Prequel (VI)

Finally, the car came to a stop. The drunken man opened the trunk, and when he realized the woman was still alive, he wasn't the least bit relieved. The woman begged him to take her to the hospital, but he remained indifferent. Instead, he grabbed the helpless woman, dragged her out of the trunk, and shoved her into a large pit. Then, he climbed onto a bulldozer and swiftly pushed the surrounding dirt and rocks into the pit, burying her completely. Before long, the pit was leveled... When I snapped back to reality, I saw the three people in the room staring at me. My uncle took Yingzi's wallet from my hand and hesitantly asked, "So? Can we still find your aunt?" I glanced at my uncle, unsure how to answer his question. What did he mean by "find her"? Did he mean finding her alive, or just retrieving her remains? Seeing my hesitation, my aunt's younger brother grew anxious. "Jinbao, I know you've been learning Feng Shui with my brother-in-law. If you've seen something, just tell me. I can handle it." Hearing this, I dared not speak. I simply shook my head and said, "What could I possibly see? You should ask my uncle instead." That night, my uncle never performed a divination for his brother-in-law. But before bed, he quietly asked me, "What exactly did you see?" After making sure my aunt and her brother were asleep, I told my uncle everything I had sensed. He fell silent for a moment before asking, "Can you pinpoint the exact location of Yingzi's body?" I shook my head. "It's tough. I only know it's at a construction site, but I don't know the specific spot." Uncle nodded, realizing that it was too much to expect from a teenager like me. He sighed and said, "I've long suspected that Yingzi was dead, but I never had the heart to tell my brother-in-law. Now, with what you've told me, it seems confirmed… but I still don't know how to break it to him." "Did he report it to the police back then?" I asked, confused. Uncle shook his head. "No. They had just started working in the city and didn't know much about anything. Plus, at the time, he thought Yingzi had just run off in anger. He never imagined something like this had happened, so he didn't call the police…" Hearing this, I felt a pang of regret. If he had reported it back then, maybe things wouldn't have turned out this way. I spent the whole night unable to sleep, replaying the vision over and over in my mind. Maybe I could actually help find my aunt? The crime had to have happened in the city where they had been working. And since Yingzi ran off after an argument, she couldn't have gotten far. That meant the crime scene must be close to their rental home. Finding the burial site would be tough, but if we could check records of construction projects around that time, it might not be impossible. Although I couldn't be 100% sure, my best guess was that Yingzi was murdered shortly after running away. I shared my thoughts with my uncle, and though he agreed, he still hesitated to tell his brother-in-law the truth. "As long as he doesn't know for sure, he still has hope," my uncle said. "If he finds out Yingzi is really dead, who knows what he might do? Sometimes, not knowing is better." The next morning, my aunt's brother was ready to leave, planning to go search for Yingzi. My uncle wanted to tell him the truth but couldn't find the words. Meanwhile, after an entire night of reflection, I suddenly recalled a clear image of a license plate number. Years later, while working on another case, I coincidentally encountered the man who had killed Yingzi. The license plate led me to her burial site. Unfortunately, by then, my aunt's brother had already passed away from severe depression. This experience taught me the importance of knowledge and understanding. Without them, even with my abilities, I wouldn't be able to fully use them. That's why, in March of the following year, I called my father and said, "I want to go back to school." Every student wonders at some point what kind of person they want to become in the future. Before, that question always seemed too vague to me. Even now, I still can't say exactly what I want to be, but at least I know the direction I need to go. Back at school, I no longer saw studying as a burden. I understood that I needed to become stronger to master my unique abilities. My transformation shocked my teachers and classmates. Eventually, a rumor spread around the school: "Zhang Jinbao didn't want to study, so his parents sent him to herd sheep in the remote forests of Daxing'anling. After suffering through the harsh conditions, he decided to turn his life around and study hard—so he would never have to herd sheep again."