Chapter 27 Sixty-first night paper tiger

"All reactionaries are paper tigers." This is Chairman Mao's famous saying, so people will generally refer to those who look cruel but are actually vulnerable as paper tigers. However, this does not mean that paper tigers are really safe from danger. Since last week, people have died inexplicably one after another, without any scars, and the forensic doctor could not identify them, and all of them were attributed to heart paralysis.This kind of news naturally aroused the interest of the boss and Ji Yan, and it just so happened that a person called me and told me that he could reveal some useful news. Naturally, Ji Yan and I went there.The person on the phone also said that the cause of all this was actually a paper tiger.

"A tiger made of paper." Ji Yan said thoughtfully.The door opened, and a middle-aged man in his forties came out, with a few strands of hair hanging on his semi-bald head, neatly combed to the side, well dressed, with a refined appearance and a spot on the bridge of his nose. A pair of deep glasses told me that although the family is not rich from the outside, it seems that they may be engaged in cultural work. Sure enough, this Mr. Qin is a high school Chinese teacher. He saw the paper tiger when he returned home because he was too late to correct his homework. Knowing that I am a reporter, Teacher Qin didn't react too much. He just pushed the glasses with his hands, but his face flushed a lot. Not everyone's face looks good when blushed, especially his pale and rough face. The face behind the wall was smeared with some pink for no reason, making it uncomfortable to see.

He poured some tea for us, and the three of us walked into the living room. The living room was very cool, and there were not many things. There was only a set of reception furniture made of rattan. These days, things made of rattan are rare. Sit on it. Very soft and comfortable. "I've never seen a tiger so close in my life." Teacher Qin held the handle of the teacup with the index finger, thumb and middle finger of his left hand. Listen carefully, of course, I have to take notes. "I used to watch them on TV or from a distance in the zoo, but I never imagined that there are tigers in the city." Teacher Qin seemed to be still worried, and spoke very softly.

"Didn't you say it was a paper tiger?" Ji Yan suddenly interrupted him and asked. Teacher Qin was a little unhappy, his face darkened, but he quickly returned to normal and coughed. "Please listen to me. It was late at that time, but because it was Lixia, even at night, I could still see things on the side of the street quite clearly. I am used to finishing work in the office, so I corrected later. There is no other way, to be a good teacher, one must be more diligent." Teacher Qin puffed up her chest as she spoke, and there was a hint of pride in the eyes behind the round glass.

"I walked home along the familiar road, but suddenly heard a sound of chewing, which was loud and uncomfortable, like a very hungry beast suddenly found meat. At that time, the passers-by had already There are very few, because this street sells antiques, so most of them are closed after nightfall, only some small shops selling food are still lit, looking forward to customers, but the weather is very hot that day, everyone is very lazy . I was curious for a while, so I followed the sound and walked slowly for about a dozen steps. There was a turning point ahead, but there were no lights around, and it was very dark.Taking small steps, I walked over carefully. At first I thought it was a wild dog or cat eating somewhere. Now that I think about it, it was really boring. Maybe people are like this. After a long time of ordinary life, even if you see danger, you will not be able to help it. Lean up, hoping to get a little stimulation.Although I was very scared, because I heard that a group of hooligans often wandered around this road after nightfall, but I didn't have any money left, so I wasn't afraid.

But this time I was wrong. When I passed by, a car drove by at a slow speed, so the headlights stayed there for more than two seconds, but it was enough for me to see clearly. I saw a huge tiger, yes, a tiger.I have never seen such a big animal, and I even suspect that if it pounces on me, I may not even have the courage to escape. The patterns on the tiger's body are very beautiful, the black stripes catch the light in the night, and the yellow fur is shining with light.Its claws held a young man firmly. The man seemed to have lost consciousness or the ability to resist. He just lay there motionless. He was naked to the waist. Although my eyesight was not good, I could still see his arms. Looks like some tattoos.

The tiger was facing me sideways, not paying attention to my appearance, but biting something with its mouth wide open, but the strange thing is that I didn't see any scars on the young man's body, at least from my angle . Could it be that the tiger in the zoo ran out?But there is no zoo or circus around here at all, and how could the tigers in the zoo be so huge and wild.After the headlights, the darkness returned again, and my legs were shaking. It took me a long time to calm myself down, but the chewing stopped suddenly.I bravely groped my way in through the wall. Only the young man from just now was lying on the ground. I sniffed his breath with my hand, but unfortunately he had passed away. I had to rush to the nearest shop to report to the police, and then waited for the police to arrive at the scene.

However, before that, I picked up something on the scene, which made me very strange. "Teacher Qin, like a professional storyteller, stopped here for a while, took a sip of tea, got up and walked into the inner room. Ji Yan and I happened to be sitting on the sofa and waiting. Not long after, he came out with more something. It turned out to be a paper tiger. About the size of two palms, I have to say that the workmanship is very fine, and it is three-dimensional. The fierce posture of the tiger is fully displayed, with its mouth half open, its front paws slightly raised, its waist arched, and its body pressed down very clearly. It looks like it's pounced on its prey.

"Mr. Qin, are you kidding? Just because you picked up a finely crafted paper tiger on the spot, you can say it did it?" I couldn't help but joked, it was really funny. But Teacher Qin has a serious face.There were some more things in my hand, and it turned out to be photos. Teacher Qin handed the photos to me. It turned out that this stack of photos was actually the paper tiger in his hand. "What do you mean?" I hurriedly looked at it. It was nothing more than a few photos he took of the tiger, so I threw the photos to Ji Yan. Ji Yan lowered her head, looked at each one, and raised her head from time to time. He looked at the paper tiger in Teacher Qin's hand.

Teacher Qin became anxious after listening, "Look carefully at the photo." "In the photos here, all the tigers pose in different poses." Ji Yan stood up and returned the photos to Teacher Qin, who then nodded in satisfaction.Sure enough, I took it over and compared it carefully. Although they are all the same tiger, the poses of each photo are indeed different. Some are resting there, and some are holding their heads high. In short, it seems that a person has performed a series of different actions. Like a paper tiger. "At first I picked up this tiger just for fun, but I suddenly found that the appearance of this tiger would change every time. I was afraid to tell you that you wouldn't believe me, so I had to take pictures one by one with a camera." Qin The teacher whispered.

"I'm just an ordinary teacher, and I feel more and more that this thing is weird, and no one will believe me when I tell others, because I usually give people the impression that I am very rational and reticent, and suddenly I tell them that I picked it up. A tiger that can only move, and every time the tiger moves, the news says that someone died inexplicably, do you think I dare to stay at home, I just hope that you can ask this tiger to go, otherwise I will not sleep well, The complexion has changed a lot in the past few days, and I was afraid of accidents, so I sent my wife and children to my father-in-law's house." Teacher Qin's flat forehead was sweating, shining in the sun, as if he spoke too quickly, Make him a little uncomfortable. "Then you won't throw him away, or burn him." I looked at the paper tiger, isn't it easy to think of it.Unexpectedly, Teacher Qin seemed to have heard the extremely disrespectful words of attacking ghosts and gods, so he quickly shrank back and took the tiger back into his hand. "Don't talk about it, no matter how many pieces I tear it into, or burn it to ashes, it will be placed in my living room the next day, so I don't dare to touch it again, in case I get angry It, maybe even my own life will be lost.” There is such a thing! Ji Yan walked up to Teacher Qin, patted him on the shoulder to signal him to relax, and then took the paper tiger from him. "Give it to me, you don't have to worry about it anymore." After speaking, he took the tiger in his hand. Teacher Qin heaved a sigh of relief. I am afraid that the so-called sending the plague god to the plague god is just like this. Ji Yan played with the tiger on the way, but didn't speak much. "Is there a problem?" I asked him. "Please do one thing, go and find out the background of the people who died inexplicably recently. As for this tiger, it's better to keep it in my house for the time being." He hesitated for a moment, then answered me. Of course, I, like Teacher Qin, don't want to keep this thing in my home. After I separated from Ji Yan, I immediately went to check the information of those deceased. It seemed that there was not much connection. It just said that these people were either rapes or robbers. Most of them were people with a lot of records in the Public Security Bureau. The young man with tattoos is a local tyrant. He often collects protection fees in the antique street. He even killed a person, but because there is no conclusive evidence, he was released. In short, he is a guy who is hated by everyone.Those other people are also very similar. "It seems that those who die are all damned." I looked at the materials and muttered to myself. Li Zheng's injury seems to be recovering too slowly. Although Luo Lei's grandfather has treated him, the progress is still slow. Li Duo proposed to let her take care of Li Zheng for a few days. If he needs to go back to his hometown, it is better to let Li Duo take care of him.With Ji Yan's consent, the girl smiled and led Li Zheng to the new house she rented. When she moved, I was conscripted into labor. It's not bad, and it's not too far from Ji Yan's house. "Are you really going back to your hometown?" I asked Ji Yan, but he smiled. "No, I just hope that their brothers and sisters can communicate more and tell Li Duo when the time is right. I don't want to deceive her, and her memory may recover at any time. Some preparations are good for her and Li Zheng." It seems that he Really careful. This paper tiger has been staying at Ji Yan's house for three days, but Ji Yan has not noticed anything unusual, and the tiger is still changing. When I went, it has become a stepping outward, as if it will leave at any time look like. "It's really a strange tiger, and every morning, when you put your ear to the tiger's mouth, you can still hear the whine, which is the whine of a human." Ji Yan frowned and looked at the tiger. I temporarily put the work on to my colleagues, and decided to take turns on duty with Ji Yan tonight to see what tricks this tiger can play. We put this paper tiger on the window sill, and we slept on the sofa opposite.Sleep when you are tired. At first nothing happened, but in the early hours of the morning, I rubbed my sleepy eyes, and suddenly the moonlight outside shone on the tiger. The paper tiger actually started to grow bigger. Under the moonlight, its coat color and size are no different from real tigers. No, in my opinion, it is far bigger than the largest male Siberian tiger.When it stopped getting bigger, he shook his body and raised his head to look at the moon outside the window. I was so surprised that I almost forgot to wake up Ji Yan beside me. When I finally regained my senses and woke Ji Yan up, the tiger had already arched his waist, jumped forward, and jumped out of the window. Due to the hot night and the lack of mosquitoes outside Ji Yan's house, we opened the windows. Ji Yan jumped up immediately, but still could only see the back of the tiger. He immediately took out a dagger from his pocket, swiped his thumb, and then spit out a drop of blood. "What are you doing?" I asked him curiously. "We can't catch up with it. But if I put blood on the tiger, I can know its whereabouts." Ji Yan pointed to the tiger outside the window. It ran fast under the moonlight and disappeared in a flash. "Let's go, if it takes a long time, I won't know where it went." Ji Yan patted my shoulder and immediately walked out the door.I had no choice but to follow suit. It is already summer now, and this city, one of the four major furnaces, still has a bit of hot air even at night, as if it has just been washed by hot water. I often wonder, was it so hot before?In the past, there was no electric fan, no air conditioner, and no ice cream in this city, but how did they spend their time? I always feel that I don't know whether human beings are evolving or degrading. Ji Yan and I ran almost at our fastest speed. Soon, I couldn't take it anymore and felt my heart was congested. Fortunately, Ji Yan stopped. "It stopped. But I don't know the exact direction." Ji Yan turned her head, as if sensing something. The surroundings seemed familiar to me. This seemed to be where Li Duo lived. Ji Yan also realized something, and yelled something bad in a low voice.I have rarely seen him like this. It seems that as long as it is related to Li Duo, his usual calmness and wisdom are gone. We came to Li Duo's house. There is a man in the room, and a tiger. Li Zheng was wearing pajamas, standing opposite the tiger with no expression on his face.We didn't see Li Duo. Standing in front of the tall tiger, he looked very short at the height of a child. But that tiger looked very humble, like a kitten, with its head lowered, its forelegs stretched out with its claws retracted, and its long tail wagging.There was a whining sound in the throat. Ji Yan and I were stunned. Li Zheng finally walked over, stretched out his hand, and pressed on the tiger's forehead. Then, the huge tiger raised its head and stared at us. Ji Yan and I kept a little distance from it. "Are you here?" Li Zheng finally noticed the two of us. "Where's Li Duo?" Ji Yan asked anxiously. "You really care about her. I used the corpse control insect to put her to sleep temporarily. After all, the less she knows about some things, the better." I suddenly felt that Li Zheng's tone of voice was a bit strange. "Do you know who the owner of that tiger is?" Li Zheng sat on the bed, and it seemed that his leg injury still prevented him from standing for a long time. Of course Ji Yan and I shook our heads. "As for the identity of the man in white who appeared after Wutong disappeared on the mountain last time, I'm afraid you should have guessed it. It's really unbelievable, but do you know how the resentment cliff came into being? Maybe who made it? Resentment Cliff?" Li Zheng looked at Ji Yan with a serious face, but the latter didn't speak, which meant to indicate to continue. "It wasn't completely produced after my ancestors were exterminated. To be precise, they haven't been able to create something like a black hole that can absorb the resentment of the dead. And Wutong is also a part of the resentment cliff, because I carry the soul-returning incense Entering the Cliff of Resentment caused this part to have an independent consciousness, and actually wanted to become a real human being, but it no longer exists, together with my body. And my current child's body can't bear any more injuries. You must have noticed why my injury recovery is so slow. May collapse suddenly. "Speaking of this, Li Zheng stopped and lowered his eyes. "You haven't told me who is the real creator of Resentment Cliff." Ji Yan asked. "It's that man, that man with multiple identities. His life full of tragedy and depression and the resentment he uttered before he died were captured by the will of the nine-tailed fox that remained in the incense. You should know that the incense The origin of the Nine-Tailed Fox, in order to track down the three pieces of soul-returning incense scattered in various places, divided its power into three parts, but although it got it, it couldn't get out of the body, and was sealed by mortals respectively. A part of Middle Earth has its soul. Otherwise, with its power, it will not be easily defeated. So Nine Tails reached a deal with him. As for the specific content, I don’t know. The tasks undertaken by the Ji and Li families at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty were to suppress the evil spirits built by Prince Yin. In the early years of Zhenguan, Chang'an was full of evil spirits. This is why the emperor gave the Li family the surname Li, and specially made peach wood nails out of Taishan peach wood. , and engraved on it 'Dawn of common people, righteousness will last forever', the second is to protect the piece of soul-returning incense sealed in Heshibi, as the treasure of the town.As a result, my clansman spied on the power within it, and was actually bewitched by Nine Tails, signed a contract with it, and promised to dedicate the best bloodline women in the Li clan as carriers to inherit the part of Nine Tails' power.My ancestors thought it was well concealed, but Taizong found out about it. In a fit of rage, the Li family was implicated in the rebellion of the abolished crown prince, Li Chengqian, and they were exterminated, and pushed this matter to your family. It's a pity that the old ghost thought that his best friend had betrayed him before he died.In fact, what the emperor was afraid of was that if the power of Nine Tails appeared, the foundation of Datang would be hard to protect.But the absurd result is that the extermination of the Li clan still did not prevent the annihilation of the Tang Dynasty royal family.As for the piece of Heshibi, it is said that Taizong handed it over to your clan for protection. As a price, people surnamed Ji are never allowed to be born as officials, let alone assist the powerful in troubled times. At this moment, Li Zheng raised his head and looked at the back room. Ji Yan's eyes suddenly looked strange. "You mean, do you mean Li Duo?" "As a promise and a sign, the girl who is carrying the power will have thirteen ear holes in her ears when she becomes an adult, so it is not a seal at all, but just a sign. She was doomed 1,300 years before she was born. She is just the carrier of Nine Tails, so there is no choice at all, because a mark will appear every hundred years." Li Zheng raised the corner of his mouth and looked at Ji Yan, but Ji Yan's face changed. "How do you know all this?" I asked Li Zheng. He snorted. "The tiger told me just now, and I'm leaving here now, and I'll tell her I'm leaving when Li Duo wakes up. Because that man promised me that he can restore my original body, of course there is a price, but I don’t know what he wants, so let’s talk about it anyway. That tiger is not ordinary, it has the ability to devour human souls, or it maintains itself by devouring human souls, I don’t know Why does that man need so many evil and filthy souls." Li Zheng struggled to prop up his body from the bed, walked outside the house, and when he reached the door, he stood beside Ji Yan and stopped.Petting the paper tiger, the tiger lowered its head obediently. "I've already said what I need to say. I advise you not to be an enemy of that man. You should understand that the tiger he made out of paper alone is no match for the two of us." After saying this, He walked slowly out of the house. "I won't let you leave. I don't care where you go, but you should at least think about your relatives." Ji Yan said as she took out a dagger and stuck it into her palm.But before he could pull out the bleeding sword, Li Zheng knocked his dagger to the ground with a nail. "Dear one?" Li Zheng suddenly sneered, "When I was a child, I witnessed my father inserting our family's ancestral peach wood nails into my mother's body one by one because he was afraid of my mother's inadvertently revealed abilities. , and I could only hold my sister and hide helplessly, and then watched helplessly as the policeman shot my crazy father's head with a bullet, and now Li Duo didn't know me at all, and regarded me as a passerby. Do you think the word relative is suitable for me?" He walked over, picked up the dagger that fell on the ground, and handed it to Ji Yan. "Thank you for your care, but I still want to warn you, don't waste your blood, you should know how your father and grandfather died, and how much this kind of thing burdens your body, let alone Now you are probably no match for this paper tiger." After Li Zheng finished speaking, he patted the tiger and rode on it. The tiger roared to the sky and quickly ran out, disappearing into the vast night. After a long silence, Ji Yan let out a long sigh. "I finally understood why our family hid from the world in a remote mountain village. It turned out that it was just to escape the bloody massacre. No matter who was in power knew that we were guarding that kind of thing, they would not let our family go." He and I Walking into the back room, Li Duo was sleeping soundly on the bed, Ji Yan looked at the shiny studs on her ears, but was speechless for a long time. "Why can things that are folded from paper move?" I was very curious about paper tigers. "Many excellent magicians can do it. They use the skin of ancient ancient trees to make sap, and put their own spells or their own blood in it, and then blend the souls of animals and even people into it. The things made of paper made in this way have vitality, but there are probably very few people who want to create something as big and aggressive as that tiger." Ji Yan said slowly. In order not to disturb Li Duo's rest, we had no choice but to leave the house.Ji Yan kept silent along the way, maybe he was thinking about how to make up a suitable reason to convince Li Duo about Li Zheng's disappearance.