929 Discovered Again (1/2)
”Do you know where he is now?”
”I don't know. I'm not even sure whether he's alive or dead, let alone his location. I heard that when he escaped from the stockade, he had a fight with the villagers and was severely poisoned.”
Xu Xinyuan was silent for a long time.
”Is there anyone dissatisfied with Miao Xihe in the stockade now?”
”Yes, of course, there is. While Miao Xihe seems fair, he is actually a bully. There are definitely dissatisfied people. As for who they are, I'm not sure. After all, I have been away from the stronghold for many years.”
After the conversation, there were no new leads. He returned home without accomplishing anything.
Xu Xinyuan was disappointed, but he had no options. He still could not make out anything about the situation.
In He County…
Miao Changhong went to the funeral home and looked at the bodies of the people. He wanted to find out how and when they had been poisoned, and he succeeded.
”The poisoning happened about six or seven days before their deaths,” he said. ”They were likely poisoned through food.”
”Six or seven days before their deaths?” Yang Guanfeng's eyes slightly brightened. This was a very useful piece of news.
”Yes, we can find out where they lived,” Lu Xiufeng said.
These three people had lived in the same village and worked in the same place. It was not a particularly difficult investigation. In the end, they found a clue, which was something very important.
A stranger wearing a hood had appeared at different times where the people lived and worked. No matter which camera they looked through, they could not clearly see the person's face.
”This man is very suspicious.” Yang Guanfeng and Lu Xiufeng said at almost the same time.
It was not a normal thing to deliberately cover one's face in a place that was not cold, but many criminal suspects had the habit of doing so.
”Let's go to the neighborhood to see if there is a shop or something where we can see his face clearly.”
”Sure.”
They immediately set out and went to several places to check footage from before the accident had taken the lives of those three people. They again found the face of that man on the footage from a shop, but it still couldn't be seen clearly. Only half of his face was exposed, and it was slightly fuzzy.
”This man is an old hand!” Yang Guanfeng remarked.
”Yes, he has a very strong anti-investigation ability.” Lu Xiufeng lit a cigarette.
”There are usually several possibilities for such a person. The first is that he is a habitual offender who has a good understanding of the police's criminal investigation routine and a strong ability to deflect investigation. The other is that he received special training and is familiar with the routine and means of anti-investigation methods. Of course, some people are born with this ability, but that is a rarity.”
Although they couldn't see this person's face clearly, they had professional personnel who could infer what he looked like through the fuzzy half-exposed face that had been captured. This method was highly credible.
At this stage of the case, there was finally some progress.
”These two people have a good set of skills,” Lu Xiufeng said.
”I keep thinking that they are still hiding something from us.” Yang Guanfeng lit a cigarette.
”That is for sure. Their purpose here is not pure. The fact that they could tell us what they did was probably the result of a discussion after reporting to their bosses.”
In a hostel in He County…
”Is it necessary for us to stay here?” Miao Changhong asked. ”We've already done what we can do. If we stay, we won't be of much help.”
What they could say, they had already said. What they couldn't say, of course, they wouldn't tell outsiders. Furthermore, they had already done everything they could.
”Let's wait a little more,” Miao Qingfeng said. He had already told the chief everything that was happening there. He was waiting for the chief's orders to determine their next step.
”Alright.”
Yang Guanfeng and the others received another message.
”Come and have a look. There's news from the Valley of Thousands of Medicine again.”
”What's the matter?”
The message contained a picture of a dead man.
”Has someone died again?”
The death depicted in the picture was gruesome. The face had turned blue, and there were some disgusting sores on it.
”Well, is that really a dead man?” Lu Xiufeng looked at it carefully.
”Please, don't joke around at times like this,” Yang Guanfeng said.
”From this depiction, it is clear that he has been dead for more than a day.”
”Not necessarily. Don't forget, they are experts there who use poison,” Yang Guanfeng said. ”There should be a big difference between poisoned corpses and those who died in other ways.”
”Ah, one case has hardly been solved and another happened,” Lu Xiufeng said. ”Why are there so many troubles? No wonder the fortune teller said that this year was not going to be good!”
”Ha, do you still believe in those things?” Yang Guanfeng asked with a chuckle. ”We can't deal with this case anyway. Even though we know someone has died, we won't be able to find anything much if we go there. What we can do is to pay attention to the case.”
The Valley of Thousands of Medicine was definitely hiding many secrets, but it was so exclusive. Yang Guanfeng had gone there twice and been poisoned twice. The case hadn't been solved, and his life had almost been sacrificed. There might be another accident if he were to go again.
”I have a hunch that we'll have to go to this Valley of Thousands of Medicine sooner or later,” Lu Xiufeng said.
”Why? Do you miss the good wine and food there?”
”To be honest, I do miss it, but I don't want to go back there again. You've been there twice, and you've been poisoned twice. I didn't have any accidents this time. I feel lucky. if I were to go back, something might happen at that time!”