Chapter 81

Chapter 81

After Qiu Ziyu called Xu Yang and confirmed that nothing was wrong on Nan Mu’s end, he finally relaxed.

Beside him, Fang Yue was boiling water to make instant noodles. Hearing Qiu Ziyu talking on the phone, he couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Captain, what happened to Brother Nan? Is he sick? Is it serious?”

“It’s nothing, just a minor issue.”

The fact that Nan Mu had been stabbed was hard to explain, so Qiu Ziyu glossed over it. “Is the instant noodle ready? I’m starving.”

“It’s ready to eat, but I prefer the noodles a bit softer, so I’ll wait a bit longer…”

“I’m not as picky as you.”

Qiu Ziyu pulled over a chair and sat down, lifted the lid of one instant noodle cup, scooped up some noodles with a fork, blew on them a couple of times, and then buried his head to eat.

But just after two bites, his phone rang again.

He tossed the fork back into the noodle cup and cursed irritably, “Hurry, hurry, hurry, all you do is rush. Can’t let a person eat in peace?”

Gu Zhishu’s body had been found by a group of mountaineers. With so many people and so many mouths, the news spread quickly.

At first, things seemed normal, but somehow the story got twisted. Suddenly, someone started saying that the body found on Lion Mountain wasn’t from an ordinary murder case, but rather that during the development of Lion Mountain, strange things kept happening on the construction site. So, to ensure the project went smoothly, the developers hired many masters, and that body was an offering to the mountain god. That was why the actual development later went so smoothly. They even claimed that the government knew about it.

Even though such a rumor was obviously nonsense, believe it or not, some people actually bought it. Combined with online “exposés” and “insider revelations,” the story became more and more distorted. And those unscrupulous media, internet celebrities, and big-shot influencers, some fanned the flames for attention, while others jumped on the bandwagon for clout…

Although their side had issued a statement to clarify and refute the rumors, this evil wind couldn’t be suppressed.

As things escalated, the higher-ups kept pressuring them to solve the case immediately, then announce the real culprit to dispel the public’s speculation.

But no matter how much pressure came from above, this was a murder case from ten years ago. Biological traces, movement patterns… all the clues that could lead to the perpetrator had almost entirely vanished with the redevelopment of Lion Mountain. How could they solve it so quickly?

Annoyed, Qiu Ziyu picked up his phone, ready to snap at his superiors, when he saw “Nan Mu” displayed on the screen.

“Why’s he calling all of a sudden?”

Since he had just spoken with Xu Yang, Qiu Ziyu muttered a few words and stepped out of the office to take the call.

He assumed Nan Mu wanted to ask about Nurse Lin, so without waiting for Nan Mu to speak, he explained first, “Are you asking about Nurse Lin? Her personal files and home address have been pulled. But Nurse Lin passed away two years ago, so things are a bit complicated now. I’ve been busy these past two days. I’ll personally go to the Lin family in a couple of days to see if I can get any useful information from her family.”

A surprised voice came from the other end, “Nurse Lin is dead?”

“Yes, the household registration cancellation lists it as illness.”

Nan Mu was silent for a moment before pulling himself together. “Then go investigate when you’re free. I called just now to talk to you about Gu Zhishu.”
Qiu Ziyu was a little surprised. “You looked into him over there?”

Nan Mu gave a hum of acknowledgment, then went over everything he had found over there about Gu Zhishu, Su Yu, and Lin Zhengfeng in detail.

“When Lin Zhengfeng died, Gu Zhishu’s body still hadn’t been found, so the case Lin Zhengfeng committed probably never even entered the police’s field of view.”

“How did Lin Zhengfeng die?”

“Stabbed from the front. It was probably someone he knew… You’d better see if you can pull the case file. I keep feeling Lin Zhengfeng was very likely killed to keep him quiet. If that’s the case, then whoever killed Lin Zhengfeng must have been closely connected to Gu Zhishu’s death too.”

Listening to all this gave Qiu Ziyu a headache. Not because the relationships between these people were so tangled, but because Lin Zhengfeng was already dead. If the killer who murdered Gu Zhishu really was Lin Zhengfeng, and Lin Zhengfeng had died ten years ago…

Even if they found the real culprit, who would believe it once they announced it? If they weren’t careful, it would just spark a new rumor: the police were so incompetent at solving cases that they pinned the blame on a dead man!

Qiu Ziyu really didn’t want to accept that answer, but he also knew that if Nan Mu was willing to make that judgment, then it was basically almost certain.

After hearing what was troubling Qiu Ziyu, Nan Mu didn’t think it was much of a problem. “That’s not that hard. I have a video that can prove Lin Zhengfeng also went up the mountain on the day Gu Zhishu did.”

“Where did you… get a video?”

Qiu Ziyu asked not because he doubted Nan Mu had one, but because he wanted to remind Nan Mu that they were now ten years later. Any video he had would have been from ten years ago.

“You think I’m as unreliable as you when I handle things?” Nan Mu took the opportunity to jab at Qiu Ziyu, then gave him a string of numbers. “This guy’s name is An Zi. He did pet livestreams for a while back then. Call him and ask him for it. I told him at the time to keep that video, and that ten years later I’d pay him a huge sum for it.”

Qiu Ziyu raised an eyebrow. “How huge is huge? Are you planning to reimburse it?”

“What kind of beautiful dream are you having? It’s something you need, and you expect me to reimburse it?”

Qiu Ziyu retorted, “If you’re not reimbursing it, why did you promise to pay him some huge sum?”

“If I hadn’t promised, why would he keep it for you for ten years?” Nan Mu shot back bluntly. “Sure, I could ask him to help keep it, but what if he deleted it? Only money guarantees he absolutely won’t delete it!… If that doesn’t work, get your department to reimburse it.”

Qiu Ziyu rolled his eyes. “What department? You think the public security department reimburses people for evidence? We legally requisition it!”

Nan Mu laughed. “Then go requisition it. You’re the one asking him for it anyway, so he can’t blame me.”

The two of them chatted idly for a while before Nan Mu said, “Lin Zhengfeng was from Lin Family Village, and Lin Family Village is right next to Lion Mountain. It makes sense that the body was buried there. Add in the video, and it should be believable.”

Qiu Ziyu gave a hum of agreement, then suddenly let out a confused sound. “Wait, where did you just say Lin Zhengfeng was from?”

Nan Mu froze, not sure what the problem was. “Lin Family Village. Why?”

Qiu Ziyu took his little notebook out of his pocket and flipped to the page where he had copied Nurse Lin’s identity and household registration information. “Nurse Lin… is from Lin Family Village too.”

Both ends of the phone fell silent at the same time.

After a long while, Qiu Ziyu finally swore, “Fuck! These two couldn’t have known each other, could they?!”