After a few hours of driving, Wen Mo followed Zeng Xiaoyi to Y City. This seemingly tranquil city has a long history, with as many as 16 Neolithic cultural sites already discovered. More than 5,000 years ago, humans lived here and engaged in primitive animal husbandry and agriculture.

Because of the abundant mineral resources, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the city devoted itself to industrial construction with great enthusiasm, and factories rose from the ground, attracting builders from all over the world.

Sitting in the car to Zeng Xiaoyi's house, Wen Mo observed the city. It seems that time can really heal all wounds, and at the end of the last century and the beginning of this century, the fear that made the whole Tongcheng people shudder has long been forgotten by the people who are good at forgetting, and they are still living a colorful and happy life, leaving only nine broken families, still constantly searching for the long-lost answer: who hurt their loved ones?

The first case occurred in 1988, 26 years ago. The time span of a generation is too long for a human being who has a lifespan of only a few decades, and the policemen who participated in the handling of the case have all reached retirement age, and the murderer who has not seen the end of the dragon is still at large

This realization made Wen Mo clench his fists. She is also a police officer, and of course she understands what it is like to be unable to solve an unsolved case for a long time. I can't let go of it all year round, I think about eating and sleeping, and I open and close my mouth to the case, and I have been pursuing the footsteps of twenty-six years. It is enough to exhaust anyone, and it is a thorn in the heart that cannot be moved, cannot be pulled out, and every now and then it stabs, and it hurts to the heart.

Zeng Xiaoyi kept talking on the phone with a low voice along the way, and called more than 30 times in a row, until they arrived at Zeng Xiaoyi's house and got out of the car, and then stopped.

His face was even more ugly than when he was embarrassed at the L City Airport. The clouds were so thick that they were about to drip water. Silence led Wen Mo forward.

Zeng Xiaoyi's home is an old five-story building that is about to be demolished, and he lives on the fourth floor, and the bottom two floors are a dilapidated guest house that has closed its doors. Even the signboard was so dirty that I couldn't see what was written. The old houses around the area have all been demolished. Go all the way to the fourth floor. The houses Wen Mo saw were all empty, even the doors were open, and the inside was a mess.

Zeng Xiaoyi opened the door a little nervously. Wen Mo looked up at the house number, and suddenly reacted, Building 4 414, just now she seemed to see the gray building sign posted on the side wall outside, saying that the family building of the Metrology Bureau is coming.

This was once the location of a bloody crime committed by Jack, the Chinese version of the ripper who caused a sensation in Y City. The home where Miao Miao died tragically!

Wen Mo couldn't imagine that in the long period of sixteen years, Zeng Xiaoyi had the courage to live in the old house where his daughter was killed for so long and still be sane. This piece of building will obviously not be able to escape the fate of being demolished in the near future, the roar of the machine outside is close at hand, just like Miao Miao and Zeng Xiaoyi, this piece of homeland that witnessed the ugliest side of human nature back then, will also disappear in the long river of history, and when people move into a new home many years later, no one knows that in the glamorous high-rise building, there was an innocent little girl buried, and her terminally ill father, who has not been able to let go all his life, wants to make the murderer who hurt his daughter pay the price, Even if it is at the expense of one's own dignity in exchange for a glimmer of hope.

Seeing that Wen Mo had been standing at the door in a daze and not coming in, Zeng Xiaoyi's pale face was flushed, and he said a little embarrassedly: "Director Wen, I'm sorry, the conditions at home are not very good, I know that since I invite you to come, I should arrange a place for you to live in advance, but I am, really" He muttered a few times, but he was embarrassed to spit out the sentence that the remaining money in his hand was already very limited. He rubbed his hands uneasily, like a child who had done something bad, and stood there motionless with his head down, as if waiting for Wen Mo's criticism.

Wen Mo retracted her thoughts, didn't say anything, and raised her legs into the house. Zeng Xiaoyi lost his daughter and was terminally ill, and life never seemed to let him go, always pushing him to the edge when his life was already bad. Wen Mo understands that his beloved daughter is earnest, and hopes that even if he can do a little bit of effort, he can keep what little dignity he has left. What he needs now is not sympathy, but to draw an end to his daughter's case, so that he can die without worry.

When he entered Zeng Xiaoyi's house, Wen Mo saw that a small human figure was drawn on the west side of the living room not far from the door.

Miao Miao should have died here, and it can be seen from the shape that her hands are raised above her head from both sides, and her legs are spread apart - this 8-year-old girl is a turning point in a series of rape and murder cases, regardless of the age of the victim and the modus operandi, it is very special. In terms of modus operandi, Miao Miao was the only one of the nine victims who was strangled to death with a belt instead of having her throat cut with a knife, which was also the first case in which the murderer completed rape.

And there is an unknown detail in this case: on the table at the scene of the crime, there are two water glasses. Afterwards, Zeng Xiaoyi also identified that one water cup was commonly used by Miao Miao, and the other was used to entertain guests every time they came to the house. This shows that after the murderer entered Miao Miao's house, he once talked to Miao Miao, and his appearance at least did not make an 8-year-old child feel afraid, and he was familiar with the life rules of Zeng's parents, and knew that no adult would come back during the time period of the crime, so he could commit the crime very calmly, and there was no need to worry about taking some time to communicate with the child.

It was also in this crime that the murderer seemed to have regained his confidence, and since then he has been out of control.

Wen Mo tried her best to control herself from looking at the human figure on the ground, maybe because she had been in the police long enough, she had seen all kinds of cases, looking at the human figure on the ground, she couldn't help but automatically make up all kinds of bloody pictures, when the protagonist of these pictures was a little girl who was only 8 years old, Wen Mo couldn't help but feel angry at this cruel murderer.

Cases involving children always make people sigh. The flowers that have not yet bloomed have withered, leaving only a bunch of heartbroken relatives, all kinds of sadness and helplessness, and they cannot be experienced without personal experience.

Wen Mo chatted with Zeng Xiaoyi casually, he seemed to be waiting for someone, and kept looking at the door frequently, his eyes showed longing, but his face couldn't help but show a little disappointment.

Everywhere in the room is a group photo of a family of three, and the girl with a smile like a flower is in the photo. He died 16 years ago. died so tragically, leaving only a voice and a smile, which was sad in vain. I don't know how much courage Zeng Xiaoyi needs to stare at the photos that can keep the happy times but not his daughter's life every day. Day after day, I was trapped in this dilapidated house and refused to leave.

In the corner. There are two black and white photographs. Apparently the people in the photo are no longer alive. On the left, there is still a girl with a sweet smile on her face, carefree. On the right, there is a very thin middle-aged woman, who looks like she should be in her thirties and forties, with lingering sorrow on the corners of her mouth, and a pair of eyes that are obviously dark and melancholy.

Zeng Xiaoyi saw Wen Mo staring at the portrait of his wife, thinking of his wife who had been dead for several years, and couldn't help but sigh deeply: "That's my wife Xiaoting, who committed suicide by jumping off the building five years ago." Just jumped off there. Zeng Xiaoyi raised his finger and pointed to the bedroom window: "Xiaoting was sick seven or eight years ago, and went to the hospital several times to check, but she couldn't find anything wrong. I also kept telling her that Miao Miao is gone, I can't even lose her, I hope she can be well, wait with me, and wait until I see that brute being shot, and then go down to see my daughter together. She promised well, and within a few days she jumped off the building while I was cooking, and left a letter to me, saying that it was too uncomfortable to live, and it was better to go down to accompany her daughter, she always dreamed that her daughter was crying alone below, and she also said that, how can a person do it, she wants to go down to accompany her. ”

"This building is not too high, when she jumped down, her legs hit the ground first, and she couldn't swallow her last breath for a while, her legs were broken, even her bones were sticking out, and she was spitting blood, but she just held on to her breath and stared at me. I know that she can't rest assured, she didn't see the life and death of the animal with her own eyes, she is unwilling! ”

I held her and waited for the ambulance, and said in her ear over and over again that as long as I lived, I would never give up seeking justice for my daughter, so that she could rest assured. She was really relieved, not long after getting into the ambulance, she let go, and when she arrived at the hospital, the emergency doctor only rescued her for a few minutes and knew that it was no work and issued a death certificate. ”

"Miao Miao is gone, Xiaoting is gone, and I'm left with a bad old man. I wanted to go with them, and the family of three would be reunited underground. But I can't, if I die too, Miao Miao's case will really be ignored anymore, and in more than ten years, I'm afraid that even the old files of the Public Security Bureau will be covered with dust. ”

"Director Wen, I don't have long to live. I just want to know that there are still people paying attention to this case and trying to find a way to solve it, even if it is the best explanation for me before I close my eyes. I also know that more than ten or twenty years is a long time, not to mention that there were not as many ways to solve the case as there are today. I am not an unreasonable person, and I will not blame you for the lack of progress in the case. ”

Zeng Xiaoyi sat on the dilapidated sofa, holding on to the armrests that had been worn out to reveal the true color of wood, and a hoarse cough interrupted what he had not finished speaking. When he finally calmed down and wanted to continue the conversation, there was a sudden knock on the door.

Zeng Xiaoyi rushed to the door with great agility and opened the door with excitement on his face, but after seeing a few people outside, he drooped down and turned sideways to let people in.

Four or five people came in, all of whom looked quite old, and the old man with all white hair at the head should have been seventy or eighty, trembling when he walked, if it wasn't for the middle-aged man who had been following him to help him, he would have fallen down a long time ago. However, the old man didn't seem to like to see the middle-aged man, and not only did he not appreciate his concern several times, but also made a few angry words at the middle-aged man from time to time, and fell on his face a few times, which made the middle-aged man very embarrassed, but he refused to leave.

These people should know each other, they are familiar with each other, they are familiar with the way into Zeng Xiaoyi's house, and each of them finds a place to sit down.

Zeng Xiaoyi's family is very small, even if there are not many people coming, the small living room has been crammed, and they are careful not to step on the human form on the ground. For about ten minutes, these people sat down separately, but none of them spoke.

But the middle-aged man who followed the old man couldn't help but ask first, "Brother Zeng, why did you call us here this time?" My dad is not in good health, the doctor said to stay in bed to recuperate, not excited, the past has passed so many years, we have also bothered to think of a lot of ways, the people who should be looking for have been found, but there is still no progress. The police, without new evidence, will not re-investigate, why do we keep immersed in the past and can't extricate ourselves? ”

"Shut up!" Before the middle-aged man finished speaking, the old man next to him blew his beard and glared, and made a gesture to raise his crutches to beat him, but the middle-aged man immediately stood aside obediently with a bitter face, and he didn't dare to come out.

Wen Mo raised her eyebrows, it's really strange, in today's society, only children account for the majority, there are more and more selfish white-eyed wolf children, and the phenomenon of old age and helplessness is becoming more and more common, it is really not easy for her to bump into a filial son.

Zeng Xiaoyi stood next to Wen Mo and explained in a low voice the identities of the five people who came.

The oldest old man's surname Bai is the father of the deceased in the first murder in 88, and the middle-aged man standing next to him is the deceased's elder brother. When the victim was killed, the sister-in-law happened to be at home, but she didn't hear anything, and when the people died, it took a long time to find out that Uncle Bai didn't talk to his daughter-in-law for so many years since his daughter died, and he also asked his son to divorce his daughter-in-law from time to time, making his son caught between the old father and his wife.

The remaining people are the mother of the third victim, Yang, the brother of the sixth victim, Cui, and the father of the last victim, Zhu.

As for the families of other victims, after receiving Zeng Xiaoyi's phone call, they all used various excuses to excuse not coming.

In fact, I really don't blame them, after all, after so long, the tragic death of their relatives is a wound in their hearts that can never heal, bloody and painful. This kind of pain is better to take it back and **** slowly, otherwise every time you recall, you will cut the old wound and feel painful again.

Not everyone has the courage to immerse themselves in the past, they need to find the motivation to live, and only by looking to tomorrow and living hard can they come out of the shadows. (To be continued.) )