Chapter 1: A Soul Lost in a Foreign Land

“Help! There’s been a murder!”

A woman’s terrified scream pierced the morning, mingling with the crowing of roosters and the barking of dogs. Thus, another day dawned in this remote mountain village, more than three hundred kilometers from the city. Life here was harsh, and most teachers who came to support rural education didn’t last more than a few months before fleeing back to the city, unable to bear the conditions.

But those who stayed were met with heartfelt gratitude from the villagers, who treated them like family, showering them with care and kindness. Such genuine warmth was a rarity in today’s world.

The victim discovered this morning was one of those teachers who had remained.

His name was Li Ming, a man and an elementary school teacher. He had originally taught Chinese at an urban primary school but had come to this village in response to the call for rural education support.

His open and cheerful nature made him very popular among the children, and the villagers were fond of this lively, jovial young man.

“Oh my goodness, this is terrifying! His skull’s been smashed in at the back! What did he ever do to deserve this?”

A plump woman cried out, her voice full of anguish, as if the dead young man were a close relative.

“Everyone, please don’t touch anything! We need to preserve the scene, so please cooperate and move back…”

The speaker was a young man in a police uniform who had rushed to the scene as soon as the call came in. He tried to maintain order, worried that someone might recklessly disrupt the murder site.

This was a small mountain village, and there was only one local police station. The officers’ usual duties involved little more than mediating family disputes; a homicide was entirely unprecedented.

“Xiao Sun, when are the officials from the city expected to arrive?” an older policeman with a rural accent asked the young officer, his tone anxious.

“They said they’re almost here—there was some traffic, apparently,” came the reply.

The victim was lying face down, so apart from the large pool of blood beside his head, there was no clue visible.

“Excuse me, please make way.”

From the back of the bustling crowd, an urgent voice called out. Wang and Su Tianmu, accompanied by a team of investigators, pushed through and quickly set about securing the scene.

“Are you Captain Su? Hello, my name is Wang Xiang, and I’m the community officer here.”

The young policeman who had been keeping order shook Su Tianmu’s hand warmly and immediately briefed him on what he knew.

“The deceased was a teacher sent here to support rural education—Li Ming. He was found a little after five this morning. Initial judgment is that he was struck from behind with a blunt object, resulting in death. There are no visible wounds on the rest of the body.”

The young officer’s report was thorough and professional.

As Su Tianmu listened, he carefully examined the scene.

“Has anyone unfamiliar visited the village recently?” he asked, eyes still searching for clues.

“I haven’t heard anyone mention it. We’re lacking in surveillance here, so if a stranger came, we’d have to rely on the villagers’ accounts,” Wang Xiang answered, sounding a bit embarrassed.

“What’s that?”

Su Tianmu beckoned Wang over, seemingly having spotted something.

He slowly circled the body, coming around to the other side. After gazing down for a long moment, he crouched to examine the ground more closely.

“Do you see it? There’s a pattern here.”

He traced the shape with his finger, inviting Wang to take a look.

“You’re right! It’s faint, but it’s definitely a pattern of some sort, drawn here by something.”

Wang exclaimed as if he’d stumbled upon a new continent.

Su Tianmu shot him a look.

The crime scene was a patch of earth, and the pattern had been drawn with a small stick or something similar.

It was a circle enclosing a triangle, and within the triangle was a simple flower—appearing to be a morning glory.

“What could this mean? There’s nothing like this in the village,” Wang muttered, baffled.

“Could it have been drawn by a child at play, just left here by accident?”

Su Tianmu didn’t answer. He stood and scanned the surroundings.

This was a secluded alley at the very edge of the village, with few homes nearby.

Moreover, the lines of the pattern traced in the sandy earth were too precise to have been drawn by a child’s hand.

“Take a photo of this,” he instructed Wang.

“Yes, Captain Su.”

“How did Teacher Li Ming get along with people here? Any conflicts?”

Su Tianmu glanced at the scattered wallet and odds and ends on the ground—items likely from the victim’s pockets. His first instinct was that this was not a robbery gone wrong, despite the scene’s superficial resemblance to one.

Wang thought for a moment and replied with certainty, “There shouldn’t have been any. Everyone liked Teacher Li. If he hadn’t gotten along so well here, he probably would have left with the others when they went back to the city. No, definitely no conflicts.”

“And his colleagues at the school?” Su Tianmu’s frown deepened.

Suddenly, a commotion erupted in the crowd.

“What are you pushing for, you fool? Oh, the smell—disgusting!”

People scattered, as if making way for something—or someone.

Su Tianmu looked over and saw a middle-aged man, filthy and dressed in rags, pushing his way to the front. The villagers recoiled from him as if he were the plague, all putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the newcomer.

“La la~! Pretty lady!” the man muttered incoherently, trying to speak but unable to make himself understood.

Su Tianmu immediately grew alert. He stepped forward and gently, patiently addressed the man.

“You saw something, didn’t you? Don’t be afraid, you can tell me in secret.”

He squeezed the man’s hand reassuringly, showing not a trace of disgust.

His gesture seemed to startle the man—clearly, no one in the village had shaken his hand in a very long time.

“Lady, pretty lady…” the man murmured quietly, calming down a little.

“You saw a pretty lady, right? Was she from our village? Or…”

But before Su Tianmu could finish, the man suddenly became agitated again, shouting and running off wildly.

Watching him disappear into the distance, Su Tianmu sighed, realizing it would be impossible to get any more information from him.