Chapter 131 08

Chapter 131.08

The next day was Monday. After a full day, snowplows had cleared most of the snow from the streets.

Nowadays, the grand sight of schools organizing students for large-scale snow removal is rarely seen.

He Lin had made prior arrangements with Xincheng Public Security Bureau and arrived early that morning.

Outside, it was bitterly cold, but inside the bureau, the heating was turned up high, making the room warm and cozy.

The original complainant arrived on time—a 25-year-old female office worker currently employed as a supply chain buyer at a company in Xincheng.

She looked very young, dressed in a long white down jacket. Her eyes were bright, round, and large; her face was also round, and she had long dark hair—a sweet, charming young woman.

Perhaps it was her first time at the Xincheng Public Security Bureau, as she kept looking around curiously upon entering.

Before checking her ID, He Lin assumed her name was Jiang Wan, as names ending with "er" are uncommon. But after seeing her ID, he was somewhat surprised and said, "Your name is Jiang Wan'er?"

Hearing the rising tone in his voice, Jiang Wan'er was accustomed to such reactions. She explained, "When my mom was pregnant with me, she was watching a TV drama about Wu Zetian and liked the character Shangguan Wan'er. So she gave me this name. Many people find it unusual, but actually, the character 'er' can be registered as part of a name."

The officers receiving them at the bureau were a female officer surnamed Su, and a young male officer surnamed Zhao from the local police station responsible for the actual investigation.

That small police station had ten officers in total, responsible for five nearby villages—averaging two officers per village.

Although major crimes are rare in rural areas, grassroots police stations handle a heavy workload, bogged down by various tasks every day, leaving them constantly overwhelmed.

Officer Zhao had pronounced dark circles under his eyes, unable to hide his exhaustion.

Seeing this, He Lin knew it was right to come in person. Grassroots police stations have limited manpower, and pushing for faster results in such cases would be pointless.

After introductions and greetings, they all gathered in a conference room to briefly review the case.

Although the case files here hadn’t led to any conclusions yet, they contained many more detailed witness statements than those at the Yuncheng Public Security Bureau.

He Lin listened carefully to their account while Li Shang opened the case file and began reading.

After quickly skimming through it, he seriously opened his work notebook and turned on the recording device, ready to take notes.

The missing person was named Jiang Lai, 30 years old at the time of her disappearance, which occurred during the Spring Festival a year ago.

She was a single female office worker in Yuncheng and had served as marketing director at an internet sales company.

The disappearance took place in her hometown, Hanhua Village.

The person who reported her missing, Jiang Wan'er, is Jiang Lai’s cousin, five years younger.

Li Shang briefly clarified their relationship:

Jiang Lai’s father and Jiang Wan'er’s father are brothers. Their father’s generation had three brothers in total.

Jiang Lai’s father is the second eldest, while Jiang Wan'er’s father is the youngest.

Jiang Wan'er had also worked in Yuncheng before but was transferred back to Xincheng about six months ago.

Previously, the two had worked together in Yuncheng for two years.

As both cousins worked far from home, Jiang Lai had always taken care of Jiang Wan'er. They lived close to each other, their companies were nearby, and they had a good relationship, often meeting up.

Jiang Lai was very independent. She seized the opportunity when her company went public, cashed in some stock options, and bought a small one-bedroom apartment in Yuncheng. She also ran a personal blog, sharing snippets of her daily life and documenting her experiences.

It was clear that before her disappearance, Jiang Lai was a young woman living a content and fulfilling life.

Everything changed after she returned to her hometown for the Spring Festival last year.

Hanhua Village and Yuncheng are quite far apart geographically. Even now, there’s no high-speed rail connecting the two places. Every year, traveling home requires a train ride of over ten hours, making travel very inconvenient.

In the past, the two cousins’ biggest annual headache was going home for the New Year.

Train tickets were hard to buy, and timing was always tricky. Joining the Spring Festival travel rush, enduring the exhausting trip only to stay for a few days, and sometimes getting stuck on the road due to poor route planning.

But their parents were getting older, so they had to visit them periodically.

Before her disappearance, Jiang Lai had been too swamped with work to return home for two years. During those two years, her parents came to visit her in the city just before the New Year.

Last year, her mother fell ill and couldn’t make the trip, so Jiang Lai bought round-trip tickets for the Spring Festival.

At the time, her cousin Jiang Wan'er was required to work during the holiday and couldn’t go home.

Jiang Lai stayed in her hometown for a few days and decided to return on the fifth day of the New Year. Before leaving, she told her cousin the time and train number of her return trip, and Jiang Wan'er agreed to pick her up at Yuncheng Railway Station.

On the afternoon of the fifth day, Jiang Wan'er waited early at the arrivals area but never spotted Jiang Lai.

When she called, Jiang Lai’s phone was turned off.

Unable to reach Jiang Lai, Jiang Wan'er immediately called her aunt and uncle, who told her that Jiang Lai had left on time. They had seen her off at the bus stop and, seeing that the bus was about to arrive, said goodbye and returned home.

Panicked and unable to locate her cousin, Jiang Wan'er reported her missing to the police in Yuncheng.

The Yuncheng police station quickly referred the case to the Missing Persons Investigation Unit. Cheng Xiaoyi’s team traced back using the ticket records.

They soon discovered that Jiang Lai had never boarded the return train. Investigating further, they found she hadn’t even taken the bus to the railway station.

So, the case was forwarded to the Xincheng Public Security Bureau for collaboration, and the bureau assigned officers from the local police station to investigate and gather information.

According to testimonies from her parents and villagers, Jiang Lai was last seen at the bus stop outside Hanhua Village.

The investigation hit a dead end at this point, with no further progress.

In other words, there were many statements but no conclusions or advancements.

Now, nearly a year has passed.

Jiang Wan'er explained, "It was because of what happened to my cousin that my parents didn’t want me working in Yuncheng anymore. They thought it was too far from home and unsafe, insisting I return. So this year, I resigned from my job in Yuncheng and found a new one here in Xincheng. Although my salary was cut almost in half, it only takes a little over an hour to get home now, which is much more convenient."

He Lin processed the details of the case.

Given Jiang Lai’s circumstances—successful career, love for life, emotional stability, no financial or relationship issues, and her disappearance occurring near the New Year without any apparent conflicts or people to avoid—it seemed unlikely she would disappear voluntarily.

Such a prolonged disappearance likely points to an accident, foul play, or possibly captivity.

Considering this, He Lin asked, "Was the village thoroughly investigated?"

Officer Zhao took the initiative to explain: "Hanhua Village has a permanent population of about 1,600 people, totaling around 500 households. Their main sources of income are farming, livestock raising, and handicraft production. There, Jiang is a common surname, and many villagers are related. Jiang Lai’s family only had one daughter—a three-person household, with Jiang Lai as the only child."

"After the disappearance, we first questioned Jiang Lai’s father, Jiang Shanren, and her mother. On the day they saw their daughter off, they encountered many people. Later, seeing that it was about to snow, the older couple hurried home to bring in their laundry, leaving Jiang Lai alone at the bus stop. Normally, the bus would arrive in about ten minutes. Whatever happened likely occurred during those ten minutes."

"Afterward, villagers voluntarily organized multiple searches, and we also deployed officers to conduct a door-to-door canvass. Nearby villages were searched and questioned as well, but no clues were found."

He Lin asked, "What were Jiang Lai’s family dynamics like? Were there any family conflicts? And how did the parents react after her disappearance?"

Officer Zhao had last investigated this case a year ago, so when asked, he couldn’t recall it right away.

He visibly hesitated for a moment, then reached for the case file in Li Shang’s hands.

Jiang Waner cut in, "Jiang Lai is the only daughter of my second uncle, Jiang Shanren. They only have the one daughter, and the couple gets along very well. Of course, they were frantic when their daughter went missing."

At this point, Jiang Waner paused and then asked He Lin, "You’re not suspecting them, are you?"

He Lin sensed her suspicion and felt somewhat annoyed, but he didn’t mind. He believed that showing emotion wasn’t necessarily a bad thing—lack of reaction could also be suspicious.

Such emotions are often genuine reactions, reflecting the truest thoughts of those involved and full of clues.

He Lin patiently explained to her, "According to our investigative procedures, parents and other close relatives are the first to be investigated to eliminate them as suspects."

Jiang Waner kept shaking her head, "That’s absolutely impossible. So many people tried to persuade my second uncle’s family to have another son, but they refused. They’ve always doted on my cousin, which is why they sent her to study and let her work in Yuncheng. Jiang Lai was the most accomplished among our younger generation, always their pride and the one we all looked up to."

He Lin asked again, "Then why didn’t your cousin text them to let them know she was safe? Why were you the first to discover her disappearance?"

Jiang Waner explained, "My uncle is older and hardly ever looks at his phone. My aunt has poor eyesight and doesn’t use hers much either. They usually call each other."

He Lin pressed on calmly, "Even so, after you informed them that your cousin might be missing, why did you file a police report in Yuncheng instead of her parents reporting it in Xincheng?"

Jiang Waner explained, "The old folks were panicking at the time. They’ve never had to deal with the police in their lives. Besides, we didn’t know where my cousin went missing or whether she had boarded the bus. What if it happened in Yuncheng? It was only after you all found out that she might not have boarded the bus that they got worried and went to the local police here."

Officer Su finally remembered and nodded in confirmation, "Yes, the two elderly folks did contact us. We went to take their testimony. I remember they were clearly devastated, crying constantly, and they were in poor spirits."

Jiang Waner sighed, her expression dimming, "After this incident, their whole world collapsed. My aunt was bedridden for ages and only recently started working again. The family is now being held together by my second uncle. When I last visited, I saw they had aged years..."

He Lin asked again, "In the village, was there anyone who had issues with their family?"

Jiang Waner, clearly more familiar with the situation, replied, "The village is pretty small, and most people are somehow related. There isn’t any bad blood. Especially since my grandfather is still around, my eldest uncle’s family lives close to my second uncle’s and our home. The three families have each other’s backs. Plus, the Jiang family is a big family, so no one would dare bully them."

After talking for a while, Jiang Waner confirmed that He Lin didn’t have ill intentions and was simply concerned about the case, just doing his job. Their communication became much smoother, and she offered up a lot of information she knew.

While He Lin was looking into human factors, Li Shang began checking out the village layout on the map.

Hanhua Village is surrounded by vast expanses of farmland, pretty empty. Especially in winter when it snows, everything turns into an endless white. Walking to other villages takes at least forty to fifty minutes.

There are no particularly wide roads within the village, only small alleys barely wide enough for two vehicles. Outside the village, there is one main road, but there’s hardly any traffic.

The bus that goes through the village runs twice a day, morning and evening. The entire route is monitored, but neither the driving records nor onboard footage showed any sign of Jiang Lai. Investigations covering a week before and after also turned up nothing.

Additionally, the northern side of the village borders Beiwang Mountain, with some houses even built against the mountain.

It is a snow-capped mountain, with the highest peak named Beishen Peak. Even in summer, the snow on its summit never melts. In winter, especially after snowfall, the snow stretches all the way to the mountain’s base.

Later, Li Shang looked up the local village records and made a discovery: the village chief alternates between someone surnamed Jiang and someone with a different surname.

He pointed this out and asked Jiang Waner, "What’s the reason for this?"

Jiang Waner explained, "That was a rule set by my grandfather. He was the village chief in his early years and was highly respected. Since the Jiang surname is the most common in the village, my grandfather felt it would be unfair for the chief to always be from our family. As a village official, he proposed giving people with other surnames more opportunities to contribute to building Hanhua Village together. So, the chief alternates between a Jiang and a non-Jiang each term. The previous chief was my eldest uncle, and the current one is surnamed Ding. The next term should be another Jiang."

He Lin continued asking questions, such as whether Jiang Lai could have fallen ill, gotten lost, or wandered off.

Jiang Waner dismissed these possibilities one by one: "Jiang Lai was always very healthy and optimistic. She grew up in the village and knew which areas were dangerous to go to."

She added, "The area below Beiwang Peak, for example, is unsafe. Since we were children, adults always warned us about it."

Hearing this, Li Shang took notes and organized his thoughts.

What other possibilities for her disappearance could there be? Abduction by a passing vehicle? Attack by wild animals? Falling into the snowy mountains? Or simply being killed and buried?

Jiang Waner lowered her head and shared another reason she hoped the police would continue investigating the disappearance: "It’s almost Chinese New Year again. Business is slow before the holiday, so I’ve already taken time off from work and plan to go back to the village soon. But I’ve been feeling uneasy, constantly thinking about my cousin’s disappearance. I... I’m quite scared..."

She took a deep breath: "If my cousin is still alive, I want to know where she is. If she’s no longer with us, I want to know how she died—whether it was an accident or murder."

Jiang Waner placed a hand on her chest and continued, "Sometimes I even have nightmares. I dream of my cousin sitting in the snow, crying in extreme pain. She looks utterly heartbroken, and in the dream, I can feel that sorrow, as if my heart is being torn apart. In the dream, she’s screaming desperately, trying to tell me something. I can see her opening her mouth, tears streaming down her face, shouting at me, but I can’t hear what she’s saying..."

Since they were from the same village and related, Jiang Waner and Jiang Lai had always been close, so naturally, she was deeply concerned about her cousin’s disappearance.

Perhaps it was because she thought about it daily that she had such dreams.

Hearing this, He Lin and Li Shang exchanged glances. Seeing Li Shang nod slightly, He Lin said, "Tell us your schedule. We’ll go back to the village with you to look into the situation."

.

Li Shang had seen Hanhua Village’s location on the map and knew it was somewhat remote.

But when he and He Lin boarded the bus to Hanhua, he realized the journey was even more desolate than he had imagined.

They transferred once from the city and, along with Jiang Waner, took the bus to Hanhua Village.

The inter-village bus was small, a medium-sized vehicle with about twenty seats. It was clearly an older model, though thankfully not so old that it lacked air conditioning and cameras.

There were about ten people on the bus, with plenty of empty seats. Most of them were returning to Hanhua Village. Jiang Waner recognized a few and greeted them.

Li Shang chose a window seat near the front, and He Lin sat beside him.

People on the bus were chatting and laughing, creating a lively atmosphere. For a moment, they felt infected by the warmth, as if they were young people returning home after a year of working away.

However, the liveliness didn’t last long. As the journey progressed, the bus gradually quieted down, with most people looking down at their phones.

The bus’s heater was on, causing condensation to form on the windows. Li Shang had to wipe the fog away from time to time to see the scenery outside.

Along the way, they passed vast plains covered in thick snow.

The snow wasn’t pure white but thick and grayish. In the fields stood dilapidated scarecrows, clearly neglected for a long time, resembling ghosts standing in the snowy wilderness.

Li Shang turned to look out the window, but the monotonous scenery made him drowsy.

Suddenly, through the reflection in the glass, he noticed He Lin also looking in his direction, though his gaze didn’t seem focused outside.

He Lin’s lips curled into a slight smile.

Puzzled, Li Shang turned around and confirmed that He Lin was staring at his reflection on the window.

Caught in the act, He Lin smiled at him.

Li Shang asked softly, "What’s so interesting about that?"

He Lin raised an eyebrow, "It’s just very nice to look at." Then, as if to prove his point, He Lin quickly leaned over and kissed Li Shang on the lips.

Li Shang was really afraid of He Lin’s boldness. Even though no one was sitting behind them and Jiang Waner was in front without turning around, it was still a public place.

Not daring to provoke He Lin further, for fear the little rascal might cause more trouble, Li Shang forced himself to stay alert and look out the window again.

Suddenly, Li Shang’s attention was caught by something.

By the roadside stood some strange structures that looked like towers, appearing at intervals. They varied in height, some with flat tops and others with conical tops.

There were four such structures along the way, each with a different design yet seemingly similar in style.

Such structures were definitely not meant for habitation, yet in this desolate wilderness, it was unclear what they were for.

Although Xincheng was Li Shang's hometown, he had never been to the countryside before and had never seen anything like this.

He pointed it out to He Lin.

He Lin actually recognized it and explained, "That's a Female Infant Tower. During the Qing Dynasty, there was heavy favoritism toward boys over girls, and these towers were used to dispose of infant corpses or abandoned babies. They were generally called infant towers, but since most of the discarded infants were girls, they came to be known as Female Infant Towers."

Hearing He Lin's voice, Jiang Waner also turned around to join their conversation. "Those things have been abandoned for many years. It's just that they're said to carry too much bad energy and are located in the wild, so they can't be demolished. When we were kids, our parents always warned us not to go near those places."

Li Shang looked at one of the smaller towers and thought of the columbarium he had just visited.

"Speaking of the Female Infant Tower, it just reminds me of a story." Jiang Waner continued with a serious expression. "It happened a few years ago, on a snowy day. An elderly man from the village went out alone to handle some business and was returning home at night when he saw something pale and blurry on the road."

"The old man turned on his phone's flashlight for a better look and saw that it was a child, only two or three years old, wearing a bellyband and running quite fast. Curious about whose child it was, he followed the little one until the child suddenly disappeared into one of the infant towers."

"Working up his nerve, the old man peered inside and saw the tower filled with frozen, pale infant corpses and dried bones. There was no trace of the child. After returning home, he told his family about his experience. Not long after, he passed away."

Jiang Waner looked solemn as she said, "It's said that he saw a door to another world..."

Such a story, paired with the gloomy sky and the endless snowy wilderness outside the window, gave you chills.

Seeing that He Lin and Li Shang were listening intently, Jiang Waner blinked and let out a laugh, "Just kidding! There’s nothing that strange—I made it up on the spot. When I was little, my friends and I even went exploring. You could crawl into those towers—there was some space inside, completely empty, but the smell was awful, like rotting corpses."

Just then, the driver, who was sitting not far from them, glanced over and joined the conversation. "You’d better not mess around with those towers. Those places are really eerie. When I first started driving this route, I was returning empty one night and had to pee urgently. I got out of the car, but before I could relieve myself, I heard intermittent cries of a baby. I turned my head and realized I had stopped right next to a Female Infant Tower. The cries were coming from inside. I got so scared I jumped, didn’t even bother to pull up my pants, and rushed back into the car."

Jiang Waner laughed and said, "Uncle, are you making up stories to scare us too? Who abandons children these days?"

The driver chuckled and joked, "What do you think?"

"It must be fake. If it were real, you wouldn’t be so casual about it. If something like that really happened, you probably would’ve quit this route long ago." Jiang Waner waved her hand dismissively. "But the Female Infant Towers are in the past. Nowadays, there’s no preference for sons over daughters here. If a family has a baby girl, the parents are just as happy, and everyone comes to give eggs to congratulate them. I have a younger brother, but my parents treat me much better than they treat him."