A middle-aged man in a Chinese tunic suit told a story while smoking strong Turkish smoke in a club.The beginning of this story is a little scary.The author picks up the curtain of this story with the tip of a pen and introduces it to readers. It was a cold night in early December, and it was past twelve o'clock. In a spacious bedroom, luxurious furniture is arranged.The warm water, the faint light, and the scent of lily flower perfume around it make people feel a kind of mid-spring comfort when they are in it.At this time, in this warm room, there were four people talking happily. Two of the four are the master and housewife here.The owner, Li Ruilin, is about 30 years old, and his actions and conversations show the demeanor of a young bourgeois.The housewife, Peihua, is only twenty-four or five years old. Although her clothes are very fashionable, her attitude still reveals a kind of old-fashioned restraint. It is obvious that she is a woman who grew up in the countryside and has not breathed the air of the city for a long time.

The third person was a slender young man with a fairly regular face, but his face was very pale without a trace of blood.A pair of nervous eyes, often revealing a pensive look, speaking quietly, like a woman.Looking at his slender fingers, you can see that he is an intelligent figure. In addition, there is a young waitress with a fit figure.The rosy lips do not need the application of rouge, and they are naturally bright.A pair of eyes, more attractive, she is the only confidant of the housewife here, her name is Fengxia. The owner, Li Ruilin, and the lanky neurotic Zhu Long—they are close friends formed by the dual relationship of fellow countrymen and neighbors.This Mr. Zhu, because he lives close by, has become a guest here almost every night, as close as a family member.

An hour ago, Li Ruilin and his wife, together with Zhu Long, watched a movie at the Grand Shanghai Theater.Today's film, originally called Mummy's Hand, literally translated, should be "zombie hand", or actually translated as "ghost hand".But in that movie theater, it was given an ancient name, called "Returning Soul Fragrance". Looking at the original title of this film, it goes without saying that it is of course a horror film.This film tells the story of a zombie in an Egyptian pyramid, which, by means of a mysterious ability, has maintained its terrible life for more than two thousand years.This old ugly monster is probably due to the loneliness he endured for too long, and because there is no mirror in the tomb passage to reflect his face. Therefore, once he sees the opposite sex, he also enthusiastically pursues it.In short, the story of this film is roughly similar to that of another "Mummy" starring Karloff.Meaning, of course we can't talk about it, but the whole film's scenery, sound, camera angles and the dead makeup, etc., can indeed give people a rather exciting feeling.

Li Ruilin and his wife have always been very timid, especially Peihua, who is even more afraid of ghosts.It's just that human beings have a nature of needing stimulation. The more they are afraid of ghosts, the more they seek terrifying stimulation.Therefore, they returned home and were still talking about the story in the film vigorously. Pei Hua, who grew up in the countryside, had a simple mind.After watching this horror movie, she was both satisfied and terrified. She turned to her husband and Zhu Long and said strangely, "Hey! How come there are zombies in foreign places?"

Because of the raising of this question, the topic of this group's symposium focused on zombies and ghosts.The nervous Zhu Long didn't seem interested in this question.However, for the sake of entertainment, he also narrated a few stories about "ghosts" that night, and even the maid, Feng Xia, excitedly said some bizarre nonsense. She said: "In her hometown—Suzhou—there was a well-known evil litigator who usually used knives and pens to harm people. Once, he set up a poisonous plan and killed an innocent person. , but he made a lot of money himself. Three years passed without incident. Unexpectedly, one night three years later, he finished listening to a book in a small teahouse and went back on a desolate road. Behind him, there was always a person following him closely. Taking advantage of the hazy moonlight, he turned his head to take a look: Ah! That person is none other than the ghost he killed three years ago! Very polite, under the moonlight, with his white teeth showing, he was smiling gently at him, just like a long-lost friend. The soul of this evil litigator turned into thousands of strands of air-conditioning, and all of them came out of his pores! He dragged With a trembling body, he went straight to the house in desperation! He could only feel the footsteps behind him, quietly, never leaving, and sent him home. After returning home, the evil litigator could no longer say a word. He died of a sudden illness. After his death, his family found a black and green handprint on his chest, and the fingers of his palm were very clear. It is obvious that this cruel evil lawyer has been struck by lightning from that ghost hand!"

When the little girl was talking, the corners of her eyes revealed a kind of profound terror.However, she was very articulate, and she spoke this ghost story so vividly that she completely controlled the emotions of the listeners.Finally, she pointed out that what she said was a fact that she had seen and heard, because the house of the evil lawyer was not far from where they lived. It was late, and when the last ghost story was finished, the clock had already struck twice calmly.As soon as the conversation stopped, there was a deadly silence all around. The location here is at the end of Jing'an Temple Road, which is the quietest residential area in the area.The village here has a veritable word called "Quiet Village".There are fifteen small houses of the same style in the whole village.Tonight's guest, Zhu Long, lives in No. 4 in the same village, while Li Ruilin lives in No. 13. The distance between the two sides is only eight houses.

After the group discussion ended, Zhu Long hastily bid farewell and went back.The maid, Feng Xia, tidied up and returned to her bedroom at the back of the third floor. Li Ruilin fell asleep first.Housewife Peihua quietly removes her makeup.She could hear the northwest wind outside the window, gradually getting closer. Looking outside the window, there was already light snow.This night, this timid woman, she watched the horrific film and heard the story of the horrific ghost hand. She looked around the bedroom and felt that it was empty, and it seemed a little different than usual.Recently, she and her husband used to share the same bed but did not share the same bed, because she was suffering from a cough recently, and the doctor said it was early stage pneumonia. In order to avoid infection, they slept on both ends.But before going to bed that night, she asked her husband to change directions, because if she couldn't fall asleep in the middle of the night, she could easily turn on the lamp on the dressing table.

She fell asleep.Strange, a feeling of uneasiness hit her whole body.That scary video and that scary conversation seemed to have been turned into liquid and injected into her veins, making every drop of blood in her body mixed with horror ingredients, tossing and turning, she just couldn't sleep well, so she could be more clear Said: She just can't sleep. In just half an hour, she turned on and off the desk lamp four or five times, and at the same time she stretched out her hand and gently pushed her husband to wake him up several times.Finally, she became annoyed, and she didn't dare to call anymore.

She couldn't sleep, it was annoying, she had no choice but to get up quietly, and secretly took two pills of her husband's tranquilizing medicine, the medicine was quite strong, and within half an hour, she felt her eyelids gradually felt as if they were pressed with lead. It seemed heavy, and she remembered that when she turned off the lamp for the last time, her arms were a little limp and she couldn't lift it up. As the old saying goes: "Suspiciousness breeds dark ghosts."Some psychologists also say that besides the five senses, human beings have a sixth mysterious sense, which can predict the occurrence of unexpected events.

Is the terror that Peihua felt before going to sleep tonight, a suspicion of a dark ghost, or a mysterious premonition of the latter? I don't know how long she fell asleep, it was about an hour or maybe two hours. In the dark, something woke her up.It was a hand gently stroking her neck.Her sleep was blurred, and she forgot that she and her husband would not sleep together.The subconscious first felt that she thought it was her husband touching her.She wanted to reach out and grab this hand, but her whole body was so weak that she couldn't even move a single hair. At this moment; a terrible thing is coming!During this time, it was only - twenty seconds later, she suddenly felt something touching her neck again.It was still a hand, and it was a cold hand, colder than ice. "Ah! Ghost hands!" A kind of strong terror attacked her whole brain like electricity!

She was terrified, but at the same time she was fully awake. She clearly felt that the fingers of that hand were so cold and stiff, and there were sharp claws attached to the fingertips.Horrible memories were immediately linked together. The face of the zombie in the pyramid dangled in front of her eyes, and the terrifying ghost hand that had killed the evil litigator seemed to be close to her chest. She was sweating coldly and wanted to cry out. , just couldn't make a sound. Is this a nightmare?Or is it a real thing?She could clearly hear her husband snoring loudly behind her feet; sometimes, she could also hear the ticking of the little table clock ringing in her ears, so that she didn't know how much time had passed, and she felt every day A minute spent is longer than a year.In the end, she passed out. An extremely terrifying night was spent like this.But in this bedroom, it was still as quiet as ever, without any change. The next day, when Li Ruilin woke up, he noticed that his wife's expression was different, her face was red like fire, she was talking nonsense, and when he touched her forehead, it became extremely hot.He woke her up in surprise, and heard her tell the story of the previous night intermittently in panic. An hour later, the doctor came.After inquiring about the cause, the doctor declared that it was caused by excessive terror. The disease needs rest and should not be stimulated again, and said: "A timid person like her should not watch horror movies or watch horror movies anymore. Listen to some stories about ghosts." At the time of diagnosis, another miracle happened.The doctor noticed that besides the smell of perfume essence, there was a strong smell on the patient's bed.He found a piece of cotton wool next to the patient's pillow, and the pungent smell came from this cotton wool. "Ah, Crofum!" exclaimed the doctor in amazement. But the doctor was not a detective. He prescribed a prescription and left in a hurry. At this time, Zhu Long, the guest who did not need an invitation, of course had already arrived.He and Li Ruilin were perplexed to study the bizarre incident overnight. They thought over and over again, but couldn't find a proper conclusion. "You are a smart person, please guess this charade." The master said to Zhu Long. "Ha, I really need to ask Sherlock Holmes for such a strange thing." Zhu Long replied mockingly. "It's a pity that there is no Sherlock Holmes in China." "Although there is no Sherlock Holmes in China, there is a great Hawthorne." After such questions and answers, the wise friend seemed to have aroused a curiosity, and he urged the master to deliver this bizarre calculation problem to the great detective Hawthorne. The son-in-law Li Ruilin has nothing to do.So, Zhu Long found out the phone number, and jokingly shook out a phone.From Zhu Long's point of view, he thought that the great detective was very busy with his affairs and never had time to care about such trivial matters.But, unexpectedly, the microphone said hurriedly and briefly: "Come after a while." The dispenser came back, and Fengxia waited for the patient to take it.The master and Zhu Long nervously waited for the progress of this matter, and the servants were talking downstairs. The turmoil in Jingcun No. 13 is an opportunity for the author. Taking advantage of this gap, I should briefly introduce the owner's life experience. For the horror drama overnight, we can say: the reason for it is still pre-volted decades ago.Therefore, if we want to discover the roots of this story, we should start with Li Ruilin's previous narration. Here, readers are invited to pay attention to the following narrative: Li Ruilin's great-grandfather, a native of Chongming, Jiangsu Province, with the official name Dan Jia, once worked as a customs officer in Jiangsu Province and a military officer in the same province. He was the farthest-sighted and most ambitious of many officials in the late Qing Dynasty.He supervised the construction of the fortress fortress at Wusongkou.He invented glutinous rice and compound clay to build the base of the fort. So far, the most powerful explosives have been used, but it still cannot be completely blown up.In his later years, he traveled to Britain, France and Germany, and he stayed in Germany the longest.Because he and Li Hongzhang were close friends, after returning to China, he made some great suggestions to Li Shi, but Li Shi didn't accept them, so he retired from his old age and returned to his hometown, focusing on teaching his grandchildren. This Li Danjia has a fat and short figure and a jet-black face, which is so black that it shines.His neck was very short, as if he had no head and neck at first glance, and his countryman's eyes were small, because he was the only high official born on this island, and there were all kinds of strange legends about him at that time. First, they said that Li Danjia was the black tiger star descending from the sky. Someone saw him taking a nap when a black tiger appeared in his study.This legend is quite humorous. Second, when Li Danjia came back from Germany, all the people on Chongming Island believed that the diamonds hidden in Li's family could be measured with a meter.Regarding the latter legend, not only the villagers believed it, but even the Li family members also believed it.For many years, descendants have always kept a deep longing for the brilliance of diamonds.However, until now, the descendants of the Li family have not found a single drill chip that can scratch glass in their ancestors' bereaved baskets. When Li Danjia died, he was already sixty-one years old, which was the year when the Sino-Japanese War was defeated.When the sad news of the failure reached the small island at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the poor old man screamed and fell into a fatal emergency.The family members gathered around his couch and asked him if he had any last words, but he could no longer speak.He only pointed his feeble fingers at his own nose.Pointing to his own ear again, he struggled to make out the word "deaf" from the tip of his numb tongue, and repeated this several times.Finally, he muttered the word "Datong" again, Datong was the name of his grandson, that is, Li Ruilin's father. At that time, the family members thought that he was deaf and could not hear everyone's questioning, but seeing his expression was very anxious, it was obvious that there must be something very important that had not been said yet.Helpless, they had no choice but to squeeze a pair of pens and paper into his weak hands. As a result, he still only wrote the word "deaf".Because of his trembling fingers, he wrote the single character like a talisman, and the two characters "Long Er" were so high that it was impossible to know what the character was unless they were carefully identified. Finally, the poor old man let out a long sigh and threw a pen to die. At the end of his life, his face seemed to have a kind of regret, which indicated that there was still a serious secret hidden in his chest, but it was sealed by the god of death. Unable to disclose. This secret has been buried under the earth with the dead for a long time.Until Hawthorne, our smartest detective, arrives, the truth will be revealed to the world. Another hour later, the great detective's toes touched the stone steps of No. 13 in Jingcun.On this day, he went out alone and did not carry the necessary "bag". Stepping into the bedroom on the second floor, many lines of sight were cast on him at the same time. They all felt that this nationally famous detective, except for a pair of eyes, had nothing unusual in appearance: his suit coat was too old Also, the leather shoes are not very shiny.On his forehead, there is clearly a relief engraved by Mr. Time; some white stars have appeared on his temples, which is obviously the result of excessive consumption of brain cells. The investigation began, and the owner first reported the strange events of the previous night.Hawthorne asked so many and complicated questions that he almost even asked about the deeds of the ancestors of the Li family in detail.He seemed very interested in hearing what happened to his master's great-grandfather on his deathbed. Then, he inquired about the number of people in the house and their living conditions.He murmured to himself: "Maid, mother, three floors, coachman, cook, downstairs. What a comfortable little family!" The detective's cigarette was lit up and extinguished from time to time, and the cigarette stuck to his lips and hung down.He wasn't smoking, he was actually burning.Sometimes he breathed out a line or two of the old "Piccadelli" in a low voice. A special-made brain, started the clockwork. He silently meditated on what his master had said.He thought: "There is no doubt that a man broke into this bedroom last night and tried to suffocate the occupant of this bed with Cropham, but somehow this was not done. The man who broke into the room Man, what is the purpose? Stealing? Killing? Stealing. There are many precious ornaments on the dressing table, and there are many of them, so it must not be. Killing, joke! Of course he doesn't want to suffocate people with Crowum before he kills them. So, what is the intention of this person?" He thought again, according to what the housewife Peihua said: she was completely awakened by the cold hand the second time.Here, one thing can be known, that is, the first hand will be no different from ordinary people, so she is not panicked.It can be further known that there were obviously not one but two people who entered this bedroom last night. Why is the second person's hand so cold?If you are a person inside, and the water is turned on in the room, this phenomenon should not occur.He thought: It can only be like this under two circumstances. The first one is that he just came in from the outside because it snowed overnight and it was very cold.The second type is people who are suffering from neurasthenia and anemia. On cold days, their hands and feet will never be warm. With regard to the above assumptions, a conclusion was reached: there were two distinguished guests in the bedroom overnight, one from the inside and the other from the outside.To be clear: the first hand is an indoor person, and the second hand, which is as cold as a ghost, is an outsider; moreover, this outsider may be a patient with anemia. what!What is the purpose of cooperating with the inside and the outside, taking such a big deal?It is better to find out the conspiracy in this darkness. Thinking of this, Hawthorne raised his eyes and walked around the room.His sharp gaze lingered for a few seconds on the two faces, one red and one white. It took a lot of time, the big detective was smoking, pacing with his hands behind his back, humming a song in a low voice, and he hadn't expressed his opinion yet, the master was a little impatient. "Ask Mr. Huo, what happened last night, was it a human? Was it a ghost?" The owner Li Ruilin broke the silence with this boring and naive question. "Ha! It's so bizarre, it looks like a trick." Hawthorne said in a sarcasm. "If it's really a ghost, it will never find me." The master said suddenly. "Why?" Hawthorne raised his eyes. "I have an ancestral treasure hanging around my head and neck." When Li Ruilin replied, there was a dry coughing voice beside him, erh, it was the pale Zhu Long. "Ah! Treasure! In the head and neck—" Hawthorne's eyes flashed a kind of light, which shot at the master's face. A new opinion pierced the big detective's head.I heard that the master and the housewife switched sleeping directions overnight, and the hands in the dark touched the housewife's neck twice. Could it be that the two strange hands were trying to explore the neck of the master Li Ruilin? son, and mistakenly touched the housewife? A gleam of light flickered in the mind of the great detective. "Excuse me, what kind of treasure is that?" This was the first time the detective made an excited voice after entering the door. "It looks like a very ordinary and worthless thing, but I have never encountered evil spirits since I was a child." The master's tone seemed very solemn. "Can I ask for your advice?" This question clearly contained a kind of enthusiastic expectation. "What's wrong? It's just a small dragon made of foreign gold. The handwork is very rough, but this thing can ward off evil spirits." "Dragon!" The word touched a certain part of Hawthorne's brain. On the other hand, Li Ruilin was already unbuttoning his clothes, and took out an extremely thin gold chain from his neck. This gold chain was not much thicker than a double-strand cotton thread. The net bag is only two inches long and half an inch wide.The mysterious little golden dragon must be hidden in the bag.The master showed an excessive solemnity in removing the net bag. He grasped one end of the gold chain with two fingers, just like an urchin tying a beetle with cotton thread, but he was afraid that the beetle would slip from the thread. One end of his body jumped up and bit him. Hawthorne was about to reach out to accept the small net bag, but the master's hand shrank back slightly, showing a little hesitation.Zhu Long interrupted and said: "Mr. Huo, you have a lot of face. As far as I know, Brother Ruilin has never let anyone's hand touch his little treasure for many years. You are the first person. .” "It's a great honor! So, I have to wash my hands." Hawthorne sneered coldly. With two fingers, he took the end of the gold chain from the master, and he imitated the master in a pretentious manner. That funny pose."The bathroom?" he asked. The master seemed to agree with Hawthorne's advice to wash his hands, and he instructed him.Hawthorne turned immediately to the back of the bedroom. After a while, he came out of the bathroom and shouted happily: "Report to Mr. Li, not only have I washed my hands, I also stole a little of your perfume and sprinkled it on my hands. It's like a fragrant soup to wash my hands." " He said playfully, the corners of his eyes clearly contained tension.He released the mysterious little treasure from the silk bag.This is a small flat dragon made of eighteen-carat gold, less than two inches long, with a slightly curved body and a five-pronged tail. There are four small teeth near the tail, arranged on both sides. Bar?The production of this thing is really simple, but it is full of a simple and simple pattern beauty. Hawthorne played with it repeatedly for a long time, thinking silently: "This weird little thing is so solemnly passed down from ancestors to descendants. Besides the so-called ridiculous evil, it doesn't have other uses, right?" Li Danjia's past history—what he heard immediately—quickly stirred up waves in Hawthorne's mind. He thought: Could it be this little thing that the old man who said the word "dragon" repeatedly on his deathbed was misunderstood by everyone at that time as the word "deaf"?It's very possible.You see, this strange little object is obviously a foreign product, and it was brought back to the country by the old man himself.If this thing does not have a kind of importance, why is it so solemnly passed on to his descendants?However, when the old man was dying, when he uttered the word "dragon", he clearly pointed to his ear; moreover, what he wrote was also a word "deaf", but the structure of the word "deaf", "dragon" The word "ear" is far away. Could it be that his original intention was to write the characters "long" and "er"? If the above speculation is correct, then what is the explanation for the redundant word "ear"?This is an important key, and its interpretation should be found out. Next, look at this little golden dragon.The shape is very much like a key. With a key, there must be a locked door with this key.Where is the locked door?What kind of secrets are there inside the locked door?Could it be that the diamond, which has never been found for decades, is hidden in this secret?The focus of this riddle may be on the word "ear". In any case, there is one thing that can be believed, that is, the person in the darkness overnight must have broken the mystery first.You see, he mistakenly thought that his master Li Ruilin was still sleeping where he was, so that hand in the dark was only groping around the housewife's neck, with the purpose of stealing the little golden dragon. This may be a certain fact. After the above speculation, there seems to be a ray of dawn flickering in the darkness. Finally, Hawthorne returned the mysterious little treasure to the original owner.On the one hand, he resolutely suggested: "Okay! I want to check every room here." The master promised to accompany him personally, and Hawthorne asked the rest of the people to stay where they were and not to disturb them, so as not to be distracted. All the rooms on the first, second and second floors were inspected, and as a result, there seemed to be nothing that could attract the great detective's attention.At the same time, the master looked at the great detective with bewildered eyes, not knowing what was the purpose of his miraculous actions? Finally, it was found that the third floor was coming up.There is a large room at the front here, which is arranged like a sitting room, with dark curtains hanging in the room, and the light is very dim.In addition to chairs, tables and furniture, there are many ancient Chinese porcelains and foreign works of art displayed here.There is a large floor-to-ceiling mirror frame, which contains a large oil painting nearly ten feet high, which is a full-body portrait of Li Danjia sitting sideways. This is the work of a German painter.In addition, in a small glass cover with red sandalwood, there is a bright red crown, which is the crystallization of Li's life's meritorious deeds.The most eye-catching thing in the room is that on a long red sandalwood table next to the wall, there is something like a shrine.The size of this thing is quite tall. In front of the niche, in an ancient steel furnace, there is a embers of incense.Because the shrine is hung with yellow silk curtains, it is impossible to tell what is enshrined inside. Hawthorne took a step forward, trying to reach out to lift the silk curtain, but a voice stopped him. "Ah! Please don't touch it!" The master shouted anxiously behind Hawthorne. "Why?" Hawthorne turned his head suddenly, and asked this silent question in his puzzled eyes. The master explained it apologetically, but the explanation was so mysterious. He said: "In this shrine, there are two bronze statues of the great-grandfather Li Danjia, one large and one small. , has already possessed a very miraculous.—Probably because the stars of his great-grandfather are too large, so no matter who touches this image with his hands, he will inevitably encounter unfavorable things. There was once a person who, because he did not believe in This kind of miracle ended up breaking a leg soon. There is not only one fact like this.” Hawthorne couldn't help being awed when he heard this! The surrounding air and light are so quiet and dark, which makes the mysterious atmosphere in the room appear very strong, making people feel a strange feeling when they are in it. Even a capable person like Hawthorne cannot exception.Suddenly, his body swayed, he took backward steps, and fell heavily on a sofa, his eyes revealed a terrifying mutation. "Mr. Huo! What's the matter?" the host asked in surprise. "I feel dizzy, can you find some peppermint ingots for me? I'm so sorry!" Hawthorne stretched out his hand to press his forehead, his voice trembling. "Ha! You must not believe my words, right?" said the words in the master's stomach. There was a sudden sound of footsteps, and they went downstairs. Here, Hawthorne jumped up from the sofa more hastily than his master. He jumped to the shrine and lifted the silk curtain.When I looked at it, there were two bronze statues in the niche. The larger one had a crown and flower feathers on its head, and court beads on its chest. It was a bust, about 30 inches high, with a lively face, Naturally showing dignity.Obviously, the words "carved by famous hands" are not false. But at this hasty moment, Hawthorne had absolutely no intention of appreciating the beauty of the bronze statue's lines. He only hurriedly peeped at the ears of the larger bronze statue with the most agile movements, feeling a sense of unexpected surprise. Under the emotional state, he found that the elephant's ears moved a little - this is the result of using both hands and eyes, and it may not be seen with the eyes alone. After this surprising discovery, two imaginary pictures immediately formed in Hawthorne's mind: he seemed to have been in decades ago, seeing the dying old man moaning and panting on the sickbed, and he seemed to see the The old man raised his trembling and feeble fingers, pointed to his nose, then pointed to his ears, and tried hard to come up with the following sentences: "Children and grandchildren, use a specially made little gold 'dragon' to insert into the 'ear' of one of my 'big bronze statues'. Then, you will be able to discover a great secret that I have hidden! Be sure to ask for it! To ask to ask!" The will that Li Danjia wanted to express at the end of his life was probably nothing more than this—at least it was similar—but, poor!Under the control of death, the tip of his tongue became numb, and his gestures were performed indistinctly. As a result, the word "dragon" he struggled to utter was mistaken for deafness because he pointed at his ears at the same time; The three words "Big Bronze Statue" were also misunderstood as calling the name of his grandson, Datong, because of the weak tone of the soft tone. In this way, the secret hidden in the old man's chest was buried under the ground for decades. The dark curtain was gradually lifted.However, what kind of secret is the secret buried in this big bronze statue? This further exploration was stopped by the sound of footsteps on the stairs.The owner, Li Ruilin, hurried back to the third floor, handed a mint ingot and a pack of dragon and tiger pills to Huo Sang, and asked him with concern. The great detective swallowed a few unwanted human pills.He said regretfully, "That's all right, thank you! It was an overuse of the brain. It's much better now." At the same time, he declared to his master that he had found a clue to the strange things that happened here last night.However, there are one or two points that have yet to be proved.Three days later, he will come and hand over the answers one by one! A kind of curiosity drove Li Ruilin, he wanted to ask about the general circumstances of this strange incident, but he had read many detective novels, and knew that all great detectives had such pretentiousness, so he held back. He sent the great detective off respectfully and went out leisurely.Back upstairs, his wife Pei Hua was moaning, and his good friend Zhu Long and the maid Feng Xia were showing anxiety. Hawthorne promised to come back three days later, in fact, he came early the next morning.The strange thing is——his visit was late at night, not during the day; moreover, he did not come grandly, but secretly. What is extraordinarily strange—the situation when the great detective comes again: At two o'clock in the middle of the night, Hawthorne coughed dryly on his back at the back door of No. 13, and the light in the small window at the back of the three-story building immediately shone in response to the cough.In less than two minutes, the back door of No. 13 opened slightly, and a ghostly figure poked its head in the crack, and Hawthorne followed the ghostly figure into the room next to him. House, move gently. The protruding phantom—the reader may have guessed in advance—is the maid Fengxia. The two shadows groped up the stairs like thieves in the pitch black, until they reached the third floor, and one of the shadows was trembling. When he reached the door of the front room on the third floor, the mysterious detective took out a bunch of lily keys and opened the door without any trouble. He let Feng Xia walk into the dark room, and he gently closed the door. Immediately, he opened the door again. He touched the light button familiarly and turned on the light.The curtains in the room are deep, and the light will not leak. The big detective was as leisurely as if he had returned to his own house. He picked the most comfortable sofa and sat down. First, he took out a cigarette, lit it, and calmed down.Moreover, as if entertaining relatives and friends, he waved to Feng Xia and said, "Please sit down." The waitress's trembling continued, her breathing was rapid, and her eyes shone with bewilderment. Hawthorne took a puff of the Turkish cigarette, and then said, "The situation tonight is somewhat similar to the situation when you brought that guy surnamed Zhu in the night before, right?" The waitress sank her head—as if she had acquiesced. "But the night before, you didn't come up to these three floors. That guy invited you to sneak into the master's bedroom with him, and was going to steal the little treasure from your master's neck. What did he promise to reward? Diamond, right? ?——One thing I don’t understand, why not use the Crofum you prepared? Are you timid?” The other party still didn't answer. "Haha! Your name is Feng, and his name is Long. This name is too good and too coincidental. Maybe, because of this, you two had a romance a long time ago. Do you understand this sentence?" Big Detective Just be playful. The maid's cheeks were reddened with red, and shame overcame fear. In fact, most of the detective's conclusions are based on hypocrisy, just like the tricks of the astrologer.However, judging by the other party's reaction, he was lucky that he guessed it right. Finally, Hawthorne looked at his watch and said in surprise: "Go to business!" Whistling in his mouth, he walked leisurely into the shrine, lifted the silk curtain, took out a flashlight from his arms, and shone the light on the left ear of the bronze statue. With a little force, he twisted the ear, and the ear stood upright. It became horizontal, and a strange-shaped hole was exposed at the part of the left helix. He reached into his arms and took out an envelope, and solemnly poured out a small thing from the envelope. It was a small dragon, the same as the one owned by Li Ruilin. Made of steel. Strange!Where did Hawthorne come from? remember?The day before, he brought Li Ruilin's little golden dragon into the bathroom. He put that thing in two pieces of soap and got an impression, which was the source of the second little dragon. At this time, Hawthorne carefully measured the ear hole of the bronze statue, carefully inserted the dragon tail into the small hole, and twisted it vigorously. Under a slight heartbeat, he had an enthusiastic expectation for the bronze statue.However, after a while, the bronze statue remained stern, without any reaction. He frowned, a little anxious, and thought for a while. 忽然他又跳起来，再狂扭着这铜像的右耳，他发觉这右耳轮下，同样地，也有一个孔，再经过一回察探，他又把这小铁龙的头部，插进这右孔，他焦灼而又热烈的期待着。 大约是因年代太久的缘故吧？或右或左，他拨弄了好些时，猛然间，一种像时钟发条的声响，“廓郎”的一响，只见这铜像的头，向后仰倒了下去，自铜像的颈部以下，顿时露出了一个大空穴，细看接笋之处，恰在衣领的部分。 what!好精密的机械与设计！ 这魔术般的表演，使站在一旁的女侍，忘了她所处的地位。她呆怔住了。 数十年的秘密之源，完全发露了。聪明的霍桑，从这铜像的空廓的腹部，找出了一册线装的书本。在这小小一册书中，他发掘出了一个含有历史性的大秘密。 这本书被卷成了一个卷子，用许多棉花，紧塞在这铜像的腹内。用意当然是怕后人搬动这铜像时，会发出里边的声音，即此一点，可见用心的周密。 这册小书共有五十五个页码，全书完全是蝇头小楷所录，单看这字迹，是那样的工整而苍劲，这是李丹葭氏的亲笔，上面钤有李氏的印章。但这书并不曾留下一个题目。 霍桑严肃地捧着这书，他走到一只接近灯光的椅子里，静静坐下来，翻阅这书的内容。他以最高的速度，阅读了一部分，他发觉这本书的所述：是一种精密完整而兼伟大的兴建海军计划！ 书中有一个特点，就是：他所拟具的计划，全部注重实际，不看半点空论。虽然，这计划在眼前已完全失去了它的时间性上的价值，但在当时，如能付诸实施，它所发生的伟大的效果，也许将为后人所无法能想象。 但是，可怜！这惊人的壮举，终于因着种种的关系而湮没了。 霍桑又感慨地翻阅下去。 这书的后半部分，指出了当时李鸿章所练海军的弱点，他并指陈出它的必败之道。关于这一部分，他的论断，语语鞭辟入里，无可驳诘。于此，可以窥见李丹葭氏眼光远大的一斑。但是他这计划，当时不为李中堂所采纳，这也许就是原因所在。 全书最后部分，附有李丹葭氏给付子孙的遗嘱。这遗嘱再三恳切叮嘱，李氏后人，如能获得适当的环境与机会，无论如何，应继承他的遗志，把这计划，设法贡献于朝廷，而监督其实现。如果后人中无人能遵行遗嘱嘱咐，那么，应该留心寻觅一种具有远见而能负担这重大使命的人，将这一个小册，郑重付托给他。 遗嘱最后部分，述及李氏在出使德国之际，因某种关系，蒙该国的铁血宰相俾斯麦克，送他一种丰厚的馈赠。——那是十二颗最精美的大钻石。遗嘱上并注明：后人如得了这钻石，不能当作私有的财产，他们应当等候国家能实施他的计划之时，捐献出来，作为兴建之一助。这钻石也藏在这铜像里。 霍桑看到这里，他暂时从书本中收回了视线，他想：在当时，这李氏所藏的钻石，也许在无意中，曾在人前露过眼；当时那钻石可以用作斗量的传说，其来源就在于此。 霍桑把全书与遗嘱的大略，匆匆浏览了一遍，时间已费去了不少。最后，他依照这书中遗嘱所指示的，从那铜像的另一部分——头颅里，不费事地找到了一个小锦盒。 灯光下，十二颗稀见的钻石，落到了他的手掌之中，发出活水一般的光华，潋滟着，潋滟着。 一旁那个瑟缩而又焦灼的女侍，偷眼一看，她的眼珠宕了出来。 最后，五分钟内，这神奇的侦探，做出了如下的动作： 他把这铜像的头，恢复了原状，并垂下了这神龛的绸帷。 他们向这个神龛一鞠躬，致敬着龛中人生前伟大的人格。 接着，他再一鞠躬，致谢这铜像的赏赐，于是，他温文而又客气地，把那贮着十二颗巨钻的小锦盒，放进了他的衣袋。 他回头向那惊悚着的女侍说：“多谢，辛苦你了，现在你去安睡吧。我的酬报，就是代你守着秘密。如果你肯相信我的话，我还要警告你。你那位幕后的情人并不是个好人。有机会，我预备把同样的话警告你的主人哩。” 当这女侍拖着迟疑与不安稳的步子被驱回她自己的卧室时，霍桑轻轻关上了门。他把那册小书，重又翻读了几页。他打着呵欠，似乎有点疲倦。他熄去了灯。把室中一张虎皮毡裹在身上，预备养一会儿神，但不久，他竟睡熟了。 直等天色透明，这位聪明朋友，方在他人的鼾声之中，悄悄溜了出去。 隔夜的事，室中不留痕迹，那女侍凤霞，她当然不会声张出来。这里，主人还在期待大侦探的凤临，大侦探当然是守信用的，在第三天后，他寄给了李瑞麟一封信，信上只有一个最简单的答实，他说： “那夜，在黑暗中伸出那只'鬼手'的，不是别人，正是你的好朋友朱龙。他的目的，是要窃取你的辟邪的小宝物。” 随函还附寄来一册小书，李瑞麟发觉这是他曾祖的着述，自己从来不曾见过。他不明白这书怎么会落到那位大侦探手里去？ 可遗憾的是，这位小布尔乔亚，始终不曾在跳舞打牌之余，抽出些功夫来，一读这书的内容，因此那铜像，钻石，以及那鬼手的最后的目的，他也始终一无所知。 于是，这故事的全部就完毕了。 俱乐部中那个穿中山装的中年人，演述到这里，有一个人跳起来说：“怎么！霍桑竟没把那十二颗钻石，还给它的当事人？” “我想，那是不必要的。”穿中山装的人，冷冷地回答。 “什么话？中国唯一大侦探霍桑，他的人格，会这样的卑鄙？” “且慢！我要代霍桑辩护。”中年人伸着手，“那不是真正的霍桑哩。” “不是真正的霍桑？是谁？” “一个职业的贼。” “职业的贼，他怎么会冒了霍桑的名，接受这件事？” “那是由于一个偶然的机会，那天，这一个职业的贼，趁着霍桑的事务所里没有人，他想去窃取一种文件，无意中，他接得了那事主的电话。” “这一个聪明的贼，他毕竟是谁呢？” “我！”中年人指指他自己的鼻尖。 “你是谁？你的名字？” “我是一个衰朽的落伍者，世人遗忘了我，我也遗忘了世人，我没有名字。”中年人搔着他的花白的头发，感叹地说。 许多条困惑的视线，纷纷投射到了同一的靶子上。 “你们一定要问，我也可以给你们看看我的商标。” 这神奇的中年人，指指他自己的耳轮。灯光下，有一颗鲜红如血的红痣，像火星般的爆进众人的眼帘。 “呀！你是——” "Yes, it's me!" 这演说家扬声大笑，在众人的惊奇纷扰声中沉失了。 俱乐部的灯光下，缭绕着氤氲的烟雾，浓烈的土耳其烟味，遗留在众人的鼻管里。