The meal, despite a minor unpleasantness, was generally good, with guests and hosts alike smiling.
After the meal, Ouyang Wen offered to escort Lü Qingqing home, and she didn't refuse. As they were walking, they encountered Tong Meng and a few others.
"Captain Wen! Sister Qingqing..." except for Tong Meng, the others spoke up.
"What's going on?" Ouyang Wen looked at the group, the hour was late, why were they still out.
"Something happened up ahead, we're heading there to check it out," the one named Xiao Liang replied.
"A murder case?" Lü Qingqing's interest was piqued. Cases that involved the criminal investigation team were never minor.
"This is our criminal investigation team's business," Tong Meng said loudly, as if afraid certain people wouldn't hear.
"So what? You said yourself that I'll be your superior in the future. It's normal to get familiar with your work attitude in advance," Lü Qingqing was still poking at her from their conversation at the dinner table.
Ouyang Wen rubbed his forehead, not wanting these two women to start another fight.
"Alright, instead of bickering, you might as well spend another minute at the scene."
With Ouyang intervening, Lü Qingqing was bound to give face. After all, those people were his subordinates, and she couldn't go too far.
As they walked, they listened to Xiao Liang recount the details of the报警 process.
Just a moment ago, a waiter from "De Shan Fang" had reported that "Yuan Shao'e" was missing.
"Yuan Shao'e" was actually just a nickname for a skilled roast goose maker from the neighborhood.
Across the land, different regions had their own distinct ways of preparing roasted meats.
For instance, Peking duck was sliced and dipped in sauce.
Roasted lamb in Inner Mongolia was often seasoned heavily with cumin.
Chongqing's roast goose was typically served with chili and other seasonings.
And "Yuan Shao'e" was indeed a master of roasting goose, though his seasonings were considered lacking. Because of this, many restaurants maintained a cooperative relationship with him.
"Yuan Shao'e" was responsible for supplying the roast goose, and the restaurants would then add their own secondary seasoning after purchasing it.
De Shan Fang was one of Yuan Shao'e's partners.
Yuan Shao'e had always been very conscientious. Even if he was unable to supply roast goose on a particular day, he would notify the restaurants in advance to avoid disrupting their business.
Tonight, De Shan Fang had waited and waited for the roast goose but it never arrived. So they sent a waiter to his home to check on him.
Who knew that upon entering, they found "Yuan Shao'e" lying face down. When they checked for a pulse, he was already gone. This so frightened the waiter that he didn't even return to the restaurant but rushed to report the incident.
Soon, everyone arrived at the scene.
It was in a small village less than a mile outside the city. Yuan Shao'e's home was easy to find, standing out among the adobe houses as the only brick and tile structure.
According to the waiter, when he arrived, Yuan Shao'e's door was ajar. Ouyang inspected it and found no signs of forced entry.
"Captain Wen, there are signs of disturbance at the scene, but it's not chaotic overall. I also found two silver dollars under his pillow."
"Furthermore, 'Yuan Shao'e' lived alone. He had a son working elsewhere, who rarely came home. Besides raising, buying, and roasting geese, he didn't interact much with people. He should have no enemies."
"Also, 'Yuan Shao'e' himself was illiterate."
Soon, members of the criminal investigation team began reporting the clues they had found.
Reclusive personality, lived alone, ruling out a crime of passion;
Simple social circle, no enemies;
There were subtle signs of disturbance at the scene, but the money under the pillow was untouched, indicating it wasn't for financial gain;
The victim was illiterate, meaning he didn't possess any secret recipes for roast goose, ruling out a motive related to possessions.
So, how did this person die?
"I suspect he died of illness," Tong Meng voiced her opinion. There was obvious foam at the corners of his mouth, and some excretions from his lower body, likely due to the pain when he fell ill.
"His neighbors and the restaurant waiter also confirmed that Yuan Shao'e occasionally suffered from dizziness and even experienced vomiting symptoms," a police officer provided corroborating evidence.
Ouyang Wen nodded. With no apparent motive for murder, and based on the current situation, it indeed appeared to be a death from a sudden illness.
However, the exact nature of the illness remained unknown.
"Alright, cause of death determined, no murder, let's wrap up and go to bed!"
The group, a large contingent, walked out of "Yuan Shao'e's" house. A crowd had gathered outside the courtyard. Seeing Ouyang and his team emerge, everyone rushed forward.
"Is he dead?" their faces were filled with terror.
Seeing the police nod, the neighbors' expressions changed.
"As expected, too many sins, plagued by strange illnesses, the whole family is doomed."
"Exactly, what's the use of earning so much money when you have a good family, only to have your life taken by vengeful spirits in the end."
"Five people dead in half a year, hurry up, hurry up, be careful not to be entangled by those demons."
The neighbors chattered amongst themselves, leaving the criminal investigation team confused.
"Madam," Ouyang stopped one of the citizens, "What do you mean five people died in half a year?"
"Ah, you don't know, this house has bad feng shui!" As soon as Ouyang asked, everyone started chattering.
But the more information they shared, the more suspicious the criminal investigation team became.
It turned out that Yuan Shao'e's family had always made a living from their ancestral roast goose skills. Due to their good craft, they had gradually accumulated some wealth.
Last year, Yuan Shao'e built a new house at the foot of a cliff. Strangely, ever since the Yuan family moved into the new house, peculiar events began to occur.
First, the geese that the Yuan family raised became unusually agitated and aggressive. At first, no one took it seriously, but a few days later, the geese started dying one after another for no apparent reason.
The geese were the foundation of the Yuan family's livelihood.
So the villagers said that the Yuan family was not blessed with good fortune and couldn't handle such great wealth. Hearing this often, the Yuan family began to believe it and sought a feng shui master to examine their home, hoping to increase their own influence.
The feng shui master was not hesitant. After inspecting the premises, he immediately identified the problems. He first stated that the main entrance was in the wrong position, then mentioned that there were too many windows, and finally pointed out that the courtyard wall of the Yuan family was too low.
Because it was low, it was leaking wealth.
So, the Yuan family, following the feng shui master's instructions, built the courtyard wall very high. From the outside, you couldn't see into the courtyard at all.
They thought that after these renovations, there would be no more problems. Who knew that the strange occurrences in the Yuan family would only intensify.
Before the renovations, it was only the livestock that had issues. After the renovations, people also began to fall ill.
One night, the third son of the Yuan family suddenly started convulsing and babbling incoherently, as if possessed. This greatly terrified the Yuan family. After all, farmers were usually robust, and their family was well-nourished, so they rarely got sick.
But the third son not only fell ill, but his condition was the same as that of the deceased geese.
How could this not cause panic?
Many doctors were summoned from the city, but they could not find the cause of the illness. Thus, the third son of the Yuan family passed away amidst the wails of his family.
But the tragedy seemed to have not ended.
Just half a month after the third son's death, the eldest son also developed the same symptoms.
This time, the eldest son was wiser. He desperately tried to run outside. Strangely, his condition began to improve once he got some distance away from the house.
However, whenever he returned home, he would periodically fall ill. During that period, not only did the eldest son suffer, but Yuan Shao'e's wife also began to have problems.
Thus, Yuan Shao'e successively lost his eldest son and his wife.
Perhaps frightened by this bizarre situation, the second son left home and never returned. Before he left, he told Yuan Shao'e, "Father, this house is haunted, we can't live here anymore!"