Chapter 4 Qinggouzi

  The sound on my phone wasn't a man-made keypad tone, but the sound of my phone shattering!

  At this point, I had a deep experience when I quarreled with my first love girlfriend, and it's hard to forget that kind of explosion.

  Something's gone wrong, I immediately contacted the municipal bureau for an ambulance, rushing to Longxi Ancient Town for support. At the same time, I activated the satellite detector, and with the coordinates of the people from the fourth major case team, I can narrow down the search area in a shorter amount of time.

  Unfortunately, the old town is messy with houses being built randomly and courtyards being enclosed arbitrarily. The roads are not very familiar to me, and even if an ambulance were to come, it wouldn't arrive quickly. So I used my two legs to run wildly.

  I held a military mobile phone and walked northward, and unexpectedly went out of the ancient town's northern 'gate'.

  To the north of the ancient town is a piece of 'jade' rice field, only tens of hectares, and then there is a large mountain. The locals call this mountain Qinggouzi. It is said that in the past, black bears and wild monkeys appeared.

  In the middle of the rice field, there is a road, which is an uneven and bumpy old yellow earth road. Fortunately, it hasn't rained recently, so it's just a matter of getting dusty shoes. As I walked along the way, checking with the locator, analyzing coordinates, familiarizing myself with the instrument, my pace gradually quickened.

  After running across the cornfield, there were several tombs at the head of the field, which were built with stones. Living in the city all the time, I suddenly saw this scene and my heart was a little nervous, especially in the early morning when people were sparse, and I hadn't slept for one night, so my spirit was very poor.

  A surge of anger rose up, I pulled out the electric baton, the bureau hasn't issued me a gun yet, for now this modernized self-defense device is the deadliest weapon on me, I have a dagger but I'm not good at using it.

  I looked at the mound again, and if it weren't for rumors that the crime unit's coordinate instrument was 'precise' beyond compare, I even doubted whether Zhao Yong and Luo Lao Gui would really be in the direction of Qinggouzi.

  I recalled the shattering of the mobile phone and Zhao Yong's painful struggles, I strengthened my conviction, heading north.

  As I walked, I saw a row of trees, yes, a large row of willows stretching horizontally from the left mountain valley to the right mountain depression. I estimated that it was even wider than the ancient town.

  At close range, I found that in front of the willow tree there was a wooden fence as high as half a person. It's ridiculous to say that the fence was actually tied up with straw. Can it be solid? What's the use of this?

  Thinking about it, I took a look at the coordinate meter and walked a few more steps forward to see what was behind the wooden fence.

  "Ah! Hoo-hoo~ Whoosh!" I was so startled by the scene behind the wooden fence that I retreated five steps back, and my back directly bumped into a willow tree.

  My god, what kind of place is this? A vast expanse of white 'flowers', a messy and disorderly place. It seems that everything here is a grave mound. Is this really... a burial ground?

  This time I calmed down and made psychological preparations, took a few more steps forward, and looked slowly.

  As expected, behind the wooden fence that was as tall as a person was a cemetery. It looked abandoned and disorderly, but there were signs of recent visits. Just by looking at the new and old flower wreaths, you could tell. There were also offerings of fruit that had not yet dried up. The so-called white flowers referred to the flower wreaths and white decorations.

  The grave is on a slope. I stand on this side of the wooden railing, only half a person high, but if I stand at the grave, it's one person high, and being above makes me see further.

  The lower part of the tomb is affected by the wind, and the backwind is particularly strong, so the offerings are blown everywhere, and the ashes left over from burning paper money make people feel extremely uncomfortable.

  "Brother Zhao, Old Luo!" Suddenly, at a newly dug grave site, I saw Zhao Yong and Luo Lao Gui lying on the ground, wearing heavy case squad police uniforms. It was them!

  Something has really gone wrong!

  Ka~ connected the safety pin, I tried the electric baton and immediately jumped down.

  Damn it, I didn't feel anything when I was up there, but after jumping down, I ran back and forth in the tomb area like a maze, feeling panicked and disoriented, and even ran off in the wrong direction for a while.

  "Old Luo?" I immediately found Old Luo lying there motionless, his hands clutching his stomach - it was all bloody!

  "Ah... damn it... don't move my brother!" At this time, Zhao Yong crawled over from behind Luo Lao Gui's body, his whole body was covered in blood, and his head seemed to have been split open by a sharp object!

  What's going on? At that time, my mind was in a mess, blood, fresh blood made my hands and feet numb, I forgot how to act.

  "Step on me, brother... step on my corpse and get out of here!" Zhao Yong crawled over, his trail a bloody mess.

  Suddenly, Zhao Yong's bloody hand grabbed my pants leg, what is he going to do?

  "Ahh~~~" I screamed in fright, subconsciously kicking away Zhao Yong's bloody hand, frantically pressing the electric baton, "Ka ka ka~~~"

  At that moment, I was so frightened that I forgot everything, fortunately, I forgot thoroughly, even the fact that an electric baton needs to be used on a person, otherwise I would have electrocuted Zhao Yong!

  Hearing the sound of the electric baton, Zhao Yong struggled to lift his blood-soaked head, opening one eye to look at me. His dim and desperate gaze seemed to release a hint of radiance.

  "Huh~cough~" couldn't tell whether it was a laugh or a cough, Zhao Yong lowered his head again and said in a hoarse voice: "Save the old ghost... save him."

  "Huff...huff..." I took a few deep breaths, and finally came to my senses. Ren Chuanjie, Ren Chuanjie, what are you doing? You're a police officer, how can you be so timid? You're from the Major Crimes Unit!

  I regained some of my composure, but I still didn't feel safe. My sharp eyes scanned the surroundings, and only after confirming there was no danger did I remove the safety pin. What just happened made me worry that I might accidentally hurt someone.

  Still holding the electric baton in my hand, I rushed over to take a look at Lao Gui. The blood flowing from his belly was the most serious wound...

  This is strange, what kind of wound is this? The bloodstains are like the scratches of a wild beast's claws. Could it be that Qinggouzi Mountain has some wild beasts that ran to the tomb to eat offerings? For a moment, my mind went blank, as if I was trying to recall something, but the more anxious I became, the less I could remember.

  Forget it, now emergency care is a must, otherwise these two will bleed to death, fortunately I'm good at emergency care.

  In police school, Lin Zhen was always the first in our dormitory. I, Wang Dali, Cao Ganquan, three brothers who were always idle and arrogant, had a specialty, I just won the first place in the whole school on this "cold" subject of emergency care and forensic medicine, beating him once.

  Hmph! I remember that time when Lin Zhen rarely spoke to me and asked how I did it, I said - I won't tell you!

  Since then, we have been in a state of long-term indifference and confrontation until graduation.

  I took out the disinfectant and tourniquet from the equipment bag, and skillfully helped Luo Lao Gui and Zhao Yong with emergency treatment. At the same time, I carried or backed them out of the tomb in a correct posture, letting them lie at the intersection to wait for an ambulance.

  Before the ambulance arrived, there was a little time to spare. I took a look around the scene and walked around the large and small bundles of quilts, and wasn't very scared anymore.

  Unfortunately, apart from finding the scene of fierce fighting, there were no clues worth investigating.

  What's this?

  I came back to take care of two injured and unconscious colleagues. On Luo Lao Gui's left hand, I found a strand of red 'hair'.

  Vibrant as blood, crystal clear, about the length of a finger, red hair?

  A chill and sinister wind once again invaded my heart and brain!

  Until the ambulance rushed over, I regained my composure and collected the red hair with a sampling bag, carefully placing it, while at the same time, I also collected Zhao Yong's case file.

  The ambulance dropped me off at Longxi Ancient Town and rushed to the provincial hospital, the sound of the ambulance startled the small town, attracting many people's attention.

  My presence in police uniform faintly comforted the hearts of the people in the ancient town. At that moment, I should have been very valuable.

  In order not to disappoint people's hopes, I continued to investigate with dark circles under my eyes, while walking on the road and looking at Zhao Yong's logbook.

  Zhao Yong and Luo Lao Gui have contacted Jiang Meipo, asking her to contact the family of the deceased Liu Yi. To their surprise, Matchmaker Jiang actually has a record book and says that she had a conversation today.

  There was contact information on it, and I immediately dialed the phone number.

  Unfortunately, on the other end of the phone, the loud and boisterous matchmaker Jiang said that the call hadn't gone through yet. Helpless, I asked her to contact them quickly and get an answer, then immediately call me back on my cell phone.

  Now, everything about this case is entirely in my hands.

  I went through the case in my mind, and the deceased Liu Yi was brought to this ancient town by matchmaker Jiang. The investigation into his past background is still ongoing. Wang Cheng, who is honest and taciturn, and Xu Lao Tai, who is elderly, have been visited by Lin Ruojin and me, but neither of them has a motive for murder that makes sense.

  Next, I want to investigate two households. One is Sun Deshun and Lu Meilian, who are said to have a very bad impression of Liu Yi. The other household is Wu Tao and Jiang Yi, who are just the opposite, getting along well with the introverted Liu Yi, possibly the only ones who understand him.

  At the same time, I have to try to retrieve the surveillance footage of the ancient town's 'sex', it seems that this opportunity is not big, otherwise our heavy case team four would not be here.

  This is my idea and reasoning, continue reading Zhao Yong's logbook...

  Hmm, according to Zhao Yong's record book, they went to visit Sun Deshun and Lu Meilian. Unfortunately, the man was out working as a driver, leaving early and returning late, while the woman went to play mahjong, but couldn't be found at several mahjong halls, so they were unsuccessful.

  Later, they found Wu Tao and Jiang Yi's names on the record, but for some reason, they didn't go to visit, I couldn't figure out what was the reason.

  The man hadn't finished investigating, and then went to retrieve the surveillance video. This is not Zhao Yong's style, nor is it the style of the Major Crimes Unit.

  To know, ordinary police handling cases, must first retrieve surveillance footage, listen to confessions, and examine autopsy reports. However, the major crimes unit handles cases that others can't solve, so we, the ' elite' team, rush in with a loud bang, arrive at the scene, reason and investigate, and find a solution by taking an unconventional approach. Why did they go to retrieve surveillance footage halfway through this time?

  And then there's this record, I completely don't understand it, the result of retrieving the surveillance video is just two words - Red Shadow!

  Red Shadow?

  Isn't it related to the red 'hair' grasped in Old Luo's hand? What exactly is it?

  Zhao Yong and Luo Lao Gui didn't know that when they were preparing to investigate Sun De Shun and Lu Mei Lian in the evening, they heard that Lin Ruo Yin had an accident.

  With this, the logbook simply came to an end.

  I made a small analysis, Zhao Yong and Luo Lao Gui's tortuous return to the ancient town must have been due to their superior leader's thunderous anger, scolding them to solve the case as soon as possible. Therefore, they were eager to succeed and took risks, sitting in that so-called ancestral temple chair, and then for some reason, went to Beishan Qinggouzi in the middle of the night, encountering the strange existence of Red Shadow...

  The whole case is still a mess.

  I decided that since it was still early, I would go visit Sun Deshun and Lu Meilian first to avoid them going out for work or playing mahjong.

  It turns out that after Zhao Yong and Luo Laogui arrived in the ancient town, they immediately thought of looking for these two people, and there must be important clues waiting for me ahead.

  The Fourth Squad of the Provincial Bureau was known as the "crème de la crème", but now five people have fallen, three are down and I'm still suffering from injustice. Before the cancellation order comes down from the bureau, I quickened my pace and dialed a person's phone number...