Chapter 322

"Dong Ziwu." A voice was calling his name.

Dong Ziwu looked in the direction of the sound. Not far away, a person's figure was vaguely standing there. He was overjoyed and hurriedly walked toward the direction of the voice: "Great, you found me! This place doesn't even have cell phone signal; you scared me to death."

But after walking a few steps, Dong Ziwu hesitated.

The person opposite him did not walk toward him but just stood in place, showing no intention of rescuing him at all.

"Are you here to save me?" Dong Ziwu became vigilant and slowed his pace.

Thick fog rose from the valley, gradually obscuring all the roads. Everything became untraceable. Dong Ziwu had no choice but to follow the road under his feet toward the place where the person had just been standing.

However, he walked and walked, but the road under his feet never seemed to end...

The harrowing caws of crows carried dissatisfaction as they greedily watched the corpse on the ground that had begun to rot.

The arrival of humans interrupted their pleasure of feasting.

Qi Fei looked with regret at the man lying face up on the ground. Although he had been pecked full of holes by the crows, comparing him with the photo on his ID card, it could still be seen that it was the same person.

"Dong Ziwu." He looked at this high-spirited young man on the document. "What a pity."

"The police were called by hikers who discovered the deceased while trekking this morning. Xiao Tao just said the time of death was over two days ago," Wu Shanqiu said from the side. "The reason no one discovered him was that the nearby trail was damaged and under repair some time ago, and this hiking path was closed until it opened today."

"Trench coat, tie, leather shoes." Qi Fei examined the corpse and said, "This doesn't look like someone who came for hiking."

Wu Shanqiu sighed slightly: "We found his footprints nearby. It wasn't a case of murder and body dumping; he was still alive when he arrived here. It looks like he had been trekking on this road for quite a while. This place is called Bu Er Jing, and it only has one direction with no forks; it's a road many hikers like to take. However, this route is very long. Once you go up the mountain, it takes two days and one night to reach the end, and there are no shortcuts. Many people will bring tents and food for overnight use. But judging from the footprints we surveyed, the place where Dong Ziwu started was very close to the exit, but it's a pity he chose the wrong direction. At that time, if he had chosen the other direction, he could have walked for an hour or so, then climbed down the hillside through the woods, and he would have found the main road."

"Hmm, this shows he wasn't familiar with this section of the road," Qi Fei said. "That makes it even stranger. Why did he come here?"

Xiao Tao finished the preliminary examination, stood up, and said to Qi Fei: "From the preliminary examination, no mechanical damage or signs of poisoning were found. The body shows symptoms of hypothermia; the possibility of freezing to death in the mountains is relatively high."

Wu Shanqiu ran over after finishing a phone call: "Brother Fei, Dong Ziwu is the person in charge of the computing power investment sector of Nancheng Investment. His parents reported their son missing three days ago. The last time he appeared before he went missing was having a meal with his family. He didn't show up for work the next day, and his phone couldn't be reached."

"Nancheng Investment?" As soon as Qi Fei thought of this name, many memories flooded his mind.

"Yes, it's that Niu Yinzhu case. Time really flies; that was already last winter," Wu Shanqiu said. "I still get goosebumps whenever I see a scarecrow now."

As they were talking, Qi Fei's cell phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, it was Liu Tong.

"Qi Fei, are you sure you found Dong Ziwu?" A gentle voice came from the other end of the phone.

"We found identification on the deceased. Judging from the photo comparison, it is highly likely to be him."

"Ah, oh."

"Hmm? Captain Liu, did you call specifically to care about this Dong Ziwu?" Qi Fei felt slightly strange. Based on his understanding of Liu Tong, if there wasn't a special reason, he wouldn't be so concerned.

"It's nothing. His parents asked someone to find the bureau leaders, saying to care about the matter of their son's disappearance. Since the person has been found, just hurry up and find out the cause of death." Liu Tong spoke lightly; it seemed he intended to bear the pressure himself.

Qi Fei hung up the phone, his brows slightly furrowed: "Pulling strings? What kind of background does this Dong Ziwu have?"

Sitting in front of Qi Fei were an old man and a young woman. Both in terms of dress and temperament, they belonged to the elite among their peers.

The older man was Dong Ziwu's father, Dong Qianjin. His mother, Yao Fang, had fainted from the shock and had been rushed to the hospital.

However, at this moment, Qi Fei's focus was more on the young woman accompanying Dong Qianjin. Even though she was wearing a loose coat, it was still difficult to hide her bulging abdomen; she was at least six months pregnant.

Qi Fei looked at the information on Dong Ziwu in his hand. The marital status clearly wrote the two words "unmarried."

"Li Shuangshuang, what is your relationship with Dong Ziwu?" Qi Fei asked.

"I am his fiancée." Li Shuangshuang appeared to answer generously, but the corners of her mouth, which drooped involuntarily, revealed a different kind of meaning; it wasn't entirely sadness.

"It's us who failed you," Dong Qianjin suddenly said to Li Shuangshuang.

Hearing Dong Qianjin's words, tears rolled down Li Shuangshuang's face.

"Do you know why Dong Ziwu would go to Bu Er Jing?" Qi Fei asked.

"My son had been abroad before and rarely returned to Nancheng. I haven't heard of him going hiking..." Dong Qianjin said.

Qi Fei turned his gaze to Li Shuangshuang. This pregnant fiancée shook her head, obviously not knowing either.

"The last time Dong Ziwu appeared was at a family dinner. Were you all there? Did you leave together?" Qi Fei continued to ask Li Shuangshuang.

"After eating, Ziwu said he had an appointment with a friend. It wasn't early at that time. He said I was heavily pregnant, so I shouldn't follow, so I stayed at home, and he left alone."

"You reported the case the next afternoon. He didn't come back for a whole night; weren't you worried?"

"Ziwu rented a place near his unit. Sometimes he has social engagements nearby, and if it ends late, he will stay there. That night, he sent a message saying he was going to stay there, so we didn't think much of it," Li Shuangshuang answered, her eyes dodging slightly.

"Renting a place?" Qi Fei glanced at the address Dong Ziwu registered. "The place you live now isn't far from Nancheng Investment, is it?"

Li Shuangshuang's brows furrowed slightly. Qi Fei saw it in his eyes. Even if he wasn't as good at discerning micro-expressions as Zhong Kui, this performance of Li's was enough to make him take a great interest in the matter of Dong Ziwu renting a place.

"After he lost contact, didn't you go to the place he rented to look for him?" he asked.

"We looked..." Li Shuangshuang's voice was very small, and Dong Qianjin on the side couldn't sit still.

"Comrade Police, since my son has already met with an accident, I'm not afraid of you laughing at me..." he suddenly said.