Chapter 1 A Philosophical Question

Plato once proposed a very famous philosophical proposition.

Zhou Ze felt that one more should be added to make it more appropriate.

That is:

"Who am I?

Where do I come from?

Where am I going?

Have I been cuckolded?"

Boss Zhou believed that this question would make Lao Zhang think for a long time and even worry about premature hair loss.

The reason for raising this question was that Boss Zhou was people-oriented and showed concern for his subordinates.

Lao Zhang didn't ponder for long. The security guard opened the gate, and everyone got back into the car, drove in, turned a corner, and stopped in front of a row of townhouses.

"It's this one."

Said a police officer from the police station.

"Go knock on the door."

Officer Chen ordered directly.

With her status, even the director of the Tongcheng Public Security Bureau had to treat her with courtesy. Besides, Lao Zhang had seen her refuting those leaders who said they should be mindful of public opinion and social reaction in the conference room without any reservation.

Two police officers went to ring the doorbell.

After waiting for a long time, no one opened the door.

"Is no one home?" Lao Zhang wondered. "Or did they go out to look for the child?"

"It shouldn't be. There are two cars parked on the roadside outside, both owned by the Zhu family.

One is Zhu Chenhao's car, and the other is his wife Wang Jiali's car. If they went to work or look for the child, they would have driven out."

"You remembered the license plate numbers?"

Zhou Ze asked with some surprise.

Officer Chen raised her finger and tapped her forehead, indicating that everything was in her mind.

But she had only glanced at Zhang Yanfeng's phone earlier.

A terrifying woman.

If anyone were with her,

and went out for a little tryst, as soon as he stood in front of her after coming back, she could probably analyze the mistress's height and preferred position.

"Also, the French window of the living room behind the fence is open."

Officer Chen pointed to the other side and said,

"The girl fainted on South Street Pedestrian Street by herself. I'm starting to suspect that the child may not have been separated from her family.

Because whether it involves child abuse or not, it's impossible to watch the child get lost and not care. We've been in the pharmacy for so long, and no one has come looking for her."

"So?"

"So, I think the child may have run away by herself and wandered aimlessly to South Street. This place is really not far from South Street, and the child is not in good health, and the weather is hot today, so she fainted."

Officer Chen paused and continued:

"I've seen the child. She's already numb and has been abused for a long time. She's even used to it. She shouldn't be like other children who run away from home in a fit of anger after being beaten and scolded."

"So?"

"So, I think something might have happened in this family."

Officer Chen looked at the police officers from the police station beside her and said, "Be careful when you go in later, and try not to disturb the scene."

"Disturb the scene?" Zhou Ze felt a little absurd.

Damn it,

you can tell there's a crime scene inside just by standing at the door?

Is it that amazing?

Boss Zhou didn't know that Officer Chen was the one who overturned the old Taoist case, using ordinary people's thinking to narrate the case with normal logical thinking, bypassing the real supernatural phenomena.

Everyone was very careful when they went in. They didn't force the door open, nor did they call the property management to open the door. Instead, they went in through the French window. When they went in, everyone tried to walk close to the window.

After entering,

Zhou Ze suddenly frowned. He smelled a faint fragrance in the house. The fragrance was a little strange, a bit similar to the scent of the manjusaka (red spider lily), but definitely not the smell of the manjusaka.

It was faint, but very fragrant, and very refreshing, and it didn't smell like sandalwood.

Everything in the living room was normal.

It was cleaned spotlessly, and the furnishings inside also revealed a simple style, reflecting the owner's taste.

Everyone walked to a room at the corner of the living room, which seemed to be the source of the fragrance.

"You guys, go upstairs and check the other rooms."

Officer Chen said to several police officers from the police station.

"But, we don't have a search warrant..." One officer said with some embarrassment.

Entering this house was already a bit of a violation of the rules. Besides, those who lived in this high-end residential area all had backgrounds and status, unlike those who were forcibly evicted.

If their homes were really broken into, there might be a lot of subsequent trouble.

"You've all seen what the child looks like. We're not trespassing, and it's not the time to apply for a search warrant. We received a call from the informant..."

As she said that, Officer Chen pointed to Zhou Ze, which was also why she insisted on bringing Zhou Ze along.

"Now, we're here to investigate a suspected case of child abuse. We're facing the home of a criminal suspect. Are you satisfied with this explanation?"

The police officers immediately stopped talking and went to search the other rooms and upstairs according to the order, although they themselves didn't know what to look for.

Officer Chen put on her gloves before opening the door.

After the door was pushed open, the fragrance became even stronger.

Zhou Ze stood at the door, looking inside.

He found that this room had been completely transformed. It was not a guest room at all, but looked like a small temple compartment.

Inside was a statue of the Guanyin (Goddess of Mercy) who brings children,

Guanyin with open arms,

kind and benevolent,

caring about the suffering of the world.

On the offering table in front of the statue were seven oil lamps.

The smell just now actually came from the lamp oil, and something must have been added to it, so the smell was so strange.

In front of the offering table was also a picture, which depicted two ancient men in tall hats holding shackles. In front of them was a baby, a boy.

Because the picture was drawn with a brush, the physical characteristics of the boy were described in great detail, so there was no mistaking the gender.

"I've seen this painting." Officer Chen frowned. "This is the Picture of Ghost Messengers Delivering a Son."

The two men looked at each other,

feeling an absurd emotion in their hearts.

We can deliver children?

Why don't we know that we have this function?

"This is a folk legend from a certain place. It is said that there was a wealthy and benevolent family who always wanted a son to inherit the family business, but this family kept giving birth to daughters.

In that era, not having a male heir to carry on the family line was a very serious matter.

One of the daughters of this family knew that her father and the other wives were worried about this, and she felt guilty because she was a daughter, believing that the sin was on her.

Therefore, she mutilated her body every night, hoping to atone for her sins.

Later, she moved two ghost messengers, who sent a reincarnated boy.

One of the concubines of this benevolent man finally became pregnant and gave birth to a boy, and the story had a happy ending."

"This story is really twisted." Zhou Ze sighed.

"Many ancient stories are like this. I saw the sign 'Listen to it as you will, as I have heard' hanging at your door. You must have read Ji Xiaolan's *Notes from the Yuewei Cottage*, right?"

Zhou Ze nodded.

"There are many things in it about the three obediences and four virtues, and the three cardinal guides and five constant virtues. Many stories and the author's own comments, if placed now, are actually views that the public cannot accept and will definitely be severely criticized.

Just like the story in this painting, the daughter mutilates herself, and the author judges it as fulfilling her filial duty and is a commendable behavior;

even moved two moronic ghost messengers."

"............" Zhou Ze.

"............" Zhang Yanfeng.

Clapping her hands,

Officer Chen stood up straight, smiled, and said:

"Perhaps, this can explain why that girl has so many scars on her body and has suffered such severe abuse."

"You mean, this family abused the girl because they wanted to have a son?"

Zhang Yanfeng found it a bit incredible.

"Never underestimate the bottom line of human ignorance and selfishness.

It has nothing to do with poverty, wealth, or education."

The three of them walked out of this room, and the other police officers also ran over.

"Report, there is no one in the house."

"No one was found upstairs either."

"Did they run away when they saw the police car?" Officer Chen frowned, "That shouldn't be."

The fact that they committed child abuse shows that this family is crazy and paranoid. Would such a family be scared away by a police car?

But the cars are all at home, the French window is open, and the girl herself ran away.

Where did this family go?

"Investigate it. Zhu Chenhao, Wang Jiali, go to their workplaces and ask, and also retrieve the surveillance footage from the residential area. In addition, I just saw the family portrait in the living room. This family should be a family of four, and there are old-fashioned women's shoes in the shoe cabinet at the door. Zhu Chenhao's mother should also be living in this house with her son."

Zhang Yanfeng nodded immediately, picked up his phone and started making calls.

Zhou Ze stretched his waist. Now that the culprit and the reason have been found, the rest is how to punish this scum family.

After all, it's a family, a couple and an old woman, although I don't know where they ran off to. Maybe they're visiting relatives? Maybe they went shopping? Didn't drive for other reasons?

Zhou Ze shook his head.

Forget it,

with Lao Zhang and this amazing female police officer here, there's no need for me to waste my brain cells.

Zhou Ze stood in front of the living room sofa,

spread his arms,

and leaned back casually.

That's how he sits on the sofa in the Late Night Bookstore,

striking a standard Ge You slouch,

just another day of being a salted fish.

Only,

this time,

when Zhou Ze sat down on the sofa,

the leather sofa was like a sponge soaked in water being squeezed,

and began to frantically spray out what it had absorbed into its "body".

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!!!!!!"

Patches of blood mist were sprayed out from inside the sofa due to the pressure of Zhou Ze's weight.

In an instant,

the smooth and clean floor tiles of the living room

were dyed with a dazzling scarlet color...