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

Chapter 451 I Had No Choice (Case Closed Tomorrow)
"You ran into Dong Lu while following Lu Xiaoshuang?" This question startled Zhou Yi.

Why does Lu Xiaoshuang look like a keychain with a row of trinkets hanging from it?
But thinking about it, it makes sense. Fan Tianyou is a psychopath who has been stalking and secretly filming people for a long time.

As for Dong Lu, it had already been confirmed that she met Zhou Yi and Lu Xiaoshuang by chance at the window of dormitory 404 because of the photo that Xiao Bing found.

She may not have had any intentions that would harm Lu Xiaoshuang, but she is mentally unstable and it is difficult to judge her using common sense.

There was also Zheng Jianxin before.

As for Xiao Bing, Zhou Yi now tends to believe that Xiao Bing's appearance on the food street, whether in the previous life or this life, was truly a coincidence.

“No, Dong Lu is disfigured, how could Fan Tianyou possibly recognize her?” Zhou Yi countered.

“He said he didn’t recognize him; he only saw a man in black wearing a hat following him, and he thought it was one of the students he had reprimanded before.”

Chen Gengyun didn't know who this student was, but Zhou Yi did—it was Zheng Jianxin. Zheng Jianxin was short and thin, so it was indeed possible to make a mistake at night.

Moreover, Fan Tianyou also had preconceived notions.

"He said he was about to go over and warn the other party again when suddenly someone came from the other side and called out 'Lulu' to the man in black. Then he saw the man in black turn around and run away, and then a man chased after him."

"A man? Is it Xiao Bing?" Zhou Yi asked.

Chen Gengyun said, "He said he couldn't see clearly, but I guess so."

Zhou Yi recalled that when he and Chen Yan went to Xiao Bing to find out what was going on, Xiao Bing said that he had gone home after getting off work normally on April 28th, and no one could verify it.

So it seems he went home after get off work, but when he got home he found that Dong Lu had run away, so he went out to look for Dong Lu again.

Then, Fan Tianyou witnessed this scene.

This scene had nothing to do with Zhou Yi; it must have happened in his previous life as well.

But in this life, Xu Liu and Chen Gengyun's actions have changed, so...

"Do Fan Tianyou and Xiao Bing know each other?" Zhou Yi asked.

"When Fan Tianyou was following Dong Lu, he knew of Xiao Bing's existence, but Xiao Bing didn't know him. As for after he returned to China, I think Xiao Bing must have known him, since there was some publicity involved. As for whether they had any contact, I don't know."

Zhou Yi nodded. Given Fan Tianyou's mental state, Xiao Bing's mention of "Lulu" was enough to make him lose control of his emotions.

Therefore, he was eager to confront Chen Gengyun. If Chen Gengyun said that Dong Lu was indeed dead, then he must have seen a ghost.

It's ridiculous that evil people are actually most afraid of ghosts, because they have ghosts in their hearts.

"How did you answer him?"

"I could only tell him that he was indeed not dead at the time, but I figured that with his body burned like that, he probably wouldn't live much longer."

Indeed, anyone would think that way.

But Dong Lu stubbornly survived in Xiao Bing's basement.

"Go on, tell me what you did after you discovered that Fan Tianyou had murdered and dismembered Xu Liu?"

Chen Gengyun said that he was actually stunned at the time, after all, the scene in front of him was so horrifying.

But he was a man who had seen a lot, and he quickly calmed down and began to think about how to clean up the mess.

The first step is how to dispose of the body, then the crime scene needs to be cleaned up, and finally, an alibi needs to be created.

He said that although Fan Tianyou had dismembered the body, the pieces were large and not conducive to disposing of the body. Therefore, it was necessary to cut the body into smaller pieces to facilitate disposing of the body at multiple locations.

The biggest problem at the time was that there wasn't enough time, because it was still a weekday and they had to be at school as usual. Otherwise, when the police investigated later, they wouldn't be able to explain where the people went, which would immediately arouse suspicion.

It's one thing if it's just myself, but Fan Tianyou is Xu Liu's teacher, so he's definitely a key target for investigation.

Another point is that the May Day holiday is approaching, and many majors will have no classes on the afternoon of the 30th. The flow of people on campus and in the community will increase during the holiday, which will increase the risk of disposing of the body. Therefore, he believes that the dismemberment must be completed during the day on the 29th, and the body disposed of at night, while also having a clear alibi.

So his final solution was for the two of them to take turns handling the body. As long as they appeared in the public eye periodically, it wouldn't arouse suspicion.

After all, apart from Liu Baoguo, no one in the school knew about his relationship with Fan Tianyou, and no one would connect the two of them together.

So after asking Fan Tianyou about today's class schedule, he created a "class change schedule".

"Can Fan Tianyou drive?" Zhou Yi asked.

"Yes, he got his driver's license while studying abroad."

That makes sense, since you can't learn to drive on the spot.

Zhou Yi asked him why he chose to dispose of the body instead of hiding or burying it.

Chen Gengyun said that he had considered it.

But after looking at the size of the refrigerator downstairs, he gave up on the idea.

Fan Tianyou suggested that they could buy another freezer, since no one in Jianghai Haoting would think of that.

But Chen Gengyun flatly refused, because buying a freezer would be too conspicuous. The store would have to deliver it by truck and workers would have to move it. Given the location of Jianghai Haoting, it would be too easy for people to remember, and the risk would be too great.

As for burying the body, firstly, the tools still need to be purchased, and secondly, no suitable burial site has been thought of, and the probability of being witnessed digging a pit outdoors for a long time is also very high.

Therefore, all things considered, dismembering a body indoors offers greater concealment, since disposing of a body outdoors takes much less time and carries the least risk.

Zhou Yi asked in a deep voice, "Why not just throw the body parts into the mine in Xinbei Town? That place is well-hidden, isn't it?"

Chen Gengyun shook his head helplessly: "Would you believe me, Officer Zhou, if I said I never even thought of this place in the first place?"

Zhou Yi answered seriously, "Yes."

This statement already indicates that the abandoned mine in Xinbei Town was not originally part of his plan to murder Xu Liu.

It was only later, when they were investigating the murder of Lu Xiaoshuang, that they came up with the idea.

"I'll explain that later. First, let's answer another question: why cut the corpse into pieces and fry it? What was the purpose of doing that?" This question is crucial. Theoretically, the more than three hundred pieces from the previous life would have been enough to disperse the corpse in multiple locations.

Chen Gengyun said, "It's all because of that pregnancy test. Originally, I planned to cut Xu Liu's body into two or three hundred pieces to make it easier to dispose of the body, which would give me plenty of time during the day. But then I suddenly remembered that when I went to the provincial capital for academic exchange last time, I heard that Hanzhong University had established a DNA laboratory with the support of the province and had put it into practical use."

"So I'm worried, what if the police extract DNA from the body parts that matches mine?"

"Don't you doubt the authenticity of Xu Liu's pregnancy?"

Chen Gengyun gave a wry smile and replied, "So what? We've come this far. Whether it's true or false is no longer important. Shouldn't I eliminate all possibilities?"

Yes, that's very much in line with his style.

"Did you slice these meat slices, which are so thin and evenly cut, or did Fan Tianyou slice them?"

"I...he doesn't have that ability."

"You've never studied medicine, nor have you ever worked as a chef or butcher. How did you acquire such knife skills?"

Chen Gengyun said, "I have to thank my two years as an educated youth for this. At that time, the food rations allocated by the Production and Construction Corps were really not enough, and everyone was starving. So we decided to rely on the mountains for food. Some people had family members who had served in the army and knew how to use hunting rifles, so we brought back a lot of game. My job at that time was to be a butcher. My hands, which were used for writing articles and poems, were used to butcher game for more than a year: wild boar, pheasants, wild rabbits, snakes as thick as bowls, gutting them, plucking their hair and skinning them. After processing, the meat had to be cut into even sizes and distributed according to the number of people. Some of it also had to be dried and preserved because it was impossible to hunt in winter."

"Although so many years have passed, this experience is like it's etched into my bones. The feeling comes back when I pick up the knife, not to mention that back then, there were no such sharp and handy tools."

As he spoke the last sentence, a barely perceptible smile appeared on Chen Gengyun's lips.

This fleeting micro-expression startled Zhou Yi. He suddenly realized that Fan Tianyou's murderous gaze might not have been inherited from Fan Chunyu.

It was Chen Gengyun.

However, Chen Gengyun's rationality and caution masked the cruelty and perversion in his bones.

Fan Tianyou lacked his father's shrewdness, and coupled with his twisted upbringing, his ferocity and perversion could easily erupt when he lost control of his emotions.

"Describe in detail the specific process you went through in disposing of the body, without omitting anything."

As Zhou Yi requested, Chen Gengyun began to recount the specific events of the daytime on the 29th.

He went into detail about the exact times and who went to the villa. While he was speaking, Zhou Yi was checking their previous alibis and found that he wasn't lying; the timing was basically consistent.

Then comes the specific process of dismembering, slicing, and frying the body.

Fan Tianyou was responsible for dismembering the large pieces of the corpse into smaller pieces that were easier to slice, then moving them down to the kitchen, and cleaning up the bloodstains in the bathroom and on the floor.

He also bought disinfectant on the way, as requested by Chen Gengyun, and cleaned the area where bloodstains had been left a second time.

This is why, during the on-site investigation, traces of chemical reagents were found for cleaning, but many places were still overlooked.

Chen Gengyun was in charge of slicing and deep-frying the corpses in the kitchen. The thickness was determined by him after several tests to be the most efficient thickness for frying them thoroughly.

After frying, the meat slices are thrown into the sink to drain the oil, and then packaged together.

The knife used for dismembering the body and the spatula used for deep-frying were readily available at the villa, while the oil was purchased separately by the two of them each time they visited the villa.

To enhance secrecy, Chen Gengyun said he couldn't buy bottled oil from supermarkets; he had to buy rapeseed oil from different farmers' markets.

As it turned out, he still overlooked something important because he had been out of touch with the masses for too long and didn't know that when buying oil, one should bring their own bucket.

It was this action that made the oil vendor remember it.

However, in essence, this matter doesn't have much impact.

From dismembering the body to deep-frying, the entire process takes much longer than the time Song Yiming had previously determined in his experiments, due to the "handover" process in between.

Due to the size of their cookware, they couldn't process the bones properly. They could only fry the smaller bones briefly, while the larger ones were soaked in hot water in a bathtub.

As for the human head, Chen Gengyun originally intended to smash it before processing it, but he couldn't find a suitable tool, so he could only fry it in oil first, and then throw it into the freezer along with the bones.

According to Chen Gengyun's original plan, he had no intention of disposing of the head and bones. He planned to hide them in the villa and wait two years until things calmed down before finding a way to destroy the evidence.

Around 8 PM on the 29th, Mo Youyou witnessed the last shift handover between him and Fan Tianyou near the back gate of the school. At that time, the body had already been disposed of and was just waiting to be dumped.

He drove to the Chen family's old house to retrieve the bags containing the body parts—the two travel bags at the bottom of the trunk in the inner room. These were the bags he used when he went to Changfeng Forest Farm years ago. After decades, of course no one could trace their origins.

He said he only took a travel bag, not a kitchen knife.

Fan Tianyou got out of the car to get his alibi, and then the two secretly met up again, went to the villa to pack up and dispose of the body, and finally disposed of the relevant items in the case, thus completing the mission.

Then the accident happened.

They filled two travel bags with body parts, but still had a lot left over, so they decided to dispose of the body first and then find other containers to hold the remaining pieces of flesh.

Fan Tianyou suggested that they could just throw the bag into the Nansha River. He recalled that when he was in junior high school, he once got the top score in the whole school, and the principal rewarded him with two jin of fresh pork. He was overjoyed and excitedly carried the pork home. However, when he was crossing a log bridge, the bag in his hand suddenly broke, and the pork fell into the river. By the time he tried to retrieve it, it had already sunk to the bottom and disappeared.

He was depressed for a month because of this, and finally couldn't help but tell Fan Chunyu, hoping to seek comfort. However, he was met with a barrage of insults from Fan Chunyu.

Chen Gengyun thought it was a good idea, so the two drove along the Nansha River and finally found a high place with few people, where they threw the large travel bag into the river.

With a soft thud, the two watched as the travel bag sank to the bottom, and they were overjoyed.

A few seconds later, the two were dumbfounded.

Because the travel bag containing the body parts floated back to the surface.

This terrified the two of them, but it was too late to pull them out.

Watching the travel bag, half-floating in the water, drift away and disappear into the darkness, the two dared not throw the other travel bag in, and could only drive back to the villa.

The father and son had a big argument over this, with Chen Gengyun pointing his finger at Fan Tianyou and cursing him as a good-for-nothing who had been cleaning up his messes for the rest of his life.

Later, police investigation confirmed that it was Chen Gengyun's extreme humiliation during this argument that made Fan Tianyou want revenge, which led to the cigarette butt incident.

After that, they dared not dispose of the bodies all at once again. Instead, they divided them into smaller portions using ordinary black garbage bags and scattered them into various garbage cans in the latter half of the night.

"Why didn't you choose a more distant location to dump the body? You had transportation anyway," Zhou Yi asked, because dumping the body far away and burying it nearby was the conventional logic.

Chen Gengyun replied, "It's not very meaningful. Xu Liu is a college student, not a prostitute. At most, the school will find out she's missing by May 3rd, and then you'll easily suspect her. If we dump the body closer, we can keep an eye on the situation in time."

Zhou Yi nodded. This did align with Chen Gengyun's cautious approach and was also somewhat misleading, since the police had focused their investigation on Hongda when searching for the primary crime scene.

Zhou Yi asked him to give the specific location where the body was dumped, so that it could be compared with the actual location found.

This is also the key to why confessions can be valid evidence for conviction in law. Only the murderer knows the details of the crime, and then they are compared and verified with objective facts.

Chen Gengyun recounted several locations that were relatively close to Hongda, as he was the one who dumped them. The remaining locations, which were farther away from Hongda, were dumped by Fan Tianyou, who drove there to dump them, and Chen Gengyun did not know their exact locations.

After disposing of the body, one went back to his apartment and the other to his dormitory.

As for Fan Tianyou's alibi for the night of April 28th, Chen Gengyun thought long and hard but couldn't come up with a good solution. In the end, he had no choice but to implicate himself and fabricate a lie about meeting at Xishan Cemetery.

She was even willing to risk her daughter's reputation for it.

He and Fan Tianyou rehearsed all the details of their meeting that evening. To make Fan Tianyou's motive for going to the cemetery seem more believable, he even made up a lie about him appearing in a dream. He knew that since he had become obsessed with Xu Liu's body, he hadn't visited his wife and daughter's graves for a long time, and the grass on their graves must be very tall.

To cover up the lie, he drove to Xishan Cemetery early on the 30th, before going to work as usual. He pulled up the grass on the grave and left immediately, as if he had never been there at all.

As for the things in the Jianghai Mansion villa, he wasn't in a hurry to deal with them, because he was certain that the police wouldn't connect the place with Xu Liu's death, so there was no need to take the risk.

But the problem lies with Fan Tianyou.

According to Chen Gengyun's original plan, he and Fan Tianyou only needed to create sufficient alibis for the next 30th and 1st.

The only worry is that the first bag of body parts that were thrown into the Nansha River and floated up again is unpredictable and could not be found at any time.

Coincidentally, on the evening of the 30th, Liu Baoguo invited him to a dinner party. He heard that Ni Jianrong, the head of the Municipal Bureau in charge of criminal investigation, would be there. In order to find out the truth, Chen Gengyun gladly went.

Amidst the clinking of glasses, while praising Ni Jianrong, they subtly probed him by saying that they felt things were getting unsettled in Hongcheng lately.

As a result, Ni Jianrong, who became arrogant, began to boast about the major cases he had handled in the past two months, revealing a lot of inside information.

This also relieved Chen Gengyun, because the other party didn't mention any dismemberment cases other than those in Donghai Community. Therefore, Ni Jianrong's actions weren't just about saying something extra on the phone; he had said many things he shouldn't have, violating principles.

Logically speaking, if things stopped there, even if Zhou Yi discovered that Fan Tianyou's alibis in both lifetimes used the same reason and became suspicious, he wouldn't be able to find any evidence against him.

It's possible that this grand case will turn into a cold case where only Zhou Yi knows the murderer, yet he is helpless to solve it.

But the variable comes from two people.

One is Lu Xiaoshuang, and the other is Fan Tianyou.

The variable from Lu Xiaoshuang was passive.

However, Fan Tianyou's variable was proactive.

When Zhou Yi asked him, "Then what about Lu Xiaoshuang? Her conflicts and relationships with you are completely unrelated. Why did you kidnap and kill her?"

From Chen Gengyun's perspective, he and Fan Tianyou were actually the same; neither of them knew that Lu Xiaoshuang had been rescued.

Just like he explained earlier why they didn't dump the body further away, Xinbei Town is too far away, and they couldn't possibly go there specifically to gather information, as that would arouse suspicion.

Chen Gengyun looked at Zhou Yi and replied, "Because of you!"

Zhou Yi was taken aback: "Why?"

"On the night I disposed of the body, I suddenly woke up from my sleep because I remembered that a friend from the province had mentioned your name before."

Zhou Yi thought to himself, "Very good, I'll have to keep your name as a friend."

"Then I thought of Lu Xiaoshuang, Xu Liu's classmate. I might have seen her in my car before."

Zhou Yi asked, "Didn't you already have Xu Liu test the waters? If Lu Xiaoshuang had seen Xu Liu that day, shouldn't she have said so already?"

Chen Gengyun's answer infuriated Zhou Yi: "What if? What if she actually saw it but kept quiet? Or what if she suddenly remembered and told you? What then? Wouldn't I immediately become a suspect?"

Suppressing his anger, Zhou Yi asked, "So, just because of this 'what if,' you're going to kill a completely innocent person to silence them?"

With a helpless expression, Chen Gengyun said five words: "I had no choice."

"Chen Gengyun, you are truly the most shameless person I have ever met!"

This made the other person laugh: "Officer Zhou, don't be silly, you're just too young and naive. When you get to my age, you'll understand: 'Every man for himself!'"

Zhou Yi scoffed and sneered, "Dean Chen, don't use your despicable nature to measure the nobility of others!"

"Tell me in detail how you and Fan Tianyou kidnapped, murdered, and framed Lu Xiaoshuang."

“I have a condition,” Chen Gengyun said.

"What conditions?"

"I want to know how you discovered Lu Xiaoshuang. I thought it would take at least two years to find out."

Zhou Yi knew that, based on his attitude from the previous two days, Chen Gengyun would definitely not admit to this.

His quick admission was not only due to Xie Guoqiang and his "secret deal," but more importantly, it was because of several things Zhou Yi showed him before the interrogation began.

Especially that cigarette butt, which was clearly completely unexpected.

Liang Wei had asked him before, and he said he didn't smoke.

He clearly couldn't find a reasonable explanation for why a cigarette butt with his saliva on it would end up in the mine.

Just as he had pondered for a long time how to reasonably explain Xu Liu's visit to the villa on the 28th, Zhou Yi eventually discovered the loophole.

You can't explain everything just because you're smart enough.

Faced with the conditions offered by Chen Gengyun, Zhou Yi agreed, "Okay."

Upon hearing this, Wu Yongcheng felt a pang of anxiety. Although he knew it was meant to get the other person to speak, agreeing in front of everyone was still too hasty.

Zhou Yi then added, "But I also have one condition."

"What conditions?"

"My condition is that you explain everything first, and then I will tell you. Secondly, you need to understand one thing: I am not making a deal with you; I am just confirming the details of the case with you within the scope permitted by law."

Chen Gengyun lowered his head and pondered for two seconds, then looked up and said, "Okay, I accept."

Chen Gengyun said that on the night of the 29th, he woke up from a dream and struggled for two whole hours about whether or not to get rid of Lu Xiaoshuang.

The final answer is that, just in case, it's safer to silence them.

And it has to be quick, preferably done today.

So he began to think of the safest murder plan.

However, it's definitely impossible to dismember the body like Xu Liu did, because dismembering a body takes too long, and the risk of disposing of the body a second time would increase exponentially. What if the police immediately discover the body parts and then secretly stake them out?

It's impossible to fool Lu Xiaoshuang like you fooled Xu Liu into going on a trip, because there's no basis for trust, and she simply can't fall for it.

Direct kidnapping and abduction carries too much uncertainty. At least, it's impossible to act within the school. If Lu Xiaoshuang stays at school and doesn't leave, then it's all over, because he doesn't know anything about Lu Xiaoshuang's personal situation.

After much thought, Chen Gengyun decided to have Fan Tianyou find a way to lure the person out of the school and then drug them.

At least Fan Tianyou was her teacher, so there's a certain possibility.

So early on the 30th, he called Fan Tianyou and lied to him, saying that Xu Liu had a roommate who might have seen Xu Liu get into his car, and that they had to get rid of the person, otherwise sooner or later it would come back to them.

Fan Tianyou asked him what his roommate's name was.

He answered, "Lu Xiaoshuang."

Unexpectedly, Fan Tianyou immediately shouted excitedly on the phone, "No, you can't touch her!"

Chen Gengyun immediately realized something was wrong. After some questioning, he learned that Fan Tianyou had mistaken Lu Xiaoshuang for Dong Lu because the two looked very similar.

Chen Gengyun was furious, feeling that he could not understand why Fan Tianyou was so obsessed with Dong Lu, to the point that after so many years he still transferred his feelings for Dong Lu to Lu Xiaoshuang.

But no matter how much he pressed him, Fan Tianyou refused to answer the question.

This is a question that Zhou Yi had never been able to figure out even after learning the reason why Fan Tianyou had a crush on Dong Lu.

Although Dong Lu saved Fan Tianyou's life, Fan Tianyou doesn't seem to be the type to repay kindness. Not only is he ungrateful, he also wants to kill someone.

He had a suspicion that Dong Lu and Fan Chunyu might look very similar, and then Lu Xiaoshuang might look like Dong Lu, although it sounded very cliché.

But considering that Chen Gengyun didn't mention this at all, it's probably unlikely.

In short, Fan Tianyou refused to harm Lu Xiaoshuang until Chen Gengyun said that Lu Xiaoshuang, like Dong Lu, had a boyfriend who was a policeman, and that they must have already had a relationship.

As a result, Fan Tianyou broke through his defenses once again, just like eight years ago.

But this time, it wasn't because he was influenced by others, but because he was muttering to himself on the other end of the phone, trying to find reasons.

This is the reason why Fan Tianyou concluded that the two had a relationship during their rooftop confrontation.

Therefore, Fan Tianyou agreed to follow Chen Gengyun's orders.

Chen Gengyun told him to work normally in the morning. After learning that his last class in the morning was with Lu Xiaoshuang and the others, he told him to find a reason to talk to Lu Xiaoshuang after class, and then drag it out for a while. He then told him to invite her out for a meal under the pretext of going out, and then lead her to a secluded place nearby. Chen Gengyun would be waiting in a car nearby. They would then work together to drug her, put her in the car, drive to a secluded place, tie her up, and throw her into the trunk.

In theory, if the plan goes smoothly, it only takes a few minutes to drug someone, and the risk is still manageable. After all, time is of the essence, and there is no better way.

As for what to do after taking someone hostage, Chen Gengyun was at a loss, because Lu Xiaoshuang hadn't taken leave like Xu Liu, and with Zhou Yi's presence, the police would react immediately and investigate Lu Xiaoshuang's last itinerary, which would easily expose Fan Tianyou.

After much thought, Chen Gengyun remembered Xu Liu, whose body had already been disposed of, and a cunning scheme to switch the bodies came to mind.

He wanted to completely confuse the police investigation, not only to keep them in the dark about who the dead person was, but also to pin all the blame on Lu Xiaoshuang.

He had come up with an excellent hiding place for the body: an abandoned mine in Xinbei Township.

He has a connection with this place.

When Jiang Zhengdao had just resigned and started his own business, Jiang Zhengdao took over half of the coal mine business in Xinbei Town from a state-owned enterprise through his matchmaking. Later, Jiang Zhengdao used some means to get his hands on the other half.

Not only that, he also found a well-known geologist for Jiang Zhengdao. With his smooth talk and Jiang Zhengdao's generous donation, he got the geologist to produce an investigation report stating that the coal mines under Xinbei Town were enough to last for a hundred years.

With this report, Jiang Zhengdao also managed to attract a lot of investment.

Having earned his first pot of gold, he soared to great heights from then on.

After the coal mine here was emptied, Jiang Zhengdao had already successfully transformed his business.

He also used his connections to clean up the mess for Jiang Zhengdao, because there were some official connections involved in the initial investment.

So he knew that no one would go there now, and the local area didn't have the money to fill in the landfill.

More importantly, the mine also contained harmful gases, which perfectly suited his plan.

Just as Zhou Yi had analyzed at the task force meeting, he used the criminal motive, the murder weapon, and the human head to create the illusion that Lu Xiaoshuang killed Xu Liu, was unable to dispose of the head, chose to dump the body in a mine, and then died from inhaling an excessive amount of harmful gas.

If the police do not find Lu Xiaoshuang in the short term, they will not be able to determine whether it is Xu Liu or Lu Xiaoshuang who died, and will focus their efforts on continuing to search for body parts.

If the police find Lu Xiaoshuang, they will have successfully fallen into his trap.

Whether the police will ultimately find this situation unreasonable is irrelevant, because no matter what, the police will focus on the relationship between Xu Liu and Lu Xiaoshuang, which will lead them astray from the truth.

The longer they delay, the safer they become.

Because he was very clear about the operating logic of the system, that human and financial resources could not be poured in indefinitely, and once a certain critical point was crossed, few people would continue to pay attention to the case.

He had even planned that in a couple of years he would trick Jiang Zhengdao into spending some money to blast and fill in the mine shafts in Xinbei Town, and then everything would be fine.

In the end, the police didn't even know who had died.

The only risk is that Fan Tianyou might trick Lu Xiaoshuang into going out to eat, and they might be seen on the way, or Lu Xiaoshuang might insist on refusing.

So, just to be on the safe side, Fan Tianyou followed Lu Xiaoshuang after class. When she returned to her dormitory, Chen Gengyun used a shared phone outside the school to call the duty room of the girls' dormitory and lied to Lu Xiaoshuang that her grandmother had been in a car accident and asked her to rush to a small hospital. Then, he followed her in his car and waited for an opportunity to drug her.

As for getting some ether, that was a piece of cake for him.

With everything prepared, the two decided to proceed as planned at noon that day.

As a result, Lu Xiaoshuang took the initiative to ask Fan Tianyou a question, which led Chen Gengyun, who was keeping watch outside, to discover Xiao Bing waiting downstairs and see Xiao Bing talking to Lu Xiaoshuang.

Realizing that it might affect their plans, Chen Gengyun immediately notified Fan Tianyou and decided to cancel the deceptive phone call and wait for an opportunity to act, because he did not know what Xiao Bing and Lu Xiaoshuang had said and dared not act rashly.

As a result, after Lu Xiaoshuang went back to her dormitory to get her things, she hurriedly left the school, and the two of them immediately followed her in their car.

After following them all the way, when Lu Xiaoshuang got out of the car, Fan Tianyou's words chilled Chen Gengyun to the bone.

Fan Tianyou knew the No. 2 Steel Dormitory and said that Lu Xiaoshuang was going to find Zhou Yi.

Chen Gengyun knew that if Zhou Yi was with Lu Xiaoshuang, their plan would have to be abandoned.

Enraged, Chen Gengyun cursed loudly in the car, calling her a whore who needed to be fucked.

But the two continued to wait, and were overjoyed to find that Lu Xiaoshuang had come out of the No. 2 Steel dormitory again.

Fan Tianyou immediately put on a hat and mask, got out of the car and followed, then dragged the person into the weeds in the alley next door and knocked her unconscious. Chen Gengyun drove over, put Lu Xiaoshuang in the car and drove away.

After driving to a secluded spot, they tied up Lu Xiaoshuang, blindfolded her, gagged her, threw her into the trunk, and then headed straight for Xinbei Town.

On the way, fearing she would wake up, he gave her the water mixed with medicine that he had originally prepared for Xu Liu.

He bought the medicine when he went abroad. He didn't know about the so-called metabolic period; he just thought that it was not easy to find the ingredients and source of foreign medicines.

Just as Fan Tianyou stopped halfway, finished feeding Lu Xiaoshuang her medicine, and was about to continue his journey, he received a call from Liu Baoguo.

That is, the Nokia phone ringtone that Lu Xiaoshuang heard before she fell into a coma.

When Liu Baoguo asked him to cover for him, saying he would be there soon, he suddenly remembered that there was a school leadership meeting that afternoon.

If he doesn't go, then his alibi for today will be completely ruined.

Therefore, they had to turn back, but they still arrived later than Liu Baoguo.

As for Lu Xiaoshuang, she can only be locked in the trunk for now, and we'll deal with her tomorrow.

Fan Tianyou was completely unfamiliar with the situation in Xinbei Town and could not complete the plan alone. Going there rashly would easily expose him.

Moreover, Chen Gengyun was worried that if the Crown car was parked at or near the school, Lu Xiaoshuang might wake up and struggle in the car, leading to her being discovered.

So he had Fan Tianyou drive to the villa first, drop the person off there, and then drive back to get his alibi.

As long as the medicine is given on time, there's no need to worry about Lu Xiaoshuang waking up and screaming or breaking free of her restraints to escape.

The two then carried out their original plan the next day.

After hearing all this, Zhou Yi felt a chill run down his spine, because Lu Xiaoshuang's life in this life was too extraordinary.

Liu Baoguo's phone call saved her.

If she had been thrown into the mine on April 30th, she would have certainly died if she hadn't met the little boy who was collecting coal cinders.

Moreover, it was precisely because Chen Gengyun was naturally suspicious and overly cautious that he feared Lu Xiaoshuang might cause trouble after waking up and be discovered, so he had Fan Tianyou leave her at the villa.

Otherwise, if she had been locked in the trunk for an extended period, she would likely have met with dire consequences.

Could it be that God doesn't want Lu Xiaoshuang to die again in this life?

(End of this chapter)