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

Chapter 474 Li Yanan (Thanks to 淡淡风雨1987 for the generous donation)
In the Yunxia Mountains, Lu Xiaoshuang walked in the middle of the group. Looking at the dense forest and gloomy clouds around her, she felt a chill run down her spine.

This is also Yunxia Mountain? It's like a completely different world from where they climbed yesterday.

Fortunately, everyone had a flashlight to illuminate the way ahead, and Jiang Biao's burly figure behind them gave them a sense of security, like an iron tower.

The trees along the way were covered with something that looked like fluorescent material. When a flashlight beam was shone on them, it reflected light, making it easy to identify the direction.

Following the markers, they walked for a long time. The ground was very muddy and slippery. The mountain was so cold in the middle of the night that it made people shiver. Although she had put on the coat prepared for rescue, Lu Xiaoshuang still felt the chill seep into her bones. She couldn't imagine how Zhou Yi would survive in such an environment.

So she just wanted to find Zhou Yi as soon as possible, and everyone else thought the same thing.

The police officer leading the way felt like he was being chased forward, as the group behind him was moving at a breakneck pace.

As we walked, the lights ahead became noticeably more numerous.

The police officer leading the way pointed and said, "The search and rescue area is just ahead. Everyone is now concentrated in this area."

Everyone nodded immediately, and their pace quickened.

After walking over, Lu Xiaoshuang saw that from here, extending into the distance beyond the horizon, along the cliff edge, every five or six hundred meters or so, there were lights hanging on the trees, and people guarding the trees. Ropes were tied to the thick tree trunks, taut and straight, extending down the cliff.

Clearly, at regular intervals, someone would climb down the rope to look for someone.

The police officer leading the way said, "We can't determine exactly where Officer Zhou and the student fell off the cliff, so we can only conduct a multi-point, carpet-style search of the possible areas."

"How deep are these cliffs?" Jiang Biao asked.

"It's hard to say. The terrain of Yunxia Mountain is very complex, and it's too dark to observe the depth effectively. We can only confirm it by throwing down glow sticks. If it's very deep, we can't go down and can only wait until it gets light." The police officer took a deep breath and said somewhat heavily, "But from what we can see, even in the lower areas, it's at least ten meters deep."

These words made everyone's hearts sink; falling from a height of more than ten meters, the chances of survival were slim.

"So, people have gone down here to search, right?"

The police officer nodded, "After we go down there, we will search as many places as we can."

That being said, there has been no news so far, which means that this comprehensive search has not found Zhou Yi.

Jiang Biao said eagerly, "Let's go, let's move forward and find a place that hasn't been searched yet, and we'll go down and search there too."

The police officer looked at Jiang Biao, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Sir, I suggest you don't go down, given your physique. I'm afraid the rope won't be able to support you."

This is not a joke, but a very serious suggestion.

Jiang Biao was stunned for a moment, then said unwillingly, "Then it won't work. I've already told Captain Wu."

Chen Yan said, "Brother Biao, it's okay. Sister Qiao and I will go down in a bit. If we find Zhou Yi, we'll have to tie him to a rope and pull him up. We don't have the strength for that, so you'll have to do it."

Jiang Biao nodded helplessly.

Qiao Jiali glanced at Lu Xiaoshuang and said, "Xiaoshuang, I absolutely will not allow you to go down there. You just wait up here, do you hear me?"

Lu Xiaoshuang nodded.

The group followed the police officer who was leading the way for a long time until they reached a deserted place. After confirming the surrounding environment, the police officer took out a glow stick, lit it, and threw it down.

The white glow stick plummeted downwards, rolled a few times, and then stopped moving.

"Judging by appearance, the height should be within 30 meters. The rope is long enough, so we can go down."

Chen Yan took the lead and climbed down the rope.

The people above clung to the edge of the cliff and used flashlights to illuminate his path.

Chen Yan carefully climbed down little by little, knowing that he had to play it safe and not rush.

As it grew darker and the flashlight could no longer reach him, he climbed down and stepped onto a hard rock.

He immediately took out his flashlight and shone it around to check the surroundings. After confirming that there was no danger, he shouted up, "Sister Qiao, you can come down now!"

Then Qiao Jiali climbed down the rope and quickly reached the bottom.

Jiang Biao, who was above, saw two flashlight beams splitting apart to the left and right, and he shouted a couple of times to warn them to be careful.

Then he got up from the ground and said, "Lu Xiaoshuang, don't worry, Zhou Yi is very lucky. Even God said he won't die."

However, he did not receive any feedback from Lu Xiaoshuang.

Jiang Biao turned his head in confusion and found that Lu Xiaoshuang was nowhere to be seen.

His mind went blank for a moment.

"Oops!"

……

At three o'clock in the morning, in the old and simple interrogation room of the Yunshan County Public Security Bureau.

Li Yanan lowered her head nervously, her hands constantly twisting the hem of her clothes.

Wang Tao sat next to Wu Yongcheng, wondering what this leader from Hongcheng wanted to ask. How come he hadn't noticed that this delicate and pretty young girl was lying?

"Name." Wu Yongcheng's voice was icy cold.

“Li... Li Yanan.”

"age."

"twenty."

"Keep your head up."

Wu Yongcheng's voice was unquestionable. Li Yanan raised her head tremblingly, but her eyes flickered, and she dared not look at him.

"Do you know why I brought you here?" Wu Yongcheng squinted at the other person.

Li Yanan shook her head.

"Don't you know what you've done?"

"I...I really don't know what you're talking about."

Wu Yongcheng tapped the table with his right index finger and nodded: "You won't admit it, huh? Fine, fine..."

Wang Tao, who was standing to the side, was taking notes while wondering what was going on.
Wu Yongcheng didn't press further, but instead changed the subject, asking, "Who initiated this trip?"

“It’s… Liang Bin.” Li Yanan added after saying that, “He’s the head of our Wilderness Society.”

"The Wilderness Society?"

“Yes, it’s our school’s wilderness adventure club,” Li Yanan explained.

"How many people are in your club? Was it founded by Liang Bin?"

"It wasn't founded by Liang Bin; it existed before. Liang Bin joined the club when we were freshmen. There were also sophomores in the club at that time, and Liang Bin participated in a few activities with them."

"Sophomore? Aren't there any juniors or seniors?" Wu Yongcheng asked.

Li Yanan replied somewhat awkwardly, "We are a vocational college, and it only lasts three years."

Wu Yongcheng suddenly realized that he had only heard Ni Jianrong say that he was a college student, so he had instinctively formed a preconceived notion.

"Then why aren't there any juniors?"

“Our school mainly teaches technical majors, and the third year is all practical courses, so there’s not much time left.” Li Yanan seemed much more relaxed when answering these questions.

Wu Yongcheng nodded: "Oh, he's going to do an internship, I understand. You just said that Liang Bin participated in several activities with sophomores in the club when he was a freshman. So he has some outdoor adventure experience, right?"

Li Yanan nodded and said yes.

"Besides him, none of the other seven of you have similar experience?"

"Ah."

"So when did you join this Wilderness Club? I see you're a sophomore, just like Liang Bin. And there seems to be another one with the surname... Yao."

Wang Tao added in a low voice, "Yao Li."

"Yes, yes, Yao Li. Apart from the three of you, the others are all freshmen."

"That's right. Several of the original senior students dropped out after entering their junior year. Then, two classmates who were in the same year as us also dropped out because they didn't get along well with Liang Bin. So at that time, only Liang Bin was left in the Wilderness Club."

"It seems that the school has a rule that clubs must have at least five members, otherwise they have to be disbanded."

Wu Yongcheng nodded: "Oh, I understand, that's why Liang Bin brought you and Yao Li in."

“Yes, that’s right. Later, some freshmen joined one after another, which is why the club was able to continue.” Li Yanan said, “This time, it’s because the three of us will be going to our junior year for internships after the summer vacation, and we won’t be able to continue participating in club activities. That’s why Liang Bin said he wanted to organize an exciting wilderness adventure.”

"Exciting? What do you mean? Haven't you organized any activities in the past year?"

Li Yanan quickly explained, "No, no, it's just because I haven't had time. So the previous activities were all small-scale events organized on weekends near the school. I've never gone this far before."

Wu Yongcheng nodded and understood. These guys were just like amateur opera singers. They would usually sing a little in the park and get some people to flatter them, but then one day they would suddenly get cocky and think they were good enough to go on stage and sing opera.

"What's your relationship like with Liang Bin? When did you two officially become a couple?"

Upon hearing this question, Li Yanan immediately tugged at the hem of her clothes.

"Liang Bin and I got together during the first semester of our freshman year. He pursued me. Our relationship... was pretty good."

Wang Tao couldn't help but look up at Li Yanan; even he could tell something was off about her tone. "Are you sure?" Wu Yongcheng said coldly. "Li Yanan, let me warn you first, this is the Public Security Bureau. Lying will have consequences. Whether you have a good relationship with Liang Bin or not, we can find out by checking with a few other people, so you'd better think carefully before you answer."

During the brief interrogation, Li Yanan's emotions fluctuated wildly, her nerves constantly being pulled back and forth by Wu Yongcheng.

Upon hearing this warning, she could no longer hold back her emotions and suddenly covered her face and burst into tears.

At this point, Wang Tao seemed to have grasped something. He turned to look at Wu Yongcheng and found his eyes to be as cold as ice.

In Wu Yongcheng's eyes, this little girl was not qualified to withstand a few moves from him.

"So what did Liang Bin do to you?"

Li Yanan cried and said, "He hit me. He has a serious tendency to violence. He will hit me whenever he is unhappy."

As Li Yanan spoke, she rolled up her sleeves.

Her slender, fair arms were covered in bruises, both new and old.

Besides the arm injury, she also tore open her collar, revealing many other scars.

Li Yanan cried and said, "He's very shrewd and never hits my face. He's also very controlling. If I talk to other boys for a few extra minutes, he gets angry. I'm so scared. He always hits me, sob sob sob."

Wu Yongcheng remained serious and composed.

Wang Tao couldn't help but ask, "If you're so afraid of him, why don't you break up with him?"

“During the second semester of my freshman year, I brought up breaking up because I couldn’t take it anymore… As soon as he heard the word ‘break up,’ he flew into a rage, pinned me to the ground, grabbed my neck, and said…” Li Yanan trembled as she said this, and couldn’t help but burst into tears again.

While crying, she said, "He said if I break up with him, he will kill me, and he will also kill my parents and my brother."

Wang Tao was furious, but because Wu Yongcheng was there, he didn't dare to say a word.

But his eyes already conveyed a sense that Liang Bin deserved to die.

Wu Yongcheng showed no mercy, asking coldly, "So you should be happy that he's dead, right?"

Li Yanan, who was crying, was suddenly stunned. She looked up at Wu Yongcheng in a flustered and helpless manner, as if she did not expect him to ask such a question.

"I..." She didn't know how to answer for a moment.

“Li Yanan,” Wu Yongcheng asked in a gentler tone, “how exactly did Liang Bin fall?”

By this point, Wang Tao already knew Wu Yongcheng's intentions.

Does he suspect that Li Yanan pushed Liang Bin off the cliff?
Could such a delicate and beautiful girl be a murderer?
Just as Wang Tao was still doubting, Li Yanan seemed to have been struck by lightning, her face instantly turning deathly pale, and her lips trembling for a long time.

Finally, Li Yanan covered her face and cried again, but this time the crying was even more heart-wrenching than before.

Amidst Li Yanan's sobs, she managed a broken reply: "Waaaaah... I... I didn't mean to... I was so scared... Waaaaah... I was afraid he'd come up and hit me again..."

Wang Tao was horrified. Could this girl really be the murderer?
He couldn't help but glance at Wu Yongcheng beside him, filled with admiration. Were all his colleagues in Hongcheng this capable? How did he know there was something wrong here?
Wu Yongcheng frowned upon hearing the answer.

"Hit me again after you come up here..."

He pondered Li Yanan's words; they seemed somewhat different from what he had expected.

As for why he felt there was something wrong with Li Yanan, it was actually due to his experience and intuition as a veteran criminal investigator who had seen countless people.

When he looked at the five people in the emergency room, he noticed something was off at first glance.

When faced with his gaze, all five people exhibited varying degrees of evasive and shifty eyes.

This is normal; it's a reaction of guilt, after all, they're the ones who caused such a big mess.

But there are differences among them.

Although Du Xiang and Li Jiajia were also nervous, their reactions were relatively mild.

Because Liang Bin and Zhou Yi's fall from the cliff had little to do with them.

It's like having a child at home. The child who scored 59 points will naturally feel less guilty in front of the child who scored 30 points, since there is someone more deserving of being scolded.

Therefore, Wu Yongcheng felt there was no problem with the two of them.

The remaining three were all involved in the fall, especially Li Yanan.

So he asked these three people questions to see their reactions.

They're all freshmen and sophomores; they can't possibly be very cunning.

So they quickly discovered the anomaly.

Although all three showed signs of guilt, Li Yanan's reaction differed slightly from the other two.

When she answered her own question, she was very tense, which is a typical reaction to stress.

Normally, feeling guilty can also lead to tension, but people will instinctively do some small actions to relieve this tension.

Tang Mengjie was like that, her fingers constantly digging into the blanket.

Ding Fei, on the other hand, appeared relatively calm, perhaps due to the difference between men and women when faced with a situation.

Li Yanan was very tense, even her facial expression was stiff, indicating that she was in a state of extreme tension.

Wu Yongcheng could not be certain, but it was highly likely that Li Yanan's body was stiff at the time.

Why is she so nervous? There's only one possibility: she's lying.

As for what exactly they lied about and to what extent, we'll have to bring them back for questioning to find out.

So Li Yanan's words seem to be somewhat different from what he expected.

“Li Yanan, explain yourself clearly. What do you mean by ‘I hit you after I came up here’?” Wu Yongcheng asked with a furrowed brow. “Didn’t you push Liang Bin down?”

Li Yanan lowered her hand from her face, her eyes already red and swollen from crying. She shook her head repeatedly in horror, "No...no, I swear, I really didn't push him."

"So what exactly did you do?" Wu Yongcheng asked.

……

Li Yanan's memory seemed to take her back to the deep mountains and forests just a few hours earlier.

In the pitch black, she lay on the edge of the cliff, reaching down with her hand. Liang Bin, clinging tightly to a vine as thick as a bowl, reached out to her, trying to touch her hand.

The flashlight had fallen, and it was pitch black all around, so Li Yanan couldn't see anything. She couldn't even make out Liang Bin's face; she could only see the hand that was reaching out to her.

But there was still a gap between his two hands, which made Liang Bin anxious, so he shouted, "You fucking move forward a little more!"

“I’ve already… gone quite far…” Li Yanan said with difficulty, her other hand gripping tightly the protruding stone on the ground, because she was afraid that she would fall down as well.

"Nannan, move forward a little more, I can't... I can't hold on much longer..."

"I really tried my best," Li Yanan said, her voice trembling with tears.

"Where's Ding Fei? Where is that bastard Ding Fei?"

"I don't know, it's too dark, I don't know where they are. Or... or you could hold on a little longer, and I'll go and get Ding Fei to help?"

Upon hearing this, Liang Bin, who was hanging on the cliff, cried out in desperation, "No, Nan Nan, don't go, please save me!"

"But I can't reach it..."

"Clothes! Take off your clothes and throw them down, use them to pull me up!" Liang Bin shouted in a moment of inspiration.

Upon hearing this, Li Yanan immediately replied, "Okay, hang in there a little longer."

As she spoke, she immediately withdrew her hand, got up from the ground, and began to take off her clothes.

Despite being shivering from the cold, she did not hesitate to start taking off her clothes.

But just as he was halfway up the cliff, he suddenly heard Liang Bin cursing below, "Damn it, once I get up here, the first thing I'll do is kill that bastard Ding Fei!"

Her movements froze instantly, and she recalled the days when Liang Bin had beaten her so badly that she was covered in bruises.

She slowly put her wet clothes back on, even though she had only taken them off halfway.

Then, without making a sound, she stood up and slowly backed away, moving further and further away from the cliff.

"Nannan, are you alright? My hands are too weak, I can't hold on much longer."

"Nannan, why aren't you saying anything? Where are you? Don't scare me!"

"Li Yanan, what the hell do you want? You eat my food and use my things, and you think you can rebel against me?!"

"Li Yanan, I'll fuck your mother! I'll kill you first when I get here!"

"Waaaaah, I really have no strength left. I was wrong, Nan Nan, I was wrong. I love you. Please save me, please save me."

"Ah—bang—"

Standing under a big tree, Li Yanan was so nervous that she didn't dare to breathe. She could only hear her heart pounding like it was being hit by a drumstick.

Until Liang Bin's voice is no longer heard.

She finally let out a long breath, her whole body soaked in sweat.

Then, she took a deep breath, and with all her might, let out a scream!
(End of this chapter)