There is a god in the sky

Chapter 430 Join forces

Baozhu has been mentally challenged since childhood, and even at seventeen or eighteen, his intelligence is still that of a child.

The couple only had this one child, but they didn't mind that he was mentally challenged. They took good care of him from a young age and raised him very well.

People around them said they were foolish; wouldn't it have been better to have another healthy child?

And what will happen to the child after the two of them die?

Before they could leave, the child went missing.

The government would never take on such a case, and the couple spent all their savings but still couldn't find their child.

It can now be basically confirmed that the body buried under the tree is Baozhu.

But why he appeared in the mountains and who killed him remains a mystery.

Based on what Xiao Ji was investigating, Shen Lan had a preliminary deduction.

"You mean, someone is specifically kidnapping adults with intellectual disabilities to work in the mines?"

"Yes, some were kidnapped, and it cannot be ruled out that some were sold by their families to work as laborers."

These people, besides having intellectual disabilities, are actually quite strong. Their low intelligence means they are easy to bully and they won't tell anyone what they see.

"If that's the case, then these people are truly depraved."

"Judging from the recent murders, this kind of thing must have happened in the last few months. Maybe the mine changed managers, or maybe there was a shortage of staff."

In ordinary families, such children are abandoned early on, and even if they get lost, no great effort is put into finding them.

Xiao Ji needs help, and perhaps more information.

He stood up and said, "I'm going to the government office. You all get ready. It will be within the next few days."

Shen Lan understood what he meant.

He's about to make his move; the best course of action is to let them escape while the chaos continues.

After seeing him off, Shen Lan went to find Li Ge.

"You go to Tanzhou and wait for us. If we haven't arrived in ten days, Wu Yong and the others will send you back."

I sent a message to my cousin before I left the capital; he will be waiting for you in Jianzhou.

After a moment's thought, Li Ge changed Tanzhou to another little-known small county town.

“Tanzhou is where the King of Zheng stayed for decades, and you have also appeared in Tanzhou before, so it is easy for people to recognize you.”

Shen Lan thought it made sense, and after discussing the code, she had someone send Li Ge away overnight.

His body can only travel by carriage, and not too bumpy; it would be better if they traveled separately.

Xiao Ji was surprised that before he could even explain his purpose, Prefect Liu handed him all the case files of the murder case.

"Lord Xiao must have found some clues. If this case can be solved soon, I am willing to follow Lord Xiao's arrangements."

As Xiao Ji flipped through the files, he said, "We found a body in the back mountain of Muyun Village and confirmed his identity."

In previous murder cases, only three people have been identified.

Xiao Ji carefully reviewed the information and autopsy reports of the three individuals and discovered that they did indeed have something in common.

"Didn't Lord Liu ever suspect that these murdered people were all fools in the eyes of outsiders?"

"It could be a coincidence, after all, one of them never leaves the house, and even the neighbors don't know that there is a mentally challenged child living next door."

"If he didn't go out, how did he disappear?"

"The family said that the child was locked in the woodshed since he was a child. One day when they returned home, the child had mysteriously disappeared, and there was a wooden carving of Wong Tai Sin on the ground."

His family all said he had been taken away by Wong Tai Sin to cultivate, so they didn't go looking for him. They didn't care when they saw the body, saying it was just an empty shell.

Silent and quiet, this family seemed quite open-minded.

"The other bodies were severely disfigured, making identification difficult."

"Lord Liu only needs to send people to investigate the missing young and middle-aged men with abnormal intelligence in and around the city. Perhaps we will find something."

Raising such a child to adulthood, and doing so well, is not easy, but it shouldn't be difficult to find out.

"Lord Liu, you've been in Jiangling for five years now, haven't you? Have you considered a promotion?"

Prefect Liu was taken aback for a moment, then smiled wryly: "Lord Xiao, please don't mock me. Who doesn't want a promotion? It's just that my achievements are mediocre, and I have no chance."

Jiangling is a prosperous and desirable place. It's better to stay here and enjoy the peace than to be transferred to another place.

"Now the opportunity has come; it all depends on whether Lord Liu is willing to cooperate."

Prefect Liu was somewhat wary, but if the opportunity truly presented itself, he was certainly willing to take the gamble.

"Please enlighten me, Lord Xiao!"

Xiao Ji had his back to him, admiring the landscape painting on the wall.

"Prefect Liu has a very good eye for Rongshan Jushi's paintings."

"You flatter me. This was bought by my father many years ago. He bought it early, otherwise you wouldn't be able to buy a painting by Rongshan Jushi now."

Xiao Ji pointed to the mountain on the map and said, "Doesn't this mountain look a bit like the mountain near Muyun Village?"

"Look at what you're saying, all the mountains in the world are pretty much the same."

"However, I suspect that something shady is hidden in that mountain. This morning we dug up a corpse in the mountain, so I would like to borrow some people to go up the mountain to investigate immediately."

Xiao Ji turned to look at Prefect Liu.

He didn't seem surprised.

But Xiao Ji didn't believe that he was completely unaware of the abnormalities in Muyun Village.

"How many men does Lord Xiao need? If the government office doesn't have enough, I can mobilize local garrison troops."

Xiao Ji smiled. "It seems Prefect Liu knows what I'm investigating. The garrison commander in Jiangling is General Qin, isn't he?"

"Yes."

"General Qin had worked hard all his life and mentioned several times that he wanted to hand over his military power, but the court never agreed."

This General Qin is the in-law of Prince Zheng's family, and the father of the Princess Consort.

After the Princess Consort died suddenly, Xiao Ji sent people to inquire about the Qin family's movements.

The Qin family elders doted on this daughter, but after her death, General Qin didn't even go to Tanzhou, and some people outside said he was cold-hearted.

Of course, it's more likely that they simply can't accept this fact.

"There's no need to mobilize the garrison. It's probably just a few petty thieves. The yamen runners of the prefectural government can handle it."

Prefect Liu wiped his sweat with his hand and chuckled dryly, "Lord Xiao thinks too highly of me."

"We will meet at the city gate at 7 PM tonight."

"Yes, yes, I will be there on time."

After Xiao Ji left, Prefect Liu slumped into his chair.

An aide came out from the inner room and poured Prefect Liu a cup of tea.

"Sir, are we really going to cooperate with him?"

"Otherwise what? He's here on the Emperor's orders to investigate the case. Can he resist if he doesn't cooperate?"

"But that place..."

"It's alright, he might not be able to find it. We've secretly searched a few times, and we still haven't found it."

"I'm afraid he'll alert the enemy, and all our efforts over the past few years will be in vain."

The staff's concerns were not unfounded.

But Prefect Liu thought, what difference would it make if we didn't alert them?

“I have been uneasy about this cancer ever since it was discovered. If he really has the ability to find it, it will be a way to eliminate future troubles.”

"According to your guess, I'm afraid our government office doesn't have enough people."

Prefect Liu thought for a moment, then wrote a letter and gave it to his advisor, saying, "Take some men to Yangzhou and see if you can borrow some troops."

"Yangzhou Prefecture is at least five days away from here, is it possible to make it in time?"

"Let's go first and talk about it later. I'll try to stall for time."

Prefect Liu was filled with unease. He was afraid of dying, and he was also afraid that Xiao Ji would die here with him, and he would not be able to explain it to the Emperor.