Chapter 611: The Felon Who Escaped (2)
Eventually, the car drove deep into the quiet suburbs.
It was hard to imagine that such a secluded path would exist near such a prosperous city.
If Lu Ziyang weren’t with Gu Qingjiu, perhaps no one would dare to walk alone on a road like this.
They would only occasionally see a few ordinary households with their lights on inside.
Gu Qingjiu knew that there were many things Lu Ziyang didn’t tell her.
For example, a felon possessed an important item that belonged to their department and how he ended up with the item.
Also, what crime this felon was guilty of, and whether he was male or female.
Why did they have to kill him?
Gu Qingjiu had no way of getting answers to these questions.
But she knew that as a soldier, it was her duty to execute the orders given to her.
Moreover, this was a national department.
The chirping of insects and the croaking of frogs melded together to form a symphony that wasn’t very pleasing to the ears.
As the car went more deeply in, Lu Ziyang drove into a place that resembled wilderness.
There were many withered trees in the surroundings.
A burnt smell emanated from the forests, and in the pitch darkness, even the tree trunks appeared black.
They seemed as though a great fire had burnt them.
The trees were bald, and no leaves could be seen upon them.
Lu Ziyang stopped the car outside this withered forest.
He nodded and said, “The villa is in this forest. In the past, this used to be a tycoon’s vacation villa. One day a fire suddenly arose here. See that? The surrounding trees had been burnt so badly their roots snapped. The family of five, including the tycoon, and the ten-odd servants, all died in the fire.”
“The residents nearby say that this place has since become haunted, so no one dared to come near anymore. Even the property developers don’t dare to develop this place. After over ten years had passed, it turned into this desolated state.”
Gu Qingjiu felt incredulous. “Feels like the prelude to a ghost story.”
“That’s because the villagers nearby don’t know the truth and spread those false rumors. That’s why things came to this.” With his arms akimbo, Lu Ziyang took out the binoculars Gu Qingjiu used previously and gazed into the forest to survey the situation.
“Truth is, this fire was a man-made disaster, not a natural one. Back then, the wife had found out about the tycoon’s affair with his mistress, and both had a big fight here. The wife was the one who had set the fire. But thankfully, all of them escaped promptly, and no casualty had resulted from this—no idea how such a rumor came into circulation. Also, our country hadn’t developed this place yet. Hence no one bothered to clarify the matter.
“If I weren’t checking up on that felon, I wouldn’t have uncovered the truth either.”
Gu Qingjiu learned something from this.
Indeed, it was easy for a person to fabricate a rumor, but it would take so much more effort for another to refute a rumor.
The nearby residents could believe such a fabricated rumor to be the truth and went to show how powerful rumors could be.
“It’s too dark. I can’t see anything clearly. I’m guessing this villa has been cut off from electricity for a long time, so I can’t be certain which area he is in within the villa.”
Upon hearing this, Gu Qingjiu took the binoculars from him.
Through the infrared images, she could see a building that occupied a sizable area. Indeed, even through the binoculars, one could only see pitch darkness. It was impossible to see a person through these binoculars in this setting.
Gu Qingjiu, who was in a difficult position, said, “Boss, are you sure there’s someone in there? If not, we would have made a wasted trip. Moreover, under such circumstances, if you’re asking me to fire a shot at someone from outside, you’re overestimating me. After all, there are walls inside the villa, right? You said that both of us are no match for him. That makes me not want to enter the villa all the more.”
Gu Qingjiu wasn’t shy of showing her cowardice.