Chapter 1173 - 600: The Case File from Back Then!

Very soon, Jiang An, Director Hou, Chen Guan, and Qin Feng drove straight to East Village at the foot of the mountain.

Their purpose was very clear: to find the family of the girl named Yanzi who hanged herself eighteen years ago, and to understand the specific circumstances of the case back then. They wanted to see if there might be any connections to the current three corpses case.

As soon as they got into the car, Chen Guan immediately dialed the Guangling City Public Security Bureau’s archive room: "Hello, Mr Zhang, could you check the abnormal death records from eighteen years ago? See if there was a case of a girl hanging herself on the hillside behind East Village?"

Upon hearing this, the archive administrator on the other end of the call seemed a bit surprised: "Mr. Chen, it might not be easy to find records from eighteen years ago. Was it a criminal case?"

"No, it was not a criminal case, just a suicide incident," replied Chen Guan.

"If it was a suicide, the records might not have been preserved, so it could be hard to find any results."

"Please try your best to look for it. If you can’t find it, we’ll think of other ways," Chen Guan advised.

"Alright, I’ll start looking now and will call you back as soon as I have any news."

Thirty minutes later, the vehicle arrived at the entrance of East Village, where two elderly villagers were carrying hoes, ready to work in the fields.

Qin Feng parked the car, opened the door, and got out, asking, "Brother, we’re from the Public Security Bureau and want to ask you about someone."

Upon hearing they were from the Public Security Bureau, the two villagers, who were near their fifties, suddenly looked shocked, waving their hands nervously and mumbling, "We don’t know, we are not aware."

With that, the two men quickly tried to leave.

Seeing this, Qin Feng shook his head in resignation and casually said, "I’m not looking for someone alive; I’m looking for someone deceased."

Upon hearing the word "deceased," the middle-aged man who had turned away slowly turned back, confused, and said, "Deceased? How would I know about that?"

"Don’t be nervous; if I were asking about someone alive, you’d be worried about retaliation," Qin Feng said in a calming tone.

Immediately after, Qin Feng took a cigarette out of his pocket and handed it over.

The middle-aged villager accepted the cigarette, feeling somewhat embarrassed, and said, "Officer, we’re just ordinary folks, scared of being retaliated against if it involves catching criminals."

"No worries, I understand! Is there a girl in East Village with the nickname Yanzi?" Qin Feng went straight to the point.

Upon hearing the name "Yanzi," the man’s face instantly showed a trace of fear, and his expression turned ugly. He stammered, "Her... why are you suddenly asking about her? It’s been so many years, why investigate her now?"

"Back then, did she hang herself under that pine tree?" Qin Feng pressed.

"Yes." The middle-aged man nodded, "She was a good girl, pretty and outgoing, but suddenly went up the mountain and hanged herself. Everyone felt it was abnormal; it must have been because she got involved with something unclean."

Qin Feng quickly asked, "Where does her family live now?"

The man pointed to the depths of the village: "It’s that house with a yard at the east end of the village, with a fruit tree planted at the doorway."

"Is there anyone at home now?"

"Yanzi has a sister who got married far away; there should only be her father and mother left at home now. But her mother..." The middle-aged man’s face showed regret as he shook his head.

"What happened to her mother?" Qin Feng urgently asked.

"Three years after Yanzi hanged herself, her mother suddenly became mentally unstable, babbling all day that her daughter was murdered."

"We all knew she was overly grief-stricken, but as time passed, people started avoiding her."

"Furthermore, since then, villagers felt that pine tree was cursed and refused to go near it again."

After hearing this, Qin Feng’s mouth twitched slightly; he didn’t give any credence to the villagers’ talk of mysterious forces.

In his view, behind every unusual behavior, there must be some real-world reasons.

It’s just that this reason is temporarily unknown.

Upon getting the exact address, Qin Feng nodded in appreciation: "Thank you."

Immediately, he turned and returned to the car, pointed toward the 11 o’clock direction, and said, "Mr. Chen, Director Hou, the courtyard ahead is Yanzi’s home; her real name was Zhang Yan."

Five minutes later, the vehicle slowly stopped at the gate of Yanzi’s courtyard.

The four people got out of the car one after another; the courtyard gate was ajar, and as soon as the little yellow dog at the door saw strangers, it started barking madly.

Looking around, an elderly woman in shabby clothes with a vacant expression sat in the yard.

Just as the group stood at the gate blocked by the native dog, a middle-aged man with greying hair and a slightly humped back emerged from the house.

He examined the four people before him, asking cautiously, "Who are you looking for?"

"Is this Yanzi’s house?"

Upon hearing the name "Yanzi," the man suddenly stiffened, his gaze dimmed instantly.

After a moment of silence, he finally spoke, "My daughter has been gone for many years. Who are you?"

Qin Feng immediately took out his officer ID and identified himself: "We are from the Public Security Bureau and would like to understand the situation about your daughter Yanzi from back then."

Upon hearing this, the man froze for a moment, then waved away the barking dog, stepping aside and saying, "Come into the yard and have a seat."

Walking into the yard, the man invited everyone to sit while muttering to himself, "It’s been over ten years, why suddenly bring up this case again now?"

After they settled down, Deputy Director Chen Guan spoke first: "We are committed to being responsible for the deceased and the case, hoping to re-understand and sort out the situation back then and verify some details clearly."