Old Chen unearthed quite a bit of dry wood from a corner of the camp.

"In the summer, I buried these wet branches in the soil. After a few months, they turned into dry wood."

This is the preparation Old Chen mentioned.

Going into the mountains, dry wood is very important.

Because of the high humidity at the bottom of the valley, regular firewood simply won’t catch fire.

Old Chen, busy lighting a fire, somehow came up with an iron pot and set it over the fire.

According to Old Chen, old things like these are more useful when going into the mountains.

The small cooking gear of mountaineering equipment, small pots and small bowls, aren’t enough to fill a tooth gap.

After busying for more than an hour, the campsite started to look decent.

Old Chen’s bonfire was very particular—the flames weren’t large, but it was very warm.

Several tents were set up, and people gathered around the campfire to have dinner.

Lu Chuan and others brought instant food, but Old Chen brought some dried meat.

When cooked in the pot, it emitted a meaty aroma.

"Director Li, Director Lu, have some meat soup to warm yourselves up."

Li Hao filled a few bowls of soup and handed them to Lu Chuan and Li Donglin.

Chen Guoshi had lived at the foot of the mountain since he was young, and Beiliang Mountain was his home.

Li Hao and a few young police officers from the local police station, though not from this area, had been involved in many rescue missions over the past two years.

So they had become quite familiar with the situation in the mountains.

After following guides into the mountains many times, they’d picked up lots of habits from them.

Lu Chuan had prior experience in outdoor camping, so he wasn’t uncomfortable sleeping in the mountains.

The vegetation in Beiliang Mountain was dense, and the air was very fresh.

That night, Lu Chuan slept very well.

Early the next morning, at daybreak, everyone got up to pack the tents and other materials.

Soon, the group set off again. They were not far from the crime scene; by midday, they would arrive.

While Lu Chuan and others headed into the mountains, the fingerprint collection outside proceeded in an orderly fashion.

Wang Song, Song Mingguang, and other members of the major crimes unit were supervising at various locations.

Collecting fingerprints on a large scale involves many people, making it easy for some to escape detection.

That’s why the challenge is to ensure everyone is accounted for.

Take West Valley Village, for example, someone like Song Zhenguo.

Wang Song personally led a team to visit those who hadn’t gone to the central collection point.

This task isn’t difficult, just needs attention to detail.

No matter what reason the person being collected has for not showing up, it’s fine; things will eventually get busy out of the way.

As long as the police are the ones collecting fingerprints, there will be no possibility of forgery.

Sometimes, if the suspect is indeed within those being fingerprinted,

the suspect will definitely try everything to avoid fingerprint collection.

Find various reasons to delay the fingerprint information collection.

Actually, this situation is relatively manageable.

Lu Chuan had already completed the fingerprint identification analysis in advance and entered it into the fingerprint matching system.

All collected fingerprints, after being entered into the system, would be automatically compared.

If the large-scale collected fingerprints didn’t match, it indicated a high chance the suspect was among the few remaining individuals.

Even if no match was found, this approach could still narrow down the suspect range.

The large-scale fingerprint collection was completed on the first two days.

The remaining task required officers to visit each household in rural areas to supplement fingerprints that hadn’t been collected.

Today, they arrived at West Valley Village.

"Old Song, the police are at the village entrance; only you and Old Li haven’t fingerprinted yet. Hurry over."

Lying leisurely in a rocking chair, Song Zhenguo was basking in the sun.

The winter sun was pleasantly warm but not scorching.

However, a fine layer of sweat covered Song Zhenguo’s forehead.

The back of his chair was already soaked with sweat.

They’re here after all...

Song Zhenguo didn’t know how much information the police had uncovered, or why they suddenly wanted everyone to have fingerprint identification analysis.

But he was scared.

Although Beiliang Mountain was vast, the villagers knew each other well.

Nothing could be hidden for even ten miles around.

The recent discovery of three skeletal remains in the mountains had already spread locally.

Especially since one of them was a village guide.

Song Zhenguo had indeed heard about it.

Not only had he heard about it, but he also knew exactly what happened.

Because he was there at the scene back then!

"Were my fingerprints... left behind?"

Song Zhenguo wasn’t sure.

He had helped carry the body and searched one of the girls’ backpacks.

Probably not, right?

After all, six months had passed.

Song Zhenguo knew, having spent half his life in Beiliang Mountain, what a body would be like after half a year in these mountains.

Everything had turned to bones; how could fingerprints remain?

No way!

Absolutely not!

"Old Song, what’s going on? Everyone else in the village finished theirs, only yours is left."

The village chief had already brought Wang Song and others over by this point.

Lost in thought, Song Zhenguo snapped back to reality.

"I’ve been sick these two days, haven’t been able to move. Besides, who’s going to look after my shop?"

Song Zhenguo’s voice was a bit hoarse.

Coupled with the obvious sweat on his forehead, he did seem sick.

"Why don’t you get some medicine from the village clinic? Is this a cold? Sweating so much?"

"It’s fine; medicine costs money."

"Old Song, you’ve made so much money running a supermarket for years, who are you saving it for?"

"Hurry up, after you finish, the police still need to get to East Valley Village..."

In the mountains.

In an unnamed valley inside Beiliang Mountain, Lu Chuan and others finally arrived.

"This is where the skeletal remains were found."

This place was rarely visited, and after the remains were dug up, no one had been back since.

The markings and inspection traces left by the police were still visible.

Li Hao and Chen Hu were commanding at the scene when the case was investigated.

"This pit is where the first body was found, and also the location where we first discovered a body."

Li Hao pointed Lu Chuan to the first discovery site and then directed him to a nearby spot: "That’s where the second body was found; the third body’s location is farther away, not here."

Lu Chuan and the others followed the path Old Chen led, a hunter’s trail from many years ago.

The path was narrow and very difficult to traverse.

After committing the murders, the killer buried the bodies along the roadside, ranging from a few meters to dozens of meters away.

The burial valley was relatively open.

"Old Chen, I don’t see any disturbed earth here, so it shouldn’t be a camping ground, right?"

Chen Guoshi shook his head: "This valley has pleasant weather during the day, but at night, it’s not suitable."