Chapter 5 Section 3

The mummy sat on the chair.Right hand rests on knee, left elbow rests on the table next to it.On the table stood a candlestick with a short candle. I was about to get closer, but hesitated again.The mummy was held back with a rope. "Please take a closer look." The doctor said and handed me the flashlight.I took the flashlight and stepped over the rope. It is not so much a basement as it is a narrow cave.The walls and floors are bare stone, without any facilities for living.As far as decent furniture is concerned, the only tables and chairs used by the mummies are. The mummy is wearing a gray shirt and pants.Of course, it could have been a different color before.The hair is long and covers the forehead and ears.The eyes have disappeared, replaced by two black holes.From his body shape, I deduce that this mummy is male.

I suddenly noticed something, pushed the hair off "his" forehead, then returned to the original position, looked back at the doctor, and asked, "Then... where was the stolen one?" Dr. Tsukimura squatted down and opened a cover about one meter in diameter at the mummy's feet.The pothole the mayor said appeared in front of us. "When it was first discovered, the pothole was buried, but you can see its existence at a glance." Dr. said. "Are you the one who found the pothole?" I asked. "Yes. I wanted to come down and investigate, and found it with the administrator."

"When did you come in before this?" "When this room was discovered." "Was anyone with you at the time?" "Only members of the Preservation Committee." "Was there no investigation made at that time?" "Of course not, we can't start an investigation without deciding anything." I looked at the pothole again, and there seemed to be no other signs of being excavated. "Why would thieves dig this place?" Hearing my question, the doctor took out a photo from his shirt pocket. "have a look at this." It's a photo of the room, and it's a close-up of the mummy's footsteps -- covered with something underfoot, marked with a "?" where the pothole is now.

"What is this? This symbol..." "No idea. We both thought there might be something buried in this place and decided to dig another day." "So, the thieves dug up the things buried here first?" "Isn't that right?" This is a correct inference, but I don't have an immediate answer. "What do you think is buried there?" "If you know, you don't have to bother so much." The doctor spread his hands and shrugged. "It must be something with a curse." Xiaolu, who had been staring at the wall not far away, suddenly turned to look at us and said, "That's what my father said."

"Something with a curse..." I looked at the doctor and asked, "What does that mean?" "Superstition." The female doctor showed disgust on her brows, "There is such a rumor." "It seems very interesting." "Mr. Detective shouldn't be interested in such a topic. There is a legend here: There was once an evil curse about this city, and a sage sealed the source of that curse. And the place where it was sealed is this memorial hall." oops!I sighed.After the mummy comes the curse, which looks more and more like Raiders of the Lost Ark.

"It seems that every country has similar legends. However, such legends often imply some kind of truth, don't they?" "It's not impossible, but can this legend play any role in solving this incident?" "It's not clear yet." We went back down the narrow passage to the first floor. "Let's target the Preservation Committee first," I said. "Please help us find the thief as soon as possible. No, it doesn't matter who the thief is. The most important thing is to get back the stolen things." "But I still don't know what was stolen. It's a bit troublesome." I raised my eyes and felt a little pain above my nose. "How many years ago was that mummy?"

"Without a detailed investigation, we believe it was about 150 years ago." It was around 1850, needless to say, it was the Edo period.However, the appearance of the mummy and the building called the memorial hall do not have the feeling of that era at all.Or, in this world, there is no Edo period at all. "What was stolen was something from that era?" "Yeah, so, it's definitely not a short-wave radio or instant noodles or something." Dr. Tsukimura said seriously, not like he was joking. "Will it be something related to religion? For example, props used in sacrifices."

"There is no religion in this city." The doctor's tone was firm, and I looked at her in a little surprise.She didn't seem to think that what she said was very strange. "What's the cause of the mummy's death?" The doctor seemed not expecting me to ask such a question. He looked surprised, and then asked calmly: "Why do you ask such a question? Does it have anything to do with the robbery incident?" "Purely out of personal interest, because I saw the mummy's forehead." She nodded slightly. "Sure enough, his observation skills are superb."

"There is a small hole in the forehead. In ancient civilized countries, there were surgical operations on a small hole in the skull, but it was completely different from this. It was obviously a gunshot wound or an arrow wound, that is, He was murdered." "This inference is consistent with what I think now." "Why was he killed? Who was the murderer?" "This... If you want to find out this question, you can only ask the detectives from 150 years ago." "I have one thing I want to ask." I looked at the female scholar and said, "It's only been a hundred and fifty years, why are there so many unknowns? It is said that this place was founded by immigrants, and since then Haven’t the things from time to time been passed down through some form?”

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath slowly, and slowly opened her eyes again. "It's natural for you to think that way. But, in fact, there is no history here. No matter how old people in this small town are asked, they can't answer why they are here. The same is true for their parents. When thinking about this question , they are already here. This small town is a place with no past and no memory." "You mean, that mummy has the key to retrieve the memory?" "yes." "The one that was stolen may also be the key." "Very likely. But what makes people sad is that it was stolen. Originally..." the doctor bit his lip and continued, "It cannot be said that retrieving the memory can lead us to happiness. "