The drive from Lang City to Sanshan County took about three hours. For the first half, Xia Hang gripped the steering wheel, eyes fixed on the road ahead, fully focused. But when they reached a service area midway through the trip, Han Huaixiao, who hadn’t spoken the entire time, suddenly said, “Pull over at the next one.”
Xia Hang checked the time, noticing that it was almost noon. He assumed Captain Han was hungry, so he steered the car into the service area. Both of them got out. After using the restroom, Xia Hang saw Han Huaixiao heading toward the fast-food place and followed him inside.
However, one look at the food in the trays told Xia Hang that Han Huaixiao probably wouldn’t eat much of it. Braised duck leg… the kind that clearly hadn’t been fresh, likely frozen for who knows how long. Green bean sprouts with no oil… limp and dull. Mapo tofu drowned in soy sauce… dark and heavy-looking. Stir-fried cauliflower that seemed barely cooked.
Xia Hang glanced at Han Huaixiao and saw him frown slightly before stepping forward and ordering a plate of fried rice noodles that looked marginally more edible. Xia Hang ordered a set meal and sat across from him. Watching Han Huaixiao, who clearly disliked the dry, bland rice noodles yet still ate every bite, Xia Hang felt a faint sense of emotion stir.
When he first met Han Huaixiao, he could tell from the way he dressed that his family background was well-off. The tailoring and quality of his clothes were excellent. Back then, Han Huaixiao was doing an internship in B City, and when they went out to eat together, he always chose restaurants that were quietly popular among those in the know. The first time, Xia Hang had been a bit uneasy, thinking that if they ate together again, he should ask Han Huaixiao not to pick such expensive places, as he couldn’t afford to return the favor.
Therefore, the first (and only) time Xia Hang treated Han Huaixiao to a meal, he took him to a hotpot place behind the university. That very night, Han Huaixiao got sick. Growing up in an affluent household, with food and daily necessities carefully managed by competent employees, his stomach immediately rebelled after one meal made with less-than-fresh ingredients.
The next morning, Xia Hang woke up and, out of habit, called him, only to learn that Han Huaixiao was in the hospital, already hooked to an IV drip. Xia Hang rushed over. When Han Huaixiao saw him, ignoring the nurse still in the room, he wrapped an arm around Xia Hang’s waist, rested his head on his shoulder, and said weakly, “Xiao Hang, I feel awful. Can you take leave and stay with me?”
And just like that, Xia Hang, who had never missed a class, took his first leave from university and went home with him. Sick, Han Huaixiao turned into an overly clingy large dog, asking to be held one moment, complaining that the medicine was too bitter and asking for a kiss the next, then saying he was thirsty. When Xia Hang brought water, Han Huaixiao insisted on being fed mouth-to-mouth. The whole day, Xia Hang was left flushed and flustered.
After that, seeing how frail Han Huaixiao looked while ill, Xia Hang decided that he’d never be precious about it again. So when they ate together, they’d just go to the places Han Huaixiao usually went.
But now, the same someone who’d gotten an upset stomach from one ordinary hotpot meal was eating fifteen-yuan fried rice noodles laid out in the middle of a busy service-area corridor, bland as they were, with no apparent stomach trouble at all.
“What are you spacing out for?” Han Huaixiao asked while placing a cup of coffee down by Xia Hang’s hand.
Xia Hang snapped back to himself. At some point, Han Huaixiao had already finished eating and had gone next door to buy two cups of coffee, so Xia Hang hurriedly finished the last of his food. But when they left the fast-food place, Han Huaixiao reached out and took the car keys from the table before Xia Hang could. Back at the car, he got into the driver’s seat.
“It’ll be busy once we reach Sanshan County,” he said. “You should lie down in the back and take a nap.”
However, Xia Hang wasn’t sleepy. After moving to the back seat, he also read through the Sanshan County case files for a while. On the top page were notes Han Huaixiao had just written. Xia Hang glanced toward the front, where Han Huaixiao was focused on driving, and picked up the notes.
Han Huaixiao’s handwriting was a lot like the man himself. Even written in a moving car, a little rough and hurried, it was still bold and sweeping, full of force. Xia Hang had long known his capabilities, but seeing the way he organized his thoughts on paper, he couldn’t help but feel that familiar admiration again. Captain Han had given up entering the family business to become a police officer, and many people had found it a pity. In truth, it wasn’t a pity at all…
Especially for the victims in the cases Han Huaixiao handled.
To them, he was nothing short of a light in the darkness.
Xia Hang hadn’t planned to sleep, but the warm summer afternoon sunlight outside the window, combined with a full stomach, soon made him drowsy. Before long, his head tilted to one side, and he fell asleep against the window, still holding the page of notes Han Huaixiao had written.
Han Huaixiao glanced at the rearview mirror. At a glance, he caught sight of a stretch of pale, slender neck. Because of his sleeping posture, Xia Hang’s neck looked even longer than usual. His lips, beautifully shaped, were gently pressed together, the bead of his upper lip slightly upturned. The skin on his face, warmed by the sun through the window, had taken on a faint flush, and Han Huaixiao’s gaze darkened for a moment. He looked away and turned the air conditioning up a notch.
……………..
Xia Hang slept for nearly an hour. When he opened his eyes, they were already in Sanshan County, the car descending off the highway. A series of speed bumps jolted him awake. Looking out the window, he suddenly understood why it was called like that: everywhere he looked in the distance, there were lush, green mountains1.
It was the hottest part of the day. As the car left the highway and entered the city, the streets were sparsely populated. Following the navigation, Han Huaixiao drove to the Sanshan County Public Security Bureau. The bureau’s leadership already knew they were coming and, estimating their arrival time, someone was already waiting at the entrance.
Xia Hang wasn’t good at that kind of scene, so he minimized his presence as much as possible, following behind Han Huaixiao as he smoothly handled the greetings with the local leaders.
Han Huaixiao was good at socializing, but he disliked empty pleasantries. After brief introductions, he went straight into the office and called for a case briefing. “Captain Tang,” he said, “please walk us through the latest developments and key points of concern in the case.”
Captain Tang Gaoxiong of the Sanshan County Criminal Investigation Brigade was a full generation older than Han Huaixiao, yet his attitude toward him was marked by unmistakable respect. This case had gone unsolved for two years, and among the victims was a colleague they had worked alongside day in and day out. Everyone in the criminal investigation brigade felt as though they couldn’t hold their heads up, a heavy knot of frustration and humiliation lodged in their chests. Now that the case had been linked to one from the Lang City Municipal Bureau and merged for joint investigation, with Han Huaixiao appointed as the lead, their sense of hope had quietly reignited.
Tang Gaoxiong knew that Han Huaixiao was already familiar with the basic facts, so he only gave a brief account of how the case unfolded, focusing on the points of doubt.
“The national highway next to the crime scene is an old road,” Captain Tang said. “After the new highway opened, there’s very little traffic there. It was late at night, and the weather forecast had predicted a heavy rainstorm, so there weren’t many people passing through that stretch during that time window. The only one of note was someone who looked very much like our only person of interest, Liu Peng.”
“Were the nearby villagers investigated?” Han Huaixiao asked.
“Yes,” Tang Gaoxiong replied. “Within a five-kilometer radius, there are three villages, including the one where the female victim’s grandmother lived. Everyone had an alibi. Later, we expanded the time window from ten p.m. to three a.m. Besides the person who resembled Liu Peng, three others passed through that section. All of them also had alibis.”
Han Huaixiao continued, “What’s the specific situation with Liu Peng? Who provided his alibi?”
“Liu Peng is thirty years old,” Tang Gaoxiong said. “He’s from Lingshan Village in Jiling Town. His personality is rather dull, unmarried, and an only child. Both parents are deceased, and the only family he has left is his grandfather, who is in his nineties. One reason he isn’t married is that his family is poor and can’t afford a bride price. Another is that Lingshan Village is one of the most remote mountain villages in Sanshan County. It takes over two hours to drive there from the county seat, all winding mountain roads. Hardly any young women are willing to marry into the village. However, the villagers’ evaluation of him is very good. They all say he’s an honest man.”
Tang Gaoxiong didn’t need to look at any files. The information came easily to him, as he continued, “His alibi was provided by fellow villagers. There’s a young woman from Lingshan Village who married into neighboring Qingshan Village. After getting married, she was frequently abused by her husband. When her family in Lingshan found out, they informed the village chief. The chief consulted the villagers, and when the men heard about it, they all said they’d goteach the abusive husband a lesson. Otherwise, people from other villages would think that women from Lingshan were easy to bully. That night, many people from the village went to Qingshan Village. Liu Peng went as well, and his presence was confirmed on multiple accounts. The commotion lasted until after midnight.”
Han Huaixiao lowered his head and studied the Sanshan County map at his side, asking, “How far is Qingshan Village from the crime scene?”
Tang Gaoxiong immediately understood what he was getting at. “We calculated it and conducted on-site verification,” he answered. “It would take at least two hours to get from Qingshan Village to the crime scene. The timing doesn’t match.”
“Any suspicious points in Wei Zixuan’s social connections?” Han Huaixiao asked.
“She was a very simple, straightforward girl,” Tang Gaoxiong said. “Aside from her coworkers, she was close to only two female friends. No boyfriend. There was one man who pursued her, but she turned him down. On the night of the incident, that man was attending a banquet and drinking in a neighboring county. He also has a solid alibi.”
Han Huaixiao nodded. “Any progress on leads that could confirm the killer’s identity?”
“The rain that night was too heavy,” Tang Gaoxiong replied. “The scene was completely destroyed. We conducted repeated examinations, and the forensic team performed multiple thorough autopsies, but we still haven’t found evidence that could directly identify the killer.”
“Are the victims’ bodies still being preserved?”
“Half a year after the incident, Wei Zixuan’s family wanted her to be laid to rest,” Tang Gaoxiong said. “Her body has already been cremated, but Old Guo’s body is still being kept. His family said that if the case isn’t solved, cremating him would only keep him from resting in peace. They believe that keeping his body might one day provide us with clues to solve the case.”
As soon as those words were spoken, everyone in the room felt a sharp ache in their hearts. Even Xia Hang felt a solemn sense of respect rise within him.
After a moment, Han Huaixiao broke the silence. He stood up, his voice low and firm, saying, “The family is right. Old Guo was a veteran police officer. He would have done everything possible to leave us clues about the killer. We just haven’t found them yet. If the family hasn’t given up, then we have even less reason to lose heart.”
“Captain Tang, please take me to see Officer Guo.”
T.N: Hello, dear readers, in this chapter and the next one, it’s revealed that Officer Guo’s remains had been preserved by the police for 2 whole years after his death, and he still looks presentable. I became interested in that fact, and did a little bit of research, so if you’re interested as well, keep on reading.
In rare criminal investigations, human remains can be preserved for extended periods if they are considered important physical evidence in an unsolved case, especially victims of gunshots and weapon-caused traumas. This is the standard everywhere, not just in China. While there is no routine policy requiring bodies to be stored for years, long-term retention can happen when forensic experts and police believe it may help crack a case. Bodies or skeletal remains, even long after death, can still yield scientific evidence such as trauma patterns or DNA.
There have been real-life cases in China where victims from unresolved cases had been preserved for up to 6 years, only getting cremated when the police deemed them no longer important for the investigation, with or without the family’s consent (can read more about this case here). Academic research on Chinese urban mortuary systems notes that in some cities, unclaimed or contested corpses have been kept in storage for many years, including cases where bodies remained in funeral homes and morgues for decades (source here).
Although some of those cases are not police investigations per se, they demonstrate that the physical preservation of human remains over many years is possible, especially with refrigeration, embalming, or other measures.
Legally and procedurally, forensic and police authorities in China treat a corpse as part of the physical evidence in criminal procedure. When a body is examined as part of a forensic investigation, it becomes part of the case file until no further evidence value is expected. Depending on the complexity of the case and ongoing investigatory needs, the remains may be kept under official custody rather than promptly released or buried. In China, police usually must notify the family before that happens and give them a chance to agree and be present for the investigation. However, family consent alone doesn’t override the law, but it can make long-term retention smoother if the family agrees for investigative purposes (read more about the criminal procedure law regarding corpses as evidence here).
Readers interested in jurisprudence and forensic practice can refer to discussions of forensic evidence handling in Chinese criminal procedure here, which underline how physical evidence, including biological remains, must be preserved, tracked, and handled according to legal standards.
- 三山 – Sān shān- “three mountains”. ↩︎
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