931 Who Is It?
âChief, could it be related to the two public security officers who came last time?â
âThere should be no direct relationship between them,â Miao Xihe said. âObviously, itâs not their way and style of handling affairs. Isnât Qingshan still a wanted fugitive? In times like this, he wouldnât be involved with the police. Alright, take care of these two bodies and explain it to their families.â
âYes.â
âAs for the cave, just seal it shut.â
âYes.â
The people around him had dispersed. They were busy with their tasks. Only he and the middle-aged man who had been following him remained.
âChangshun, who do you think it is?â
Miao Changshun thought for a while and replied, âItâs hard to say.â
âAre there any restless people in the stockade?â
âYes, but it has all been small things. They donât have the guts to kill people.â
âIt is impossible to judge a manâs heart from his face,â Miao Xihe said. âAt the critical moment, there must be no trouble.â
âYes.â
Hundreds of miles away from the Valley of Thousands of Medicine, two men stood on a hill.
âYou shouldnât have killed those people,â said Miao Qingshan, who had escaped from the Valley of Thousands of Medicine.
âQingshan, you are too kind-hearted,â the man wearing a baseball cap said. âWhat kind of consequences do you think awaited us if we had been caught by them last night? Would it have been death by insects or death by poison?â
âThe chief wonât be so vicious and hard-hearted.â The words Miao Qingshan spoke lacked conviction.
âListen to yourself. You donât even trust the words youâre saying. You must know what kind of person he is. You just donât want to face and admit it!â
Miao Qingshan was silent. He had escaped the stockade and been living outside for nearly 30 years. Moreover, the two people killed the previous night might have been his childhood playmates. If it were him, he would not be able to kill them unless his life was threatened. In fact, what Miao Tianchuan had said was wrong. He didnât think that Miao Xihe was a bad man. He had not thought so before, and he was still lingering at the stage of doubt now. It was not completely certain. When he was in the stockade, Miao Xihe had treated him well. He was a nice and kind elder who taught him many things. He was reluctant to believe that the old man was the kind of person the man in front of him had described.
âThey are doing experiments,â said the man who was half a head shorter than him.
âWhat kind of experiments?â Miao Qingshan asked.
âLive experiments. I could vaguely see some corpses. There is a high chance that this is related to the Blood Orchid.â He lit a cigarette. This was the first time he had smoked in recent days. He used to like smoking very much. Later on, he quit after an unforgettable experience. Now, he suddenly wanted to smoke again, so he lit one up.
âCanât the Blood Orchids just be taken?â Miao Qingshan asked.
âIt should be possible,â he said as he breathed out a ring of smoke. The taste was both familiar and strange.
He had taken some Blood Orchid. At that time, he was on the verge of death and had taken a large number of Blood Orchids. They allowed his health to take a turn for the better and be out of danger. Not only did the toxins in his body not erupt, but his body had also undergone some changes. He became more powerful. His vision was stronger, and he could hear more clearly. In other words, he became more powerful.
âWhy do they still have to do experiments?â
âMaybe itâs to make it into a medicine. There are many secrets in the stockade, especially when it comes to Miao Xihe. He has a lot of secrets.â
âWhat shall we do next?â
âWe shall wait a little more,â the man replied.
Both their identities were quite special now. They were wanted fugitives. Although they were in a relatively remote area where people were ill-informed about news and information and didnât pay much attention to those things, things were different now. The whole province was in a state of panic after hearing about the consecutive cases from He County hundreds of miles away. No one knew who did it, and no one wanted that misfortune to befall their area. As a result, the amount and frequency of police patrols had increased by several times. The two of them never stayed in the same place for more than three days to avoid being discovered.
In a hostel in He County...
Miao Qingfeng and Miao Changhong sat facing each other.
âThere were people in the stockade yesterday,â Miao Qingfeng said.
âIntruders?â
âYes. They killed two people in the stockade.â
âThey killed our people!â Miao Changhong frowned. His expression became very ugly. It had been a long time since anyone had died in the stockade because of intruders.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âIt was a trained expert,â Miao Qingfeng said. âHe killed with just a single shot. They were familiar with the mountain forest near the stockade. One of them was Miao Qingshan!â
âMiao Qingshan? How dare he come back!â Miao Changhong was stunned.
âIt canât be wrong. The chief himself confirmed it,â Miao Qingfeng said. âThere was another person. Theyâre not sure who it is at the moment.â
âThat canât be wrong, but is it necessary for us to stay here?â
âWeâll stay for now,â Miao Qingfeng said. âArenât they drawing a portrait of the suspect? They should be able to produce it soon. Letâs wait here to see who it will be. I have a hunch that I will probably know this person.â
In He County...
Yang Guanfeng looked at a picture in his hand. It was a portrait of a person that had been inferred from the exposed half of the face.
After scrutinizing it, he handed the portrait to Lu Guanfeng. âTake a look. Have you seen him before?â
âLet me see.â Lu Xiufeng stared at the picture. It seemed as if he was blanking out and his mind wandering off. Actually, many pictures were appearing rapidly in his mind like a series of films. There were various characters, but they all had one thing in common: they were all criminals.
âYes!â he suddenly shouted.
âWho?â
âSearch for the wanted fugitives from Qi Province this year.â
âNoted.â
The relevant staff moved quickly. They soon found a person.
âZhang Wei?â
âYes, itâs him.â
The photo was printed and compared with the portrait.
âIt doesnât bear much semblance!â Yang Guanfeng looked carefully and found that the similarity between the two people was no more than 50%. That didnât sound high, but the similarity was not low. After all, it was only a portrait that had been inferred from a half exposed face that had not been particularly clear.
âLook here at the eyes, bridge of the nose, and forehead.â Lu Xiufeng pointed at three particular parts, which bore a high resemblance.
âWhy is a northerner coming over to southern Yunnan to poison and kill people? Whatâs his purpose?â Yang Guanfeng had no impression of this person because he had not been under his jurisdiction or in a nearby province. He had paid little attention to that case.
âAh, yes, ask those two to come and identify him,â Lu Xiufeng said. âSee if he was someone from their stockade.â
âSomeone from their stockade?â
âDidnât someone in their stockade escape because they were dissatisfied with Miao Xihe?â Lu Xiufeng asked.
âAlright, letâs ask them here to have a look.â
After receiving the phone call, Miao Qingfeng and Miao Changhong rushed down to the police station. After seeing the portrait of the man, they were stunned.
After seeing the other partyâs expression, Lu Xiufeng asked, âDo you know this man?â
âIâm canât be certain,â Miao Qingfeng said. âHow about you, Changhong?â
âSorry, I havenât seen him before.â Miao Changhong shook his head.
âWhat do you mean that you canât be certain?â Yang Guanfeng asked.
âI seem to have some impression of this man, but Iâm not sure,â Miao Qingfeng said. âThatâs what I meant. How about this, Iâll take a picture and send it back to the stockade for the chief to have a look at. Is that alright?â
âYes, please do it as soon as possible.â
âAlright.â
After taking the photo, Miao Qingfeng sent it back to the stockade. He left the police station with Miao Changhong and went to a nearby restaurant. They chose a private room. It was time to eat anyway, so they talked while eating.
âIsnât that person Miao Tianchuan?â Miao Changhong asked.
âI think there is a 50% resemblance,â Miao Qingfeng replied.
âIsnât he already dead?â
âHe must be dead,â Miao Qingfeng said. âHe had that terrible poison in his body. Besides, I saw him fall dozens of feet from the high cliffs into the West River. The current was so fast and strong that he could not have survived.â
âIs it not him then?â
âItâs very unlikely,â Miao Qingfeng said.
âIf it is him, it makes sense for Qingshan to be with him,â Miao Changhong said.