Chapter 1324: I Only Want You (22)
“There are not many residents in this village. I looked around and found that lots of houses have already been abandoned. Seems like humans are scarce here.”
“Didn’t you hear what Madam Wang said? All the young people have already left the village. The only ones left here are children and middle-aged or old women. Lots of families have moved away too. It’s definitely going to be dilapidated. The entire village feels so dead.”
“This village is really strange. Outsiders are mostly too afraid to stay here. The rumors alone are terrifying enough.”
….
By nighttime, the village grew dead silent. The empty streets were pitch black, and the only light source came from the lights in some houses. There were also the occasional sounds of dogs barking.
The rain grew heavier and louder.
The air was chilly and breezy. Due to the fact that the lights in the room were too dim, An Xiaoning shone her torch on the case files and began reading the information while seated on the bed.
She had yet to have the time to peruse the information because she had only received the files today.
The case was considered to be a terrifying mass murder.
The culprit must have been a cruel and relentless person.
Most people would not be able to bring themselves to mince the corpses up and hang the heads of the deceased on the doors of their respective houses.
Although it seemed that the victims very likely had a feud with the murderer, An Xiaoning had yet to find any clues or evidence of it and thus decided to be open to all possibilities.
All she wanted to do now was to try her best and find some clues.
If the rumors were true, the only possibility would be that the spirits of the victims were too vengeful and hence were still lingering around the village.
If that were the case, it would be easy for her to proceed. All she had to do was to find the spirits of the deceased victims.
Her only fear was that the strange deaths of the men had nothing to do with the mass murder. Things would be way trickier then.
She had to verify the presence of the spirits first.
She hoped to solve the case as soon as possible, so that she could put her mind at ease sooner.
“Boss, that fellow is calling you again!”
An Xiaoning took a look at the caller display to see that it was a call from Ma Jianguo. She immediately answered and asked, “Hello, how did it go?”
“We’ve observed the landscape and discovered the large reservoir nearby. The rest are just agricultural lands. Xiaoning, I suggest that we ask around the villages secretly.”
“We’ll carry that out in another few days. We’ve just moved here. If you question the villagers so soon, they’re going to get suspicious. If our identities get exposed, we’ll never hear the truth from the villagers.”
“Alright, what do we do next, then?”
“Go check on the reservoir and send me the detailed information about it. I want the details about the number of the casualties and the timings.”
“Alright.”
“On top of that, tell Zu Dong and Gong Le to head to the victim’s house. Don’t alarm the victim’s husband yet. Start off with her maiden home. Although we’ve already investigated it, I still want to find out more about this case. Perhaps we’ll have a breakthrough. Tell her family not to leak any details about the matter yet and that the police will announce it when the time is right.”
“Alright.”
As soon as she ended the call, she heard the sounds of a heated argument coming from outside.
An Xiaoning and Fan Shixin looked at each other, after which she got out of bed and walked toward the door while Fan Shixin stayed inside in order to avoid being seen by Madam Wang.
She opened the door to see that Madam Wang was standing by the door with an umbrella in hand.
“Sister Wang, what happened outside?”
“Were you frightened? It’s nothing, that happens all the time. I’ve already gotten used to it,” said Madam Wang.
Upon hearing her words, An Xiaoning walked toward her with an umbrella in hand and asked, “Sister Wang, what happened?”
Shaking her head, she said, “It’s hard to explain. Stop standing there. Go back in and get some rest. It’ll stop soon.”
“Who hit her?” asked An Xiaoning, who could not sit back and do nothing now that she had found out about it.
“Her mother.”
“Why?”
“I’m not too sure either. Her mother doesn’t let the neighbors meddle with their family affairs. No one has asked about it either. I really pity that child. Well, she was adopted after all.”
Her words had struck a sour note within An Xiaoning.
She could empathize with the adopted child.
Noticing that she seemed a little stunned, Madam Wang said, “Don’t just stand here. It’s raining heavily outside. Hurry and go back in. It’s time for me to rest too.”
“Alright.”
The villagers were used to going to bed early, especially since it was also raining.
They dozed off early too.
An Xiaoning returned inside and explained the situation to Fan Shixin briefly. She then added, “Madam Wang has returned to her room to sleep. I think I’m going to go take a look outside.”
Fan Shixin asked, “Alright. Do you want me to go with you?”
Shaking her head, An Xiaoning said, “I’ll go by myself.”
In no time, Madam Wang turned off her lights.
As soon as An Xiaoning exited, she caught sight of a girl being tied to a tree with her head hung low.
Her long tresses covered her entire face.
She was drenched in rainwater and covered in blood. An Xiaoning could not help but find her pitiful.
The lights were shining brightly in front of the door. Are they afraid that no one will see them?
A middle-aged woman was standing in front of the girl with an umbrella and a thick wooden rod in hand. Despite knowing that An Xiaoning was watching her, she continued to beat her adopted daughter with the rod.
An Xiaoning stepped forward and barked, “Stop it.”
The woman stopped and rebuked, “You’re the new tenant from next door, right? Mind your own business. This is my family’s affair.”
“It’s indeed your family matters, but you’re disrupting my peace. Can you mellow down?”
The woman snapped in annoyance, “This is my house. What has it got to do with you? Do you have any right to interfere?”
An Xiaoning said, “I don’t, but I’m just here to give you some advice. It’s up to you to decide if you want to heed it or not. At the rate you’re beating her, you’ll end up killing her sooner or later. Look how thin she is. She must have been malnourished for an extended period of time. I really can’t stand watching you abuse an innocent child. Just what is it that compelled you to be so violent and vicious with her?”
The woman hollered, “You’re just an outsider and yet you’re poking your nose into my family’s affair. So what if I beat her to death? I’ve been beating her for more than a decade and she’s still alive. If you poke your nose into my business again, I’m going to beat you up too. Believe it or not! I’m being serious, I’m not joking!”