Sold for 300, I Fight Back with Superpowers

”Do you remember Du Xiangbao? The man who went into the mountains with your father all those years ago?” Zou Ming said. ”He left your village not long after he came back from the mountains.”

”The person who was killed in the cave... it couldn’t be Du Xiangbao, could it?”

Of course Su Qing remembered Du Xiangbao. She had no idea where he had gone after leaving the village back then. It had been several years. Zou Ming had said he would investigate Du Xiangbao’s whereabouts, but there hadn’t been any news these past few days. She’d thought it would be a long time before she heard anything about him.

”No,” Zou Ming said. ”But this person is connected to Du Xiangbao. We’ve been investigating Du Xiangbao’s social connections these past few days and discovered he has a relative in Beijing named Sun Dagui. They’re said to be cousins. There’s also Du Daguai, who is a very distant grand-uncle to Du Xiangbao. Although the relationships are distant, the families were still in contact before Du Xiangbao disappeared. So, we planned to ask Sun Dagui for information about Du Xiangbao. But when we went to find him, we learned that Sun Dagui had been missing for some time.”

”So, the person in the cave is Sun Dagui?” Su Qing asked.

”Correct,” Zou Ming said. ”After making a comparison and identification, we’ve confirmed that the man is indeed Sun Dagui.”

”In that case, Sun Dagui was murdered.” Thinking of the gruesome scene in the cave, Su Qing couldn’t help but frown. ’What a coincidence. Du Xiangbao disappeared back then, and now, just as the investigation leads to Sun Dagui, he turns up dead in that same cave.’

”Based on our assessment, Sun Dagui died about twenty-some days ago,” Zou Ming stated.

”So that means Sun Dagui was already dead before we even started suspecting Du Xiangbao.” Su Qing looked at Zou Ming, pursed her lips lightly, and then asked, ”Captain Zou, do you think Sun Dagui’s death could be related to Du Xiangbao?”

”We’re not sure,” Zou Ming said. ”The case is still under investigation. We still need to look further into Sun Dagui’s social connections and his daily movements. I came here today to give you a heads-up about this, as it might involve Du Xiangbao. Also, the chief asked me to tell you that we might need your assistance at some point.”

”I understand.” Su Qing nodded. ”Just let me know in advance, Captain Zou, so I can ask my academic advisor for leave.”

”Will do. I just came by to tell you about this today,” Zou Ming said with a smile.

After Zou Ming left, Su Qing thought it over carefully and felt something wasn’t right. Years ago, Du Xiangbao and another person had plotted to kill her father during a trip into the mountains. And now, this relative of Du Xiangbao’s had also died in the mountains—clearly murdered. Both incidents took place in the mountains.

Perhaps the dense mountain forest was simply an excellent place to commit murder. But Su Qing’s intuition told her there had to be another reason. She closed her eyes to think. When she had seen Sun Dagui in the mountains, there was nothing around his body. And Zou Ming had said he’d been dead for over twenty days. After so much time, most of the evidence had probably disappeared. If the killer had also intentionally covered their tracks, the police might not be able to find anything.

However, what was impossible for the police might be possible for her.

’I can use plant time-reversal!’

Her superpower level had just recently risen by a rank. Before, at the Fourth Rank, she could reverse time by three days. Now that she’d reached the Fifth Rank, her time-reversal ability had increased tenfold, allowing her to go back exactly one month. If Sun Dagui was killed within that timeframe, she might actually be able to see who murdered him.

There was no time to waste. Su Qing decided to go back to Wenyun Valley immediately. Since it was still morning, she requested leave from her academic advisor right away and headed for Wenyun Valley. Upon entering the valley, she made a beeline for the cave where Sun Dagui had been found.