Chapter 3 Section 1

After walking out of the library, what unfolded in front of my eyes was a scene I had never seen before.The roads are paved not with asphalt, but with stone slabs.The walls of buildings are mostly made of stone-like things.Occasionally there are houses with stone statues on the walls or reliefs carved on the window lattices.Looking back, the library has also become that style, which is extraordinarily solemn and distinctive. "What...is this place?" I asked Xiaolu. "The Fengzhi District of Muli Road City." "Tomb Lilu City? Is it in Japan?" "Of course it is. This question is really strange." Xiaolu laughed.

Xiaolu and I walked side by side on the stone road.Occasionally there will be cars passing by, but they are all classic and nostalgic models.The clothes of passers-by are also reminiscent of a bygone era, not Japanese but foreign. What is this place?Why am I here? I began to recall the currents of the world I belonged to just now, but I couldn't remember anything.My mind started refusing to think about those things. We come to a square with a fountain.There is a small park around the fountain, and in the middle stands a bronze statue—a man wearing a top hat, suit and leather shoes, pointing to the distance with one hand, and holding a magnifying glass in the other.

"Who is that?" I asked Little Green as I passed by the statue. "No name. The man who created this town." "Created this small town... Was it the first mayor?" "No." Xiaolu shook her head, "It's the one who created this small town." "Oh." I didn't understand her concept, but I didn't ask. Around the square as the center of a circle, there is an old brick building.Xiaolu told me that this is the municipal government.There are some patterns painted on the walls, but they are so faint that they are almost invisible.Counting the arched windows, I was sure it was a three-story building.There was a big iron door on the front, which was a bit difficult to lift with one person's strength, and it was completely open at this time.We left from here, it was very dark inside.

There was a flight of stairs, wide and carpeted the color of carmine.Little Green went up the stairs. I followed her up to the second floor.The dimly lit corridor was lined with wooden doors.Xiaolu went straight to the room facing the end of the corridor and knocked on the door. A voice came from inside: "Please come in!" Xiaolu pushed the door open. A large leather sofa first came into view.Opposite is a table, and further ahead is a window.A man with broad shoulders stood with his back to the window.He approached us slowly, the floorboards creaking under his feet. The man combed his hair back, his hair was full of black hair, and the roots were like wires, shining brightly.He looked straight at me with bright eyes.

"Who is this……" "Mr. Tianxiayi." Xiaolu said to him. "Ah, I know." The black-haired man nodded, "It's the same as what I saw in the newspaper." The full-bodied baritone voice resonated in my chest. "newspaper……" "This is it." The man picked up the newspaper on the table in front of the sofa and handed it to me.The newspaper is printed sideways, and the social edition happens to be on the front page, so you can see it at a glance. It carried this message: The detective Tianxia with a clear mind successfully cracked the murder case of the Shen family...

Next to it, there is a black and white photo.It was a man with disheveled hair and a wrinkled suit, and that was me. I was about to say I didn't know about the incident.However, when the words were about to come out, I stopped again.Murder at Bishen's family - I seem to have a little impression. Yes, it seems that there was indeed such an incident, an incident that happened in a small village deep in the mountains.It happened on the second day when it snowed heavily, and a miserable corpse was found in the secret room. Vivid memories revived before my eyes, as if it had just happened yesterday.Why?It is obviously not something that I have experienced, why do I remember it so clearly?

Could it be that that incident...was I really the one who solved it? I gradually felt that I did it.The legend of the wall god, and the murderer is surprisingly a woman... "I'm Mayor Hino. Welcome." The black-haired man interrupted my memory. "Hino..." I glanced at Xiaolu who was standing beside me. "It's my father." After she finished speaking, she stuck out her tongue playfully. "Oh." I nodded, turned my gaze to her father, and took out the letter just now. "Is it you who wrote this letter?" "yes." "How do you know my address? No, before that, what I want to ask is, why do you ask me?"

"It's just through this news." Mayor Hino tapped the newspaper, "I know you only after reading it. I think only you can help me solve this incident quickly and in a timely manner." When he spoke Pump your fists lightly, as if giving a speech.Maybe it's a habit in parliament. "You mean, you've taken a fancy to the strength of the detective Tianxiayi, don't you?" "Yes. I have taken a fancy to your mind," said the mayor dryly. I have a slight headache.Am I really the best in the world?If so, who was the me until yesterday?Who is it that writes mystery novels in that tiny studio?

"Ah, sit down and talk." The mayor made me sit on the couch.After I took my seat, he sat down across from me.Little Green sat next to me. He took out a cigarette from the crystal box on the table and lit it with a crystal lighter.Gray-white smoke fluttered in front of his face. "I invite you here, not for anything else, but to retrieve one thing." The mayor said at the end of the smoke. "One thing... what is it?" "Something that was stolen." "Stolen?" The mayor held the cigarette between his fingers and looked back out the window.

"See the park ahead?" "Saw……" "If it's the statue of the pioneer, I've already explained it." Xiaolu interjected beside him. "Really? It's a little early." "Is that statue called the Pioneer?" "He created this small town, so people here call him a pioneer. In fact, it's just a symbol. No one knows whether that person ever existed." "Miss told me about this, I don't understand why he created this small town." After hearing my question, Mayor Hino showed a slight smile on his face. "Yeah, even we don't understand."

"What's the meaning?" The mayor stubbed out his barely smoked cigarette in a crystal ashtray. "This small town has no history." "No history... You mean, is this a new town?" "I didn't make an analogy. It really has no history. If you put it more simply, the origin of this small town is unknown. That is to say, we who live in it don't know why there is such a small town." "how is this possible?" "It's no wonder you don't believe it. But, please believe this before starting the work. If you don't, you won't be able to understand the significance of my asking you to investigate this incident." Judging from the mayor's tone, he didn't mean to be joking, nor did he intend to threaten me at all.I looked at Xiaolu, and then turned my gaze to her father. "Go on, please," I said. Mayor Hino nodded. "The small town has no history, but there are legends. According to legend, the residents in the small town are all immigrants. There was no one here at first, but later some people moved here one after another, pioneering and developing into such a small town." "Is it a pioneer?" "Yes. So, the pioneer actually refers to the person who came here first. Of course, it doesn't have to be a person, and I don't know if it is a man or a woman. After all, he is just a figure in the imagination." "What happened to the pioneers?" "The settlement of the pioneers is right in the center of the small town." "Is that also created according to the legend?" "No, it actually exists. Judging from the date of excavation, it is undoubtedly the first generation of immigrants. Everyone says that it is the home of the pioneers. The official name is the Saint Memorial Hall, generally referred to as the Memorial Hall." "What happened to the memorial hall?" "Actually, a month ago, there was a major discovery in the memorial hall - the basement was found in a two-story building. The entrance to the basement was discovered by accident. Open the door and take a look..." The mayor paused in a somewhat cryptic manner. After a while, he glanced at me and grinned, "Guess what you found?" "Corpse?" I was just joking, but the mayor's eyes widened unexpectedly. "As expected of a detective, you are really sharp! As you said, the body was found." "really?" "But it's not a normal body. It's a mummy. It's a mummy." I couldn't help taking a sharp breath. "In a coffin or something?" "No, sit on a chair. The purpose of that room is unclear. Anyway, apart from the chairs, there are a few rough tables." "Therefore, I think that must not be the mummy's study." Xiaolu interjected. "A place to study?" "There hasn't been a detailed investigation on this, and it's not sure who the mummy is." The mayor ignored my joke and said, "However, for us, this is a major discovery, because it is very likely Solve the mystery of the origin of the small town." "Is the mummy the pioneer?" "I don't know, it's possible. We think it is necessary to conduct a careful investigation. So, we formed an investigation team and are going to start the investigation next week. Unexpectedly..." At this point, the mayor's lips were tightly closed, as if Very painful. I remembered what he said just now. "Before that, there was a robbery incident, didn't it?" The mayor shook his head sadly. "It's really unexpected. I didn't expect someone to go there to steal things." I gradually understood the general reason for the incident. "Like Raiders of the Lost Ark," I said. "Who?" "It's fine if you don't know." I waved my hand, "Please continue. What was stolen? Isn't it a mummy?" "The mummy is unharmed. It is unclear what was stolen." "I don't know... what do you mean?" "There is only an excavated cave and traces after it was buried. What was originally buried in the cave can only be known by thieves." "Then it's possible that nothing was stolen? The thieves may have just dug a hole." "No, that's unlikely." "why?" "According to the investigation, it was found that the pothole is almost a beautiful quadrilateral. That is to say, something of that shape was originally buried in it." "What's the size of the pothole?" "It's about this big." The mayor stretched out his hands and gestured. The length was less than 30 centimeters. "It's not a square, it's a rectangle." I am reminded of flat lunch boxes. "Did you call the police?" "No, this matter is still being kept secret." "Why? It should be the job of the police to investigate such theft cases." "Of course, if it is an ordinary tomb robbery, I will call the police without hesitation. But things are not that simple." "what happened?" The mayor frowned, and reached for the cigarette again. "Actually, the discovery of the basement and the mummy has not been announced to the public yet." "Ah..." I licked my lips and roughly understood what he meant, "Aren't we all ready to start the investigation?" "The investigation is also prepared to be conducted in secrecy until the results of the investigation are known." "why?" "To understand this, you must first understand the particularity of the small town. I have said several times that this small town has no solid history. Everyone is making a history that is beneficial to them. For example, the person who claims to be a descendant of the pioneers , as far as I know, there are five." "One of them is our family." Xiaolu on the side said nonchalantly. I looked at the mayor in surprise and asked, "Really?" "My late father thought so." He smiled wryly, "and almost lost his life because of it." It's not like a joke. "It's a common thing." "That is to say, the topic of the origin of the small town is very delicate." "So, the discovery of the mummy cannot be easily made public." "Yes." He let out a puff of smoke. "Who knows about the basement and the mummy?" "First of all, the members of the investigation team. The members of the preservation committee of the memorial hall established before have all been converted to members of the investigation team, and I am one of them. Plus the memorial hall administrator and the craftsman who discovered the basement. That's all." "Leave one." Xiaolu pointed to herself and said. "Oh, yes." Mayor Hino looked at his daughter with a smile, and then turned his gaze to me, "The child happened to be present when the committee briefed on the discovery of the basement. , Even if it is a family member, it must not be said." "A man's mouth has no gates." "You're right. But I'm going to believe them." "That's it, I plan to..." I couldn't help grinning, "It's not actually like this, is it?" "Mr. Tianxiayi's brain is really easy to use. Speaking of which, you can probably understand my mood and the reason why I didn't call the police." "I see." If the members of the Memorial Preservation Committee are thieves, the mayor will lose face as one of them.He must have wanted to remove the thief from the committee until he found what had been stolen. "So, can you accept my commission?" The mayor's voice was powerful.The tone is calm, but very dignified. "It's a hard job to do." "If you don't accept it, I will be very embarrassed. Now I can only rely on you, besides, you already know about the basement and the mummy." "It's not what I want to know." "But I can't just let you go back like this." He curled his lips slightly. "Is this a threat?" "Whether it is true or not, in order to achieve the goal, use any means, this is a politician. Although I am only the mayor of a tiny place." I folded my arms helplessly and murmured in a low voice.I seem to have gradually gotten used to this world, and I think that I am indeed a detective named Tianxia Yi, who came here for a certain purpose. Undoubtedly, this is not the world I used to live in.In this way, this can be regarded as a kind of time travel.There is such a possibility.Because, obviously, this cannot be the world after death. In this world, I was given the name Tianxiayi and the role of detective.Also, the event that made my existence necessary didn't seem to happen by accident.It should be thought that there is an inevitability that has brought me here and involved in this complex event.Then, only by facing this incident directly can all the mysteries be solved. I made a decision. "Is there a roster for the Memorial Preservation Committee?" "Yes, ready." The mayor took out a piece of paper from his coat pocket and put it in front of me. "The names of the administrators and craftsmen are also written on it. Please take it." "it is good." "If you need anything during the investigation, please feel free to say it, and I will do my best to assist." "I'll be asking for your help shortly." The mayor nodded, stood up, turned to the opposite side of the table, and opened the drawer.When he came back, he had something extra in his hand.He put it in front of me.It's a brown envelope. "This is the current investigation fee. If it is not enough, please let me know. After the matter is completed, there will be another reward." I picked up the envelope and checked it.Dozens of banknotes bearing Prince Shotoku's portrait. "Then I won't be polite." I stuffed the envelope into the inner pocket of my jacket.There is no need to be courteous in this kind of place. "So, where do you start?" the mayor asked, rubbing his hands. "I want to visit the memorial hall first." I said. "Okay, let Xiaolu take you there. You can use this child as a liaison assistant in the future. She is on spring break now. I am her father, so I shouldn't say that, but I still think this child can help Be less busy." "Spring break?" I just noticed that it seems to be spring here. "Please take care of me." Xiaolu bowed briskly. "Will someone there explain the memorial hall in detail?" "There is an administrator, I'm afraid he can't explain clearly. I'll call the curator and see if she can come with you." "curator?" "Dr. Tsukimura from the City University. She is a major in archeology and the leader of our investigation team. She is very personable and charming. You will be surprised when you see her." The mayor said with a meaningful smile. "This doctor also knows about the robbery?" "Of course, but the other members don't know. Dr. Tsukimura's opinion is that it's best not to tell them yet." "Oh." I took a deep breath, then watched the mayor exhale, and said, "There should be no evidence to believe that doctor." The eyebrow on the right side of the mayor twitched slightly, a smile leaked from the corner of his mouth, and he said, "You're right, I'm also a suspect." "If you go further..." "There is no evidence to believe me?" "Yes." I frowned and closed my mouth.I'm not kidding. "He's a reliable man." The mayor said as he was about to shake hands with me. "He's a detective!" I ignored him, reached for my crutches, and stood up. "Then I'll ask Dr. Tsukimura to go to the memorial hall with me first." "I wish you success." "Let's go." "Yes!" Xiaolu replied energetically.