Chapter 197 197 It really feels like the beginning of a horror movie...
The temperature dropped at the end of September, but it still carried the residual heat of early autumn. Guan Xia sat in the seat, constantly observing the scenery along the road as the car moved forward.
Just reading the words on paper would only leave a vague impression. Now that they were getting closer and closer to the village where Wu Yang and his friends came from, Guan Xia finally understood. No wonder he was able to make the villagers rich. The money Li Feng brought back was one reason, and the other was that the village's geographical location was not that good, but it was not bad either. It was backed by green mountains and faced a small river. It was not as good as some scenic spots, but it also had a kind of quiet and indifferent beauty. If he hadn't come here to investigate the case, just looking at the river surface shimmering in the sun in the distance would have been really refreshing.
However, as they got closer to the village, Guan Xia couldn't help but feel a little doubtful.
She glanced at the village, which was already faintly visible, and asked, "Speaking of which, isn't it best for a typical murderer to keep a low profile after killing someone? Ideally, he should live in seclusion, away from the public, to avoid detection of his hidden remains. Why is this Li Feng doing the opposite, turning this once unremarkable village into a niche tourist attraction? Isn't he worried about people noticing something unusual with all the people coming and going?"
After Guan Xia finished speaking, she looked at Xu Nian out of habit.
Xu Nian received Guan Xia's bewildered look and explained with a slight smile, "He's working so hard to develop the village because he's afraid. Once a village becomes isolated and backward, it means many eyes will be watching no matter what happens. Think about it, Li Feng has so much to talk about, whether it's surviving the fire, his later experience in the orphanage, and the fact that he returned with a large sum of money to build six houses at once. If he doesn't find a way to divert the villagers' attention, no matter how well he hides it, over the years, the secret he's trying so hard to conceal will eventually be discovered."
Guan Xia thought about what Xu Nian said. Indeed, although she grew up in the city, she also knew that there were no secrets in the village, especially for someone like Li Feng, who had countless halos around him. As long as he took root in the village for one day, there would be a lot of people curious about his experience.
Guan Xia's words broke the quiet atmosphere in the car. Wang Yu was studying a map. Upon hearing this, she turned around and handed the map to Qi Bai, who was very close to her, saying, "Take another look at the layout of the village. It's not far from getting off the car. You should disguise yourself if you can. Especially Qi Bai, it's not like you haven't done missions before. Why are you being so shy? Be more open, otherwise Li Feng will become suspicious as soon as he sees you."
Qi Bai took the map and looked at it while muttering, "I don't want to be shy. Zhong Xiaoyu's aura is really too scary. I'm really afraid that if I get too close to her, she'll twist my head off."
Everyone subconsciously looked towards Zhong Xiaoyu, only to see her sitting by the window with her arms folded, wearing sunglasses and looking indifferent, as if to say, "If I'm unhappy, don't mess with me."
Wang Yu didn't comfort Qi Bai, but instead criticized him, "Captain Xu is absolutely right. Can't you see that? Zhong Xiaoyu has already immersed herself in the role, but you're still stupidly out of it. You should adjust yourself quickly and stop acting like you don't know her well and can't wait to stay eight hundred meters away from her."
Qi Bai seemed to come to his senses after being reminded by Wang Yu. He looked at Zhong Xiaoyu with some resentment, then lowered his head and looked at the map hard.
Guan Xia had already memorized the key places marked by Wang Yu on the map, so she was not interested at all. She simply opened her mobile phone and pulled out the photos of Li Feng and Li Miao, and looked at them carefully, hoping to recognize them at first sight.
A group of people in the car were busy and were about to reach the village entrance. Wang Yu reminded everyone. Except for Guan Xia and Pang Le, the expressions of everyone else changed immediately, especially Xu Nian. I don’t know how he did it, his face was still the same, but he looked a little weaker, with his brows slightly frowned, as if he was enduring something.
After more than ten minutes, the minibus finally drove into the parking lot of a holiday resort.
Guan Xia got out of the car and looked around as usual. She found that although there were still several days before the National Day holiday, the parking lot was already mostly full. Looking out from the hollow fence that was less than two meters high, she could see several tourists walking slowly on the cobblestone path, eating snacks in their hands and looking around.
"It seems that this place has developed very well." Guan Xia said casually, took his suitcase from Jiang Yingyao, and followed Pang Le to the lobby of the holiday villa.
Wang Yu waved a small red flag and walked to the front to remind everyone not to fall behind. When he reached the check-in counter, he walked to the side and stared at several people queuing up to check in.
Guan Xia and Pang Le were the first in line. When they handed over their ID cards, Pang Le pretended to be curious and asked, "Excuse me, what are the specialties here? I just saw a few people holding several kinds of snacks in the parking lot. Do you have a snack street here?"
The staff at the information desk took a moment out of their busy schedule to look up at Pang Le and replied with a smile, "There is a snack street and a night market, but they are not in the village. You can find them by walking along the road at the entrance of the village and then turning right."
Pang Le said thank you sweetly, and Guan Xia followed up with another question, "Besides the snack street and night market, are there any other places you recommend? Is the riverside fun? I saw online that there's rafting and boat rides available?"
The staff member smiled and said, "We do have rafting, but it's not in the river. You have to go up the mountain. The river flows very slowly, so you can only take a boat. You can also fish. If you catch any fish, you can bring it back and have it cooked in the kitchen. There's only a small fee for the cooking."
Guan Xia nodded secretly after hearing this. No wonder this village has been able to develop. It has indeed utilized every possible resource to the extreme.
Several people checked in smoothly. Because Wang Yu made a reservation in advance, the rooms were all on the same floor and right next to each other at the back. The rooms on the left side of the corridor could see the entire village and the river, while the rooms on the right side could see the green mountains not far away. The view was good and it would not be easy to miss anything if something happened.
Taking advantage of the short break, Guan Xia quickly changed and went out for a while, ostensibly to play, but actually to observe the terrain and identify the target person's clothes. Then he stood in front of the window openly and began to overlook the entire village.
They lived on the fourth floor, which was neither too high nor too low, and they could see most of the village.
Pang Le also changed into a skirt and outerwear. Standing next to Guan Xia, she looked around and said, "Look on the right, at the villa area near the river bend. If I remember correctly, the house of Li Feng and the other six people that Wang Yu marked on the map is right there."
Guan Xia also saw that the villa area was very small, with only six buildings. It was located near the end of the village and was obviously far away from other residents in the village. Moreover, the walls of each house were obviously higher than those of other residents, as if they were afraid of being peeped.
Guan Xia counted, and paused when she reached three, staring intently, but asked, "The third villa from the left to the right, the one with the peach tree in the yard, must be Li Feng's family, right?"
Pang Le said yes, and was about to continue speaking, but stopped. After a few seconds, he said hesitantly: "Look, is there someone standing on the second floor of Li Feng's house? It feels like a person to me."
Guan Xia shifted her gaze upon hearing this. After only two seconds of staring intently, she said with certainty, "It's a person. Judging from her clothes, it's a woman, not a man. That must be Li Feng's daughter, Li Miao."
It's no wonder Pang Le hesitated. Li Miao's behavior was really strange. She was clearly in her own home, but she was hiding in the gap between two curtains, revealing only half of her figure, as if she was looking outside. If it weren't for the fact that she was wearing a somewhat conspicuous red dress and had long hair draped over her shoulders, it would be impossible to tell whether she was a man or a woman from such a distance.
"Li Miao is at home, that's really good news," Pang Le said, "but judging from her condition and what Wang Yu found out about her personality, she's a bit of a homebody. It seems we'll have to make some efforts to see her."
"Today is Saturday," Pang Le continued, "Tomorrow is Sunday, and she will go back to work the day after tomorrow. We have to hurry."
Guan Xia looked at the figure and shook her head thoughtfully. "No rush. If we rush, we'll easily alert the enemy. We haven't met Li Miao yet, and we don't know what her true character is like. We also don't know how deep her relationship with Li Feng is. If they are very close, we could easily be discovered by Li Feng if we rashly test him. We can then destroy the body and remove the evidence."
Pang Le nodded and fell into deep thought. After a moment, he asked Guan Xia, "Do you think Li Feng really built Li Song's body into the wall? Is it possible that he simply buried it in the ground, or buried it deep in the mountains and forests?"
Pang Le analyzed, "This village seems to be well developed now, but in 2003, it must have been very isolated and backward. There are many places to bury the body. If it is buried near his home, it would be fine. If it is buried in the mountains, we will have a hard time finding it."
Guan Xia thought about it carefully, then quickly shook his head again and said, "It's unlikely. He just returned to the village, and the villagers are very curious about him at this time. No matter what he does, there must be many eyes watching him. In addition, the mountain behind the village is well developed. Not only is it a place for tourists to pick fruits, but there are also rafting projects. There are people coming and going. If the bones were really buried in the ground, they would be easily discovered. I don't know if you have noticed that many people in this village keep dogs. Almost every house has a dog tied at the door, so people can't find it. Isn't he afraid that the dog will dig up the bones?"
Pang Le said: "Indeed, if there really is a corpse, it would most likely be in his home."
The two of them were analyzing the situation back and forth when they heard Wang Yu knock on the door and call out to them, "Are you two ready? We're leaving."
Guan Xia replied that she would be there right away, then took out her cell phone from the package. When she was about to leave, she thought about it and decided to open the window. When she opened the window, she found that the red figure on the second floor of Li Feng's house had disappeared, but appeared in the yard, sitting on a white swing, swinging while looking down at her cell phone seriously.
Guan Xia always felt that Li Miao's behavior was a little strange, and couldn't help but look at him a few more times.
Pang Le had already walked to the door, but seeing her standing by the window, unwilling to leave, he walked back and looked out along her line of sight, saying, "Speaking of which, why does she like to dress like a female ghost? It's really a bit scary at first glance."
Guan Xia was reminded by Pang Le's words and then she realized why she thought Li Miao looked strange. It was because her dress was too unique.
Not only did she have long straight black hair, it completely covered her face when she looked down at her phone. Add to that the bright red, loose-fitting dress she was wearing, and as she swung on the swing, it really gave people the feeling of watching the beginning of a horror movie.
As Guan Xia watched, his heart moved, and he excitedly activated the vision sharing system. The good news was that Li Miao's soul light ball was extremely pure and not stained with blood. The bad news was that in the two-story villa behind Li Miao, there was a soul light ball wrapped in blood and its original color was almost unrecognizable. Without a doubt, that was Li Feng.
Guan Xia was not surprised by what she saw. After all, they had suspected Li Feng was a member of that criminal organization from the beginning. Even though he was suspected to have retired in 2007, the murders of Li Song and his missing wife alone were already two lives.
However, what surprised Guan Xia was that in addition to Li Feng, who was a blood-colored soul light ball, there were three smaller soul light balls wrapped in blood at a distance from him.
Guan Xia was stunned and quickly closed the shared vision, and then found that the three blood-colored soul light balls were scattered among the residents of the village.
Guan Xia subconsciously fell into deep thought, not knowing whether these three people were also related to the criminal organization, or had nothing to do with it at all, and it was just that the hidden murderer was discovered by her.
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