Di Zhen had an idea, and his mind returned to the morning. In the vast expanse of snow, a woman in a red cotton - padded jacket was swaying on the locust tree.
He examined the line of footprints again, covering them with his palm and gesturing. The position of the footprints was a bit strange, and they were also too evenly deep.
He turned his head to look at his own footprints. It was impossible for a normal person to step out such evenly deep footprints. Even if snow fell into them later, there would still be differences in depth.
"The footprints were left before it started to snow!" he murmured.
"What did you say!?"
[b]Dao Heart Clarification[/b]! Di Zhen returned to reality and said to Officer Long, "I think the footprints might have been left before it started to snow."
"Uh..." Officer Long frowned. "I also noticed that the footprints were a bit off, but... how could they have been left before it snowed?"
Di Zhen pointed at the roof. "This is an old house. If it snows in winter, the roof won't be able to bear it. Every year, Di Gong would ask me to sprinkle a layer of salt on the roof before it snows. Salt can melt snow. I boldly speculate that the murderer dipped a pair of cloth shoes in salt and stepped on the ground once. After it snowed, the snow that fell on them would melt, leaving a line of footprints."
Officer Long's mouth hung open and he couldn't close it for a long time. He suddenly clapped his hands. "Right! We've been investigating back and forth, but we didn't even test those footprints! You've really woken me up. I'll go back and investigate right away!"
He rushed outside in a hurry. Di Zhen reminded him that he forgot to take the envelope. Officer Long turned around and took it, then asked, "By the way, what did you mean by that sentence you just said? Mr. Di also liked to mumble that sentence before!"
Di Zhen didn't know how to explain it either and just perfunctorily said, "It's just a spell to help with thinking."
Officer Long smiled wryly. "It's the same answer as his. You're really master and apprentice. I'll take my leave then!"
After Officer Long left, Di Zhen's life remained calm. He read books, cleaned the house, and offered incense to the memorial tablets of Di Gong and Di Zhen's son every day.
During this period, Officer Long visited twice. The first time, he told Di Zhen that the case of the woman hanging in the snow had been solved. The real culprit was the victim's husband. Actually, that day, the mother - in - law and daughter - in - law had an argument, and the wife took her anger out on the husband. Caught in the middle, the husband killed the victim in a fit of rage.
The mother - in - law and son discussed it overnight and decided to fake it as a suicide.
The second time was during the Dragon Boat Festival the next year. Officer Long brought some zongzi distributed by the police station. They were stuffed with candied dates. Yuck, they tasted awful!
While having dinner with Di Zhen, Officer Long said earnestly, "Xiao Di, I think you're quite talented. How about applying to a police academy? You'll definitely achieve great things in the future."
Di Zhen refused with a smile. "I like being free."
He knew that due to his father's case, it was impossible for him to become a police officer.
Several years passed in a blink of an eye. Di Zhen was already twenty - one years old. He was extremely tall and imposing. The young girls in the old street would always smile foolishly when they saw him.
However, he spent his days reading and exercising. The savings left by Di Gong were enough for his living expenses, and he basically had no contact with outsiders.
Until one day, a news article appeared in the newspaper: "The 'Smiling Face Killer' has reappeared in Jiangxia. Is it a copycat or is the real culprit someone else!"
The report said that there had been three consecutive murders in Jiangxia. Without exception, the victims' cheeks were propped up with chopsticks, creating a strange smiling face, exactly the same as the modus operandi of the 'Smiling Face Killer' who had been executed years ago.
Di Zhen read the article word by word, crumpled the newspaper into a ball, and cursed, "Damn it!"
He hated his father, the murderer, to the core. Now, there was another scumbag "paying tribute" to him!
After much thought, he decided to go to Jiangxia. Didn't Di Gong teach him all those skills to fight bad guys and help the good ones?
The next day, Di Zhen bid farewell to Di Gong's memorial tablet and set off.
Twelve hours later, a tall and burly young man with bright eyes arrived at Jiangxia Railway Station. Di Zhen looked around at the legendary big city. There were high - rise buildings everywhere, colorful billboards, and a world of glitz and glamour. It was indeed no match for Wu'an.
The girls in the big city were all dressed to the nines, making a beautiful sight as they walked on the street.
Di Zhen also noticed that the people coming and going were all playing with their mobile phones. He only knew that mobile phones were used for making calls and sending text messages. He had never used one himself and didn't understand why people in the big city were so dependent on it, holding it like a precious treasure.
While observing his surroundings, Di Zhen accidentally bumped into a girl. The girl let out a scream and fell backward. Di Zhen quickly reached out and grabbed the strap of the girl's backpack.
The girl looked up at Di Zhen's tall figure blocking the sunlight and was secretly amazed.
"Are you okay? Didn't it hurt?" Di Zhen asked.
"I'm fine... Are you from out of town?" the girl stared at him blankly.
"I'm not looking for a hotel!" When he was exiting the station just now, Di Zhen had encountered too many people trying to persuade him to stay in a hotel. He was really annoyed.
"You've got it all wrong. I just thought you sounded like you're from out of town. Are you here looking for a job?" the girl said.
Di Zhen looked at the girl suspiciously. His handsome and manly face made the girl's heart pound wildly. Di Zhen asked, "Excuse me, how can I get to Jiangxia Daily?"
"You can check it on your phone... Let me look it up. Oh, it's on Victory Street. Just go straight along this street for three kilometers and then turn left. Do you want to take a taxi? How about we share a ride? I'm going in that direction too!" The girl forced a smile, desperately hoping to get closer to this handsome guy.
"Do I really need to take a taxi for just three kilometers!?" Di Zhen said contemptuously, then took off at a run along the sidewalk like a gust of wind, leaving the girl with a shocked expression on her face.
In the evening, after journalist Liu Gang got off work, he went to the underground parking lot to get his car. He used his key to unlock the car door, but no matter how hard he pulled, he couldn't open it. He turned his head and saw that Di Zhen was holding the door with one hand.
"Ah!" Liu Gang was startled and quickly stepped back. "What are you doing?"
"Teacher Liu, don't you remember me?"
"Huh?" Liu Gang frowned in confusion. "Do we know each other?"
Di Zhen smiled. "Don't you remember? I came here for an interview with you a few years ago and worked here for a few days..." He sized Liu Gang up and quickly analyzed information about this person. "You showed me a photo of your daughter. You like to smoke Liqun cigarettes and drink black coffee. I'm Zhang Lei. Have you forgotten?"
"Uh..." Liu Gang was confused. He had no impression of this burly young man at all, but the other person sounded so convincing that he could only reply casually, "Where did you go later?"
"I went to a small newspaper, Express."
"Why did you go there!?"
Di Zhen knew that Express and Jiangxia Daily were competitors. Liu Gang would definitely react strongly when he heard the name, which could quickly divert his suspicion about his identity.
It might sound mysterious, but this trick worked. In *Water Margin*, Chai Jin once pretended to be an acquaintance in front of a high - ranking official. This trick was exactly the [b]Mind - Control Technique[/b].
"They were willing to take me in! Just trying to make a living!" Di Zhen pretended to look helpless.
"Humph, Express is really desperate. I think it's not far from shutting down... Oh, sorry, I don't mean to target you. Xiao Zhang, what do you want from me?"
"Well," Di Zhen said with a humble smile, "I read your report about the [b]Smiling Face Killer[/b]. It was really well - written, but there was one thing that wasn't quite right!"
"What wasn't right?" Liu Gang craned his neck and asked.
"You wrote it too professionally. I think it shouldn't have been placed in the social life section. I think the editor - in - chief should create a special section for crime - tracking for you!"
Using the strategy of praising first and then criticizing, Liu Gang was indeed hooked. His greasy, fat face broke into a big smile, and he waved his hand, saying, "Oh, come on. We don't have such a section here!"
"We at Express are planning to create one."
"Really!?"
Liu Gang was hooked again and showed a look of being on high alert.