Chapter 36: Filial Piety

Lu Yang gasped, “Seriously? What’s going on? What should we do…?”

Qin Fanghao poked him, and he shut up as Yang Xiaoyan caught up from behind.

But he was clearly struggling to hold it in, constantly signaling Qin Qing with his eyes. Qin Qing ignored him.

Yang Xiaoyan said, “Let’s go.” She was carrying a pile of things: clothes, a water bottle, and food.

She said, “They’re all Grandma’s. Maybe they’ll be useful.”

They set off again, and after driving for a while, Qin Qing said, “Pull over. We’ll walk the rest of the way.”

Yang Xiaoyan had absolute faith in the moving compass and didn’t contradict Qin Qing at all.

Perhaps she wasn’t entirely convinced, but given the circumstances, it seemed to be the only hope left, so she had no choice but to believe.

The path the compass led them on, to be precise, wasn’t a path at all. They were traversing a wasteland overgrown with weeds and bushes.

“Xiaoyan!” someone called out.

It was a young couple not far away.

Yang Xiaoyan called out “Sister” and introduced them to the others as her eldest sister, Yang Denan, and her husband.

As they spoke, the young couple had already circled around to stand in front of them.

Yang Denan said, “There’s no path here. Grandma wouldn’t come this way. We need to search along the road, paying attention to hidden spots and ditches.” Her skin was also red from the sun.

Her husband added, “The villagers are guarding the reservoir and the riverside. If she hasn’t been found by now, everyone’s worried she might have fallen into the water.”

Yang Xiaoyan said, “No, Grandma never goes near the water.”

Yang Denan’s husband said nothing more, looking unlucky.

Yang Xiaoyan asked her sister and brother-in-law if they wanted to join them: “These are the ‘great immortals’ I invited from the city. They say the direction is this way.”

The couple exchanged glances, and Yang Denan decided, “Let’s go together. It’s easier with more people.”

They noticed the device Qin Fanghao was holding.

“What’s this?”

Yang Xiaoyan said, “It’s for filming the search process. I agreed to it.”

Qin Qing noticed that after the young couple joined the team, they deliberately or inadvertently separated themselves and Yang Xiaoyan from the others. Qin Qing’s group of three led the way, the couple was in the middle, and Yang Xiaoyan brought up the rear.

They walked further and further off the beaten path, but the compass direction hadn’t changed. After about half an hour, Yang Denan said, “Xiaoyan, isn’t this direction where the old village school used to be?”

“It seems so,” Yang Xiaoyan looked around, as if remembering something. “Could Grandma be at the village school?”

Her steps quickened, and she overtook the others, walking at the very front.

As she walked, Yang Xiaoyan called out, “Grandma, it’s Xiaoyan! Where are you?”

Yang Denan also followed her sister in calling out.

There was no response.

The compass needle had not returned to north.

In fact, there was still some distance to the target’s location. Qin Qing could have reminded them, but she didn’t. For the two sisters who had lost a loved one and were desperate to find her, this calling out was also an emotional release.

The scorching sun was overhead, but they walked into the shadow of a large mountain.

The mountain wasn’t particularly majestic, but the trees grew densely. Walking through the dense forest, they felt a bit of coolness.

A small path, almost completely overgrown with grass, was faintly visible amidst the tangled weeds.

Yang Xiaoyan asked Lu Yang, who was holding the compass, “Is this the right direction?”

Lu Yang was also searching for someone for the first time, constantly monitoring the compass to adjust the team’s direction of travel.

“Yes, it’s the same direction as this small path.”

Yang Denan’s husband found a long, dry branch from somewhere and used it to poke at the path ahead. He exclaimed in surprise, “There are flattened grass and freshly broken branches on this path. Someone must have walked here in the last two days. This area has been abandoned for a long time, and villagers rarely come this way. Could it really be Grandma who came here?”

Yang Xiaoyan took the long stick from her brother-in-law’s hand and confidently led the way, saying, “It must be Grandma. This path leads to the village school. Grandma must have gone to the village school.”

The team moved faster than before.

After completely passing through the grassy path, their view suddenly opened up. It was a relatively flat area, and at the end of their sight was a ruined building.

There were no walls, no gates.

On the abandoned basketball court, long horsetail grass grew vigorously from the cracks in the concrete, and small birds had built nests on the half-tilted basketball hoop.

The Yang family members were very familiar with this place and immediately began searching all around.

Before long, Yang Denan’s husband shouted loudly, “Found her! Grandma’s here!”

Everyone rushed towards the sound.

In front of a classroom door, the old woman sat on the ground, leaning motionless against the classroom door.

The Yang sisters rushed over, their voices choked with tears: “Grandma!”

The old woman merely had her eyes closed; she wasn’t unconscious.

Hearing the commotion, she weakly opened her eyes and smiled at Yang Xiaoyan, who was closer to her: “Yanyan, you’re out of school. Did the teacher keep you late again today? Are you hungry? Grandma brought you your favorite cold noodles.”

There was a stainless steel box next to her, which she picked up and handed to Yang Xiaoyan.

Yang Xiaoyan’s tears streamed down like broken pearls: “Grandma…”

“Did the teacher scold Yanyan? Don’t cry, don’t cry. Grandma will go find your teacher later. Eat first.” She urged Yang Xiaoyan to open the box.

A sour, foul smell wafted out.

Grandma let out an “Ah”: “How did it go bad? It’s so hot. Your teacher shouldn’t have kept you late.”

Yang Xiaoyan was already sobbing uncontrollably, clinging to her grandmother.

Qin Qing nudged Yang Denan’s husband, who was standing by: “First, give the old woman some water. She’s quite dehydrated. Then, quickly send her to the hospital.”

Lu Yang said, “My car is right by the road.”

The man snapped out of his emotions and stepped forward to help.

The man carried the old woman on his back.

The old woman was still saying, “The box, take the box.”

It took them over an hour to walk from the village school to the roadside when they came, and the return journey was even slower.

Yang Denan’s husband and Lu Yang took turns carrying the old woman on their backs. Lu Yang wasn’t used to walking on mountain roads and ran out of stamina after only two turns. The two Yang sisters took over. They were thin and small, but they showed much more strength than Lu Yang, the unproductive city dweller. They carried the old woman, who was about their size, at a brisk pace.

On the other hand, Qin Qing and her two companions struggled to keep up behind them.

As Qin Qing chased, she thought, it seems that just training her fighting skills isn’t enough; she also needs to train for obstacle walking. Not only she, but all the staff in the studio need to train.

At the car, Yang Xiaoyan, carrying the old woman, hesitated again in front of the vehicle.

Lu Yang gripped the rear car door handle: “What are you standing there for? Get in quickly!”

Several people helped the old woman into the car. Yang Xiaoyan apologized to Lu Yang: “Thank you for the trouble. I’ll pay for the car wash separately.”

Lu Yang blinked, as if only just noticing that everyone present, including himself, looked like hedgehogs.

The journey to find the old woman was difficult, but the half-human-high weeds contained very sticky plants.

Cockleburs, beggar-ticks, caltrops… their clothes and pant legs were basically beyond repair.

Lu Yang cried out in pain, “These are my favorite pants!”

Yang Xiaoyan felt even more guilty. Lu Yang, enduring the pain, waved his hand: “You shouldn’t have reminded me.”

There wasn’t enough room in the car for so many people.

Qin Qing said to her two employees, “You two take them to the hospital. I have other things to do here.”

The two were puzzled but didn’t ask further.

The Yang sisters accompanied the old woman. Yang Denan’s husband said, “I’ll go inform the villagers not to search anymore, and then take Mom and Dad to the hospital.”

After Lu Yang and the others left, Yang Denan’s husband said to Qin Qing, “Please wait a moment. I’ll find a car to take you back to the city.”

“No need,” Qin Qing said.

“You don’t have to be polite. If you want to go somewhere else, I can also take you. If it weren’t for you, Grandma would probably… That village school has been abandoned for a long time. The villagers have all moved to build houses by the road, and no one goes there anymore.” He then wondered aloud, “I don’t know why Grandma suddenly went there. We were all searching along the road, thinking that since she’s sick, she would instinctively avoid places without paths.”

Qin Qing said, “Problems that can’t be understood always lack the necessary preconditions for deduction.”

“Ah? What did you say?”

Qin Qing didn’t answer again but took out her phone and called the police.

“Hello, I’m reporting a crime. Someone deliberately abandoned and harmed an elderly person. The location is…”

The man said, “You, you, you…”

Qin Qing smiled at him: “That’s right, it’s your in-laws. I don’t think you’d cover for them, would you?”

The man’s expression was complex: “How do you know it was intentional?”

“Did you forget? Yang Xiaoyan said I was a ‘great immortal’ she invited. Since I’m a great immortal, it’s not strange for me to know a bit more,” Qin Qing said. “But none of that matters. What’s important is that if they’re convicted, they’ll get at least three to five years in prison. Then, no one will force you to support your brother-in-law.”

The man lowered his eyes: “I don’t know anything. I’m going to inform the villagers.”

He ran off like that, as if Qin Qing was some terrifying presence.

Qin Qing walked in the direction of the Yang family, following her memory. The police car arrived almost at the same time as her.

Among the officers who responded was a familiar face.

It was one of the plainclothes officers Chen Deyu had found for local support when they were looking for Liu Xingchen. It seemed that the town where the Yang family lived was also within their jurisdiction.

The person’s name was Yuan Liang.

He recognized Qin Qing immediately.

With an initial good impression, things naturally became much more convenient.

Qin Qing took the police car back to the city and, as usual, gave a statement.

Since it wasn’t a familiar police officer, she didn’t mention anything about being a “fate master” or leading them towards metaphysics. She only said that her studio undertook people-finding services and came here. After finding the old woman, the old woman said some things that made her feel something was wrong, so she called the police.

“What did the old woman say?”

Qin Qing said, “She said she remembered the Yang couple, who, using her concern for her granddaughter studying abroad, deliberately made her granddaughter’s favorite cold noodles and instigated her to deliver lunch to her granddaughter. In the old woman’s vague and confused mind, her granddaughter was still studying at the village school from over ten years ago. We indeed found the old woman in that place, which is rarely visited. Even if the old woman had died there, no one would have known.”

Yuan Liang asked, “What was the motive?”

“Three, I suppose. First, the old woman’s illness was indeed troublesome for the family. Not only did someone have to be home to look after her in real-time, but caring for her daily needs was also a grinding task. They had long grown impatient. I suspect this wasn’t the first abandonment. According to the old woman’s granddaughter, the old woman had gone missing inexplicably several times before. However, she quickly returned on her own or was brought back by kind-hearted people. That’s why this time they specifically chose a remote location.

“Second, and the direct reason they decided to abandon her, was that they have a son, Yang Feilong, who started dating a girlfriend this year. After the girlfriend visited, her family was very hesitant about the marriage, mainly because of this sick old woman. The Yang family and the prospective in-laws promised to properly settle the old woman so she wouldn’t affect the young couple’s future life.

“And there’s a third reason: one of the conditions proposed by the woman’s family was a wedding house in the city. The Yang family couldn’t afford it but would find a way. They hoped that half of the down payment for the wedding house would come from the eldest son-in-law’s help, and the other half would be paid from the funeral money collected after the old woman’s death.”

“Hiss…” Yuan Liang mused, “Can an old woman with Alzheimer’s Disease be so clear-headed?”

“Of course, those weren’t the old woman’s exact words. That poor old woman was sometimes confused and sometimes clear-headed. I analyzed and organized her words to present them to you, Officer.”

Qin Qing took a sip of water and continued, “Officer Yuan, I’m an excellent and enthusiastic citizen with an ‘Outstanding Contribution to Police-Civilian Cooperation Award’ issued by the municipal bureau. I even have two such certificates. I’m very enthusiastic about assisting the police with cases. This is my first time at your Nandong District Branch, but I frequently visit the Wuning District and Jiangnan District branches.”

She asked, “Officer Yuan, you wouldn’t doubt me, would you? That would really hurt police-civilian relations.”

Yuan Liang chuckled dryly, “Hahaha, how could I? We’ll verify what you said. If it’s true that they plotted to kill their own mother for their son’s marriage, it’s truly regrettable.”

Qin Qing said, “Officer, you’ve hit the nail on the head. This old woman said that her current son is not her biological son. The old woman became a widow at a very young age. Because she missed her husband and didn’t want to remarry, she adopted a child whose biological parents were unmarried teenagers when he was born. He was sent away by his maternal grandparents as soon as he was born. He himself knows about this.”

Yuan Liang: “…”

After a moment, he spat out, “That’s truly despicable.”

Qin Qing also sighed, “Who says it isn’t?”

She hadn’t originally intended to call the police so directly. The Yang couple’s crime was attempted, and even when she looked at their System Panel, their Sin Value wasn’t conspicuously high. Moreover, the victim was a confused old woman who barely remembered anything. Even if she did remember, her condition wouldn’t allow her testimony to be used.

What was even more difficult was that they only incited the old woman to leave home and didn’t do anything particularly outrageous in their actual actions. As a result, when Qin Qing first met Yang Xiaoyan, the simple log of the old woman from her System Panel Character Relationship Map did not show any criminal traces of the Yang couple. She only discovered the problem when she met them in person.

Should the Yang couple be allowed to continue their evil deeds?

She could help find the old woman once, but what if next time they went insane and directly committed murder?

Originally, Qin Qing planned to find the old woman and keep it quiet, pretending she had died, then play tricks on the Yang couple to make them expose themselves. But after staying at their house for a while, she realized that these two had very poor psychological resilience.

If the police had enough information to interrogate them, they would likely confess easily, which is why Qin Qing directly called the police and falsely claimed the old woman’s words.

Let the police handle the rest; she couldn’t do everything.

Qin Qing left the police station and went to the hospital.

Qin Fanghao and Lu Yang were resting at a coffee shop next to the hospital.

Qin Fanghao’s cup was still full, barely touched, and he was frantically editing on his phone.

Lu Yang was sitting there with a long face, picking burrs and cockleburs off his pants.

On the table in front of him were two tissues, with the burrs in one pile and the cockleburs in another.

When Qin Qing walked in, the coffee shop staff, despite their strange looks, didn’t kick them out. The service was truly good.

With the three of them looking like hedgehogs, it was truly hard to describe…

Qin Qing looked at Lu Yang and laughed at him, “You’re so protective of those pants.”

“Of course! How hard is it to find a pair of pants that look good and are comfortable to wear? The elastic waistband, the fabric, the length, every single detail is just right. Plus, it’s a trendy brand, and not many were released. I can’t even buy a second pair.”

“Then why are you picking these things off and arranging them so neatly? Are you planning to collect them?”

Lu Yang: “Exactly! These are my medals of honor. The first time I rescued an elderly person. I’m going to piece these things together into a painting and frame it, then hang it in my living room. So that every time someone visits and asks about it, my parents can brag about their excellent son.”

Qin Qing: “…”

Qin Fanghao, from his busy schedule, cast a sidelong glance at his colleague, also speechless.

Do your parents know you’re so filial?

You’ve even arranged how they’ll introduce their son to guests.