Hiding behind the rockery in the fish pond in the Heng Xiang Group's courtyard, Zhang Lisheng, who had transformed into a ferocious giant that was more than three meters tall with muscles as strong as steel, launched a surprise attack with the omniscient power, Shooting Sun Increase Shrink. After killing the burly man who rescued Guo Zhongxiang easily, he transformed his transformation power from the Money Toad back to a lizard.
The transformation process only took six to seven seconds and a few lights had already lit up on the office building not far away.
Seven to eight people, including the driver, security guards, and business staff who stayed in the building, rushed out and shouted in panic in the corridor, "What's wrong? What's wrong? Is it an earthquake?"
"How could there be an earthquake out of nowhere? I think it's a storm. It's similar to the sound of the typhoon that I encountered in the shipwreck last time."
"Typhoon? Brother Xu, this is Western Sichuan. The typhoon won't be able to reach here even in eight lifetimes … What the f * ck?
F * ck you son of a b * tch, this, this, why is Boss Guo's office gone! "
Upon hearing the Heng Xiang employees' incredulous exclamation, Zhang Lisheng smirked coldly. Hiding his body, he snuck out of the Heng Xiang Group's courtyard silently. In the empty streets of Qu County where only the yellow street lamps were still shining, he ran and leaped towards the outside of the city.
Not only did his trip to the county not solve the doubts in his heart, but it might even attract the attention of the Gate of Witchcraft's powerhouses instead, causing him to feel that he had both a gain and a loss.
The gain was the opportunity to get close to the Gate of Witchcraft and obtain the secret cultivation method of the Witchcraft's Gate of Sacrifice. After all, his original intention of coming to China was to obtain the Gate of Sacrifice's cultivation method. Even if he had to take a big risk, he was willing to do so.
The loss was killing Guo Zhongxiang and losing the simplest opportunity to find out what kind of secret was hidden in his ancestral house. It might cause unexpected losses to him in the future.
However, whether it was the gain or loss, it was out of Zhang Lisheng's control now. It was useless to think too much about it. The only thing he could do was to wait and see.
For this reason, after returning to Guawo Village, the young man began to study ancient books obediently every day. Other than having contact with Tao Lielin who delivered his meals on time today, he lived a life that was almost isolated from the world.
Just like that, he waited quietly for two days. Less than an hour after he finished his lunch, he heard the wooden door in the courtyard making a sound again. His body froze and he put down the ancient book made of silk in his hand. He muttered to himself with mixed feelings, "Don't tell me that they're here …" Then, he closed the lid of the wooden box and walked out of the main house in his cloth shoes.
Just when he arrived at the courtyard, Tao Lielin's shout came from outside the house. "Mountain Worm, Mountain Worm, open the door quickly. Two comrades from the Public Security Bureau are here to ask you about something. We can't delay any longer."
Then, a strange voice said impatiently, "Village Chief Tao, what's wrong with you? Didn't I tell you not to say anything?"
"Aiya, Officer Liu, you told me not to say anything earlier, but now the key is that if I don't say anything, he won't open the door.
He's an American Chinese who values human rights and privacy. If we don't make things clear, he won't open the door. What do you think we can do? I said that the police are here because it's convenient for you to work … "
In the courtyard, the young man heard Uncle Ah Lie's reminder and knew that the police were here to question him. He could not help but feel a little disappointed, but he still opened the door anyway.
Outside the door, Tao Lielin was standing on the mountain road with the two policemen, one old and one young.
Seeing that Zhang Lisheng opened the door, the young policeman showed his ID. Looking at the young man who was obviously a young mountain man in front of him, he had a surprised look in his eyes. However, he beat him to it and said in fluent Mandarin, "You must be Mr. Zhang Lisheng. We're from the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the Qu County Public Security Bureau. We'd like to ask you a few questions."
"Sure, just ask whatever you want to ask, officer." Zhang Lisheng suppressed his annoyance and nodded cooperatively.
"Alright then, may I ask Mr. Zhang, where were you this Wednesday, which is 12: 30 p.m. on the 6th of July?"
"I was thinking about Wednesday night. Oh yeah, I went to the campfire party at the village entrance that night. I went home and read a book for a while before falling asleep."
"Who can prove it?"
"There are many people who can prove it at the campfire party. I only went home after the fire was extinguished that night. Nobody can prove it when I got home."
The young policeman was stunned. He turned his head to look at Tao Lielin and asked, "Village Chief Tao, is there a campfire party in your village on the 6th of July?"
"Officer, we have this campfire party every day in our village. We'll start hundreds of loads of firewood when it gets dark. We'll roast pigs and lambs. We'll even roast a whole cow on the first and fifteenth of July. We'll do it until 11 or 12 o 'clock every day."
"There's a campfire party every day, and it'll be held until late at night. I don't think it's possible." The young policeman frowned.
"It's possible. If you don't believe me, you can ask all the tourists in the village. Oh yeah, there's an introduction on the tourism website of our municipal government and county government. Is this a lie?"
"Then, who can prove that he …" The young policeman pointed at Zhang Lisheng, "Did he attend the campfire party on the 6th of July?"
"The people who roasted the meat are all villagers in our village. I'll bring you guys to ask a few people later. You'll find out."
Tao Lielin's words made the young policeman speechless. At that moment, the old policeman next to him asked politely all of a sudden, "Mr. Zhang, why did you want to return to China this time?"
"I'm sorry, this is my privacy. I can't tell you." Zhang Lisheng finally felt a little impatient, so he answered in English.
The old policeman was stunned while the young policeman frowned and said, "Mr. Zhang Lisheng, please answer the question in Chinese."
"Officer, please don't mention anything that involves my privacy," Zhang Lisheng shrugged and said.
"Is your reason for returning to China considered as privacy?" The young policeman said angrily, but he was stopped by the old policeman. "Alright, alright, Xiao Liu. We're just here to investigate. We've asked what we need to ask.
Alright then, thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Zhang. Goodbye, goodbye, "he dragged Zhang Lisheng away.
"Captain Han, why did you drag me away? What's wrong with being an American? What kind of attitude is that?"
"What attitude? America's attitude?" Seeing his young colleague's dissatisfied look, the old policeman said patiently, "Xiao Liu, you've just arrived so you don't know about this. Our Qu County is filled with foreigners all over the mountains and valleys these few years. You'll know after dealing with them more. It's not bad today, at least you didn't ask for a lawyer, a consul, or an ambassador.
"Moreover, the Zhang family in Guawo Village is very strange. We're here to ask as a last resort. We've dealt with Director Yang's instructions before, so there's no need to take it too seriously.
"From what I see, that fella doesn't look like he's lying. He must've really attended some campfire party on the 6th of July. The time doesn't match at all, so there's a 99% chance that he's here for nothing."
The investigation that followed was just like what the old policeman had guessed. More than ten people testified that Zhang Lisheng had indeed attended the campfire party that night and even made it to the end.
Other than the Guawo villagers, there were also a few foreign tourists who had not left due to their greed for the beautiful mountain scenery and the village life in Western Sichuan. Their memory of Zhang Lisheng's thinness and his horrifying appetite was very deep.
If the mountain people might give false testimony to cover for Zhang Lisheng, then the credibility of the ordinary tourists' testimony would be very high.
After completing the interrogation, the old policeman walked on the mountain road with the young police officer who had his head down. Seeing his little apprentice's dejected look, he smiled all of a sudden and said, "What's wrong? You're dejected already?"
"I'm not dejected, Captain Han. I just feel that I've gained nothing today again and I don't know what to do next. I initially thought that I could find a breakthrough with Director Yang's instructions, but who knew …"
"You want to find a breakthrough just like that? Do you think that Yang Zhengqi is a god? You silly boy, didn't you see that no one came to Guawo Village this morning when he asked for help? In the end, he volunteered himself and this hard job fell onto the both of us.
An office that was perfectly fine disappeared without a trace. It was not an explosion or a collapse, the wall was broken so neatly that it looked like it was chopped by a knife or an axe. It would be strange if our county's Public Security Bureau could solve such a case.
"I'm guessing that Director Yang only asked the county bureau to come and check out the situation first. What he said about the provincial department planning to send a task force down and trying to make substantial progress in the case before the task force enters Qu County is bullsh * t …"
"Captain Han, h-how can you say that about Director Yang? He's a famous detective in the entire Western Sichuan. Our police academy's Case Analysis has recorded the cases that he's handling!" Although the young police officer had always thought that the old policeman was lax in doing things and that his words were out of tune, he finally exploded and retorted in excitement when he heard him slandering his idol. "Yo yo, why are you so anxious?
"Yo yo, why are you in such a hurry? It's true that Chief Yang is capable, but …" The old policeman was not in a hurry. He smiled and took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and took a deep puff. Suddenly, he saw two men and two women walking toward him from the opposite mountain path. They were not ordinary mountain people, nor did they look like tourists.
Among the four of them, two of the women were around the same age. They were both very young, looking like they were in their twenties. One of them was wearing a white long dress and looked refreshing. Her face that was lightly made up could be said to be delicate but she was still a distance away from being beautiful.
The other one had heavy makeup on and had delicate facial features. She had a voluptuous body and was wearing a light gray professional suit. She looked like a secretary.
The two men were at least 20 to 30 years apart in age. The younger one looked like he was in his twenties as well. He had thick brows and big eyes. He was wearing a coffee-colored casual attire and looked very handsome.
The older one looked like he was in his fifties. He was wearing a well-tailored black suit that made him look rustic and awkward. However, there was a murderous aura hidden between his brows that made people dare not look down on him.
The old policeman's face twitched when he saw the four of them clearly. He choked the cigarette that he had just taken a puff and said, "This is bad. Xiao Liu, let's keep an eye on them." He then ran down the mountain in a hurry.
The young policeman was still immersed in the emotion of his idol being insulted. He asked in a daze, "What's wrong, Captain Han? What happened?"
"I've seen the young man's photo in Heng Xiang's information before. He's one of the shareholders. I don't think it's anything good that he's here in Guawo Village. Let's keep an eye on them in case something bad happens again."
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