Rebirth 78, the beginning of the marriage was broken off by the female educated youth

On an early autumn morning, an old Nanwan brand minibus was traveling on the gravel road south of Yanjing.

The car body was covered in mud, and the engine was humming wearily. Although it was still morning, the car was already filled with a peculiar mixture of tobacco sweat and gasoline smell.

Li Xiangnan sat at the back of the carriage, his brow furrowed, taking notes rapidly in his notebook by the light streaming in from the window.

His seat was specially arranged, right in front of Chen Hanguo, who was under close surveillance.

Li Xiangnan would know immediately if there was any unusual movement in the back row.

Two days ago, after confirming that Chen Hanguo was suffering from severe dissociative identity disorder at Nianwei Hospital, Li Xiangnan made the decision to immediately take the patient and his team back to Luzhou, the scene of the crime, a long distance away.

The reason is simple: only by returning to where the cause began can the knot of the effect be untied!

These past two days, Li Xiangnan asked for leave from school and made arrangements for Nanyi Medical Equipment, Chunyu Medical, the machine repair factory, the biopharmaceutical factory, the lilac factory, and the five-star hotel before he could finally leave with peace of mind!

He had many things to do, but Zhang Zhidong's request could not be ignored. This time, he only wanted to unravel the mystery surrounding Chen Hanguo as soon as possible!

The journey was long and tedious, and Chen Hanguo was mostly asleep, but he would be awakened occasionally when the road was bumpy.

Li Xiangnan would seize every such moment, disregarding the swaying of the carriage, and lean to the side, taking every opportunity to strike up a conversation with him.

"Where is your hometown? Are there any landmarks nearby?"

"The coal workshop...is that where you live? Or the mine?"

"Which old street are you talking about? Does it have a street name?"

At these times, Chen Hanguo's tone would often become unpredictable.

“…I know…haha…the old coal mine…we’re here…I’m so hungry, Xiaoqin, hurry and find something to eat…kerosene lamp, light it…Mother, Mother, you can’t see when you’re sewing…Mother…how could you just disappear like that…”

Li Xiangnan repeatedly looked at the notebook, but the information Chen Hanguo provided was too fragmented, like a complete mirror that had been smashed to pieces on the ground, and no matter how he tried to piece it back together, he couldn't get the original image back!

Only faintly could one hear words that clearly reflected the era: coal mine, old street, famine, kerosene lamp.

"Defa!" Li Xiangnan closed his notebook and gestured, "Bring me the Luzhou County Gazetteer!"

Wang Defa leaned over and carefully took out a copy of the Luzhou County Gazetteer from his satchel. The two of them then squeezed together and searched for place names like "coal workshop" page by page.

After searching through administrative divisions and historical records, all they found was an old coal mine alley.

The county annals provide a rather macro-level description, which fails to capture the information conveyed by Chen Hanguo's second personality.

Li Xiangnan closed the county gazetteer and rubbed his throbbing temples. "Minister Qi, the county gazetteer is still too rough. I'll have to trouble you to see if you can find an older and more detailed geographical map, preferably from twenty years ago, such as a detailed map of Luzhou city and surrounding towns during the famine!"

"Advisor Li, do you doubt that the information Chen Hanguo provided is true?" Qi Zhiyuan was somewhat surprised. He had always believed in science and thought that the words of a mentally ill person could not be taken seriously.

"Whether there are dates or not, let's shoot first and see!" Li Xiangnan insisted.

Qi Zhiyuan nodded, his face showing the fatigue of the journey, but his eyes showed sincerity and expectation: "Alright, I'll contact the land bureau in Luzhou again and ask them to help search. Maybe they'll find a clue!"

Inside the carriage, besides Li Xiangnan and his group, sat several psychiatry professors with serious expressions, occasionally whispering to each other.

After discussion and selection, and with full respect for opinions, the group elected Professors Lu Hang, Wang Ming, and Hong Chunlin to go to Luzhou with Li Xiangnan to continue monitoring Chen Hanguo's mental condition, find the source as much as possible, and provide him with proper treatment.

The minibus finally entered Luzhou city in the evening, panting heavily.

In the 1980s, Luzhou was not as large as Beijing. Most of the buildings were gray and drab. Pedestrians on the street wore clothes in shades of blue and gray. There were even fewer cars, but bicycles were like a tide, surrounding minibuses as they drove into the city bureau's compound.

Li Xiangnan hurriedly got out of the car to stretch his stiff body, but as soon as his feet touched the ground, he saw Zhang Zhidong emerge from the building.

He was still in good spirits, but there was an unyielding worry and weariness between his brows.

The last time we met was during the Chinese New Year. It had been eight months since we last saw each other, and Zhang Zhidong had aged considerably.

A pang of heartache welled up in Li Xiangnan's heart. He stepped forward to greet him, his tone softening considerably, "Uncle Zhang!"

"Little Li!" Zhang Zhidong quickly went over and tightly grasped the younger man's hand.

His palms were a little cold and trembling slightly.

Both of them were somewhat wistful. The last time they met, they were talking about the future development plans of Nanwan Province and looking forward to the great plan to help their hometown by taking advantage of the reform and opening up. But now, their reunion was under such heavy hearts.

"Uncle Zhang, you've worked so hard!" Li Xiangnan's eyes were slightly red.

"Sigh, I never expected to meet you again like this!" Zhang Zhidong sighed heavily, looking at Li Xiangnan with a complicated expression: "I've heard the report about the confirmed case. You did a good job; thank you for your hard work on this case! I'll be relying on you a lot more in the future..."

“Uncle Zhang, let’s not talk about this!” Li Xiangnan patted his hand, sensing the heaviness in his words and a hint of barely perceptible guilt. After shaking his hand firmly, he immediately said, “We’re not talking about these things now. The most urgent thing is to find out the truth as soon as possible and give everyone an explanation!”

"Alright, I've arranged for you all to stay at the guesthouse across the street..."

"Uncle Zhang, I want to see the victim's body first!" Li Xiangnan didn't even have time to drink a sip of water before he immediately wanted to investigate the case.

Zhang Zhidong shuddered, feeling a pang of heartache. "You rascal, you're still the same as before, working yourself to the bone! Oh well! Xiao Qi, get someone to cooperate!"

"Thank you, Uncle Zhang!" Li Xiangnan immediately said, "Director Qi, Director Fan, please make arrangements. We'll split up and have someone take me to see the body, then we'll head to the crime scene on Changjiang South Road right away!"

Qi Zhiyuan and Fan Deting were somewhat surprised by his persistence and execution, and they felt a sincere admiration for Li Xiangnan, this young fellow villager. They immediately nodded and went to arrange the work.

Half an hour later, in the simple autopsy room of the Luzhou Public Security Bureau, four already cold corpses were pulled out and placed on the autopsy table.

"Consultant Li, please!" Fang Jun, a forensic doctor from the provincial department, handed over a pair of gloves.

Although quite some time has passed, the gruesome wounds on the corpse still silently testify to the madness and cruelty of that day.

Wearing gloves, Li Xiangnan looked down at the four corpses, and the more he looked, the stronger his doubts became.

I had always heard Chen Hanguo say how much he hated these four people, but when I actually saw them lying on the dissection table, I was terrified.

What kind of hatred could drive Chen Hanguo to such madness?