Tuo, meaning a water bay where boats can dock, Zhangjia Tuo, like many other Chongqing place names, was named after a family's surname.
It was directly opposite Chaotianmen, and a small boat, carrying Lü Qingqing and others, was approaching.
"This hairstyle really doesn't suit you, it makes you look ten years older!" Hu Jia said with a look of disdain, glancing at Ouyang Wen. In his memory, Ouyang Wen's hair was always loose and free-flowing, strands that could be blown by the wind.
"I'm leading a team now, I have to change things up a bit." Ouyang Wen said, straightening his clothes and touching his hair, which was fixed with hairspray. "What do you think? Do I have that commanding presence?"
"You've made yourself look just like your father, but you don't have as many wrinkles on your face," Hu Jia remarked.
Suddenly, upon hearing Hu Jia mention Uncle Hu, the smile in Ouyang's eyes vanished.
The man who was like his father had been gone for ten years.
To ensure that Hu Jia could live each of his seven days well, Ouyang and Yu Yue had an agreement: whenever Hu Jia asked about Hu Shilong's case, they would say it had been solved and the killer was caught by him personally.
This was to prevent Hu Jia from being solely focused on revenge every time he woke up.
Seven days were already very short, and it was too tiring to walk the path of life burdened by hatred.
"Shall we go see Uncle Hu sometime?" Ouyang missed that time.
"I went the day before yesterday." After saying this, Hu Jia realized that the day before yesterday was the day before he lost his memory, which was five years ago.
"How long has it been since I went?" Hu Jia asked.
Ouyang smiled, "How would I know? You've been avoiding me all these years."
"Are you blaming me?" Hu Jia retorted indignantly, "You're the one who stopped me from becoming a police officer."
Ouyang smiled and said nothing.
In fact, even now, he still didn't want Hu Jia to be a police officer.
...
The small boat soon reached Zhangjia Tuo.
The police station had already set up the interrogation scene.
First, Hu Jia met Zhang Yunzhi, who now looked haggard and covered in blood.
"I have no grudges against him, why would I kill him?" Upon hearing that Hu Jia was reinvestigating his case, Zhang Yunzhi couldn't help but cry out loudly.
Zhang Yunzhi said that he left the scene after collecting the money, staying for only half an hour. When he left, it was He Yue who got up to close the door, and even after walking a long distance, he could still hear He Yue's curses.
However, He Yue wasn't cursing him, but his monkey.
"Then why did you confess?" Hu Jia asked.
"I couldn't take it anymore." Zhang Yunzhi lifted his clothes, revealing an iron brand mark. As it had not received timely treatment, the skin had turned black and emitted a faint stench.
Hu Jia's eyes blazed with anger.
Was this the method of solving cases? It seemed that some low-class interrogation tactics really needed to be regulated.
Returning to the interrogation scene, the monkey was brought in. It looked a bit flustered, its large eyes darting around.
This time, Hu Jia did not put the dagger into the monkey's hand, but threw it on the ground.
Just as everyone was confused about Hu Jia's intentions, he suddenly picked up a whip and cracked it on the ground with a loud "bang."
The monkey was startled, bared its teeth, and showed a ferocious expression.
Hu Jia stared into its eyes and approached step by step. The monkey also made hissing sounds of defiance, as if warning of something.
Hu Jia acted as if he hadn't seen anything, and with a sweep of his hand, before the whip could even land on the monkey, the furry monkey snatched the dagger from the ground, leaped up, grabbed Hu Jia's thigh, and fiercely stabbed him several times in the abdomen.
This scene happened in the blink of an eye, instantly terrifying everyone.
Hu Jia stumbled back and fell to the ground, curling into a ball, his eyebrows and nose all scrunched up.
"Hu Jia!"
"Xiao Jia!"
Lü Qingqing and Ouyang's faces changed drastically, and they hurried forward to check his injuries.
But strangely, there were no tears or bloodstains on Hu Jia's clothes, only a few white lime spots.
"Ow, it really hurts!" Hu Jia rubbed his stomach and slowly sat up.
Uh...
What was going on?
The police officers were stunned. They had almost lost their souls just now. This was a great detective from the city, and if something happened to him here, it would be difficult to explain.
Hu Jia gave a mysterious smile, then got up, picked up the dagger, and lightly tapped it in his palm. Only then did everyone notice that the dagger was wrapped in white paper and sprinkled with lime powder, while the inner part was actually made of wood.
However, even though it was just wood, the monkey's stabs still hurt Hu Jia considerably.
"You see, it's not only humans who can kill with a knife." After speaking, Hu Jia pointed to a local police officer and said, "Your height is similar to the deceased. You come and try it."
Everyone now understood Hu Jia's intention. Three people in succession repeated Hu Jia's actions, and each time the monkey picked up the knife and stabbed.
After several experiments, the effect of the lime on the dagger became apparent.
"Look at these lime marks, aren't they roughly in the same position as the marks on the deceased?" Everyone looked and indeed, they were.
People generally divide the abdomen into four regions: upper left, lower left, upper right, and lower right.
The deceased's five wounds were all in the lower right abdomen, and the three police officers' wounds were also concentrated in the lower right abdomen.
"Why is that?" someone asked.
"This is because after the monkey hugged the person's thigh, it could only stab at this height." Hu Jia pointed to the monkey's numerous scars, presumably He Yue had abused it frequently. All creatures have spirits, and the monkey harbored deep resentment towards him. When it saw Zhang Yunzhi frightening He Yue with a dagger, it believed that a dagger could make He Yue afraid.
After Zhang Yunzhi took the money and left, He Yue must have taken it out on the monkey again. But what he didn't expect was that the monkey actually picked up the dagger and stabbed him.
The truth was finally revealed. Lü Qingqing thought this man was simply incredible.
"How did you know it was the monkey that committed the crime?" Lü Qingqing asked.
"Didn't you already answer it?" Hu Jia smiled.
Lü Qingqing was stunned. Indeed, the doubts she had raised in the office at the time had already explained the peculiarities of the case.
The killer not taking money or valuables was inherently unreasonable.
And the locked doors and windows, blaming it on the monkey was simply absurd.
Since only the deceased and the monkey were left at the crime scene, the only one that could be investigated was the monkey.
As the two were chatting, the head of the police station walked over, as he genuinely had no idea how to deal with such a peculiar criminal.
This question stumped everyone.
Finally, Lü Qingqing made the final decision. She said that retribution follows actions like a shadow. Although the monkey was not human, He Yue had abused it first, and the monkey stabbing him was an act of self-defense, and therefore should be leniently punished.
"As the saying goes, cause and effect are inescapable. Treat every life with kindness. This monkey will be whipped three times and released back into the mountains."
...
The day after this incident, an official document was sent to the Zhangjia Tuo Police Station.
Forced confession through torture, severe punishment!
And Tong Meng, although not the primary interrogator, was also reprimanded for not preventing the illegal interrogation procedures and for proudly reporting the case as solved.
Looking at the glaring word "warning," Tong Meng unconsciously clenched her fist. She hated her!