Chapter Seven: Reporting the Case

  Suddenly waking up from a nightmare, panting heavily, everything in the dream was still vivid, but that evil spirit wasn't Big Pillar, nor was it that scapegoat. Thinking back now, I'm still feeling quite bewildered. There were many people in the dream, but none of them were recognizable. Shaking my head to shake off the nightmare, looking out the window, the sky had already brightened up a bit. After sitting for a good while, I finally recovered my spirits. Getting up and washing my face made me feel much more refreshed.

  All the way until breakfast time, Xiaoxue didn't come out, which made me think something was wrong, so I went to call her for half a day. Xiaoxue finally opened the door with a blush, but after saying that sentence last night, she got excited and said it, but afterwards thought about it and became more and more afraid to see me. She almost didn't sleep all night, worried that I would have some kind of reaction. Luckily, I came to call her now, my voice full of concern, which made Xiaoxue feel at ease. But when she saw me this time, she was no longer as lively as usual, twisting and turning, unable to speak, feeling awkward.

  I was also very awkward, the two of us didn't know what to say to each other, and even felt embarrassed to look at each other. Xiaoxue just followed me silently, and during meals, she didn't dare to lift her head. From childhood to adulthood, it was the first time I saw Xiaoxue's shy appearance, and I really felt a bit unaccustomed to it. In fact, I also didn't dare to look at Xiaoxue, every time I secretly glanced at her, I was afraid she would notice, that kind of awkwardness was always so tender, but it made people unable to help themselves.

  After dinner, I prepared to go and report the case. Of course, I didn't plan on taking Xiaoxue with me, so I let her stay at the inn and wait for me while I went alone. At the time, I thought it wouldn't take long to report the case, and I would be back soon. Therefore, I didn't plan on bringing Xiaoxue along. Xiaoxue, who had already lost her ability to think, also didn't think much of it and simply nodded in agreement. After all, she really didn't want to go to the police station either. However, as I was leaving, I thought for a moment and handed that book "Chen Ying's Manuscript" to Xiaoxue. At the time, I instructed her: "Xiaoxue, this book is very important, you absolutely cannot lose it, wait until I come back."

  It's actually good that I left my notes behind, after I left, Xiaoxue had something to do and didn't think that this would also create a legendary story for Xiaoxue in the future. Of course, this is another story, and I didn't expect Xiaoxue's learning ability to be much stronger than mine. Unfortunately, people have different opportunities, and of course, I didn't know that I would meet again more than a year later, with too many things happening in between, and the biggest reason was that neither Xiaoxue nor I had any money.

  I didn't waste any more words and went straight to the Public Security Bureau. At first, I thought this kind of thing was about abandoning a corpse, so I should go to the Public Security Bureau. The Jiangcheng Public Security Bureau is composed of several buildings from the 1990s, with a very large courtyard. It's a pity that the land was cheap back then, but the national emblem and the big characters "Jiangcheng Public Security Bureau" at the entrance are shining brightly. When I was about to go in, I was stopped by the on-duty armed police officer. I said I came to report a case, and the officer pointed to a four-story small building near the street: "That's the 110, go there to report the case."

  I didn't think much at the time, and I went there foolishly. As soon as I entered the door, it was a large hall. I didn't know where to go, and then a policeman came over and asked me, "What are you doing?"

  "I'm here to report a case—" I squeezed out a smile, making myself look more natural.

  The policeman nodded and beckoned me to follow him: "Come with me."

  Then I was taken to an office with four or five police officers inside. When I went in, they were talking. The civilian policeman who brought me in smiled and said, "He's here to report a case."

  Then another police officer called me over. After I sat down, the police officer asked me somewhat impatiently: "What are you reporting? Get to the point."

  I recalled what Dazhu Ge said to me at that time, I took a deep breath and slowly said: "It was like this, roughly on the 6th of March this year, my fellow villager Li Dazhu came to Jiang City to work, that night he went out drinking with his colleagues, as a result he got drunk, when he returned, at the third intersection from Linjiang Road towards Dongfang Avenue, he was hit and killed by a car with license plate number......, afterwards the driver threw our village's Li Dazhu's body into a pit near the river in Yingxiong Ridge.

  "If a car hits someone, you should go to the traffic police department to report it. This is not something we handle at 110." The policeman obviously couldn't be bothered, closed the notebook he was using to take notes, and stared at me with a stern face.

  I want to say something, the least is not a normal car accident, and this police officer shouldn't be like this either. Just as I was about to speak, a police officer next to me suddenly interrupted and asked: "How do you know so much? And according to what you said, it's been almost half a year since the case happened, why did you come to report it now?"

  The policeman stared at me, with something unspeakable in his tone, but I didn't feel any unease, instead I let out a bitter laugh: "I just found out that some of these things are simply unsayable..."

  The policeman furrowed his brow, looked me up and down, tilted his head hesitantly for a moment: "You just knew that now, can you tell me who told you? Who told you this person is where?"

  This policeman obviously reacted quickly, immediately finding the key to the matter, which was also what I found most difficult to explain. When I came, I had thought about it too, and frankly, no one would believe me if I told the truth, but not saying anything wouldn't make sense either. Looking at that policeman, I couldn't help but smile wryly: "Do you think you'd believe me if I said Li Dazhu entrusted a dream to me? You definitely won't believe it, but you can go take a look at Hero Ridge and see if the matter is true or not."

  The policeman was stunned by what I said, and a strange expression appeared on his face. The other policeman who had just taken notes for me suddenly spat: "You little brat, you're talking nonsense here, I think you're itching for a fight!"

  It's clear that no one believed what I said, and to be honest, I thought it was absurd myself, otherwise I wouldn't have added that last sentence. However, the police officer in front of me had a increasingly strange expression, staring at me for a long time with his eyes fixed on me. Not wanting to back down, I stared back at him, at least I wasn't deceiving anyone, and I could ask my conscience to be clear. As it turned out, my persistence made the police officer yield, nodding his head. The police officer then said to another officer: "Officer Hu, record everything he just said, make a complete written record. This case seems to have some interest."

  "Yes, captain." Xiao Hu didn't dare say more and urged me to make a written record, but was very patient.

  The team leader didn't intend to stop, closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, then whispered to another police officer: "Little Wang, go check the license plate number and see who the owner is. Also, find the surveillance footage from that night on Linjiang Road or Dongfang Avenue, and see if there are any remaining backups."

  Xiao Wang responded with a sound, then searched on the computer for a while, but soon his face turned somewhat strange. Unfortunately, I didn't know at that time. Then Xiao Wang leaned in to the captain's ear and said something unknown. The captain nodded, but instead of looking for the surveillance video again, he instructed Xiao Wang with a few sentences, and his face also became strange.

  After waiting for me to finish writing the record, the captain called out to me: "Since we've already filed the case, why don't you come with us to Heroes Ridge and take a look at the situation?"

  Then the captain took Xiaohu and Xiaowang with me in a police car, I've never sat in a police car since I was young, all the way I was excited, constantly looking out of the window, watching the unfamiliar city outside, but I didn't know where we arrived. Unfortunately, I didn't notice that the captain kept observing me in the rearview mirror, his eyebrows were getting tighter and tighter, his face was changing, but I don't know what he was thinking?

  I don't know how long it's been, but I've already become dizzy and confused. I reckon that if they were to abandon me now, I really wouldn't be able to find my way back home. The team leader suddenly asked me out of the blue: "Is this your first time in Jiang City?"

  "Yes, it's my first time here. The greening in your area is really well done. There's a large forest right in the city center..." I replied carelessly without thinking much about it.

  The captain didn't speak again, and soon turned onto a riverside road along the Jinma River. I guessed this was the Riverside Road that Dazhu had mentioned. Before long, the police car stopped in a quiet spot. From the window, what I saw was a small hill or mound in front of me, no more than a few dozen meters high. At the time, I thought we'd arrived at our destination and couldn't help but feel disappointed: "This is Hero Ridge? I thought it would be a big mountain."

  Seeing the disappointment and weirdness on my face, the captain's expression became even more gloomy, and he grunted: "This is not Hero Ridge yet, it's still early, I'm going to go down and pee."

  The captain went down and found a place that couldn't be seen to urinate, although it wasn't very civilized, but this was a common thing, at least I had done it too. While waiting, Little Wang next to me poked me with his hand: "Hey, Liu Hai, is this really your first time in Jiang City?"

  I was stunned and didn't know why Little Wang asked this, what's wrong with that, but I still nodded: "Yes, first time in Jiang City."

  Xiao Wang swallowed his saliva and suddenly lowered his voice: "So what you said earlier, that Li Dazhu entrusted a dream to you, is also true?"

  This time I was stunned, except for a bitter smile, I really didn't know what to say. After all, the supernatural things couldn't be accepted by people. It took a while before I let out a breath and nodded lightly: "It's true, I know you don't believe these things, but it's really Big Zhu Ge who told me in person. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known so clearly. Just now when I was making the statement, I was actually repeating Big Zhu Ge's original words."

  Xiao Wang and Xiao Hu exchanged a glance, their faces also looked strange, but I didn't pay attention to it. After all, who would believe me if they heard my words? They would think it's weird too. Just as I was lost in thought, I heard Xiao Hu take a deep breath: "No wonder that last part of your story sounded like it was told in the first person, and so detailed, just like you were there at the scene... but you'd better be clear, reporting a false case is against the law..."