Tao Zhenshan took out his phone and hurriedly dialed Liu Yufei’s number, signaling the investigator to call Mr. Zeng. Both calls connected simultaneously, and Tao Zhenshan quickly spoke on speakerphone:
"You two listen to , I’ve had Mr. Qu send you the location. Change the direction of the search. We’ve found sothing over here, hurry and check out the caves to the southwest of Guojia Village. These three caves seem more likely to be hiding places."
Tao Zhenshan spoke very cryptically, without directly ntioning dumping a body.
In fact, the first thing Zhou Ning thought of was dumping a body, since in Xi Anzi Village previously, after that couple was murdered, they were discarded in the caves on the mountain. Given the similar terrain here, he guessed there might also be similar storage caves in this area.
On Mr. Qu’s side, he raised his hand and gave an OK signal with his fingers.
"It’s all sent, shall we go to Guojia Village now? I want to take a look at the actual site so we can correct any issues promptly."
Tao Zhenshan nodded.
"No delays, Director Zhou found the child’s torn-off smartwatch stained with a strong ammonia odor. It’s suspected the child was fed Paraquat. I won’t go into how potent that stuff is, but we must find them quickly, otherwise... the consequences are unimaginable."
Mr. Qu was startled and imdiately, his face also showed anger. No wonder Zhou Ning and the others had such serious expressions when they left.
"Seems like there is sothing called the ’golden hour’ for treatnt, right?"
Zhou Ning nodded and glanced at his watch.
"Six-hour golden hour. We found traces at 4:30, and even if we go by that, it’s already 8:30 now. We don’t have much ti left."
Zhou Ning looked around the courtyard and noticed that the electric bike parked in the corner was indeed the sa model and color as the one in the video. He waved at Sun Gaotie.
"Sample first, then we leave. Director Tao, you can get in the car. Mr. Qu, check the surveillance for Hanjia Village!"
Tao Zhenshan nodded and motioned to his team, bellowing loudly—so loudly that it made several people shrink their necks in fright.
"Get Zhu Weihua on the bus, and you others, find soone from the village committee to co on board too. Also, contact Hanjia Village and ask about the location of Zhu Weihua’s maternal ho."
Sun Gaotie went to take samples while Mr. Qu quickly started searching. Several monitors showed footage fast-forwarding after 4:22. Soon on one of them, Zhu Weihua’s figure appeared, with Chen Xiangyu crouching in front of the car at the ti.
When she reappeared on the surveillance, it was already a dozen or so minutes later, and she was alone on the car, quickly walking along the ridge by the village. No wonder they didn’t see a return image on the earlier monitor—the way back was not the sa as the way there. But looking at the position, Mr. Qu was certain of the location.
"Director Zhou, I’ve found the location of Zhu Weihua’s maternal ho. She ca straight to this house with a black iron gate. When she got out of the car, the child could still move, but she only stayed for about fifteen minutes before leaving the child there and departing. Could my earlier judgnt have been wrong?"
Zhou Ning shook his head.
"Don’t overthink it. Let’s get in the car first. If the person is in Hanjia Village, that’s even better. If they’ve buried the child’s body or disposed of it elsewhere, our analysis will be more reliable. Take both steps simultaneously—consider it a backup."
Mr. Qu felt his breath catch, bit his lip, packed up his laptop, and ran towards the outside.
He knew that moving faster wouldn’t delay everyone else’s actions, and if they could find the child sooner, perhaps... everything would be in ti.
Zhou Ning and his team also hurried into the car, and Tao Zhenshan waved his hand, directing the vehicle towards Hanjia Village. Mr. Qu indicated the way, and after confirming with the villagers, indeed, the black gate was the maternal ho of Zhu Weihua.
Soon, the car arrived at Hanjia Village. Zhu Weihua, handcuffed, was dragged out of the car. Zhou Ning stopped two criminal police officers—these people were all seeing red after all, how could they lay hands on an eight-year-old child?
"Sun Gao Tie, co over here and take sample swabs from his fingers. Clip off his nails directly—if she touched anything, there would be residue. It’s not sothing that ordinary water can wash away. Then have soone look for the paraquat bottle along the way; I’m sure there will be fingerprints on it."
Tao Zhenshan understood what Zhou Ning ant; having so many police officers standing in front of Zhu Weihua’s maternal ho, cuffing Zhu Weihua, attracted a considerable crowd from the village. This put a trendous amount of pressure on Zhu Weihua.
Indeed, as soon as he said this, Zhu Weihua began to struggle.
"Don’t f*cking try to scare . I’m not easily frightened. The kid went missing, what the hell’s the point in looking for ? With so many officers, go search for him! Oh, because I’m a stepmother I must be vile, right? Can’t a stepmother treat children properly?"
His words were coherent; there wasn’t a hint of fear, and it seed soone heard the commotion—the black gate opened, and an elderly lady walked out. Seeing a face that shared a striking resemblance with Zhu Weihua, one didn’t need to guess to know this was Mrs. Zhu.
Mrs. Zhu, seeing so many police officers, felt her legs weaken and almost collapsed. Leaning on the low wall by the door, she trembled as she spoke:
"What’s going on... Why are you handcuffing my Da Man’er?"
Tao Zhenshan walked over, gesturing to Mr. Qu. Mr. Qu, holding a laptop, showed the screenshot.
"No need for nonsense, we have no ti to waste with you. We’ve checked the surveillance footage. This morning, around four o’clock, Zhu Weihua rode an electric scooter and took Chen Xiangyu to your house. We have already verified that Zhu Weihua fed the child paraquat. Now, I want to know where the child is. Is he at your house, or have you hidden him sowhere else? If you speak now, I can consider it as you coming clean voluntarily. But if we find him on our own, for the cri of murder, both principal and accessory, neither of you mother and daughter will escape. It’s not just about not going to prison; think about your children, they can forget about passing political reviews for school admissions in the future. Their lives are ruined. Do you understand?"
The old lady was so frightened that she seed about to speak, softening a bit, but Zhu Weihua, mustering strength from who knows where, suddenly pounced in front of her mother and headbutted Tao Zhenshan.
There was a thud. Tao Zhenshan was largely unaffected, but Zhu Weihua fell down sprawling, the back of her head hitting the low wall, and blood imdiately began to flow.
Mrs. Zhu was terrified and tried to help Zhu Weihua up, but the two criminal policen rushed over and handcuffed her hands behind her back again. They then hauled her up by her arms—Zhu Weihua could no longer yell, grimacing in pain.
Tao Zhenshan, with a somber face, glanced at the ti on his wristwatch. Each minute’s delay was critical for the child’s life.
"Add assaulting an officer to the charges! Fine then, don’t cherish your chance, hm? We won’t ask any further. Bring soone to take both of them back to the station for interrogation."
At that mont, parting the crowd from behind, Liu Yufei’s cousin, Chen Xiaodong, who sohow followed over, saw the two cuffed individuals. Chen Xiaodong knelt before them with a thump and kowtowed three tis.
"You can take money, anything, I won’t pursue it. Just tell where the child is, please, I beg you!"
Zhu Weihua spit out contemptuously, while Mrs. Zhu, by now sowhat dazed, still instinctively glanced toward the southwest. Zhou Ning had a sudden hunch.
He briskly walked up to Tao Zhenshan and, lowering his voice, pulled Tao Zhenshan aside,
"Separate the two. Take Zhu Weihua to the car and put pressure on Mrs. Zhu. If the child is hidden, I suspect Mrs. Zhu the most. Plus, she just glanced toward the mountain in the southwest direction."
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