Chapter 832: The Bloody Wedding

Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue sat in the car with the headlights on, providing illumination for Peng Sijue as he examined the body outside. The eerie sounds of probing the wounds in the silent night added to the unsettling atmosphere, but Chen Shi didn’t want to turn on the radio because he was deep in thought.

“Rice… disappearance… murder…” Chen Shi muttered. “Is there some secret about the rice?”

“We’ve asked each other that question countless times,” Lin Dongxue said with a wry smile.

“Yes, and we haven’t come up with anything. The officers who went to the scene wouldn’t know either. Looking at it again, I think the disappearance and the rice are unrelated.”

“Then what’s it related to?”

“The rice harvesters avoiding us shows they don’t want to deal with the police. The disappearance might have been an accident, a desperate measure to avoid risk. So think, what do policemen do? What would the policemen have done…”

“Questioning, mediating, eating at Jia Laosi’s house? Oh! Checking IDs!”

“Yes, checking IDs. There’s something off about those two’s identities. Remember the old man we met in one village? When I asked him if the harvesters were Chu Wei and Luo Chuanlong and showed him the photos, his expression was odd. The photos might not match the real people.”

“Hiding out in a remote area to harvest rice, they might be fugitives. So the issue isn’t with the rice but with the people?”

“No, I think both the rice and the people have issues. Let’s start with the people. The rice can wait.”

Chen Shi got out of the car and talked to Peng Sijue for a while. When he returned, Lin Dongxue asked, “What did Captain Peng say?”

“One fatal stab. No other significant clues. He plans to head back. Let’s go back to the city too.”

“Everyone else is sleeping in the cars. We should just spend the night here.”

“No, I plan to meet a rice expert tomorrow.”

“Going back to the city this late, will you go home? Yueyue must be asleep by now.”

“We’ll stay at that place from last time.” Chen Shi winked.

“Stealing some leisure time, huh?”

So they followed Peng Sijue’s car. The rural road was quiet, and Lin Dongxue wanted to practice driving. Chen Shi let her take the wheel while he sat in the passenger seat, lost in thought as he gazed into the endless darkness. In such settings, it was easy to think of the past, which always brought him pain.

Song Lang lived in the past, while Chen Shi faced the future. Without looking ahead to a hopeful future, he couldn’t escape the heavy shadows of the past.

The night passed without incident.

Early the next morning, they arrived at a university where Xu Xiaodong was already waiting, eating an egg pancake at the entrance. The three of them went to see an agricultural professor. In the lab, the professor examined the sample Xu Xiaodong had brought under a magnifying glass and said, “This is rice.”

“We know it’s rice. Is there anything different about it compared to regular rice?” Chen Shi asked.

The sample consisted of a few leaves and stems. The professor said, “The leaf veins look different… but this sample is dried out. I can’t tell much more. Do you have a whole plant?”

“We don’t… Wait, maybe we do!” Chen Shi suddenly remembered.

“You mean the one at your place?”

“Could be the same kind. Let’s give it a try. I’ll go get it!”

Half an hour later, Chen Shi returned with a small tin can containing the rice plant. The professor studied it for a long time and confidently said, “This rice has been genetically modified.”

“We always hear about GMOs. What exactly does that mean?” Lin Dongxue asked.

“Simply put, it means combining genes from two different crops to create a hybrid with complementary strengths. GMOs are very common nowadays. Our lab has conducted research in this area too.”

“Are you familiar with the rice varieties on the market?”

“I know some.”

“Have you heard of Shennong No. 24?”

“Shennong No. 24? Which company produces it?”

“We only have the name.”

“Let me look it up.”

The professor searched online and frowned. “Are you sure? None of the major seed companies in the country have produced this variety. You should bring me the seeds if you find them, and I’ll take a look.”

Their research hit a dead end. As they prepared to leave, Chen Shi suddenly remembered something and said to Lin Dongxue, “Do you remember that girl, Chang Juan? Her parents were researching genetically modified crops and were murdered ten years ago.”

“Oh, yes. Could it be related?”

“Chang Guoqing, right? Professor, do you know that name?”

The professor was startled. “He was one of my former students. When you mentioned a murder case, I thought it might be him and his wife. Turns out, it really is.”

“Could the project he worked on be Shennong No. 24?”

“Genetic modification was indeed his research direction in graduate school. He later worked at a private research institute. If he was involved in such a project, they should have records.”

“The data is backed up at the police department.”

“Bring it to me. I’ll take a look when I have time.”

“This is urgent. Please handle it quickly.”

The professor smiled wryly, “Alright, I’ll prioritize it. I’ll notify you as soon as I have results.”

Xu Xiaodong went back to the station to get the data, while Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue returned to the village to continue investigating the rice harvesters and the missing policemen. They received a call from Lao Zhang, urging them to come to Wangchenggang immediately as something major had happened.

With a sense of foreboding, they rushed to Wangchenggang, where they saw a crowd gathered around the place where Feng Xiaoqing’s team was staying.

Chen Shi pushed through the crowd and entered the house. After his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he saw the manager, cameraman, assistant, and others lying or sitting around, all with their throats slit. Most strikingly, a large red character for “double happiness” was smeared on the wall in blood, with droplets trickling down, making it look especially gruesome.

On the floor was a dirty wedding dress marked with bloody handprints.

“Where’s Feng Xiaoqing?” Lin Dongxue asked.

“She’s not dead but was violated by the killer. Early this morning, someone passing by saw two men in the house, one of whom was assaulting Feng Xiaoqing, who was wearing this wedding dress. The witness shouted, alarming the whole village. The two men fled in a hurry, driving off in a car parked at the village entrance… According to the witness, the assailant was wearing a black suit.”

“Rape and murder?” Lin Dongxue frowned. “Why target them?”

“The killer intended to stage this massacre as a wedding,” Chen Shi pointed to the four dead bodies, each with a boutonniere on their chest.

Looking closely, there were bits of confetti on the floor.