Chapter 195 195 This time seems to be very special for these six people...

Guan Xia lowered her head and looked at the new and old photos repeatedly. Although the two people looked equally young, they were photos of two different generations. This time, she didn't even use the intuition given by the system. She had already keenly sensed something from them.

No wonder Xu Nian decided to act separately with the task force just after finding these two people and before conducting an in-depth investigation. According to their previous experience in investigating cases, they did smell a familiar scent.

Guan Xia took out the two photos and placed them on the coffee table. After a moment's thought, she looked up and asked Xu Nian, "Since you sense something's wrong, then the task force must have noticed something too. So, have they found anything?"

Xu Nian seemed to have anticipated Guan Xia's question. His eyes curved slightly, and he said with a hint of a smile, "No, they didn't discover this special situation, so they didn't investigate at all."

Guan Xia was stunned at first, then nervously thought of something and couldn't help laughing.

They did miss her too much. There were some things that were not clear under the lamp. Although they felt that Wu Yang was a little strange before they set out for Shangshuang City, it was just intuition and they had no relevant clues or evidence. They just discussed it privately and did not report it to the task force.

Wu Yang really came into the sight of the task force when Wu Xingxian was silenced. Presumably, the task force, like Guan Xia and the others, suspected Wu Yang based on instinct and the sharp intuition of the criminal police. They are currently in the initial investigation and no specific action has yet begun.

After figuring this out, Guan Xia became more determined and said, "It seems my idea is correct. Instead of starting from the outermost edge and gradually filling in clues and evidence that connect him to Wu Yang, it's better to go straight to the heart of the matter. After all, although that criminal organization is terrifying, they are still human, not gods. As long as they are human and commit crimes, they will definitely leave clues for us to discover."

Guan Xia looked at the two photos with bright eyes, "Doesn't this make us discover it?"

Before anyone else could say anything, Xu Nian added, "There's more. Besides this missing woman, there's another suspicious point."

Xu Nian said as he pulled out one of the six photos in his hand and placed it conveniently on the coffee table next to the two photos of Guan Xiafang. He pointed with two fingers and said, "Coincidentally, this man also disappeared in 2003, earlier than the missing woman, but the difference is that no one reported him missing. I retrieved his identity information from the household registration and checked his ID number. There's nothing. He has no house or car, no phone number, and he has never bought a plane ticket, train ticket, or high-speed rail ticket. He doesn't even have any social media or game software with his real name. Isn't it amazing?"

It was truly magical. Even Jiang Yingyao couldn't help but nod his head as he listened. He said, "It might have been possible in the past, but now technology is so advanced that everyone is inseparable from the Internet. How could there be a blank? Unless that person no longer exists."

Xu Nian said, "That was my first thought after investigating. I suspect he died as early as 2003. But because he came from the same orphanage as Wu Yang and the others, and had been hanging out with the others before his disappearance, with no friends or girlfriend, no one noticed his disappearance. As long as the remaining five people didn't call the police and his body wasn't found, his death would remain unknown."

Pang Le suddenly thought of something and asked, "Wait, Xu Nian, you just said that he has no house or car to his name, but I remember you said that one of the six of them went back to his hometown in 2007 and built six houses for himself and others? Six houses, obviously one for each of the six of them, so how could he have no house to his name?"

"Because they hadn't had time to register yet," Wang Yu explained. "If I remember correctly, their hometown is the site of the fire that left them orphaned. Regardless of whether their ancestors' house was affected, they would have chosen another place to build. He disappeared in 2003, and the house was built after 2007, a gap of four years. According to Captain Xu's speculation, he died before the house was built, so it naturally wouldn't be in his name."

Xu Nian's next words also confirmed Wang Yu's guess. "Wang Yu is right. I checked. The one who went back to build a house among the six people was named Li Feng, and the missing person was named Li Song. Although they both have the surname Li, they are not related by blood. After he returned to the village in 2007, he did preserve the ancestral home of the six people and found another place to build. It is said that he spent a lot of money just to choose six plots of land for building houses."

"Two missing people, six houses," Guan Xia muttered to himself for a few seconds, then suddenly thought of something and perked up. "People in our country believe in returning to one's roots. So, is there a possibility that one of the six people went back to build a house and brought back the remains of the missing person?"

The more Guan Xia thought about it, the more logical it seemed, and her words became increasingly outrageous. "The missing person is dead, and their body isn't present, so the house can't be in their name. So if we build the body into the house when we build it, wouldn't that be a disguised way of claiming ownership of the missing person?"

Guan Xia's words were so outlandish that everyone around them was stunned for a moment. Pang Le then said in surprise, "What kind of shocking statement are you making? Can the return of fallen leaves to their roots be considered like this? Wouldn't the person who went back to build a house be living next door to a corpse? And if he's the murderer, wouldn't he be guarding the evidence of his crime all day long?"

Pang Le was just speaking casually out of surprise, but he froze in mid-sentence. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Huh? It seems like that's how it's played out in some crime dramas. If a murderer kills someone in the countryside, they'll either bury the body in the ground or build it into a wall. It's not impossible."

When Guan Xia heard the words "criminal investigation TV series", her heart moved. She had only made a bold guess before, but now she felt that it was really possible.

The others looked at each other and exchanged glances after hearing this. After all, based on their experience in investigating cases, the murderer's thought processes were very different, and they had solved similar cases before.

Qi Bai scratched his head and said hesitantly, "So... it's not like there's no breakthrough. Then should we really split up with the task force and start investigating Wu Yang?"

Several people looked at Guan Xia, but Guan Xia didn't answer. She put down the remaining photos and asked Xu Nian, "There are eight photos in total. We already know Wu Yang, Wu Xingxian, the missing woman and her daughter, and Li Feng and Li Song. What about the remaining two? What's going on? Are there any suspicious things?"

As soon as Guan Xia said this, the others looked at Xu Nian curiously again.

Xu Nian said, "Compared to these six people, they seem normal. One opened a chain restaurant in Quchun City, and the other ran a chain hotel in Linchuan City, Nanzhi Province. But I checked and found that they, like Li Feng, also left in 2007 to develop their own careers."

"2007, 2007 again," Zhong Xiaoyu said, "This time seems very special for these six people. Something must have happened between them to cause them to part ways in 2007."

Guan Xia listened to Zhong Xiaoyu's words and thought about something else. He said thoughtfully, "Wu Xingxian went to Shangshuang City to develop around 10 years ago. But from what Brother Jiang learned, Wu Xingxian had actually sent people to Shangshuang City to scout out the situation even earlier. He obviously left a few years later than the others. Why is that? Why is he different from the other three? Is it just because he's Wu Yang's cousin?"

Until more clues are obtained, no one, including Guan Xia, can answer this question.

After thinking for a while, Guan Xia had many hypotheses flashing through his mind, but he still had to verify them on the ground. He took a deep breath and said, "It seems that we have found the breakthrough we were looking for. Let's start from the very beginning, the source of all this. Before that criminal organization finds us, we should hurry to their hometown to check it out."

After discussing all this, Jiang Yingyao agreed with the idea. He even asked Xu Nian after Guan Xia finished speaking, "By the way, Captain Xu, is there anything special about Wu Yang and his family's hometown? For example, is there any scenic spot near it, or are there any famous farmhouses near the village? We can't go there as police officers, otherwise we'll alert the enemy once we enter the village, and we won't be able to find anything."

Xu Nian thought for a moment, shook his head, and said, "I haven't had time to check this aspect yet, so..."

Xu Nian glanced around the crowd as he was about to call out names and assign tasks when Wang Yu proactively raised his hand. "I'll do it. This kind of work is what I'm most comfortable with. By tonight, I'll have a script ready for everyone, and I'll make sure the reasons are legitimate and reasonable."

Xu Nian nodded, and Jiang Yingyao said, "Then I'll investigate this Li Feng and his daughter in depth, and try to understand their personalities and ways of doing things, especially this daughter. Maybe I can get some information out of her."

Qi Bai also said consciously: "Then I will go and investigate the disappearance of those two people and see if I can find anything."

Compared with the more professional Xu Nian and others, Guan Xia, Pang Le and Zhong Xiaoyu naturally do not have clear tasks, but the three of them will not be idle, after all, there is still Meng Lan to be placed.

It was obvious that they couldn't take her with them when they went out to investigate the case this time, so it would be up to them to find a reason for her to stay in Yongquan City and to arrange her personal safety while she stayed.

Everyone in this meeting felt a sense of urgency but also a sense of security. After all, having a direction to check was much more reassuring than having no clue at all and being anxiously running around.

Glancing at the time, it was almost noon. Before adjourning the meeting, Guan Xia thought for a moment and asked Xu Nian, "By the way, Xu Nian, you only mentioned Lu Manqing and Feng Xingping earlier, but not Yao Qingyan and Wang Huiqin. They are also under the constant attention of the special task force. Have they made any moves recently?"

As soon as Guan Xia said this, everyone who had already stood up and was about to put the stools back in place immediately sat down again and looked at Xu Nian with bright eyes.

Xu Nian was tidying up the scattered photos on the coffee table. As he sorted, he said, "There's nothing unusual, especially Yao Qingyan. Ever since she came into the task force's sight, she's been acting as if she's aware of it. She's been behaving herself every day, and the farthest she's gone is to the mall in Yongquan City. I heard from colleagues in the task force that they can now guess which drinks are the best-selling at Yao Qingyan's bar every day. As for Wang Huiqin, her daily schedule is even simpler. Besides going to work at the mall, she's either at home or at the market. Occasionally, she'll disguise herself and hang out near Meng Lan's haunts to make sure she's always under her observation."

Guan Xia thought about the location function in Meng Lan's phone which had not been turned off yet, and was not surprised at all that Wang Huiqin could accurately find Meng Lan at any time. What surprised her was Yao Qingyan.

Although the two had only met once in a hurry at the airport, Guan Xia was no stranger to her. She had seen her many times in the surveillance videos of Yuntian City and Linshan City, and she knew that she was an expert in disguise. Although she had not found any clues of her murder, Guan Xia was certain that she must be different from Wang Huiqin, but similar to Lu Manqing, doing the work of a killer in that criminal organization.

Such a person has always been active in the forefront of crime, but now he suddenly becomes quiet. No matter how you think about it, it seems wrong.

Guan Xia asked again, "I previously discovered from the surveillance footage in Yuntian City that she was disguised as someone going out to scout the area. Did the task force later discover anything based on this?"

Xu Nian replied, "The task force did find her suspected target by following her whereabouts and has been monitoring them. However, several months have passed, and up until now, that family has been living well. No accidents have occurred, and no suspicious individuals have been seen approaching nearby."

Guan Xia frowned as she heard this. "Could it be that Yao Qingyan really noticed this and gave up this mission? But how did she notice it? Was it intuition?"

Guan Xia recalled the brief, one-second eye contact between them at the airport. She marveled at the other person's beauty, while Yao Qingyan glanced at her lightly, as if she was looking at any stranger, without any emotion.

Guan Xia was sure that Yao Qingyan must not have noticed her.

While Guan Xia was thinking, Wang Yu suddenly said, "I still remember the track she took in Yuntian City that the task force tracked. There were only two places: the hotel where we caught her having an affair, and the mall where she shopped. Guan Xia discovered that she was scouting the area before the adultery was caught. Is it possible that she didn't notice anything at first and followed the original plan? But because of our report, the task force took it seriously, and they sent the police to follow her. Perhaps she discovered something during the tracking and observation. After all, she is a killer, so she must be very sensitive to this aspect, so she gave up the action out of caution."

Several people nodded thoughtfully, "That's possible."

Qi Bai sighed, "This criminal organization is really different from the ones in Shangshuang City. They're too professional. We followed Wu Xingxian until his death, but he didn't notice anything. It turns out that a low-quality imitation is a low-quality imitation."

"Yes," Zhong Xiaoyu also said, "So we must be extremely careful on this trip. Although we are actually investigating a case, we must keep a good disguise."

Zhong Xiaoyu looked at the others and finally at Jiang Yingyao. "Especially Brother Jiang, you have too much of a systemic streak. We need to discuss how we're going to communicate to the public before we go out this time, so we don't get caught right away."

Jiang Yingyao looked down at himself, then at Qi Bai and Xu Nian. He was speechless, but nodded and said, "I understand. I'll think of a solution in the next few days."

After the meeting, everyone quickly went home.

After not seeing each other for several days, Wang Yu and the others obviously had something to talk to Xu Nianchang about, so Guan Xia took Pang Le and Zhong Xiaoyu back home.

As soon as the three of them entered the room, they saw that Meng Lan was no longer dancing with her fingers in front of the computer, but was sitting on the sofa, looking at her mobile phone with a thoughtful look on her face.

Guan Xia and Pang Le looked at each other and couldn't help but walk over to ask, "What's wrong? Why that expression? Is there something wrong?"

Meng Lan was so engrossed in something that she didn't even hear the three people enter and close the door. Suddenly, she was startled when she heard someone talking, but then she jumped up excitedly and said, "I've thought of a legitimate excuse to stay in Yongquan City. Look."

Meng Lan pushed the phone screen in front of Guan Xia. Guan Xia looked at it for two seconds and found that it was her class group notifying the time of the next class reunion. Today was the 18th, and the class reunion was on the 22nd, this weekend, which could indeed be a very reasonable reason.

Guan Xia read it and nodded. "It's indeed very legitimate. Have you told your sister about it? And your sister doesn't know about what happened to you, right? She hasn't noticed it, right?"

Meng Lan put away her phone and said, "Don't worry about that. Although we are sisters, we don't usually live together. We may not see each other for a week. At most, we call each other every few days, or she occasionally asks her secretary to bring me something. My sister has a stronger sense of boundaries than me. We have known each other for several years, and I have only been to her house twice. It was so deserted that it seemed like no one lived there. She is definitely a workaholic who wishes she could live in the company."

Meng Lan casually hugged a pillow in her arms and said, "Although she's a workaholic, she's still very generous to me. She doesn't see me often, but she never stops sending me red envelopes. She also has the habit of checking up on me. But the excuse of the class reunion can fool her. I believe that when I'm not around, she can still help me scare those bosses in the company."

It can be seen that Meng Lan has great confidence in her sister's ability. When she asked her for help, her eyes lit up and she looked relieved.

Guan Xia smiled and pushed the hair stuck to her face behind her ears, saying that they might have to go out in two days and couldn't take her with them.

Meng Lan said confidently, as if she had expected this: "Don't worry, I can take care of myself. If you can't come back for a long time, I will have other excuses after the class reunion."

Pang Le asked curiously, "What's the reason?"

Meng Lan chuckled and said, "At this class reunion, there's a very handsome and well-received celebrity from our school who'll be attending. If nothing else, I'll use him as an excuse. I'm rich now, so I can return home in glory and chase my former lover. Sounds reasonable, right?"

Guan Xia was stunned for a moment and found it a little funny. In order to escape from the sight of the criminal organization for a short time, she really risked everything.

Guan Xia sighed, but Pang Le resonated with her. He asked curiously, "Extremely handsome? How handsome? Is he really your white moonlight?"

Meng Lan shook her head like a rattle. "He's handsome, but he's too fickle. He has so many girlfriends that they could be piled up in rows. I'm just using him as an excuse. He's not my type."

Pang Le nodded in agreement, "Indeed, being handsome is an advantage, but if you're not loyal enough, this advantage will be greatly reduced. After all, there are so many men in the world, we can definitely find someone who is both handsome and loyal."

Perhaps there was no one around her to talk to about feelings, so Pang Le grabbed Meng Lan and started chatting with her enthusiastically.

After hearing this, Guan Xia and Zhong Xiaoyu looked at each other helplessly.