Upon hearing that they might have discovered Chen Chahua’s body, Zhao Donglai arrived quickly.
Not long after, several police cars gathered with a whirring sound and parked on the empty lot opposite Yang Dawei’s house.
Zhao Donglai and Yang Su got out of the car, and Luo Fei, who had been waiting for some time, immediately approached them.
"What’s the current situation? Where’s Chen Chahua’s body?"
"The body hasn’t been found yet, but we’ve discovered traces of cement that have been re-laid under Yang Dawei’s bed. I suspect he probably killed Chen Chahua, buried her under the bed, and then covered the evidence with cement."
Soon, the group entered the bedroom.
After discovering something wrong with the bedroom, Luo Fei and a few others quickly tidied up the room, sweeping all the trash to the side and moving obstructions out.
As soon as he entered, Zhao Donglai noticed that obviously abnormal section.
Instantly, he subconsciously trusted Luo Fei’s judgment.
After all, who would lay so much cement and make their room uneven if not to hide a body?
But to be certain, they needed to get someone to break open that cemented area.
So, he immediately turned to Yang Su, "Go bring in those two workers and have them use tools to break this area open. Be cautious with your movements. If Chen Chahua is really underneath, try not to damage her remains."
As they say, ’every trade has its master,’ so when they got the call from Zhaocheng, they specifically found two renovation workers and asked them to bring their tools along.
Subsequently, after a brief discussion, the two workers picked up hammers and other tools and began working, with Zhang Donglai and others assisting.
After a few knocks, one of the workers suddenly pointed to a spot and said, "The sound from here isn’t right. It feels like there’s something hollow underneath."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Donglai urgently said, "Then strike down on that spot."
As the two masters said this, they struck harder with their massive hammers, and in about seven to eight minutes, they had finally cracked a section of the cement.
After a few more strikes, there was a snapping sound, and that section of cement suddenly seemed to give way, collapsing all at once and revealing a square hole, from which a foul stench emerged.
There were wood fragments around the hole, suggesting that it had been previously covered by planks, which shattered so that the cement dropped along with them.
Looking down from above, Zhang Fan speculated, "It looks like a cellar."
In this rural area, it’s common for households to dig a cellar to store crops like sweet potatoes and potatoes.
So when he said this, one of the workers couldn’t help but snort, "I thought it was something else, turns out it’s just a cellar..."
The other one chimed in, "Why on earth would they cement a perfectly good cellar? These homeowners must be out of their mind."
Since the case details needed to be confidential, and although they were there to work, the workers weren’t aware that a body might be hidden in the cellar.
Thus, they found the homeowner’s actions baffling.
Of course, Zhao Donglai couldn’t explain anything, so he casually brushed them off and had Yang Su send them away.
Once the unrelated personnel had left, they crouched down to take photos of the inside with their phones.
The cellar was about two meters deep by estimation. With additional covering all around, they couldn’t see the inside clearly. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel·fire.net
However, Luo Fei, observing the increasing darkness around the hole, confidently asserted, "The body must be below."
No one dared question why he was so confident.
Zhang Fan volunteered, "Captain Zhao, shall I go down and take a look?"
"Don’t rush; wait until the smell dissipates a bit more."
Fearing that it’s too closed off and that someone might suffocate upon entering, Zhao Donglai shook his head.
At this moment, Yang Mei entered with her team, carrying a toolbox.
After exchanging a quick glance with Luo Fei, she looked at Zhao Donglai and asked, "Captain Zhao, have you found the body?"
"Not yet, but now we strongly suspect Chen Chahua’s body is in this cellar below."
Zhao Donglai pointed to the dark cellar beside him and said, "Wait outside for a bit longer. After Zhang Fan checks, you can go down."
After waiting for a while, Zhao Donglai first lit a piece of paper with a lighter and dropped it down, watching it burn out slowly. Confirmed that there was enough oxygen inside, he allowed Zhang Fan to descend.
Luo Fei had already asked Wang Yong to borrow a ladder from neighboring villagers. After requesting a professional mask from Yang Mei, Zhang Fan climbed down the ladder and was soon at the bottom.
The cellar wasn’t large, occupying about a square meter at most.
The air was filled with an exceptionally unbearable odor, almost making Zhang Fan nauseous despite his mask.
He suppressed this and shone a flashlight at his feet, beginning a detailed search.
Soon, he found a rusty farming hoe leaning against the wall and, next to it, a small mound.
Beside this mound was a rotting women’s cotton shoe, leading him to guess what might be inside the mound.