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墨書 Inktalez
I looked at Gu Chen and said, "On the mountain, there is no signal on mobile phones, let alone internet access. So, the Murderer must not be in the deep mountains. The Murderer also cannot be on the road; the police are currently rushing to Xingdong Village, and the Murderer would definitely not dare to linger on the road. At such a late hour, a car driving down the road would be suspected one hundred percent."
Gu Chen nodded.
I continued, "Moreover, considering the time, the Murderer has no way to move to the city or another village. Therefore, the Murderer must still be in this area. I think perhaps they are right here in this village."
After that, we both fell silent. A cold wind slowly blew in, making us shiver in this environment. If my guess was true, it was indeed chilling. In the pitch-black night, while a group of people searched for the Murderer, the Murderer might actually be hiding in this village, perhaps laughing at us from a place where we could see them but they could not see us.
I took out my phone again to look at the photo of Guan Zengbin. The background of the photo was dark, but the space appeared quite large. In Xingdong Village, such a large and open area seemed rare. The wall in the background was made of cement and had not been painted, giving it a grayish appearance.
This place was definitely special in Xingdong Village; ordinary homes would at least have a layer of white plaster and would not present as bare as this unfinished state. Thinking of this, I immediately sought out the village chief, who had been standing by for quite some time.
The village chief noticed me calling him and hurried over.
I showed him my phone and said, "Chief, take a look at this background. Do you know where this place is? Is it in or near Xingdong Village?"
The village chief took my phone and saw Guan Zengbin's image. He was initially startled and then I noticed his face turn red. However, at that moment, he didn’t care about any gender distinctions and focused on examining the wall behind Guan Zengbin.
After looking for a long time, he said, "I really don’t know this place, but it looks a bit like an activity center. In the past, Wu Xiufen wanted to build an activity center for the village and brought in quite a bit of cement back then. But later on, for some unknown reason, it was halted."
I frowned and asked, "Where was the activity center supposed to be? Was it large?"
The village chief shook his head and waved his hand. "It was fine when they were building it, but halfway through construction something happened that made Wu Xiufen suddenly stop. Initially, we thought having an activity center would be nice; if someone built it, great! If not, there wouldn’t be any loss. So only one wall was built while the rest remained unfinished."
He glanced at my phone again and added, "You see this space is quite large; besides, that kind of bed looks like it's meant for hospitals—who knows how it got in here? But judging by this background, it shouldn’t be that activity center. That center only had one wall; this is a closed space. However, these lights are really dim; with my old eyes I can hardly see unless I look closely."
Hearing what the village chief said made me realize that compared to today’s energy-saving lights, those here were pitifully dim; there were still some dark corners that hadn’t been illuminated. This indicated that while the lighting here wasn’t bright at all, it also suggested that this place was quite large.
And likely enough, this bed was just the tip of the iceberg; there could be much more space elsewhere. So what exactly was this place? In Xingdong Village, where could there be such a large open area that wouldn’t attract attention?
I shook my head and asked the village chief about Wu Xiufen's plans for building this activity center: "Chief, when Wu Xiufen was planning to build this activity center years ago, had everything been prepared? You know—the materials needed for constructing it?"
The village chief nodded and replied, "This matter isn’t too far back; it should have been about five or six years ago. At that time Wu Xiufen suddenly got inspired and wanted to build an activity center for the village and hoped I could approve a piece of land for it. It was a good thing after all; so I agreed. This was also meant to enrich the cultural and recreational activities of our villagers—wasn’t it?"
"Well, no problem," I said.
The village chief looked at me and continued, "That's right. So I quickly allocated a piece of good land for the construction of this activity center and asked Wu Xiufen to oversee it. However, Wu Xiufen refused and insisted on another piece of land. I don't know why. That piece of land is a bit remote compared to this one. Generally, the villagers wouldn't go there."
I frowned and continued to listen.
The village chief said, "I discussed it with her several times but to no avail. But since she was the one funding it, what could I say? In the end, I agreed. So Wu Xiufen took full responsibility for the construction of the activity center. Later, for some reason, Wu Xiufen had a quarrel with the workers building the center, and they all left. It seemed that Wu Xiufen was quite upset as well, so the project came to a halt."
Sighing, the village chief continued, "At first, I thought Wu Xiufen was just throwing a tantrum, but later it became clear that she really wasn't going to continue. Fortunately, the land for the activity center is quite remote; otherwise, if it couldn't be built, we would have to find someone to tear it down."
I wrapped my left arm around my right shoulder and rested my right arm on top. "Building an activity center requires a lot of bricks and cement. Even if the construction team left, the villagers could probably manage it."
The village chief shook his head and said, "That's not how it works. Later on, those red bricks and cement were sold off by Wu Xiufen and loaded onto trucks one after another."
Upon hearing this, I suddenly felt like I had grasped something important. "Did you see Wu Xiufen taking all the cement and bricks away during the transport?"
The village chief shook his head and replied, "I really don't know about that. Who would have nothing better to do than watch Wu Xiufen deal with those things? Anyway, it took about a week to move everything away; that's how things ended up with the activity center."
I tugged at my hair with my hand. If all of this was just a cover-up—if Wu Xiufen never intended to build an activity center from the start but only wanted to bring cement and bricks into the village without raising suspicion—then that was indeed a clever plan.
The villagers only knew that Wu Xiufen had moved those bricks and cement away but never realized whether she had taken everything or if part of it remained behind to build the place seen in Guan Zengbin's photo background. It wasn't impossible.
This meant we needed to check out that old activity center; who knows what we might find?
I glanced at my watch; our previous discussion and thoughts had already taken forty minutes. Now there were only eighty minutes left until the time given by the murderer—by three o'clock in the early morning, the murderer wanted to see an intact bowl. I wondered if Mary and her team had finished their task or how much longer it would take.
I turned to Gu Chen and said, "Let's go; staying here won't help us. Village chief, please take us to the activity center."
The village chief nodded and said, "Let's drive; it'll take about ten minutes."
Under the village chief's guidance, Gu Chen drove toward our destination.
At that moment, Liu's call came in. Before I could say anything, Liu spoke up: "Wu Meng, I've found Wu Xiufen's family—her husband and son. When I explained the situation to them, they thought Wu Xiufen had been dead for a long time."
I asked, "What did you find out? Why did Wu Xiufen abandon her husband and son to run away to a village where no one knows her, and she doesn't know anyone? Moreover, she even married someone else."
Liu Dao replied, "Since Wu Xiufen left, her husband and son have not seen her. They are unaware that she has remarried. However, they still vividly remember the past. After Wu Xiufang died, Wu Xiufen's mental state became a bit unstable."
"Unstable?" I inquired.
Liu Jixu explained, "That's right. Wu Xiufang hanged herself at the factory in front of Wu Xiufen and Wu Jianguo. It seems that it left some kind of trauma; Wu Xiufen would wake up from nightmares every night. She mentioned more than once that she couldn't stay in that place anymore."
"Nightmares?" I asked. "Do you know what kind of nightmares?"
Liu Dao said, "Her family doesn't know either, but she had nightmares. Later on, during the day, she became paranoid and couldn't live a normal life at all. When they buried Wu Xiufang, after returning from the cemetery, Wu Xiufen was completely absent-minded, as if she had lost her soul. That night, she disappeared without a trace and never came back. When she left, she took thirty thousand yuan with her."
Hearing Liu's words, an image appeared in my mind. Perhaps Wu Xiufang's death was not as simple as it seemed. If her sister truly committed suicide, Wu Xiufen shouldn't be this terrified. Maybe the reason why Wu Xiufen has been burning black paper for over thirty years is tied to some hidden truth.
But what secrets lie beneath this?
"Can Wu Xiufang's family be found?" I asked Liu.
"There's still no news," Liu Dao replied. "After Wu Xiufang died, her husband and children didn't even attend her funeral or participate in the burial; everything was handled by Wu Xiufen and Wu Jianguo. So finding Wu Xiufang's family is not an easy task."
Liu Dao added, "However, I will continue to investigate. If there’s any news, I will inform you immediately."
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