Lanting Street Elderly Care Home.
Liang Yan brought quite a few people, mostly technical personnel from the team.
Chen Xiao handed the knife to Liang Yan, who then passed it to a technician.
The technician used tools to identify it, then nodded towards Liang Yan.
Liang Yan's eyes were filled with delight: "First, take the knife back to the team, and send the extracted blood directly to the municipal bureau for analysis."
Dongzhou City this year was far less developed compared to ten years later.
This year, many district branches and county bureaus under Dongzhou City did not have the ability to independently conduct deoxyribonucleic acid tests, namely DNA tests.
Anything requiring this step had to be submitted to the municipal bureau for identification.
Watching the technician leave with the knife, Chen Xiao couldn't help but recall his plan to "see his wife shine."
Some things truly needed to be seriously pursued; otherwise, relying only on his current financial resources was far from enough.
Once the technician left, Liang Yan pulled Chen Xiao aside.
Chen Xiao curiously asked: "Sister Liang, shouldn't you be focusing on questioning Uncle Huang at this moment? Why pull me aside?"
"I don't like indulging in unnecessary actions. The questions I need to ask, you must have already asked Uncle Huang, right?"
Chen Xiao nodded: "Sister Liang indeed has a straightforward nature. I did ask Uncle Huang some questions, but honestly, only two pieces of information were valuable: One, Uncle Huang has a clean and efficient sword technique that can instantly behead a person. Two, Uncle Huang only taught that technique to Zhao Xiaohong."
Upon hearing this, shock naturally appeared in Liang Yan's eyes.
"So the case likely involves not just the power of the murder weapon but also the addition of sword technique?"
"I suspect it does."
Liang Yan clicked her tongue: "I never thought those martial arts from the TV series actually exist in reality."
"They might still exist now, but I'm afraid they'll become increasingly rare in the future," Chen Xiao said with a smile.
Liang Yan nodded silently, falling into contemplation, but the more she thought, the more tightly she knitted her brows.
"Sister Liang, are you confused?"
Liang Yan gave a sound: "That's right, it's not possible for Zhao Xiaohong to have killed himself, right?"
"Indeed, only Uncle Huang and Zhao Xiaohong know that sword technique. Uncle Huang struggles to even move; he definitely couldn't have committed the crime. But Zhao Xiaohong, it's even less likely he would kill himself and then dispose of the body."
Liang Yan squinted her eyes: "Do you think it's possible... Well, I'm just suggesting a possibility. What if Zhao Xiaohong designed a sort of mechanism using a knife as a tool, and at the moment of activating the switch, he killed himself, and then had someone else dispose of the body? Although this kind of behavior is extremely rare in real life, setting up a mechanism can indeed accomplish it."
"What's the motive?"
Liang Yan remained silent, and Chen Xiao didn't press further; both wore expressions of tightly furrowed brows.
Moments later, a clamor was heard from outside.
"Have you really discovered a clue? I want to go in. I'm Zhao Xiaohong's father; what right do you have to stop me!"
Zhao Hai had arrived!
Lin Xi at this moment walked over to Liang Yan's side, her eyes showing some difficulty.
Chen Xiao immediately suggested: "Sister Liang, how about letting him in?"
"Zhao Hai is too emotionally unstable; I'm afraid... Never mind, let him in."
It was apparent that Liang Yan didn't really want to see Zhao Hai; she only agreed upon seeing Chen Xiao's suggestion.
Once Zhao Hai was let in, he immediately glared around, also asking:
"Have you found any clues? Who discovered them? Is it possible to find the murderer who killed my son?"
Liang Yan walked up, about to deal with Zhao Hai, but Chen Xiao pulled her aside and moved in front of Zhao Hai first.
"Mr. Zhao, it was me who found this place. I'm Chen Xiao, an inspector from Hongshan Branch, and the husband of Lin Xi from the police department."
While Chen Xiao was introducing himself, Zhao Hai abruptly grabbed his hand, anxiously asking:
"Do you have any significant clues? Do you know who did it?"
"We did make some significant discoveries, but now we need verification to be certain."
"Verify what for once you've found them? If it is, it is; if not, it's not. Why bother with all the detours?"
Zhao Hai was very impatient.
Chen Xiao furrowed his brows and said: "How about I go up the street and find someone random for you?"
Zhao Hai's tone paused, and he said in a deep voice: "What do you mean by that?"
"Isn't my meaning clear enough? Zhao Xiaohong was murdered; shouldn't the police dig out solid evidence? Do you expect that just because Zhao Xiaohong was your son, the police wouldn't follow procedures?"
Zhao Hai's momentum was half gone after being confronted, saying: "I didn't mean to blame the police."
"Whoever you blame, you can't blame the police. Also, when the police are handling a case, the less noise you make, the more confidence they gain in finding the culprit!"
Zhao Hai clenched his jaw and remained silent.
It was apparent that he wanted to rebut Chen Xiao's words, but his mind couldn't find any words at this moment.
Once Zhao Hai calmed down, Chen Xiao then switched to a peaceful tone and asked: "Mr. Zhao, did your son like playing with knives?"
Zhao Hai remained silent, and when Chen Xiao's eyes caught his, his gaze even evaded Chen Xiao's.
This evasion made even Liang Yan unable to help but shout: "Mr. Zhao, do you still have any undisclosed secrets at this moment?"
"He... he did like playing with knives."
"And for what reason did he play with knives?"
"Is there even a reason for it? Just like some people enjoy playing games, you can ask them, but can they tell you why they play games? It's just a hobby!"
"Is it really just that?" Chen Xiao coldly laughed and questioned.
Zhao Hai turned his head away without responding, while Liang Yan squinted and walked over, directly saying:
"I'll tell you the truth, Mr. Zhao. We've actually discovered quite a few clues regarding Zhao Xiaohong's murder, and almost all of these clues were found by Mr. Chen in front of you. Now he's asking you, yet you refuse to disclose the truth. Since that's the case, Chen Xiao... don't worry about this case. Let us, the police, investigate step by step."
Zhao Hai suddenly raised his head, unable to believe as he looked at Chen Xiao and asked: "Did you really discover all of this? Are you really that capable?"
"It's up to you whether you believe it or not. Chen Xiao... go home; you don't need to worry about this case." Liang Yan urged once again.
Zhao Hai grabbed Chen Xiao's arm, nervously saying: "Wait, don't leave, I'll say it!"
Chen Xiao looked directly at Zhao Hai: "What is the reason?"
"He practiced sword technique to... to chop me!"
Everyone was shocked, but Chen Xiao was not terribly surprised upon hearing this answer.
The only surprise was that Zhao Xiaohong practiced sword technique to chop Zhao Hai, which meant Zhao Hai also knew the sword technique.
"What did you do in your early years? Is your sword technique very good?" Chen Xiao asked.
Zhao Hai seemed genuinely unwilling to hide it anymore, nodding and sighing: "Yes, some old friends familiar with me in Dongzhou actually know what I did in my early years. Back then, I committed a crime in Dongzhou and fled to Hong Kong Island."
"I roamed in Hong Kong Island for several years, and to survive there, I could only resort to fighting fiercely. Later, after several near-death encounters, I sought a master to learn a set of sword skills for self-defense. Eventually, I returned to Dongzhou, started an appliance business, and gradually shed my outlaw persona. However, the sword technique I learned from my master, I've never discarded, and only used it for fitness."
"By the time I returned, Xiaohong had grown up, and under my influence, he was also very fascinated, thinking that wielding a saber was cool. Although I refused to teach him, ultimately, I met Xiao Nian and abandoned his mother."
"From then on, Xiaohong never looked me in the eye again. One time during New Year's Eve, when we both drank too much, Xiaohong said to me, 'Old Zhao... You enjoy wielding a saber, eventually I will use a saber to kill you to avenge my mom! But since you're my dad, I hate you but can't torment you, so my strike will definitely be the cleanest and swiftest!'