She Disappeared (5)

A black bug attached to Meng Siqi's arm was quickly wiped off by Zhao Leiting with his palm.

Meng Siqi straightened up, startled by his sudden action.

"Mountain locust!" Zhao Lei Ting explained, "This thing sucks blood." He pointed to the leaves next to her.

Meng Siqi was in poor physical condition and seemed a little dull, but he suddenly became sober when he heard the word "blood-sucking".

She looked at the leaves beside her and saw a long black insect that was slightly thinner than a chopstick and had faint watermelon patterns. It was covered in mucus and was stretching its body infinitely, trying to crawl onto Meng Siqi.

"Ah..." Almost at the same time, Meng Siqi jumped up and ran forward, leaving Zhao Lei Ting with a blank and dazed look.

Li Ping was walking in front and probably heard something. He turned around and said with a smile, "This mountain locust is elusive and you never know when it will crawl onto you. Sometimes, no matter how tight your clothes are, they can't protect you from it. But it's not life-threatening."

Mainly, Meng Siqi was not worried about his life, he just thought this kind of thing was particularly disgusting.

At noon, it was finally time to take a break. Meng Siqi didn't dare sit down, for fear of encountering some locusts without anyone noticing, so she had to eat dry food and drink water while standing.

Her eyes were stunned when she drank the water. She saw with her own eyes Feng Shaomin and several investigators picking the mountain locusts from her ankles and wrists. The mountain locusts immediately curled up and were thrown far away.

They were cursing but their expressions looked relaxed, as if they had just crushed a mosquito, but a bright red bloody wound was left on their skin in an instant.

At that moment, Meng Siqi felt her scalp tingling. She felt uncomfortable all over her body and felt very uncomfortable.

Without taking much rest, the group continued to move forward. At around 1 p.m., they finally finished the route into the mountain and arrived at the final coordinates drawn by Teng Fei.

Although it was covered by dead leaves and vines, Meng Siqi immediately saw the tent rotten in the ground. This should be the place where Teng Fei and Liu Yuwei camped that night.

To be honest, she couldn't even imagine it. Wouldn't it be scary to sleep in such a place at night? How did Liu Yuwei feel at that time when there were insects all over the mountain?

The investigators moved forward, cutting off some small branches and pulling out the growing vines, and the area gradually opened up.

In fact, it is a relatively flat place. If it is tidied up a bit, it can be used as a place to stay overnight.

In her mind, she even imagined Teng Fei's painstaking efforts to repair the land with a knife. Liu Yuwei must have been standing beside him and watching him. She must have been as tired as she was, but her heart must have been filled with happiness.

“Found this.”

"Korean team, we have found something."

The investigators found a lot of things in this area, including a lighting lamp, cigarette butts, cans, a machete, and a women's electronic watch.

"This should be Liu Yuwei's watch." Feng Shaomin wiped the dirt off the watch and said, "Liu Yuwei seems to be wearing this in the photo."

"That's right, this is where Teng Fei and Liu Yuwei stayed." Han Changlin said affirmatively.

Zhao Leiting and a reconnaissance comrade were checking the tent. Although it was rotten, there might be some clues inside.

"Huh!" Zhao Lei Ting discovered something and picked up a dirty little thing.

Unable to tell what it was, Meng Siqi was about to go over to take a look when Zhao Leiting spoke up, "Team Korea, it's a condom."

Meng Siqi's footsteps stopped suddenly, there was no need to watch anymore.

"This kid said he didn't do anything that night..." Tang Xiaochuan sneered.

Feng Shaomin said, "Why do you care about these things?"

Meng Siqi felt that people didn't seem to be very interested in this evidence. The reason was probably very simple: it had been too long and no value could be extracted from it.

In this era, DNA technology was not widely used and could not be used as a means of detection. A condom that had long since rotted could not prove anything. At most, it could prove that Teng Fei and Liu Yuwei stayed here that night.

The search was almost complete. Han Changlin put his hands on his waist, as if thinking. Feng Shaomin stepped forward and said, "Captain Han, do you suspect that Liu Yuwei was killed here that night?"

Meng Siqi listened to it and thought in his heart that that night was indeed the best time to commit the crime. If Liu Yuwei was really murdered that night, it is entirely possible that Teng Fei deliberately created confusion and threw one of Liu Yuwei's shoes into the nearby waterfall.

Han Changlin should have thought of this long ago, otherwise, he would not have asked everyone to search carefully along the way. He shouted out instructions: "Everyone listen carefully, we will use this location as the center of the circle and search carefully within a one-kilometer radius. Turn on the intercom and report any findings immediately."

It would be difficult for someone with Teng Fei's physique to carry a corpse and walk in this thorny forest, so one kilometer should be the limit.

Everyone agreed and divided into four groups to conduct a carpet search of the surrounding area. Meng Siqi's group headed south, led by Feng Shaomin, Zhao Leiting and a reconnaissance comrade, a total of four people, and a police dog whose main task was to carry out the search.

After walking about 300 meters, we heard the sound of water. It should be the waterfall that Teng Fei mentioned. We continued to move forward in the direction of the waterfall. The police dog worked very seriously, almost following the instructions of the investigating comrades and not missing a single place.

Except Meng Siqi, who didn't have a walkie-talkie, Feng Shaomin and the others all brought one. At this time, there were some crackling sounds coming from the walkie-talkies, and they were all confirming the situation with each other. Han Changlin was asking, "Old Feng, I received the answer."

Feng Shaomin replied: "The Korean team was almost at the waterfall and didn't find it."

"Okay, keep looking."

As the police dog was working diligently, Feng Shaomin suddenly pointed and asked, "What is that?"

Everyone's heart was lifted. Meng Siqi looked in the direction Feng Shaomin pointed and found something red in the grass.

Zhao Lei Ting was the first to go up and push away the leaves. In his hand, he found a flattened drink bottle covered in mud.

Peeling off the mud on the drink bottle, Feng Shaomin said, "It's probably not left by the suspect. It might have been discarded by someone else."

After walking for a while, we finally arrived at the waterfall. Several people were standing by the waterfall, all of them seemed to be thinking about something.

This waterfall is not as turbulent as a waterfall that drops three thousand feet straight down. It should be a stream where mountain springs converge and fall quietly here. Looking down, the water at the bottom of the waterfall is very green, which should be a very deep pool.

At that time, the rescue team conducted an in-depth search at the bottom of the waterfall pool and the downstream waters before finding a shoe. If Liu Yuwei really fell, it is unknown whether any accident occurred at the bottom of the pool.

Why did she go near the waterfall?

Meng Siqi thought about the terrain structure and concluded that if she wanted to fall into the deep pool, there was only one possibility: she must have wanted to wade upstream from the waterfall to the other side.

There was lush green on the opposite side, and Meng Siqi's eyes lit up. She found a bright red area, as if a different color block was mixed in with the green block. Was it a cluster of flowers?

So Liu Yuwei wanted to wade across the water to pick flowers? She remembered that Teng Fei had mentioned that Liu Yuwei might have come to this area to pick flower dew, which meant that Liu Yuwei might have discovered the flower clusters.

"What kind of flower is that?" Zhao Lei Ting also noticed it and asked, pointing his finger at the piece of color.

Everyone looked over there, as if they were lost in thought again.

There was a constant chattering in the intercom, but now it sounded lifeless, like a lullaby.

Suddenly, a thunderous voice rang out from the intercom: "White Bones..."

"It's human bones!"

“Important discovery!”

"Less than a thousand meters to the north..."

Then, Han Changlin's excited voice was heard: "Two forensic comrades, go over and take a look first. We will be there soon."

This voice made everyone present tense. Feng Shaomin's first voice was full of excitement: "We finally found it. Let's go over there right away."

As expected, Teng Fei deliberately set up confusion by hiding the body in the north, but drawing everyone's attention to the waterfall in the south. Even Meng Siqi felt a little scared.

Because they had discovered an important clue, everyone's pace became faster. Meng Siqi even forgot the pain from the thorns and jogged with them towards the north.

When they arrived, there were already quite a few people gathered there. Meng Siqi was panting and trailed behind, bending over and catching her breath for a long time. She was afraid of these things and had never seen bones with her own eyes, but she still mustered up the courage to go forward and explore.

Through the gaps between people, she saw a corpse lying outside a huge pit that had been dug. The bones were not white, but dark black because they were mixed with wet soil and rotten leaves. There were also cloth residues on the bones. There were also detectives digging out broken bones in the pit.

Two male forensic doctors in police uniforms were arranging the corpse on the ground, and it had already taken about half of the human shape.

Han Changlin squatted beside the corpse, concentrating on the key clues on the ground.

At this time, the wind was blowing and the sound of cranes was heard in the forest. It was already dusk and the sunlight had become stingy, hardly penetrating in. The tangling and collision of leaves made a very strange sound.

Meng Siqi pursed her lips and withdrew from the view of the corpse. She stood aside waiting for the results of the examination.

She suddenly heard the medical examiner say, "Captain Han, this pelvis doesn't look right."

"What do you mean?"

"It looks like a man's pelvis."

The air suddenly became silent, and Han Changlin did not respond.

After a long while he said, "Are you sure?"

"This is indeed a man's pelvis. The features are very obvious. You can see that the pelvis is narrow, the structure in the pelvis is long and thin, and the pubic features are obviously that of an adult male."

Another forensic doctor added: "The skull showed signs of being damaged by a blunt weapon. It is possible that the victim was killed with a blunt weapon and buried here. Also, judging by the degree of decay on the surface of the corpse, it should not have been seven months ago. It may have been even longer."

Deputy Captain Qi of the Qindong City Criminal Police Brigade happened to be here, so Han Changlin hurriedly asked, "Captain Qi, have you had any people missing in the canyon in Qindong City in recent years?"

"In recent years, there are indeed many missing persons who have not been found, but it is hard to say exactly how many." Deputy Captain Qi, who was squatting next to Han Changlin, shook off the dirt on his hands and looked at Han Changlin and said, "Captain Han, I was just thinking of discussing with you whether this corpse can be taken back by our Qindong Police Team for investigation?"

Han Changlin paused for a moment before answering: "That's fine. After all, this was also found in your Qindong City. Maybe it can help you solve a case."

"That's right." Deputy Captain Qi replied.

Zhao Lei Ting also retreated from the crowd. Meng Siqi could see the complex emotions on his face. He was obviously relieved, but also quite disappointed.

The discovery of this corpse was indeed an accidental gain, and it might be the answer to another unsolved case, but there is no news of Liu Yuwei.

*

It was already 10 o'clock in the evening when they returned. Meng Siqi was drowsy in the car. After sending Li Ping home, she said to Zhao Leiting, "I'll go back to the bureau. It's on my way."

"You can sleep well in the bureau."

"I don't want to go home tonight."

It was obvious that everyone was very tired. Zhao Leiting yawned and headed towards the police station holding the steering wheel.

The next day, Feng Shaomin suggested searching near the waterfall again, but was rejected by Han Changlin. Feng Shaomin then did not mention it again. Everyone knew that the rescue team had searched the waterfall and the downstream area, and searching at the waterfall might be a directionless one.

Moreover, the waterfall and the downstream area are quite large, so a large amount of resources need to be applied for from the bureau, especially at a time when resources are extremely scarce.

A week later, the direction of the investigation seemed to be in trouble. Although during this period, Meng Siqi and Zhao Leiting visited Liu Yuwei's welfare home and explored Teng Fei's past experience, everything seemed to be unrelated to the clues.

The clues were completely cut off, and although some small cases investigated in parallel went smoothly, the anxiety on the faces of every member of Team 2 could not be wiped away.

After work that day, Director Han Lin unexpectedly invited everyone to have a meal together. This was an open-air food stall with quite a few customers. There was a case of beer on the table and everyone took two bottles.

Meng Siqi originally ordered tea, but suddenly he wanted to drink some beer, so he ordered a glass.

A few plates of barbecue were placed on the table. Han Changlin said, "It's been a long time since we had dinner together. I should have treated you all a long time ago. You have all been working hard recently."

Everyone clinked their glasses together. Zhao Leiting said, "Team Korea, how can this be called hard work?"

"Yes, Korean team, this is what we should do," said Tang Xiaochuan.

"I suggest that we try not to talk about the case tonight, let's talk about happy things." Zhao Leiting said while drinking beer.

"That's a good suggestion." Han Changlin said with a smile, "Zhao Leiting, you are 25 years old this year, right? I heard that you don't have a girlfriend yet."

"Hey, Korean team..." Zhao Leiting blushed for the first time, not knowing whether it was the effect of alcohol or embarrassment. He poured wine for Han Changlin and said, "Can we not talk about this?"

Han Changlin said with a smile: "Lei Ting, your brother Feng knows a lot of good girls, why don't you ask him?"

Over there, Feng Shaomin put down his cup and said, "Tell me what you like."

Zhao Leiting's face flushed. He stood up, drank a whole glass of beer, and said, "I'll apologize first. I won't bother Brother Feng with my personal situation. I don't trust Brother Feng's judgment."

"Hehe." Tang Xiaochuan laughed.

"Goose..." Meng Siqi couldn't help laughing.

"If you don't tell me what you like, how do you know that I have poor taste?" Feng Shaomin retorted.

Zhao Leiting sat down and glanced at Tang Xiaochuan and Meng Siqi with a look of concern. His gaze suddenly stopped on Meng Siqi's smiling face. He hurriedly said, "I told you, I like Meng Siqi like this..."