Chen Xiao earnestly said: "You've approached your investigation target with prejudice, and prejudice is most likely to lead you into an investigative dead-end!"
"Got it, Brother Chen!" Xiaoji nodded.
Without further ado, Chen Xiao headed to the nearest clinic.
The clinic had a Western physician on duty, and Chen Xiao glanced at the attending doctor's name. Well, another person with the surname Chen—Dr. Chen Xiaoyi.
Chen Xiao whispered a few instructions in Liu Dayou's ear, to which the latter exclaimed: "No way?"
"Xiong Ruru's autopsy report showed: inspections of her cervical and uterine conditions confirmed multiple surgeries!"
"Alright."
Reluctantly, Liu Dayou sat before the doctor, following Chen Xiao's instructions to fabricate a name and describe some minor ailment symptoms.
The doctor quickly wrote up a prescription, handing it to Knife Man to fetch the medicine.
But Liu Dayou didn't move and after observing the clinic's surroundings, he asked: "Doctor, can you perform surgeries here?"
"What kind of surgery could I possibly perform here? This is a clinic! Go to a hospital for surgeries!"
"It's not that, my girlfriend is pregnant but going to a hospital is too troublesome, and she's young!" Liu Dayou expressed his dilemma.
Dr. Chen Xiaoyi immediately became wary, scanning Liu Dayou from head to toe, then awkwardly smiled: "Sorry, abortions must be done in official hospitals!"
Liu Dayou quickly slipped several hundred-yuan notes into the doctor's hand: "Doctor, help me out. It's not easy for me to have a young girlfriend. Her parents would kill me if they found out!"
"Now you're scared, huh? If you were scared, maybe don't rob the cradle!"
"It's not my fault; which man can resist? Doctor, please, money is no object!"
Hearing this, the doctor nodded: "Follow me, and keep it quiet!"