Chapter 79

The two waited a while longer inside the room.

The police officer named Dong Bo indeed did not come up to find them.

About five minutes later, Yu Dazhang saw Dong Bo leave the inn and return to the black sedan.

Watching the vehicle drive away, Yu Dazhang knew his time was running short.

The other side had already begun to suspect; if no concrete evidence was found, what happened next would be beyond his control.

How had the two missing officers finally determined that Shuishouyingzi Village was suspicious?

He had probed using the tactic of tapping the mountain to scare the tiger; they wouldn’t use that method, and time wasn’t an issue for them.

So there was no need to do anything drastic.

If they had ample time, what would they do?

Yu Dazhang stared out the window, lost in thought.

After a moment, he turned to Zhang Sen:

“Let’s go for a walk outside.”

On the street, Yu Dazhang entered a small grocery store and bought two packs of cigarettes and two lighters.

Coming out, he handed one pack to Zhang Sen:

“We’ll split up soon—find the old men gathered chatting, give them cigarettes, get close, then try to find out about Shuishouyingzi Village.”

This investigative method wasn’t unusual—it was a common covert approach used by criminal investigators.

Just now, from the perspective of the two missing officers’ case-solving approach, Yu Dazhang felt this was the most reliable method.

Previously, he had inquired about the mountain situation at both the restaurant and the inn, but the information he got was extremely limited.

The most useful piece of information he’d obtained was that there was a village on the mountain called Shuishouyingzi Village.

Every time he tried to ask about specifics, they always found an excuse to deflect him.

Later, Yu Dazhang had figured it out.

Merchants open their doors to do business—they naturally prefer to avoid trouble.

How many businesspeople are stupid? They know well that words can bring disaster.

So important information was hard to extract from them.

The two missing officers, to obtain key leads, could only turn to ordinary local residents.

Especially those old men gathered together chatting.

They had lived in the area the longest and were the most fond of gossip.

Gathering information from them was the best choice.

The two also agreed on a time: regardless of whether they gathered any information, they must return to the inn after half an hour.

After splitting up, Yu Dazhang walked toward another street.

Soon, he spotted several old men gathered around a stone table in a small square.

Walking over, he saw them gathered around a chessboard, arguing loudly.

“Move the horse! Move the horse!” an elderly man with white hair shouted, hopping in agitation.

“Move the chariot, capture the cannon in one move!” another elder was equally anxious.

“Block the center with the horse—can’t you see the iron bolt on the other side?!”

Seeing this scene, Yu Dazhang nodded in satisfaction.

No matter where you go, there’s always a group of chess lovers—no matter their skill, once they’re nearby, they’ll shout advice nonstop.

Advice-givers are good—they talk too much.

It’s harder to make them keep a secret than to climb to heaven.

To gather information, you must find people like this.

“Old man, old man, don’t get so worked up.”

Yu Dazhang squeezed in, opened the cigarette pack, and pulled out several cigarettes in his hand:

“Smoke up, everyone smoke up—come on, pass them around.”

The elders were momentarily stunned; none had noticed when this fat man had squeezed in.

Two elders lost their balance and nearly fell; another bumped into Yu Dazhang.

“Hey, what’s your problem...”

Just as he was about to scold, he saw the cigarette Yu Dazhang offered and swallowed his words.

You don’t hit someone who’s smiling, especially when they’re offering you a cigarette.

After handing out the cigarettes, Yu Dazhang smiled at the elders:

“Sorry to interrupt—I heard there’s a village on the nearby mountain. Could you tell me roughly how many households are there?”

Talking to these elders didn’t require hiding anything.

You’d already handed out cigarettes—asking a few questions was normal.

“From out of town?” one elder asked.

“Yes,” Yu Dazhang quickly replied:

“My family wants to lease some land on the mountain and build a Nongjia Academy combining livestock farming and lodging.”

This was pure fabrication—he hadn’t even considered its plausibility.

But it didn’t matter; he believed these elders had no idea whether building a Nongjia Academy on the mountain was allowed.

Indeed, none of the elders doubted him.

One even advised: “Why do business here? There are plenty of other places. This town is chaotic—it doesn’t retain people.”

There’s a lead… Yu Dazhang immediately pressed:

“Tell me more.”

“What’s there to say?” the elder looked angry:

“Almost everyone in this town runs a business locally—outsiders without connections can’t survive here.”

How did we get talking about the town… Yu Dazhang realized he was losing track of the elder’s train of thought.

“Is it the same on the mountain?” he pulled the topic back.

“You mean Shuishouyingzi,” another elder interjected:

“That village has only about ten or so households, and they’re extremely insular—we locals can’t even get close to them.”

No wonder you need to talk to elders.

In just a few words, they open up completely—whatever they know, they tell you, no hidden agendas.

“Pass another round!”

Yu Dazhang pulled out more cigarettes from the pack and handed them to each elder.

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“No, no need—we haven’t finished the last ones.”

“You’re too kind, really.”

This made the elders feel embarrassed.

“No problem, no problem—just keep them on hand,” Yu Dazhang insisted, forcing them into their hands.

After some polite refusal, each elder had a cigarette tucked behind their ear.

“That…” Yu Dazhang thought for a moment, then asked:

“Why is the village called Shuishouyingzi? The name sounds strange.”

He asked this purely to steer the conversation toward the village.

As for why it was called Shuishouyingzi, he had zero interest in knowing.

Gathering information works this way.

You never know which topic might yield an unexpected clue.

“I know this,” one elder immediately replied:

“It was around 1985, when the mountain villages had been abandoned—some of the elderly had passed away, and the rest had moved away with their children.”

“A few years later, it was probably...”

The elder paused, clearly trying to recall the exact year.

“No need for details—just summarize,” Yu Dazhang quickly said.

He feared the elder would go on endlessly.

Time was limited—he had only half an hour, and fifteen minutes had already passed.

Unexpectedly, the elder was persistent and finally recalled the exact year.

“It was around 1990, yes—1990. I was forty then, just returned from living elsewhere.”

“A group of people claiming to be long-term sailors arrived.”

“They heard there was an abandoned village on the mountain and settled there.”

“Probably because they were all sailors, they named the village Shuishouyingzi.”

“But these people rarely interacted with locals—only came down occasionally to buy daily necessities.”

After hearing this, the elders who had been watching the chess game became interested.

They no longer focused on the board; instead, they smoked and began discussing among themselves.

“You know nothing! Those mountain people fought with us locals before.”

“I heard that too—apparently someone from town went up the mountain, and somehow a fight broke out.”

The people on the mountain are wild; the folks in town can’t match them at all.

That’s right—look, who dares go up there now?

Eventually, the conversation had nothing to do with Yu Dazhang anymore.

The old men grew more and more excited, leaving him completely aside.

Seeing the time was right, Yu Dazhang turned and left, returning to the inn.

After entering the room, he saw Zhang Sen already waiting inside.

As soon as Zhang Sen saw Yu Dazhang return, he jumped up, pulled him inside, and shut the door, glancing outside to check if anyone was there.

“Why are you being so sneaky?” Yu Dazhang asked.

“Just listen to me first,” Zhang Sen said in a hushed, cautious tone.

“The village on the mountain has another name.”

“What’s it called?” Yu Dazhang immediately became interested.

Zhang Sen swallowed hard.

“Guaizi Village.”

(End of Chapter)