Chapter 2828 How deep is your bond?

Guan Xia watched the murderer being taken away by the police, thinking that she was out of trouble. When she was thinking about whether she could call Pang Le, Qi Bai called.

Guan Xia was a little surprised. "Qi Bai? Is something wrong?"

Qi Bai's voice came out with a hint of joy, "Guan Xia, are you free this afternoon? If it's nothing important, come with me to the team to record a statement."

Guan Xia recalled the scene at Pang Le's house when the policewoman took her statement. Knowing it was normal procedure, she agreed, "Okay, give me a..."

Guan Xia was just about to ask for an address and take a taxi when she heard Qi Bai say, "I'm downstairs at your house, come down."

Guan Xia was startled and looked down from the study window. Sure enough, she saw Qi Bai standing by the car, talking on the phone with one hand and stuffing bread into his mouth with the other.

After hurriedly changing clothes and grabbing her keys and phone, Guan Xia went out. The first thing she asked when she saw Qi Bai was, "How did you know I live in this building?"

Qi Bai chuckled. "You're underestimating me, aren't you? Since your window can see the door of Building 7, and given the layout of Shuimu Chuncheng, guessing it shouldn't be easy, right?"

Guan Xia immediately realized that he had asked a stupid question, smiled awkwardly, and got into the car.

After getting in the car, Guan Xia discovered that there was a policeman in uniform sitting in the passenger seat, and she immediately felt even more embarrassed.

Qi Bai got in the car and wolfed down the bread before starting the car and driving out of the community.

"Guan Xia, don't you live in that neighborhood?" Qi Bai started talking as soon as he had a free moment. "When did you move here?"

"I just moved in not long ago," Guan Xia replied politely, "I was renting a house before. I waited for the renovations here to finish and air out for half a year before moving in."

"You live in Building 9," Qi Bai suddenly said meaningfully, "Which unit and floor?"

Guan Xia felt a little puzzled, but after thinking it over, she answered honestly, "Unit 2, 9th floor."

"Wow," Qi Bai's voice suddenly became a little louder, "What a coincidence."

This sentence made Guan Xia realize something, and her voice was a little surprised, "You also live in Shuimu Chuncheng Community, or even across the street from me?" She remembered clearly what the aunt said in the morning.

Qi Bai didn't answer, but just glanced at Guan Xia in the rearview mirror.

Guan Xia waited for two seconds but didn't get a response. She wanted to ask further, but she felt that they were not very familiar with each other, so she hesitated for two seconds and gave up.

Qi Bai didn't say anything else on the way. It was not yet the rush hour, so the car quickly drove into the Pingjiang Branch.

This was Guan Xia's first time entering the Public Security Bureau, both before and after the time travel. She was inevitably a little restrained from the moment she got off the car. She stared at Qi Bai's back and followed him closely, not daring to look around or speak casually.

After getting out of the car, the policeman in the passenger seat quickly disappeared, leaving only Guan Xia and Qi Bai walking up to the third floor and entering a reception room.

The normal decoration, which was completely different from the interrogation rooms in criminal investigation dramas, made Guan Xia relax a little. At Qi Bai's suggestion, she sat down on a soft brown sofa.

Qi Bai went out for two minutes and when he came back in, he was followed by the policewoman whom Guan Xia had just seen more than half an hour ago. After the policewoman entered the reception room, she disappeared again.

The policewoman sat down across from Guan Xia, opened a folder, and said with a smile, "Hello again, Ms. Guan. I'm Wang Yu. I don't know if you remember me. Thank you very much for your help."

Guan Xia smiled and replied, "You're welcome." Thinking of the scene he had seen before, he couldn't help but ask, "Did you catch that murderer?"

Wang Yu nodded. "To be exact, it was me and my colleagues. However, it was also because you informed us in time that we made preparations in advance, so the arrest went smoothly."

It sounds like the clues she provided are not that important but also very important. Guan Xia was happy but also a little confused. According to the previous experience, the system settlement would come soon after the murderer was arrested. But now it has been almost an hour, why is there no movement in the system? Could there be more than one murderer?

Guan Xia was guessing in her heart, but she remained calm on the surface and cooperated with Wang Yu to complete the record.

When Wang Yu was seeing Guan Xia off, the elusive Qi Bai reappeared, looked at Wang Yu and asked, "Did you finish it?"

Wang Yu nodded.

Qi Bai said, "Okay, you stay in the team. I have to go."

Wang Yu asked, "Did the suspect speak?"

Qi Bai curled his lips and couldn't help but curse, "That guy is as stubborn as a clam. Captain Xu himself couldn't pry him open. No matter what I say, he just keeps his head down like a dead pig that's not afraid of boiling water. I think there's no point in wasting time with him. Let's go to the scene."

Wang Yu was a little envious, "I want to go too, why don't you stay in the team so I can go?"

Qi Bai didn't say anything. He pulled Guan Xia as if there was a dog chasing him and got into the car quickly.

Although he was in the driver's seat and fastened his seatbelt, Qi Bai didn't start the car immediately. Instead, he started chatting with Guan Xia, "Guan Xia, your eyesight, memory, and sharpness are truly amazing. Were you like this as a child?"

Guan Xia felt a little guilty, trying to remain calm and shook her head. "I don't know. Before you, I had never dealt with the police before. I knew I had this talent not much earlier than you did."

Qi Bai felt a little regretful, "Then we met too late. If we had discovered it earlier, maybe we could still be colleagues."

Guan Xia didn't say anything. Qi Bai turned around and looked at her seriously. "By the way, Guan Xia, would you consider joining us? Our police force is eager for talented people with special talents. If you are willing to come to our branch, we will definitely treat you like a treasure."

Guan Xia shook her head without thinking, "No, no, I'm just an ordinary person. I can't be as great as you."

"You're being a bit self-deprecating," Qi Bai laughed. "Just based on the clues you provided a few times, it's already great. You've saved more than one life."

Speaking of this, Guan Xia felt a little embarrassed but also couldn't help feeling a little excited. Saving a life made people feel that the sky was bluer, the trees were greener, and even the air was fresher.

Guan Xia glanced at Qi Bai and saw that he seemed to be in a good mood, so she asked the question that had puzzled her all the way, "Qi Bai, what do you mean by what you said earlier about coincidence? Do you live in the same neighborhood as me? Or even across the street from me?"

I don’t know if it was Guan Xia’s illusion, but after asking this question, Qi Bai’s smile didn’t change much, but his eyes became somewhat meaningful.

Just as Guan Xia was wondering what he meant, someone suddenly opened the car door and got in the passenger seat.

Guan Xia looked over and found that it was Xu Nian. No wonder Qi Bai had been talking to her before leaving. It turned out that he was waiting for someone.

Xu Nian turned to look at Guan Xia, then asked while fastening his seatbelt, "Qi Bai, what's that expression on your face? What were you two talking about?"

Qi Bai chuckled and started the car before speaking, "We didn't talk about anything. We just talked about Guan Xia moving to a new house, Unit 2, 901, Building 9, Shuimu Chuncheng."

Xu Nian paused as he fastened his seatbelt, glanced at Guan Xia in the rearview mirror, and then continued, saying, "That's quite a coincidence."

At this point, Guan Xia also understood and looked at Xu Nian in surprise, "Captain Xu, so you live across the street from me."

Xu Nian hummed, thought for a moment, and said, "Don't worry. Although I often come home in the middle of the night, my movements are always very quiet. Normally, I shouldn't wake you up."

When Guan Xia heard this, she understood that the aunt must have often told Xu Nian this.

Guan Xia quickly said, "Although I've only moved in a short time ago, I feel that the sound insulation in our community is pretty good. Moreover, the voice-activated lights seem to be very sensitive at the moment. You don't need to cough loudly or stomp your feet hard to make them light up, so theoretically, you won't wake me up if you come home normally."

Xu Nian said, "That's good." Then he looked at Qi Bai, who was very quiet but obviously listening to the excitement with his ears perked up. "Did your leg suddenly become lame? Does it hurt when you step on the accelerator?"

Qi Bai chuckled again, "My feet were a little numb after stepping on the accelerator all day, but they're fine now."

Quietly driving Guan Xia to the gate of the residential complex, Qi Bai watched her enter. He spoke after holding back all the way, "Captain Xu, isn't this a coincidence? Yongquan City has a population of several million, and yet you two can live next door to each other as neighbors. Just imagine how deeply connected you two must be."

Xu Nian glared at Qi Bai without saying anything. He then asked another question, "Did you really delete Lu Tingfeng's contact information?"

Qi Bai shuddered and said with a sad face, "I've deleted it, I've really deleted it. Captain Xu, let's just forget about this. I swear to you, I will never tell Brother Lu a single word about Guan Xia again."

Xu Nian looked at the scenery outside the window in silence for a few seconds, then sighed, "I'm afraid it's too late now. From what I know about him, he might have already left for Yongquan City."

Qi Bai subconsciously shrank his neck, stepped on the accelerator a little harder, and couldn't help but retort, "No... is it that serious? I really just said a few words to Brother Lu while chatting, and didn't specifically mention Guan Xia's situation. Brother Lu wouldn't come all the way back for this, right?"

Xu Nian said in a low voice, "You and I are different from him. We haven't been in that situation yet, so we'll never understand his thoughts and actions. But I've put myself in his shoes. If I couldn't find the truth after giving it my all, even resorting to any means necessary, I would grasp at any glimmer of hope."

Qi Bai also fell silent, and said somewhat frustratedly: "Captain Xu, did I make a big mistake?"

The car was silent for a long time. After a while, Xu Nian spoke, "You should pay more attention from now on. If you find that Lu Tingfeng has really returned to Yongquan City, notify me immediately."

Qi Bai cheered up and replied "OK".

It was already the evening rush hour, and even though Qi Bai turned on the police lights, it still took him more than 20 minutes to get back to the scene.

As soon as he got off the car, Xu Nian found Jiang Yingyao and asked, "What's the situation now, Brother Jiang?"

Jiang Yingyao said: "Director Ren is in charge of searching the mountain. We've brought in all the idle officers from the branch office and called in the police station for support. Infrared drones are also on the way. We haven't caught anyone yet, but Jiang Chuntao will definitely not escape."

Xu Nian took a look at the wild mountains. People kept going into the mountains and people kept going to gather. The yard, which was originally a few hundred meters away from the village, was very spacious, but now it was full of parked cars.

With Director Ren in charge of the overall situation, Xu Nian was naturally not worried and only asked about the situation on the scene.

Jiang Yingyao said, "Based on the unusual vegetation conditions in the wasteland, we have dug in four areas and found all the remaining body parts of four of the deceased. We have only found half of the fifth deceased."

Xu Nian frowned. "So Luo Shun did dispose of the fifth victim, but it hasn't been discovered yet?"

Jiang Yingyao also found it strange. "Normally, a murderer would perfect their killing techniques as they continued killing, leaving fewer clues as they went on. It doesn't make sense that the body parts of the last four victims were all found, but not the ones before. If there really was such a perfect place, Luo Shun would have dumped them all in one place. The fact that he kept changing the location of the bodies later on meant he knew the previous ones weren't as discreet."

Xu Nian frowned and thought without saying anything.

Jiang Yingyao thought for a while and then became too lazy to think about it anymore, so he simply said, "Anyway, the suspect has been arrested. No matter how stubborn this guy is, he'll be able to break it down sooner or later. Then we'll know."

Xu Nian still frowned and asked, "How is Luo Xiaoyun?"

Jiang Yingyao said, "She was taken to the hospital. She was indeed unconscious from sleeping pills. I have asked someone to take her statement. According to her, her parents go out to sell vegetables every day, leaving early and returning late. She also has to go to school every day. During the holidays, she is basically at home alone, only occasionally helping her parents. She only knows that her parents are selling vegetables, and she doesn't know anything else."

Qi Bai laughed out loud when he heard this. "What did I say before? This kid is not a fool. If he really knows nothing, then he really knows something."

Jiang Yingyao said helplessly: "I know she must know something, but she is only eleven years old. What can we do to her?"

Qi Bai opened his mouth in frustration, but couldn't utter a word for a long time.

Jiang Yingyao patted Qi Bai on the shoulder comfortingly, looked at Xu Nian and said, "But I asked someone to check on Jiang Chuntao, and I did find something."

Xu Nian and Qi Bai looked over, and Jiang Yingyao said, "Jiang Chuntao was born in 1980. Before marrying Luo Shun, she had a previous husband. Even more coincidental, her previous husband disappeared in 2014."

Xu Nian and Qi Bai looked at each other subconsciously, both thought of something, and their expressions were a little surprised.

Xu Nian asked, "Has the DNA from the fifth victim's blood been matched with Luo Xiaoyun's?"

Jiang Yingyao nodded and said, "It has been sent to the technical team for comparison. We'll have to wait for the results."

Qi Bai breathed a sigh of relief. Besides being surprised, he was also a little shocked. "Luo Shun is a ruthless man, and Jiang Chuntao is... not much less so."