INSIDER Chapter 31

Terrified and chilled to the bone.

Other than these two phrases, He Mingde couldn’t find the words to describe how he felt now.

From the moment Lu Chu uttered those words, he felt as though an invisible hand was gripping his breath. In the cramped, narrow space, his heartbeat pounded so clearly it seemed ready to leap from his chest.

“Thump-thump—thump-thump—”

No one dared to breathe loudly.

Even the usually laid-back Song Gui held his breath, his eyes wide and uncertain where to look.

Li Jiapeng simply closed his eyes, trembling, as if accepting his impending fate.

Life or death.

After a tense moment, Li Jiapeng could no longer bear it. He suddenly arched his body, beginning to scream and shout, trying to crawl from the back seat to the front to seize the steering wheel from Qi Li, yelling as he did, “Stop the car! Stop the car! We’re going to die! We’re going to die! It’s going to kill us! Kill us!”

Qi Li remained exceptionally calm. He controlled the steering wheel and did not let the frenzied Li Jiapeng succeed.

A moment later, Qi Li found a safe spot and quickly pulled over.

“Everyone out,” he said.

The oppressive atmosphere broke as everyone hurried out of the car. During this, Li Jiapeng clung tightly to He Mingde’s sleeve, his voice trembling as he muttered, “Cheng Zi, Cheng Zi…”

He Mingde couldn’t believe it either. He patted Li Jiapeng’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, saying, “Calm down.” Though he himself was not calm at all.

Lu Chu sighed, “Don’t worry, we are safe for now.”

Li Jiapeng didn’t believe it. He tried to suppress his trembling, speaking to the air around him, “I don’t know anything, I just want to live a few more days. Cheng Zi, if you can hear me, please spare me…”

Lu Chu reassured him, “Let’s get back in the car. Since it wants to know the truth, it’s normal for it to be with us. Didn’t we speculate about this before?”

Yes, they had speculated about it before. Song Gui had joked that “it might be following us all along and might even be interested in our vote.”

But a guess is one thing. Even knowing that 99% of the speculation was true, as long as no one confirmed its existence, the fear wasn’t so overwhelming that it crushed their breath.

Everyone knew it was following them.

But without confirming it with facts, they could still deceive themselves into thinking “it’s a joke; it couldn’t really be nearby.”

Until Lu Chu said those words.

All their self-constructs and self-convincing crumbled instantly.

This time, Song Gui did not remain a bystander but joined Lu Chu in calming Li Jiapeng. Because his panic was slowing them down, making them more vulnerable. Li Jiapeng was panicking, He Mingde was also uncomfortable, but he still held and comforted Li Jiapeng, eventually getting him back into the car.

In the car, Li Jiapeng asked hoarsely, “Has it always been there?”

Lu Chu answered honestly, “Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Maybe it leaves for a while, or the scent gets faint and I don’t notice.”

This scent had been around them even before the village chief’s death, but back then, Yang Cheng had just “died,” and Lu Chu was preoccupied, not paying much attention.

There were other scattered details pointing to Yang Cheng, but they were too fragmented and complicated to explain. It was easier to present the simplest truth.

As for Song Gui’s judgment, if he wanted to sit back and watch, Lu Chu would let him. But Lu Chu would make sure he knew that he wasn’t the only one picking teammates.

The car continued to bump along. After an extreme tension, Li Jiapeng fell asleep. He Mingde rubbed his temples, feeling utterly exhausted both physically and mentally. Song Gui stared out the window, lost in thought. Qi Li calmly drove, and Lu Chu organized his thoughts.

No one brought up the topic of the scent again.

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They didn’t know Cui Mei’er’s address, but according to Grandma Lu, she had met Cui Mei’er’s mother while chatting with other elderly folks near an apartment complex. Cui Mei’er’s mother mentioned she was out buying groceries.

Naturally, after buying groceries, she would go home, so her home should be nearby.

Grandma Lu and the village chief’s wife didn’t remember Cui Mei’er’s full name or her father’s name, only that his surname was Liu. That was from twenty years ago when they moved away.

The group checked into a nearby hotel, sharing a large suite to stay together.

Then they split up to ask around the neighborhood if there were any families with the surname Liu.

He Mingde, not trusting Li Jiapeng to act alone, paired up with him. Song Gui, Lu Chu, and Qi Li went separately.

A few hours later, they gathered back at the hotel.

He Mingde reported, “I found three families matching the surname, age, and length of residence. But as for whether they came from our village, the neighbors weren’t sure.”

Qi Li said, “Two families.”

Song Gui: “One.”

Lu Chu smiled, “Two. One of them said they moved here from a poor village.”

Song Gui patted Lu Chu’s shoulder, “Good. Let’s start with that one.”

Their luck held. When they arrived, someone was home. After a brief conversation, they confirmed that this family had indeed moved from Lu Chu’s village twenty years ago.

Lu Chu politely asked, “Is Cui Mei’er your daughter?”

The old man’s face changed at the mention of the name, “Yes.”

Lu Chu exchanged a glance with Qi Li, then continued, “We have some questions for her. Does she have time to talk?”

The old man looked Lu Chu over before saying, “Alright, since you’re Old Lu’s grandson, I believe you’re not a bad person. Come on in.”

The old man served them tea, “I haven’t seen my daughter for years.”

Lu Chu asked, “Can you tell us why?”

The old man hesitated but then sighed, “Alright, I’ll tell you. The whole neighborhood knows, and it’s become a joke now. Even if I don’t tell you, you’d hear it from someone else.”

“Though I don’t know why you’re looking for her, I haven’t seen her for years. She’s out of my control. Twenty years ago, she got involved with a married man, and even after we moved, she didn’t cut ties. Later, she disappeared again, took the family money, and ran off with another man, leaving behind her husband and child. She even borrowed money from neighbors, saying she needed to go to the hospital… I had to repay all that debt, but the neighbors still gossip.”

Hearing this, Lu Chu discreetly exchanged glances with the others.

The old man got up to turn off the gas stove.

Lu Chu took out a photo of Cui Mei’er and Guo Jianping, carefully tearing off the part with Cui Mei’er. When the old man returned, Lu Chu showed him the photo of Guo Jianping and asked, “Do you recognize this man?”

The old man took one look and said, “Of course! This is the man who tricked Cui Mei’er, even though he had a wife!”

Just as they thought.

“Did he come looking for Cui Mei’er later?”

“Yes, I remember him well. He looked decent but wasn’t a good person. He came looking for her before we moved, saying his wife had run off and he wanted to be with her. We didn’t agree and moved to A City. But after a while, he came again. I was busy with work, had lost touch with the village, and Cui Mei’er insisted. So we let him stay, but then he died. And he had remarried by then.”

“Do you know how Guo Jianping died?”

The old man shook his head, “Not really. We had moved our residence, and the village kept it hush-hush. I only heard he died suddenly.”