Before searching the swill bucket, Lin Fei had already questioned the bald butcher in front of him in great detail, repeatedly asking if he was using the swill bucket alone, to which the bald butcher always agreed.

Now, in the swill bucket he was using, they found carcasses that did not belong to poultry or livestock. Lin Fei looked at the bald butcher and said calmly, “You should know that an ‘I don’t know’ is not enough to explain. If you have nothing else to say, you’ll have to come with us back to the Dali Temple!” As he spoke, he glanced at the crowd of onlookers, implying, “There are more and more people now.”

After all the commotion, it was already late afternoon, the time when people came to the market to buy vegetables and prepare for their evening meal.

If the butcher went with them, even if he was ultimately proven innocent, it would probably take at least a year or two for the slaughterhouse business to recover.

Even those born into powerful and wealthy families, if truly sincere, might understand the hardships of ordinary people; it’s just a matter of whether they’re willing to try.

The bald butcher, upon hearing this, gave a bitter laugh and shook his head, saying, “This humble one… this humble one truly doesn’t know.”

The seemingly pampered and wealthy man before him seemed to understand the suffering of ordinary people better than he’d imagined. However…the bald butcher looked down at his hands, then at the knife laid out before him, and said, “This humble one knows that my appearance resembles that of a villain, and I’m often teased for looking like a thug. This morning, when I arrived at the slaughterhouse, many people were waiting in front of it. I started working then, not paying attention to what was happening around me, nor whether there were any other miscellaneous items in the swill bucket.”

Although unable to defend himself, the bald butcher still said, “I’ve been slaughtering here the whole time, and I haven’t left in the middle. I only went to the outhouse, which is not far from the market. There are always people coming and going, so it’s impossible to kill someone in the morning.”

Wu Bucai, who had come upon hearing the news, had already squatted down to examine the body. Hearing the bald butcher’s words, he looked up, glanced at the bald butcher, shook his head, and said, “Although the body is incomplete, I can tell at a glance that this person didn’t die this morning.”

So the bald butcher’s explanation was useless.

Lin Fei looked at the bald butcher and said frankly, “You say you’re quick, and you often encounter people who suspect you of hiding poultry and livestock or switching them. With your quick hands, if you were to throw away miscellaneous items, it wouldn’t be impossible for you to throw in body parts without being discovered, would it?”

The bald butcher looked at Lin Fei, only now realizing the formidable nature of this Shaoqing of the Dali Temple. It turned out that Lin Shaoqing had already anticipated this step before even starting the interrogation, which was why he asked so many questions. These things could be easily found by asking around in the market; there was no point in explaining.

The bald butcher gave a bitter smile, nodded, and said, “Indeed.”

So, the fact that the item was in his swill bucket and that his years of honed skills could indeed accomplish this made it difficult to explain.

“Murder to cover up the crime and destroy the evidence,” Lin Fei said, looking at the bald butcher. “Destroying a body isn’t easy. If you use your skills inappropriately, throwing some into this swill bucket every day, you can, indeed, do it.”

The bald butcher’s lips trembled, as if he wanted to say something, but he truly didn’t know what to say. In the end, he only lowered his head and said, “You’re right, sir.”

It seemed a trip to the Dali Temple prison was unavoidable.

The bald butcher looked at the row of kitchen knives in front of him, gave a bitter smile, and said, “This humble citizen did not kill anyone.”

Hearing this, Liu Yuan couldn’t help but say, “Since we’re involved in the case, we need to present evidence.” He pointed to the constable who was rummaging through the swill bucket and said, “First, we need to know whose these belong to.”

Although the bodies couldn’t be pieced together completely, an experienced coroner could still make many guesses and conclusions from the characteristics of the corpses.

“Judging from the hands, it seems to belong to someone who did hard labor daily; they look like a man’s hands,” Wu Bucai said. “There are many old and new wounds on the hands, all abrasions, and calluses all over, indicating manual labor.”

“The fingernails aren’t long, and the tips are covered in swill from the garbage can. Although there’s a lot of swill, it’s actually a blessing in disguise,” Wu Bucai said, holding up a hand. “The swill has clogged the nails, but it has left behind the original layer of black grime. Just cut the tips of the nails, and you’ll know what that innermost layer of black grime is.”

Lin Fei nodded upon hearing this, looking at the body that had been searched: the body couldn’t be pieced together completely; there were only scattered pieces. Although Wu Bucai could determine from some skeletal features that all these belonged to a middle-aged man in his thirties, and most likely the same person, he couldn’t be completely certain because the body was still incomplete.

“The body was dumped in the market. After all, it’s an object that would emit a smell, so it would be inconvenient to walk a long way. The murderer is most likely someone who frequents the market!” Liu Yuan said, glancing at the bald butcher: This man fits the bill.

Lin Fei grunted in agreement, summoned a constable, and said, “Ask if anyone has gone missing in the market or the surrounding area recently.” He then looked up, glanced around again, frowned, and seemed thoughtful. Although the discovery of the body was accidental, he hadn’t forgotten their initial purpose: to solve the problem of the city’s residents suffering from stomachaches.

Since he was there, Lin Fei paused, turned to the bald butcher, and asked, “Have you heard about the recent stomachaches in the city?”

He had originally thought that, as a “key suspect” in a murder and dismemberment case, these adults wouldn’t ask him anything more, but he hadn’t expected that Lin Shaoqing wouldn’t care about his “suspect” status and would ask about this matter.

Although the bald butcher seemed puzzled, he nodded and said, “I’ve heard rumors circulating in the market that something might be wrong with what’s being sold here.”

Lin Fei nodded and glanced at the butcher. “And you? Have you had an upset stomach lately?”

The bald butcher, still confused, shook his head and said, “No, I haven’t had an upset stomach.”

Lin Fei glanced at him and asked again, “What do you usually eat?”

“Like everyone else, I avoid nothing.” The bald butcher paused, then added, “However, lately I’ve slaughtered too much poultry and livestock, and I’ve been taking home and cooking the leftover chicken and duck giblets that people don’t want.”

Although he didn’t know why Lin Fei was asking this, he figured it was probably to avoid adding any more suspicion to his already precarious “murder” case, so the bald butcher offered this explanation.

The implication was that his stomach problems had nothing to do with his butchering stall.

(End of Chapter)

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