When I heard the news from Director Yang, I couldn't help but sigh. I actually knew about this matter before, but I still held on to a glimmer of hope, hoping that the female corpse in red that appeared outside my window yesterday and was taken away by the forensic doctor was not Xiaofang who suddenly came to the village today. But now it seems that everything has become a foregone conclusion.
Lin Yingxue behaved much calmer and simply told Director Yang about what happened with Xiaofang today. When Director Yang was listening to Lin Yingxue, it was obvious that his face began to turn pale little by little, and even his lips began to tremble. Presumably, he could connect the two things together.
The Xiaofang who came to the village was the cold corpse taken away by the forensic doctor.
After listening to Lin Yingxue's words, Director Yang took out a pack of Furongwang from his arms with trembling hands, handed me a cigarette, lit one and took a deep breath, and said: "You two, although you are much younger than me, you work in the mysterious department of the Special Case Team. I believe you have seen much more than a country bumpkin like me. Have you encountered similar cases before? Is this case really a supernatural phenomenon of 'resurrection'? When the case is over, how should I write the report?"
"'Resurrection' is simply impossible. I still say that Shufen, Dalin, and Xiaofang who just came here are definitely lying. It's just that we don't know what their purpose is, and we don't know what methods they used to make the families of those who once lived in Kaimen Village believe in their identities. Now another inexplicable murder has occurred. Although these things seem to have no connection, there is definitely some deep-seated causal relationship. This causal relationship is the focus of our investigation this time!"
As I said that, I looked up at Director Yang and asked, "Have you found out the identity of the deceased in red?"
Director Yang seemed to be still immersed in the fear just now. He was stunned when he heard my sudden question, then shook his head and said, "My people have questioned all the tourists in the village one by one, and they didn't find anyone missing. I originally planned to ask the forensic doctor to go back and investigate the identity information of the deceased based on the photos of the deceased. Now it seems that this body may have suddenly appeared in Kaimen Village, and the body has been resurrected. I really don't know what to do next."
When I heard Director Yang say that there had never been such a person in the village before, I was stunned for a moment, but then I was relieved. Maybe this woman had come here alone to travel, and lived alone at night, so naturally no one would notice the existence of such a person. So I said to Director Yang: "Don't worry, take your time. The murderer has not revealed his true purpose yet, so we can't panic. Director Yang, have someone seal off the entire Kaimen Village and don't let anyone leave. Also, hurry up and find the relatives of those people who "resurrected from the dead" before. I need them to cooperate with me to question these people face to face!"
Director Yang nodded and said, "The second thing is no problem. We have also notified the families of those who 'resurrected'. They have also expressed their willingness to come and see what is going on. I estimate that in a day or two, they will be able to come and testify in person. But as for the first thing, I may not be able to do it."
"Why? By comparison, the first thing should be the easiest."
Chief Yang sighed and said, "You don't know that the police station in our small town doesn't have many people. Now that the incident in Kaimen Village has been exposed, a large number of tourists are attracted here every day. Most of our people are still in the police station to intercept those tourists who try to come to witness the supernatural events in Kaimen Village. Who can stop the tourists in the village now? Besides, it is their freedom to leave. If we forcibly detain them, we may be sued."
What Director Yang said made sense, so I could only say helplessly, "Well, we can ignore the passengers' stay or departure, but we can't let any of those 'resurrected' people and their families go! After all, they are serious suspects of murder, and this is my bottom line."
"That's no problem. I'll send someone to keep an eye on them. If they make any move, I'll tell you immediately."
One headache after another made me feel a little breathless. At the same time, I realized that now was the time to race against time. My intuition told me that if the case could not be solved soon, I might be in danger!
I saw that Director Yang seemed to be preparing to leave Kaimen Village with his men and return to the station, so I immediately said, "Director Yang, can you lend me your phone? I want to call Chief Bai to tell him about the situation and ask him to call some comrades to help."
Director Yang handed me the phone directly and readily. It was still an older model of mobile phone. I didn’t care about it. I immediately dialed the number of the special case team office and waited quietly.
But after I waited for a few seconds, I found that the phone didn't make any sound. I took it to see that the phone had no signal at all. Director Yang said a little embarrassedly: "There is usually no one here. I guess the signal is not covered. How about I go back and talk to Chief Bai for you?"
If that's the case, then that's the only way. I returned the phone to Director Yang. Director Yang was about to take his people away when I suddenly called him and said, "By the way, Director Yang, do you know anything about the construction team over there?"
Director Yang turned around and said in confusion: "Of course I know. He is from a relatively well-known travel company in Yanqing District. Why are you asking this?"
"It's okay. I'm just asking. If you can spare some manpower, please help me ask the construction team if they can provide us with any clues."
Director Yang was obviously not happy about it, and said, "The people in the construction team over there all have backgrounds. I asked someone before, but they didn't intend to pay any attention to us. I'll try my best. Leave this matter to me."
It seems that Lin Yingxue and I are the only ones who suffer. Director Yang has also dealt with the construction team and also suffered a lot of setbacks. After Director Yang left, Lin Yingxue and I walked towards Shufen's home. After all, we still have Xiaofang, who is a headache, to deal with.
While walking on the road, Lin Yingxue complained: "This Kaimen Village is like a prison, completely isolated from the outside world. You can't even make a phone call. Do you think anyone would be willing to come if they build a tourist resort here?"
I don't know why Lin Yingxue's words suddenly made me feel something, as if some idea popped up in my mind at that moment, but when I thought about it later, I couldn't remember what I had thought of. I could only sigh and said, "There's nothing we can do. We have to stay in prison. The people in the real estate company are very powerful. I guess they will cover the signal by then."
As we were talking, we arrived at Shufen's door. Before we went in, I heard that Shufen's house was very lively. It seemed that there were many people there, all talking about some trivial household matters.
When I pushed the door open and walked into the yard, I saw Bai Longfei standing at the door with a helpless look on his face, as well as Shufen and Shufen's husband, a middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties, and a pretty girl who had just washed her hair.
This pretty girl should be Xiaofang. She had washed the blood off her body and the gray dust on her face, and changed into new clothes. She looked a bit like a lotus emerging from water. However, although she had washed the blood off the surface, there was still a purple mark on her neck and some bruises on her body, which were exactly the scars left on the corpse we saw last night.
I recognized the girl, but I didn't know the middle-aged man in his forties. I have also seen photos of Dalin's "reincarnation" before, and it doesn't seem to be Dalin himself.
Bai Longfei quietly walked up to me and said, "This man is the father of the man called Dalin. He followed me in right after I chased the corpse of the woman in red. And from their conversation, it seems that this man called Xiaofang is really the person who disappeared that year."
Since even Bai Longfei said so, there was no need for me to ask any more questions. Seeing that those people in the room completely ignored us, I prepared to take Bai Longfei and Lin Yingxue away first. There are some things that cannot be said here.
Just as we turned around and prepared to leave, I heard Shufen behind me suddenly say in a cold voice: "We are all people cursed by the red-clothed female ghost. No one can leave Kaimen Village. If you want to live a little longer, I advise you not to run around."
I heard Shufen say something similar last time, and when I heard her say it again, I still felt that she seemed to have something else in her words, so I simply stopped and turned around to ask, "What do you mean by that?"
But Shufen didn't continue talking to me. She just looked at me with a sneer and turned to continue chatting with Xiaofang and the others. I asked her again, but she still didn't answer me.
"Why waste your time talking to her? I think they are just a bunch of psychopaths. Ignore them!"
Bai Longfei seemed to be impatient to stay in this yard, and hurriedly pulled me out of the yard. But as soon as we walked out of the yard, I heard Xiaofang in the yard speaking a piece of news.
"I met Ah Xiang on my way here today. Ah Xiang said she would come back tomorrow. After Ah Xiang comes back, our small group can finally be together. When Ah Xiang comes back, we will go to the mountains to pick some game and have a good gathering!"