311: Chapter 311 I'm leaving

"A secret?"

Han Jingyang became even more interested.

"I love hearing people tell all sorts of secrets, especially from those on the verge of death."

Li Yuhua, or rather, Zhou Jinhua, gently stroked the porcelain statue and said, "I picked this porcelain statue up from the Grandma Temple on the other side of the village. At first, I didn't think much of it, but at some point, I felt like the statue had gained a spirit. Every time I went to deliver a baby, if I prayed to it beforehand, everything would go very smoothly. Later..."

"And what happened later?"

"Later, if I let the pregnant woman pray to it, the effect was even better, so my reputation grew larger and larger. However, the social climate back then wasn't good, so I didn't dare to show off. I didn't really dare to spend the money I earned and always lived cautiously. It wasn't until the social climate improved and I was thinking about buying a shop in the city that the incident with Dou Dous Mother happened. If you don't mind, you can make good use of it. It's just that the current level of medical science is extremely high, so it's generally not needed, but there will always be times when it could be useful, don't you think?"

Han Jingyang was a bit disappointed.

He thought it was some big secret.

Is that it?

It can bless a woman in labor to be safe and smooth?

If it has an attribute, it should be something like that.

But who gives birth at home these days?

Everyone goes to the hospital.

They are monitored around the clock before delivery, and if there is a problem, a C-section is performed immediately. The probability of neonatal mortality is extremely low, so there is simply no need for such a dharma instrument.

Honestly, in a modern medical environment, rather than praying to such a dharma instrument, pregnant women would be better off praying to the doctors and nurses in the obstetrics and gynecology department; in this regard, those medical professionals are clearly more professional.

Of course, there are exceptions for some special cases.

Some expectant mothers have good conditions in every aspect but are fated to have no children; that's when some metaphysics methods are needed.

One can only say this porcelain statue is useful, but not very useful.

But Li Yuhua continued, "Besides blessing women in labor, it can also store souls."

Han Jingyang nodded slightly.

Now that's a bit interesting.

He had felt that this porcelain statue was a bit strange before.

Once Zhou Jinhua appeared, it made sense.

Zhou Jinhua had died, but not completely; her soul had fled into this porcelain statue before it could be annihilated.

Such dharma instruments are not uncommon; Wang Wei's flower shears are a typical example.

The shikigami token hanging around his neck is also one.

This function is actually somewhat valuable.

He hoped that after identification, he could unlock similar attributes or skills.

As expected, Zhou Jinhua's story was almost exactly the same as his guess, except that it wasn't an active action by Zhou Jinhua, but rather she was sucked in during a critical moment.

It should be that Zhou Jinhua had intentionally or unintentionally refined this porcelain statue during daily use, making it a special existence similar to Wang Wei's exclusive dharma instrument, which is why Zhou Jinhua's remnant soul was sucked into the statue.

Come to think of it, this Zhou Jinhua can be considered a remarkable person.

If she hadn't been inadvertently dragged into the case of Dou Dous Mother, she would probably still be living quite comfortably, and Li Yuhua's family wouldn't be living so miserably.

The merit-accumulating deeds performed by a midwife, the positive Qi accumulated over decades, would be enough to make any practitioner of metaphysics envious, and she had also saved a large sum of money, yet she ended up with this fate.

One can only say that fate is truly unpredictable.

Wait, money?

Han Jingyang suddenly frowned, "How much money did you save before you passed away?"

"About two hundred thousand or so, why?"

"Where did that money go?"

"It was lost."

"Lost?"

"Yes."

"Where was the money hidden?"

"Inside the kang. My family had a clay kang, but it hadn't been heated for many years. I sealed the stove opening and left only a small hidden door to act as a safe. The money, along with house deeds and land deeds, was hidden inside, but I don't know when that money disappeared."

Han Jingyang narrowed his eyes, "Try to recall the specific time carefully, the more detailed, the better."

"Between August and September of '99," Li Yuhua thought for a moment, "I can only be sure it was within that month. The incident with Dou Dous Mother happened on the fourth day of August. In early September, when Yuhua finished handling my funeral arrangements and prepared to go to the city to buy a shop, the money was already gone when he went to get it."

"Didn't you report it to the police?"

"No."

"Why?"

"No one would believe my family had that much money, and the money was all earned by me. After I died, there was no evidence at all, and it might have even caused other trouble. Two hundred thousand in those days was not a small sum. Thinking about the killer hiding somewhere, I told Yuhua and his father to keep it a secret. Sigh."

Han Jingyang took a deep breath, "Have you considered that it might have been the killer who took your money?"

"The killer?"

"Yes, you said the killer has the ability to enter dreams. Could he have accidentally discovered where you hid the money and stolen it during the chaos after you passed away?"

Li Yuhua was stunned for a moment, then suddenly slapped his thigh hard, "I remember! I remember now! On the day of my mother's funeral, a strange young man came. I didn't know him, and no one in the village knew him either, but he claimed to be my mother's distant nephew. He kowtowed to my mother three times, put down fifty yuan, and requested two pieces of funeral music. But I never saw him again after that. I asked my mother's relatives, and they all said they didn't know the person."

This was him switching back to Li Yuhua himself.

Han Jingyang was even more excited, "Do you remember what he looked like?"

"I remember, I remember. I repeated it to my relatives several times and looked for him many times. You have to return such favors, so I remember it clearly. He was about twenty-five or twenty-six, short, under 1.7 meters, thin, square face, triangular eyes, slanted eyebrows. He looked a bit sinister, like a thief you'd see at a market; anyway, he wasn't likable. Oh right, he also had a black mole on his neck, near his collarbone."

"Anything else?"

"That guy was quite rich; he used a mobile phone that was very rare at the time—a new Motorola model. He was also dressed quite smartly. Thinking back now, they were all name brands."

"Nothing else?"

"No."

Han Jingyang took a deep breath, "If nothing goes wrong, that person is the killer."

"Really?"

"It's highly likely. However, don't tell anyone about this today. If anyone asks, just say it's about business. Understand?"

Li Yuhua nodded, but then sighed while staring at Han Jingyang and Shi Xiaoya, "Being young is so good. Cherish it well. I, I am leaving now."

This was him switching back to Zhou Jinhua.

Leaving meant she was about to die.

Zhou Jinhua's physical body had long since decayed, and only her remnant soul was struggling to survive in the porcelain statue. She couldn't do anything, and most of the time she was in a daze. Living really had no meaning.

Let it dissipate if it must.

A trace of sadness flashed through Han Jingyang's heart, and he asked softly, "Now?"

"Yes, possessing a body is quite tiring and consumes a lot of energy. Besides, watching Yuhua suffer while I can't help at all makes my heart ache. It's better to leave sooner. Once I'm gone, Yuhua might be able to live a little easier." As Li Yuhua spoke, old tears streamed down, and he reached out to stroke his own aged, furrowed cheeks. His expression was warm and sweet, yet filled with deep reluctance. "Yuhua, I'm leaving. You, you take care. If you have any trouble, look for this Mr. Han. For my sake, he will help you."

What could Han Jingyang say?

He could only nod silently.

The next second, Li Yuhua's body relaxed, and he crouched on the ground, sobbing in a low voice.

The mother who had accompanied him for so many years in a certain way had finally left him.

In this situation, Han Jingyang could only stand silently.

But his mind had already started to ponder the relevant clues.

There were quite a few clues, but they were all single threads that couldn't be connected, and they certainly couldn't directly lead them to the killer.

These clues even had contradictory points.

He needed more clues.

But the clue of Zhou Jinhua had already been broken, and the killer's appearance and build from over twenty years ago were no longer valid, unless there were photos or other visual materials to corroborate it.

He still had to follow another clue.

The wedding photo.

Dou Dous Mother's wedding photo was a very important clue; it might directly help him find the killer.

Otherwise, the killer wouldn't have killed Dou Dous Father at this critical moment to silence him.

However, silencing Dou Dous Father did not mean that this clue could be completely cut off.

Liu Zhiyuan had said that the matter of Dou Dous Father taking Dou Dous Mother to the city to take wedding photos had been a topic of excitement in the village for a while. After all, taking wedding photos in the city in that era was a relatively luxurious thing. Ordinary families would just find a photographer in town to take a few pictures and call it a day; they wouldn't do something so luxurious and fashionable.

Therefore, there must still be someone who remembers the details of Dou Dous Father and Mother taking their wedding photos.

However, how could he find the person who knew the relevant information accurately before the killer silenced them?

Just as he was thinking, a commotion came from afar. Looking up, he saw Li Yuhua's son, with his crew cut, leading a large group of people rushing toward them. Upon seeing Han Jingyang, he turned back and shouted, "Brothers, follow me! I want to kill that damn con artist!"