Dude, something's really wrong with your abilities.

Chapter 60 An Old Man's Indecent Acts

Clutching the moldy notebook in her hand, Su Xiaohe hurriedly ran towards Group Five.

Pushing open the door, I saw Fatty and Wang Jianlou sharing steamed buns, the room filled with a strong smell of pork and scallions. Chang Biao, annoyed by the smell, opened the window to let in some fresh air. Chen Shi, meanwhile, was engrossed in writing; the case report on the Phantom Wolf case had been returned by Lao Zheng shortly after he submitted it, forcing him to rewrite it.

The fat man looked up and saw Su Xiaohe covered in dirt and dust. He was so shocked that he choked on the bun in his mouth, unable to swallow it for a long time. He patted his chest several times before he calmed down: "Did you go to check the archives or go tomb raiding?"

Su Xiaohe didn't have time to joke with him: "Never mind that, where's the team leader?"

"Still at the hospital with the family members."

"Call the team leader immediately, we've found something."

The fat man shoveled down the rest of the buns in one gulp, then took out his phone and called Sun Tiemei. Less than twenty minutes later, Sun Tiemei was back in her office.

"Team leader, I found this in an old filing cabinet from decades ago." Su Xiaohe handed over the notebook. "The things recorded in it seem very similar to Lin Nei's case."

Sun Tiemei took the notebook, and Chen Shi also came over to look at it for a while: "This is more than just similar, it's exactly the same as this incident. Xiao He, you're amazing."

Su Xiaohe looked at Chen Shi with a shy expression, then asked Sun Tiemei, "So what's the team leader going to do next?"

Sun Tiemei's expression was serious: "Find this recorder."

Chang Biao took the notebook and looked at the remaining writing on the cover: "I can still make out the surname Mei, and the last character seems to be Hua. The middle characters are blurred and I can't see them at all."

The fat man scratched his head: "How are we supposed to find this? There aren't even any names." He paused for two seconds, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "This record is at least decades old. We don't know them, but Sister Zhou from the administrative section might recognize anyone who has worked in the bureau."

After saying that, the fat man took Su Xiaohe directly to the administrative department. Sister Zhou was sitting at her workstation knitting. The older women in the bureau were generally not dared to be managed by the leaders, so they had developed a certain domineering air while just getting by.

She looked up and saw Su Xiaohe, who was covered in dust and dirt. She immediately stood up and said, "What happened to this girl? Is the working environment in your Group Five this bad now?"

The fat man handed over the musty-smelling notebook: "Big sister, could you take a look? Do you remember this person?"

Sister Zhou put on her reading glasses, picked up the corner of the notebook with a look of disgust, and squinted to make out the words: "Mei... Hua... Mei what Hua..." The next second, she slapped the fat man's stomach and suddenly realized: "Isn't this the old illiterate man?"

The fat man and Su Xiaohe exchanged a bewildered glance: "Old illiterate?"

Sister Zhou laughed heartily: "His name is Mei Wenhua. If you pronounce it quickly, it sounds like he's uneducated. Back in the day, everyone in the bureau called him 'Old Illiterate.' After a while, nobody called him by his real name anymore." After laughing, she became serious and asked in a low voice, "What happened? Did he get into trouble?"

Fatty knows Sister Zhou's personality too well. She's quick-witted and loves to gossip. If he doesn't explain things clearly right away, believe me, a long story will spread through the bureau's group chat tonight.

He quickly waved his hand, "No, no! We came across a case and saw his previous records, so we wanted to ask a senior colleague for some advice."

"Oh, I see." Sister Zhou sighed in disappointment. "I know him, he's been retired for over ten years. Are you looking for him?"

Su Xiaohe nodded. Sister Zhou was quite kind to young people, and with her extensive network, she found out the truth in less than ten minutes: "This old man doesn't like to carry his phone, so you can't find him. If you want to find him, go to the central square in the evening; he sits there every day watching the old ladies do square dancing."

Su Xiaohe asked, "Big sister, do you have any photos? There are so many people, how are we supposed to identify them?"

Sister Zhou waved her hand: "No need for photos, just find the one who is looking at it most attentively, that's definitely him."

Around dinner time, all five groups arrived at the central square. The square was bustling with activity, with a group of middle-aged women dancing energetically to music, creating a noisy atmosphere.

The fat man scanned the crowd and immediately spotted his target. On the outskirts of the crowd, an elderly man with gray hair was intently watching the dancers through a pair of old-fashioned binoculars, his focus almost unbelievable.

The fat man raised his chin, and Sun Tiemei walked over and said softly, "Hello, are you Mr. Mei Wenhua? We are from the Supernatural Abilities Bureau."

The old man put down his binoculars, looking wary: "What? Is it illegal to watch old ladies dance?"

Sun Tiemei was speechless. She explained, "Sir, we've come across a case and saw similar cases you've recorded before, so we came here specifically to ask for your advice."

Mei Wenhua finally lowered his guard and looked the group of five people up and down. Fatty was too fat, Chang Biao was fierce, Chen Shi looked weak, and Su Xiaohe was too dirty. Only Sun Tiemei looked normal. He couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Are the standards for hiring in the bureau this lax now? These standards..."

Everyone fell silent. Mei Wenhua then got down to business: "Alright, ask away."

Su Xiaohe took out her notebook and recounted the bizarre situation in the forest, where Lin Nei had mysteriously lost consciousness and left no trace at the scene.

Mei Wenhua's joking expression vanished completely, and she frowned, saying, "So, you've also encountered a case involving soul-capturing?"

"Soul stealing?" Everyone was taken aback.

"Yes." Mei Wenhua nodded. "I was at a crime scene in the suburbs back then. A middle-aged man was working in the fields and he was fine. His wife found him lying unconscious on the edge of the field that afternoon. We investigated for a long time but couldn't find anything. There were no external injuries or poisoning. It was a complete unsolved case."

The five group members understood perfectly; it was exactly the same situation as in the forest.

"I submitted a record of this matter at the time, but the bureau didn't give any feedback," Mei Wenhua continued. "But I always remembered it and went to that family's house every few days to check on them. That person just kept lying there unconscious."

Then, he deliberately kept everyone in suspense: "Guess what happens next?"

Everyone shook their heads in agreement: "We can't guess, you tell us."

"Later, I was transferred to another position and retired not long after, and the matter was gradually put aside," Mei Wenhua said. "One day, I suddenly remembered this old case and went to his house again. Guess what... don't guess, the man actually woke up on his own."

"He's awake?!" Everyone was surprised again.

"Yes," Mei Wenhua sighed. "This man is truly blessed; during those years he was in a coma, his wife took care of him day and night. Speaking of his wife, although she's a rural woman, she's really beautiful and has a wonderful presence..."

Sun Tiemei interrupted promptly: "Grandpa, after he woke up, did he say what happened?"

Mei Wenhua, interrupted from her recollection, looked annoyed and slowly said, "Of course I asked. He said there was a person standing about ten meters away at the time, and he glanced at the person, then suddenly saw stars, his mind went blank, and then he knew nothing more."

Chen Shi asked, "Then why didn't you report this crucial detail back then?"

Mei Wenhua rolled her eyes: "I'm retired. No one cared or investigated when I reported it before, so why should I bother? I've said what I needed to say. Are you done asking? Hurry up and leave, don't keep me from watching the show."

After saying that, he waved the person away and went back to admiring the older woman through his binoculars.

Everyone had no choice but to turn around and return to the office. Once there, Sun Tiemei immediately gave instructions: "Review all the surveillance footage from the Tianping Mountain campsite. Since it was triggered by eye contact, focus on checking people who appeared in the surrounding area of ​​the forest and see if anything seems unusual."

Upon hearing this, Chen Shi suddenly remembered something: "Team leader, Meng Xin said before that before Lin Nei's accident, she said something about the sun being too bright."

"I saw stars, the light was blinding..." Sun Tiemei's eyes darkened. "It matches up. The bright light must be the signal of soul-capturing. Lin Nei definitely made eye contact with the killer unconsciously."

With the clues completely clear, everyone worked overtime through the night to review the surveillance footage. Sun Tiemei ordered late-night snacks for everyone, and feeling sorry for Su Xiaohe who had been working so hard these past few days, she told her to go to her office to rest first.

The surveillance footage played back slowly frame by frame. The campsite had a large flow of people and many tourists, but the vast majority of people were just passing by and walking straight, without any abnormalities.

They watched for almost an hour, their eyes aching, but they hadn't gained anything. Just when everyone was about to give up, Chen Shi suddenly pointed to the distance on the screen: "Something's wrong here."

The group immediately gathered around. The area was in a remote location, off the usual tourist walking route, and quite empty. While other passersby continued walking, a single person stood quietly beside an abandoned tent in the distance. She remained motionless, simply standing silently to the side of the tent.

When everyone was quickly moving through the scene, they were all looking for people close to the forest, so naturally they didn't miss those standing so far away.

The person was wearing a loose white sweatshirt, and their hat and mask were completely covered, obscuring their entire face.

She stood a little far away, but could see directly into the area where the Lin family of three was resting. She remained motionless the whole time, as if she had deliberately waited at that angle.