Chapter 56

Chapter 56

According to An Zi’s introduction:

Second Uncle Lin’s real name was Lin Zhengfeng. A native of Lin Family Village, he was around thirty-four years old.

Lin Zhengfeng was the youngest child, born late in his parents’ lives. He had six older sisters and one older brother. As the baby of the family, he had been pampered and spoiled since childhood.

There was an age gap of over twenty years between Lin Zhengfeng and his eldest brother. When he was about eight, his brother died tragically in a car accident. Since he was the only remaining male heir, the Lin family doted on him even more excessively, catering to his every whim. This led Lin Zhengfeng to grow up as a village bully, constantly picking on the weak.

At twelve, he was taken to the police station for fighting, but he was released because he was a minor.

At eighteen, rumor had it that he raped a young girl who had been left behind in the village while her parents worked elsewhere. However, An Zi had only heard this through the grapevine and couldn’t confirm its truth. Logically, for such a serious crime, Lin Zhengfeng should have been locked up; how could he have remained free? An Zi suspected it might just be malicious gossip, so he didn’t entirely believe it.

But about three years ago, while drinking with someone from a neighboring village, the man got drunk and brought it up. An Zi still didn’t believe it and pressed him with questions, but the man spoke with such conviction and detail, even claiming he had seen it with his own eyes. Now, An Zi was torn, feeling that the story might be true yet hoping it wasn’t.

One thing was certain, however: Lin Zhengfeng had always been aggressive and prone to violence. Fighting was second nature to him. It wouldn’t be surprising if a man like that turned out to be a killer.

Since Lin Zhengfeng lived in Lin Family Village-a rural area filled with farmhouses-it would be difficult to find the right house without a guide, even with a specific address.

An Zi volunteered to lead the way.

For some reason, An Zi took a real liking to the two young people with him. Since he was born, his grandmother had said he was naturally lucky with meeting influential people, so he had always trusted his instincts.

He had rescued Xiao Fu from a dog meat factory, and the dog eventually became a “minor internet celebrity,” which only further solidified An Zi’s faith in his own judgment.

The moment he met Wen Miao and Nan Mu, he had a strong premonition that these two were no ordinary people.

***

An Zi led Nan Mu and Wen Miao to Lin Zhengfeng’s residence.

“Wait here for a moment. I’ll go in first to scout the way.”

An Zi was incredibly enthusiastic. He arranged for the two of them to hide in a corner first and then took it upon himself to head into Lin Zhengfeng’s courtyard alone.

Nan Mu heard An Zi shouting several times from outside the courtyard gate, but there was no response.

After waiting a while longer and seeing no movement from An Zi, Nan Mu gestured for Wen Miao to stay hidden in the corner before cautiously making his way forward alone.

Lin Zhengfeng’s house was deathly silent. An Zi was no longer at the entrance of the courtyard. Just as Nan Mu reached the door and was about to pull it open, the door was suddenly shoved outward with great force.

If Nan Mu hadn’t reacted quickly and stepped aside, the door likely would have slammed right into his face.

Nan Mu looked down and saw An Zi scrambling out of the room on all fours, his hands stained with a significant amount of blood. When he saw Nan Mu, it was as if he had found a savior, and he lunged into Nan Mu’s arms.

“B-b-b-body…”

An Zi was shaking all over, trembling so hard he couldn’t speak clearly.

Nan Mu stumbled back from the impact. A sense of foreboding rose within him.

He grabbed An Zi by the shoulders. “What happened? Pull yourself together!”

An Zi swallowed hard, his voice still quivering. “A… a body. Lin Zhengfeng is dead! His body is inside.”

Nan Mu’s heart sank. When he looked up, his gaze met Wen Miao’s, who had run over after hearing the commotion.

“What’s wrong?”

Wen Miao hadn’t heard An Zi’s words, but she could tell something was wrong from the grim expression on Nan Mu’s face.

“Lin Zhengfeng is dead,” An Zi stammered, turning toward Wen Miao.

Wen Miao froze, her eyes widening in shock.

“I’ll go in and check first.” Nan Mu pushed An Zi, who was still death-gripping his clothes, toward Wen Miao. He gave her a meaningful look. “You stay here and look after him.”

Wen Miao understood immediately. Since a murder had occurred, they had to call the police. However, Nan Mu’s situation was unique, and he couldn’t afford to be found here. When the police were called, the reporting witnesses would have to be her and An Zi.
In the time they had left, Wen Miao knew she had to convince An Zi to hide the fact that Nan Mu had been there. Furthermore, once the crime was reported, the police would inevitably cordoned off the area, making it impossible to investigate anything further regarding Lin Zhengfeng. Nan Mu had to find some useful clues in Lin Zhengfeng’s house as quickly as possible before the authorities arrived.

Nan Mu left An Zi with Wen Miao and entered the house alone.

Lin Zhengfeng was slumped back on the sofa, his eyes wide and staring. A fruit knife was buried deep in his chest.

Two cups of coffee sat on the coffee table; one was half-finished, while the other looked untouched. Fearing he might disturb the scene, Nan Mu only observed and was careful not to move anything. Lin Zhengfeng’s clothes were disheveled, clearly indicating that someone had searched him.

The fact that the killer had dared to stab him from the front suggested they were someone Lin Zhengfeng knew-someone who had taken advantage of a momentary lapse in his guard to launch a sneak attack.

Nan Mu circled the living room but found nothing unusual. When he reached Lin Zhengfeng’s bedroom, however, he noticed that a desk drawer appeared to have been pried open.

He crouched down to examine it closely. It was an old-fashioned desk with a latch for a padlock.

At the moment, the hasp for the lock had been pried off. It was clearly a recent job; the exposed wood at the break was pale and fresh, unlike the worn edges elsewhere on the desk, suggesting it hadn’t happened long ago.

Nan Mu looked around, grabbed a few tissues to wrap around the handle, and pulled the drawer open. It was empty. It felt as though something had been taken.

He searched through other nearby items but found nothing related to Gu Zhishu. He couldn’t even find Lin Zhengfeng’s cell phone.

Just then, Wen Miao, having calmed An Zi down, stepped inside and asked in a low voice, “How’s the search going?”

Nan Mu shook his head.

“If you can’t find anything, you should probably clear out first,” she said. “It’s almost noon. The villagers working in the fields will be coming back soon. We can’t hide this much longer; it’s about time we called the police.”

Nan Mu looked around one last time. It seemed there was no other choice.

Seeing Nan Mu nod, Wen Miao went back out to tell An Zi to call the police.

Nan Mu closed the drawer. Just as he was about to leave, he spotted a business card wedged in the gap between the desk and the floor. He bent down to pick it up, but just as he was about to look at it closely, a loud thud sounded behind him. His hand jerked, and he instinctively stuffed the card into his pocket before hurrying out.

“What happened?”

He stepped outside to find An Zi collapsed on the ground, with Wen Miao trying to help him up.

Wen Miao looked at Nan Mu and sighed helplessly. “His legs gave out… You should go. the two of us can handle things here.”

***

After Nan Mu left, Wen Miao stayed with An Zi as he called the police.

While they waited for the officers to arrive, Wen Miao sat by the door, lost in thought, while a terrified An Zi kept muttering to himself.

“How is he dead? …How could he just be dead like that?”

Wen Miao gave An Zi a perfunctory pat on the back. He wasn’t taking anything in right now, and her throat was already dry from trying to comfort him.

Her gaze wandered around the room until she suddenly noticed a photo stuck to the wall. It looked like a Polaroid of someone straddling a motorcycle in a cool pose.

This person…

She tapped An Zi. “Look at that photo. Who is that?”

An Zi hugged his knees and turned his head away. “No, no, I can’t look… It’s too scary… I’m not looking, I’m not looking.”

Wen Miao’s fingers curled slightly. She reached out, grabbed An Zi by the neck, and forced his head toward the photo.

“There. Is. No. Corpse. Look at the photo!”

An Zi didn’t react; there was no panicked scream, but no calm answer either. Curious, Wen Miao leaned over to look and realized that while she had turned his head toward the photo, his eyes were squeezed tightly shut.

“Do you want me to pry your eyelids open?” Wen Miao whispered eerily into his ear.

An Zi shuddered and snapped his eyes open, stealing a lightning-fast glance at the picture. “What photo? The one with the motorcycle? That’s just Lin Zhengfeng.”

“Lin Zhengfeng had a motorcycle?”

“Yeah. He even used to enter races… But I think he crashed it recently. I haven’t seen him riding it for a few days.”