Chapter 23 Chapter 22

At this time, Li Tong had already burst into tears, and he couldn't help muttering: "Du... Section chief, don't say it! Don't... say it! Count me in, please... don't say it!" I had no time to take care of him, so I stared at Old Cui and asked, "It seems that Old Cui's bluff hit the sore spots of Mr. Wu and Secretary Li. But since this matter is not as evil as what Old Cui said, it is simply That's nonsense, then, how did Mr. Wu get that inexplicable mark on his jaw?" Du Shaoqian explained: "Actually, Mr. Wu was very precise in this matter. Although he disliked Lao Cui's sensational words, he also used them at the same time, because the mark between his jaws was not so abrupt. , so that we can logically think that it appears because of the hanged ghost in Xiaowengou. This is also the result Mr. Wu hopes to achieve—he will use this imprint to continue to make fuss, and finally to complete what happened in the Yuejin Hotel The head-cutting trick of the paper figurine. In fact, this imprint really confuses my eyes. For a long time after that, I couldn’t guess how it was born until I... "Du Shaoqian turned his cheek to Chen Lianchang, "This is also thanks to Chen Lianchang's warm heart. If I hadn't met you, I might not have known this simple trick until now."

"Thank me?" Company Commander Chen's cheeks were full of doubts, "Mr. Du, did Mr. Chen do anything?" "You did it." Du Shaoqian hit the nail on the head, "That day, after Qiu Ming and I landed on Jiangxin Island with Li Guangming, we had to flee crazily for our lives because we were attacked by armored hoppers guarding the sand boat. In the bushes, my cheeks were scratched and dripping with blood. Then the three of us came to the post, and Company Commander Chen thoughtfully asked me to go to the infirmary to treat the wound. It was your inadvertent act that finally made me understand. The origin of that strange mark. Speaking of it...it’s too simple, even so simple that it makes people laugh and cry. It’s just that we start with the usual thinking, who would have thought that this mark was actually made on the jaw by the person involved? ?”

I was very surprised: "Mr. Du, you mean...that mark...was made by Mr. Wu himself?" Du Shaoqian smiled and said: "That's not bad at all. That day I went to the infirmary of the outpost to treat the wound. After the ambulance inspected my cheeks, they said that it is best to use iodine for disinfection, otherwise the wound will be easily infected in rainy days. It took me two sentences to suddenly realize it—maybe you should have seen a small folk trick called "white paper showing characters": first write a few words on white paper with rice soup, and wait until they dry up with the naked eye. It is impossible to distinguish at all, and then smear it with a small amount of iodine, so that the writing will slowly appear. Mr. Wu just used this simple method, but he improved this little trick, so that we It’s hard to find right away.”

I nodded repeatedly and said, "Street buskers often do this kind of little trick, but most of the handwriting on the white paper is blue, but the imprint on Mr. Wu's jaw is black and green?" Du Shaoqian continued to explain: "That's right. This is what I mean by improvement. I guess the reason why Mr. Wu did this is probably because he was afraid that such small tricks would be too simple and easy to see through. So, he replaced the rice soup with ten The common glue is applied on the lower jaw with a regular square hole in advance. Imagine that the glue will not affect the original color of the skin when it dries up. Moreover, it is on the extremely secret lower jaw; Look, it is very difficult to find. Once the glue is mixed with iodine, it will appear black and green. Otherwise, how could the imprint float on the skin? Of course, my inferences have been obtained Confirmed by the ambulanceman."

Only then did I come to my senses, and I couldn't help asking: "But, now a new problem has arisen. Even if Mr. Wu played this little trick during the overturned car, the five of us have been inseparable for the rest of the trip. And shopkeeper Xie—oh, that is Zhang Shuhai—when he met Mr. Wu for the first time, why did he immediately call it a ghoul? Chief Du, they haven't seen each other for ten years, Is there still such a tacit understanding?" Du Shaoqian was noncommittal, but his eyes turned to Li Tong who was still lying on the ground: "Qiu Ming, you forgot Secretary Li. He once said, what did he do before he came to Kuiling with Mr. Wu?"

I recalled: "Secretary Li said that he used to be a confidential secretary of the military region, but what connection can there be?" Du Shaoqian said: "My answer is that Secretary Li is not an ordinary confidential secretary, but someone who has access to the radio station of the military region. It was all done by Secretary Li taking advantage of his position. And the radio transmitter that appeared on Jiangxin Island was the tool used by Li Tong to communicate with Zhang Shuhai—you must know that Zhang Shuhai was also a latent agent of the national army in the past, so using the radio is of course It's not a problem. This can completely explain why Zhang Shuhai immediately falsely claimed that it was a ghoul after seeing the mark on Mr. Wu's jaw. As for the radio transmitter hidden in Jiangxin Island, the reason why it can The strange signal was undoubtedly Duan Xigui, who is proficient in mechanics, hinting at Company Commander Chen. Unfortunately, Company Commander Chen didn't take this matter to heart at all at the time, so he only sent a messenger to check. What happened to make Company Commander Chen The big thing that is imminent, let me talk about it later."

I glanced at Company Commander Chen with a gloomy expression: "It seems that the legend of the ghoul is just nonsense, but they fabricated it to complete this plan?" Du Shaoqian said: "The legend of ghoul disease is not fictional, it should have this kind of disease. It's just that Zhang Shuhai borrowed this name to achieve a sensational effect. I think it was the tragic situation of Chen Guang who was forced to swallow the corpse insect back then. Let Zhang Shuhai have a flash of inspiration to combine the two, and inform Mr. Wu, thus completing the most important part of the whole conspiracy."

At this time, Lianchang Chen continued: "Mr. Du, but in Mr. Wu's original plan, there were no two people, Qiu Ming and Lao Cui. My question is, how did Mr. Wu deal with this sudden change, and then Continue to carry out the conspiracy step by step? You must know the things planned in advance, once one of the steps is changed, it is likely to cause the entire idea to fall apart." Du Shaoqian nodded without refuting, then lit a cigarette, and slowly puffed it out. The endless smoke made his cheeks look deeper.And Li Tong, who had shrunk to the ground during this period, also stood up quietly. He leaned close to Mr. Wu, his eyes were full of blurred warmth, as if he was not afraid of Du Shaoqian's cocooning at all.

Du Shaoqian threw away the cigarette butt: "Okay, now, let's bring our attention back to that night, and thoroughly describe all the details of the paper figurine's severed head. What you will hear is the most incredible crime in the world." First of all, let me explain the question that Company Commander Chen raised just now, that is how Mr. Wu dealt with all kinds of sudden changes." Old Cui, who hadn't said a word for a long time, also shook his spirits at this time, and he muttered to himself: "Mr. Du, what... what's going on with all this?" Du Shaoqian expressed calmly: "Let me mention a detail first, that is what Qiu Ming said before, when Mr. Wu was going to Kuiling, he rolled up his cuffs and looked at his watch from time to time, as if he was in a hurry. In fact, that During the not-so-short distance, Mr. Wu must have been in a state of disarray, because the heavy rain that night was so violent, if there was a delay, the wooden bridge on the river might be washed away by the rain. If so , then all Mr. Wu’s plans will be interrupted. Fortunately, the truck passed through safely. I guess that while the truck was driving towards the entrance of the town, the two people hiding in the dense forest on the river bank and waiting for an opportunity have been destroyed. That precarious wooden bridge, only in this way can Kuiling become an isolated town. And those two people should be Xu Haisheng and Hu Jianshe!" After finishing speaking, Du Shaoqian pointed to Hu Jianshe who was sitting beside him.

When Hu Jianshe heard that Du Shaoqian said his name, he suddenly raised his buried head, gritted his teeth and stared at Du Shaoqian viciously. Obviously, his expression had already betrayed this fact, and Du Shaoqian's guess was not wrong. Du Shaoqian went on to say: "Just after the five of us walked into the Yuejin Hotel, I think Zhang Shuhai and Li Guangming must have been extremely surprised. They were surprised that the number of people did not match the previous agreement, which means that their preparations will also be very different. There are deviations. However, Zhang Shuhai is not a mediocre person. He guessed the cause of the matter almost in a few words. Tong did not go with him. This was actually within Mr. Wu's plan, because he needed Li Tong to confirm whether there were any mistakes in the plan. Afterwards, Li Tong was worried that we would have doubts about him, so he deliberately used the reed liver As a cover-up, so as to mislead us and make us believe that Zhang Shuhai is just a money-grubbing person who wants to earn more food stamps."

I was a little anxious: "Then what happened later? How did everything happen later? I remember that when Chief Du found Mr. Wu—no, the body with the severed head, there were only four people at the scene. Zhang Shuhai, Li Guangming and others arrived after hearing the news. The door of Mr. Wu's room was obviously sealed from the inside, so how did Mr. Wu get out and how was the body replaced? Zhang Shuhai and Li Guangming cooperated with him and Secretary Li to complete these while we were sleeping, how could it be so silent?" Du Shaoqian waved his hand and said, "How could Mr. Wu be so stupid? In fact, he never walked out of the room from the beginning to the end! Even Li Tong never stepped out of the room!" "What? Mr. Wu didn't walk out of the room?" I was a little confused, "How...how is this possible? Chief Du, I can see clearly that there is indeed only a headless corpse in that room. Could it be that Mr. Wu Can you do invisibility?" "This is the most puzzling part of the paper man's head-cutting conspiracy!" Du Shaoqian said seriously, "Now, let me reveal its secrets bit by bit: first, let's talk about the room, According to the plan made in advance, Zhang Shuhai prepared three rooms on the stilted building, but now you and Lao Cui are added, so what should we do?——No matter what we do, we will never allow the other two rooms to appear, even if it is One, this is a rigid rule in Mr. Wu's plan, otherwise all the preparations will be meaningless. At this time, Li Guangming appeared on the stage, and he cleverly used the house as an excuse to solve the problem without any effort, so In the next room allocation, according to the usual practice, I can only live with you and Lao Cui. Next, I asked Li Guangming two questions-about why this stilted building is different from other buildings and why it is not installed Electric lamp, Li Guangming answered my questions fluently and cleverly avoided my doubts. However, these are not enough. What needs to be solved in this meticulous plan is how to prevent the three of us from setting Walk out of the room within a short time. This is because this is also a more important part of the paper figurine's beheading, and Li Guangming also resolved it under the silent arrangement. The road is slippery in rainy days, and it’s inconvenient to relieve your hands, so you got a urinal and put it behind the door—you and Old Cui, who don’t know it, will of course appreciate Li Guangming’s thoughtfulness, do you think about other things?” I suddenly felt very suffocated: even this seemingly ordinary little detail was arranged by Mr. Wu in advance. Du Shaoqian suddenly turned to Mr. Wu, sighed and said: "When these inconspicuous but important details have been handled perfectly, the trick of cutting the head of the paper figurine has finally begun to be performed! And, I think, Mr. Wu, you During that time, I must have secretly rejoiced that everything that happened that day was far more perfect than you imagined, if it wasn’t for the sudden appearance of Xigui, the razor-end of the fangs, you could almost have fooled me!” Mr. Wu sneered: "Mr. Du, what I want to ask is, what made you start to doubt the authenticity of this matter?" Du Shaoqian blurted out: "Luminous wood! A bisque jar filled with luminous wood! Your plan is unimaginable, and with God's help, if it wasn't for the bisque jar, I think I would really be deceived by your imaginative arrangement." I listened to these half-understood words between the two of them, and wished I knew the answer immediately, so I quickly interrupted and said, "Mr. Du, why am I getting more and more confused the more I listen to it! Can you speak more clearly?" Du Shaoqian is methodical: "If you want to complete the trick of cutting the head of the paper man, some prerequisites are indispensable. Apart from what I have mentioned above, it must be implemented in a specific scene, at a specific time, and with specific talents; if Without any of them, it would be absolutely impossible to complete. Let’s talk about this specific scene, which is actually the stilted building... In fact, it is not an ordinary building that can be seen everywhere in the south. The stilted building—Of course, the people who built this stilted building are not ordinary people. Qiu Ming, do you still remember that I mentioned in the narration just now that Duan Wangling worked for the Construction Department of the Qing Dynasty House of Internal Affairs? ?In fact, Duan Xigui’s talent in the study of construction far exceeds that of his father, and you should also remember another detail: Duan Xigui went overseas to study in order to improve himself. In fact, during the entire process of our investigation of the case, Duan Xigui has unknowingly exposed what he has learned through repeated reminders to us. We can find the answer to these in the following examples: The spring object enough to cross the brick wall of "dog gnawing teeth"; the booby-trapped mine that was hidden in the fragrant clump of Anchun, which was almost fake; The bullets on his guns—they clearly revealed Duan Xigui’s application of knowledge, which is: mechanical manufacturing! And only with such professional knowledge, coupled with his familiarity with the science of construction, finally let him Such a magnificent stilted building has been built!" "However, this building on stilts doesn't look special!" I argued, "Besides, why did Duan Xigui build it?" "No! This building on stilts is too special!" Du Shaoqian's tone was full of irresistibility, "The reason why I suspected that it was extraordinary began after I had breakfast that morning. It was only discovered during the field survey of the layout of the house—I still remember that you followed me that day, and I checked the horse-holding post, the waist flower decoration on the fence, the eaves pillars and dripping tiles, and the sleepers and houses under the gate of the house. I found that most of the kylin ridges on the roof were dilapidated under the erosion of the years, and I could tell at a glance that these things were built in the same period; but that was not the case for the stilted building. The construction time was much later than the construction time of the whole mansion. In addition, according to Duan Xigui's almost nitpicking rigorousness in construction, the appearance of the stilted building did not conform to the pattern of this mansion at all, but it did It really stands in the middle—then, why does such a person who strives for perfection pile up in such a random way? From this, I judged that there must be something strange about the reason why the stilted building was built here. However, at that time, I did not I didn’t delve deeper, or I was too conscientious, so I missed the opportunity to solve the case that was close at hand... Then, until I read the stack of birch bark leaves that Duan Xigui left me, the description on it was not clear. It suddenly dawned on me: how necessary the existence of Diaojiaolou is!" "What is the reason..." Company Commander Chen immediately asked, "What is the reason why Duan Xigui did not hesitate to violate the layout of the mansion, and insisted on building that stilted building that is often seen only in the south?" "The poison of snake blood!" Du Shaoqian said with a gloomy expression, "I mentioned in the previous narration that after Duan Xigui passed middle age, the snake venom left in his body by his father Duan Wangling suddenly broke out, which made Because he couldn't face the horror ahead of him, he was forced to stay in Kuiling, and then began to search for the secret recipe to cure the poison of snake blood. Ju let him discover that the exposure of sunlight can actually reduce the damage to the cheeks caused by the poison of snake blood in the body, so this amazing building on stilts emerged from the bottom of his heart. However, Duan Xi at that time Gui would never have imagined that this masterpiece, devoted to his lifelong learning, would become Mr. Wu's secret weapon of revenge a few years later!" "Mr. Du, I still don't quite understand. What is the necessary connection between building stilted buildings and curing snake venom?" I couldn't guess the hidden mystery, and muttered, "Isn't it enough to bask in the sun all day long?" "Yes! Qiu Ming, you're right! You want to bask in the sun all day long!" Du Shaoqian echoed me, with a strange tone, "That's the real purpose of Duan Xigui's construction of stilted buildings! But, we all know that he What kind of person is he? How could his intelligence limit him to the rattan chair under the elm tree that needs to be moved frequently? However, the stilted building can completely offset this cumbersomeness. As long as he is in it, the sun will flood him all day long cheeks—this is the ultimate mystery of Diaojiaolou, it is a revolving building! It is a strange building that can rotate with the sun!!" "This... is this possible? It's simply, it's so bizarre!" Although I firmly believed in Du Shaoqian's well-established conclusion, I still subconsciously exclaimed in my mouth. Du Shaoqian was full of determination: "It's not Duan Xigui's wild speculation, it's because he knows how to understand it well. In addition to the fact that we can conduct on-the-spot investigations to confirm later, another example can also prove my inference: Back then, I The reason why he engaged in criminal investigation was actually completely influenced by a foreigner. This foreigner was nicknamed 'Sun Nizi'. More than ten years ago, he was well-known in the entire Liaodong area. People around the corner, no one knows that he has a pair of unimaginable hands——no matter how old the human skull is, as long as it passes through his hands, it will definitely draw you a restored portrait within two hours. No deviation! It was in the valley where he lived in seclusion that I once witnessed a device called a 'watchtower cart'..." I couldn't help but ask: "What is a watchtower car? Why did that Sun Nizi make this thing?" Du Shaoqian pondered: "According to what Sun Nizi told me at the time, watchtower carts first appeared in the Song Dynasty. Its main function is to report the enemy's situation to comrades-in-arms with agreed flags in military operations. This kind of cart is based on a vertical tree. It is a pole, and the wooden hut is placed on the top. The bottom of the pole is equipped with a rotating shaft, which can make the wooden hut at the upper end rotate with the rotating shaft. Moreover, the vertical pole is also equipped with pedals for people to go up and down... Therefore, the existence of this stilted building , it seems to be an extension of the watchtower car, but Duan Xigui changed its purpose. As for what Sun Nizi used the watchtower car for, I also asked him, and he pretended to be mysterious and said that he was using it to observe A mutated stillborn Yunyun lying in a bird's nest, I had the right to laugh it off when he was fooling me, but after a while Sun Nizi disappeared, no one knew where he went, only heard that someone had traveled south On the train, I saw a person who was very similar to Sun Nizi, and that person was holding a bright red baby in his arms..."