Chapter 108 is strung together!
Qingshan District is very large and most of it is mountains.
The cemetery managed by Grandma Zheng is also in Qingshan District.
Xia Lili couldn't help but think of the ill-fated scene about Grandma Zheng. The thief who stole the tribute and was chased by Grandma Zheng was also wearing a pair of green labor protection rubber shoes.
This series of coincidences cannot be ignored.
She quickly opened the map on her phone to check the location of the cemetery that Grandma Zheng was guarding.
Xia Lili kept moving her fingertips to zoom in on the map. The rolling hills near Grandma Zheng's cemetery, to the northwest of these mountains was another prefecture-level city in Southeast Province, Yuanzhou City.
Yuanzhou City is home to tributaries of the Yuanchuan River.
Yuanchuan River is a big river, and it flows through the three provinces involved in the case!
Xia Lili carefully recalled the hallucination scene of Grandma Zheng falling, and suddenly remembered the call for help that Grandma Zheng made when she fell to the ground.
——Chen Guifu, are you patrolling the mountains?
Xia Lili was startled, her pupils contracted slightly, and her fingers unconsciously clenched the phone.
She tiptoed out of the conference room and called Grandma Zheng.
After the call was connected, her voice was low, but it couldn't hide her urgency: "Granny Zheng, you didn't encounter any thieves stealing tribute today, did you?"
As she spoke, her brows were furrowed and her lips were pressed into a line.
Grandma Zheng's voice came from the receiver, relaxed as usual: "No, it's not afternoon yet. I usually go up the mountain in the afternoon because the temperature is high in the afternoon."
Xia Lili's shoulders relaxed slightly upon hearing this. She licked her dry lips and asked quickly, "Grandma Zheng, is Chen Guifu, the forest firefighter I asked you about last time, anywhere near you now?"
Her fingers tapped unconsciously on the edge of the phone.
When Granny Zheng heard Xia Lili suddenly ask about Chen Guifu, she looked puzzled. "He's not working today. He's on vacation today and won't be patrolling the mountains until tomorrow."
Hearing that Chen Guifu was not going to work today, Xia Lili breathed a sigh of relief: "Can you give me his phone number? My sister's community office has something important to discuss with him."
Granny Zheng realized that the relevant department had something to ask her, so she quickly replied, "I'll give you his phone number now, please write it down."
Xia Lili quickly opened the memo on her phone: "Okay!"
After getting Chen Guifu's contact information, Xia Lili immediately called him.
The phone rang for half a minute before it was connected.
A middle-aged man answered the phone: "Hello, who is this? What can I do for you?"
Xia Lili made up an excuse to play the video call to the other party: "Hello, Mr. Chen, I am an acquaintance of Grandma Zheng."
"I have a fire extinguisher at work, and I don't know if I'm using it incorrectly or if it's broken. I heard you're a forest firefighter, so I'd like to ask you for advice."
Fearing the other party would refuse, Xia Lili hurriedly said, "I'm in a hurry here because I have to give a fire demonstration to hundreds of people. I'd like to give you a red envelope as a reward. Is that okay with you?"
Chen Guifu agreed.
Three minutes later, the two added each other on WeChat.
Xia Lili immediately found the fire hydrant in the police station and made a video call to Chen Guifu.
The video call was connected, and a sturdy, dark-skinned middle-aged man wearing an apron appeared on the screen. The background behind him looked like he was preparing to cook in the kitchen.
Almost the moment the video was connected, Xia Lili met the other party's eyes and immediately felt dizzy.
In the hallucination, Chen Guifu and a young colleague were patrolling the mountains.
Suddenly his cell phone rang. When he answered the phone, it was Grandma Zheng calling for help, saying that she had fallen.
What Grandma Zheng said on the phone was exactly the same as the hallucination of Grandma Zheng that Xia Lili had seen before.
Granny Zheng said on the phone: "Run to the southwest now, maybe you can intercept him on the way!"
Chen Guifu immediately instructed his colleagues: "Grandma Zheng fell while chasing a thief who stole tribute. Call an ambulance immediately."
People like Zheng who often go to the mountains carry GPS locators with them.
"I'm going to catch that thief and give him a good beating."
Afterwards, Chen Guifu chased in the direction described by Grandma Zheng.
As a forest ranger, Chen Guifu is very familiar with the mountain where the cemetery is located and has good climbing skills.
Running towards the southwest, Chen Guifu saw from afar a fast-moving black shadow moving between the mountains and forests.
Chen Guifu and the black shadow started a chase.
The next scene of the hallucination was that it was already half dark.
Chen Guifu could no longer run at this time. He walked slowly among the mountains and forests, holding the instrument for controlling the drone in his hand.
Forest firefighters are equipped with GPS locators and drones when on patrol.
Chen Guifu's young colleague called and reminded him to be careful: "Master, don't look for him anymore. Let him get away with this little thief."
"It's almost dark now, don't let anything happen to you in the mountains."
Chen Guifu responded, "I've been patrolling this mountain for twenty years. No one knows it better than me. What could possibly go wrong?"
"That person ran away as soon as he saw me. He was very strong, even stronger than me."
"If an ordinary thief had been chased by me for this long, he would have surrendered long ago. Stealing tribute would have been a warning at best. That person must be no ordinary person! He's definitely not a good person!"
"What if someone sets a fire in the mountains? It's autumn now, a high fire risk period. I will definitely catch them."
The apprentice on the other end of the phone responded obediently: "Master, please be careful."
Shortly after the call was hung up, the drone controlled by Chen Guifu roared over the top of the mountain.
The image captured by the drone made him shudder all over—among the densely packed grave mounds, there was a medium-sized travel bag lying there!
Scattered around were mineral water bottles, instant noodle boxes, and even an unfolded sleeping bag.
When the drone camera zoomed in, there seemed to be traces of human body indentations left in the sleeping bag.
"Someone lives here?!"
He gasped, his fingers unconsciously zooming in on the image, his attention focused on the phone screen.
Under the moonlight, a dark shadow approached silently.
The black shadow's baseball hat was pulled down low, revealing his eyes that shone coldly in the night, with his pupils distinctly black and white, like the eyes of some wild beast.
The man slowly raised the long metal pole in his hand.
"call out--"
A familiar, thin steel pipe shot out from the metal rod and pierced Chen Guifu's head.
Chen Guifu's whole body stiffened, and as the steel pipe was taken back by the murderer, he fell into a pool of blood.
The drone's remote control was also smashed.
His killer picked up his phone and sent a message to his colleagues: "Nothing unusual, I'm coming down the mountain."
The time on the phone screen is 19:48.
The illusion ends here.
Xia Lili's vision returned to normal and her pupils dilated.
The clues are connected!
The person that Granny Zheng was chasing on the mountain was not the thief who stole the tribute, but the murderer of the Cat's Eye serial murder case!
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