Reborn in 97, I solved a cold case at the Municipal Bureau

Chapter 386 The Woman in the Mine (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Upon hearing Jiang Biao's words, before anyone could react, Zhou Yi dashed towards the Santana.

Wu Yongcheng knew he couldn't wait any longer, so he said, "Biaozi, give my phone number to the police station over there and have them call me directly."

After hanging up the phone, he called Chen Yan and Qiao Jiali to get in the car.

Wu Yongcheng got into the passenger seat, but said to Zhou Yi, "Let Chen Yan drive. You're not in the right mood to drive right now."

Zhou Yi, gripping the steering wheel tightly, felt his hands trembling slightly. He knew Wu Yongcheng was right, so he immediately got out of the car and sat in the back seat.

Chen Yan started the vehicle, and Wu Yongcheng reminded him to be careful.

"Zhou Yi, don't worry," Qiao Jiali comforted him. "I think it's definitely Xiao Shuang."

Zhou Yi felt his mind was in a mess. He didn't remember the New Beizhen that Jiang Biao mentioned on the phone.

But he knew it was in Anding County in the north, so why would someone suddenly appear in that place?

Is it Lu Xiaoshuang? Or Xu Liu? Or is it just a completely unrelated person?
Lu Xiaoshuang is now definitively missing. Based on Zhou Yi's understanding of her, she would never do something as reckless as hiding somewhere and making everyone worry.

As for Xu Liu, she clearly requested leave from school, indicating that she had plans to go home or travel. However, due to interpersonal issues, no one knows her whereabouts, so there is a possibility that she has gone missing.

However, Zhou Yi was still pondering another question amidst his chaotic thoughts.

In this life, the time of the crime, the method of dismemberment, and some of the circumstances surrounding the disposal of the body have all changed.

Is it possible that the deceased also underwent changes?

Judging from the current situation, the changes in the case in this lifetime are most likely due to my appearance.

If the deceased was indeed replaced, does that mean that it was also caused by my own appearance?
Does that mean I've indirectly committed murder?

This is a very serious moral issue, especially for Zhou Yi, who is committed to justice and strives to save more victims after his rebirth.

I didn't kill Boren, but Boren died because of me.

Deep down, driven by human selfishness, if someone had to die, he certainly didn't want it to be Lu Xiaoshuang.

If it were Lu Xiaoshuang who died, he would probably live the rest of his life in regret.

But what if it were someone else who died? Would he be burdened with this heavy psychological shackle?

It's probably all an unknown.

The massive case was the number one unsolved case in the previous life, which remained unsolved for twenty-seven years and became a nightmare for countless police officers.

In this lifetime, regardless of the outcome, this case seems to have been destined.

It will become Zhou Yi's nightmare.

"Ring ring—"

A piercing phone ring shattered the oppressive atmosphere inside the car.

Wu Yongcheng answered the call and immediately pressed the speakerphone button.

"I am Wu Yongcheng, deputy head of the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the Municipal Public Security Bureau. Please tell me the details."

A voice on the other end of the phone said, "Hello, leader, I am Zhang Jun, a police officer from Xinbei Town Police Station."

Rewind to half an hour earlier, in Xinbei Town, Anding County, a little boy ran home. As soon as he entered the door, his mother scolded him: "Running around again! Why don't you do your homework after school?"

But the little boy's panting and terrified expression made his mother suspicious, and she asked, "What's wrong?"

The little boy pointed in the direction of the mining area and said, "There are...there are ghosts..."

The little boy's house is a two-story building. In Xinbei Town, the houses are all connected together in a cluster.

His neighbor is Zhang Jun, a police officer from the local police station.

Zhang Jun was on night shift tonight. He came back, ate a meal, and was about to leave when he heard a little boy saying there were ghosts.

The little boy's mother immediately scolded him, "Don't talk nonsense, you little kid. There are no ghosts."

"Really, I'm not lying to you. It's in that mine over there. I heard it. A female ghost was screaming for help inside," the little boy said stubbornly.

The mother's face changed: "You went into the mine? You naughty child, why are you so disobedient? You know you could easily die in there."

As he made a gesture as if to hit him, the little boy denied it and ran outside.

Seeing this, Zhang Jun laughed and said, "Xiao Sheng, your mother is right. You can't go into that cave. There's poisonous gas inside. When adults say it's haunted, they're just scaring you kids. Actually, it's because there's gas inside. If you inhale it, you'll experience dizziness, vomiting, weakness, and if you inhale too much, you'll faint and suffocate, you know?"

"Uncle Zhang, I'm not lying, I really heard a female ghost screaming for help inside."

Zhang Jun shook his head helplessly, smiled and said "this kid," then rode away on his motorcycle.

After arriving at the police station, he did what he always did on duty: drink tea and read the newspaper.

The town of Xinbei has fallen into disrepair, with only locals who see each other every day. There's not much to do on a daily basis, and being on duty is just a formality.

The tranquility was broken by a phone call for assistance. The call came from the county bureau because the county bureau had received a request for assistance from the city bureau's command center. Naturally, this was a request issued by the city bureau after a meeting to find Lu Xiaoshuang.

Zhang Jun was laughing on the phone at the time, saying, "We don't have any outsiders coming here now."

But after hanging up the phone, he suddenly remembered what the little boy had said.

A female ghost is screaming for help in the mine?

Something is wrong!
He immediately rode his motorcycle home and asked the little boy where he had heard it. The little boy led him to the mine shaft because the plastic bag he had thrown away earlier was still lying on the ground. Zhang Jun shouted into the mine a few times, "Is anyone there?"

But there was no response.

I shone a flashlight inside, but the flashlight's beam was very limited, and I couldn't see anything at all.

Zhang Jun looked at the little boy helplessly, as if to say, "Your mother was right, there's no such thing as a female ghost."

But the next second, in the silent night, a faint sound seemed to come from inside the cave.

"Help……"

Zhang Jun's expression changed, and he asked the little boy, "Little Sheng, did you hear that?"

The little boy nodded emphatically: "Uncle Zhang, I heard you."

"Quickly, go back and call for help, the more the better!"

Soon, a dozen or so able-bodied young men from the town arrived. As Zhang Jun had instructed, they brought flashlights, miner's lamps, and ropes. Some even brought dust masks that they hadn't used in a long time, though it was unclear whether they were still of any use.

Zhang Jun told Wu Yongcheng and the others over the phone that because of the coal mining, the underground mine shafts there were not very standardized. They were dug into a network of interconnected tunnels with a very simple structure, making them prone to collapse at any time. Therefore, the entrances to those mine shafts were initially blocked with wooden planks and stones.

But later, when people started stealing even the wooden planks, they couldn't control it anymore and let it go.

But the locals are very traditional and won't go in.

There have been instances in the past where middle school students, whose origins are unknown, would go down to play and then get stuck, so there are precedents.

Finally, a few experienced miners who had worked in the mines in their youth were sent down, wearing dust masks and miner's lamps, with ropes tied around their waists.

Finally, someone inside the cave shouted, "There's someone here, a woman, and she seems to still be breathing!"

Zhang Jun had already notified the station chief to bring the police car over and also called the town hospital to call a doctor over, but the town hospital was now in dire need of repairs.

The last group of people rescued a disheveled woman from the mine; her face was so dark that her features were impossible to discern.

The doctor, who had been waiting at the cave entrance, examined the patient and said he was unconscious, probably due to inhaling too much gas. He needed to be taken to the county hospital immediately, or he might die.

Zhang Jun and his colleagues drove a police car and, accompanied by a doctor, rushed the person to the county hospital.

As he watched the person being taken into the emergency room, he realized that he had to report the incident. Could the person he rescued be the one the authorities were looking for in their investigation?

So, after going around in circles, the final call was made to Jiang Biao, who was in charge of the overall search.

Zhang Jun was using the phone at the nurses' station to report to Wu Yongcheng. To him, Wu Yongcheng was a very high-ranking leader.

At that moment, a colleague who had come with him came over with something and handed it to him.

He asked with his eyes what it was.
My colleague said, "The nurse brought it over, saying it fell off the patient."

Zhang Jun took it and looked at it, his expression immediately changing.

"Leader... we've found a student ID from Hongcheng University."

One sentence made the four people on the other end of the phone tense.

“Call me…call me Xu Liu…”

The four people in the car were completely dumbfounded. Was this person not Lu Xiaoshuang, but Xu Liu?
"Are you sure?" Wu Yongcheng asked loudly.

Zhang Jun was startled and looked at the student ID card carefully: "That's right, it says Xu Liu on it."

The people in the car fell silent instantly.

Now that things have come to this, no one is offering Zhou Yi any comfort anymore.

If the person found in the mine is Xu Liu, then the dismembered victim can only be Lu Xiaoshuang.

The temperature inside the car suddenly dropped to freezing.

Chen Yan remained silent, only pressing the accelerator hard, and the Santana sped along the highway.

The car had just arrived at the county hospital and hadn't even gone inside when the three people got out, because they couldn't wait to register at the hospital entrance.

I ran all the way and found the emergency room that Zhang Jun had mentioned on the phone.

The emergency room door was tightly closed, and there were two uniformed police officers standing at the door.

One of them glanced at them and tentatively asked, "Are you... a leader from the Municipal Bureau?"

Zhou Yi asked impatiently, "How is he?"

"They're still trying to save her; no one's come out yet," Zhang Jun said, handing over Xu Liu's student ID.

Qiao Jiali reacted quickly, taking the evidence and putting it in the evidence bag.

Wu Yongcheng leaned over to take a look and confirmed that it was indeed Xu Liu's student ID.

At that moment, the door to the emergency room opened, and a hospital bed was pushed out.

Zhou Yi rushed over immediately, startling the two nurses pushing the hospital bed. Wu Yongcheng and Qiao Jiali also joined in.

When Zhou Yi saw the person lying on the hospital bed, tears welled up in her eyes.

(End of this chapter)