That night I had a whole night of chaotic dreams.

When I woke up in the morning, I tried my best to remember, as if I had dreamed of Lin Yuanyuan, and I also dreamed of that strange willow forest.

I knew it was just a dream day and night, and I didn't take it seriously.

At about eight o'clock, I estimated that Captain Li had already gone to work, so I called him and asked him to help me check whether Nie Huzi's wife, Lin Yuanyuan, had returned to her hometown.

I got acquainted with Captain Li before, and he had a good impression of me, so he left me his mobile phone number.

Now when he received my call, he didn't shirk the slightest, but immediately asked me: "Are you saying that this person named Lin Yuanyuan has been missing for a year, and her man has never called the police?" ”

"Yes! He thinks that his wife has gone back to his hometown, and it is said that Lin Yuanyuan is from the south, so you should be able to find out the detailed address of his mother's home, right? I said.

"Okay, I'll have someone check it, and I'll call you when the results are available!"

Captain Lee hung up the phone from there.

I knew the results wouldn't come out too soon, so I went to meet with Nie Huzi first.

As Chu Fei described, Nie Huzi is tall and big, although he has a little ruffian, but this ruffian is easy to make a woman's heart move.

And when I mentioned his wife to Nie Huzi, Nie Huzi immediately frowned and asked me, "What does Comrade Gao mean by suddenly mentioning her?" She went back to her hometown a year ago, and if Comrade Gao really wants to investigate, he should go to her hometown to investigate! ”

"I've already checked on her hometown, and I'm sure she hasn't been back to her hometown since she married you!" I lied casually as I stared at Nie Huzi's facial expression.

Nie Huzi was obviously taken aback, but soon, his face began to stretch again.

"If she didn't go back to her hometown, then she would go to work somewhere. Her mother is long dead, and her father is now with her brother and sister-in-law, and when she married me, her brother and sister-in-law used to oppose it! She quarreled with me and ran out, and she should be embarrassed to go back to her hometown immediately. ”

Nie Huzi's statement can be said to be reasonable, but I immediately asked him: "Your wife has been away from home for more than a year, aren't you worried at all?" ”

"What's there to worry about, she's not a child!" Nie Huzi raised his head, "Besides, she made everyone hate her in our village, she will never come back, and I will not go to her!" ”

I couldn't help but say: "But she married you despite the opposition of her family, and she was affectionate and righteous to you, and she ran away from home suddenly, no matter how dissatisfied you are with her, at least you should call her home and ask her if she has returned to her hometown, right?" ”

"Her brother and sister-in-law hated me to death, and I called, purely to ask for my own abuse! What's more, when she first married me, she lied to me that she was pregnant, but as a result, it was all lied to me, and she never saw her pregnant after marrying me for a few years! That's why she still quarrels and scolds the village every day, so I wish she left quickly, and the whole village was happy! ”

I had nothing to say, and I couldn't raise my fist to beat him, so I had to get up and leave, without even saying goodbye to him.

After that, I visited the village again, and the people in the village were very surprised when they heard me suddenly ask about Lin Yuanyuan, and they didn't know why I wanted to dig out this old story.

However, I know from the people in the village that Chu Fei and Nie Huzi are telling the truth, Lin Yuanyuan is indeed very spicy and a little mean, and everyone in the village does not get along well with her.

Especially the neighbors of Nie Huzi's family, all of them have quarreled with Lin Yuanyuan and had conflicts.

In addition, Nie Huzi's statement that Lin Yuanyuan deceived him about being pregnant was also confirmed from the people in the village.

It was close to noon, and Captain Li called me and told me that he had just received feedback from the police district where Lin Yuanyuan's hometown was located, saying that Lin Yuanyuan had not returned to his parents' home for several years.

"According to the people in their village, Lin Yuanyuan's mother has died a long time ago, and Lin Yuanyuan's father has followed her brother and sister-in-law, so as soon as Lin Yuanyuan got married, and married so far away, her brother and sister-in-law didn't think much about her!" Captain Lee told me.

Then I have an idea in my heart, since Lin Yuanyuan didn't go back to her parents' house, then just like Nie Huzi said, she went to work somewhere else;

Either something had happened to her—or she had been killed by someone in the village who had a grudge against her.

If it is the latter hypothesis, then the ghost that Nie Xiao'e saw that seemed to know her might be Lin Yuanyuan's soul.

And these things that happened in the village are naturally related to Lin Yuanyuan.

But how can I prove that Lin Yuanyuan is dead?

I thought about it, and when I ate with Chu Fei at noon, I still didn't feel at home.

Chu Fei asked me if I had found anything, I shook my head and didn't discuss Lin Yuanyuan's matter with him.

Chu Fei suddenly remembered something and said, "That's right! I'm going to go into the mountains with Niu Xiaosan early tomorrow morning to pick some fresh mushrooms and wild vegetables and come back to help you cook and eat. I will boil the porridge in the morning before leaving, and I may not be able to come back at noon, so you will go to the supermarket and get two bags of instant noodles to soak and eat! ”

When I heard him say this, my heart suddenly moved, and I asked him, "Isn't it easy to get lost in the willow forest that entered the mountain, and why do you dare to go in?" ”

"There are mountains on the west and south sides of this village, so we just don't go to the willow forest! I've heard from the people in the village that there is something strange about that forest, and I'm too timid to go in that direction! ”

He smiled at me, finished the bowl in two bites, got up and walked to the sink to wash the dishes.

But I couldn't help but think that I couldn't find any other breakthrough point anyway, so why not just go to that willow forest and have a look?

That willow forest is so weird, could it be because Lin Yuanyuan's ghost is haunting?

If Lin Yuanyuan was really dead, would her body be buried in that willow forest?

Or to put it simply, Lin Yuanyuan was led to that willow forest and killed?

I knew the idea was almost whimsical, but the willow forest was not particularly far from Gaopo New Village, and I walked faster to get back to Gaopo New Village in the evening.

So I jumped into action, grabbed my backpack and set off.

Chu Fei met me at the door and asked me why I was going, and I told the truth. And half-jokingly asked him for a favor and if I didn't come back in the evening, he would help me report the disappearance.

I hurried all the way, and by three o'clock in the afternoon, I had reached the edge of the willow forest.

I saw that the path into the woods was still covered with thorns, and I could not find the direction where I had entered the woods the day before.

I can only pull out the direction finder and make sure it's working properly -

This direction finder is different from a normal compass in that it can combine satellite navigation and the magnetic field of the earth itself to specify the direction of a certain point for the user.

Specifically, in which direction you open it, it will be able to take you back to the position where you first opened it, no matter how far you go.

So as long as this direction finder is working properly, even if I am alone, I am sure that I will not get lost in the woods.

I looked in one direction and walked two or three hundred meters deeper into the woods.

Then I threw my head up, took a deep breath of the fresh air deep in the woods, and let go of my throat and yelled.

"What is so strange about this forest, can you show it up for me to see?"

My voice echoed through the woods, and naturally nothing could have appeared in front of my eyes at once.

I didn't have much hope, I just came here to give it a try, so I shouted twice: "Is the ghost that appeared in Gaopo Village Lin Yuanyuan?" If so, can you tell me what grievances you have suffered and where your body is buried? ”

This time I was quiet and waited for a long time, but there was still no movement.

So I gave up shouting, pulled out my knife, and carved a deep mark on a large tree trunk beside me.

Then I stood by and waited to see how the mark on the trunk would disappear.

Yet for a long, long time, the sigil remained unchanged.

I tried to take a few steps forward and carve a mark on another tree.

Then I turned around and found the tree I had carved earlier.

I only walked three or five meters forward, and it was impossible to find the tree before, but in just a few minutes, I found that the trunk of that tree did not have that deep imprint—

I can't say that there is no trace at all, the marks I have carved are still there, but as if many years have passed, the original deep imprint has now become a faint scar.

I felt creepy, and I even felt the urge to escape from the woods!

Because this faint scar in front of me seems to remind me that the mysterious power that manipulates this forest is actually around me.

However, I tried my best to resist the urge to run away, and I mustered up the courage to shout again.

"Looks like you're hiding in the woods, right? Are you Lin Yuanyuan? If so, tell me who killed you, and I will avenge you! If not, then who are you? Why do you have to deal with the villagers of Gaopo again and again? ”

My voice echoed in the woods, and the cold sweat on my body was also quietly flowing.

I reluctantly told myself that I was not a Gaopo villager, and that the mysterious forces hidden in this forest would not come against me.

However, in the face of this mysterious power that I had never been exposed to, I still felt numb and stiff limbs.

So much so that after barely surviving for a few minutes, I had to take out the direction finder and was about to escape from the woods in the direction guided by the direction finder, when suddenly a mournful cry came into my mind.

It came directly into my head, not into my ears, and it made me realize immediately that it wasn't a human cry, but a ghost, or some other supernatural thing.

"Who are you? Is it Lin Yuanyuan? Where the hell are you? I blurted out again.

But the voice was gone, and even though I held my breath, it didn't get it into my head.

But from my ears, I faintly heard a howl.

The howl must have been made by some kind of beast, but it was too far away to be heard, and I couldn't be sure what it was.

But I believe that the howl came right after the scream, perhaps the guidance of the mysterious power hidden in the woods.

And I have several high-tech self-defense weapons on me, and even if the beast is a tiger, I can take it in stride.

So I didn't hesitate and ran in the direction where the howl came from.

(See Chapter 347 "A Female Corpse")