Facing the yellowed photo in Meng Jie's mother's hand, I felt a storm raging inside me. It would be hard for anyone to stay calm after witnessing such a scene.
When I found the photo at Lao Wang's house, I had intended to investigate the identities of the five people in it. I knew that one of them was my father and another was Lao Wang, but the remaining three were unknown.
After getting off the plane today, I had repeatedly reminded Lao Chen to take the photo back and thoroughly investigate the identities of the other three. Unexpectedly, before Lao Chen could provide any news, I had unintentionally encountered the youngest person in the photo.
Undoubtedly, the photo in Meng Jie's mother's hand was of Liu Zhiqiang when he was young. At first, I didn't think much of it, but now the more I looked, the more he resembled Liu Zhiqiang.
What puzzled me was how Liu Zhiqiang knew Lao Wang. More importantly, what was the relationship between Lao Wang, Liu Zhiqiang, and my father? Were they just acquaintances who happened to take a photo together, or did they have a close relationship?
"What's wrong?" Meng Jie suddenly nudged my shoulder, breaking my train of thought.
"Who is this person?" I took the opportunity to point at the photo in Meng Jie's mother's hand and asked.
"Who else could it be but the heartless man who abandoned his family?" Meng Jie said fiercely.
"Xiaojie, don't speak about your father like that," Meng Jie's mother said through tears.
"Hmph," Meng Jie snorted coldly, then looked at me again. "You don't look well. Want to lie down on my bed for a bit?"
"No, no," I waved my hands hurriedly, quickly making my exit. "Auntie, I'll visit you again when I have time."
With that, I ran out.
"I'll see you out," Meng Jie called after me.
"No need, no need," I shouted without looking back, quickening my pace. It was clear Meng Jie had ulterior motives.
But Meng Jie still chased after me, grabbing my arm with a mischievous grin. "Xiao Lin, you seem very afraid of me."
"Aren't you sad at all?" I was curious about how Meng Jie could still smile.
"What's there to be sad about? I felt a bit uncomfortable at first, but seeing my mom cry like that made me happy. I'm glad he died; it freed my mom," Meng Jie said, almost through gritted teeth.
"Glad?" I looked at Meng Jie incredulously.
"Hmph, he threw my mom and me out. Do you know how miserable we were when my mom and I were homeless with me being only one year old?" Meng Jie suddenly hugged me and started sobbing.
This left me completely dumbfounded.
Damn, she was hugging so tightly I could barely breathe.
Fortunately, we hadn't gone far from her house. Hearing Meng Jie cry, her mother came out and pulled her away, finally giving me a reprieve.
Once I exited the neighborhood, I immediately called Lao Chen.
Right now, Lao Chen was the only person I trusted and was familiar with. I used to consult with Ge Lao and Zhao Mingzhu, but now with them gone, Lao Chen was my only option.
"Hello, kid, do you know what time it is? Do you want to let people sleep or not?" Lao Chen answered, grumbling loudly.
"Hehe... Sorry, Uncle Chen!" I laughed. "Uncle Chen, I found an important clue. I wouldn't bother you if it wasn't urgent."
"Oh, what important clue? Tell me," Lao Chen asked.
"Well, I just saw a photo of Liu Ge when he was young at his wife's place. Guess who it was..." I quickly recounted everything I had seen to Lao Chen.
Lao Chen was stunned. After a long pause, he finally spoke, "You sure you're not seeing things?"
"Definitely not. I even asked Meng Jie, and she confirmed it's Liu Ge."
"What the hell is going on? This is getting more complicated," Lao Chen cursed. "It's the middle of the night. I can't look into it now. First thing tomorrow, I'll head to the bureau and start checking the identities of those people. Oh, by the way, Tong Niu is in the city looking for you. Have you seen him?"
"What? The big guy came to find me? I haven't seen him. Why is he looking for me?"
"He said their construction site is finished, and everyone has left. He came to get his payment from you, haha... You deal with him yourself!"
"Damn, what's he looking to me for payment?" I groaned.
Meanwhile, I started worrying about the big guy.
Tong Niu, as Lao Chen called him, was actually the big guy, Li Da Kui. He was 27 and from Linyi, Shandong—a place famous in Water Margin as the hometown of Li Kui. Given his nearly two-meter-tall frame, if you gave him a pair of axes, he would be the spitting image of Li Kui.
After hanging up with Lao Chen, I tried calling Li Da Kui, but his phone was unreachable. So, I rushed home, hoping to find him waiting at the guesthouse entrance. Maybe he was there already, waiting for me.
I was right. When I got to the guesthouse, I saw Li Da Kui squatting at the entrance, holding a 30 cm square box.
"Haha, I've been waiting for you for ages!" Li Da Kui greeted me with a goofy grin. "Someone asked me to give you this box." He handed it to me.
"Give it to me?" I looked at him suspiciously. "Who gave you this?"
"Haha, I don't know her. As soon as I got back to the construction site, a very pretty woman gave me a thousand yuan to deliver this to you, saying I shouldn't let anyone know. I didn't even tell Lao Chen, lying that I came to get my pay from you. Haha... Am I smart or what?"
"A pretty woman gave this to you?" I felt a chill run down my spine, sensing something was off.
"Haha, yes. She was so pretty. I wish I could find a wife like her..."
Damn, he was almost drooling.
I didn't bother to chide him. Instead, I quickly called Captain Yan.
To my surprise, Captain Yan was still working late at the Public Security Bureau. He asked me to come to his office immediately.
I didn't want to open the box in front of Li Da Kui, fearing it might scare him. So, I rushed to Captain Yan's office with the box.
After explaining the situation briefly, Captain Yan put on gloves and opened the box.
As soon as the box was opened, both of us were stunned.
Inside was a bloody human head, and I recognized it immediately. It was none other than Li Dapeng's mother.
Her face was still the same as before, eyes bulging, tongue protruding, especially those bulging eyes seemed to be staring right at me.
I was used to her appearance, but Captain Yan wasn't. His face turned pale as soon as he saw the head.
There was also a letter beside the head. I opened the envelope and saw that the handwriting matched the letter I received yesterday. It read: "This head was cut off by you. In three days, your mother's head will be in a similar box."
A direct threat.
I wasn't really worried about my mom's safety. She was staying at a guesthouse next to the Public Security Bureau, guarded by armed police 24/7. I doubted anyone would dare to commit murder right next to the bureau.
However, she was still my mom, so I felt a bit anxious. After discussing with Captain Yan, he agreed to assign more plainclothes officers to patrol around the bureau, ready to catch anyone suspicious.
After leaving Captain Yan's office, I got a room for Li Da Kui next to mine. That night, I couldn't sleep, my mind racing about the whereabouts of the killer.
It was clear the killer had reached Baqu County today. However, she handed the box to Li Da Kui at 1 PM, and the goofy Li Da Kui took the whole afternoon to find the guesthouse. She had plenty of time to escape. I knew going to Baqu County now would be pointless.
What worried me most wasn't my mom, but the person whose organs had been cut off. I feared it might be Zhao Xiaotian, as he was still missing. The killer, seeking revenge on me, would target my family and friends, not just any random person.
I drifted into a fitful sleep around dawn, only to be woken up by a call two hours later.
It was Lao Chen, shouting over the phone, "Kid, didn't you say Li Xia was an accomplice? How come she's released?"
"What?" I exclaimed. "You saw her?"
"I just saw her cleaning her house in Guojia Village! I even talked to her. She said she was acquitted. What the hell is going on?"
"Keep an eye on her. I'm coming right now!" I yelled, hanging up.
I quickly hired a car to Baqu County. When I and Li Da Kui and Lao Chen burst into Li Xia's house, I was dumbfounded.
Damn, Zhao Xiaotian was there.