At night, I came to this small town once again. This time, I didn't drive the police car; instead, I took a private car, not wanting to be noticed.
I didn't even tell my colleagues that I had left.
Why did I do this?
I wanted to conduct a surprise investigation and catch Li Xiude off guard.
I quietly arrived near the restaurant. It was getting late, and through the dim lights of the restaurant, I could only see the leaves of the acacia trees in front of Li Xiude's house swaying in the wind.
I didn't approach the house; there were many officers in the area posing as pedestrians, keeping an eye on Li Xiude's family.
It seemed like no one in the family had come out. I noticed that the dining room on the second floor had been open for about half an hour around 7 PM. They were probably having dinner.
Then, the light on the third floor remained on. Through the eavesdropping devices installed by Xiao Yuande, I could hear the sound of a TV coming from the third floor.
It seemed like his wife was watching TV. Her behavior was very unusual.
We continued to monitor the area. By 8 PM, I realized that the whole family had gone to bed quite early.
It seemed a bit odd. I deliberately got out of the car and circled to the back of their house, where I found a small, makeshift warehouse. I was planning to sneak in and investigate. However, as soon as I stepped inside, I stepped on some soft, loose soil, which caused me to lose my footing and fall.
There was a secret room inside the warehouse!
I tried to climb back up, but the height was clearly too great.
What should I do? I grabbed onto the soil and tried to steady myself, but I kept sinking, so I decided to let myself fall to the ground.
Luckily, it wasn't very high; otherwise, I might have broken my bones.
I dusted myself off, took out my phone for light, and began walking through the tunnel. I soon noticed some footprints on the ground.
I casually took photos of the scene, carefully following the path ahead. After some time, I realized that I couldn't find the way back anymore.
If I couldn't go back, what was the point of returning? It was impossible to climb up.
I could only move forward.
After walking for about five minutes, my arms began to feel numb, so I switched hands to keep shaking the phone. Suddenly, I noticed a strange sight on the mud walls.
There were many weird paintings, large and small, stuck to the wall.
The style of the paintings was abstract and childish. They were probably drawn by a child.
I shone my phone on one of the paintings and saw an extremely eerie image.
A couple, their heads covered with red scarves, stood on either side of a girl.
The girl was holding a bouquet of sunflowers, like the ones that grow on the acacia trees. It seemed like it was painted in autumn. When did she paint this picture?
What did it mean?
How could a child draw something like this?
I really wanted to know what she had gone through as a child.
I looked at the other paintings. Most of them were just random lines and circular shapes, without much meaning.
I sighed and lit a cigarette. Just as I was about to exhale, I suddenly heard the sound of a girl's giggle coming from the passage.
Hee hee ha...
"Big brother, what are you doing here? Do you want to play with me?"
Who's that?!
I was startled. I pointed my phone ahead, but there was nothing there. As I turned around, I saw a ragged little girl tugging at my pants!
How did a little girl end up here?
This was the first time I had seen her.
"Who are you?"
"I'm a beggar, and I've always lived here. What are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm a police officer, looking for bad people. You shouldn't be wandering around. This place is dangerous."
I picked her up. Though she was dirty, her face was still cute.
"Have you seen anything strange lately?"
"Strange? Like what?" she asked, though her face looked uneasy.
I decided to approach her in a different way. "Don't be scared. I'm a police officer. I will protect you. If you see anything, you must tell me. It will help everyone in this family."
Her reaction proved I was right—since she lived here, she must have known this family.
She trembled a little, and tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at me. "Police officer, can big sister not go to jail...?"
"That night, I was really hungry. I saw a big brother bullying big sister, and then..."
As the little girl spoke, the scene of that night was finally revealed. After the party that night, Zhang Jiye had the audacity to chase Li Xiang to her house, where he assaulted her. During the struggle, he accidentally hit his head.
So that was what happened! I lit another cigarette, feeling cold inside. Self-defense gone wrong. This was a big problem. To protect his daughter, Li Xiude used a montage of time and space to try to cover it all up.