Chapter 25 second quarter

It was almost half past ten when Qin Siwei and I returned to the station, but we saw Liu Guoxi, Jiang Yingyu, Li Yan, Qian Haowen, and Niu Fulai and his wife were about to go out in a hurry. "You are finally back." Jiang Yingyu asked eagerly, "Did you see Mr. Xie?" "We went around the mountain. Isn't Mr. Xie here?" I wondered. "When we came back, he wasn't there, and his cell phone was thrown on the table." Liu Guoxi said anxiously, "Fulai and his wife packed up the house and went to the neighbor's house to play cards. When they went out, Lao Xie was watching TV in the house, didn't say anything want to go out."

"It's so late, where will the old man go?" I felt a little uneasy. "He may have gone out for a walk and ran to the ruins or the mountain by himself." Liu Guoxi said, "Let's search separately." "Mr. Liu, you have to leave someone to look after the house." Li Yan reminded him, "Why don't you and Miss Li stay?" "It's better for you to stay with Mr. Liu to watch the house." I said, "If you want to search the mountains, you'd better find more people from the village. Also, bring more flashlights. There is no light in the mountains, and it is completely dark. .”

Niu Fulai called ten villagers from the village to help.We divided into three groups at the foot of the mountain. Jiang Yingyu and Qian Haowen took three people to search the ruins; Qin Siwei and I took three people to search along the western foot of the mountain; We meet at the top of the mountain.But it was dark and the forest was dense, except for the little light from the flashlight in my hand, I couldn't see clearly other places.Our manpower is not enough, we spread out, no one can take care of the other, we can only climb up all the way, and we must beware of weeds and thorns scratching our hands and faces at any time.Is it possible for Xie Ruhui to come to this ghost place?I thought to myself: It is unlikely, unless he is tired of work.

When I climbed to the top of the mountain, I was already sweating all over, and was blown by the mountain wind, and I shivered from the chill.Not long after, Qin Siwei and others came up one after another.But no one saw Xie Ruhui's shadow. "I think it's better to go back." Qin Siwei panted heavily, "It's late at night, and I can't see anything. Besides, with Mr. Xie's physique, he can't climb the mountain at all." "Maybe the old man just walked around, and he has already gone back." A young man leaned against a big tree and said out of breath, "Take a break, I can't take a step anymore."

"Rest for a while, let's go down the north slope, the road over there is easy." Qin Siwei wiped his sweat, "I don't know how Jiang Yingyu and the others are doing." "They are better than us. On flat ground, at least they are not tired." Niu Fulai sat on a rock and beat his legs. "Fulai, where's your wife?" Qin Siwei counted the number of people and found that one was missing. "Before halfway up the mountain, she stepped on a crack in the rock and sprained her foot." Niu Fulai pouted, "Women are just useless. I told her not to run around, find a rock to sit down and wait for us to go back to pick her up. "

"Let's go quickly, in the wilderness, don't let her wait too long." I beckoned everyone to persevere, and with the dim light of the flashlight, I walked down the mountain step by step. When I got down to the middle of the mountain, I saw a few clusters of flashlights not far in front of me, and there were people chatting in a hurry.Taking a closer look, it was Jiang Yingyu and the others.No trace of Xie Ruhui was found at the ruins. They planned to go up the mountain to find us, but happened to meet Shen Xiufeng halfway up the mountain. "How is it?" Qian Haowen asked expectantly.I just shook my head tiredly.

It was already past one o'clock in the morning, and there was a faint mist floating in the wilderness. Everyone was tired and sleepy, and it was not a way to find it like this.After discussing for a long time, I finally decided to go back to the village to rest.Qin Siwei discussed with me and called the police immediately after returning to the station.When the police from Qili arrive, ask the village cadres for help and call more villagers to expand the scope of the search. The village was quiet, and no one spoke a word along the way.When I got back to the station, I wished I could get into bed immediately and have a good sleep.However, when we pushed open the closed courtyard door, we were stunned by the sight in front of us.

The door of the main room in the front courtyard was wide open.Through the light from the room, one could see a person lying face down on the ground at the door, motionless.Qin Siwei ran over and took a photo with a flashlight, and it turned out to be Liu Guoxi. "This... this..." Jiang Yingyu's face turned pale with fright, as if he was about to faint.I hurried over to help him, but accidentally tripped over a dirt on the ground, and knocked my knee firmly on the ground.I got up in embarrassment and asked Qin Siwei: "How is Teacher Liu?" Qin Siwei reached out to feel Liu Guoxi's pulse: "It's okay, he just fainted. Are you okay?"

"It's okay, I tripped over a piece of dirt." Qian Haowen looked around tremblingly, "Where's Li Yan? Where has Li Yan gone?" Niu Fulai and his wife were close together, speechless. "You carry Teacher Liu into the house first." Qin Siwei stood up, "I'll go to the backyard to have a look." Jiang Yingyu and Qian Haowen clumsily carried Liu Guoxi into the hall.The room is very tidy, except for the felt pads on the top of the kang being turned over, there is no trace of being turned over.However, what was missing in the house was already tacitly understood by everyone.

"Is he going to be okay?" Niu Fulai stared anxiously at the unconscious Liu Guoxi, "If something happens to me, I can't afford it." There was a moment of confusion in my mind.Xie Ruhui has not been found yet, Liu Guoxi has an accident again, and Li Yan, where did he go?Could it be... When I was thinking about it, the door was kicked open, and Qin Siwei ran in with the unconscious Li Yan in his arms, and shouted: "Come and help me!" Li Yan was also placed on the kang on foot. "What's going on?" I asked Qin Siwei. "Found it in the backyard." He looked around. "How is it?"

"What do you think? Why attack the master and apprentice?" I sighed. Qin Siwei bowed his head and thought for a while, then winked at me, turned and walked out.I followed him to the backyard.There are two south rooms here. At the east end of the courtyard is a shed full of agricultural tools, and near the west courtyard wall is an apparently abandoned millstone on which dried sweet potatoes are drying. "Li Yan fell here." Qin Siwei shook the vicinity of the millstone with a flashlight, bent down and picked up a wooden stick as thick as my forearm, "Throwing this by his side should be the murder weapon." "It's better to call the police." I squatted down and checked around the millstone with the beam of the flashlight. "It seems that someone has been eyeing the Jade Pig Dragon for a long time. Maybe something happened to Xie Ruhui." "I've already called 110. But the place is remote and the roads are difficult to walk. It will take at least three hours for the colleagues from the Aohan Banner Public Security Bureau to arrive. I don't think we can count on them." I climb up the millstone.The courtyard wall is not high. From here, you can see a three to four meter wide dirt road outside, and there is a short tree outside the wall.In theory, it is possible to climb in from the outside by climbing a short tree. "Siwei, wake up!" Jiang Yingyu ran over, "Wake up, Teacher Liu and the others!" Liu Guoxi and Li Yan were not seriously injured, but they were frightened and found that the jade pig dragon was lost, and their spirits were a little depressed.Fortunately, the memory of the two of them was still clear about being attacked. "It probably took about half an hour after you left." Liu Guoxi kept rubbing the back of his head, "Li Yan heard noises outside, it seems that someone sneaked into the backyard." "I heard a sound in the backyard." Li Yan added, "Let Teacher Liu stay in the room, I went to check. As soon as I arrived in the backyard, a person jumped out of nowhere and gave me a stick in the face. I I don't know anything." "I waited in the house for more than ten minutes, but there was no movement outside. I called Li Yan, but he didn't answer." Liu Guoxi continued, "I was a little panicked. I was afraid that something would happen to him, so I wanted to see what happened. The result As soon as I stepped out of the door, something knocked on the back of my head. Then I didn't know anything." "Li Yan, did you see clearly who beat you?" Qin Siwei asked. Li Yan shook his head slowly: "There is no light at all in the backyard. His face is still covered with something. I...I don't even know where he jumped out of." "The other party is covering his face?" "Well, the face is gray, like...like stockings?" Li Yan frowned, "I don't know. I was scared to death, I really didn't see clearly." "You should have an impression of being tall, short, fat, and thin?" "He...is thin, and...not tall, about the same as me." "Ms. Liu, did you hear the sound of the door opening and closing?" I asked Liu Guoxi. "No, I didn't hear anything." Liu Guoxi was a little annoyed, "At that time, I was full of thoughts about whether something would happen to Lao Xie. It was Li Yan who reminded me that someone seemed to have entered the backyard." "The front yard... there is no movement." Li Yan said, "The shaft of the gate is rusted, and the sound of the switch is very loud. It is impossible for us not to hear it." "It's over now, he must have run away with the Jade Pig Dragon long ago." Liu Guoxi thumped his thigh, "How can I explain to the office when I go back?" "Don't worry. I have already notified Ao Hanqi's colleagues, and they will come over as soon as possible." Qin Siwei comforted him. After tossing most of the night, we were all hungry.Qin Siwei asked Shen Xiufeng to make some supper for everyone, but she was so frightened that she dared not go to the kitchen alone anyway, and after a long time of murmuring, she reluctantly went with Niu Fulai's company. Only then did I feel a burning pain in the knee of my left leg.Rolled up the trouser legs and took a photo under the lamp, a large area was blackened.Jiang Yingyu said to use hot compresses, and Qin Siwei said that it must be iced or it would swell.The two couldn't argue.Qian Haowen rummaged through his backpack for a while, found a plaster with extremely simple packaging, and insisted on me sticking it on. "I also tripped over that dirt a few days ago, and almost fell over and gnawed on the mud." Liu Guoxi told me, "This plaster was given to Haowen by an old Chinese doctor. We are in the wild all year round, and we rely on it for bumps and bumps. " This unknown plaster really works. After ten minutes of putting it on, the pain in my legs is gone.The room was a bit dull, so I went to the courtyard to get some air.It was late at night, and the wind was bitingly cold. I'm afraid we were the only ones who couldn't fall asleep.From the kitchen on the east side of the front yard, there was the tinkle of cooking. The faint moonlight shone on the two cars parked in the yard—our car and a Kia Sportage from the Archaeological Institute. It felt icy cold. "It's really cold, there's no need to buy a refrigerator here." Qin Siwei walked over with a cigarette in his mouth, "Have you noticed that something is wrong with this?" "Of course something is wrong. Judging from the situation in the main room, the attacker knew where the Jade Pig Dragon was hiding. Moreover, judging from the process of the attack, he came in from the backyard over the wall, first knocked down Li Yan in the backyard, and then hid behind the door. Finally, wait for Liu Guoxi to come out before knocking him out. Therefore, he should be very clear that there are only two people in the yard. The timing of the attack is also chosen just right, and it will definitely not be outsiders." "When Liu Guoxi put away the Jade Pig Dragon, apart from us, only Xie Ruhui and Li Yan were present." Qin Siwei leaned on the car, "However, although Qian Haowen was not there, he definitely knew that the Jade Pig Dragon was hidden under the blanket. Now look Come on, Jiang Yingyu, Niu Fulai, and Shen Xiufeng can basically be ruled out." He suddenly let out a soft cry, "Oh, could it be...Xie Ruhui? He disappeared on purpose to lead us to look for it, and then sneaked into the yard..." "Tune the tiger away from the mountain? How old is the old man? How could he be the opponent of Li Yan, who is in his early twenties. Besides, with his body, he climbed over the wall and entered the courtyard? You can figure it out." "Then who else could it be?" Qin Siwei pondered, "Qian Haowen? Impossible, he went to find Xie Ruhui with us, and he has no time to commit crimes." "Actually, it's not that complicated." I patted my growling stomach and shouted to the kitchen, "Brother Fulai, what are you cooking?" Niu Fulai poked his head out: "Wow, eat the noodles. It will be cooked soon." "The meal is ready?" Li Yan walked out holding the door frame. "Not yet." Qin Siwei walked over, "Why are you up?" "Go to the bathroom." He clutched the lump on his right forehead. "Would you like me to go with you?" "No, no." Li Yan waved his hand, and staggered into the toilet. "It's so boring." I wandered carelessly in the yard, and also wandered to the door of the toilet.After a while, Li Yan got out with his pants up and his head down.I jumped up in front of him and patted him on the shoulder. "Ah!" Li Yan yelled in fright, and sat down on the ground.Jiang Yingyu and Liu Guoxi in the main room rushed out upon hearing the sound, "What's going on? What happened?" Niu Fulai and his wife in the kitchen also ran out in panic to see what happened.Qin Siwei stared at me with his mouth wide open, probably because he thought that I was so hungry that I played such a prank. "It's okay, it's okay." I suppressed a smile, "I just want to do an experiment." "What are you doing!" Li Yan got up in embarrassment and shouted at me angrily, "Scared me to death!" "I just want to know how people really react when they are suddenly attacked head-on." I patted him on the shoulder reassuringly, "It turns out that you can yell. And, the people in the room can definitely hear it. " "You're crazy!" He yelled through gritted teeth, "In the middle of the night, a person suddenly jumped in front of you, it's no wonder you didn't yell!" "Yeah, it's strange if you don't shout." I said slowly, "But when you were attacked in the backyard earlier, why didn't Teacher Liu hear anything?" Everyone present was stunned.It was Qin Siwei who reacted quickly: "Mr. Liu, did you really hear nothing at that time?" "No...no." Liu Guoxi stammered, "Really, I...I really didn't hear anything!" "It's right if you didn't hear it." I said lightly, "There is another very unusual problem, have you noticed it? Li Yan's injury is on the right forehead." "What's unusual." Li Yan covered his head.The others looked at each other, seemingly not understanding. "He was attacked face to face, so the attacker was left-handed." I turned to Qin Siwei, "Siwei, right?" "Yes! Lefty!" Qin Siwei snapped his fingers. "Left-handed...what's the matter?" Jiang Yingyu asked stupidly, "People have already run away, what's the use of knowing whether he is left-handed or right-handed." "No, it can't be done by outsiders." Qin Siwei said firmly, "In the main room, only the felt on the kang was turned over, which shows that this person knew that the Jade Pig Dragon was hiding there. Therefore, this attack was basically a self-inflicted robbery." .” "Oh my god!" Liu Guoxi looked around nervously, "Left-handed... who is left-handed?" "There are no lefties in our group," I said. "I've noticed." "But you just said...the one who attacked Mr. Liu and the others was left-handed." Qin Siwei was also confused. "What I'm saying is that if Li Yan was attacked from the front, then the opponent is left-handed. However, another situation can also cause his right forehead injury-he knocked his own head swollen! Therefore, in the so-called attack When it happened, Teacher Liu didn’t hear anything—it was Li Yan who hid behind the door and attacked Teacher Liu, stole the Jade Pig Dragon, and then played a bitter trick for us in order to avoid suspicion.” "So—" Qin Siwei suddenly shouted at me, "Be careful!" Before he could finish his sentence, something cold was already on my neck.Li Yan has been standing behind me, seeing that something is going wrong, he will act first.I really didn't expect that he would have a switchblade with him.