When I woke up, the car had already stopped. There was soft music playing on the radio, it was dark outside the car, and the breeze blowing in from the window carried the unique smell of the mountains.
He leaned back on the chair with his peripheral vision and blinked. After waking up, he sat up straight and looked out the window. There was no one on the dark country road.
"Are you getting off the car?" Next to him, Xu Mingzhi put away his phone and asked.
"Is there water?" Yu Guang asked.
Xu Mingzhi leaned over and took a bottle of water from the back seat and handed it to Yu Guang. Yu Guang took a few sips and followed Xu Ming out of the car. The location where they parked their car was near the fork leading to the deserted forest.
Xu Mingzhi pointed not far ahead and said, "Your cell phone was picked up in the ditch over there."
I glanced out of the corner of my eye and remembered that he had indeed sat on the roadside somewhere that night for a long time without answering.
Xu Mingzhi saw that he didn't want to talk more about this topic, so he turned around and pointed in the direction of the fork in the road, saying: "The place where the body was found is over there, do you want to go and take a look?"
He glanced back from the corner of his eye and said, "What are you looking at in such darkness?"
Xu Mingzhi said: "Although this place is a deserted forest, no one comes during the day. On the day of the crime, only villagers who went to the forest to cut bamboo found the body. Therefore, the murderer should have buried the body at night. According to The wetness of the soil seen at the scene that day suggests that it was buried on the night of the 2nd. Now the case has no direction, so I am looking for inspiration."
He said nothing from the corner of his eye, and silently followed Xu Ming into the side road. Using the limited light source of the flashlight, he walked deeper and deeper.
The two walked for a while before arriving at the wild forest where the body was found.
Dense bamboos and bushes everywhere made it difficult to find the path for a while.
However, Xu Mingzhi had no intention of finding that road. He led Yu Guang around the desolate forest.
Out of the corner of his eye, he didn't ask what he was looking for. The two of them were like two ghosts, floating aimlessly.
After a long time, Xu Mingzhi returned to the starting point with his peripheral vision, and then walked along the path towards the deserted forest.
In the mountains and forests at night, you can't see your fingers.
Even though Yu Guang and Xu Mingzhi followed the road, they took the wrong route several times, and it took them a long time to finally find the tombs of Zhang Weishun's family. When the light of the flashlight swept over, the graves stood there quietly, like a few ghosts, silently staring at the people who came here.
There was an extra piece of nylon cloth on Zhang Weishun's wife's grave, which was covered tightly.
After Xu Mingzhi took a look, he turned to look at Yu Guang and said: "It's strange to say that the murderer was buried, but he was buried very shallowly, as if he was sure that no one would find him."
Looking at the high arched nylon cloth from the corner of his eye, he said, "It seems you already have the answer."
Xu Mingzhi shook his head and said: "It's not really an answer. It's just a guess. The specific evidence depends on the evidence. However, I'm afraid it's hard to find the evidence." As he said that, he looked around and then said: "Come with me there. Want to take a walk in Miaoshan Village?"
Yu Guang nodded: "Lead the way."
So, the two of them followed the way they came and went out. After leaving the forest, they did not go to the country road. Instead, they headed towards Miaoshan Village and walked into the fields outside the forest.
Xu Mingzhi noticed this route when he first came here. However, there is a big difference between walking at night and watching during the day.
The two of them walked for twenty minutes, just a few hundred meters away, before finally reaching the outskirts of Miaoshan Village.
Miaoshan Village is not a big village. There are less than twenty households in the village, all built at the foot of the mountain. Xu Mingzhi and his two men are currently standing on the east side of the village, and the normal entrance to the village is on the south side.
"Zhang Weishun's home is over there." Xu Mingzhi pointed to a hillside in front of him on the right. Looking in the direction of his finger from the corner of his eye, he saw several small buildings scattered on the top of the hillside, looming in the darkness.
It is said to be a hillside, but in fact it is just a piece of land with a slightly higher terrain. From there, it was only a hundred meters away from them. The road may not be easy to walk, but the advantage is that there is no one around.
"We're here anyway, why don't we go to Zhang Weishun's house?" Xu Mingzhi said suddenly.
She glanced at him lightly from the corner of her eye and said, "You have already thought about it, so why bother asking me?"
Xu Mingzhi chuckled.
The two of them did not go up the hillside, but went around to the south and followed the cement road in the village. It was almost ten o'clock at this time. Everyone in the village was asleep, and the footsteps of the two people could be heard on the quiet path. A dog heard the noise, rushed out of the darkness, stood not far away, stood up and started barking at them.
Suddenly, the sleeping village seemed to be awakened. Seven or eight dogs of different colors appeared one after another and started chasing the two of them and barking.
Some people turned on the lights, some opened the windows and stuck their heads out.
Fortunately, Zhang Weishun's home was not far away. Following seven or eight dogs, the two finally arrived at the door of Zhang Weishun's house.
The lights in his house were also turned on. After Xu Mingzhi shouted several times outside the door, someone opened the window on the second floor and stuck his head out: "Who is it!"
"It's me, Xu Mingzhi from the Municipal Bureau." Xu Mingzhi shouted.
The figure on the second floor was stunned for a moment, then said quickly: "Wait a moment, I'll be down soon."
He said he was coming down right away, but it actually took several minutes.
In these few minutes, Xu Mingzhi stood in the darkness at the door and introduced Zhang Weishun's two sons to Yu Guang. One is the eldest son Zhang Liangcheng, who is on the Xiacheng District Discipline Inspection Commission. He is calm and cautious. One is Zhang Xueyi, the youngest son who works as an editor at Yuehu Daily. He is introverted and withdrawn.
At this time, the door on the first floor finally opened, and Zhang Weishun walked out of the light. Xu Mingzhi watched him coming this way through the gap in the iron door, smiled and said with his peripheral vision: "Guess whether he just called his eldest son or his younger son."
Yu Guang's answer was very embarrassing: "How about I ask for you?"
Xu Mingzhi glanced at him helplessly.
In fact, there is no need to guess at this question. The person Zhang Weishun contacted must be Zhang Liangcheng. However, the reason why Xu Ming asked Yu Guang such a question had other motives.
It seemed that the suspicion in his heart was not on Zhang Liangcheng.
"Captain Xu, why are you here so late?" Zhang Weishun asked as he opened the iron door.
Xu Mingzhi replied: "It's nothing important. I happened to be passing by here. I remembered that I forgot to ask you a few questions before, so I stopped by to see you, so as not to go back and make a special trip. Sorry to bother you. Are you sleeping."
"Don't disturb me! I'm not asleep yet." Zhang Weishun said, leading the two of them inside. As he walked, he asked again: "What does Captain Xu want to ask?"
Xu Mingzhi said, "Let's sit down inside and talk."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Weishun nodded quickly: "Okay! Sit down and talk!" After that, he asked again: "However, my two sons are not here. Do you want to call them back?"
Xu Mingzhi waved his hand: "No, it's not an important issue, it's just necessary to follow the process."
"Okay, you guys sit down first and I'll make tea for you." After saying that, Zhang Weishun prepared to go to the kitchen. Xu Mingzhi stopped him: "No need to make tea, we will leave after asking. Come, Uncle Zhang, you sit here." Xu Mingzhi asked Zhang Weishun to sit down at the square table in the main room, and then he and Yu Guang sat beside him.
Zhang Weishun looked at the two of them, and probably saw something strange in his corner of the eye, so he took a second look.
Xu Mingzhi did not introduce Yu Guang's plan, and only asked: "Uncle Zhang, I forgot to ask last time, when was the last time you went to the cemetery?"
Zhang Weishun replied: "As for me, during the Qingming Festival, but my two sons will go there every time they come back to pull weeds and talk. Especially my youngest son, he has the best relationship with his mother. , after his mother left, he couldn't accept it for a long time, and he finally got better in the past two years. This time something like this happened to his mother, he felt the most uncomfortable. "
"That's it. Do you know when was the last time he went there?" Xu Mingzhi asked casually.
Zhang Weishun didn't seem to think much. After recalling it, he said: "Last weekend, he just happened to go home. He should have been there. However, I'm not sure. How about I call him and ask him?"
"No! This is not an important matter, I'm just asking casually." Xu Mingzhi said with a smile. After saying that, he raised his head and looked at the furnishings in the room, and suddenly asked: "Are you the only one at home now?"
Zhang Weishun nodded.
"You're not too old, don't you plan to find another one?" Xu Mingzhi asked with a smile, as if it was just ordinary gossip.
Zhang Weishun smiled bitterly and shook his head: "No more searching! Most of it is buried in the loess, what else are you looking for!"
"Both sons are married?" Xu Mingzhi asked again.
Zhang Weishun replied: "The eldest son has been married for several years, but the younger son has not yet. He is introverted, talks little, and can't get along with little girls. I have introduced several people to him before, but they didn't last long." As he said, he sighed. , obviously very worried about her younger son’s marriage.
"This kind of thing can't be rushed. Whether your little son has a good job or looks good, he won't be liked by the little girl. Don't worry." Xu Mingzhi comforted him.
As a parent, who doesn’t like to be well-behaved? Zhang Weishun laughed. Once you feel good, you can speak much more casually. Zhang Weishun asked Xu Mingzhi to help introduce him.
Xu Mingzhi didn't refuse, so he took advantage of the situation and asked him: "Have you bought a car or a house?"
Zhang Weishun looked a little proud: "I bought it. I just bought the car last year, and I have bought the house for several years. It is right behind the city hall."
"That's a good location, and the housing prices there aren't cheap!" Xu Mingzhi praised as he spoke.
Zhang Weishun said: "It's good that we bought it early, but if we buy it now, we won't be able to afford it!"
After Xu Mingzhi smiled, he looked down at the time, then stood up and said, "Uncle Zhang, that's it for today. It's getting late, so we won't disturb you anymore!"
"Okay! Okay!" Zhang Weishun stood up and said, "Then you go slowly. If there is anything you need us to cooperate with, just ask. Liangcheng told me before that I must cooperate with you in your work."
Hearing this, Xu Mingzhi suddenly stood still, looked at Zhang Weishun and said seriously: "You have a good son."
Zhang Weishun laughed. Maybe it was because he was in a good mood, but he didn't notice anything wrong with Xu Mingzhi's words.
After leaving Zhang Weishun's house, the smile on Xu Mingzhi's face disappeared.
Yu Guang walked beside him and asked softly: "Are you sure?"
Xu Mingzhi thought for a while and said, "Not yet. We have to look at the evidence. Only with evidence can we be sure." As he said that, he looked back at Zhang Weishun's house. The iron door had been closed.
He looked away, then took out his cell phone and called He Yu.
"Are you still at work?" he asked.
When He Yu, who was getting ready to get off work, heard this, his face suddenly turned bitter and he said, "Still here."
"Then work overtime and check the car in the name of Zhang Weishun's youngest son, Zhang Xueyi, to see when he last returned to the village. Notify me immediately if there is any result." Xu Mingzhi said.
When He Yu heard this, he immediately became curious: "Boss, why are you checking him? Is there a problem?"
"Just check if you are asked. Why are you asking so many questions!" Right now, it's just suspicion, and Xu Mingzhi doesn't want to explain more.
After hanging up the phone, the two of them walked out of the village along the cement road in silence, and then walked along the country road to where the car was parked. As we were approaching, we passed by the only camera nearby.
Xu Mingzhi glanced at the camera and couldn't help but laugh.
"What are you laughing at?" She frowned at him from the corner of her eye.
Xu Mingzhi glanced at him and said, "I think you can buy a lottery ticket."
Yu Guang was startled when he heard the words, and then sneered and said: "That's the plan."
