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"The report is ready."

Shi Boren passed the investigated information to Zhou Fengxu, who was seated in the passenger seat. "Longyi, when translated, means Dragon Art. It's a knife brand from Yangjiang, specializing in blades with affordable prices and high quality. It enjoys great popularity on the mainland. We've confirmed via phone that their factory indeed has a line of specialized butchering knives, and the fragments found in the corpses came from one of their cleavers."

"However, it doesn't seem to sell as well in Hong Kong, with not many people purchasing them."

"Given its affordability and quality, why wouldn't more people buy them?" Gan Yizu asked, puzzled.

Uncle Zhong puffed on his cigarette, rolling down the window and extinguishing the smoke with a wave of his hand. "If the butchers' knives never break, how would the shops sell new ones?"

"Ah, I see." Gan Yizu's eyes widened in realization.

Zhou Fengxu flipped through the documents. According to the records, Dragon Art's butchering knives had been sold to five individuals. Four of them were professional butchers, and two had already been cleared of suspicion during other market investigations.

Both butchers had alibis for the time when the two corpses were discovered.

His gaze fell upon Zhu Ganning's name, accompanied by detailed information and a passport-sized photo. Gan Yizu leaned in for a closer look, worry creeping into his expression.

"An elderly man? Almost eighty years old—would he have the strength to commit such brutal murders? Could this lead us nowhere again?"

"Impossible to say for sure." Shi Boren gestured toward Uncle Chen behind them. "A middle-aged man could also be capable of killing a bull in minutes."

"Middle-aged man? That's called aging with strength," Uncle Chen snapped Shi Boren's finger back.

Zhou Fengxu's brows remained furrowed. "Both female corpses were dismembered, with numerous fragments found in the bone joints. The time of death for both was no more than 24 hours. An almost eighty-year-old man, with pre-existing health conditions – he wouldn't have had the strength to do the job within a few hours."

"That makes sense," Shi Boren followed the logic. "If the old man is a suspect, he must have had an accomplice."

"Let's start by looking for the knife," Zhou Fengxu secured the files. "If he has a knife with missing parts, his guilt will be hard to deny."

The group quickly alighted from their vehicle and entered the passageway. The market was dimly lit, relying solely on light bulbs, and the remaining shop owners were still attending to their customers. Seeing new faces, they merely glanced curiously.

Shi Boren approached the pork stall and asked Uncle Gan, who was cutting pork ribs, "Is your pork stall the only one in the market?"

Uncle Gan, seeing the plainclothes individuals, assumed they were market competitors and replied tersely, "Can't you see for yourself? Why ask?"

Shi Boren slapped his palms on the cutting board, staring fiercely and raising his voice. "Uncle, don't be so arrogant."

Zhou Fengxu pulled out his police ID, holding it up for Uncle Gan to clearly verify its authenticity. "Police officer, we need your assistance with the investigation."

Uncle Gan's expression turned awkward; as a businessman, he feared the police the most. He softened his tone and put down the knife, saying, "Sir, my apologies. What can I assist you with in your investigation?"

"Regarding the two recent human skin murder cases in Hong Kong, I assume you've heard about them," Zhou Fengxu tucked away his police ID. "Could you please lay out all your knives for inspection?"

Upon hearing that it was related to a murder case, Uncle Gan felt a chill run down his spine. "Why would you inspect my knives for no reason? It's normal for a butcher to have knives. Aren't you suspecting me of committing murder? I didn't do it!"

"Are we saying that now?" Shi Boren slammed his hand on the cutting board again. "Please cooperate with the investigation!"

"Here, here, sir, don't get upset."

Uncle Gan rummaged beneath the pork stall and carefully arranged several knives on the countertop: a cleaver for slaughter, a skinning knife, a cutting knife, a boning knife, and a knife for bleeding the meat.

Five knives were present, but one was missing – the bone-chopping knife.

Zhou Fengxu reached into his windbreaker pocket and produced a photo of a set of knives. Pointing at the bone-chopping knife in the picture, he said, "This is Longyi's butchering set. We've done our homework, and we know you're missing this particular one."

"The bone-chopping knife is no longer needed," Uncle Gan replied, his gaze shifting away from the photo. "I've purchased another one, the one I just used to cut the ribs."

"Don't play dumb. Hand over the bone-chopping knife now, or we'll take you down to the station!" Shi Boren, seeing that Uncle Gan still refused to produce the knife, exchanged a meaningful glance with Gan Yizu.

Each of them took a position, one on Uncle Gan's left and the other on his right, effectively blocking any escape route.

Uncle Gan could only reveal the cleaver wrapped in a cloth from beneath, grumbling as he unfolded it. "Gentlemen, the cleaver is already broken. I've told you it's useless."

As the words faded, the blanket was lifted, revealing a sharp cleaver. The blade shimmered with a chilling glint, while the wooden handle bore a crimson stain, as if it had been dyed with fresh blood.

In the center of the blade, there was a noticeable fracture, a chunk missing.

"The knife has a nick in it!" Shi Boren reacted swiftly, and together with Gan Yizu, they pinned Uncle Gan against the wall.

"Officer, what's the matter? I didn't kill anyone! Don't try to frame an innocent man!" Uncle Gan raised his hands in surrender, utterly clueless about the sudden turn of events.

He had merely taken out the knife.

"Explain! How did that nick come about!"

Uncle Gan quickly confessed, "It happened like this – with my age, I certainly can't manage slaughtering pigs. Normally, my son takes care of that task. The cleaver got damaged when he was cutting meat and bones sometime ago."

Upon finishing his explanation, Uncle Gan recalled Zhu Si.

In his younger days, he had been wayward and carefree, neglecting his family. Only in his old age did he remember that he had a son, and thus he naturally didn't wish for Zhu Si to be implicated in a murder case, as he was counting on him for support in his twilight years.

Despite being restrained, Uncle Gan still tried to defend Zhu Si: "Officer, my son is an introverted and timid person. It's all just a coincidence, he doesn't have the courage to commit murder."

"Whether it's a coincidence or not isn't for you to fabricate," Zhou Fengxu responded. After obtaining the Zhu family's address, he instructed Uncle Zhong to help cuff the man and load him into the car.

The four of them promptly headed towards the Zhu residence.