Chapter 8

After all, they are police officers, who have seen more dead bodies. When Luo Yuan hid to one side, Zhao Qiang and Team Leader Chen, pinching their noses, used a wooden stick to rummage through the stomach to verify the victim's identity! Not long after, the support team arrived through the small path they had cleared, and they were also greatly surprised to see the giant snake. However, since it was already a dead snake, after a while, they were no longer as afraid.

From then on, there was nothing more for Luo Yuan to do.

After a brief discussion with a few people, including Team Leader Chen and Zhao Qiang, they put on gloves, placed the bodies in transparent nylon bags, and started to carry them down the mountain.

Since Huang Jiahui came out, she had been silent and dazed, keeping a distance from Luo Yuan. Luo Yuan originally wanted to talk to her, but seeing her state, he gave up.

The return trip was relatively smooth, with no further danger. Luo Yuan got off the car at the police station, changed into his own clothes, and before leaving, he got Team Leader Chen's number, saying he would notify him once the victim's identity was confirmed. Then he took a taxi and left.

……

The car quickly arrived in the city. Luo Yuan checked the time; it was not yet three o'clock. He asked the driver to stop at the Industrial and Commercial Bank and walked into the bank.

He had been working for less than a year, and his salary was just enough for his expenses, with almost no savings. However, after his parents died in a car accident during his first year of college and the perpetrator could not be found to claim compensation, Luo Yuan had to sell the family house to continue his studies. After several years of tuition and expenses, there were still over 200,000 yuan left in his account.

He looked up at the bank's information board and saw that the fixed deposit interest rate of the Industrial and Commercial Bank had increased to 15%. Such a high interest rate had only appeared during the economic chaos of the 1990s. Luo Yuan had studied economics, and such abnormal behavior was enough to indicate that a hidden current was surging beneath the surface.

He walked to the bank counter, originally intending to withdraw 100,000 yuan. However, he was told that without a reservation, he could only withdraw 50,000 yuan. After withdrawing the money, Luo Yuan went outside and saw the ATM, where he withdrew another 20,000 yuan.

Luo Yuan, holding the heavy bag of money, took a taxi to a moving company and rented a small truck. He then drove directly to the supermarket and started a疯狂的采购, buying drinking water, instant noodles, grains, clothes, canned food, cooking oil, and anything else he could think of, until the small truck could no longer hold any more.

When he saw the storage room in his apartment gradually filled with food and other living supplies, and even his bedroom was mostly occupied by bags of rice, a sense of satisfaction arose within him.

As the saying goes, "With food at home, there's no panic in the heart." If the world really experienced a collapse of order, this amount of food and drinking water would be enough to sustain him for a long time.

He turned on his computer. Both forums and news were filled with posts about plants growing wildly and animals mutating. Some netizens in rural areas even claimed that people in their village were disappearing every day, causing widespread panic.

However, such posts generally received little attention! Perhaps there were too many such pieces of information, and netizens had become numb. Or perhaps, having never experienced it, they simply did not believe it.

If it were before, Luo Yuan would have been one of them, but after today's events, his thoughts had changed.

He began to search for information about the military. Most of this information was buried in the vast sea of information, barely noticeable, but Luo Yuan still found many clues. Various signs indicated that the military districts in the country seemed to be in an abnormally busy state, with news full of terms like drills and mobilizations.

At this moment, he saw a piece of information about Brazil. The time was ten days ago.

"Due to climate anomalies, Brazil's timber exports have been affected!"

He was moved by this and continued to search for information about Brazil. He found that Brazil seemed to have gone silent during this period, with no recent news except for the one from ten days ago.

The Amazon rainforest, known as the Earth's lungs, is mostly in Brazil, with a very high coverage of primary forest. This is not comparable to Zhushan, which has an absolute height of no more than 200 meters. It is a paradise for animals and a forbidden zone for humans, with all kinds of strange and dangerous creatures.

Even a small hill like Zhushan had a giant snake, so the situation in Brazil must have reached its peak. The lack of information about Brazil was the worst news.

Thinking of this, Luo Yuan couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

At this moment, the sound of a key turning in the lock came from outside. Luo Yuan looked at the time and saw that it was almost five o'clock. He knew it must be Zhao Yali coming home from work. He couldn't help but feel a bit nervous.

"Xiao Yuan, has Wei Qiang come back yet?"

Luo Yuan opened the door. Compared to the morning, Zhao Yali's face looked even worse, and she seemed worried.

He didn't know whether he should tell her. This news might be too cruel for her. They had already become engaged and bought a house, which was being renovated. They had planned to get married in the New Year, but now they only received a terrible message, and the body was unrecognizable.

Perhaps this terrible news would eventually reach her, but he could delay it for a while. Luo Yuan hesitated and said, "He should be back soon!"

Zhao Yali's face turned slightly pale, and she muttered to herself, "What is he doing? Why doesn't he even answer the phone? He wasn't like this before."

"Maybe something has held him up!" Luo Yuan said, trying to comfort her.

"Do you think he has a mistress?"

"He's not that kind of person, don't overthink it. Besides, doesn't he give you his salary? I'll go out to eat." Luo Yuan explained and changed the subject.

"Let's eat together, I'll make some dishes right away!" After chatting with Luo Yuan, Zhao Yali's mood improved a bit, and she said politely.

"Never mind, I can't keep taking advantage of you!" Luo Yuan said as he awkwardly walked out. He really didn't want to lie to her anymore, and it made him feel uncomfortable.

The small restaurant was right at the entrance of the neighborhood. Since Luo Yuan was a regular customer, the owner was very热情. Because he had used a lot of energy today, Luo Yuan ordered a few more dishes.

However, halfway through the meal, his phone rang.

Luo Yuan took it out and saw it was Team Leader Chen. He already had a guess and immediately answered.

Team Leader Chen's solemn voice came from the other end: "Xiao Luo, you need to be prepared. I have some bad news to tell you." He paused for a moment, as if giving Luo Yuan time to prepare, and then continued, "The bodies have been identified, and one of them is your brother-in-law. We are very sorry!"

Luo Yuan had already known this and showed no surprise on his face. He said in a heavy tone, "Thank you, Team Leader Chen. I had already guessed this afternoon. Have you informed my sister yet?"

"We have already informed her through her workplace. Since the body is unrecognizable and severely decomposed, I suggest the family see it and then immediately cremate it." Team Leader Chen said.

"Okay, I'll talk to my sister." Luo Yuan replied.

"Xiao Luo, death is irreversible. Try to stay positive and take care of yourself. We'll talk again next time."

Luo Yuan hung up the phone, remained silent for a moment, and then quickly paid and went back.

As soon as he opened the security door, a strong smell of burning hit him.

Luo Yuan was startled and quickly walked into the kitchen. Zhao Yali was holding a spatula and had collapsed on the ground. The pot on the gas stove was smoking heavily, almost catching fire.

Luo Yuan quickly turned off the gas stove and filled a bowl with water, pouring it into the pot.

"Zhis!"

A light sound, and steam rose.

After dealing with everything, Luo Yuan looked at Zhao Yali. She was expressionless, motionless, and didn't even react to Luo Yuan's entrance, as if she was in deep mourning.

"Are you trying to kill yourself? The house is almost on fire! What happened?" Luo Yuan didn't comfort her but scolded her instead. He knew that any comfort at this moment would be futile.

She looked at Luo Yuan blankly and suddenly burst into hysterical tears, making his heart ache.

"It's okay, it's okay!" He squatted down and patted her shoulder. "It's better to cry it out."

Suddenly, Zhao Yali turned and hugged him, crying even harder!

"He's dead... he's dead, Wei Qiang is dead... wuwuwu... He was fine yesterday morning... I even scolded him... If I had known, I wouldn't have scolded him... I won't scold him anymore... It's all my fault, all my fault."

"This isn't your fault. It's fate. If you must blame someone, blame his boss. If he hadn't sent him to Gaotang Town, this wouldn't have happened." Luo Yuan didn't want her to fall into self-blame and tried to comfort her.

"How can heaven be so blind... He was so young... He shouldn't have died... How can I live on without him!"

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