Chapter 105

Chapter 105

Qiu Ziyu’s question came out somewhat jumbled because he was so shocked. But Fang Yue understood exactly what he meant, because he had been just as stunned when he first saw it.

And what shocked him just as much was that Zhaodi had also been reported missing six years ago.

Gu Zhishu, Zhaodi, and Su Yu-over the past ten years, all three of them had either gone missing or died for some unknown reason.

But if the person responsible for their deaths was the same killer, then Wang Pandi’s motive for killing Jia Lingyuan became obvious.

Fang Yue had already found the address of Wang Pandi’s hometown. “Captain Qiu, do you think she might have gone back there to hide? Should we go check it out?”

As he spoke, he sent Wang Pandi’s hometown address to Qiu Ziyu.

Qiu Ziyu glanced at it. According to the household registration records, the address was in a small suburban town outside City A. Even driving from downtown, it would take almost an hour.

But Wang Pandi was connected to Zhaodi, after all. This wasn’t as simple as just bringing her back in.

After thinking it over, Qiu Ziyu decided to make the trip himself.

===

Before setting out, Qiu Ziyu had already mentally prepared himself, expecting the trip to be difficult. But he hadn’t expected it to be this difficult.

Wang Pandi’s parents looked like an ordinary rural couple, but the moment they opened their mouths, they showed no goodwill whatsoever, not even toward the police.

“Don’t know, don’t know. I told you, I don’t know.” The sun-darkened man smoked as he spoke, revealing a mouthful of yellowed, tar-stained teeth. “That damned girl ran off on her own years ago and made me pay back a huge bride price…”

From the man’s grumbling curses, Qiu Ziyu and Fang Yue more or less pieced together what had happened.

After finishing nine years of compulsory education, Wang Pandi had just turned sixteen.

Naturally, Wang Pandi had wanted to continue on to high school, but her parents refused. They believed a daughter would end up marrying into someone else’s family anyway, so they were unwilling to spend so much money on her. They even promised her to a young man from the neighboring village without Wang Pandi’s consent.

Wang Pandi, of course, did not agree. But in her father’s eyes, her resistance meant nothing. The two families proceeded as planned-exchanging betrothal gifts, setting the date, doing everything that needed to be done.

Knowing she couldn’t change her parents’ minds, Wang Pandi waited for a dark, windy night, climbed out the window, and ran away.

Wang Pandi’s parents and the family she had been engaged to both tried to search for her, but City A was huge, and transportation into the city was expensive. In the end, their search came to nothing.

Even if Wang Pandi was running, she wouldn’t run back here, Qiu Ziyu silently concluded.

“You dead little brat! Where did you run off to? Do you know what time it is? Trying to starve me to death?” The man looked out toward the courtyard. Suddenly, a vicious glare shot from his cloudy eyes, and he roared toward the gate.

Caught off guard, Fang Yue jumped in fright.

Clutching his chest, he turned around and saw a young girl in gray clothing carrying a huge bundle of firewood on her back. Behind her followed two children of different ages, their faces filthy. All of them had short hair, making it impossible to tell whether they were boys or girls.

The girl in front lifted her head. When she saw the police officers standing in the courtyard, a look of fear appeared on her face.

Timidly, she walked in from outside. The heavy load of firewood on her back nearly crushed her small frame.

Qiu Ziyu tugged Fang Yue, who was standing in front of the woodpile, closer to his side to clear the way.

Only then did the little girl walk over and unload the firewood onto the ground.
“Quit dawdling and go make dinner. Stop standing around here being an eyesore.” The man ground the burned-out cigarette in his hand against the ground and barked without the slightest courtesy.

“These are all your kids?” Qiu Ziyu handed the man another cigarette, trying to get on his good side. He hoped that when he asked about Zhaodi later, the man might be willing to let a little more slip.

The man accepted the cigarette, and his expression eased a fraction, though his tone remained stiff. “A bunch of money-losing burdens, all of them.”

Hearing him talk about his own daughters that way, Qiu Ziyu couldn’t help frowning, but for now he could only endure it. “The household registration says you have five daughters. Where’s the other one?”

It was clearly a very simple question, yet the man smoked in silence for quite a while before saying coldly, “Ran off. I fed them, clothed them, and not one of them has a conscience. Soon as their wings got strong, they ran off on their own. Daughters are daughters-rootless things.”

As if cursing them still hadn’t vented enough of his anger, he suddenly snatched up the broom beside his chair and lashed it hard at the little girl feeding the chickens in the coop. The girl was so thin she looked only eleven or twelve, but Qiu Ziyu had checked the household registration earlier and knew she was already fourteen.

“Listen up, all of you. Once you finish middle school, you’re getting married off! Don’t even think about going to high school! I’m not falling for that nonsense again.” For some reason, the man had erupted into a sudden rage.

Qiu Ziyu abruptly recalled that on the household registration, Wang Zhaodi’s education level was listed as high school. So he tested the waters. “Why not let the kids study? If they graduate high school, it’ll be easier for them to find work. I remember your eldest daughter went to high school, right? Where’s she working now?”

The man curled his lip in disdain and sneered. “That damn girl said the same thing to me! Said once she could earn money in the future, she’d definitely let me live a good life… And what happened? Still turned out to be an ungrateful wretch. Studying filled her head with fancy ideas. Who knows what man she met out there-then she ran off with him…”

Wang Zhaodi was missing too?!

Qiu Ziyu’s heart sank. He hurriedly pressed, “She ran off too? When?”

The man didn’t suspect anything. “A long time ago. More than ten years, I guess.”

A chill went through Qiu Ziyu, but he asked again, “Which year? 2022?”

Only then did the man find it strange. He turned back warily to look at him. “Didn’t you say you were here looking for Erya?”

Qiu Ziyu’s expression stiffened, but he reacted quickly. “When the police handle a case, we have to be thorough. Of course we need to confirm whether Wang Pandi might have gone to her sister for help.”

The man seemed to buy it. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Seems like it.”

===

Late at night, Nan Mu was suddenly jolted awake by the sound of a ringtone.

Following the sound, he fumbled from the headboard until he found his phone. By feel, he swiped to answer and snapped impatiently into the call, “Who is this?”

There was no sound from the other end, but in the silent night, the other person’s breathing came clearly through the receiver and into Nan Mu’s ears.

Nan Mu, who had still been half-asleep a moment ago, suddenly shivered. His eyes flew open, and he looked at his phone.

There were two SIM cards in his phone, but the one currently receiving the call was the card he had put into the phone after returning from the past-the card that had never received a single message or phone call.

This call wasn’t meant for the current him.

Nan Mu’s heart trembled. He opened his dry throat and said, “Is that… Zhaodi?”