Following Madman Zhang, Chen Xiao arrived at a very old house.

The house wasn’t locked at all, and the main hall was lit with a fluorescent lamp.

The light was dim, unable to fully illuminate even the parlor.

But Madman Zhang knew Chen Xiao had come along.

So he cheerfully grabbed a handful of fried peanuts from a snakeskin bag.

Only, the fried peanuts had long been moldy.

Madman Zhang placed the peanuts in Chen Xiao’s hand and happily grabbed another handful to shell and eat.

After finishing the peanuts, Madman Zhang gestured as if holding hands, mumbling about taking his daughter to sleep.

Chen Xiao watched him walk into the room, lie down on the filthy bed.

The smell in the room was somewhat uncomfortable even for Chen Xiao, but Madman Zhang snored within two minutes of lying down.

Chen Xiao smiled wryly, shaking his head.

He was not encountering a madman for the first time.

But Madman Zhang was the first actual madman he met after starting his path in criminal investigation.

Back then, Yang Ziping was merely pretending, and if Madman Zhang was still pretending, Chen Xiao thought he would always suspect madness first in future encounters.

Seeing Madman Zhang had fallen asleep, Chen Xiao endured the smell and entered the bedroom.

The room had quite a few children’s clothes. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

But Chen Xiao felt those clothes weren’t worn by the same girl.

Picking up one piece, he could smell the laundry detergent even without bringing it close.

This made Chen Xiao turn his head and glance at the sleeping Madman Zhang.

"Such worn-out clothes are likely ones he picked up, yet he hasn’t cleaned himself but washed these clothes spotlessly clean."

"Sigh... How heavy the blow to a father at the loss of a child can really be."

Chen Xiao sighed internally but soon calmed down.

He quietly observed the bedroom filled with odors.

Madman Zhang’s bedroom wasn’t complicated, despite being messy with many random things, there was nothing strange besides the mess.

And as the thought surfaced, Chen Xiao questioned himself why he expected to find odd things here?

Chen Xiao didn’t understand, just stood quietly watching.

Soon, Chen Xiao opened another shabby wardrobe.

The clothes inside were clearly not as clean as the children’s garments.

And most seem to have not been worn in many years upon a glance.

Chen Xiao casually sifted through them, before exiting Madman Zhang’s bedroom.

Returning to the parlor, Chen Xiao stood for a while then headed to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Chen Xiao found Madman Zhang once cooked!

Even on the Eight Immortals table, there were several dishes, though their rancid smell was overwhelming.

This made Chen Xiao doubt whether Madman Zhang’s madness was continuous or intermittent.

Thinking as he flipped open the cabinets.

But inside the cabinets were only some empty seasoning bottles.

The bottles made Chen Xiao think the dishes on the table were probably boiled in plain water.

After closing the kitchen door, Chen Xiao prepared to leave the kitchen or even Madman Zhang’s house.

Everything he saw did not resonate with the strange feeling inside him.

This was simply the home of a father who mentally collapsed due to the consecutive deaths of his daughter and relatives.

It’s just that simple.

But as Chen Xiao turned to leave, his steps suddenly halted.

He slowly turned around towards the stove.

Frowning slightly, Chen Xiao decided to return and sit on the small stool before the hearth.

The hearth interior must be pitch black.

Without a flashlight, Chen Xiao had to rely on his phone screen’s light to peek inside.

Technically, such an action was unreasonable.

Who goes to a madman’s house and looks into the stove?

But when his gaze reached the stove opening, a faint sense of resonance emerged inside him.

Chen Xiao extended his hand, using the phone light to probe inside, soon his gaze shrank suddenly.

He... saw a piece of cloth that hadn’t burned completely!

The cloth was navy blue.

After extracting it, under the light, Chen Xiao could see it was a corner of a suit.

The cloth was burnt to only the size of half a palm, yet on that half-palm corner, he spotted bloodstains!

The bloodstains made Chen Xiao’s heart pound.

His mind also became extremely active simultaneously.

"Whose suit is it?"

"Is it Madman Zhang’s?"

"Or like those children’s clothes, picked up from outside?"

"How did the bloodstains come to be?"

"Are they Madman Zhang’s own, or the suit owner’s, or someone else’s blood splattered on the suit owner?"

"This piece of cloth got stuck in a corner of the stove and wasn’t burned. From its surface, the suit wasn’t old."

"Since not old, then the chance Madman Zhang picked it up is very low!"

"So could this suit be Madman Zhang’s?"

In that instant, countless questions bubbled up in Chen Xiao’s mind.

But somehow Chen Xiao felt he needed to have Zhong Tian examine this bloodstained suit cloth.

No... Yangguan County Bureau doesn’t yet have the technology to quickly provide examination results.

So, this piece of cloth must be sent to Dongzhou at once, to have it examined as quickly as possible in the city.

A plan formed in Chen Xiao’s mind, so he packed the cloth up and left the kitchen.

Though before leaving, Chen Xiao returned to the bedroom.

He thought it better to take Madman Zhang to the county bureau.

Because if the bloodstains were problematic, it’d be good to immediately control Madman Zhang.

However, when Chen Xiao returned to the bedroom again.

His expression changed dramatically!

On the filthy bed, where was anyone now!

Madman Zhang vanished while Chen Xiao was in the kitchen!

Moreover, Madman Zhang’s shoes remained on the floor.

He actually left barefoot!

Chen Xiao immediately turned around to search, first glancing at the main road, not seeing Madman Zhang, he also checked the old house’s latrine and abandoned pigsty.

Still no sign of Madman Zhang!

This discovery raised a sense of dread in Chen Xiao’s heart.

He immediately rang Lin Xi.

The latter puzzledly asked, "Why haven’t you slept?"

"Forget that, Madman Zhang stayed outside your house tonight, and I caught him, then followed him back to his own home. In his stove, I found a bloodstained suit cloth."

"But as I was about to take Madman Zhang to the police team, he disappeared! So Xiaoxi, immediately mobilize police force to Yumen Town to search for Madman Zhang!"