“How’s it going? Any suspicious individuals ruled out?”
At this moment, in a small alleyway amidst rental buildings in the western district, Niu Qiuling, accompanied by several police officers, was questioning landlords of these rental buildings. She shook her head, “None.”
Zhou Dong frowned and said, “It seems this Ba Qiang has strong counter-reconnaissance skills. He probably wouldn’t hide in a rented apartment.”
“Yes, these landlords verify tenants’ identification before allowing them to move in. If I were Ba Qiang, I’d look for a more secluded place with less strict control as a hiding spot!” Niu Qiuling guessed.
Zhou Dong nodded. Just then, his phone rang. It was Wu Lei calling, “Captain Zhou, there’s a situation. Please come to Zhushan Village immediately.”
“Alright.”
Zhou Dong’s heart leaped with joy; finally, there was a lead. He immediately led Niu Qiuling and the others to Zhushan Village in the western district. This place was coincidentally in the more secluded rural area of the western district.
Here, some residents also took in migrant workers, renting out their spare rooms. As a result, this place usually gathered all sorts of workers.
At this moment, Wu Lei and Huang Yongxin were talking to a woman in her fifties. As Zhou Dong and Niu Qiuling arrived, Wu Lei immediately said, “Captain Zhou, this is the landlady. She said a man rented a room from her a couple of days ago. I just showed her Ba Qiang’s photo, and she said it was him!”
“That’s great…”
Niu Qiuling was excited to finally find Ba Qiang’s whereabouts.
“However, that tenant didn’t come back last night.”
The landlady said, “When you came to search just now, I also opened his room. I only then discovered that his belongings were gone. He must have left.”
Zhou Dong asked, “When was the last time you saw him?”
The landlady thought for a moment, her eyes widening. “It was yesterday afternoon, around five o’clock. I saw him return once. As for when he left, I don’t know.”
Niu Qiuling, Wu Lei, and Huang Yongxin exchanged glances. “Captain Zhou, it seems Ba Qiang killed someone last night and then disappeared again.”
“Give me the map.”
With that, Huang Yongxin immediately took out his tablet and opened the map of the Zhushan Village area. Zhou Dong looked at the map and immediately spotted a lychee orchard to the west that could serve as a hiding place, surrounded by undeveloped woods. “Here, immediately mobilize personnel and conduct a thorough search of this area!”
“Yes…”
Niu Qiuling and Wu Lei responded and immediately went to gather people to search the lychee orchard woods on the small slope to the west…
Meanwhile, on the other side, Wan Yunting was still at Guan Hongyu’s motorcycle shop. The two had been busy for almost the entire afternoon. Guan Hongyu ordered takeout, and they were eating and chatting.
Just then, his phone rang. It was Gu Yuanbai. Wan Yunting answered immediately, “Hello, Old Gu.”
“Xiao Wan, there’s a meeting at the school this afternoon to discuss the association’s support policies for township health departments. So, you need to attend the meeting this afternoon.” Gu Yuanbai said on the phone.
“Mm, what time is the meeting?”
“Four o’clock in the afternoon.”
“Okay, I’ll be there shortly.”
After finishing the call with Gu Yuanbai, Wan Yunting sat next to Guan Hongyu, who unscrewed a bottle of mineral water and handed it to him. “If you have something to do, go take care of it. The renovation workers will be here soon, and I can handle things here.”
“Thanks.”
Wan Yunting took a sip of the mineral water he opened, smiled, and said, “Alright, contact me anytime if anything comes up.”
Guan Hongyu nodded. Wan Yunting then got up, “I’ll be heading back then. Oh, where’s the restroom?”
Guan Hongyu pointed to the backyard, “It’s in the back, the small door on the right.”
“Okay…”
Wan Yunting went to the backyard and indeed saw a yellow plastic door. After using the restroom, as he came out, Wan Yunting suddenly sensed an unusual aura. He couldn’t help but turn his head and look at a rusty iron plate on the ground in the corner of the restroom’s left wall. It immediately piqued his curiosity. Wan Yunting went over to examine the iron plate closely, which also had a handle.
It was obvious that there should be a space beneath this iron plate!
“Evil aura!”
As Wan Yunting squatted down, his face changed drastically. He confirmed that this unusual aura was indeed an evil aura.
His heart trembled. Looking at the large iron plate before him, how could an evil aura emanate from it? Moreover, this evil aura felt so familiar. Wan Yunting couldn’t help but reach out his hand, preparing to grab the handle on the iron plate to open it and verify his guess.
“Yunting!”
Suddenly, Guan Hongyu’s voice came from behind him. Seeing Wan Yunting’s hand already gripping the handle of the large iron plate, he smiled, “What are you doing?”
Wan Yunting’s expression froze. He released his hand from the handle, pointed at the large iron plate on the ground, turned his head, and asked with a smile, “Old Guan, what’s under here?”
Guan Hongyu walked over, grabbed the handle of the large iron plate without hesitation, and opened it directly. “It’s a well, but the landlady said it’s no longer in use.”
Wan Yunting paused. Looking at the well opening, about one meter in diameter, its depth unknown, a black void emitted a chilling aura, filling him with doubt!
Bang!
Suddenly, Guan Hongyu put the large iron plate back down and smiled, “What’s wrong? You’re acting strangely about a well.”
Wan Yunting was startled, his expression a little unnatural. He stood up and smiled, “No, I just felt this well was quite cool and wanted to take a look.”
Guan Hongyu, without revealing anything, smiled, “I thought you suspected me!”
Wan Yunting’s heart skipped a beat. Facing Guan Hongyu’s calm gaze, he reacted with a smile and waved his hand, “Oh, Old Guan, you’re really joking. What could I possibly suspect you of…”
Guan Hongyu turned and walked back into the shop, smiling, “A few murders have occurred in Huadu recently, and people who returned from Xizang are involved. And coincidentally, I’m from Xizang. The police have also been monitoring me for the past couple of days, and you’re working with the police. In fact, I can feel that you all consider me suspicious, right?”
Wan Yunting followed behind him but didn’t expect Guan Hongyu to be so frank, which made him feel a bit embarrassed.
Immediately, Guan Hongyu turned back, looked at him, and smiled, “The innocent will always be innocent. I’m not afraid of your investigation.”
Wan Yunting’s expression froze, and he immediately said, “Old Guan, I think you’ve misunderstood. We don’t suspect you of being the murderer. The police are just…”
“Alright, Yunting.”
Guan Hongyu waved his hand, interrupting him, and smiled, “If you need my cooperation, I will cooperate fully. You don’t need to hesitate; I understand.”
This made Wan Yunting feel even more embarrassed to continue. He nodded and smiled, “Okay, let’s not talk about this anymore. I need to get back.”
Guan Hongyu nodded and escorted him out of the shop. Wan Yunting smiled at him before getting into his car and driving away slowly. Immediately, his brow furrowed, and his expression turned solemn.
Although Guan Hongyu seemed frank and cleared himself of suspicion, Wan Yunting felt he was even more peculiar!
Especially that well!
Watching Wan Yunting’s car leave, Guan Hongyu, standing at the entrance, also had his expression turn solemn. He turned and went back into the shop, directly returning to the well in the backyard. He lifted the well cover with his hand.
Then, Guan Hongyu climbed down into the well without any tools. He descended about twelve meters and then stopped. He opened a small iron door with his left hand and crawled inside…
It turned out this well had another world within it!