No Where To Run: Trapped With My Archenemy

UNEDITED: PLEASE WAIT FOR SOME TIME,

"Shu Li Li and Song Jia?" Elder Mao sounded puzzled as he responded to Han Ze Min's question and looked at Zhu Yuhai as if he was trying to recall someone named Song Jia. On the other hand, the eagle team was actually worried when they heard Han Ze Min blurt out a confidential secret. Only the local police team knew about the eagle team's hypothesis of the link between these two cases.

"Song Jia? Isn't it that delinquent girl? Why are you asking about her? The expression on Zhu Yuhai's face looked extremely doubtful as he probed more, "Do you think Hu Geng Xin did something to them?"

Even after Han Ze Min understood that he made a mistake by spilling a secret, he remained unaffected without giving anyone a chance to get a gist of what he was actually planning, 

"Nope...I'm just curious. From whatever you said earlier, we can conclude the chances of Hu Geng Xin being a mentally unstable person who acts out even for silly reasons. So I just want to know that who is likely to get on his nerves. Is it Shu Li Li or Song Jia? Or just both?" Han Ze Min sounded rather casual about it. 

"Officer, please be honest with us....because there is no way these three get to associate with each other." Zhu Yuhai refuted their claims once again, "Especially Xiao Li Li. She knows her family and her father's reputation, she will never get involved with the other two."

Listening to Zhu Yuhai's stern denials, Han Ze Min's eyes narrowed a little when he felt something amiss, "Are you sure about that?" 

"Yes. There were no instances in my memory where I saw these three together." No matter how hard he tried to recall, he couldn't find anything that supports Han Ze Min's accusations. 

"I wanted to ask you earlier. Why are you searching for Hu Geng Xin in the first place? How is he related to this murder case?" Zhu Yuhai asked when he finally picked up the absurdities in this entire conversation. He was told that the police team from the imperial was here to investigate Shu Li Li's case, but he didn't understand why they were suddenly inquiring about Hu Geng Xin and Song Jia, two individuals who got nothing to do with Shu Li Li.

"Well, we are reopening Song Jia's missing case with this case."

"What about her? Didn't she elope with someone years ago? It was a huge hassle when they found that skeleton in the forest, people even assumed it was her skeleton. And what happened in the end? It was someone else. Don't make the same mistake as your predecessors did. That girl is long gone." Mao Bai spoke in a criticizing tone as if he was judging Han Ze Min for his imprudent behaviour, 

Hearing the old man targetting him once again, Only Han Ze Min knew how he controlled his urge to rebut. 

The conflicting sparks were so evident that even the onlookers could figure that these two would never treat each other normally, from now on.

"Technically speaking, Song Jia is still missing since there is no evidence of her existence. And recently, two witnesses of that case were found dead or gone missing."

"Who is dead, and who went missing?" Mao Bai abruptly retorted and turned to face Wan Yi Jun, totally ignoring a bickering Han Ze Min as if he was an eyesore,

However, Wan Yi Jun, who noticed it, simply remained silent and let the other carry on,

"Hu Geng Xin had gone missing for two years. And then, there is Shu Lili-"

The moment those words fell from Han Ze Min's mouth, Mao Bai couldn't help but gasp in shock.

"Geng Xin...what happened to him? He said that he was going to imperial and...and," Mao Bai's word's broke when he recalled that Hu Geng Xin never came back to Gui Xiang even for his mother's death anniversary. 

"He did reach imperial and worked for a while in the capital. Then one day, he just disappeared. We thought he might have returned home, but apparently, he's not. We came to know that he met Shu Li Li before he went missing," Han Ze Min explained with an expressionless face. 

"When he came to see me before moving to Imperial, I did ask him whether he would be settling down in the city. But he said that he would return for his mother's death anniversary and even requested me to keep an eye on his house. But he never came back."

"His house, is it near?" Wan Yi Jun asked without even looking at Mao Bai as if he was purposefully avoiding him.

"Yes, it's right over there." Mao Bai pointed in the direction of a small hut on the cliff, not so far away from the last alley in the village settlements.

"Then, let's go and take a look over there." Wan Yi Jun suggested as he concluded the rest of the interrogation without wasting a moment.

"Captain, then what about searching the old castle?" Bing Wen suddenly pointed, 

"We can just divide into two teams and try to finish it as soon as possible and search the castle."

"Hmm, I think that's better. I will go with Lao Yating and Bing Wen to Shu Li Li's house, and you guys cover Hu Geng Xin's house and Song Jia's house if it is possible." Han Ze Min suggested an idea that was quickly agreed upon by everyone. 

Wan Yi Jun quickly wrapped the interrogation by thanking elder Mao and Zhu Yuhai and walked out of the guest house. 

However, just as they stepped outside of the guest house, Wan Yi Jun stopped in his tracks as if he recalled something and returned to Mao Bai, once again. 

"What's it, young master Wan?" Mao Bai smilingly inquired when he felt that Wan Yi Jun got something to ask him. "It must be about my relationship with the Wan family, or maybe to get some blessings from an elder." Mao Bai's brain built several colourful dreams in a glimpse.

However, Wan Yi Jun who stood before him, in his all glory, said something that the old man never even saw coming, 

"Elder Mao, I'm not quite sure why you did that...but disparaging people in front of me, that too, targetting one of  my team members, it will not be overlooked next time." Wan Yi Jun warned in a stern tone and gave a fierce glance at Zhu Yuhai, who stood next to Mao Bai,

"But young master, that officer...he was being rude..." Zhu Yuhai, who unknowingly addressed so politely, made a vague effort to hide the fact that it was him who spew non-sensical things about Han Ze Min.

"We are taught to treat people respectfully and, naturally, we expect others to show the same to us. If you feel that we mistreated your fellow officer, then I must say that it's what he asked for it." Mao Bai said as a matter of fact. 

"I don't think so, elder Bai," Wan Yi Jun added with a haughty scoff and leaned towards the old man as if he was about to whisper something.

"I know it's solely because of the Wan family."

"Oh dear, young master. There is no need to whisper about it. We are extremely honoured to meet you. You know, my grandfather worked for your great grandfather." Mao Bai excitedly shared the information he wanted to tell from the very moment he heard that the police captain actually belonged to the Wan family.

"Then you must have known how important was Han family to my ancestors."

"Of course, I know it. My grandfather said that the Han family of the Azalea Quarters were equally powerful as the wisteria gardens." Mao Bai proudly showed off his knowledge of the imperial factions. 

"You are quite a knowledgeable person,  elder Mao Bai, no wonder these villagers treat you as their elder. It makes me reminds me of an idiom- the blind leading the blind."

As soon as those words entered Mao Bai's ears, the colour on his face lost as if he saw a ghost. 

"You are the elder, you should have taught them it's extremely wrong to judge before you know who are they." Even though Wan Yi Jun's voice sounded aloof, the look on his dark eyes clearly appeared cold and deadly.

"

"Their houses remain so close to each other, then why are they kept saying that there is no chance for them to get associated with each other? 

Either it's their social status or maybe it's out of fear."

"To be very honest, I was literally irritated by this village's power dynamics." 

"What if someone is a migrant? They do treat us better because we came from the capital city, right?" 

"Money and authority play an important role in these people's lives."