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Along the way, Gu Chen remained silent. While on the road, Chen Bo received a phone call. After the autopsy, Gao Dafu's body had been at the police station for some time, and there was no way to contact Gao Dafu's family. Today, the village chief from Zhi Li Village came to the police station with the intention of taking the body back to bury it according to the village's burial customs.
Although Gao Dafu was a beast, death is a serious matter. Moreover, Gao Dafu's parents had helped many people in the village in the past. So, regardless of what Gu Zhi and Hu Ningning's grandparents thought, handling the body was a priority.
Some villagers arrived, including Gu Chen's father. Taking advantage of the dry weather, the village roads were firmer, making it easier to transport the body. Otherwise, they would have to wait an unknown amount of time if it rained later. Since we were heading toward the school anyway, we decided to stop by the police station.
As expected, there were quite a few people at the police station. I spotted Gu Chen's father and saw Gu Chen inside discussing matters with the villagers. I sat outside while Gu Chen's father came out and noticed me. He said, "Gu Chen is arranging some things at the police station; I just stepped out."
I nodded and handed him a cigarette, and he sat down.
I slowly spoke up, "I heard from Gu Chen that you were once saved by the police?"
Gu Chen's father looked at me and replied, "What? That's not true."
Hearing this made everything clear to me. At that time when Gu Chen shared those words with me, it was right after Liu Yinyan's case ended—our complete failure—and I was in my lowest spirits. During that period, Gu Chen told me his story in hopes of helping me overcome my shadow.
Now it seemed that Gu Chen had said those things just to comfort me. Looking back, I realized how much effort he had put in for my sake.
After a moment, Gu Chen and Chen Bo walked out of the police station. Gu Chen said to me, "Alright, everything is arranged."
I glanced at Gu Chen; he still looked the same. I said, "Let's go to school."
Before long, we arrived at the school. After making a phone call to the school leader, he appeared before us with Sun Qingqing. At that moment, looking at the school leader, his previous authoritative demeanor had vanished; his head hung low on both sides like Fire Cloud Evil God.
"Fire Cloud Evil God," no—this school leader exclaimed: "Officers! Hurry up and catch this murderer! This is terrifying! How did he get my number? What if he finds my home later? What is going on here?"
At this point, sweat began to bead on the school leader's forehead.
This incident reminded me of why the Murderer had the School Leader's phone number. Could it be that the Murderer already knew the School Leader's mobile number beforehand? Moreover, it seemed that the Murderer had some demands.
Li Jun was brutally killed. If we were too slow, would Hu Ningning be in danger? And what about Teacher Gao's death? Did it have anything to do with this matter? We still weren't clear on whether Hu Ningning was lying or if Teacher Gao was.
After waiting for over an hour, the School Leader's phone finally rang.
The surroundings were quiet. The School Leader glanced at us, and I nodded, signaling for them to put it on speaker.
The School Leader activated the speakerphone, and at that moment, the Murderer's voice came through: "Have you found a reason?"
"What do you want?" I asked.
Upon hearing my voice, the other party seemed surprised for a moment before responding, "Police?"
"Where is Hu Ningning right now? What do you want?" I pressed.
"Don't worry, Hu Ningning is safe for now," came a deep voice. "Since the police are here, that's good. Have you found a reason yet?"
I didn't answer but continued to ask, "Is Hu Ningning really safe? I want to hear her voice."
There was a brief silence on the other end, and then I heard a girl's voice: "I'm scared."
The tone was filled with fear, tinged with tears, yet it carried a sense of wanting to cry but holding back, evoking deep sympathy from within.
"Hu Ningning, is that you?" I asked.
"Police, help me," Hu Ningning said.
I shouted a few more times, but there was no response from Hu Ningning anymore. However, from her voice, it was clear that this was not a recording; we could tell that Hu Ningning was at least safe for now.
"Now it's my turn to ask," the Murderer said. "I know you can locate my position in just a few minutes, so you only have a little time to tell me why. Otherwise, don't blame me for being rude to Hu Ningning."
I replied, "Because on the bus, Li Jun kicked a pregnant woman off, causing her to miscarry."
"Clap, clap, clap."
From the other side came the sound of applause. After the applause, the Murderer's voice followed: "Very good, very good. Now you can continue playing with me. Now, go to the place where the backpack was found earlier. I've prepared a big surprise for you; I hope you like it."
Then the Murderer hung up the phone.
When we tried to call back, we found that the number was no longer reachable. The receiver only repeated that the number you dialed has been disconnected.
Throughout this ordeal, the Murderer never explicitly told us not to call the police; rather, it was evident from his words that he wanted law enforcement to intervene. Analyzing this point, it seemed that the Murderer had a couple of mindsets: one stemming from a twisted desire to provoke the police and another hoping for police involvement to amplify his impact.
Regardless of which mindset it was, one thing was clear: the Murderer’s blatant attempt to draw our attention set him apart from ordinary criminals. Typical murderers would want to flee to a place where no one knew them after committing their crime, but this Murderer was different.
This indicated that things were definitely not as simple as they seemed.
Moreover, the Murderer had given us an address—the location of the backpack. What had happened there?
I looked at Gu Chen and then scanned the people around us before saying, "Everyone heard that Hu Ningning is temporarily safe. But if we don't act according to the Murderer's wishes, she will be his trump card—a hostage. Furthermore, he has given us a location."
Chen Bo nodded and said, "Yes, it's the place where the backpack was found before."
"Let's go," I replied. "The Murderer likes to leave notes on the bodies, and they want to play a game with us. We're now at the second step of that game."
"Exactly," Gu Chen said. "Let's hurry; it's better to act quickly in situations like this."
I turned to the School Leader and Sun Qingqing and said, "Keep an eye on the kids; we can't afford to lose them. I believe the Murderer won't just target one Li Jun; otherwise, the game wouldn't be able to continue."
The two nodded in agreement.
Gu Chen drove us back to the location where the backpack had been found. On the way, he asked, "What do you think the Murderer is really after?"
I frowned and pressed my hand against my temple, slowly responding, "It's hard to say for sure right now, but judging by the Murderer's tone and calm demeanor, their level of education is likely quite high. They definitely aren't someone like Wei Shufen who could just come out with such words."
A person with a higher education level and some economic means who also knows the School Leader's number—there can't be many like that in this town. However, a well-educated person from a middle-class family committing such a heinous act must have some underlying reason.
But what that reason is, I naturally couldn't know at this moment.
Throughout the journey, the three of us were lost in our own thoughts and didn't speak much.
It was Chen Bo who finally broke the silence, saying slowly, "We're almost there. I wonder what the Murderer wants us to see."
I nodded and asked, "What could be the Murderer's second task?"
Chen Bo opened his mouth wide and after a moment said, "Could it be that there's going to be a second victim?"
"That's not impossible," I said, looking at Chen Boda.
At that moment, Gu Chen suddenly slammed on the brakes. We were caught off guard and nearly got thrown out of our seats from the inertia. Chen Bo, still shaken, turned to Gu Chen and said, "What happened? That stop was quite a shock."
Gu Chen glanced back at Chen Bo and replied, "Chen Bo, it's not that we don't respect you; it's just that your words are too ominous."
With that, Gu Chen pointed upward with his finger.
Following the direction of Gu Chen's finger, we saw a child hanging from a branch of a tree ahead. In the sunlight, we could see that the child was suspended by several very thin fishing lines. If it weren't for the light catching them just right, we might not have noticed those lines at all.
The child was hanging in a very strange position; it looked as if he was lying in mid-air. Numerous fishing lines held his arms, back, and legs, while his head and wrists dangled down as if he were a child sleeping in the air or perhaps a goalkeeper preparing to dive for a soccer ball.
This bizarre posture was unsettling to behold. His head hung low, obscuring his facial expression. However, judging by his stillness, it seemed likely that this child was in grave danger.
We all got out of the car and slowly walked forward through the empty forest towards this oddly positioned child. My heart felt like it was about to leap out of my throat. I wasn't afraid of corpses or dead bodies, but the instinctive fear evoked by someone hanging in such a manner gripped me.
Just then, I heard a faint "creaking" sound coming from the child ahead.
The sound was soft but resonated clearly in the stillness of the environment.
"Creak... creak..."
Gently and slowly, it sounded as if the child was trying to break free from the fishing lines.
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