The road where Wang Zihan disappeared is lined with poplar trees that have yet to bud.

On either side of the poplars are vast vineyards, with grape trellises supported by 1.2-meter high cement columns, stretching out row after row.

Every so often, there is a mound of earth piled up, beneath which are grapevines.

"Every year before winter, the farmers here bury the grapevines in the soil."

Old Bai was explaining to Lu Chuan why there were mounds in the vineyard.

"It's cold here in winter; the grapevines left outside would freeze to death in a single winter."

"The soil can preserve heat, and as the weather warms up, before the vines bud, the farmers have to dig them out of the mounds."

Lu Chuan nodded, he hadn't known this before.

Old Bai's kind of knowledge comes from years of experience.

"Along the roadside, look carefully at the footprints in the woods and in the fields."

Liu Guodong reminded Lu Chuan and Old Bai: "The probability of the perpetrator acting on this stretch of road is the highest. Whether the killer murdered on the spot or abducted the child to leave and then kill, there are only two ways out."

"The first is to follow the road towards Natural Village, the second is to turn into the vineyard and leave through the grape fields."

"The opposite direction leads to Wang Zihan's home; leaving that way would mean passing by the child's home, which is unlikely."

Lu Chuan and his team nodded; this had also been their focus since starting the investigation.

However, after walking over a hundred meters, they hadn't discovered anything significant.

Recently, with the warming weather, the snow has melted, and the soil in the vineyard is muddy, leaving footprints easily.

These were easy to spot with the naked eye, but so far Lu Chuan and the others hadn't found any.

"It's unlikely the killer left through the vineyard."

Old Bai shared his thoughts: "The field's so muddy these days, the killer would surely know he'd leave traces if he went through the vineyard."

"The perpetrator isn't that foolish."

"But..."

Old Bai looked up ahead, there's another hundred meters to a right-angle bend, after which Natural Village would be in sight.

"The child disappeared in daylight, just as school was starting. The perpetrator going towards the village can't possibly go unnoticed."

The villagers usually wake up early; six or seven in the morning is a good time to start working.

"Not necessarily. If the person drove, or had some tool to conceal the child, others wouldn't see him."

Lu Chuan walked along the roadside, carefully observing the details.

The three walked side by side, with Lu Chuan and Liu Guodong observing the sides of the road.

Old Bai observed the middle of the road.

"Let's walk through once. After the child disappeared, the police and villagers searched nearby, but they surely didn't examine the road in detail."

Liu Guodong stared intensely, not missing any details: "Whether the killer committed the murder here or not, this is the most likely place where he met the child."

"So, whether abduction or on-the-spot murder, it's unlikely the killer left no traces at all..."

Hmm?

As they spoke, Liu Guodong's eyes suddenly focused.

"What is it?"

Old Bai turned his head, looking at the suddenly silent Liu Guodong.

"Look here!"

Liu Guodong stepped forward quickly, squatting by the roadside, pointing at a spot where fresh soil was exposed on the roadbed.

"The soil here is different in color from elsewhere; it's a bit darker."

Old Bai also squatted, looking around: "The soil from below has been turned up."

"Bring the equipment and shine a light."

This road, Liu Guodong had learned, is mostly traveled by farmers in vehicles.

Hardly anyone walks here.

Both sides of the road are dry grass, indeed showing no signs of foot traffic.

Here, where the soil beneath the dry grass was turned up, it was clearly not a natural occurrence.

Lu Chuan brought over the ultra-wide spectrum on-site trace evidence recording device and shone it on the spot.

"There's something!"

The overturned soil had reflective objects, with the equipment indicating it was some kind of fiber.

Additionally, there were some tiny, skin-like particles.

"Take it back for testing."

Lu Chuan agreed and began taking photos.

Forensic evidence discovered at the scene must first be photographed before it can be moved.

This is the fixed procedure for evidence collection.

A bit of skin, some fibers, seemingly insignificant, but if left by the perpetrator, could indeed solve the case.

The collection work continued, with other teams also advancing their tasks.

"The morning before last, did you drive to Beitun?"

Sun Jun's team had the most workload but also the most consistency.

The irrigation range of each well in the vineyard was fixed.

Well No.3 supplied agricultural water to six nearby vineyards; the perpetrator dumping a body couldn't be aimless.

First, they had to know where Well No.3 was.

The vineyards needing Well No.3's irrigation had two contractors in Nantun, one in East Village, and one in West Village.

The other two were the Wang Family and Tian Zhongfa's family.

These natural villages were named by location, all within five kilometers of the well.

Beitun is the natural village Wang Zihan passed on the way to school.

So, why did Zheng Jianghe from West Village go to Beitun on the morning the child disappeared?

"I went to pick up fertilizer."

"Who can verify that?"

"My brother-in-law; I went to his place to get the fertilizer, left at four in the morning, and returned around seven. His neighbors saw me, too."

Sun Jun's team investigated all outsiders who came to Beitun on the day of the incident.

They sifted through each person, eliminating suspects one by one.

Chen Liu's house in Beitun.

"Hello, officers, hello! Please come in, have a seat, come in!"

"Wife! Quickly make tea for the officers!"

After visiting most households in Beitun, Ren Qiang and Zhang Hui finally arrived at Chen Liu's house.

Chen Liu, the sixth in his family, got his name from his father.

"No need for the trouble; we'll just verify some information and leave."

Zhang Hui waved off the offer with a businesslike, expressionless demeanor.

The warm smile on Chen Liu's face froze: "Ah, it's fine if you don't drink tea... Well, pour some water for the officers!"

Chen Liu's wife appeared young, stunningly beautiful, unlike the typical farm wives they'd seen in the village.

Chen Liu also seemed young, not appearing to be someone who did manual labor regularly.

The villagers said Chen Liu was idle, but not bad.

However, upon entering, Ren Qiang noticed Chen Liu's well-arranged home, clean and tidy, with a car worth tens of thousands parked outside.

Their living conditions were better than most in the village.

"Chen Liu, we hope you'll answer our questions truthfully and cooperate."

"Of course, I will cooperate! Absolutely!"

"The morning before last, between six and eight AM... where were you?"

Hearing this question, Chen Liu's eyes paused, and then his expression fell.

"Officers, I swear, I didn't kill the Wang's boy!"

"They're all spreading rumors, all nonsense!"

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