Chapter 685: Personality

Chapter 685 -569: Personality

By the time Ding Yuwei called, the special task force had actually already planned to start shaking the tree the very next day.

On the first day, teams in Anjing and Shanggu would move out simultaneously to question Lu Weihong’s friends and family.

At the same time, they would monitor Lu Weihong’s every move and observe his reaction.

They would then decide on the next step of their plan based on the results of the interviews.

If they came up empty, Chang Zhigang would lead a team to question Lu Weihong directly.

But Ding Yuwei’s unexpected discovery made Shen Xin feel they could push the plan back a bit.

On the highway to Yi City, a police car, siren wailing, weaved through the traffic.

Yang Zeran was driving. He glanced at the rearview mirror.

Another police car was following them.

Shen Xin had, of course, reported the discovery to the special task force and shared his theory.

That was why he wasn’t going alone; other members of the task force were coming as well.

Even the crime scene investigators were tagging along.

Yang Zeran said, “Shen Xin, do you really think Lu Weihong would be that stupid? Burying evidence in Li Suhua’s grave? Isn’t that just leaving a massive liability for himself?”

“I’ve always thought this guy was a highly skilled criminal. He managed to commit three crimes without leaving a single useful clue. He must have planned everything meticulously. He’s a smart man. He shouldn’t be making a mistake like this.”

When it comes to destroying evidence, Lu Weihong must have it down to a science. He would have had a foolproof plan.

And what does he do? Bury physical evidence in Li Suhua’s grave? That’s just unbelievably stupid.

Shen Xin leaned back in his seat, lacing his fingers behind his head. “First off, I agree with everything you said. The guy is definitely smart.”

‘He got into Communication University, and into their most competitive program at that. He’s definitely a top student.’

“But it’s not like we haven’t seen smart people do stupid things before.”

“Take Zhang Zhanhui, for example. The guy was in a research institute, genius-level IQ, right? But he still lost his cool and even defiled a corpse.”

‘Anyway, in Shen Xin’s experience, a high IQ didn’t mean someone was incapable of doing stupid things.’

“Of course, if he really did this, it’s pretty mind-boggling. But if you’re looking for a reason, I think I can offer one.”

Shen Xin sat up straight and countered with a question. “Let me ask you, what’s Lu Weihong’s personality like?”

Yang Zeran thought for a moment. “It’s hard to say. Based on Yang Guofa’s previous description, he sounds like a rather selfish person. Or maybe because he’s so smart, he sees things very clearly and is extremely rational.”

Yang Guofa had mentioned something in his previous statement.

While they were trapped in the cabin and chatting, Li Suhua mentioned that the mountain region was poor. She wanted to use her reporting to bring outside attention to the area and change the lives of the people there.

As she said it, she even teased Lu Weihong, saying that even if their magazine wasn’t some famous investigative news program, they could still make a difference as long as they tried.

From that statement, you can tell that because Lu Weihong was smart and saw things so clearly, he was unwilling to waste his effort on what he deemed pointless endeavors.

“But at the same time, I think he has a very resilient personality. Take when they were hiking into the mountains. Lu Weihong kept complaining about being tired, but he still stuck it out to the very end.”

‘Without that kind of resilient nature, he wouldn’t have become a top student, nor would he have been able to meticulously plan three separate murders without getting caught by the police.’

“Of course, deep down, I don’t think he’s a bad person. He has a passionate side, too.”

He was furious when Li Suhua was assaulted.

When Liu Baoli suggested they go after Wang Shulin, he agreed. That shows that when push comes to shove, he knows what’s right and is willing to act on it.

And since starting his new life, his business has been successful and he’s been good to his wife and daughter. That speaks volumes.

Shen Xin nodded. “Lao Yang, your analysis is spot-on. Think about it. After Li Suhua was assaulted, Lu Weihong was furious and wanted revenge, but she talked him out of it. The two of them didn’t report it to the police again and just left quietly.”

“That’s because he could read the situation. He understood that someone with something to lose can’t afford a fight to the death with someone who has nothing to lose.”

“Li Suhua was pretty much the same. She was smart and understood that.”

“But Li Suhua never expected to get pregnant. That fact devastated her, so she chose the most extreme measure and ended her own life.”

“As for Lu Weihong, like you said, he’s a good person at his core. I think Li Suhua’s death must have pushed him over the edge, and that’s why he chose to get revenge.”

“He felt immense guilt over what happened to Li Suhua, a guilt that lasted for years. After he finally got his revenge, he would have wanted to put the past behind him. Maybe he chose a symbolic gesture, like burying the bloody murder weapon in Li Suhua’s grave to let her rest in peace and to alleviate his own guilt.”

“And honestly, if you bury something in a grave, as long as the grave itself isn’t moved, nobody would ever think to disturb it. From Lu Weihong’s perspective, burying something there would probably seem safe.”

Yang Zeran frowned. He couldn’t bring himself to fully agree with Shen Xin’s analysis.

With a sigh, Yang Zeran said, “Honestly, I hope he did make a mistake and bury something. At this point in the case, I feel like we could really use a bit of luck.”

‘They’d been forced to adopt the ‘shake the tree’ strategy, which just showed the task force had reached a dead end.’

“Luck?”

Shen Xin sighed.

‘Until now, luck had always been on Lu Weihong’s side. It was about time for the tables to turn.’

「A little after seven o’clock」

The large group of officers arrived at Chezhuang Village.

“Over here!”

Ding Yuwei was already waiting on the side of the road.

She hadn’t even gone back to her hotel, choosing to stand guard here instead.

Chang Zhigang got out of the car and gave Ding Yuwei a thumbs-up. “Xiaoding, great work!”

‘Whether the lead panned out or not, at least she had found it.’

Shen Xin walked over to her. Seeing her exhausted face, he chided her in a low voice, “Didn’t I tell you to go back and get some rest?”

Ding Yuwei shook her head to show she was fine and led the group straight to Li Suhua’s grave.

As the large group made their way over, Ding Yuwei explained her discovery in more detail.

“Your logic is sound. If he was asking about a shovel, he must have had a reason,” Chang Zhigang said, nodding in agreement.

The group arrived at the gravesite.

It had been nearly four years, so there wasn’t much to see.

“Chang Zhi, let’s dig,” Shen Xin said.

‘They hadn’t brought this many people all the way out here just to look at the scene.’

‘They weren’t sure what Lu Weihong had done, but even if there was only the slimmest of chances, they had to dig it up and see.’

Chang Zhigang nodded slightly and took out his phone to contact his people in the provincial capital.

The task force, of course, had no issue; they had already gotten approval to take special measures before they left.

But they still had to inform Li Suhua’s family, one way or another.

The team in the provincial capital had already been contacted to go find Li Tan and his family ahead of time. Now that it was dawn, the timing was perfect.

While they waited for confirmation, the on-site team set up their cameras and other equipment.

A trace evidence expert from the ministry named Liu Kaishun led his team forward and began to meticulously examine the area around the grave.

“Even though several years have passed, you can still see some traces.”

“Look, this grave obviously hasn’t been tended to regularly; the weeds all around are overgrown. In the process of digging and then refilling the earth, things like grass roots might get mixed into the soil. That alone would be enough to prove the grave has been dug up before.”

“There’s also subsidence. Digging up an entire grave is no easy task, and it would cause a huge disturbance. If I just wanted to bury something, I’d probably just dig a single hole.”

“After a grave is established, the earth slowly settles from sun and rain, becoming relatively stable in structure. If you dig in one spot and then backfill it, the soil density will be uneven. After being washed out by more rain, that specific spot might experience some localized subsidence.”

“It’s hard to see right now with all the weeds, but we might find something after clearing them. Of course…”

After that thorough analysis, Liu Kaishun’s tone shifted. “…we now have equipment that can just scan it.”

‘A professional-grade portable ground-penetrating radar, which they had made a point to bring along.’

With that, he immediately ordered his team to get to work.

Everyone gathered around the imaging monitor, staring at the resulting waveform patterns.

As Liu Kaishun directed his subordinate to move the probe slowly, he began to explain.

He mentioned that more advanced equipment was being developed domestically—integrated multi-frequency radar with 3D imaging. It would be like giving the ground a CT scan, providing a much clearer and more intuitive picture.

He also explained to the group what the variations on the readout meant.

“This area here, for example, should be the coffin.”

He had his team member continuously adjust the probe’s position. After a long moment, he suddenly shouted, “Stop!”

“Looks like something’s buried here. It’s metallic, about sixty centimeters below the surface. Given how uniform it is, it’s probably a canister.”

The discovery sent a jolt of energy through everyone present.

After meticulously scanning the entire gravesite, that was the only anomaly they found.

Once Li Suhua’s parents were informed that the coffin itself would not be opened, they gave their consent.

They began digging immediately.

Half an hour later, the object was unearthed.

It was a canister, not very large, about ten centimeters tall. It was finely crafted, likely from an aluminum alloy, and had a screw-on lid.

After a brief discussion, they decided to open it on the spot.

It wasn’t as if this were an ancient tomb centuries old, where opening it rashly would cause the contents to oxidize and turn to dust.

Besides, they had shaken it. Something definitely rattled inside.

Under the watchful eye of the camera, the canister was opened.

“It’s a USB drive,” Liu Kaishun exclaimed.

Standing next to Shen Xin, Yang Zeran let out a curse. He’d never imagined that Lu Weihong would actually bury something—let alone a USB drive.

“Shen Xin, he wouldn’t have… recorded himself committing the murders and then left it as an offering for Li Suhua, would he?” Yang Zeran’s voice trembled.

‘If that was the case, it would be beyond stupid.’

Shen Xin remained silent, urgently asking Liu Kaishun if they could access the drive’s contents.

“Hold on.” Liu Kaishun was equally excited. He changed into a fresh pair of gloves and attempted to lift any fingerprints or biological evidence from the USB drive and the inside of the canister.

His meticulous process kept everyone waiting on pins and needles for nearly another hour.

Only after a technician helped confirm that the USB drive had no data-wiping programs installed did they finally access it.

On the 32-gigabyte drive, there was only a single video file.

“To Suhua”

That was the video’s filename.

“Open it,” Chang Zhigang said, his voice trembling.

As everyone watched, the video file was opened.

The sound of a panicked scream immediately filled the air.

“Sir, I’m begging you, please let me go! I don’t want to die!”

A face appeared on the screen, adjusting the camera’s angle.

At the same time, Liu Baoli’s voice could be heard.

Shen Xin had seen a video of him before and recognized the voice.

“Lu Weihong, I’m the one who wronged you! Come after me, but let Xiaohu go!”