Chapter 30: Ten Years Like a Ghost
"And then?" Gu Nankai came back to his senses and asked.
"Then... things turned out to be unexpected. Sheng Yuandong came to us and said that the compensation would be used as Zheng Yi's compensation, and they would not bother us anymore. This was exactly what we needed. The final process was also surprisingly smooth. We had been worried that Qian Hao's identity would be found out, but it wasn't found out in the end, so we escaped from those two people. And that Zheng Hai really existed. He was the child of a distant brother of mine. They lived here, but his family all had a genetic disease, and his mother died early. After his father died, we helped him... As soon as he died, Zheng Yi survived with his identity. All these processes can be accomplished with just a little bit of trickery..."
At this moment, Gu Nankai didn't know whether all this was fate or something else. Everything was so coincidental as if it was a dream. It was like a joke played by God. At the beginning, no one could have imagined that there would be such an unspeakable truth behind this case, which was difficult to understand.
Zheng Yi's father was looking at the two policemen in front of him. His wife beside him had been wiping tears silently. Her red and swollen eyes and decadent demeanor showed her mental state these days. Now, listening to her husband telling the truth about the matter, she was still frightened and didn't know what to do. She was just a woman and had never thought of exchanging the death of a child for the life of her own child in this life. But if it really came to that, she didn't know if she would still agree to her son and husband's choice as she did at the beginning.
"When Zheng Hai's illness reached its final stage, our family hid here from our original village. After the child died, Zheng Yi survived using his identity, but that was not enough. Although they looked alike, they were different in some ways, so we spent a lot of money on Zheng Yi's plastic surgery, which allowed him to gradually survive in this world as Zheng Hai. After what happened back then, we didn't dare to stand out in anything we did. Over the years, we haven't lacked money, and living quietly here is peaceful. Zheng Yi also gave birth to a son, so our Zheng family can be said to have a successor..."
Gu Nankai listened to all that Zheng Yi's father had to say. He digested all the information and all the clues matched up. "So you hurriedly removed the tablets because you were afraid that we would become suspicious of Qian Hao, right?"
"Yes, the slightest movement will make us scared. We were already terrified the first time you came, but we didn't expect... something really happened!" Zheng Yi's father slapped his thigh heavily, surrounded by impatience and fear.
He looked at Gu Nankai as if asking for help. At this moment, he didn't care about his face anymore. He knelt down in front of Gu Nankai again: "Officer! Zheng Hai has been missing for two days! We can't contact him at all!"
At this moment, Gu Nankai finally understood what was wrong since he entered the door. Zheng Yi's disappearance made the family feel like they were facing a formidable enemy. As they told Sheng Yuandong and Zhao Kaichuan about their deaths, they finally realized that Zheng Yi's disappearance was not a coincidence, but the victim from ten years ago, and he came for revenge!
"The person has been missing for two days. Why didn't you contact the police?" When Zheng Yi's father said the number of days, Gu Nankai's heart sank. According to the murderer's modus operandi, if Zheng Yi had fallen into the murderer's hands, he had no way of being sure whether Zheng Yi was alive or dead. To a large extent, he personally believed that Zheng Yi was in great danger.
The person the murderer hated the most was Zheng Yi. He was the one who ultimately pushed Qian Hao to his death, and Sheng Yuandong and Zhao Kaichuan were just the beginning of this conspiracy. Faced with the brutal death scenes of Sheng Yuandong and Zhao Kaichuan, Gu Nankai could hardly imagine how Qian Hao would retaliate against Zheng Yi.
"Li Meng, go call Teacher Wu out. We have to act as soon as possible." Gu Nankai was a little anxious. Just like his worst plan, the murderer had already been two days ahead of him, but the Zheng family was still able to stand firm. This made him a little angry.
"Zheng Yi has been missing for two days. Aren't you anxious?" Gu Nankai couldn't help but scold the old couple. Both of them had tears in their eyes. Zheng Yi's mother had completely lost her own opinion, her face full of worry and fear, while Zheng Yi's father could barely hold on.
He trembled and said, "We were not sure at first... because at the beginning, we were sure that the person was dead. Who would have thought that after ten years, a dead person would suddenly come back to life... We... We thought it was someone pretending to be him. We thought Sheng Yuandong and Zhao Kaichuan had noticed something, but now you tell us that Sheng Yuandong and Zhao Kaichuan are dead. We... We are sure that Qian Hao is not dead and he is here for revenge!"
Gu Nankai's face looked very ugly, but he quickly figured out the key point from Zheng Yi's father's words. His eyes lit up and he asked, "You mean to say that you knew from the beginning that Zheng Yi's disappearance was related to Qian Hao, right?"
Zheng Yi's parents nodded with dejected faces. At this time, Wu Qingluan had also come out from the inner room. Gu Nankai looked at her. She nodded slightly and showed him an OK gesture in an inconspicuous place. Gu Nankai saw it and nodded slightly in response. Then he looked at Zheng Yi's parents again: "Tell me in detail what happened to Zheng Yi's disappearance, especially how you know that Zheng Yi's disappearance is related to Qian Hao."
Faced with their son's disappearance, the old couple did not dare to be careless at all and tried their best to recall the details of the incident.
"When you came to investigate, Zheng Yi should have lived here that day, but that night Zheng Yi received a phone call. He had lived for many years as Zheng Hai, but this person said he was Zheng Hai's friend, saying that Zheng Hai had stored some things with him and why didn't he remember to take them back? We all don't know. That person said that if Zheng Hai didn't go to get them himself, he would send them here. We were worried that if that person came, Zheng Yi's identity would arouse suspicion. We really couldn't remember any friends Zheng Hai had, but that person's attitude was very firm. Zheng Hai had no choice but to go out at that time and said he would be back soon, but he didn't expect that Zheng Yi disappeared since then! We couldn't contact him until we received a text message from Qian Hao!"
Gu Nankai's eyes lit up, and he quickly said, "What message? Let me see it!"
Zheng Yi's father quickly glanced at the old woman, and Zheng Yi's mother hurriedly found her phone, turned it on and handed it to Gu Nankai. Gu Nankai called Wu Qingluan and Li Meng over, and they saw the text message in the text message inbox: "Do you remember me? If not, I can introduce myself again, uncle and aunt, I am Qian Hao."
Gu Nankai saw that the sender's phone number of this message was Zheng Hai, and he guessed that Qian Hao sent it using Zheng Yi's mobile phone.
After seeing this message, Gu Nankai immediately scrolled down his phone again and saw the meaningless replies from Zheng Hai's parents, such as "Who are you?" and "Who are you?". Qian Hao had not replied since sending that message. Until the next day, which was the closest time to now, Qian Hao sent another message.
"Let everyone see your true faces. I will peel off the mask on your son's face in front of everyone!"
Wu Qingluan saw this message and immediately asked, "He said in front of the public, does that mean we still have a chance?"
Gu Nankai flipped through his phone again and found that the two had also called, but the calls should not be connected at all. Qian Hao would not give them a chance. He hesitated for a moment and quickly said, "Yes, but the situation is passive now. The person is in Qian Hao's hands. We have no bargaining chips to negotiate with him. We can't even lock his location. He is like a ghost. We have no way to verify it."
