"Why are you jumping to conclusions?" The investigator, surnamed Lei, slammed the table. "Sit down."

Wang Jianwei leaned back in his chair, tilting his head. "I didn't kill anyone. Don't try to pin this dirty water on me."

"On the 20th, did you have a conflict with Wang Jiankui?" Lei continued.

Wang Jianwei glanced around, then sat back down and retracted his legs.

Qin Feng looked at him. "Tell us what happened."

"He wouldn't lend me money, being stingy to death. Tell me, we're brothers, what's wrong with borrowing thirty or fifty thousand? All my parents' money went to him. Did I say something wrong? If I kill someone, I go to jail, I get what I deserve, why does he look down on me?" Wang Jianwei replied.

"So, you held a grudge. You poisoned them on the first day, and after they were poisoned, you stole the key and took the money from the box," Qin Feng accused.

Wang Jianwei's eyes widened instantly. "You're talking nonsense."

"What about the fingerprints on the box?" Qin Feng threw the fingerprint comparison results at Wang Jianwei. "There's residual paint on the key, and we found a half-bucket of paint at your house. How do you explain that?"

Wang Jianwei's eyes kept darting around. "It wasn't me who killed them."

"Confess," Lei said sternly.

With ironclad evidence, Wang Jianwei couldn't deny it anymore.

After a long silence, he bowed his head and buried his face in his hands, taking a deep breath. "I really didn't kill anyone. I did take the money. That day, I climbed over the wall and saw Wang Jiankui lying on the ground. After calling the police, I thought maybe I could take the opportunity to take the money without anyone noticing. Later, I regretted it. I wanted to put the money back, but the police never gave me the chance."

"Other than your fingerprints and the victims', why should we believe you?" Lei stared at Wang Jianwei. "Stop playing tricks. Tell us about the murder."

"It really wasn't me." Wang Jianwei became anxious. "Why don't you believe me if I didn't kill anyone?"

"You came out of prison, your mother and elder brother didn't care about you. Aren't you resentful?" Lei pressed on.

"Even if I'm resentful, they're still my real mom and elder brother. How could I possibly kill them—"

Qin Feng stood up and walked outside, with Lei following. Once the door was closed, he asked in a low voice, "What do you think? Is it him? This kid is slippery and doesn't seem innocent."

"Wang Jianwei probably isn't the murderer," Qin Feng said. "I'm going to the scene."

"Now?" Lei looked outside. "It's already dark."

"Nighttime is conducive to thinking," Qin Feng replied.

As Qin Feng stepped outside, he saw Lin Fan eating boxed meals. He approached and sat down, grabbing a nearby bottle of water and taking a few sips. "Any food left?"

Lin Fan pushed her rice to the side, and someone sat down beside her, casting a shadow over her.

She swallowed the rice and quickly opened another box. "Yes, but it's cold. Do you want me to go out and buy you more?"

"No need." Qin Feng split open his chopsticks, opening his food box. Lin Fan opened the box containing the dishes. "Any results?"

Qin Feng shook his head, eating quickly. "Someone will arrange accommodation for you tonight. I'm going to the scene."

"Then I'll go with you," Lin Fan said.

Qin Feng looked up at her. "What for?"

Lin Fan glanced around. "I'm still curious about that little girl. It feels strange to me."

Qin Feng continued eating, not responding.

Lin Fan finished her meal and packed up her food box. "Even though it's not related to this case, ghosts don't randomly approach people. There must be something going on. That's what I think."

Qin Feng ignored her, finishing his food. "Anything else?"

Lin Fan stood up. "I have a bag of bread in my bag. Do you want some?"

"Yes."

Lin Fan quickly took out the bread, and Qin Feng ate half a bag of bread before returning the bag and getting up to leave. Lin Fan packed up his lunchbox, threw it into the trash can, grabbed his bag, and hurriedly followed. Qin Feng had already started the car, turning it around to drive away. Lin Fan ran over and pulled open the passenger's door.

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Qin Feng stepped on the gas, turning to look at her, and Lin Fan tapped the car window. He unlocked the door, and Lin Fan pulled it open and sat inside. "I promise not to disturb you, I'll follow you." She pulled on her seat belt, raising her hand, "I swear."

"Remember what you're saying now," Qin Feng said, retracting his gaze and driving onto the road. The car raced along the highway, the sky already completely dark, with the lights becoming increasingly sparse until only darkness remained. The car headlights shone on the tall poplar trees by the roadside, reflecting light.

"Isn't Zhang Jianwei the murderer?"

"Doesn't seem like it."

"If he's the one, then we need to rethink the case."

Qin Feng nodded.

"What's your take?" Lin Fan asked.

"It's possible it's suicide."

"If one person commits suicide, it's understandable, but five?"

"The poison was put in the dinner. Anyone who could access the dinner must have had an intimate relationship. But no one saw Wang Jianwei enter Wang Jiankui's house that day, and their relationship was also not good. It's difficult for Wang Jianwei to enter the kitchen to poison the food," Qin Feng said, looking ahead at the road, his gaze steady. "If one of the five victims poisoned the food and then committed murder-suicide, it makes sense."

Lin Fan was shocked. "But in the afternoon, the investigation showed their marital relationship was good. Although the old lady was fierce, it's not to the extent of wanting to kill, right?"

"That's the problem, it doesn't make sense," Qin Feng said, tapping the steering wheel. "Wang Jiankui's husband and wife have a good relationship, with a son and a daughter. The couple work outside all year round, they don't come back often, and they wouldn't hold a grudge against the mother-in-law."

Lin Fan looked at the darkness outside the window, pursed her lips, and turned her gaze to Qin Feng's profile. "Could it be related to the second daughter who died? They work outside all year round, leaving the daughter at home to be taken care of by the mother-in-law." Lin Fan made a hypothesis based on what she had seen in the village. "The daughter fell into the river and drowned, the daughter-in-law would naturally hold a grudge."

"Then we need to investigate the cause of the second daughter's death."

At nine o'clock, they arrived at Wangjiacun and received a call from the coroner, Liu. Liu the coroner and Xiao Wang were grilling fish at the village entrance. The fish was caught from the river, and the barbecue ingredients were brought by Liu the coroner from the county town. Borrowing charcoal from a villager's house, the smoke billowed.

Qin Feng was smoked and couldn't open his eyes, so he pulled Lin Fan to a smoke-free area. "Come over here, have some grilled fish."

Lin Fan hurried over, looking at the half-cooked grilled fish with a twitch of her mouth, picked up a knife and scraped off the burnt parts. "It doesn't look cooked."

Old Liu saw Lin Fan's skilled movements and handed the barbecue stall to her. He walked towards Qin Feng and handed him a cigarette. "Aren't you afraid of being reported?" Qin Feng glanced at him.

The coroner chuckled, "As long as I don't directly harm the masses, everything is bought with money."

"Any discoveries?" Qin Feng tilted his head to light the cigarette, looking over.

The coroner shook his head. "The scene and the bodies' condition are consistent. Death by poisoning, all four bodies had no external injuries."

"Who has injuries?" Qin Feng asked, looking over.

"The eldest daughter, Wang Jing," the coroner frowned, sighed, "she had many old injuries, and it seems she suffered a severe beating before the poisoning, with serious external wounds."

"Then we probably need to focus on this eldest daughter," Qin Feng squinted, exhaling white smoke, "I'll go back to the scene again. You keep an eye on Lin Fan, don't let her wander."

The coroner chuckled, "You're not taking her with you?"

Qin Feng waved his hand, turning to walk in another direction.

Lin Fan's fish grilling skills were excellent, attracting quite a crowd of adults with children watching the spectacle. Lin Fan distributed the fish to them. She saved a piece for the coroner and Xiao Wang, then looked around the crowd, not finding Qin Feng.

"What are you looking for?" the coroner sat down.

"Where's Brother Qin?" Lin Fan tidied up the remaining charcoal.

"He went back to the scene."

Lin Fan took out a piece of paper from her bag, wiped her hands clean, "Then I'll go check it out."

"What are you going to see? What's interesting about a place where people died?"

The villagers dispersed, and Lin Fan sat down, picking up a wooden stick and playing with the charcoal fire absentmindedly.

"Are you all going back to the county at night?"

"We'll stay in the village. It's a hassle to keep going back and forth."

Lin Fan looked at the ground, the moonlight bright, shining on the earth. They were on high ground, with the distant lake shimmering with moonlight.

"The mountains are really nice, you can never see this moon in the city," the coroner stubbed out his cigarette, sighing, "If I retire, I'll find a mountain village to live in, it's quite nice."

Lin Fan typed a message on her phone to Qin Feng, "Can I come find you?"

Turning off her phone, she looked towards the distant water, a black shadow flashed by, and she suddenly stood up.

A hundred meters away, a small black figure stood.

"What's wrong?" the coroner adjusted his glasses, looking at Lin Fan.

Lin Fan faced off with the girl not far away.

The coroner also looked over, furrowing his brows, "What are you looking at? There's nothing there."

Lin Fan rubbed her eyes, "There's a little girl over there."

The coroner was nearly scared off his chair, "Is it real?"

Lin Fan stood up, "I'll go check it out."

The coroner turned around to call Xiao Wang, only to find Xiao Wang had left at some point. He was scared stiff, wanting to go after Lin Fan but hesitated. Scratching his head, he found his phone and called Qin Feng.

She saw Lin Fan and turned to walk towards the riverbank. Lin Fan shouted, "Stop!"

The child stopped. Under the moonlight, she was wearing a red cotton jacket, with large eyes.

Lin Fan pursed her lips and continued walking forward. "What's your name?"

She didn't speak. Lin Fan approached closely, looking at her. "Are you mute?"

"I'm not," she spoke, her voice soft and tender.

"What's your name?"

"Er Ya."

A sense of sadness permeated. Lin Fan couldn't hide her inner grief. She took a deep breath. "How did you die?"

"Grandma strangled me." Her bright eyes looked innocent. "My sister told me to wait here, but she never came. Have you seen my sister?"

"What's your sister's name?"

She shook her head. "I don't know, she's just my sister."

"Wang Jing?" Lin Fan said, "With big braids."

She nodded, her eyes shining. "That's my sister. Have you seen her? I haven't seen her for days. Where did she go?"

Lin Fan remained silent for a long time before saying, "She'll probably come looking for you soon."

Wang Jing was dead, she was also a ghost, they should meet soon.

"My sister is coming to find me?" She smiled, her face childish. "I miss my sister so much."

"Why did you take me to the riverbank at noon today?"

She lowered her head, water dripping from her body, quickly wetting the ground beneath her feet.