After leaving the county bureau, Li Yi felt a bit down and melancholy.
Originally, his trip to Yong County was meant to be a fun outing with Jiang Xue and his mother-in-law—to help his mother-in-law resolve her emotional turmoil while also giving everyone a chance to unwind.
But he never expected to step in dog shit the moment he stepped out the door. His mood was ruined by those two scumbags the moment he arrived in Yong County, and then he ran into the missing woman case.
Now, not only was he unable to help Xiaoya find her mother quickly, but he also couldn’t get to the bottom of the truth behind Tan Cheng’s case of meritorious service—naturally, his mood was severely affected.
Feeling frustrated, Li Yi took Zhang Ziqiang for a stroll along the county’s main street.
As they walked, Li Yi analyzed the current situation. From what Xiao Zhanwu had just implied, the county bureau had to solve the missing woman case first before they could investigate Tan Cheng’s case.
Li Yi understood this position.
After all, how many police officers could a small county town possibly have? Especially their criminal investigation team—even under normal circumstances, they’d have a staff of about twenty.
When no major criminal cases were pending, this number was barely sufficient.
But when a major case arose, they were inevitably stretched thin. Compared to the missing woman’s case, Tan Cheng’s matter clearly wasn’t as urgent, so putting it on hold was understandable.
But while others could afford to wait, Li Yi couldn’t. Not to mention that Jiang Xue and his mother-in-law were returning to Beijing to study and work, and he himself had to go to Lin’an in March—there was simply no way he could stay here for long.
The situation seemed to have reached an impasse!
That’s why Li Yi thought of the Hu brothers. If he gave them a call and requested some reinforcements from the provincial capital, it should work out.
After all, the Hu brothers both worked at the provincial bureau, and Hu Zhiqiang was the head of the provincial bureau. Given the relationship between the two families, he couldn’t possibly refuse to help.
But doing so would make Xiao Zhanwu look bad, since this was, after all, his turf.
Most importantly, Tan Cheng’s case was under his jurisdiction. If the investigation turned up nothing, that would be one thing, but if any irregularities were uncovered, he, as the case handler, would have to take responsibility.
Therefore, bringing in personnel from the provincial capital would be somewhat inappropriate!
Just as Li Yi was deep in thought, Zhang Ziqiang suddenly stepped in front of him and reached out to stop a middle-aged woman.
The middle-aged woman was startled by Zhang Ziqiang’s piercing gaze and stammered, “I… I didn’t mean anything by it. I just wanted to ask you about someone…”
Li Yi looked at the middle-aged woman before him. She was dressed in a long tunic and trousers, her feet shod in homemade multi-layered-sole shoes, and her head covered with a pink headscarf—which, likely due to age, had faded to a pale pink—a classic rural woman.
At that moment, her sallow face betrayed her anxiety, and her eyes were filled with panic and terror.
Seeing this, Li Yi immediately stepped forward and asked, “Sister, don’t be afraid—we overreacted!”
“Oh… oh… um…”
Seeing that she was still a bit reserved, Li Yi quickly changed the subject: “By the way, you said earlier that you were asking us for information about someone?”
“Right, right, right…”
Then the middle-aged woman pulled out a black-and-white photo and said to Li Yi, “I’m looking for my husband. He said a while back that he was coming to the county seat to look for work, but I haven’t heard from him since. Have you seen him?”
Li Yi glanced at the photo and replied, “No, we haven’t. We’re not from around here either!”
The middle-aged woman said “thank you” with a hint of disappointment, then turned to leave.
Just then, a thought struck Li Yi, and he asked, “Ma’am, where are you from? When did your husband go missing?”
“I’m from Wu County next door. My husband hasn’t come home for half a month!”
Wu County!
Hearing that place name sent a jolt through Li Yi’s heart, suddenly reminding him of a horrific murder case he’d heard about in his previous life.
The reason this case was labeled “horrific” was mainly because the killer’s crimes and methods were truly shocking; even looking back over the decades since the founding of the nation, few had been as vicious as he.
The case had taken place in an ordinary village under Wu County, as mentioned by the middle-aged woman. The perpetrator was named Yan Minsheng, and his wife was his accomplice.
From 1982 until their arrest in 1985, over the course of three years, the couple murdered 48 innocent civilians—an average of nearly one person per month.
When public security authorities searched Yan Minsheng’s residence, they first discovered two bodies in a water jar; subsequently, police dogs detected a foul odor emanating from a cellar he had filled in.
When the police dug up the cellar, they were shocked to find 33 sets of skeletal remains neatly arranged.
That wasn’t all; they subsequently found 13 more bodies in the pigsty and other locations.
In the end, the police discovered a total of 48 sets of remains at Yan Minsheng’s home, confirming his long-standing brutal crimes.
At the time, this case caused a huge sensation nationwide, and people were horrified by the shocking crimes committed by Yan Minsheng and his wife.
That’s 48 lives—all lost at the hands of this demonic couple!
Thinking about this case, Li Yi couldn’t help but recall the women who had gone missing in Yong County recently, and a chill ran down his spine.
The news had reported that the perpetrator was from Wuxian County, but it hadn’t mentioned where the victims were from!
And since Wu County and Yong County are right next to each other, the perpetrator might have already set his sights on Yong County.
More importantly, according to the news reports at the time, the perpetrator had a particular penchant for torturing and murdering women, which gave Li Yi a sense of foreboding.
Just as Li Yi was deep in thought, the middle-aged woman’s voice rang out again: “Comrade… Comrade, are you listening?”
Li Yi snapped back to reality and replied, “Ma’am, I’m listening… I’m listening. Could you tell me the details of your husband’s disappearance?”
“You…”
“To be honest, I’m good friends with Captain Xiao from our Yong County Criminal Investigation Team. Maybe I can help you find your husband through the police!” Li Yi said, half-jokingly.
“Really?”
The middle-aged woman hurriedly continued, “We live in Daijialing Village in Wuxian County. My husband is a carpenter in the village. During the off-season, he goes to town or the county seat to find odd jobs to supplement our household income.”
“After the tenth day of the New Year, he said he was going out to find some work, then he left the house—and he never came back. When he still hadn’t returned, I went out with my father-in-law and my two younger brothers-in-law to look for him, but we haven’t found him after all these days… Waaah…”
As she spoke, the middle-aged woman crouched down on the ground and burst into tears!
Li Yi immediately said, “Sister, please don’t cry—I still have some questions for you!”
“Ask away, comrade. Whatever you want to know, I’ll tell you!” the woman said urgently.
“Your family is from Wuxian County. Why did you come all the way to Yongxian County to look for him?”
“Comrade, you don’t know the situation. Although our village, Daijialing, is in Wu County, it’s over 70 li from the county seat. On the other hand, it’s less than 30 li from Yong County. So when people from our village go to the market to find work, most of them come to Yong County!”
Hearing this, Li Yi’s heart skipped a beat. If that were the case, there was a strong possibility that the evil couple had come to Yong County to commit a crime.
With that in mind, Li Yi said again, “Sister, looking for someone this way is like looking for a needle in a haystack. The chances of finding them aren’t very high. I’ll take you to the county Public Security Bureau right now. You can file a report there first and have the police help you search. What do you think?”
“But… will the police actually look for them?”
“She’s been missing for so many days now; it meets the criteria for filing a case. The police will definitely look for her!” Li Yi said.
“All right… all right… I’ll go with you!”
“Alright!”
After saying that, Li Yi immediately took the woman and headed once again to the county bureau, which wasn’t far away…
………