Chapter 360 - Deinopidae Murder

Translator: Thyaeria

When the villagers heard that the corpses wouldn’t be taken away, they started to hesitate. Although villagers in the Dongyi Village were crude, they’re not completely unreasonable folks. The police were here for a case, and they’re not here to cause trouble. With the addition of the county officer’s persuasion, a middle-aged man in his fifties led Su Tao into the village. Old Sun was also following behind Su Tao, since he wished to see what trick this brat was trying to play.

Along the way, Su Tao was observing the crowd. It was human nature to feel uneasy if they commit a mistake, and he was trying to look out for anyone suspicious.

However, he was disappointed, since he did not find any.

When they came to the local temple, two young men were lying on a wooden board with their family members sobbing by their sides. After all, the two deceased were still young, and even Su Tao’s emotions were affected.

“What are you guys doing here again?” A middle-aged woman roared in the direction of Old Sun and Zhang Zhen. “Leave now. We won’t allow you to touch our sons’ corpses!”

“Madam Liu, don’t worry about it. They promised that they wouldn’t take the corpses away.” The middle-aged man immediately explained, “They just want to examine the bodies again. I believe you guys also want to find a reason for your sons’ sudden deaths, right? After all, you guys have given up so much to bring them up, and you can’t possibly let them die an unknown death!”

That middle-aged man had prestige in the village, and his words were sincere. The lady started to hesitate.

“We only need ten minutes!” Su Tao said with a deep voice.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

“Fine, but be quick!” Madam Liu glanced at her son and instantly felt her nose going sour as tears started to roll down again.

The middle-aged man immediately instructed two villagers to help Madam Liu out.

As Su Tao stepped forth, he put on gloves and examined the deceased’s faces. There weren’t any livor mortis on the corpses, so they shouldn’t have been dead for long. Judging from their skin condition, it was as Old Sun has examined; their deaths had something to do with their hearts stopping.

That begs another question. As youngsters in their twenties, their hearts should be at their strongest. So even if there would be sudden attacks, it was too much of a coincidence for two of them to show the same symptoms. After all, the chance of it occurring was too tiny, and there must be another reason.

After Su Tao placed his fingers on their wrists, his face soon turned grave.

“How is it?” Jiang Qinghan remained calm and collected. She could tell that it wasn’t too optimistic from Su Tao’s expression.

Watching this scene, a smile of disdain crept on Old Sun’s lips. It would be magical if he could discover something so easily.

Waving his hand, Su Tao went to examine the deceased’s feet and sighed in disappointment, “Where are their shoes?”

“They were moved by the villagers and removed. I have no idea where the shoes are right now.” Zhang Zhen analysed.

“Find the shoes!” Jiang Qinghan knew that there must be a reason for Su Tao’s question.

Zhang Zhen was efficient. He returned a few minutes later with a wry smile. “The shoes have been burnt!”

Hearing those words, Su Tao sighed in pity. If the shoes were still present, they would be able to deduce the first crime scene from the mud and verify his speculation.

But since they have already been burnt, he could only resort to practical examinations.

Putting down his medical box, Su Tao retrieved his needle pouch. When Madam Liu saw a long needle in Su Tao’s hand, she exclaimed and frantically ran over. “Don’t touch my son!”

At this moment, Old Sun’s expression became colourful. He found Su Tao too unreliable to be trusted with important tasks. They only talked about bringing the corpses back earlier, and they had already caused such a huge commotion. But Su Tao actually wanted to touch the corpse? Wasn’t it guaranteed that it would cause a conflict?

Sweeping a glance at Jiang Qinghan, Old Su looked down on this new Division Chief and inwardly sneered. This mess is on her now.

Su Tao’s movement was swift and he inserted it on the neck of the corpse before letting out a breath, “I found the cause!”

When Madam Liu saw how Su Tao found the cause with just a needle, she was briefly stunned and calmed down.

“What’s the reason?” Jiang Qinghan asked as she immediately stepped forth.

“Take a closer look!” Su Tao waved the silver needle in his hand.

When Jiang Qinghan squinted her eyes, she sucked in a cold breath. “A spider web?”

“Deinopidae!” Su Tao had also seen the records of such spiders. They’re small, and the patterns on their backs can only be seen under a magnifying glass.

“You’re saying that the bite of a Deinopidae killed them?” Jiang Qinghan felt that it was too unbelievable. She couldn’t imagine how such a small spider could contain the venom to kill two full-grown men.

Nodding his head, Su Tao explained, “The Deinopidae’s venom is powerful, and their bite will feel numbing. A Deinopidae might not be fatal, but what about hundreds or even thousands of them?”

Although Jiang Qinghan was bold, she couldn’t help feeling goosebumps after hearing about that guess. “What should we do now? Shall we inform the related departments and extinguish them?”

“No need! Deinopidaes are considered arachnids that wither in the light of day. Their usual habitat is damp and dark caves, and they generally wouldn’t attack humans.” Although he has already found the cause, Su Tao still had a question in his heart. How did the two victims suffer the attack from those arachnids?

Those arachnids usually made their appearances in dark and damp places. The reason why Su Tao wanted to find the shoes was to verify his speculation from the mud stuck on the soles.

Hearing Su Tao’s words, Old Sun immediately sounded his doubts, “How is that possible? Spider murder? Have you seen too many Hollywood movies?”

Letting out a sigh, Su Tao knew that he couldn't convince Old Sun unless he produced substantial evidence. As for the villages, they were also sceptical. Thus, he took out a medicine bottle from his medical box and poured it around a corpse.

“Ahh!” There were those timid people who screamed out.

Densely packed transparent spiders crawled out from the corpse, and when they encountered the light, they died soon after.

Walking to another corpse, Su Tao repeated what he did earlier, and the same scenario occurred. The Deinopidae were forced out of the corpse before they died.

It was a terrifying scene when those Deinopidaes crawled out from the skin of the corpses. It was comparable to a Hollywood horror movie. Many villagers couldn’t take it and started to retch.

Even as a forensic doctor who was used to all sorts of unusual situations, Old Sun also felt nausea and went to a corner to vomit.

Su Tao glanced at Old Sun. This man has been speaking with blades in his words, and seeing him now, he was truly pitiful.

But surprisingly, Jiang Qinghan managed to control herself with her brows knitted. Her expression was faint and Su Tao knew that she had an impressive psychology. At the same time, he was curious about what man could subdue her.

Hence, Su Tao started feeling curious about Yan Sha’s father.

“We’ll speak outside!” Su Tao suggested. There was already a faint odour that came from the corpses, and with all the vomiting around the place, the stench was terrible.

Thus, Su Tao and Jiang Qinghan came to an empty location. The latter knew that Su Tao had something to talk to her about individually and asked, “You noticed some other things?”

“The villagers are mostly the elderly and children. So you have to make a check and see if those two lived in the village normally,” replied Su Tao.

Nodding her head, Jiang Qinghan waved her hand in the direction of Zhang Zhen.

Zhang Zhen soon gathered the news and reported, “The two decreased were usually working at Shenzhen, and they returned last month!”

After a brief silence, Su Tao analysed, “There must be a reason for them to return, and if it goes as I’ve speculated, the secret should be up the mountain.”

Knitting her brows, Jiang Qinghan directed her gaze in that direction and asked in perplexion, “Up the mountain?”

Actually, it cannot be considered a mountain. It was just some hills that have a slightly higher altitude. In total, the height was just sixty to seventy meters, and it paled in comparison to Golden Chicken Mountain.

“Then we’ll go take a look at the mountain!” For some reason, Jiang Qinghan had complete faith in Su Tao’s judgement.

After instructing Zhang Zhen to continue the investigation about the deceased, she and Su Tao head for the mountain.

Because this mountain wasn’t tended to for a long time, the narrow paths were filled with wild grasses.

“Although this isn’t a big mountain, it won’t be easy for us to find our target while searching blindly.” Jiang Qinghan said.

“Walk towards the north for about five minutes, tops.” Su Tao turned around and showed an encouraging smile.

His reply made Jiang Qinghan helplessly shake her head. She was the elder around, so why did she feel like he’s trying to take care of her? This brat always likes to play mature!

“Why are you so certain?” When Jiang Qinghan saw Su Tao’s swift pace, she could tell that he hasn’t neglected on martial arts and felt gratified in her heart.

“Well, since there’s no one here, then I’ll just tell you the truth.” Su Tao slowed down and explained, “The two youths returned because they had their eyes beneath this mountain!”

“Beneath this mountain?” Jiang Qinghan’s eyes beamed as she asked, “Is there an ancient tomb here?”

“Yeah!” Su Tao was certain and continued, “I researched Fengshui in the past. Although this mountain is unremarkable, it’s a land of fortune. I’m following according to the art of Fengshui, and we might be able to find some clues at the Fengshui point.”

“You also have this skill?” Jiang Qinghan was flabbergasted and realised that she knew too little about this disciple of hers. Whenever she’s with him, she would always find new surprises.

“I only know the surface of it.” Su Tao modestly smiled.

Yin and Yang, Eight Divinatory Trigrams, and the Five Elements. Fengshui and TCM had their common characteristics, and his understanding of Fengshui was more than any Fengshui master. However, he just never revealed it. If it wasn’t for helping Jiang Qinghan, he definitely wouldn’t show his knowledge about Fengshui.

When they were near the Fengshui point, Jiang Qinghan could see Su Tao constantly stomping his foot on the ground. When he finally found a location where the soil was soft, he gave a signal to Jiang Qinghan with his eyes and smiled. “Master, it should be here!”

After briefly touching the ground, he pulled it apart and saw a trap door made of bronze. It was well covered with grass, and it wouldn’t be easy to discover if one didn’t carefully look for it.

A soft smile appeared on Jiang Qinghan’s lips. She felt that if Su Tao quits his job as a physician, he would definitely be able to make a living as a tomb raider.