863 Deterioration (1/2)
”Ah, I did not take it seriously in the beginning. As a result, I suffered a lot!”
Those who heard the dogs barking came out of their homes and avoided the disaster. Those who listened to the sound but were still indifferent and fell back asleep with the quilt covering their bodies sustained significant loss.
The intensity of this earthquake was not particularly great, but Yuanjia Village seemed to be in a special position. It was particularly close to the epicenter. When it happened, there was no problem in villages a few miles away. They only experienced a few shakes. Most people did not feel anything unusual.
It's strange that an earthquake happened in Lianshan County.
After being busy all morning, Pan Jun left the emergency room. He went outside and lit a cigarette before calling Wang Yao.
”Master, there was an earthquake in Lianshan County last night. Are you alright?”
”Earthquake? In what direction?” When he heard the news, Wang Yao thought of the dim horoscope the previous night.
”Yuanjia Village.”
”In the town of Lihu,” Pan Jun added. He was afraid Wang Yao did not know the village.
”Lihu is in the northwest.” Wang Yao thought about the sky he had seen.
”Master?” Pan Jun was in no hurry to end the call.
”Are many people hurt?”
”There were more than 20 people hurt, but most of them were just slightly injured. Only a few sustained serious injuries. No one has died.”
”Oh, no one is dead.”
”Master, is there anything else?”
”No, that is all.”
”OK.”
After hanging up the phone, Wang Yao closed his eyes. He again thought of the previous night's sky.
Was that a sign of an earthquake?
…
In a small county thousands of miles away in Yunnan…
”What do you mean?”
”I received the news that Captain Yang is going to go to the Valley of Thousands of Medicine,” Guo Zhenghe said.
”I'm afraid he won't find anything even he goes,” Xu Xinyuan said.
”You can only say that after he goes,” Guo Zhenghe said. ”I am a bit worried about Captain Yang. Didn't you say those people are good at using drugs? I hope nothing bad happens to him. Our case counts on him!” He once investigated Yang Guanfeng, who was a well-known criminal investigation expert in Yunnan and a key talent trained by the Ministry of Public Security. He had cracked major cases and become famous.
”I guess they don't dare to harm him since Captain Yang works on behalf of the government. No matter how powerful they are or what they inherit in the village, they are just villagers. How can they compete with the government? If they know that someone from the provincial government has come to investigate the case, they won't harm him even if they want to. They may even try to protect Captain Yang.”
In a special office for criminal cases in the county…
”What? Why?”
”Oh, this is the order from the provincial government. We must focus on the overall situation.”
”What's the big picture? Sixteen people have died. There is evidence that this matter has something to do with the people in that village. I'm going to investigate it. Why don't you agree?”
”There are all ethnic minorities there, and they are relatively closed. Why would they go to hundreds of miles away to kill?”
”If I found out more, the case will be cracked. The more they refuse to let me go, the more secrets they have in their hearts. I have to go and take a look.” Captain Yang started to lose his temper. ”No, I have to file the application to the leader again.”
”Leader? Which leader do you mean? Yang Guanfeng, pay attention to your attitude. How many times have I mentioned that to you?”
”Please talk to the leader about the matter,” Yang Guanfeng said. ”We are doing all of this to crack the case. It is for the deceased.”
”OK, I see.” The person on the other side of the phone hung up feeling dissatisfied.
A young man next to him stretched out his thumb and said, ”You are so brave to argue with your boss.”
”Investigating such a place affects the leaders. I didn't expect that there were still a lot of secrets in this valley,” Yang Guanfeng said. As he had said on the phone, the more obstacles he had, the more they were trying to stop him. That only fueled his desire to visit the valley. What was the secret hiding in the valley, a forbidden place to outsiders?
Bureaucracy is annoying!
…
In the tallest wooden building in an ancient mountain village hundreds of miles away, a man with a pale yellowish face was standing in front of a man in his 30s.
”Criminal investigator from the province?”
”Yes.”
”Why are you here?”
”A major case occurred in He'an County, hundreds of miles away from here. Sixteen people died within one week. It has been determined that all of them died from poisoning.”