Chapter 17 Chapter 16 Bamboo Blossoms

September twenty-ninth in the Gregorian calendar. It was almost evening when we arrived at Feng'an Town.We didn't go into the town, and we found the Dongshan County Mental Hospital directly.The old man asked for the dean by name, but the guards at the door did not dare to neglect us, so they led us to the dean's office. Dean Jin made a mistake at first, thinking that the old policeman had brought me back.He was about to reprimand me, but Sergeant Wu said beforehand: "You release that woman quickly. She is not Ling Mufeng's wife, and you arrested the wrong person."

"What?" Dean Jin smiled awkwardly, "Are you joking? How could this person be caught wrong?" "Are you kidding? You can read it yourself." I said while throwing the stack of materials in front of Dean Jin. Dean Jin first looked at the photo and the household registration document issued by the Shanghai Police Station, and said in surprise, "This...are there really two people? But how could she and Chu Yun look so similar?" I turned over the relevant content in the notes to Dean Jin, and the other party was amazed.After the incident was over, Sergeant Wu said, "Do you believe me now? Let him go quickly."

"I believe it, but if you want to let him go..." Dean Jin said hesitantly, "I have to ask Mr. Ling for his opinion on this." Superintendent Wu stared at him: "Why ask for his opinion? That girl's name is Ye Mengshi, not Chu Yun. Does she have a relationship with that surnamed Ling?" "Actually, it's not considered asking for opinions. It's just telling him in advance. After all, Mr. Ling confessed to this person. If we let him go directly, I'm afraid it's inappropriate." Dean Jin paused, and then said in a negotiating tone, "Sheriff, you know the situation in Feng'an Town. We are in other people's territory, and even a strong dragon can't beat a local snake."

The other party said this politely, and the old man couldn't refute it.He turned his head and looked at me, meaning to ask about my attitude. I said, "What if Ling Mufeng doesn't agree to release him?" "If you don't agree, you have to let him go!" Sergeant Wu said resolutely, "Tell him to save face. If he doesn't know how to praise, we don't care about him!" "Yes, yes." Dean Jin laughed at the side, "Officer Wu is doing this to save face for Mr. Ling, and even more so for me. The evidence is solid, and Mr. Ling is not an unreasonable person. Little brother, you Just rest assured!"

Now that I have said so, if I persist, it will appear that I am stingy.And when I thought about it, it would be better to say hello to that surnamed Ling first, so that I could tell the matter clearly.If you don't speak clearly, you will give Ling Mufeng a reason to stir up trouble.This Feng'an town is full of his forces, if he deliberately makes trouble, Ye Mengshi will be sent out of the mental hospital, and I'm afraid he won't be able to get out of Feng'an town either. Thinking of this, I nodded and accepted Dean Jin's proposal.The three of us left the mental hospital, entered the town and headed straight to Ling Mufeng's residence.

The mother-in-law of Ling's mansion recognized Police Chief Wu and me, and opened the door to let us into the living room on the first floor.Then she went upstairs to report, and after a while she came back to say hello: "Master Ling invites the three of you to meet in the study upstairs." We followed the woman to the study on the second floor, but we saw Ling Mufeng was still standing in front of the window painting the bamboo forest outside the house like last time.Hearing us enter the room, he turned his head and said in surprise, "Dean Jin, why are you here?" Dean Jin said: "I'm here this time to talk about Mrs. Zun's matter—I'm afraid there is some misunderstanding here."

"Oh?" Ling Mufeng frowned slightly, and waved, "Three, please sit down and chat slowly." We took our seats, and the woman beside me offered tea.After the woman stepped back, Ling Mufeng asked again: "Dean Jin, if there is any misunderstanding, please make it clear." Dean Jin said bluntly: "The woman we captured last time is not Mr. Ling's wife." Ling Mufeng laughed dumbfounded: "Not my wife? Then who is she?" "She is the twin sister of Mrs. Chu Yun, named Ye Mengshi." "Twin sisters?" Ling Mufeng shook his head inexplicably, "I have known Chu Yun for more than ten years, and I have never heard that she has twin sisters."

"It's a long story. But it is indeed a well-founded thing. The relevant materials and evidence are all here. Mr. Ling only needs to read it to understand." Dean Jin said, while handing the materials in his hand Presented before. Ling Mufeng waved his hand and said, "My painting is not finished, so it's inconvenient to look at it. Please ask Dean Jin to tell me." Dean Jin was taken aback, looking a little embarrassed.Seeing this, Ling Mufeng smiled slightly, and said again: "It's not that Ling is arrogant. It's just that it's getting dusk. If I can't finish this painting today, I will lose my anger when I paint again tomorrow."

Dean Jin also smiled and mocked: "Mr. Ling's elegant taste, we ordinary people can't understand it. I just think that what I relayed is not as reliable as what Mr. Ling saw in person." Ling Mufeng asked with a smile: "Are you still lying to me?" Dean Jin hurriedly said, "Of course not." Ling Mufeng said: "Then just talk, I listen to it. The mental hospital is under your jurisdiction. If you want to release people, I can't stop them. As long as you can give an explanation." After finishing speaking, he said Turning around, he picked up a brush and carefully drew on the painting table.

Dean Jin explained everything he had just learned.After finishing the lecture, he specially emphasized: "These facts are all supported by materials, including photos of Ye Mengshi from childhood to adulthood, and household registration documents issued by the Shanghai Police Station. There is Ye Mengshi's autograph on the document, and the handwriting of this signature Exactly the same handwriting as that of the woman in the ward." Ling Mufeng stopped writing, looking at the groggy twilight outside the window, he didn't know what he was thinking.It took him a long time before he said, "In other words, before Chu Yun got sick, the names and experiences mentioned were actually from her twin sisters. This time, her sisters really came to Feng'an Town, but we put She was arrested as Chu Yun?"

Dean Jin nodded and said: "Exactly. When Chu Yun was ill before, although she also said that she was from Shanghai and her name was Ye Mengshi, she didn't explain it in detail. It can be seen that those were only her fantasies after all. But this time The real Ye Mengshi explained all the details clearly. It was her guidance that Mr. Feng found her family lawyer in Shanghai, and obtained this set of documents that could prove the identity of the other party. " "If that's the case, let's let him go." Ling Mufeng put the brush on the pen stand, turned around and cupped his hands and said, "And please convey Ling's apology. I have offended you so much before, it is really a crime of ignorance, Wan Wang Haihan .” His fake face is really disgusting.I couldn't hold back, turned my head aside and let out a heavy "hum". Dean Jin was very happy.He hurriedly got up and returned the gift to Ling Mufeng: "Mr. Ling is really an open-minded person! Then we will not disturb your elegant mood anymore. Please resign boldly." Ling Mufeng said: "It's not a nuisance. My painting just happened to be finished. If the three of you are interested, feel free to give me some pointers." Last time Ling Mufeng showed me the bamboo forest behind his courtyard, which made me quite bored, so naturally I don't want to talk to him this time.Sergeant Wu squinted at the side and said, "I don't understand these things, so I don't want to read them." Only Dean Jin refused to take away the other party's interest. He praised: "Good, good! This bamboo is delicate and elegant, lifelike. Especially the two flowers on the bamboo space are the finishing touches." Police Chief Wu didn't see the painting, but he couldn't help laughing when he heard this: "Are you joking? How can there be flowers in the painted bamboo?" Ling Mufeng turned slightly, pointed out the window and said, "Dean Jin is not joking. There are indeed two bamboos in my backyard blooming. This is a rare sight in ten years. The three of you are also destined. Today Just in time." "Oh?" Sergeant Wu became interested after hearing this, so he got up and went to the window to look around, "Hey, it really is blooming!" Ling Mufeng greeted me again: "Such a wonderful sight, why don't Mr. Feng enjoy it together?" I flatly refused and said, "Forget it. I'm not in the mood to worry about other things." While speaking, I deliberately shook the stack of documents in my hand. Sergeant Wu understood what I meant, gave Dean Jin a hand, and said, "Okay, just take a look. It's important to get the business done first when we go back." Dean Jin asked Ling Mufeng to resign again.This time Ling Mufeng didn't want to keep him anymore, he just said lightly: "You three, please go ahead, Ling is rude, I will send you off soon." The three of us went downstairs.When they walked into the yard, Police Chief Wu said with a sneer: "Bamboo blossoms, it's so fucking evil, thanks to the surname Ling, it's a good thing!" I heard the other party's bad tone, so I asked, "What's wrong?" The old man said: "This bamboo blooms once in a lifetime, and it dies after blooming. What good thing do you think it can be? There is a saying in the mountains: It is said that the bamboo will bloom when a dead person is buried under the ground!" The old man had no intention of speaking, but I was startled when I heard it, and asked back: "You mean that a dead person is buried under this bamboo root?" The old man smiled and said: "Although it is a superstition, it is unlucky anyway." I stopped, looked at the bamboo forest outside the courtyard, frowned and said, "I'm afraid it's not just superstition..." The old man became alert and asked, "What do you mean?" "Just now you said about the bamboo blooming, I suddenly thought of something." I leaned in front of the old man, and said in a low voice, "I know what Ah Chuan was doing when he went out that day!" "Oh?" The old man suddenly became interested and urged, "Quickly tell me." "He's going to plan the Ling family's bamboo!" I licked my lips, and then elaborated, "Didn't I go to Cuilin Nunnery with Ah Chuan that day? On the way, I mentioned the Feng Shui of the Ling family, saying that there are mountains, waters, and bamboos. This is Fu Shou Lu San Quan. At that time, Ah Chuan put down his cruel words and said that he was going to plan the bamboo forest of the Ling family! When he went out, he brought a shovel and a hoe, I am afraid that is what he wants to do!" "Is there such a thing?" Sergeant Wu also tasted it, turned his head and said, "Let's go and have a look in the woods!" We left the Ling Mansion compound, turned around and entered the bamboo forest.Dean Jin didn't understand what we were going to do, but he could only helplessly follow from the sidelines. It was dusk, and the light in the woods was getting dimmer.We need a moment of adjustment before we can see the situation around us clearly.I wandered around in the woods ahead for a while, but found nothing unusual.I said: "Go to the back and have a look, the flowering bamboo is in the backyard." Sergeant Wu nodded.So we came to the forest behind the small building again, and searched around for a while, the old man suddenly squatted down, touched the soil under his feet and said, "There is a famous hall here!" I hurried over and squatted down to check carefully.But I saw that the color of the soil in a small piece of land under my feet was different from other places, and there were no weeds on the surface, which was obviously recently turned over. Dean Jin on the side couldn't help asking: "What are you two looking for?" Police Chief Wu didn't answer, but raised his head and said, "Dean Jin, please go to the Ling Mansion again and ask the housekeeper's wife to borrow a shovel—it's best not to let Ling Mufeng know!" Dean Jin was full of suspicion, but he went anyway.A moment later he returned to the woods with a shovel.Sergeant Wu took the shovel and asked at the same time: "Did you disturb that surnamed Ling?" Dean Jin smacked his lips: "It's hard to say... When I was leaving, I saw that woman go upstairs, maybe she reported it." "Then you have to hurry up." The old man said as he stuffed the shovel into my hand, then he raised his foot and gestured on the ground, saying, "Dig here!" With all my strength, I shoveled it down with one shovel.The soil in the bamboo forest is soft, and it is easy to take a piece.After the soil layer on the surface was lifted, the black soil below was exposed, and at the same time, some faint rotten breath escaped. I had no time to rest, followed by the second shovel, the third shovel... and so on and on.Sergeant Wu kept pointing at the side, adjusting the specific part of my shovel.After digging for about ten minutes, a pit appeared under the feet.At this moment, I suddenly heard someone asking from behind: "What are you doing?" I turned around and saw that it was Ling Mufeng who came.He was also staring at me, stunned. I didn't know how to deal with it for a while, so I turned my head and looked at Sergeant Wu as if asking for help.The old man ignored Ling Mufeng's arrival, he squatted by the side of the pit, his eyes only searched back and forth in the dark soil.Soon he discovered something, and leaned over and reached into the pit to scratch a few times.Some loose soil was pulled away by him, and something under the soil layer was exposed. Sergeant Wu clapped his hands before raising his head.He looked at Ling Mufeng, slanted his mouth and said with a strange smile: "Mr. Ling, you came just in time. We found something good in this forest!" Ling Mufeng frowned tightly, he rushed two steps to the edge of the pit, and looked towards the place where the old man had just pulled.I saw that what was exposed in the soil turned out to be a piece of blue cloth. The old man stretched out his hand and gestured beside the fabric again, and said to me: "Get a shovel here, press it down a little bit, don't damage the things underneath for me." I slowly shoveled down the shovel according to the position indicated by the old man.It didn't go deep into the ground, and it seemed to touch something.So I adjusted the angle and got the thing out of the way.Feeling that all the things had been eaten into the shovel, I pushed up the handle of the shovel and shoveled out all the things dug in the shovel, even the muddy ones. When the soil was gone, the whole thing was revealed: it turned out to be half of a human arm.The blue cloth is just the sleeves on the arms, and the pale human hand at the front is reflected in the soil, which is even more conspicuous! Dean Jin was unprepared, and let out an exclamation from the side.Ling Mufeng also took half a step back out of the pit, changed his expression and asked, "What's going on here?" "What's going on?" I sneered and asked back, "I'm afraid I have to ask you?" Ling Mufeng squinted his eyes and stared at the hand, and remained silent for a while.His thoughts were heavy, and he was clearly thinking about something closely. Sergeant Wu stood up, cupped his hands at the fat man and said, "Dean Jin, please report to the police station quickly, saying that a dead body was found in the bamboo forest in the backyard of the Ling family. Tell them to call the county police station and send a professional Get down." "Okay, okay..." Dean Jin hurriedly responded and left quickly.He wished he could leave this place of right and wrong as soon as possible. Ling Mufeng seemed to have regained his senses, and followed suit to walk outside the forest.Chief Wu waved his hand and said, "Mr. Ling, you can't leave—I have to ask you about many things." "Of course I won't leave." Ling Mufeng turned his head and said, "I just went to the mansion to call two family members over to be my helpers." "Okay." The old man chuckled, "Then there is Mr. Lauling." Ling Mufeng said indifferently: "This is Ling's job." After speaking, he continued to walk outside the forest. I watched Ling Mufeng's back, and told the old man in a low voice, "That's the blue dress Ah Chuan was wearing that day." Sergeant Wu also nodded: "Who else could it be besides Hammer?" I said again: "It must be the poisonous hand of that surname Ling!" The old man looked solemn, he reached out and patted my shoulder, and said only four words: "Calm down first." After a while, Ling Mufeng brought two family members to the forest.The two men each held a shovel, and Ling Mufeng said, "You all listen to Sergeant Wu. Wherever he tells you to dig, you can dig there." The two obediently came to the side of the pit and waited for orders, and the old man directed them to continue digging deeper.I rested my hands, stood aside and looked at Ling Mufeng coldly.But the man surnamed Ling didn't look at me, his attention was all in the pit, and his expression was even more focused than Police Chief Wu. After digging here for a while, Dean Jin hurried over with a few policemen.The old man assigned those men to search carefully from the place where the corpse was buried, not to let go of any suspicious clues. The body was not buried deep, and after digging for a while, the whole body of the dead body gradually appeared.Although the corpse had begun to decompose, everyone recognized it at a glance: it was A Hammer who had been missing for many days. Ling Mufeng seemed to be disgusted with the rotting corpse, and took out a handkerchief to cover his mouth and nose.Then he shook his head and sighed, "Oh, I haven't seen Ah Chuan for a long time, so I already had some ominous feelings. But I never thought that he would die here. Chief Wu, this is the second homicide in the town in recent days Yes. If this case is not solved, the people in the town may be in doubt." Sergeant Wu did not answer.But I couldn't hold back, pointed at Ling Mufeng and shouted: "It's not easy to solve the case, just put you in jail!" Ling Mufeng frowned, glanced sideways at me and said, "Detective Feng, Ling doesn't understand what you're saying." "Stop pretending! You killed Mrs. Meng, and you killed Ah Chuan too! Because you knew a long time ago that the person who was locked up in the mental hospital was not Chu Yun! You wanted to get rid of everyone who knew about it in order to deceive others. "The more I said the more angrily I became, and finally I asked bluntly: "You still want to kill me, don't you?" Ling Mufeng collected his face, and said seriously: "Detective Feng, it is true that Ling was abrupt and admitted the wrong person in the mental hospital. I have sincerely apologized. You scold me and hate me, and I have no complaints. But if you use such nonsense Splashing my dirty water, Ling can't bear it!" After he said these words, the two Ling family members who were present crowded around me, pushing and shoving, and swearing at each other. "What are you guys going to do?" I took advantage of the situation to make things worse, "There are so many policemen here, are you going to start now?!" "Detective Feng, please respect yourself!" Ling Mufeng looked at me coldly, "This bamboo forest is my property, and I have the right to ask you to leave." As soon as the two family members heard this, their actions became even more insignificant, and then they simply pinned my arms roughly and drove me out of the woods like a prisoner. Inspector Wu finally couldn't stand it anymore, stood up and shouted: "Okay, stop!" The two were stunned, and let go of their hands angrily.I was complacent as if I had been rescued, while Ling Mufeng remained calm and composed.We both looked at Sergeant Wu, waiting for his next words. "It's none of your business here." The old man said to me, "Go to the mental hospital quickly and save the girl first." "Then here..." I looked at Ah Chuan's body in the pit, feeling a little reconciled. "The police are here to deal with it. Why are you in a hurry?" The old man deliberately said the words "what's in a hurry" very emphatically, which reminded me of his previous entrustment: calm down first. Dean Jin also came to me now, tugged on my clothes and said, "Let's go, that girl is still suffering in the ward, don't you feel bad?" I counted a step, so I nodded and said: "That's fine, I'll rescue the person first. There will be a judgment on this matter of killing people!"