Daqing Criminal Division

Because of the bet with Fucharzi on that whim, when Duan Xiao came back from the outside that day, it was already a bit late.

When he got home, he opened the door.

Duan Yuanbao had already had dinner by himself in Yizhuang, and fell asleep alone.

This child has been raised by him for so many years, he is very sensible, and no one has ever bothered about it, and it is the same, occasionally thinking of his real life experience, Duan Xiao sometimes feels a little thoughtful.

In the eyes of outsiders, they might think that he had a wife who died in the past, so he was alone with a child.

But if he really talked about the actual relationship between Duan Xiao and Duan Yuanbao, it was because of a tragedy that he happened to encounter many years ago.

At that time, Duan Xiaoren was not in Yanzhou yet.

Maybe in Pingyang, maybe in Datong.

In short, he was still wandering outside that year, a real loner.

Because of his past experience, Duan Xiao is not a completely kind person.

On the contrary, there are still a lot of shady things hidden in him. People say that he is cold-blooded, or that he is cruel. In short, in the half of his life, he has never had any affection for anyone, or left any thoughts.

He seems to be polite.

In fact, everyone keeps a respectful distance from him, because he never takes the initiative to make friends with others, and because of the "strange disease" on him that happened in a mess five years ago, his life is very bad.

But one day, when Duan Xiao passed by a local place, he happened to let him pick up the child and an unknown corpse.

It was a woman who had her heart and liver organs dug out by a group of people and was no longer alive. When Duan Xiao went there, she didn't realize that the young Duan Yuanbao was carefully hidden in the dilapidated cave by this woman for the last time. .

The little cat-like child was hidden in the haystack, dirty, with half-dried black blood splashed all over his head and face.

When Duan Xiao found him in the messy, dirty and smelly haystack.

He had been in the same place for almost two days and two nights, his hands and feet were cold, and he was so hungry that he couldn't move.

Although he was young and ignorant, he also knew that a group of gangsters killed the woman beside him.

So when Duan Xiao found himself, he trembled in fright at first, but seeing that it was an adult, but not those vicious gangsters, the child who had witnessed all this but didn't say a word quietly fell down after that. Tears come.

He was picked up by Duan Xiao.

Duan Xiao doesn't like children, but this is not only a child, but also a human life.

At that time, besides the female corpse that appeared somewhere for unknown reasons, there was always an old Luohan coin hanging around his neck.

Duan Yuanbao was young, and he was frightened when he witnessed the murder at the scene of the county.

He completely forgot where he came from, who his parents were, and how the female corpse died.

Arhat coins were cast during the reign of the ancestors and have been in circulation for a long time. Each coin is usually engraved with four characters, Kangxi Tongbao.

Tongbao means Yuanbao, so his name is Duan Yuanbao.

The Kangxi Tongbao, which is still hung around Duan Yuanbao's neck with a red string, is the last evidence that can prove his past life experience and the cause of the woman's death.

One day, when the old case is brought up again, this strange arhat coin may be the only physical evidence to find the murderer.

For this reason, Duan Xiao has always brought him by his side all these years, and he is still called father and son. Although in daily life, the two of them sometimes don't know who is taking care of whom.

But anyway, in the blink of an eye, Duan Yuanbao has grown to this size.

However, besides this Songyang County, Duan Xiao will not go anywhere else for the time being with him alone.

Those 'mysteries' about himself have not yet been solved.

Before some things were completely resolved, it was absolutely impossible for him to say that he would go back to his original place.

After all, he is still a 'monster' who can't see the light in the dark, and he can't go back to that place, and he is still in trouble at this juncture.

It was also at this time that Duan Xiao remembered the story from the storyteller who happened to hear it under the teahouse during the day.

If it wasn't for the fact that he hadn't thought about the things that happened in the past for a long time, he really didn't remember them at first glance.

For a moment, there was a slight ups and downs in his heart. Those things that he thought he hadn't cared about for a long time, now think about it, but they are also old scars that cannot be erased.

He thought of when he was a teenager, he was still in Yanzhou.

Just a little sickness can make him extremely weak, but after so many things later, he also forgot too much in these years, became insensitive, and regarded other people's life and death as trivial.

"Mother... Mother... I want that!"

On the street, the child who kept shouting for candy in his memory had gradually walked away with his mother.

Duan Xiao watched silently and left without saying a word.

"...Duan Yuheng, if you really take this step, I, a mother, will never recognize you again in this life."

"Mother."

"Don't call me mother, Duan Yuheng..."

"Cruel official! Cruel official! Do you still think I'm your mother...you killed me and my Duan family... woo woo...Duan Yuheng, you are so cruel...In your eyes, how can there be anyone else? , you only want to be your official..."

Those messy words hidden in his heart, which once forced him to fall into the darkness step by step and unable to extricate himself, rang in his mind again.

Duan Xiao came back to his senses again, he had already pushed the door and walked into the dark Yi Zhuang alone.

"father."

At this moment, half a step away, in his sleep, he was lying on the table and calling Duan Xiao's name with a little thought.

The bowl of cold food on the table was very poor, and Duan Yuanbao also ate it all, never causing trouble for others.

On the other side, there is another bowl, obviously reserved for Duan Xiao.

It was covered with a dilapidated bamboo basket, and the quilts inside contained a vaguely familiar, yet very unusual... smell.

The smell of that 'something', he knew exactly what it was.

The man who was in a bad mood because of something tonight squinted his eyes when he saw this, counted the days in his heart, and knew that this kid actually helped him remember his 'strange disease'.

After drooping his eyes in confusion and gloom without making a sound, he leaned over and gently hugged him.

Just as Duan Xiao was about to take him to sleep in the back room step by step, the little guy stopped moving like a milk cat, and whispered next to the man,

"Father, where have you been?"

"I went out for something, and now it's over."

Duan Xiao replied.

"Then are you hungry?"

Hearing that he had finished his business and came back, the little boy stopped making trouble and behaved as if he hadn't made a sound.

Seeing this, Duan Xiao rarely sat down like a father.

Then he was not in a hurry to send him to sleep, and went to remove the bamboo basket on the table first after saying 'um'.

It was also when he raised his hand and opened it, what was in that porcelain bowl was clearly visible in the candlelight.

As far as I could see, it was half a herring, but it was raw.

The cut blood and flesh were placed in a bowl, and some blood that hadn't been wiped off was congealed on the bottom of the white bowl, which made people feel disgusted when they saw it.

But ordinary people will only find it difficult to swallow this raw meat.

For some people in this world, it is rare.

At the moment, Duan Xiao was sitting alone in the yizhuang, and the sound of slowly eating the herring that Zakshan gave a few days ago in the middle of the night was a bit creepy.

In the eyes of the world, he is so afraid that he is really a hopeless monster and a lunatic.

But his 'fault', which is difficult to explain clearly to outsiders, has been with him for many years.

During the process, Duan Xiao needed to suppress his deep love for raw meat, but no matter what medicine he took, the disease in his heart could not be cured so easily.

This disease has tormented him for a long time, which made him escape from that place and find a way to free himself. It is also the same. When he saw the word 'rice meat' that day, he would subconsciously avoid talking about it.

Right now, there was a drop of red blood dripping from the corner of his pale mouth, as well as all over his hands.

He closed his eyes and licked it off with the tip of his tongue. His heart was heaving and irritable, and his hunger/thirst was suppressed. The expressionless expression of swallowing with a trace of evil thoughts was also very scary.

"Are you afraid? If you are afraid, go to sleep first."

Squinting to see Duan Yuanbao lowering his head and not daring to look at himself and the raw meat, Duan Xiao asked him like this.

"Not afraid."

"..."

"Because dad is not a bad person, so I'm not afraid."

Duan Yuanbao shook his head firmly as he spoke.

At this time, it happened to be the third watch of the month.

It was pitch black outside, and no one answered.

Only the coffin and the placed corpse lay quietly in the dark.

Tomorrow, Ruiqiong's body that was placed in Yizhuang will be carried away.

When the coffin was completely sealed and buried.

If you do the math, the time limit for solving the case of the Stone Bodhisattva Temple is just... just the last two days.

……

On the second day, before dawn, Duan Xiao got up early and went out again.

When he walked out of the house, it was still a little cold.

The mess of flesh and blood that was involved in the house last night has been dealt with very cleanly by him, not even a trace of extra blood left.

He will stay in Songyang County for a while, so I am afraid that more people will not be able to know that he himself is a patient with pica.

Because in this dynasty, such diseases are treated as madness according to the law.

In the ninth year of Sejong's reign, there was also a case in which a madman killed many people in Sichuan.

Since then, the Ministry of Punishment has ordered that all patients suffering from madness need to be reported to the government and handed over to their relatives for strict supervision.

Subsequently, corresponding punishment measures were formulated. The sick person should be handed over to relatives to take care of them. If the care is not strict and the patient commits suicide or hurts others due to madness, his relatives and neighbors will be punished by eighty sticks, and local officials will be fined three yuan. months.

Duan Xiao knew that what he had was not crazy at all.

But he didn't want others to know that he was a patient who should be locked up by Yamen Haosheng and treated like a lunatic.

This time, he didn't go to the Yamen, but wanted to personally find another party involved in the case to obtain some important physical evidence.

Zha Keshan had mentioned to him before that Zhang Bing, Wang Pin and Rui Qiong were the three parties involved in this case, but Zhang Bing has been avoiding talking about the death and disappearance of the other two.

Coupled with his alibi, it is enough to believe that he is not the murderer.

He has been refusing to come to the government to give a statement, and he has left in a huff several times, which makes the government have nothing to do with this boy, and it is for this reason that Duan Xiao wanted to ask him something himself.

fourteenth.

Mingde College talk book fair.

It will be opened once a month under the auspices of the great Confucianism in Songyang County. On this day, Zhang Bing will also come, because two murders occurred in a row the day before yesterday, and there are only a few tables in the academy today, and some students are invited to talk together Calligraphy and painting articles.

During the process, the man named Zhang Bin also sat at the bottom in a tile-colored academy uniform.

But his mind was a little wandering, and he didn't even pay attention when he heard other students talking there.

Because the question that Mr. asked is the most famous classics and history question in Qiuwei over the years.

Two of the boys seemed to be arguing.

One said that the current dynasty should follow the example of Sejong's early years and set up kings to discuss politics, otherwise there would be endless streams of cruel officials like some former courts, and the other said that the military aircraft department still does not need such things.

During this dispute, Zhang Bing, who was sitting down, was also called.

He was taken aback when he heard the words, and stood up in a daze, but he didn't hold back a word for a long time. It was also at this moment that a voice suddenly appeared from above.

"The Costin case."

"—!"

Zhang Bing lowered his head when he heard the sound, and saw that there was an innermost table under his book club, and on that table was a gloomy, pale, thin and sickly man.

He didn't recognize this person at all.

Looking at this down-and-out outfit, I think he is a scholar who has no ambitions in life.

But seeing that although there was a scar on this man's face, most people would hate to approach him, but the corners of his mouth seemed to be smeared with unfathomable depth, and then all the people in the room just listened to him put down his teacup and speak slowly.

"During the Shengzu period, in the case of the fourteenth Lord Hai Dongqing, Emperor Sejong said that he would not form a party, but focused on the administration of officials, and collusion between cronies was nothing more than a dog and dog. It is strange that some people would talk about it in the new dynasty. "

Everyone who was shocked by this statement fell silent.

This serious crime of forming a faction, they can't afford such petty lives, it is only those who are not afraid of death who dare to talk nonsense about such court affairs, and this is also the occasion, this is the Duan who deliberately made a sound to scare this group of students Owl dipped some water in the glass and wrote the book list on the table, then said slowly,

"Since it is a topic of classics and history, it is better to read more about general history. The first book is "Nine Palaces Dacheng Nanbei Ci Gongpu", which has eight volumes at the bottom. Miscellaneous volumes."

He has an excellent memory.

It is always difficult for ordinary people to do things like this. I am afraid that he is not endorsing, but he really has poems and books in his stomach. do this.

Most of the scholars in Songyang County are young students, and they have not reached the top. Seeing that this unattractive man is probably a real talent, a real master, all of them showed admiration and surprise, and did not dare to speak rashly.

Especially the words he wrote with his hand dipped in water on the table, with iron gutters on the side.

From time to time, I saw dragons and snakes walking away, frowning left and right like lightning.

Looking at its strokes, its shape, continuous twists and turns, the thickness and thickness are infinitely variable, and the atmosphere is myriad. It is true that the world learns from the Lanting face, and there is no golden pill to exchange for mortal bones.Unexpectedly, Yang Fengzi in Luoyang went to Wusi Lane as soon as he wrote.

He doesn't look like a scholar, but more like a great real name teacher.

Because this is different from a scholar, only those who have set foot in that Fang Chaotang can have such power and influence. They have really seen the big wind and waves, and dare to write to talk about state affairs and write memorials.

"This brother, no, it's sir... sir! Please stay!"

As soon as the real person Duan Xiao showed his face, someone would naturally come to him.

As soon as the book talk in the academy came to an end.

The Tongsheng named Zhang Bing hurried down and called him three times, sir, but Duan Xiao, who was here to look for him today, looked unhurried, and just said politely, brother Zhang, don't so polite.

Zhang Bing was a little stunned to see that Duan Xiao actually recognized him.

It was also during this time and time that Tong Sheng realized that the other party had come looking for him because of the murder case, and he also had a strange expression on his face.

"Zhang Bing, I know Ruiqiong's death has nothing to do with you, but I just want to ask one thing for the Yamen."

"...What, what's the matter? Excuse me, sir?"

Zhang Bing answered with a cautious frown.

"Have you seen this durian flower earring?"

Zhang Bing, whose complexion changed, recognized the durian copper ornament taken out of Ruiqiong's stomach at a glance. Because of the previous siege, the scholar who seemed to have concealed it several times before finally had something for him. exposed.

On this day, Duan Xiao could be regarded as having obtained Zhang Bing's confession.

He returned to Yizhuang at night and wrote down some things in his autopsy file again, waiting for tomorrow when the coffin was buried, he could verify some things himself. It was at this time that Duan Yuanbao asked him a question.

"Father, why are you so familiar?"

"Open those books and see whose name is at the end."

Duan Xiao didn't seem to care about it.

"..."

Duan Yuanbao was obedient and obedient, he looked down and saw three words on the back page, which was his father's seldom-used name.

"This is a book compiled by your father and me. I don't know who I know well. These people test the questions I give every year and still scold me behind my back. They are very courageous."

Duan Yuanbao: "..."