80s Marriage Swap: My Should-Be-Dead Husband Lives On-Chapter 161: Stench of Decay

Spring has arrived, the season of renewal, and the distant treetops have already sprouted light green buds.

Birds land on them, chirping away.

Everything seems to have a fresh beginning.

Except there’s one place that seems a little different.

"Old man, why do I feel like it smells particularly bad around here?" an auntie in her late fifties said curiously.

"Maybe it’s because we’re near the latrine," the old uncle replied.

The auntie said grumpily, "You old coot, what are you talking about? There’s no latrine here. Do you think this is our village?"

Old uncle: "Then where is the smell coming from?"

Auntie: "That’s why I find it strange. It smells like a dead duck or dead rat."

The two elderly people walked along the wall of a house.

Auntie: "It feels like the smell is coming from this house. Could there be a dead rat inside?"

Old uncle: "Whose place is this?"

Auntie: "How would I know?"

Old uncle: "Wife, let’s not get involved. A dead rat is no big deal to us; it’s not our house."

Auntie: "The smell is too strong, we should go and take a look. After all, they’re our neighbors, aren’t they?"

Old uncle: "Alright, alright, let’s go take a peek."

The two of them circled back and headed towards the front door, knocking for a long time with no answer.

Old uncle: "I reckon they’re not home."

Auntie: "Maybe."

Old uncle: "Let’s come back and check tonight."

Auntie: "Alright, let’s leave for now."

They left, but returned again in the evening.

The auntie knocked on the door: "Is anyone home?"

This time, the door opened to reveal a fierce-looking man.

The elderly couple was too frightened to speak.

"What do you want?" Zhang Daqiang stared at them, his eyes filled with malice.

Old uncle: "No, no, we just wanted to tell you that there seems to be a dead rat in your house, it’s getting stinky."

Zhang Daqiang shot a deep glare at them, "Mind your own business," then slammed the door shut.

Auntie: "Goodness, old man, help me, I was scared to death."

Old uncle: "Let’s not bother with it, let’s go back."

Auntie: "Let’s go, let’s just go back."

They hurriedly left the place.

Zhang Daqiang went back inside and saw Lu Ting on the bed. Lu Ting’s face was already turning blue and purple, completely devoid of color. There were some bruises on her neck and body, but it didn’t quite look like bruising.

Zhang Daqiang cast a disdainful glance at Lu Ting, turned around and left, and when he came back, he had a bag in hand.

He put Lu Ting into the bag, and when it was dark outside, he carried the bag away.

Because Zhang Daqiang was a butcher who often carried pork, people who saw him carrying things didn’t think much of it.

Only someone felt that today’s pork seemed a bit off, smelling slightly foul.

They thought perhaps the pork wouldn’t be fresh tomorrow, so decided against buying it.

The two elderly people from earlier saw this scene.

The auntie looked at Zhang Daqiang’s figure, curious, "Old man, isn’t that the man we just went to see?"

Old uncle took a closer look and said, "Seems like it."

The auntie looked on curiously, "What’s he carrying?"

Old uncle: "I don’t know, it looks a bit like a person."

The two were only staying for a few days, brought over by their daughter-in-law, so they didn’t know Zhang Daqiang nor what he did for a living.

The auntie’s voice trembled with fear, "A person?"

Both seemed to realize something, a look of horror flashed in their eyes.

The auntie hurriedly urged, "Quick, quick, go report to the police."

Old uncle stopped her, "Wait a minute, wife, let’s not get involved in other people’s business."

Auntie: "What do you mean other people’s business? This is a matter of life and death."

Old uncle worried, "But you saw how terrifying that man was."

Auntie: "We can’t just ignore it."

Old uncle: "Wife, let’s just pretend we don’t know."

"No way, I can’t just watch. If you won’t go, I will." With that, the auntie hurried off.

Old uncle saw her rushing off and followed, "Officer, officer, we’d like to report something."

They happened to arrive just as Jiang Jingming was getting off work.

Jiang Jingming saw the two looking flustered and asked, "Don’t worry, what happened?"

The auntie quickly recounted the day’s events and shared her suspicions.

Jiang Jingming frowned.

"Do you know which direction he went?" Jiang Jingming suddenly turned serious.

"We don’t really know the direction."

Old uncle chimed in, "We’re just staying here for a few days, we’re not familiar with the area."

Jiang Jingming: "Where are you staying?"

Old uncle gave their address.

Jiang Jingming thought for a moment and said, "Alright, we’ve got it."

"Officer, you must hurry, someone might really have been hurt."

"Alright, understood, rest assured."

With that, Jiang Jingming called Lin Wen over, "Lin Wen, gather a few people to go with me."

Lin Wen: "Yes, Captain."

Jiang Jingming led Lin Wen and the others quickly in one direction.

When they arrived, they just happened to encounter Zhang Daqiang returning.

When Zhang Daqiang saw Jiang Jingming and the others, he immediately felt guilty but pretended to act calm as he walked past them.

In the moment they brushed past each other, Jiang Jingming caught a whiff of the stench of rotting corpses on Zhang Daqiang.

"Wait a minute."

Jiang Jingming called out to Zhang Daqiang.

Zhang Daqiang heard the call and took off running.

Jiang Jingming’s eyes darkened, and he started chasing after him, with Lin Wen and the others quickly following suit.

Zhang Daqiang ran fast, but compared to Jiang Jingming’s strength, he was nothing.

Jiang Jingming soon caught up, kicking him to the ground.

Zhang Daqiang struggled to get up, but Jiang Jingming pressed him down with his foot.

Lin Wen and the others caught up then, quickly pinning Zhang Daqiang down.

"Let me go," Zhang Daqiang roared.

Lin Wen twisted Zhang Daqiang’s arm forcefully, "Behave."

Zhang Daqiang struggled, "I didn’t do anything, let me go."

Lin Wen sneered, "If you did nothing, why run?"

Zhang Daqiang retorted, "You chased me, of course I ran!"

Lin Wen: "Save it, you can talk at the police station."

Zhang Daqiang struggled fiercely, "I’m not going, I didn’t do anything."

"Where did you bury the body?" Jiang Jingming didn’t bother with his nonsense, straightforwardly asking.