Roses in Flames

The old woman looked at Xiao Lin and Ye Yuntang with gratitude, her eyes reddening. "Officers, please ask whatever you want. I didn't want to say anything before because I was afraid Ji Chen would retaliate if he found out! He's petty and narrow-minded. After he became famous, he became rich and powerful. Before, when the police came to investigate Teacher Jiang's affairs, my son said that Teacher Jiang didn't plan to sponsor Ji Chen, and then she disappeared. After Ji Chen found out, he had my son suspended from his job in the city."

Xiao Lin caught a glimpse of useful information. His dark eyes narrowed slightly. "Do you know why Teacher Jiang is no longer planning to sponsor Ji Chen?"

The old woman nodded. "My son once went to the Ji family and overheard a conversation between Ji Chen and Ji Dawei. Ji Dawei said that Ji Chen injured himself and, in front of Teacher Jiang, accused him of abusing him and ruining his reputation. Ji Chen told Ji Dawei that only in that way could he trick Teacher Jiang into giving him financial assistance."

"My son felt that Teacher Jiang was a good person and should not have been deceived by Ji Chen and his nephew, so he secretly wrote a letter to Teacher Jiang and told her the truth."

"Later, my son went to work in the city. I don't know if it was because Teacher Jiang had a conflict with Ji Chen after reading the letter, but I haven't seen Teacher Jiang in the village since."

"The police have come to the mountains to search several times, but they haven't been able to find Teacher Jiang. They also seem to have questioned the Ji family uncle and nephew, but they didn't find any clues."

The old woman sighed, "Teacher Jiang is a beautiful and kind-hearted girl. She came all the way from afar to teach in our mountains without complaining about the hardship. She teaches the children knowledge, shows them the outside world on her phone, and encourages them to study hard so that they can leave the mountains in the future."

The old woman wiped away the tears streaming from the corners of her eyes. "Such a good teacher, just disappeared like that. Everyone in our village is heartbroken. Officer, you must find Teacher Jiang!"

Xiao Lin nodded, "We will."

After leaving Auntie's house, Xiao Lin and the others went to the school where Jiang Yao was teaching.

The principal told Xiao Lin that before Jiang Yao disappeared, she was going to visit a student who lived in a mountain valley.

"Teacher Jiang left in the afternoon, but she didn't come back by dark. We thought she had stayed at a student's house, but when the student came to school the next day, Teacher Jiang was not there. We realized something was wrong, so we called the police."

"The police searched the mountains for several days but found no clues. Our school and villagers also searched, but found nothing."

After Xiao Lin obtained the student's address, he asked the village chief to lead them to the student's house.

The mountain path was even more difficult to traverse than they had imagined, with loose rocks, steep slopes, and overgrown weeds.

Once we got to the mountains, there was no cell phone signal.

"Captain Xiao, I heard that Teacher Jiang is a black belt in Taekwondo and is very skilled, which is why she dared to come to the mountains alone to teach," Ye Yuntang said.

Xiao Lin had already reviewed Jiang Yao's missing person file. He nodded, "Yes."

Ye Yuntang frowned. "With Teacher Jiang's skills, she should have no problem dealing with several adult men. If Ji Chen and Ji Dawei are suspects, they probably didn't confront Teacher Jiang head-on, but rather used some special methods."

Xiao Lin nodded thoughtfully. "That's possible."

Ye Yuntang rested her chin on her slender white fingers. "What in the mountains could make Teacher Jiang lower his guard, or even lose his skills?"

After walking for a while, Ye Yuntang almost tripped over a vine.

Xiao Lin reacted quickly, reaching out his large hand to help Ye Yuntang up.

"careful."

Ye Yuntang glanced at the man very close to her, and the cool, pleasant masculine scent wafted from him to her nose. Her heart skipped a beat.

With the help of his strong arm, she steadied herself and nodded to him, "Thank you."

When Xiao Lin saw Ye Yuntang, who was not spoiled at all even after arriving in the mountains and walked a long way without complaining, he couldn't help but look at her with new respect.

She appears proud and arrogant, but she is incredibly resilient at heart.

If it were any other girl, she would probably have been complaining endlessly about such a difficult road.

The group walked a little further.

Ye Yuntang suddenly spoke up, "Wait!"

Xiao Lin stopped and looked at Ye Yuntang. "What's wrong?"

Ye Yuntang pointed to a sea of ​​flowers blooming in full glory not far away, "Look there!"

The sea of ​​flowers was brightly colored and very eye-catching.

The village chief quickly stopped them from going over, saying, "That's oleander. The flowers are poisonous; touching them will make you dizzy and nauseous!"

Xiao Lin and Ye Yuntang exchanged a glance, and then simultaneously took out masks and gloves and put them on.

"Lei Zi, you guys stay here and don't move."

Xiao Lin and Ye Yuntang went forward to check.

A moment later, the two retreated to a safe position.

"Boss, Sister Yuntang, is there anything unusual?" Cheng Lei asked.

Xiao Lin's features were taut, his voice cold and hard. "Teacher Jiang is from the city; she might not recognize oleander, nor know its toxicity. If Ji Chen and his nephew wanted to harm her, could they have used this flower to bewitch her?"

Ye Yuntang gave Xiao Lin a thumbs up.

People who work in criminal investigations have quick minds.

Xiao Lin turned to the village chief and asked, "When other police officers came to look for clues before, didn't you prevent them from getting close to this oleander patch?"

The village chief nodded. "Yes."

After taking necessary precautions, Xiao Lin and his group immediately went to search the oleander flower field.

We searched for almost half an hour.

Suddenly, Ye Yuntang discovered a small object among a layer of decaying leaves.

"Captain Xiao, come quick!"

Xiao Lin quickly walked to Ye Yuntang's side.

Upon seeing the small item Ye Yuntang found, Xiao Lin's dark eyes suddenly darkened. "It's a small diamond from a hair clip."

Ye Yuntang nodded, "Yes."

That hair clip should belong to Teacher Jiang Yao. After Ji Chen took it, he gave it to Lin Xiaoqiao.

The missing rhinestones on the hair clip must have fallen off here.

Xiao Lin stood up and looked around.

Behind the sea of ​​flowers lies a dense, impenetrable forest.

He immediately ordered, "Lei Zi, get to a place with a signal right away and contact the team to call for backup. Bring the search and rescue dogs over. This forest is too deep; we definitely can't manage alone!"

Cheng Lei nodded in response, "Yes, boss."

The village chief also spoke up, "Officer Xiao, I'll go down the mountain to find some villagers to help with the search."

"it is good."

After Cheng Lei and the village chief left, Xiao Lin looked at Ye Yuntang and said, "I plan to go deep into the mountains to take a look. You go back to the village office first."

Ye Yuntang pursed her lips. "I'll go with you."

Xiao Lin's expression was cold and stern. "Danger!"

"I'm not afraid. Have you forgotten what I told you before? I still want to go undercover in the future. What's a little danger to me?"

Xiao Lin looked at Ye Yuntang with a complicated expression. Seeing her insistence, he did not refuse again.

"Stay close to me."

Ye Yuntang gave an OK sign.

As Xiao Lin led Ye Yuntang deeper into the mountains, he left clues so that Cheng Lei and the others could come and find them.

Seeing his apparent experience with forest adventures, Ye Yuntang asked with a hint of doubt, "Captain Xiao, have you ever ventured into the jungle before?"

Xiao Lin hummed in agreement. "I've done extreme training in the rainforest, including wilderness survival and wildlife protection."

Ye Yuntang gave Xiao Lin a thumbs up, "No wonder you're so strong."

Xiao Lin glanced at Ye Yuntang. When she mentioned his strength, her beautiful eyes glanced at his lower abdomen as if she were not paying attention.

Xiao Lin clenched his fist, placed it to his lips, and coughed softly, "Don't look around."

Ye Yuntang found it somewhat amusing. "What did I look at randomly?"

Xiao Lin, "You know what you're doing."

Ye Yuntang said, "Could it be that Captain Xiao is being too sensitive? If you were looking at me, I would never have such wild thoughts."

Xiao Lin, "..."

The further you go in, the dimmer the light becomes.

In the silent air, the occasional roar of beasts could be heard.

Suddenly, a faint gasp drifted over, "Help, help me..."

Upon hearing this sound out of the blue, Ye Yuntang got goosebumps all over her arms.

She instinctively grabbed the arm of the man walking in front of her.

Xiao Lin turned and glanced at her. "Scared?"

Ye Yuntang pursed her lips tightly. "I'm a forensic doctor, what's there to be afraid of?"

Xiao Lin didn't expose her forced composure. "If you're not afraid, why don't you come with me and take a look?"

Ye Yuntang raised his chin. "Okay."

He led her toward the source of the cries for help, slowing his pace slightly, without pulling his arm away from her tight grip.

When they reached a patch of grass about waist-high, they were both taken aback by what they saw behind it.