"They basically include everything."

Li Changhe rubbed his hands together, appearing a bit uneasy, "But as for whether there have been any changes..."

He paused and spread his hands helplessly, "That's really hard to say. Many villagers go out to work, so there's a lot of movement."

Saying that, he turned to walk toward a nearby coffee table, "Mr. Wang, please sit and have a look, I'll pour you a cup of tea."

"If you need anything, just call me anytime."

Wang Yang nodded and continued flipping through the information.

Suddenly, he looked up at the officer beside him and said, "Go and call the guys from the car in here, let's go through this data together and see if we can find any clues."

Then he turned to Li Changhe, "Mr. Li, is there any record of people in the village involved in illegal activities?"

"As per regulations, information about such people should be notified to the village committee."

"Yes, yes!"

Li Changhe replied promptly, "That's the section we update the most frequently."

"Every time the police station informs us about any thefts, robberies, or similar incidents, we make a special record."

As he spoke, he briskly walked towards the file cabinet, "I'll get that special record book right away."

As Li Changhe walked away, Officer Zhou leaned close to Wang Yang and whispered, "Captain Wang, your move was brilliant!"

"With cooperation from the village, we can improve our work efficiency greatly."

Saying this, he gave a thumbs-up.

Wang Yang gently tapped the table, his expression serious.

"Our approach is good, but the authenticity of this data still needs verification."

He flipped through a few pages, "You see, the statistics are from two years ago, and when the village does such routine surveys, the standards might not be as strict as our cases."

He shook his head, "But it doesn't matter, we'll look through these first and delve deeper if issues arise."

Meanwhile, at the Qingzhou City highway exit, another group led by Deputy Captain Chen Biao was temporarily parked by the roadside.

Chen Biao held his phone, his brow furrowed, appearing indecisive.

Driver Wu Bin observed Chen Biao's expression through the rearview mirror and couldn't help but ask, "Biao, why so hesitant today?"

"This isn't like you."

Chen Biao sighed, his fingers tapping unconsciously on his phone screen.

"I'm contemplating whether to ask Mr. Li to contact the local police bureau for assistance."

He paused, "But I'm concerned it might alert our targets, and... we're supposed to handle this case independently."

After a moment of thought, he decisively closed his phone.

"Forget it, we'll move directly!"

With that, he picked up the file bag placed in front of the windshield, "Let's head straight to Luo Xi's hometown, cut to the chase!"

Forty minutes later, several police cars slowly drove into the Jinxiu Garden District in Qinghe District.

This old district built in the 1990s stood particularly quiet, the walls covered with the marks of time.

After registering at the security post, the group headed straight to the door of unit 2 on the 4th floor of building 7.

"Knock, knock, knock—" The crisp knocking sound echoed loudly in the silent corridor.

"Who's there?"

A slightly hoarse female voice came from inside. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"We're the police, and we need your assistance for an investigation."

Chen Biao answered loudly.

"The police?"

There was a sudden rush of footsteps from inside, then the door was pulled open hard.

Standing at the door was a middle-aged woman with graying hair, her hands braced on the door frame, a flicker of hope in her eyes.

"Do you... have news about my daughter?"

This abrupt question left both Chen Biao and Wu Bin stunned.

The two exchanged a glance, and Chen Biao took a deep breath, nodding slowly, "Ma'am, that's precisely why we're here. Are you Luo Xi's mother?"

"Yes, yes, that's me!"

The woman took a step forward excitedly, her hands trembling involuntarily.

"Have you found my daughter? Is she... is she still alive?"

Her face, full of wrinkles, showed hope but also a hint of unease.

Seeing the elderly woman's eyes welling up, Chen Biao, a seasoned detective familiar with life and death, couldn't help but feel a tightness in his chest.

He remained silent for a moment before finally speaking heavily, "Ma'am... I'm sorry, but your daughter might have... been murdered."

"Murdered?!"

The word was like a heavy hammer, striking hard at the old woman's heart.

She staggered back two steps, her back hitting the wall heavily, as if she aged ten years in an instant.

"Xixi..."

She trembled, covering her face with her hands, tears spilling through her fingers, "How could you... how could you leave mom..."

Seeing this, Chen Biao and Wu Bin exchanged glances and quickly stepped forward, supporting the faltering old woman on either side.

Wu Bin gently patted her back and comforted her warmly, "Ma'am, please don't be upset. We understand how you feel."

Chen Biao handed her a tissue with a firm yet gentle tone, "The dead cannot come back to life, please accept our condolences."

"We came specifically today to thoroughly investigate this case."

"After a preliminary investigation, we found that your daughter was likely murdered intentionally."

On hearing this, the old woman trembled violently, her slender fingers grasping Chen Biao's sleeve, and muddied tears rolled down her wrinkled cheeks.

"The murderer..."

Her voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible, "You must catch the murderer! You've got to catch the murderer!"

"My daughter was so obedient, so well-behaved..."

She was sobbing uncontrollably by the end.

Chen Biao squatted down, looking straight into the old woman's eyes with a burning gaze, "Ma'am, rest assured."

"Our detective team promises you, we will surely bring the murderer to justice. Upholding justice and punishing crime is our duty; we won't allow any victim to die in vain."

He paused, his tone turning solemn, "Now we need your cooperation in the investigation to understand Luo Xi's situation before she died."

"This is crucial for us to solve the case. Every detail could be a key to solving it."

Under the officers' consolation, the old woman's emotions gradually stabilized.

Wu Bin carefully helped her sit down on the old sofa in the living room, while Chen Biao took out a notebook and a recorder from his briefcase.

Sunlight shone through the gauze curtain onto the three of them, casting flickering shadows on the mottled walls.

"Ma'am,"

Chen Biao opened the notebook, speaking softly.

"Could you tell us when exactly your daughter went missing?"

The old woman wiped her tears with trembling hands, her voice choked, "It's been... been half a year."

"That was on the third day of the school's summer vacation. I said she'd come home for a few days and then return to school, but the child said she wanted to see the world while on holiday, to travel..."

Saying this, the old woman suddenly covered her face, "I never thought... that phone call would be goodbye forever..."

"Travel?"

Chen Biao keenly seized on this piece of information, "Did she travel with a group or on her own? Did she mention the specific destination?"

"She didn't join a group,"

The old woman shook her head, "She said she wanted to travel alone. Later, we went to her school to check, her dormitory mates had all gone home, only she was left."

"The school said she registered when leaving but... but she didn't write where she was going..."

The old woman's fingers unconsciously twisted the hem of her clothes, "Later, her phone was always off... "

Chen Biao furrowed his brows and continued to ask, "How was her social life usually? Did she have anyone she was involved with?"

"This..."

The old woman recalled, "She never mentioned anything over the phone."

"The child has always been independent, always saying she wants to see more, go more while she's young..."

Her words were interrupted by another bout of sobbing.

Chen Biao's pen lightly tapped on the paper, quickly connecting these pieces in his mind.

Young female university student, traveling alone, suddenly missing...

What kind of evil is hiding behind these factors?

Meanwhile, in the forensic laboratory of the Chuan City Public Security Bureau, under dazzling shadowless lights, a skeleton lay quietly on the dissection table.

Zhou Yong's gloved fingers gently brushed the surface of the bones, his voice heavy, "Look at this: the spiral fracture on the right tibia, multiple shattered finger fractures, plus the depressed fracture on the skull..."

He looked up at the colleagues gathered around the dissection table, "This pattern of fracture distribution is too abnormal."

Two forensic assistants nodded in agreement simultaneously.

The young forensic assistant pointed at the bones and said, "Indeed unusual, these fractures not only have special distribution locations but also from the shape of the wounds, it's obvious they were caused at different times."

"It's like... like someone did it deliberately."

The laboratory suddenly fell silent, everyone's gaze turned to Jiang An.

He was holding a magnifying glass, bending over to observe the inner side of the skull's subtle traces.