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Chapter 1338: I Only Want You (36)

An Xiaoning agreed, “Alright, leave with me, then. Tell me the names of your husband and son. You’ll get to see them very soon.”

Zhang Lili beamed with joy upon hearing An Xiaoning’s words and left with her.

An Xiaoning began searching for the latest information about Zhang Lili’s husband and son, only to discover that the situation was not ideal.

“Your husband has passed away five years ago and your son is in university now. He’s in a boarding school.”

“Passed away?”

“Yes, he has already passed on.”

“Which university does my son go to?”

An Xiaoning answered, “A University in D City. We can only get to D City from here by plane. However, I’ve already told the other police officers to contact your son. I’m sure he’ll rush here once he receives the news, so just wait a little while.”

Despite feeling apprehensive, Zhang Lili had no choice but to believe her.

An Xiaoning was not that eager to find out everything tonight anyway.

Hence, she did not rush to question Zhang Lili. Instead, she waited until bedtime to ask her a few questions. “Do you know that lots of men in your village had met with mishaps?”

“I knew about those occurrences even before I died.”

An Xiaoning nodded and continued asking, “Did you know the reason behind their unexplained and sudden deaths?”

“No, the village was very chaotic back then. There were all sorts of theories and speculations. However, I now know the reason.”

“I know you’ll definitely tell me. After all, your husband’s death very likely has something to do with this. Your son is not going to live here either. However, I’m sure you don’t want your son to be too afraid to even come back and visit you, do you?”

Zhang Lili answered with a nod, “That goes without saying.”

After a moment of silence, she continued, “You guys better not drink the water here.”

“We’ve been drinking bottled mineral water.”

“Good.”

An Xiaoning finally received a piece of relevant information tonight. However, she knew that she could not be impatient with handling the matter.

The police officers were extremely efficient, and Zhang Lili’s son arrived from D City the next afternoon after a long car ride.

Zhang Lili proceeded to have a conversation with her son in An Xiaoning’s rented room. Zhang Lili could see and hear her son. However, the latter could only hear her voice.

Even then, the young lad continued to bawl incessantly, unable to contain his emotions.

It had never crossed his mind that he could communicate with his mother again via such an unprecedented method.

Zhang Lili handed him a long list of instructions and also reminded him to visit her and her husband’s graves more often.

Her son agreed to do so.

He stayed behind for the night and took the spot on the ground where Fan Shixin used to sleep. Zhang Lili also told An Xiaoning everything she knew, just like she had promised to.

“Eight years ago, I went to work in the fields and I happened to hear the sounds of children crying for help when I walked past the reservoir. I panicked and hurriedly rushed over to see if I could help. However, I could not see anyone at all, even though I kept hearing the cries. Hence, I thought that the child or children might have fallen into the reservoir so I began walking closer toward the water. Yet, when I reached the edge, a pair of hands grabbed me by my ankles and pulled me straight into the water...”

She continued, “I was terrified and I desperately yelled for help. Although the water was rather shallow, I could not seem to get out because I felt that there was something pulling me down continuously. Drowning felt terrible, and I was thinking to myself that it was over for me this time...

“After I died, I discovered that my soul had darted out of the water. As soon as I got out of the surface of the water, I was pulled downward again by an immense force. I only realized then that there were lots of wandering spirits deep inside the reservoir. They belonged to the people who had died from being drowned in wicker baskets or other drowned victims.

“I’m considered a new spirit, and they made me follow the rules that they had set. I’ll have to find myself a scapegoat to replace me before I can leave this place. Otherwise, I’ll never get to leave this reservoir. There are people watching this place, and you could see me last night because I had seen you guys and I tried to lure you to the reservoir. However, I continued to stay silent. I didn’t expect that you could see me, Officer. You could even drag me out of the water.

“The rules here are set by Juan Zi. I heard from the other spirits that Juan Zi was accused of committing adultery with five men because her husband had framed her. Her husband earned a ton from working as a head contractor, and he ended up having an affair. He wanted to divorce Juan Zi but he was afraid of being criticized by the other villagers. Hence, he came up with that vicious plan so that he could marry his mistress rightfully. Juan Zi and the five men were maligned by him. Those men were the friends of Juan Zi’s husband, Kong Desheng. He invited them over for some alcohol and spiked their drinks with a drug that knocked them unconscious. He then removed all their clothes and threw them onto the bed before leaving. Back then, villagers simply believed what they saw.

“Juan Zi was full of vengeance when she died, and she swore that she would kill all the men who were involved in killing her, as well as their descendants. Of course, the first person she killed was her husband...”

“...”

An Xiaoning and Fan Shixin could more or less figure out what had happened to Juan Zi.

“How do we lure Juan Zi out?” An Xiaoning asked.

“It’s usually impossible because she never rises to the surface. I think her child could be the only solution. The female spirits in there are usually emotionally attached to their parents and children because they feel that their husbands are going to remarry anyway.”

“Children... are indeed their weaknesses,” An Xiaoning agreed with a nod.

“By the way, how long has she been dead for?” Fan Shixin asked.

“About twenty years or more.”

“That’s about the same time as Liu Wanzhen’s death, then.”

“Juan Zi was killed shortly after Liu Wanzhen’s death. I remember it very clearly.”

“No wonder there were so many rumors about Liu Wanzhen. In fact, Liu Wanzhen died a wrongful death too. She was murdered by her mother-in-law.”

Zhang Lili exclaimed in shock, “Her mother-in-law? She seemed like a kind old lady, except she was ill-tempered.”

An Xiaoning did not expect to find out another piece of truth from cracking an unresolved case.

Within a short period of time, there was tremendous progress in the cases.

An Xiaoning decided to prepare herself before heading to the reservoir again.

——

The sky had just begun to turn bright the next morning. Zhang Lili had already gone to reincarnate. Before she left, she was still staring at her son longingly, reluctant to leave.

However, she had no choice.

She had already died long ago.

An Xiaoning received some updates from the police officers whom she had asked to look into Juan Zi’s case.

Both of Juan Zi’s children were raised by their grandparents and had now established their own families.