She said they should have been killed that time.

Does it mean Li Zhiyue had the intention to kill half a year ago? Or was it attempted murder half a year ago?

What exactly happened half a year ago?

After finishing interrogating Li Zhiyue, I received another piece of news.

A corpse was found in the well of Jiangkou Village, a neighboring village of the Li family's village.

Again in that area?

My heart pounded. Is there a conflict with the southwest region recently? Are the cases of loss of life happening one after another?

I hurriedly rushed to the scene, but the corpse had already been salvaged.

The deceased's name was Zhang Hua, a widower known as Zhang Mazi, the village's blacksmith.

Based on the examination, the time of death was estimated to be about a month ago.

It's understood that Zhang Mazi had a long-standing habit of heavy drinking and often went crazy when drunk.

Due to his remote location, no one noticed him falling into the well for more than a month.

Originally, it was just a simple accident case.

As I was about to leave, a child said that there was a female ghost in Zhang Mazi's house, seeking help in the middle of the night.

When I asked about the time the female ghost appeared, it happened to be half a year ago!

Are there really so many coincidences in this world?

I don't believe it!

Zhang Mazi's house was very messy.

Clothes and pants were randomly thrown around, emitting a foul smell.

I searched for a long time but found no trace of any woman in Zhang Mazi's house.

Perhaps I was overthinking. I was attracted by that woman and was too eager to know the hidden details of the case.

I actually believed a child's words and attempted to find some significant information about the so-called female ghost through groundless speculation.

Just as I was about to give up and leave, I noticed that the position of Zhang Mazi's bed in the bedroom was not right.

How should I put it? The color of the floor next to his bed was slightly different.

It was caused by being moved.

I called two colleagues to move the bed, and under the bed, the floor was actually movable.

With a little force, we lifted the wooden board, and a musty smell hit us.

I didn't expect this house to have such a hidden basement.

Wearing a mask, I was the first one to jump down.

The basement was about the same size as the room, with only a broken tungsten filament lamp.

With a flashlight sweep, I quickly got a rough idea of what was inside.

There was a pile of various iron tools, apparently Zhang Mazi's proud work.

But there was one iron tool that stood out.

It was a thick and sturdy chain.

One end was embedded in the basement's ceiling, and the other end hung down like a collar on the ground.

I picked up that collar and made a gesture. It was the perfect size for a neck.

Then I compared it to the length of the chain.

I can guarantee that if someone put this thing around their neck, an ordinary person wouldn't be able to take it off.

Moreover, the chain limited the distance, so a person wearing it couldn't even commit suicide by hitting the wall.

I couldn't help but shiver. What a wicked design.

What was Zhang Mazi doing with this?