Miaomiao took Wei Ziqi and hailed a taxi, speeding towards the agritainment resort.
Once they reached the yard, Miaomiao rushed into the cordoned - off area without hesitation, scouring everywhere for any clues left by the thief.
"Little teacher, you said you saw him at that time. Which direction did he run in?"
Miaomiao stood in the yard for a long time but found no useful clues.
After all, two days had passed. Even if there were footprints, they had been blurred. Moreover, the police had come to collect evidence before, and all the somewhat valuable evidence and clues had been taken to the police station by now.
Wei Ziqi pointed to a wall closest to the door and said, "It was there."
The wall of this yard was not very high, but not very low either. After a person climbed over it, whether landing on their knees or feet, they would need a moment to react before they could start running. However, when Wei Ziqi chased out, he looked at the alley mouth next to the wall and saw nothing. That meant either the person was a martial artist with good skills or he had hidden somewhere and continued to flee after the pursuers left.
Miaomiao immediately judged that the thief who had hurt her father was probably the latter. If it was the former, the person would definitely not have given Wei Ziqi a chance to spot him. He could have easily avoided everyone and quickly escaped the scene.
Miaomiao turned around and left the yard, walking into the alley. Sure enough, there was a pile of sand - filled sacks in the alley.
The sacks were not stacked very high, only reaching a person's calves. However, they were wide enough. If a person lay on the ground, close to the wall, using the sacks as cover, in the pitch - black environment of midnight, Wei Ziqi might not have noticed him.
The sacks were quite new, seemingly not having endured much wind and sun. Miaomiao asked Wei Ziqi to find the person in charge of the agritainment resort and asked, "What's the deal with these sacks?"
"Ah, these are the leftover sand from when we built this agritainment yard. In the countryside, for unused things, we usually either keep them in our own yard or find a corner outside the wall to store them. At that time, our boss said this stuff would be useful later. In case there was any part of the yard that needed repair, we could just take it out and use it. So we didn't throw it away. We left it outside for people to use as a footrest or seat cushion. Otherwise, bringing it into the yard would be an eyesore."
The person in charge explained without reservation. He recognized Miaomiao and Wei Ziqi as the family involved in the incident two days ago. He thought they were coming to pick a fight or hold him accountable, so he told them everything he knew without reservation to prove his innocence to the greatest extent.
"Do people usually walk through this alley?" Miaomiao nodded slightly and continued to ask.
It seemed that the appearance of these sandbags was just a coincidence.
"Yes. This village is not big. People walk on every road. Kids also like to play in these small alleys, playing games like hide - and - seek."
"Thank you. I don't have any other questions for now."
Miaomiao thanked him expressionlessly. She really didn't have the mood to smile politely at the moment.
The person in charge didn't blame Miaomiao. Anyone would be extremely sad if something like this happened to their family, especially since the incident occurred under his watch. If she was smiling and happy, he would have found it strange.
After the person in charge left, Miaomiao squatted on the ground and observed carefully. Finally, she found the fingerprints of three fingers in a dead corner of a sack against the wall.
This sand had been left outside for a long time and was bound to get damp. Moreover, it had just snowed recently. The melted snow in the sand made it compact. Coupled with the sudden drop in temperature in the past two days, the marks left on it were easily frozen. Even though two days had passed, the three clear fingerprints were still visible.
Miaomiao adjusted the angle and was sure that the person must have left the fingerprints while lying on the ground.
It seemed that her guess was right. After jumping over the wall, the thief had lain behind the sandpile and continued to flee after Wei Ziqi returned to the yard.
At that time, Wei Ziqi hadn't closed the courtyard gate. If the person had run from the front and turned right, Wei Ziqi would definitely have seen him.
But the current situation was that while Wei Ziqi was standing in the yard, thinking and analyzing, he hadn't seen anyone. That meant the person had either run left or towards the back of the alley.
Either way, it led to the back mountain in the end.
There was only one way in and out of the small village, and it was mostly straight. There was nowhere else for the thief to go. It must be the back mountain.
Miaomiao quickly ran towards the back mountain and found clear footprints on the soil at the final intersection of the two roads.
The footprints were heading towards the mountain.
Fortunately, the mountain was covered with soil, and it hadn't snowed in the past two days. So even after two days, the footprints on the soil were still clearly visible.
Miaomiao followed these footprints all the way up the mountain. The path was winding and seemed to have no pattern. Finally, at the place where the footprints ended, she found a pair of blood - stained gloves and a set of black clothes.
They were the thief's things!
Miaomiao quickly asked Wei Ziqi to collect these pieces of evidence and continue looking for footprints. But most of the following path was covered with grass. They could only tell the direction of the footprints based on the traces of the grass being trampled.
The two searched on the mountain for a long time. They walked deeper and deeper, getting closer and closer to the mountaintop.
But the traces of the trampled grass on the ground still didn't disappear.
Miaomiao was a little afraid that she wasn't fast enough. After crossing this mountain, there should be a road. It would be more difficult to track a person's whereabouts on the asphalt road.
Seeing Miaomiao in a hurry, Wei Ziqi couldn't help but comfort her, "Don't worry. The person I saw was thin and didn't look like someone who exercised regularly. Climbing the mountain for so long in winter would surely exhaust his energy. So he must have stopped to rest from time to time and then continued on his way. He might even get lost. He should still be on the mountain. We'll find him if we look slowly."
"Okay."
Miaomiao grunted. She really didn't have the mood to listen to these words of comfort. She just continued to bend over and carefully observe the grassland on her own.
"Miaomiao! Look what's over there!"
Wei Ziqi suddenly exclaimed and pointed forward.
Miaomiao quickly looked up and saw what seemed to be a cave not far from them.
"Shh, let's go over slowly and try not to make any noise. If there really is someone inside, we don't want to tip them off." Wei Ziqi grabbed the excited Miaomiao and whispered.
Miaomiao slowly nodded, slowly lifted her leg, and groped her way towards the cave.
At the same time, Lin Yao, who had walked towards the end of his life in his dream and slowly closed his eyes, opened his eyes again in just a moment. He looked around blankly, seemingly still immersed in the dream.