Chapter 2 Chapter 1 Midnight Horror

At the end of November 1993, in the Nanmingshan area on the outskirts of Longzhou City. It was almost dusk, the sky was overcast, and the wind was blowing, and it was tight like a burst. Luo Fei stood behind the window, looking at the rolling mountains outside, thinking in his heart: the first snow of this year will come soon. It would be nice if it snowed earlier.In a sense, this year's work can come to an end when the mountains are covered by heavy snow.Luo Fei felt a faint sense of relief and relief in his heart. His feeling didn't show on his face at all.In fact, when Luo Fei was thinking about something, it was difficult for others to guess his inner state from his expression.His facial skin is naturally loose, which makes him always look like a downcast, frowning look.Even if he was very happy, the expression of that smile on his face was only two obvious crescent grooves at the corners of his mouth.People who don't know Luo Fei will think that he is cold and difficult to approach, but in fact, Luo Fei is a typical Scorpio man who is cold on the outside and hot on the inside.When interacting with others, such a situation usually occurs: the other party is still struggling to figure out Luo Fei's attitude, but Luo Fei has completely regarded the other party as his friend.Of course, this person must first be recognized by Luo Fei in terms of character.

Luo Fei is very accurate in seeing people, this may be related to his zodiac sign.According to the astrology book, Scorpio people are meticulous in thinking, good at recognizing people and things, and good at reasoning and analysis.These words are extremely appropriate for Luo Fei, he has an innate desire and ability to solve puzzles. "Why?" This is a word that keeps appearing in his mind. He is always looking for answers to various questions. These questions are either insignificant or unexplainable to others, but Luo Fei never tires of it.Perhaps in many cases, he is not pursuing the result of the problem, but enjoying the process of exploration.

Luo Fei has dreamed of becoming a policeman since he was a child, solving all kinds of bizarre cases like Sherlock Holmes in the novel, what a wonderful and exciting life that would be!He has been working hard for this dream. Twelve years ago in the summer, after the college entrance examination, he entered the Provincial Police Academy. Luo Fei did not hesitate to choose the criminal investigation major, and his talent made him one of the best students in the police academy.When the four years of college life were coming to an end, Luo Fei seemed to have a very bright future, but at this moment, a sudden incident completely ruined his life.

It was a murder case that has not yet been solved. In this case, Luo Fei lost his lover and best friend, and at the same time, he was also implicated.As a talented student in the criminal investigation major of the Provincial Police Academy for decades, Luo Fei could only be assigned to the Nanmingshan Police Station in Longzhou City as a small police officer. The first few years were extremely depressing.Afterwards, time finally healed the pain in Luo Fei's heart slowly, and he regained his strength.In 1990, Luo Fei became the director of the Nanmingshan Police Station. He was in charge of a mountain area with a radius of 13 square kilometers, which was the largest among the 17 police stations in the city.But he doesn't like the job.

In Luo Fei's vast jurisdiction, there are 527 households and four temples, with a total permanent population of 2,512.For more than two years, neighborhood disputes and theft have been the most reported cases in the institute.Luo Fei sometimes walked on the mountain road for several hours, probably because the second uncle of the Zhang family beat the uncle of the Li family after drinking, or someone stole the fruit from the orchard of the Wang family. In spring and autumn, Luo Fei's work will appear slightly meaningful.Although Nanming Mountain is undeveloped, but in the right season, the beautiful scenery on the mountain can still attract many tourists.The more people there are, the more things will naturally happen.Fire prevention, anti-theft, and anti-stolen logging are all responsibilities of the police station.

Undoubtedly, this kind of work bored Luo Fei.He would rather be an investigator of a criminal police team at the grassroots level, busy running around, visiting, and investigating every day, contacting various people and things, observing them, analyzing them, and looking for the hidden truth.This is the life he dreamed and pursued at the beginning. Two years ago, Luo Fei wrote a report to his superiors, requesting to be transferred to the criminal police team of the Municipal Bureau.His request finally came to fruition not long ago, and the organization has already made a decision. When he finishes his work this year, he will arrange transfer matters.

Therefore, Luo Fei is looking forward to the snow now.He stood behind the window for a long time, looking at the gloomy sky, but the sky was getting darker and darker, but the snowflakes never fell down. "Luo Suo, didn't you go home? Why are you in a daze by yourself?" A voice came from the office door, followed by a soft bang, and the speaker turned on the fluorescent lights in the room, which immediately created a nighttime atmosphere. The speaker's voice was very familiar to Luo Fei, and when he turned around, it was indeed Zhou Ping's smiling face that appeared in front of him.

Luo Fei left the window, sat down at the desk, and explained by the way: "I'm on the night shift today." Zhou Ping sat across from Luo Fei carelessly: "I'm not going home tonight either." "why?" "Watch the football. There's the Champions League game at 11:30, Barcelona vs Milan." "Can't you watch it at home?" Luo Fei is not a fan himself. "Hey," Zhou Ping shook his head, "It's boring to go home and watch alone. I have Lao Zheng here with me, so I have to watch and chat while watching the game."

Luo Fei nodded in understanding.Lao Zheng is the master of the reception room in the office. He is in his fifties this year. He is single. He spends all day in the house with the 21-inch color TV as his companion. He is also a die-hard fan. Luo Fei looked at his watch: "It's not yet seven o'clock, have you been waiting here for more than four hours?" "I made an appointment with Lao Zheng a long time ago. I took this opportunity to drink two cups. The cooked food and a bottle of white wine are in Lao Zheng's house, so you can come with me. It will snow soon, so it's delicious to drink atmosphere."

"No, you can't drink while on duty." Luo Fei rejected Zhou Ping's proposal without even thinking about it. Zhou Ping scratched his head with some regret: "Hey, being on duty is just a formality. It's already this weather, who wants to run into the mountains?" After all, Zhou Ping knew that Luo Fei was a serious person, so he didn't wait for the other party's answer, so he immediately changed the subject: "Then Lao Zheng and I will go head-to-head. If you have anything to do, call me anytime." Luo Fei nodded and watched Zhou Ping leave. If he left this police station, Luo Fei would regret losing such a subordinate as Zhou Ping.Zhou Ping is a local, not very old, less than thirty years old, but he is already an old policeman with ten years of service experience.Due to his relatively low educational background, he has only had a criminal investigation chief in the office for so many years.However, he himself doesn't seem to care about this. He always maintains a full enthusiasm for work, and fully enjoys his own life when he is free.Luo Fei admired his character very much.Of course, what satisfied Luo Fei the most was Zhou Ping's ability to work.Not only is this guy quick thinking, but he also knows almost everything about people and things in the jurisdiction.This is not only due to Zhou Ping's local identity, but also related to his optimistic and cheerful personality.His round smiling face seems to be filled with a mysterious temperament, which makes him always easily blend with various characters.

Luo Fei began to sort out the work materials of this year.As the night darkened, the howling wind became more and more harsh, making Luo Fei have the urge to go to the reception room to have a drink several times.But he still held back. At the critical moment before the transfer, he didn't want to make any mistakes in his work. During this period, Zhou Ping, who was still drunk, ran over and dragged Luo Fei to play a few games of chess.In terms of chess strength, Luo Fei was slightly better, and soon he won a game.From the second game, Master Zhang sided with Zhou Ping intentionally or unintentionally, reminding him from time to time to support something.The onlookers knew that with this capable assistant, Zhou Ping stabilized his position, and the two killed each other inextricably for a while. Before I knew it, it was eleven o'clock in the night.Zhou Ping looked at his watch and stretched his waist: "It's over, I have to wash my face and get ready to watch the game. Are you going?" "I'm not interested in football. You see, I'm taking a nap on the sofa. If you have a situation, call me immediately." "Okay, you can rest assured to sleep. What's going on in this crappy place." Zhou Ping grinned nonchalantly, and while walking out, he muttered regretfully: "Such a wonderful game, why don't you watch it..." Although he felt that nothing would happen, it was working hours after all, Luo Fei couldn't relax completely.He took off his coat and covered his body, without even taking off his shoes, and lay down on the sofa carelessly.After a while, the sound of the stadium on the TV could be faintly heard from the reception room. He was quite energetic when he was playing chess just now, but now that he fell asleep, his tiredness soon spread all over his body. Luo Fei yawned a few times, and his consciousness gradually became blurred. After sleeping like this for an unknown amount of time, Luo Fei suddenly felt someone pushing him.He didn't sleep soundly at first, so he opened his eyes immediately, and saw Zhou Ping standing in front of the bed, saying to him with a serious expression, "Luo Suo, someone has reported the crime." Luo Fei's drowsiness disappeared without a trace. He sat up on the bed and asked, "Where is the person? What's going on?" "The reporter is in the reception room, and someone fell off the cliff." "Falling off a cliff?" This is a matter of life and death.Luo Fei simply made a "go" gesture to Zhou Ping, and hurried straight to the reception room. The reporter was a man in his forties, with a medium build and a thin physique.Although the night in late autumn was very cold, he was sweating profusely, as if he had just had a strenuous exercise.Seeing Luo Fei and Zhou Ping enter the room, he stood up excitedly, his eyes full of pleading for help. Luo Fei looked him up and down. "This is our specialty." Zhou Ping gave a brief introduction, and then went straight to the point, "Talk about the situation first." "My...my colleague...he...he..." The man's breath was uncertain, and his speech was not very sharp, and he always swallowed his saliva with difficulty. "Don't worry, sit down first." Luo Fei interrupted him, then looked at Zhou Ping, and pointed to the hot water bottle at the foot of the wall. Zhou Ping understood, poured a cup of hot water, and handed it to the man: "Drink some water." The man took the water glass, took a sip subconsciously, and then held it tightly with both hands, the water in the glass trembled slightly. "Have you brought your ID?" Zhou Ping asked beside him. "I brought it..." He took out a small notebook from his pocket and handed it over, "This is my... work permit." Luo Fei looked at the man and asked casually, "Are you a painter?" The man raised his head with a stunned expression: "You... how do you know? I haven't said it yet." Zhou Ping opened the man's work card, which stated the identity of the man: Zhang Bin, a professor at Longzhou Academy of Fine Arts.Zhou Ping turned his head and looked at Luo Fei with a little surprise. "Your right hand told me." Luo Fei calmly answered Zhang Bin's question. Zhang Bin stretched out his right hand and looked at it in bewilderment.Zhou Ping seemed to find something on the side, and smiled in relief. "Did you see it?" Luo Fei asked calmly. Zhou Ping nodded: "There are colored paint powders in the crevices of his nails, which should be stained by him when he was coloring not long ago. In addition, there are obvious scratches on the base of his index finger, just like people who write a lot will put it on the middle finger. Like bruises left at the first knuckle, bruises at the base of the index finger are often the result of prolonged hand-holding of paintbrushes." Zhang Bin observed his right hand according to Zhou Ping's words. His attention was temporarily attracted by this wonderful inference, and his nervousness seemed to ease a little. Luo Fei gave a "huh" to show his approval to Zhou Ping, and then he continued to ask Zhang Bin: "Who is the person who fell off the cliff?" "My colleague is called Chen Jian." "When and where?" Zhang Bin's breath has calmed down: "It's about eleven o'clock in the evening, and the location is in a temple on the mountain." "Which temple?" Zhou Ping interjected.There are four temples on Nanming Mountain, all of which may receive some pilgrims who ask for lodging. Zhang Bin clasped his hands together to rub the water glass, showing a troubled expression: "I don't know much about this. We went into the mountains to sketch. When it got dark, we decided to stay overnight in a temple not far away. At that time, we didn't pay attention to the name of the temple." Luo Fei's gaze stayed on Zhang Bin's hands holding the water glass, as if he was thinking about something.After a while, he asked, "Is there a pine tree after entering the temple? That tree is almost dead, but it is so thick that it takes two people to hug it." "Yes, that's right!" Zhang Bin was a little excited. Zhou Ping looked at Luo Fei and blurted out: "Kurmu Temple!" Luo Fei nodded, it seemed that the answer was already in his mind.Zhou Pingrao looked at him with interest: "How did you guess right this time?" "It's not guessing, it's observation and analysis." Luo Fei smiled slightly, two vertical grooves appeared at the corners of his mouth, it seems that this accurate deduction made him very satisfied. "Or through his hand?" Zhou Ping at least noticed Luo Fei's gaze just now. "Yes, but the left hand." Zhou Ping frowned puzzled. It could be seen that Zhang Bin's left wrist and cuff were covered with a lot of dirt, but he couldn't think of any relationship between this and where Zhang Bin had been. If in normal times, Luo Fei would guide Zhou Ping to analyze step by step, this would be a very interesting process for him.But today he can't waste time. The goal of stabilizing Zhang Bin's mood has been achieved. He directly described the process of deduction: "Look, his left hand is very dirty, and even the cuff is almost worn out. This shows that he was On the way down the mountain, he passed a long and steep section, forcing him to often support the mountain with his hands to maintain his balance." If Zhou Ping has realized something, but he still doesn’t fully understand: “There are four temples on the mountain. If you walk down the mountain from the Kumusi Temple on Nanshan or the Daming Temple on Beishan to the police station, you will pass through a relatively steep mountain road. I have traveled all of these roads. Many times, how did you rule out the possibility of Daming Temple?" "Because his right hand is much cleaner than his left hand. This means that when going down the mountain, the mountain wall is on the left side of his body. From this, I deduce that this mountain road should lead to Nanshan." "It's interesting!" Zhou Ping showed an expression of admiration on his face, "How did I forget this?" "Let's not talk about that, it has nothing to do with the case." Luo Fei turned his face to Zhang Bin, who was looking at him with admiration. Luo Fei was sure that his deduction was completely correct.But this is not important to him. His concern now is the details of the case. "Where is the exact location of the accident?" Luo Fei continued to ask. "It's on a mountain road outside the back door of the temple." Zhang Bin spoke in a low voice, and his body was bent on the chair, looking a little exhausted. Luo Fei and Zhou Ping understand why Zhang Bin is in this state very well.It is now 2:45 in the morning, and it takes at least two hours to walk on the mountain road between Kumusi Temple and the police station under normal circumstances.Given Zhang Bin's age and physique, he drove down the mountain from the temple in this dark night and walked for more than three hours in a row. It is conceivable that his physical strength and willpower were exhausted. "How did the accident happen?" Luo Fei brought the topic to the most critical part. This sentence stabbed a sensitive part of Zhang Bin's memory, and his thoughts were drawn back to the horrible scene when the incident happened.Immediately, his mood began to fluctuate again. He shook his head uneasily and muttered to himself: "Accident? No, it's not...it's not an accident..." "What do you mean?" Luo Fei frowned and asked, "It wasn't an accident, could it be suicide? Or murder?" "I don't know...what is that? How should I say it?" The water glass in Zhang Bin's hand trembled more than before, and some water splashed on the ground in front of him. Luo Fei frowned: "Are you a witness at the scene? Say what you see." Zhang Bin's eyes drifted away, as if he was avoiding something terrible: "No, you won't believe it...you definitely won't believe it...I saw it..." Because he couldn't catch his breath, he had to stop He spoke, gasping for breath. The atmosphere in the room was a little dignified because of Zhang Bin's performance.Zhou Ping walked up to Zhang Bin, put his hand on his shoulder, and asked carefully, "What did you see?" Zhang Bin gritted his teeth, and seemed to muster up great courage, and finally squeezed out from his throat with difficulty: "Ghost, a ghost without a head..." "What?" Luo Fei and Zhou Ping glanced at each other, then shook their heads in disbelief, this is ridiculous! Zhang Bin's emotions became more and more uncontrollable. He trembled violently all over his body. Suddenly, the water glass in his hand fell to the ground with a "slap", and then he clasped his chest tightly with his hands, and slowly collapsed on the chair. . Zhou Ping quickly supported him: "What's the matter?" Luo Fei also grabbed him. Zhang Bin panted heavily in pain, and reached into his coat pocket with a trembling right hand. "It's a heart attack, there's medicine!" Luo Fei said, reaching into Zhang Bin's pocket, and sure enough, he found a bottle of Suxiao Jiuxin Pill. After Zhang Bin took the medicine, his breathing gradually calmed down, but he still closed his eyes exhaustedly, and his mouth was moving, as if he was still saying something. Luo Fei put his ear to Zhang Bin's lips, and listened. "The fierce painting...they...they opened that...the murderous painting..." Luo Fei: "What evil pictures? Who are they?" Zhang Bin could no longer answer, he passed out in a coma. The situation is critical, and Luo Fei has no time to think about these strange words. He turned his head and said anxiously, "Hurry up and drive, and send him to the hospital for emergency treatment immediately!" "Yes!" Zhou Ping agreed, and hurried out of the house. Luo Fei took Zhang Bin's arms and stretched his waist to carry him on his back.Fortunately, Zhang Bin was not too heavy. Luo Fei carried him to the yard. Zhou Ping had already set the police car on fire and was waiting for him with the door open. Luo Fei stuffed Zhang Bin, who was still in a coma, into the back seat of the police car, closed the door, and at the same time said loudly to Zhou Ping: "After his physical condition recovers, investigate further in time!" Zhou Ping poked his head out of the window, and asked a little worriedly: "Luo Suo, things seem a bit strange, what should we do at the scene?" "I'm going up the mountain right away. Don't worry about these things. It's important to save people. If you need reinforcements, I'll contact you. Go!" Luo Fei stretched out his hand and patted the carriage to express his urging. Zhou Ping nodded and stepped on the accelerator.With a low roar, the car rushed out of the courtyard, and quickly disappeared into the endless night.