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Chapter 236 Investigation

Chapter 236 Investigation
The next day.

It took Zhou You a great deal of effort to drag the little ghost girl out of the house.

Today his destination is no longer the archives, but another place.

The reason is also very simple.

First, he discovered that the archive contained far too much material, and even if he went back to the script, he estimated that he would not find any cases related to the little ghost girl.

Secondly, judging from the clues in the archives, the little ghost's death must have been related to a sect called "Ascending to Immortality." Although the details are unknown, Zhou You could easily guess that it must be related to sacrifices or summoning gods.

Of course, the last few pages of the file were torn out, so the organization's final fate could not be seen, but there was still a key clue in it.

—Han Ruiming, the criminal police captain who was in charge of this matter and was subsequently suspended.

As luck would have it, this person used to be a prominent figure who had personally solved many major cases, but later resigned for some reason. Zhou You simply paid with a few packs of cigarettes and easily found out the person's address from his cousin.

A small place called Changli Village.
-
Although Changli Village is under the jurisdiction of the city, it is by no means close. In terms of distance, it is almost on the edge of the jurisdiction. Zhou You took a taxi, then a bus, and then a public bus, which took him most of the day to get there.

After such a long period of torment, not to mention him, even the intangible little ghost was exhausted. So naturally, her resentment at being dragged out of the house grew stronger.

This is not.

In the blink of an eye, it was biting his head again.

Zhou You ignored the pendant that resembled a nun named Yin, first checked his phone to make sure he hadn't missed his stop, and then looked up to observe his surroundings.

The village is basically like any other rural village, neither particularly poor nor particularly wealthy. The country roads are fairly well-maintained. Since it's outside the city and the urban heat island effect is gone, the temperature here isn't unbearably hot. Under the old locust tree at the village entrance, you can even see a few old men in t-shirts chatting casually.

Zhou You was new to the place and didn't know the way, so he went over to ask for directions first.

"Excuse me, gentlemen."

One of them turned around and was stunned when he saw Zhou You. He seemed surprised that a stranger would come to the village on such a hot day, but then he smiled.

"Are you a salesperson? It must be tough for you in this heat. Just tell me what you need, but let me make it clear first, we're not buying any health supplements or anything like that."

Upon hearing this, Zhou You lowered his head and looked at his clothes.

No, do I really look that much like a salesperson?

However, he didn't bother to argue, but instead went along with it with a smile.

"Um, excuse me, I'd like to ask you all if there's a person named Han Ruiming here."

Unexpectedly.

Upon hearing this, the old men's expressions changed instantly. One of them glanced at Zhou You from head to toe, then waved his hand forcefully.

"Don't know him? Get out of here! Don't bother us!"

They can greet salespeople with a smile, so why did they turn hostile as soon as they heard this name?

Zhou You was somewhat puzzled, but he shook his head and walked towards the village.

—Never mind, there are so many people here, if you don't say anything, someone else will.
-
Nearly an hour later.

Zhou You squatted by a path in the village, looking up at the sun, which, though setting in the west, was still incredibly scorching, and let out a heartfelt sigh.

"I'll fucking swear!"

In this period of time, he has asked no fewer than ten people, but what has he gotten in return?
At best, they'll curse a couple of times or roll their eyes.

The key point is that he spat directly onto the ground.

No one was willing to answer his questions. In fact, news of his arrival seemed to have spread throughout the village. Although no one dared to lay a hand on him due to legal constraints, almost everyone started avoiding him when they saw him.

"This is blatant emotional abuse. And is this Qin Hui? It seems like the whole village despises him."

Zhou You squatted on the ground, his face a mixture of laughter and tears. Only the little ghost girl beside him clutched her belly, laughing gleefully. Just as Zhou You was scratching his head, wondering if he should ask someone for some outside help, a bottle of mineral water was suddenly handed to him.

Head up.

Only then did I realize that she was an elderly woman with white hair and beard.

"Young man, you must be thirsty after walking for so long, have a drink."

Looking at the calm and kind face, and then at the obviously chilled unopened bottle of mineral water, Zhou You sighed softly. Without much hesitation, he thanked her, took the bottle, unscrewed the cap, and drank it down in one gulp.

The icy sensation seeped into his throat, which at least made Zhou You's wounded heart feel a little better.

The old lady only spoke after watching him drink it all.

"Young man, you seemed to be asking about where Han's kid is, right? What's your relationship with him?"

Hearing those calm yet slightly wary words, Zhou You smiled.

"Well, ma'am, you've misunderstood. I have no connection with Master Han. I'm a newspaper reporter. It's just that the city needs to do a special program on criminal investigation, and Master Han used to be a criminal investigation captain, so I specifically sought him out for material."

This was a reason he had thought of long ago. It wasn't exactly rigorous, but it was at least sufficient—after all, no one would actually go to the newspaper to verify this.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, the old lady's expression immediately relaxed. She raised her hand and pointed in a direction.

"The Han family doesn't live far away. Just follow this road, then go around and walk uphill. They live alone there, so it's pretty easy to find."

Zhou You nodded his thanks quickly, but just before he stood up and was about to leave, he asked another question out of curiosity.

"Hey ma'am, what trouble has Master Han gotten into here? Why does he seem so unpopular?"

Upon hearing this, the old lady shook her head and sighed deeply.

"It wasn't like this a few years ago. Back then, this Han kid was the most promising in the village. He became the captain of the criminal police in the city at a young age. Unfortunately, ever since his daughter died, he has become... a bit withdrawn. He gets into conflicts with the villagers all the time. Well, you'll see when the time comes."
-
Following the path pointed out by the old woman, we gradually saw more and more earth and rocks around us, but the scenery became increasingly desolate.

In the end, the scene was almost like a mass grave, except for one large house standing amidst the rubble.

At first glance, it looks like a legendary burial site.

Zhou You stepped forward and knocked on the door.

But no one responded.

"I said, 'I'm a reporter from the newspaper. Is anyone here?'"

Still no one answered.

But just as Zhou You took a few steps back, intending to shout a few words...

He suddenly realized that the iron gate was not locked.

Okay, I didn't break in; I just wanted to see if anyone was home.

He pressed the handle and gently pulled it open.

The room was dark, even though the sun had not yet set.

more importantly.
The floor was covered in dust, clearly indicating that no one had lived there for a long time.