Chapter 101

Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Minmin.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan gently rotated the soy milk bottle in his hands.

Crawling up from the underworld to demand your life?

This sentence, in fact, was already a clear hint.

If one isolates this segment and views it from the perspective of a normal person, it seems very difficult to understand:

Why would Shi Shi Shi Shi Yuqing, knowing full well that the old professor had killed someone, still choose to be with him, and even force him to divorce and marry her?

But if the perspective is shifted, and more examples are cited:

Throughout history and across the world, men conspiring with mistresses to kill their wives, or Wo Sect conspiring with lovers to kill their husbands—such examples are everywhere, so numerous that even novels, plays, and movies cannot finish depicting them.

What was originally difficult to understand suddenly becomes very normal again.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan lowered his head and silently took a sip of soy milk through the straw.

At this moment, he felt more and more the necessity of writing his book; after every wave of events, he had to record real-life examples to summarize them, as the effect would certainly be much better than preaching unilaterally.

Next, this old professor demonstrated to Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan the spiritual artistry of an old man.

Using a strategy of retreating to advance, he first helped the woman vent the dissatisfaction in her heart;

Then, on that foundation, he brought up the various beautiful moments they had shared in the past, such as their spiritual resonance;

Following that came looking forward to the future;

Finally, he mentioned the current difficulties in reality, hoping the woman could give him a little more time.

It was clearly just going in circles, returning from the initial problem back to the initial problem, solving nothing and satisfying no needs, yet the woman nestled into the old man's arms and began to sob and choke up, followed by a period of intimate whispering and mutual affection.

The two were about to leave.

To avoid attracting attention, the old professor left first, and after a while, Shi Shi Shi Shi Yuqing left.

Because the door to the private room where Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan was sitting was open, both of them passed by the entrance as they left one after the other.

The old professor was truly old; as a retired man, obvious age spots had appeared on his neck and Human Human Human Human Human Human Human Human Face.

Shi Shi Shi Shi Yuqing, however, was not old; she looked to be just in her early thirties, and her demeanor still embodied a kind of intellectual beauty.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan noticed that when the old professor passed the doorway, a faint, murderous glint flashed in the corner of his eyes.

Since he had already killed once, killing again was not out of the question.

Back then, Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Minmin had been just as insatiable, desperately making demands of him, which was why he had sent her to her death.

In the corners of Shi Shi Shi Shi Yuqing's eyes, there was a softness revealing that her emotional needs had been met; she was actually quite happy.

"Little Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Yuan Ge, should we follow them?"

Although Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin hadn't heard what was being discussed in the next room, he could tell from the youth's previous expression that these two people were very important.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan shook his head,

and said:

"Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Binbin Ge, call the police."

……

Tan Tan Yunlong sat in front of his desk, smoking heavily; the ashtray on the table was already stuffed full of cigarette butts.

Wang Wang Chaonan had readily confessed to the crime of murdering Tang Tang Qiuying, the reason being that years ago, while trimming the flower beds, Wang Wang Chaonan had accidentally dirtied a quilt Tang Tang Qiuying had hung out to dry.

Then the two had an argument.

This should have been a very common quarrel in daily life, and it was very brief; not to mention the police, even the school security department hadn't been mobilized, and it had subsided just by having the dormitory auntie nearby urge them to "both say a little less."

Everyone hadn't taken it seriously at all; later, after Tang Tang Qiuying went missing, when the police and the school investigated her interpersonal network, no one had even thought of this incident.

It was just like walking on the road and having someone on a bicycle pass by and splash muddy water onto your shoes, causing you to curse: "Are you crazy!"

But as it happened, what Tang Tang Qiuying cursed was: "I hope you die without descendants."

Subsequent verification confirmed that Tang Tang Qiuying and Wang Wang Chaonan had no prior interaction, so Tang Tang Qiuying had no idea that this campus gardener, who was in his thirties at the time, had no children.

She might have just had that dirty phrase flash through her mind while cursing to vent her anger, and used it directly; if she had used a different phrase at the time, even a more vicious one, it wouldn't have mattered.

But this specific sentence was remembered by Wang Wang Chaonan.

He began to observe Tang Tang Qiuying's activity patterns, and then, four months after the argument, while planting trees along the tree-lined path, he seized the opportunity when Tang Tang Qiuying was alone to commit the murder, and buried the body in the tree pit.

This type of perpetrator is the most headache-inducing for the police, belonging to the kind that "jumps outside the Three Realms and is not within the Five Elements."

No matter how meticulously you screen, you can't screen it to him, yet he is the one who committed the murder.

The biggest problem now is that Wang Wang Chaonan refuses to say a word about the matter of Beibei.

He carries an immense obsession, preferring to be executed for murder rather than give up the belief that he has a son.

He might even hope to be executed quickly, feeling that as long as the child cannot find its biological parents, it remains his son.

Wang Wang Chaonan's wife has the same attitude; if Wang Wang Chaonan's problem is extreme paranoia, then his wife truly has a mental illness.

"Tan Ge, the comrades from that place have replied, take a look."

"So many?"

Parents of abducted children will file reports at local police stations; after the notification is sent over, the other side will also conduct screening and comparisons, then notify parents with matching conditions.

Despair is painful, but what is even more painful is being given hope time and again in the midst of despair, only to have it shattered.

Many parents, upon receiving news, set off time and again to check, only to find it isn't their child, while possibly seeing other parents finding their children and weeping with joy.

Rationally, they should feel happy for the parents who found their children, but emotionally, this is actually another knife plunged into their hearts.

Xiao Zhou: "It's mainly because boys in this age group are a key target for human traffickers, and there are many children now named 'Baobao' or 'Beibei'."

"Didn't he have a birthmark?"

"The birthmark is a bit small."

Tan Tan Yunlong sighed.

"Tan Ge, you don't need to sigh; this time the range is locked, we should be able to find the child's parents; perhaps his biological parents are already on their way."

"Xiao Zhou, you aren't married yet, right?"

"Not yet."

"After you get married and have your own child, you'll understand."

"Yes, yes, yes, I understand what you mean, Tan Ge, but Tan Ge, shouldn't you be treating us to a meal?"

"Hmm?"

"A case from so many years ago was actually solved by you, and you even rescued an abducted child, making such a great contribution—aren't you going to bleed a little?"

"Those of us here are all waiting to learn from you at the dinner table; by the way, how exactly did you know there was a body buried under that tree?"

"My son studies at that university."

"We all know that."

"One day I went to the school to see him and was walking with him behind the dormitory building when I found that tree growing the thickest and tallest, so I became suspicious."

"Just that?"

"What else? It's not like I could summon Tang Tang Qiuying's ghost to lead me to her body, could I?"

"Hahaha, Tan Ge, you really know how to joke. But seriously, amazing; I admire your insight."

Tan Tan Yunlong coughed twice, reached out to pick up the teacup on the table, and took a sip of tea.

At this moment, someone nearby shouted: "Tan Ge, your phone."

Tan Tan Yunlong stood up and left his seat, answering the phone:

"Hello, I am Tan Tan Yunlong."

"Hello, I am Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin."

"Speak if you have something to say."

"How insolent, what kind of attitude is that!"

"You brat, do you believe I'll go to your school to find you right now?"

"Come then, come and hit me, come on."

Tan Tan Yunlong took a deep breath.

He had previously self-reflected, thinking that every time he interacted with Xiao Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Yuan and then went to see his own son, he would find fault with him.

He felt it must be his own imbalance as a father; now he understood that one doesn't need to keep looking for problems within oneself.

"Dad, the real culprit who killed Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Minmin has been found."

"Dad, the real culprit who murdered Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Minmin has been found."

Late at night, police cars drove into the campus again, and the arrest operation went very smoothly.

Tan Tan Yunlong leaned against the car door, watching his colleagues ahead bring the old professor Chen Chen Deliang to the police car.

On the other side, Shi Shi Shi Shi Yuqing had already been captured a step earlier, and the interrogation had begun.

From the walkie-talkie, he learned that the woman's psychological defense was very weak and she was already confessing, desperately trying to distance herself, saying she was only an informed party, not an accomplice.

The case from seven years ago, combined with the collective disappearance of the people involved in the case a while ago, had greatly increased the difficulty of detection; he hadn't expected to find a way out of the predicament at this moment.

On the way back, the eyes of the young police officers in the car toward Tan Tan Yunlong had changed; it was undisguised admiration.

Xiao Zhou asked that question again:

"Tan Ge, where did you get the clue this time?"

Tan Tan Yunlong didn't want to answer this question, but he couldn't avoid it, because some things had to be written into the case file.

"My son studies at this school."

The other officers in the car were listening intently; only Xiao Zhou felt this opening was slightly familiar.

"There is an Old Sichuan restaurant at the school's north gate; I've even taken you guys there to eat. One night I came to the school to see my son and went with him to a private room on the second floor to eat; the two suspects were right next door, and I heard their loud shouting."

"There's an Old Sichuan restaurant by the school's North Gate; I've even taken you few there to eat. One night, I came to the school to see my son and went up to a private room on the second floor to eat with him. The two criminal suspects were right next door, and I heard them shouting loudly."

"Then, after I investigated for a while myself, I found some additional clues to corroborate it, and only then did I decide to close the net." Actually, there were loopholes in Tan Tan Yunlong's account, because it was possible that Shi Shi Shi Shi Yuqing and the old professor did not go to Old Sichuan often, or perhaps it was their first time tonight; if one were to scrutinize this loophole, it would be discovered.

But he did not want to say directly that it was his own son who heard it, as following up with the procedures would be a bit troublesome, and Xiao Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Yuan did not like trouble.

Furthermore, as long as the evidence is detailed and confirms the other party is guilty, as for how the clues were specifically "triggered," it is actually not that important.

Sometimes, in order to protect whistleblowers, the police will even intentionally blur the nature of such reports and disclosures.

For example, in a certain criminal case, the victim's family member dreamed at night about where their relative was buried; the police went to excavate, and they really dug up a corpse, finally following the vine to find the true culprit in the same village.

This kind of case is clearly one where someone witnessed the murderer burying the body and, while reporting it, also hoped to hide their own identity as the whistleblower.

The other police officers in the car were marveling at Tan Tan Yunlong's luck; only Xiao Zhou said:

"Brother Tan, your son is truly a lucky charm for you."

……

"Ah, so comfortable."

Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin stretched on the bed. After being possessed by a ghost yesterday, he had eaten his fill and slept soundly, and his whole person seemed to have thoroughly come back to life.

"Eh, Brother Xiao Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Yuan, why are you here?"

Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin rubbed his eyes. Usually at this time, Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Yuanzi should be with A Li at Liu Liu Liu Liu Liu Yumei's place.

"Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Binbin, why don't you look at what time it is."

Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin turned his head to look at the clock; it was eleven in the morning, and their plan yesterday was to set off at twelve today to Tong'an Town to find the acrobatic troupe.

"Damn it!"

Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin immediately got out of bed and took his basin to wash up. When he returned and wanted to pack his things, he discovered that they had already been packed by the young man.

"That, Brother Xiao Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Yuan, why didn't you call me?"

"There is still time; it doesn't matter if you sleep a little longer."

Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin leaned toward the desk and saw a set of talisman needles laid out on the surface.

The young man had separately tied the Evil-Breaking Talisman, the Heart-Clearing Talisman, and the Sealing Talisman onto the needles with red thread.

"Brother Xiao Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Yuan, are these for throwing?" Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin said, making a motion of throwing a needle.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan shook his head: "These are prepared for Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Shu You. Based on my understanding of spirit-mediumship in the *Sutra of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva*, I thought of a simple and brutal way to amplify it."

"A-You will be very moved."

Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin knew clearly that this set of needles was just something Brother Xiao Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Yuan had casually made this morning; in reality, Brother Xiao Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Yuan had already designed a series of rich and fun things for Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Shu You.

After this incident, Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Shu You's understanding of the Guan Old Old Old Jiang Shou would inevitably improve by a large margin.

This way, after he goes back, he will have the confidence to challenge his master and grandfather to usurp their positions.

Of course,

the premise is that he isn't played to death or rendered useless by Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Yuanzi.

"Time is about up, let's go."

"The Dragon King is setting off~"

Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin shouldered his hiking backpack and followed Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan out of the dormitory.

When passing by Lu Yi's doorway, Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin deliberately chanted:

"Though there be thousands, I shall go forward~"

Then, the two stopped at the corner of the staircase.

Before long, the door to Lu Yi's dormitory was pushed open, and Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Shu You, carrying his schoolbag, walked out cautiously.

After hearing the movement of him coming out, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan and Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin continued down the stairs.

The two walked in front, while Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Shu You followed behind, thinking he was being completely stealthy.

At the school gate, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan and Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin stood apart to hail a taxi; this is a way to increase the success rate of hailing a taxi nowadays.

Then, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan's side hailed one first; he didn't rush to get in, but instead negotiated the price with the driver.

After Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin's side also stopped one, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan got into the car, and Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin immediately abandoned the taxi he had hailed, ran to the front car, and sat with Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan.

The driver behind, who had been stood up, was just about to start cursing when the back door was opened, and Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Shu You sat in:

"Driver, hurry, follow the taxi in front."

Tomorrow is the day of the human traffickers' transaction, but considering that the acrobatic troupe needs to set up the venue and do publicity in advance, it is very likely they have already arrived today.

During a normal exam, there is no point in entering the exam room early... but what if the test paper is already placed on the desk?

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan had already read the dossier on "Yu Yu Popo," but reading it was the same as not reading it.

Because what the police collected was only a branch of Yu Yu Popo; perhaps she followed someone to learn it, or perhaps she was once part of this gang and later went solo.

The clay statue was set up quite properly, but it really was just a mascot.

This kind of person is truly very strange; they believe in ghosts and gods, yet they commit evil deeds that incite the wrath of both men and gods.

Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin turned his head and saw Brother Xiao Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Yuan holding a hardcover notebook, drawing and sketching on it.

He saw clearly that it was two lines drawn out from a single endpoint.

The endpoint was labeled "Self."

One line extended from the "Self" endpoint, sequentially: "Dormitory," "High-heeled shoe sound," "Lu Yi possession," "Suppressing the female ghost," "Ran Ran Qiuping's letter"... and then extended all the way to "Beibei," and finally to "Yu Yu Popo."

The second line also extended from the "Self" endpoint, sequentially: "Fair-price store," "Sun Sun Hongxia," "Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng attack," "Faceless dead," "Ran Ran Qiuping's letter"......... and then extended all the way to "Chen Chen Deliang" and "Shi Shi Shi Shi Yuqing."

Chen Chen Deliang and Shi Shi Shi Shi Yuqing were a parallel fork here.

The two lines had a brief intersection in the middle, which was "Ran Ran Qiuping's letter."

Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin, putting himself in the mindset of when Brother Xiao Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Yuan used to explain problems to him, asked: "Brother Xiao Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Yuan, is this an event line, or called... a causal line?"

"Mm, I am exploring the thought process of the question-setter."

Since confirming that his own river-walking had begun, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan had focused his attention on these two lines, wanting to resolve them as soon as possible.

Currently, both of these lines have been resolved.

The high-heeled shoe Tang Tang Qiuying line ultimately led to Yu Yu Popo.

But this Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Minmin line landed here.

"Brother Xiao Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Yuan, besides both involving 'Ran Ran Qiuping's letter,' is there any other connection between them?"

"You don't have to look at it in order; you can reverse-engineer it."

"Ah?"

"I feel that the lines are mutual."

"Oh?"

"Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Binbin, do you think all things in the world are constant? That is, things that have already happened must have happened."

"Brother Xiao Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Yuan, what else could it be?"

"Standing from a macroscopic, omniscient, and omnipotent perspective, that is correct; but standing from the perspective of individuals like us, from our viewpoint, are those things that have already happened but are unknown to us truly impossible to change?

Theoretically speaking, until the second before the black cloth is lifted, the sculptor can still modify their work."

"Brother Xiao Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Yuan, do you mean that we are actually being guided in the dark?"

"We are being pushed along by the river water; when she is pushed toward me, relative to her, it is I who am being pushed toward her.

It's just that in the specific implementation process, whoever can grasp this line first can maintain the initiative in this wave and the next.

Just like us right now.

Look, if we reverse-engineer Tang Tang Qiuying's line from Yu Yu Popo here, can it also lead to us?

Wang Wang Chaonan was originally supposed to take that fellow villager of his to the acrobatic troupe to buy a child tomorrow."

"So, if we hadn't followed this line to find Yu Yu Popo in advance, then Yu Yu Popo would have followed this line to find us? We would be the passive party."

"Mm, it's just..."

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan's pen drew two circles at the small forks of Chen Chen Deliang and Shi Shi Shi Shi Yuqing,

"It's just, why can't Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu Minmin's line connect to it?"

……

"Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Liangliang, come, come chase Daddy. As long as you catch Daddy, Daddy will buy you a toy car."

"I'm coming, Daddy, Daddy wait for me, I'm coming!"

A pair of father and son were chasing and playing in an empty field.

During the chase, the two arrived in front of a shed that was being set up.

On several trucks, goods were being unloaded, including various performance props.

"Daddy, I caught you. I want a toy car, hee hee."

The man lowered his head, touched his son's head, and asked: "Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Liangliang, how much does the car you want to buy cost?"

"I don't know, I like whatever price car Daddy buys for me, heh heh."

"Our Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Liangliang is so well-behaved. Daddy will help you ask how much they cost to sell, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy."

The man raised his head and looked at the two Wo Sect walking toward him from the shed side.

One woman was young and beautiful with a graceful figure, while the old woman she was supporting had a hunched figure, a very long Human Human Human Human Human Human Human Human Face, and the flesh on both sides of her mouth was visibly sagging.

The man asked them: "Name your price, how much can you sell it for?"

When asking this question, deep resentment was revealed in the man's eyes.

Heh heh, Shi Shi Shi Shi Yuqing, you didn't expect this, did you? I will sell the bastard child you had with him!

———

Bursting out continuously, I can't hold on anymore; my eyes are starting to blur and my brain is starting to go numb. I'll write less tonight; I need to go rest and recover a bit.

It's mainly because everyone's monthly ticket votes are too supportive; I'd be embarrassed if I didn't write a bit more... Don't panic, holding everyone tight!

(End of chapter)