"I missed the only chance I had to save her."
The old man lowered his head, and his words were filled with guilt and guilt. After a long time, he continued, "One month later, I returned to see if the girl had been found.
I knocked for a long time, but no one answered.
I walked to the side and saw that the glass on the window had been broken. When I looked through the window, I saw the girl's mother lying by the window. One of her hands was still on the edge of the window.
She seemed to be trying to get out, but the room was built like a prison. The window was very narrow, and there was no way out.
"I found the farming tools and used them to break the lock on the wooden door. The door that the girl's father had built was very sturdy, and it took me a few minutes to break it open.
"There was a light stench inside the room. The table and chairs were toppled, and the food was scattered all over the floor. The girl's father was lying at the door, and the other side of the door was covered in deep scratches.
"He must be in pain …
I called the police and the ambulance. When I was about to return to the village to call for help, the door of the other wooden house suddenly opened.
"The second daughter of the Zhu family, the well-behaved and sensible little fellow, came out of the house."
When I saw the key in her pocket, I suddenly realized that the door was locked from the outside!
"Almost no outsiders would come into this ravine, and the villagers avoided the couple. They wouldn't come here to poison them for no reason and then lock them inside the house.
"In that situation, the only culprit that I could think of was the youngest daughter of the Zhu family.
When I looked at the little girl, I suddenly felt like she was a stranger. I was even a little scared. Until now, I still don't understand why the little girl would do that.
She might have done it for her sister, or she might have seen her own future from what happened to her sister. After all, the little girl also had a slight abnormality on her body, but it was not obvious.
"Maybe she's protecting herself?"
"What happened next was even scarier.
When the girl saw me, she was not afraid or panicked. She walked over like normal.
"She raised her delicate face, looking like an obedient child, but the words that came out of her mouth sent a chill down my spine."
"It was a very calm tone, without any emotion. She told me that her sister was buried in the peach forest a few weeks ago, and she hoped that I could help her find her sister.
"I really wanted to tell her that once a person is buried in the ground, it means death. I tried to explain the meaning of death to her, but she laughed happily. She told me that people would turn into something else after death, and that her sister had never left! "
The old man gripped his hand tightly. Thinking back to the situation at the time, cold sweat still broke out on his forehead. "I didn't know how to communicate with the child, so I ran back to the village alone. I called a few young men to stand guard around the peach forest and waited for the police to arrive."
"What followed was a long investigation. I told the police that there might be another body buried in the peach forest, but the police did not find Zhu Xinrou there.
"They tried to use the little girl as a breakthrough point, but the girl refused to communicate with anyone. It was as if she had suddenly become mute."
"Out of guilt toward Zhu Xinrou, I did not accuse her sister. From how I saw it, the couple did not deserve to be their parents." There was some bitterness in the old man's voice. "That couple often beat up their own children. When the refugees from Coffin Village wanted to execute Zhu Xinrou, not only did they not stop them, they even acquiesced. If it weren't for the fact that our Bai Family Village couldn't stand it anymore, that inhumane tragedy might have happened."
"Other than the little girl, the biggest suspect should be you, right? Did the police tell you anything? "Chen Ge's expression was calm. This case was similar to what he expected.
"I hid some things about the little girl, but the police are not that easy to fool. They followed the clues and found out many things. One of the officers with the surname Yan seemed to know the truth, but he did not expose it." The old man looked at the coffin and thought back to what had happened. "He was not interested in the poisoning case. Instead, he asked me many questions about Coffin Village. After taking many statements, I was released.
"The little girl was taken away by the police, and I moved to the county to stay with my son. However, for some reason, every night, I would hear Zhu Xinrou's voice. She kept screaming, 'Save me, save me.'
"I asked my son and daughter-in-law, but they did not hear anything. The two adults were fine, but Xiao Sun, who had just started kindergarten, would often point under the bed and the cupboard and scream, 'Spider! Spider! '
"My son and daughter-in-law searched the whole house, but they could not find any spider. I thought this might have something to do with Zhu Xinrou, so I rented the peach forest and moved into the wooden hut, hoping to find Zhu Xinrou's body.
"I'm old, and I don't know how many years I have left. Now, I only have two wishes. One is for my children to be safe, and the other is to find Zhu Xinrou."
The old man held the black shirt in his hands and stood next to the coffin. He had prepared everything. His voice lowered like he was talking to himself. "Whether we find her or not, this coffin will come in handy."
"Sir, don't be so pessimistic. Now that we know the exact location of the body, we can call the police tomorrow to find Zhu Xinrou's body."
Digging up a body would ruin the crime scene and damage the body, so it was best to hand it over to the police.
"It's not a problem to hand it over to the police, but I want to confirm it first. When the case first happened, I told the police that there was a body hidden in the peach forest, but they did not find it. I'm afraid that there will be another accident." The old man picked up the hoe and the lamp.
"That's fine."
The rain outside had lightened. Chen Ge carried his backpack and entered the peach forest with the old man. They found the peach tree at the center of the forest.
They dug around the tree for a long time, but they did not find Zhu Xinrou's body.
"That shouldn't be." Chen Ge believed that Zhu Xinrou had no reason to lie to him. After all, everything he did was for her sake.
"Sigh, looks like it's not here." The old man's tone was heavy with disappointment.
"Wait a minute." Chen Ge looked at the withered leaves of the peach tree. He took out the hammer from his backpack and smashed it on the tree trunk.
The peach tree was not that thick, and the branches started to shake.
"The roots of this tree seem to have died. It's probably hollow underneath the tree."
The two worked together to dig away the soil around the tree and then pushed down the trunk.
Under the entanglement of the roots, there was a hole covered in spider webs, and inside the hole was a woman's feet.
"This is the place!"
Zhu Xinrou was shoved into the ground with her head facing down, and the peach tree's roots blocked her body.
"Save me …"
When he saw the body, Chen Ge's black phone vibrated. He took several steps back and swiped the screen to check the new message.
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