The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

Soon, Jiang An and Mr. Qin turned and walked along the village road.

The dirt road was solidly paved, flanked by uneven mud walls and stray vegetable patches, with occasional dog barks.

Following the directions given by the old man earlier, they continued forward.

Within ten minutes, they indeed saw a brick house at the end of the road.

This house appeared particularly orderly compared to the surrounding mud structures; walls were neatly built with red bricks, gray tiles covered the roof, and a layer of gravel was carefully laid before the entrance.

Under the eaves hung a dark wooden plaque with the words ”Village Chief’s Office” neatly painted in white.

The two quickly approached, only to find the dark green wooden door closed.

Jiang An stepped forward and knocked, ”Knock, knock, knock—”

He listened closely, but there was no sound inside.

After waiting for a moment, he knocked harder three times, the ”Thud, thud, thud” startled the sparrows under the eaves, yet the interior remained silent.

Mr. Qin turned around and shook his head helplessly at Jiang An: ”Knocked twice, still no answer; seems they’re truly not here.”

At those words, Jiang An thoughtfully looked around.

”Since no one’s here, we shouldn’t wait idly,” he pondered aloud ”Let’s stroll through the village and ask some locals.”

”If there’s truly no missing person in the village, we should move on.”

The two then turned to leave.

Strangely, as soon as they exited the alley from the village committee, they sensed something unusual—when entering earlier, a few villagers were chatting leisurely at the entrance, but now the street was much emptier, with only an old woman slowly tidying up dried vegetables.

Jiang An stopped involuntarily, murmuring: ”Mr. Qin, did you notice?”

”In such a short time, the street seems much less crowded.”

”Those old men chatting at the entrance just moments ago aren’t even here now.”

Mr. Qin chuckled indifferently, casually chewing on a grass stalk: ”At this hour, they’re likely home preparing dinner, country folks eat early.”

”Dinner?”

Jiang An glanced at his watch, ”It’s only four o’clock, isn’t it a bit too early?”

”Ah, each village has its customs.”

Mr. Qin pointed to distant wisps of smoke rising, ”Didn’t we see families starting fires for cooking when we entered the village?”

Though Jiang An found the explanation somewhat far-fetched, he did not pursue further inquiry.

The two continued walking along the main road.

As they reached an intersection, about to turn, they unexpectedly saw two elderly men with white hair seated opposite each other under an old locust tree, a wooden chessboard between them as if the game had just begun.

Jiang An, hearing this, paused unconsciously.

He focused on the two elders engrossed in the game, yet images from his previous visit vaguely emerged.

Back then, the place was deserted, with no chess games.

He stepped forward, speaking gently, ”Excuse me, is this game just set up?”

The old man playing black slowly raised his head, squinting to scrutinize the two unfamiliar visitors, still stroking the smooth chess piece: ”Young fellows, what brings you here?”

”We are police officers from the city public security bureau, investigating a case.”

Jiang An said, his gaze inadvertently sweeping over the tense chess situation, ”I wanted to ask if there have been any disappearances in the village lately?”

”Disappared?” The white-haired elder lifted his head, his wrinkled face spreading into a hearty smile.

”Impossible! Our place is peaceful.”

”The village is remote, every household shares generations of bond; if a single bowl went missing from a kitchen, we’d all know.”

”If someone truly disappeared, the news would have spread through the village long ago.”

At this moment, Mr. Qin patted Jiang An’s shoulder with a lighthearted tone, ”You see, I told you it’s a wasted trip, didn’t I?”

”I always said isolated villages are the most stable.”

As the pair conversed, Jiang An keenly observed the elders maintained focus on the chessboard.

Yet, as Mr. Qin spoke, their gazes imperceptibly exchanged momentarily, fingers over the pieces paused slightly.

The pair bid farewell and continued along the village’s sole main road.

Jiang An couldn’t help but slow his pace, scanning the old-fashioned residences alertly.

Just then, he suddenly noticed a curtain on the second floor lightly sway, as if someone had just retreated from the window.

Initially, he paid it little mind, but as they proceeded, this occurred repeatedly.

A curtain on the gray-brick building gently trembled, the drapery on a second-floor white-walled courtyard lifted slightly and quickly fell again.

If only a few occurrences, it could be explained away.

Yet when the fifth and sixth curtain fluttered similarly, Jiang An’s back shivered with unease.

He abruptly halted, turning to Mr. Qin in lowered voice, ”Mr. Qin, don’t you find this village peculiar?”

Mr. Qin raised an eyebrow in surprise: ”Peculiar? What do you mean?”

”Ever since we entered,” Jiang An’s vigilant gaze swept over yet another lightly swaying curtain, ”we’ve seen only elders or young men, but have you noticed—there’s almost no sight of women here.”

This caught Mr. Qin off guard, making him pause and mentally review their observations.

Indeed, as Jiang An mentioned, from the village entrance to here, those they encountered and glimpsed from afar were nearly all male, without a single woman’s presence.