Transmigration: Flirted with My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 392 - 391 Tragedy

Chapter 392: Chapter 391 Tragedy

The snow fell all night, covering the bloodstains but unable to hide the atrocities.

Su Yuncheng stood in the middle of the snowy field, feeling as if he had returned to the battlefield.

Xiao Li stood behind him, licking his cracked lips, his voice trembling a bit: "What... what exactly happened here?"

He had never been on a battlefield; he had taken over his father’s position in the Public Security, usually dealing with small thefts, but now, seeing this scene, his legs were shaking.

Su Yuncheng didn’t look at him but turned his head slightly to Feng Wei and said, "Take a few people and find any survivors."

Feng Wei, after all, was an old soldier. Seeing this scene, he remained relatively calm. He pulled out his pistol, loaded it, and gestured for a few veteran Public Security officers to follow him, "Come with me, don’t wander or touch anything and disturb the scene!"

They left, and Su Yuncheng then told the others, "Two people guard the entrance of the village, hold anyone trying to leave; the rest of you search the bodies."

Those human-shaped snow packs, with people buried underneath, absolutely had no chance of survival.

"Yes!"

Xiao Li and several young Public Security officers were somewhat dazed; as they dug through the snow, they hadn’t yet realized why this routine capture had turned into handling a bloody crime scene.

Su Yuncheng checked two bodies that had already frozen stiff, brushed the snow off his hands, and said to Xiao Li beside him, "Take notes."

"Brother Cheng, how should I... how should I record this?" Xiao Li took off his right glove and asked while holding a pen.

"Village armed conflict."

"Huh?"

Xiao Li incredulously widened his eyes, looking around, his lips losing color: "What grudge is this, attacking their own people? And killing so many?"

Su Yuncheng did not answer but followed the chaotic trail to Wu Genmao’s house.

As the source of the chaos, it was much more tragic here than outside. The glass was smashed, and blood splattered on the mud walls. In the kitchen, a few bodies lay disorderly; the most tragic one had his head stuffed into the stove, his shoulders and up burned beyond recognition. Judging by the ice on his cotton jacket and the leaking pot, the fire seemed to have been extinguished by the soup and water in the pot.

Xiao Li retched, stepped back several steps, stumbled on the doorstep, and sat down on the snow.

Su Yuncheng glanced back at him and did not reproach but reached out his hand to him.

Xiao Li shakily pulled himself up using Su Yuncheng’s hand, his eyes reddening, and asked, "Brother Cheng, what, what were they doing?"

"Looting," Su Yuncheng replied.

"Looting? But why kill people?" Xiao Li was puzzled.

"Because," Su Yuncheng turned his head and glanced at the kitchen, "they were hungry."

Xiao Li: "...?"

Even more confused now.

Su Yuncheng didn’t explain further, only instructed Xiao Li and the others to move all the bodies to an open space for subsequent handling and tallying.

Xiao Li and the others retched as they worked, occasionally stopping to vomit by the wall, then wiping their mouths clean before continuing.

Feng Wei came back soon after and hurried to Su Yuncheng, frowning, "There are sixty-eight survivors, sixteen men, the rest are women and children. Their testimonies are consistent, stating only that a fight broke out last night. The exact time is uncertain because no one has a watch."

"I left at 7:35 and it was still quiet at that time," Su Yuncheng added.

"Right, most of them were hiding at home, afraid to come out, so they don’t know much about the situation," Feng Wei looked at the messy Wu Genmao’s house and said, "Aside from here, the house of Victory Team leader Cao Manfu is also chaotic... and, we’ve found Cao Manfu’s body."

"Let’s go take a look."

Cao Manfu’s house was even more chaotic than Wu Genmao’s, with even more bodies.

Feng Wei pointed at the twisted corpse of Cao Manfu and said, "I’ve examined him, almost all his bones are broken, he was probably kicked to death... or rather, died from pain."

The Cao Family’s cellar was wide open, with a few potatoes and radishes scattered on the ground.

Not far from Cao Manfu was Aunt Cao’s corpse, blood frozen on her face, covered with a layer of red ice, gripping a blunted pair of scissors in her hand.

Su Yuncheng frowned and stepped into the Cao Family home.

The muddy footprints on the ground were chaotic, making it impossible to count how many people had been here. The items inside the room were mostly intact, only a few tables and chairs were overturned.

Clearly, those people were after the food, heading straight for the cellar and kitchen, sparing the inside room from disaster.

"Brother Cheng, there should be..." Feng Wei followed inside and was about to speak when Su Yuncheng raised his hand to stop him.

Feng Wei didn’t know what Su Yuncheng had noticed, but instinctively closed his mouth, even going so far as to quiet his breathing.

Su Yuncheng narrowed his eyes and walked towards a large wardrobe that was locked with an iron lock.

He picked up the iron lock and examined the copper buckle.

The copper buckle had accumulated a layer of immovable material; there were no metallic traces left by frequently unlocking it.

He stepped back and said to Feng Wei, "Get the door open."

"Oh." Feng Wei, holding his gun, was about to bust the lock.

"Don’t use the gun," said Su Yuncheng, "there’s someone inside."

Feng Wei didn’t understand how Su Yuncheng could determine that someone was behind the wooden door, so he obediently put away his gun, lifted his foot against the wardrobe door, gripped the iron lock with both hands, and with a grunt, yanked it back—

The lock, along with its clasp, was forcefully torn off.

Feng Wei then pulled open the wardrobe door, took a sharp breath as he saw the person inside, and turned to give Su Yuncheng a thumbs-up, "Brother Cheng, it had to be you!"

Su Yuncheng ignored him, walked to the wardrobe, and looking down at Dayue Cao who was curled up inside, asked, "Who locked you in here?"

Dayue Cao had a ghastly pale face, and upon hearing someone speak, immediately shrank further into the corner.

Su Yuncheng knew she must know something and patiently said, "I’m with the Public Security, you are safe now."

Dayue Cao’s lips trembled, yet she remained silent.

Seeing her like this, Su Yuncheng knew it would be difficult to get any information from her anytime soon, so he said to Feng Wei, "Take her out and keep a close watch."

With that, he turned and left.

The situation of the Victory Team was too dire; they needed to tidy up and also clarify the truth. However, those who were alive maintained a unanimous story, claiming they hadn’t gone out.

Su Yuncheng, having heard the same rhetoric dozens of times, finally lost patience.

With icy eyes, he asked, "You all didn’t go out, and the people outside didn’t survive either, then where is the Cao Family’s missing grain?"

"I, I don’t know..." The responder was a pregnant woman, who held her lower back with one hand, blinked twice, but soon regained her composure.

With one taking the lead, others quickly chimed in, one after another.

"Exactly, we don’t know, they fought, is it wrong that we didn’t go out?"

"We have both old and young at home; if we can’t provoke them, can’t we avoid them?"

Su Yuncheng was about to say something when suddenly Feng Wei’s voice came from behind: "Fuck! Why are you running?"

Turning around, Dayue Cao had shaken off Feng Wei’s hand and was running madly through the snow, screaming "They’re all dead."

"Catch her!"

Following Su Yuncheng’s command, Xiao Li and several others chased after her.