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After a long time, a response finally came from inside. The voice was hoarse, like a broken gong. Lu Weiguo turned to us and said, "I heard this kid got into drugs later and went to rehab a few times. I don't know if it's true. Although we were somewhat brothers in high school, it's been two years now, and who you hang out with changes who you become."
I didn't expect Lu Weiguo to see through things so clearly. Previously, we had only found out Qiang's address, but we didn't know if he was really using drugs. However, everything would be clear once Qiang came out. The person inside asked again, "Who is it? I didn't catch that."
Lu Weiguo replied from outside, "It's me! Can't you recognize my voice? It's Lu Weiguo! Do you know me?"
"Oh, Lu Weiguo!" the voice inside responded. "Are you alone?"
I signaled to Lu Weiguo that it would be better to say he was alone. Qiang's question indicated some nervousness on his part; otherwise, he wouldn't have asked that way. This suggested that Qiang might be involved in something and was afraid someone would come looking for him.
Lu Weiguo nodded and said, "Yeah, I'm alone! I came to find you because I have something to discuss! You know I just got married recently, right? My wife's temper is really something else. I went out for lunch and had a bit too much to drink, so she won't let me go back home. I figured I'd come over and sit with you for a while until tonight."
"I see," Qiang continued. "If that's the case, just wait there; I'll open the door for you."
"Great!" Lu Weiguo replied.
We waited outside for about a minute, but Qiang still hadn't come out. Something felt off; how long could it take for Qiang to walk such a short distance? Lu Weiguo called out a few more times, but there was no response from Qiang. I frowned and inadvertently looked up, only to notice a slanted mirror above us.
From that angle, it was definitely a reflection issue. When we looked up, the mirror faintly showed our outlines. Realizing this, I slapped my thigh and exclaimed, "This is bad! Qiang must have run away! Kick the door down and chase after him!"
Although Dezi didn't yet understand what was happening, he nodded and stepped back a few paces before charging forward and delivering a powerful kick to the door. The door shook violently. At the same time, we heard something crash inside. Hearing the noise, Dezi kicked again several times. After a few kicks, the door split open, revealing the courtyard inside.
Lu Weiguo was startled by what had happened and stammered, "What’s going on? Why did you kick down the door without saying anything?"
We didn't have time to respond to Lu Weiguo as we rushed into the courtyard. The house door was ajar; it seemed Qiang had indeed come out from inside. He must have seen our shadows in the glass mirror and realized that Lu Weiguo wasn't alone when he decided to flee.
However, the house faced south with only one wall near us in the courtyard—where could he have run off to? There had to be something wrong inside! As we entered the house, we noticed a hole in the bed from which faint light seeped through.
The bedding had been thrown over it but appeared only hastily covered up. However, Qiang had fled in such a hurry that he hadn't secured it properly. When we entered the room, we immediately spotted the hole in the bed. I quickly pulled off the bedding and said to Juan Juan and Mary, "You two stay here with Lu Weiguo; Dezi, you come with me."
In haste, I jumped down into the hole. Once I descended into it, I realized it was about a meter high and seemed to lead outside. A person had to crouch down to pass through; distant light shone ahead. In just a few minutes, I emerged from the hole and found myself in an alley between bungalows.
Beside the hole, there were several wooden boards that seemed to be used to cover it. Qiang had actually dug a tunnel between his house and the alley behind it. Just from this alone, Qiang seemed very suspicious. Moreover, upon seeing the arrival of strangers, he fled without a word, which surely indicated he was involved in something illicit.
It could either be illegal activities or loan sharking.
"Over there!" Looking to the left, I caught a glimpse of a figure darting past. The person was not running fast and appeared to be staggering, like someone who had been drinking. Hearing my shout, Yan Junde had already dashed out ahead of me. Compared to Yan Junde, I felt like an elementary school student in terms of stamina and explosiveness. Before I knew it, Yan Junde had already surpassed me and was sprinting further away.
I followed closely behind him, not daring to relax for even a moment. As we turned the first corner, the figure rounded the second corner, but by the time we reached the third corner, we had completely lost track of Qiang. He disappeared into one of the alleys and was gone without a trace.
This was an intersection of several alleys, with many branches leading off in different directions. From our vantage point at the forks, we couldn't deduce which alley he had entered. Dezi and I split up, running into two different alleys, but after ten minutes of searching inside, we still hadn’t seen any sign of Qiang.
As previously mentioned, these alleys were intricately woven between various illegally constructed bungalows; often entering one path would lead you out through four or five others. We were unfamiliar with this area and had no way of locating Qiang. Furthermore, there were no cameras in this section of bungalows, making it impossible to determine where he had gone.
Realizing this, I said to Yan Junde, "It's impossible for us to find him now. Let's head back to Qiang's place and see if we can find anything there. Then we can have the Kaiyang City Police Department search for Qiang throughout the city."
Dezi nodded but still sounded somewhat disheartened as he said, "Damn it! If I had been a bit faster, I could have seen which alley he ran into and wouldn’t have lost him."
I patted Yan Junde on the shoulder and replied, "This isn’t your fault. He knows these alleys much better than we do; it's hard to find him in here. However, he can't have gone far. From how he was running earlier, he looks weak and can only run for a short time. If what Lü Weiguo said is correct, judging by his unsteady steps, he might be a drug user."
After running for quite some time without knowing where we were going in those alleys for about ten minutes, we finally found ourselves at Qiang's front door. Inside the house, Mary and Juan Juan, along with Lü Weiguo and another person, were staring at the hole in the bed when they noticed us entering through the main entrance.
Mary asked, "Dezi, Brother Shao, did you catch the killer?"
I shrugged and replied, "No, this alley is really complicated; we couldn’t figure out which exit he took. But now that we've confirmed this is Qiang's residence, things will be easier. Mary, please contact the Kaiyang City Public Security Bureau and have them search for Qiang throughout the city."
Mary nodded and began making calls.
I carefully observed the room and then said to everyone, "There's an old saying: 'The monk can run away but not the temple.' Since Qiang fled in such a hurry, he must have left something behind at home. Let’s search around and see if we can find anything that might help us track him down."
As I spoke, we scattered to begin our search. The yard contained only two rooms: one was a bathroom while the other was a suite divided into two bedrooms and a living room. We searched through the suite for a long time but found nothing useful. From what we could see inside this house, it was practically barren; there was nothing at all within it.
Although it was a two-bedroom apartment, the two bedrooms were completely empty—truly devoid of anything. The floor didn't even have a single needle, as if it had just been renovated and no furniture had been moved in yet. Of course, the walls of the bedrooms were terribly dirty.
Inside the bedroom, there was nothing at all. In the living room, directly opposite the door, was a bed with a sheet and a blanket, but not even a pillow. Underneath the bed was a chamber pot. Beside it stood an extinguished stove, leaning against the wall were several stacks of honeycomb coal. On top of the stove sat a kettle, next to it was a blackened pot.
On the other side against the wall were several bundles of cabbage, and there was no other furniture or appliances whatsoever.
This place hardly seemed fit for anyone to live in; it was truly pitiful. The floor looked like it hadn't been swept in four or five years, covered in dust everywhere. It appeared utterly chaotic, and there really wasn't anything to find because this home had nothing at all.
Lü Weiguo wandered around for a bit and then looked at us and said, "What happened to Qiang? How did he end up like this? Back when we were at the repair shop, he got in before me and earned more than I did. How could it be that four years later his home is like this? It's really unbelievable; no wonder he can't find a wife. In this situation, who would want to marry him?"
"You've been to Qiang's home before?" I gently rubbed my temples with my fingers and asked Lü Weiguo, "I mean a few years ago."
Lü Weiguo nodded and replied, "Yes, I came by then when I didn't have a place myself. This house was left to Qiang by his parents. I came here a few times with Zhao Kaifang as well. At that time, there were still color TVs and refrigerators in the house, but I haven't been back since. The last time I came should have been about a year ago; who knew it would turn into this?"
If that's the case, then Lü Weiguo's earlier statement must be true. That is, Qiang must have developed a drug addiction; otherwise, there's no way a home could deteriorate like this in just one year. So there should be something useful to discover in this house.
【Unsolved Mystery】A mysterious 21st-century Airborne Troops appeared in North America, saving an Indian Red-Haired Beauty, enjoying the company of Blue-Eyed Busty Blondes, dominating Wall Street, amassing wealth across America, and initiating the Han Ethnic Colonial Global Model.
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