Chapter 18 Chapter 18 Unexpected Connections

After thanking the boatman, Cheng Che and Wu Ning looked ahead, and Wu Ning asked lightly, "How is it? Do you want to stay at the hotel he mentioned?" "Since it is closely related to what happened three years ago, at least I have to go and see it." Thinking of the boatman's mention of the fugitive just now, Cheng Che carefully chose his words. Unexpectedly, Wu Ning seemed to have never heard of that incident at all. He looked up at the sunset in the sky, "Let's go quickly, because the case on the train is delayed, and it will be completely dark any later."

The two carried a small amount of luggage and walked towards Lao Zhang's shop in the direction pointed by the boatman. After walking for a few minutes, a deserted yard came into view. Through the faint twilight, some simple bonsai plants could be seen in the yard.In the innermost part of the yard is a two-story wooden house, low and somewhat dilapidated. Under the first moonlight, there is a swaying atmosphere, which is somewhat similar to the haunted houses commonly seen on TV. "Is anyone there?" Cheng Che tentatively asked, but there was no response from inside. It was pitch black from the window, and the lights were not even turned on. "It seems that there is no one."

"Go in and have a look." "That's not good, we didn't get permission." Cheng Che hesitated because of the policeman's awareness. "But no one said you can't go in, right? Come or not, it's up to you." After Wu Ning finished speaking, he couldn't help stretching out his hand to push the low chaimen in the yard.The door was not locked, and it creaked open in response to the sound. This small sound echoed in the silent and empty air, making it harsh and frightening.Seeing Wu Ning stepping into the yard, Cheng Che hurried to follow. The two stopped in front of the house.

"Is it possible to live here? It seems that something unclean will come out at any time, no wonder there are such legends." Cheng Che looked at the crumbling hotel with some doubts in his eyes. Wu Ning glanced at him and smiled knowingly, "It turns out that someone is afraid." "Who, who said it?" Cheng Che puffed out his chest, he was very unwilling to be looked down upon by others, especially that person was Wu Ning. "Who are you looking for?" Suddenly, a faint and hoarse voice interrupted the conversation between the two, and at some point, someone stood behind them.Looking along the prestige, the first thing that catches the eye is a mask painted with oil paint and worn when performing on stage, but it just got off the stage. Under the hazy moonlight, the color is so bright that it is a bit strange.A slightly yellowed bandage can still be seen under the mask, which is wrapped around the mouth from the position below the eyes, and extends all the way under the mask, completely unable to see the original appearance of the face.And this person was wrapped in a worn-out gray cotton-padded jacket, with his back arched, he couldn't tell his figure, he just felt indescribably scary.Even Wu Ning, who has always been calm, was taken aback, let alone Cheng Che, who was already hesitant.

Wu Ning sized up the person who came, and at the same time, the person was staring at them with the eyes exposed behind the mask.In the end, it was Wu Ning who broke the silence, "We want to stay in a hotel." "I'm the shopkeeper here, Lao Zhang. Are you here for a trip?" Lao Zhang still didn't move, still looking at them. "Yes." Cheng Che nodded, but did not explain the truth. Lao Zhang scanned the faces of Wu Ning and Cheng Che, and his tone softened a little, "There are many young people who like to visit the island in recent years, but not many honeymooners, but I recommend you Go to live in the newly opened big hotel in front, the environment and atmosphere are much better than mine."

"us……" Cheng Che was about to explain, but was interrupted by Wu Ning with a smile, "It's the first time I see a host pushing guests to other places." Lao Zhang also laughed, and he said he was smiling, but in fact it was only the corners of his exposed mouth that twitched, and some indistinct sounds came out from his throat, "They are all responsible people, and they will not deceive others." "Thank you, Lao Zhang, for your kindness, but it's too late now, and it's inconvenient for us to find other places. Besides, I think your place has a different flavor." Wu Ning said, turning to Cheng Che beside him and asking , "Are you right?"

"Yes, yes." Cheng Che knew in his heart that it would be better to follow her words under such circumstances.Although he felt uncertain about living in Lao Zhang's shop, but in order to investigate the case, he simply put his mind to it. Lao Zhang stared at them intently, as if he was deliberating the meaning of Wu Ning's words, but he didn't seem to think about anything. After a while, he nodded, "Okay, come in with me." Lao Zhang took out the key and opened the door, walked into the store first, and turned on the light.It was a simple chandelier with dim light, reflecting everything in the room vividly, but it could be seen that although the furnishings inside were simple, daily necessities were still available.The walls are covered with wooden boards, and even the floor is made of wood, giving off an ancient atmosphere everywhere.

Lao Zhang led the two of them along the corridor to the door of a room, pushed open the door, and handed the key to Cheng Che. Only then did they realize that Lao Zhang's hands were also covered with bandages. "It's relatively simple, you can make do with it, and you can settle the bill when you leave. If you need anything, you can tell me. In addition, there is only one key, so don't lose it." After Lao Zhang finished speaking, he turned around and was about to leave, but was stopped by Wu Ning again.Wu Ning compared his face, "Your face..." "Xiao Ning!" Cheng Che teased Wu Ning, signaling her not to reveal his sad things.

Lao Zhang let out an unknown laugh again, shaking his head to indicate that it was okay, "Three years ago, the store caught fire and was burned, and it was shameful. I hope it didn't scare you. After the store burned, no one came, so it was simply repaired." one time." "When we came here, we heard that the fire in this store was caused by the resentment of the dead tourists?" "Those rumors are so evil, no matter what you hear, it's not surprising." Lao Zhang was relieved, "At that time, there were indeed a few tourists who came to live with me, and they went out to visit the village together. One fell off a cliff by the sea and died, but it was an accident and there was no grudge.”

"Who are those guests?" Cheng Che asked. His words seemed to arouse Lao Zhang's suspicion, but Lao Zhang didn't answer, but asked instead: "Why do you ask this?" "Just curious." Wu Ning interjected, "He's just like this. He's always serious about inexplicable things, and he can never figure out the situation." Although Wu Ning's words were trying to smooth things over for Cheng Che, but Cheng Che could hear that the teasing was so real, so he touched his nose and closed his mouth resignedly. Lao Zhang glanced at Cheng Che again, and then left without saying a word.

The two of them entered the room and put down their luggage. It was already mid-moon at this time.Wu Ning walked to the window, opened it, and leaned against it.The slightly cool night wind blew in, and immediately blew away the musty smell a lot.The wind blew her soft short hair, adding a little softness to her usual handsomeness. "It seems that from Lao Zhang's mouth, it is difficult to find out the details of three years ago. He seems unwilling to say more." "But I still find it strange." Wu Ning calmly narrated the doubts in his heart, "No hotel operator would like to see such a thing happen, and it's not surprising that Lao Zhang would avoid it, but he talked about that incident. The fire and disfigurement were natural, and there was no avoidance, which was different from the reaction of ordinary people." "Maybe he really doesn't care." Wu Ning stared at Cheng Che, and asked sharply: "If it were you, most of the half-life business would be ruined, the business would never recover, and because of this, your body would be disabled, and you could only live with bandages and masks every day, you wouldn't care ?" Cheng Che flinched. Just thinking of such a miserable situation made him chill. He shook his head vigorously, "I guess I'm going to collapse. From what you've said, Lao Zhang's attitude is indeed quite special, but this place is very special." It’s evil, not to mention the hotel and the owner of the hotel we live in now.” "I knew you, a coward, would be afraid, so I kindly wanted to be your company." Cheng Che countered dissatisfiedly, "I think you are trying to save the rent." "You discovered this too? When you are away from home, you can always save money. Anyway, this room is not too small, and two people can sleep in it." "You're a woman anyway, wouldn't it be inconvenient to live with a grown man like me?" "When the crew was rushing to play, eating and living with those male stuntmen, there was no boundary between men and women." Wu Ning stood up as he spoke, walked in front of Cheng Che, and patted him on the shoulder in a friendly way, " Don't worry, I won't wrong you, after all, I live in the room, I let you sleep on the bed, and I sleep on the floor." "What can I do, I..." "Stop talking nonsense, I'm sleepy, if you don't want to be beaten, don't disturb my sleep." Wu Ning interrupted Cheng Che, and couldn't help but find a quilt from the cabinet and spread it on the floor, and lay down on it with his back to Cheng Che and his clothes. Cheng Che had no choice but to get under the quilt too, looking at Wu Ning's back with complicated emotions.She spoke lightly about the hardships of acting as a stand-in for filming, and for the sake of saving money, Cheng Che could also understand how difficult it is for her to take on a family after her father died. While Cheng Che was thinking wildly, Wu Ning's voice came out again, "To be honest, compared to the you who narrated the case incoherently when we first met, Xiao Cheche, you have matured and become more like a policeman. At the scene where the body was found on the train, you protected the scene to maintain order, and that 'I'm the police' yell was pretty cool." When she said this, Wu Ning didn't turn around, Cheng Che couldn't see her expression, but Cheng Che understood that with Wu Ning's personality, she was definitely not used to saying such compliments, maybe it was because of this that she recited her words. Dressed to hide his expression.But at the same time, it also shows that Wu Ning said this from the heart.Realizing this, Cheng Che smiled triumphantly in the dark, showing his neat teeth. "Of course, sooner or later, like the team leader, I will become a policeman who can stand alone, and soon. Who made me a natural material for this line of work?" "You can't find Bei after just a few words of praise?" Wu Ning's merciless blow came, "Want to become an excellent policeman? Get rid of your baby face first, and then train for hundreds of years before talking about it." Bar." "I thought you had a prejudice against the police." "I really don't like the police. If the police can do things in a more timely manner, maybe I will consider changing my opinion, but for now, I don't think the police can be trusted." Cheng Che naturally knew that Wu Ning's complaints against the police probably came from the fact that the murderer of her father's stabbing death had been at large for many years and had not yet been arrested.But Cheng Che felt that even if the murderer was caught in time back then, the knot in Wu Ning's heart would not disappear, at most it was just a transfer of objects.People are always thoughtful individuals. In every case, besides the victim, there will be different related people and things that leave traces in their hearts. There are some things that even the best policemen can't do anything about. Cheng Che hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help asking: "Xiao Ning, to be honest, since I came to the village, I have heard many rumors that I saw the prisoner who killed your father here, don't you want to be here?" Catch him as soon as possible?" "So what? People can't be resurrected after death. I've been used to it for a long time during the days I spent with Xiaoxiao." From Wu Ning's tone, Cheng Che seemed to sense a slight difference from before.The indifference and resentment when talking about his father gradually faded a lot, and a trace of reminiscence appeared inadvertently. "you……" "If you have time to discuss my affairs here, why don't you go to bed early, get your spirits up and solve the case early, and let me see the strength of your police." Cheng Che rubbed his nose angrily, seeing that Wu Ning didn't intend to speak again, he started thinking wildly again.Amidst such chaotic thoughts, Cheng Che gradually fell asleep and temporarily forgot about the weird place he was in.But outside the door, there was a figure who hadn't fallen asleep.Lao Zhang sat in front of the table in the porch, the slightly dim light reflected the oil paint mask on his face, only those eyes seemed to reveal an indescribable complexity in the silence. After a long time, he slowly raised his hand to touch the mask, then glanced at Wu Ning and Cheng Che's room, then got up and walked to his own room. Early the next morning, Cheng Che and Wu Ning decided to walk around the village to familiarize themselves with the terrain under the pretext of traveling, and asked some villagers about what happened three years ago. In the morning, the dense fog seems to have faded a bit, leaving only a thin layer floating in the air, illuminated by the sun, shadowy, adding a bit of a dreamy feeling, which is also a major feature of the famous fog village scenery.Wu Village is actually very small, no different from many little-known small villages, but it became famous because of a good chance.The village is surrounded by the sea, and the only means of transportation out of the village is a boat. In the center of the village is a large hillside protruding in the shape of a steamed bun, on which a dozen or so families are scattered scattered.After a circle of gentle slopes, there are even taller cliffs on all sides. On the sunny side of the cliff is a dense forest, which is so green that you can't see the edge at a glance.On the shady side of the cliff, there is nothing bare. Lao Zhang's hotel was built on the road leading to his home on the hillside. Wu Ning and Cheng Che walked along the road in front of the hotel and arrived at the village with almost no trouble, because the road was neat and there was no fork in the road. In front of a house, several older women were sewing clothes in the sun. Wu Ning and Cheng Che glanced at each other and walked over. The arrival of the two obviously attracted the attention of several women, but because there are often tourists in the village in recent years, they didn't pay much attention to it. It wasn't until the two stopped in front of them that no one looked up. , looked at them. "Hi there." Cheng Che smiled politely. With this smile, his eyebrows and eyes were curved, revealing his neat white teeth and two dimples. That lovely smile was a little brighter than the sunlight above his head, which dazzled all the women. The brilliance of motherhood suddenly flooded.Of course, except for Wu Ning standing beside him. "Young man, what's the matter?" Some of the younger and more enthusiastic women had already stood up, approaching Cheng Che with smiles and asked. Reluctantly dodging away from a harassing "magic hand", Cheng Che took a step behind Wu Ning with deep sympathy, and Wu Ning gave him a rare sympathetic glance.But Wu Ning didn't mean to stand out for him, because usually dealing with this kind of people, "beauty tricks" are always more practical and effective than all kinds of insinuations. After some distance, Cheng Che spoke again, "We're here for a trip, and we'll be staying at Lao Zhang's hotel in front." "What? That'ghost shop'?" A woman exclaimed in amazement, and then smiled kindly, "It's scary there, it's not suitable for a cute boy like you, why don't you come and stay at my hotel, sister Give you a discount." "This... let's think about it." Cheng Che barely maintained a smile and continued to circle around, pretending to be curious, "But why is it called a 'ghost shop'? Will that shop be haunted?" "You don't know, that store had a resident dead three years ago, and it was caught in a fire. Have you ever seen Lao Zhang like that? He looks like a ghost at all. Now he basically doesn't deal with everyone, and rarely appears in the village. Otherwise, the children will be scared to cry." It seems that, as Lao Zhang himself said, every major event that happened in this small village is something that everyone knows and talks about. Even after ten or eight years, people still talk about it with great interest.He thought for a while, then asked again: "We heard about the fire last night from Lao Zhang, but the dead man didn't hear about it." "His face, even if he wants to hide the fire, he can't hide it." Another woman interjected, "But if the guest is dead, if you can hide it, you can hide it. Otherwise, there is no one in the small hotel. To scare away the two of you, the only residents?" Cheng Che didn't answer the conversation, which may be true from the perspective of ordinary people, but the fact is that Lao Zhang tried to push them to another hotel last night, and he didn't seem to be eager to do business. The woman who invited Cheng Che to live in her hotel at the beginning added: "I still remember that those young people were about the same age as you three years ago, it's a pity..." "Do you remember how many of them there were?" "About five people, three men and two women, that's right, that's right, the dead man had his girlfriend with him. At that time, he fell off the cliff and his whole body was bloody and bloody. His body was crying so badly that no one could bear to see it." "Why did that person suddenly fall off the cliff? Does this happen often here?" The person who asked the question this time was Wu Ning who had been silent for a long time. "Of course not. We have lived in the village for so many years, and that is the only time we have encountered falling off a cliff. It took a lot of villagers to help to lift the body up from the beach under the cliff. There were no people going to the woods. Who knew how those young people would go to such a dangerous place? And there was Lao Zhang following him. He knew it was not safe there, so he didn't try to persuade him, so the hotel caught fire. It must be that the dead young man had resentment, and Lao Zhang got his retribution." "Sister-in-law Chen, you don't understand now. Young people these days just look for excitement." A younger woman rubbed her arms, showing a look of concern, "Can we not mention those scary things?" ?" "Is the forest you are talking about at the top of the mountain?" "It's over there." Aunt Chen pointed out, "You can see it from here." Looking in the direction of the woman's finger, it turned out that on one of the cliffs, a dense forest could be clearly seen.Cheng Che nodded, got the information he wanted, hurriedly bid farewell to a group of reluctant women, and headed towards the cliff with Wu Ning.