Daqing Criminal Division

The mysterious 'transparent man', that is, the most important link in the original case, the street child who was instigated by others also disappeared.

Not only that, but according to the only clues left at the scene, the fate of this child whose exact identity is not yet known is likely to be dire.

There is one big difference between Yinpo Stadium and other places in Shuntian Prefecture.

The area around the polo field is not an area where Mandarin is widely used due to large population changes. This area was built in the previous dynasty, except for the closed horse farm that was enclosed by the central horse breeding for the imperial court.

Outside, along the street, those beggars who do not understand each other's dialects, speak the same language as chickens and ducks, and suffer from various diseases such as rotten sores, mute, deafness and other diseases, it is difficult to have in-depth communication other than gestures.

Transparent, maybe a new street kid.

Maybe I didn't beg here before, but came here later with my fellow countrymen.

Therefore, when this missing child is with other street children, others will only regard them as a whole and will not feel that he is awkward.

When he was a disassembled individual, the child was a transparent person, no one cared about his life and death, and he had no trace of his existence.

This is exactly the brilliance of the real murderer who first came up with this method.

Children, representing non-threatening and manipulative.

A vagabond means that no one will notice his death.

And different from Heyuan Gege's cognition, the perpetrator of the crime is a vagrant who has no name and surname, and no one knows when he died, so after he completely disappeared from this incident, this time, it is completely broken. Direct clues to the kidnappers and kidnapped can be found outside.

With such a dramatic ups and downs, the current mystery of Heyuan Gege's life and death in the dark net is left with only one key call for help.

Originally, finding that homeless child was tantamount to locking up the source of the kidnapping and Yuan Gege's entry into the dark web.

However, this change made the rhythm of the downward investigation had to stop again, because once the little waif who could not be found disappeared mysteriously, the investigation of the Dorogge case, which was publicly priced, once again fell into a trap. A stalemate.

And in order to find some clues left by this 'transparent man' at any rate.

According to the temporary ultimatum registered at the Ministry of Household Affairs, Fu Yu and Duan Xiao simply divided a block based on the dialect residential area, and then tried to collect evidence one by one.

There are many Hui people living in this horse breeding land, and most of the Hui people have the surname Ma.

That's why I circled a place to live in this horse farm. In addition, the buildings here also have their own characteristics after the development of two generations of kings. The most famous point is that white is used more, and the structure is similar to that in the northern part of the Central Plains. Different regions will have special geometric figures.

And although Duan Xiao can't play polo, Fu Yu can play polo, and he seems to be very good at it.

"You can fight?"

So this day, Duan Xiao, who was mingling outside the racecourse and dressed much more plainly than in the past, turned around and asked the person behind him.

"It's not bad, I just know it. There are not only many people around here, but also many hooligans. It is very easy for people to gamble and beat people."

Seeing what he said, he didn't hesitate to answer. Fu Yu's long hair was tied behind his head, and he was hiding in the alley in a double-breasted jacket with his hands resting on his knees. It's also really good.

"Do you want to go in and play a game?"

"Go, try."

Although Duan Xiao didn't know how to fight, he wouldn't let Fu Yu teach him.

Because polo is based on personal equestrian skills.

Catch up with this unused polo field and there is a large empty space on the side, so the two of them casually climbed over the wooden fence and entered. After entering, seeing a ball flying around the field under the pole outside the polo field, the two of them felt uncomfortable. Wandering around for a while, they looked at the residential buildings with different structures around them from this perspective.

Are they looking for someone today?No, they are actually looking for 'Yuan'.

According to Heyuan Gege's cry for help, the shape of 'circle' should have been the only symbol she could see at the end.

But just use your eyes to identify the shape of matching objects. Around the polo field, except for the polos on the ground that can be seen at a glance, they are "round". It is a building similar to 'Circle'.

Coincidentally, at the back door of the outer circle, the two of them bumped into another doorman wearing a white hat and a moustache, and took advantage of Fu Yu's proficiency in mixing with various refugees and chatted a few words.

"Huh? It's a bit strange, don't you come here often, what's your kid's name?"

"Yes, the younger ones are Erji, Fu Erji. My family is dying. If it wasn't for relatives helping me, I would have starved to death on the street. I wouldn't even be able to smoke hemp leaf hookah."

"The one behind is my brother. The two of us usually play well, so come and walk around."

As he said that, Fu Yu showed the guard guard the old wounds in his eyes. He was dressed like a street hooligan with a rascal expression on his face. Continue chatting outside the polo field.

"I think you have the hands of a pair of Lianjiazi."

The hearty porter soldier replied.

"Yes, the younger one is that I often practiced two tricks with others. I used to know two soldiers at the blacksmith camp. They often played polo together on the small school grounds. The first time they played, they blinded a green-headed soldier. , and then started talking blindly with people.”

"Our land is not good. Look, it is a circle shorter than the surrounding land boundary. The circle is not round, and the square is not square. The things seen in the eyes are all inclined. Everyone comes from different places. It doesn’t look like everything looks the same.”

"However, I heard that it has been like this since the previous dynasty. When there is rain in the sky, there will be water here, and the surrounding area will be half a foot below us. When we look around, we have to put our feet on the ground to see the truth. This place is also half a foot like a human dwarf, like a slave."

The doorman thought about it but said another sentence.

"Hey, what are you looking for here?"

"I'm looking for another child. This child is very strange. He stole my brother's and my money bag half a month ago, so I want to ask around here."

"Strange kid? What does it look like? Speaking of which, I seem to have seen one near here a long time ago."

"Oh, where?"

"At the back of the stable about eight days ago, there was a disheveled little hairy kid, and he was hiding there, squatting on the ground and crying non-stop. Several people went up to catch him. When he saw him, he stumbled and crawled on the ground. , I don’t know where he went that night.”

"The strangest thing is that when I went up to catch him, I found that he was a deformed boy missing one hand and one foot. There was only a section of the right leg in the old clothes. I don't know if it is. I was crushed by some car."

Duan Xiao could clearly hear these words from behind Fu Yu, and the two looked at each other silently, but they could see something strange in each other's eyes.

Missing an arm and a leg, and crying loudly behind the stable, this is a clue.

In particular, after hearing what the gatekeeper said, Fu Yu and Duan Xiao realized that the ground height of the polo field is really different from that of the other surrounding residential buildings, and it is easy to cause visual errors.

An oblique viewing angle will make the original shape not the original shape.

This statement is also very strange when you think about it carefully.

You can see that a circle is not a circle, and a square is not a square.

So if the "circle" that Heyuan Gege sees is normal to ordinary people, what is it?

But it's a pity that this guard who doesn't seem to know more has no more clues to give them here, and he hasn't found any more clues about the "transparent man" incident.

Ever since, they had no choice but to come and go, and the two of them finally met one night later.

1740

Shuntianfu

On this day, if you count the days carefully, today is already the eighth day.

In the previous seven days, because the case was more complicated and weird than before, and it was difficult to find out the truth, Duan Xiao and Fu Yu each slept upside down for several nights at the Nanjun Air Force Station and Haidongqing, and they had no time to spare. Meet.

Until last night, neither of them had time to fall asleep until midnight.

Previously, both Duan Xiao and Fu Yu were using their own hands to find out the key issue before and after the disappearance of He Yuan Gege, but once they encountered it today, the two of them didn't have the time to talk about their children like ordinary people Long love.

Because it was late at night outside, the two found a place where there was no one and sat down on the same mat.

In the middle of the night, the sky was very dark, but when the man appeared, Fu Yu still saw Duan Xiao waiting for him in the dark.

"Treading—" There was a sound of horseshoes.

When Fu Yu dismounted, he beckoned to the figure not far away, Duan Xiao also looked up and saw him, and then the two came to a place and dismounted the two horses, but at this time, there was a man wearing a A burly old man with a flowered face on his head crown set up a stage on the front doorway to sing.

What is sung in the mouth is a famous play - "Wen Zhaoguan".

*【'A round of bright moon shines in front of the window,'】

['The heart of a worried person is like an arrow piercing through. ']

【'I really hope to borrow troops from the state of Wu to return,'】

['Who knows that Zhaoguan has blocked it. ']

The voice of the old man singing on the stage is not too far or close to the two of them.

He took down the saddle with one hand, fastened the dark incense and the plum blossom drunk at the entrance of the alley, and turned back. Fu Yu's black uniform, which he hadn't even had time to change before he came from the falconry, appeared in Duan again. owl body.

The two people's shoulders are next to each other, but their bodies seem to grow together naturally.

It was very cold, and I sat in front of the threshold of the House of Internal Affairs to eat a very dishonest meal. This time, I ate a bowl of hot haggis.

This soup with a strong smell is also soaked with small pieces of steamed buns and pancakes, which is generally loved by the common people.

But for the two of them, it was a delicious meal at night, and they were also listening to the music here, and when the old man who won applause from the stage sang here, his voice was already very loud. came once.

【'Since you came to save me sincerely,'】

['Why is the seven days not comprehensive? ']

It's a coincidence that the sad lyrics in the mouth of the old student who is still babbling all the time should be said to be suitable for the occasion.

The seven days sung in the play refers to the fact that Wu Zixu was unable to escape to Zhaoguan during the Spring and Autumn Period. He was arrested by thieves before the pass and could not pass. Bai, didn't it just verify the scene in front of the two of them.

"... coveting wealth and honor and harming me, you should take me and offer Zhaoguan."

At that moment, Fu Yu raised his head and followed in a low voice excitedly, then leaned on the stone lion at the back of the stone steps, and then he asked Duan Xiao to sit in the shelter for a while, and then stretched out his hand. His palms were not warm, so he withdrew his hand and put on his clothes.

Then, each of the two people held the hot mutton soup with the bottom of the bowl in one hand, and the white steam in the bowl was about to rise to the sky, and they talked about the large rolled up map of the capital on the ground. down to business.

Right now, because once everyone wants to find the only remaining breakthrough in this case.

Nothing more than the last two roads to go.

One, continue to trace the whereabouts of the 'transparent man' beggar, even if there are only bones left, or even very few bones, but as long as he exists, there is a chance to find the source.

But the problem with this path is that this transparent person is nameless and unknown.

Then there is basically no possibility of finding such a person who died without a trace.

And the second is to unravel what the mysterious 'circle' means.

But this sentence—"I am in the 'circle'" is a strange puzzle hidden behind.

It seems that no one can completely decipher the meaning of what is hidden. This also makes Fu Yu and Duan Xiao have to return the case to the first layer after a lapse of many days.

It just has to be said that the messy map of the capital that Fu Yu and Duan Xiao had drawn together on the mat in front of the two of them looked a little different from the usual general map of the capital.

As far as the eye can see, on this map of the capital that was altered by the two of them is a circle made by Duan Ou's hand holding a rule tied with a rope on one side. They folded and rolled the paper, and some paste used to paste the surface of the paper.

[○]

This is a hollow circle drawn on the entire map of the capital.

What is the specific relationship with the case, but I have to talk about the disappearance of Heyuan Gege at the beginning and a call for help from the dark net.

Because the only clue in front of me is the sentence left by Heyuan Gege - I am in the 'circle'.

But what exactly "circle" refers to is that even the most experienced investigators of the Ministry of Criminal Justice have not fully figured out after many days.

At first, everyone took it as a reminder about the reference objects around a certain missing place, and searched for it in Shuntian Mansion, but unfortunately, in the end, they searched all the buildings in the capital related to circles, such as bells and drums, such as With round temples, teahouse walls are all unearned.

But just from the general literal meaning, this 'circle' should refer to a kind of figure.

What it usually refers to is, a flat object that refers to a shape.

"As we all know, the development of mathematics in this dynasty is limited to a miscellaneous science other than the imperial examination. The past dynasties only knew numbers but not shapes, so graphic mathematics has always been a subject until the previous dynasty, that is, the late Ming Dynasty. Few people dabble."

"But there is a turning point in the development of graphics mathematics. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, some overseas students from Western countries began to come to China to start preaching, and after entering the academic atmosphere of the court, Xu Guangqi, a famous courtier of the Ming Dynasty, began to come into contact with Graphical Mathematics."

"This Xu Guangqi was born in the late Ming Dynasty. He was an official to the Chongzhen Dynasty, Minister of Rites and a scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion. He was also a Western Christian."

At the moment, the allusion mentioned by Fu Yu, who was propping his head up, is known to both of them, but if you want to talk about why the life of Xu Guangqi from the previous court brought a turning point to the case, Duan Xiao's next explanation also tells another story. A layer of mystery.

"Well, but in this dynasty, foreign teachers had their own religions because Tibet, Hui, and Mongolia had their own religions, and the imperial court did not support them, so they did not spread widely. However, in the previous dynasty, Xu Guangqi used this method to spread a doctrine It has been personally translated and brought to the land of the former dynasty, that is, geometry."

The assumption in Duan Xiao’s mouth was based on the fact that he and Fu Yu had spent seven days trying to decipher the ‘○’ itself. At first, the two of them had the same thinking as others, thinking that once the ‘circle’ represented the angle of view, then it It should be a plane in itself.

But the figure of the circle, in geometry, really makes it a very special place that can be used as a distress code. In fact, there is another point.

That is, in a more special case, it can not only express a plane, but also a three-dimensional. Therefore, there may be another possibility, that is, what He Yuan refers to is not the circle that most people think, but the circle. one--

"This is it."

"Cylinder or cone."

As they said that, the two of them withdrew their hands together, because the two pieces of paper were rolled up, one into a column and the other like a vertebra, and it happened to be able to stand on the ground.

What's more intuitive is that when the light above the two of them falls, behind them, although these two objects are not 'round' in the conventional sense, their sides are real, the one that all parties in the court have been looking for.

--'round'.

As for the column-like cone-like pillars and cone-like buildings that can be perfectly found on the map after being locked for seven days by them, they finally confirmed that they have a major suspicion. The central part of the capital - Daming Hao.

……

Where is Daming Hao?

From the outside, it looks like a cylinder, the spire is a cone, built with bricks and stones, connected to the bottom, and a Haokou ditch that also leads to the moat.

According to some historical data found by the Ministry of Industry, in the previous dynasty, the upper reaches of the Jinshui River stopped flowing, and the river channel gradually became a drainage channel. It began to be called Xiheyan.

In terms of the actual location of Daming Hao, it starts from the cross bridge inside Xizhimen in the north.

Then along the terrain of high north and low south of the capital, from north to south, it flows through Zhaodengyu Road, Baitasi intersection, Taipingqiao Street, turns east and passes in front of Zhongmen, then turns south, passes through Shuntianfu Inner Street, and then Along Tonglinge Road, it flows south from the Xiangfang Bridge west of Xuanwumen into the moat outside the south wall of the inner city.

Its final destination is the underground under the moat, and Daming Hao is the main drainage channel running through the west of the inner city of the capital. In order to ensure smooth drainage during the rainy season, people are sent to dredge and clear the silt every spring. The stench is smoky, and people call it a stinky half city.

"A place like this is perfect for killing people and getting dead."

"And do you remember the original record about the dark net in the Song Dynasty? This is not Bianjing, and there is no worry-free cave, but it is also an imperial city. No one can guarantee whether there will be any secrets hidden underground."

"Well, so, this is the place, but what did you say about the street child with no hands and no feet in the soldier's mouth?"

Duan Xiao looked at Fu Yu again as he spoke.

"I don't know, but we can follow the place pointed by this 'circle' to find out if there are any clues left eight days ago."

"..."

"Okay, then go have a look."

This conclusion, both Fu Yu and Duan Xiao agree with it.

So at night, without thinking about finding someone to go with them first, in order to first verify the final result of their all-night pondering, Duan Xiao, who changed into a new outfit, rode a horse with Fu Yu and walked quickly in the inner city, the sound of horseshoes Pass the Yanbian market road.

"Drive, drive!"

In time for the curfew, in order to hurry up, Fu Yu and Duan Xiao held the reins with one hand and walked on the side of the horse, occasionally wearing winter clothes on the front, and the people in the small round hats walked quickly in front of the horse, which seemed to be busy in the world live.

Immediately, the destination of the two people who walked around the city this time - Daming Hao.

And one piece cautiously checked the surrounding environment first, and considered that there are often foul smells and silty sewage in the depths of such ditches. If you go in without authorization, there may even be an open fire/explosion caused by excessive pressure gas, or it may be infected by sewage. risks of.

When they came to verify this, the two of them only took out the cloth towels they had brought, smoked them with spirits to wrap their mouths and noses, and blew out the fire sticks they brought together.

From the back of the houses near the intersection of Baita Temple, pry open the stone canals and embankments covered with bricks, stones, mud and water.

Fu Yu and Duan Xiao jumped into the bottom all at once.

Waiting to stagger together in such a weird and strange place, only the sound of the wind from above can be heard in the dark surroundings.

And the two of them had just ventured into the bottom, and had just crossed a creek, when they heard the sound of air flow ahead, and the water flow under their feet that was only above the ankles seemed to start to rise.

"This seems to be the fixed drainage time of Haodi."

As he spoke, Fu Yu raised his head and touched the brick wall above with his hands.

"Well, let's move on."

In the darkness, Duan Xiao also replied in the same way.

If it wasn't for the two of them, it would be full of danger to put it on someone else, but these two people who have always been between life and death are also used to it, so under this premise, they continued to grope in the dark as much as possible Break in step by step.

And although they had already been mentally prepared, when they entered the interior and felt the water level rise a little bit, considering the winter, they needed a little buffer to move on, so the two of them started to stand next to each other with their own body strength.

In this regard, Duan Junji and Master Fucha didn't need to explain too much to each other, they held each other and continued to move forward.

But it's winter, it's already freezing cold, what's going on in the world is that two people are warmer together, but it's also at this last moment that the two of them feel that the distance between their hearts seems to be getting closer again up.

So they are obviously two men who shouldn't be fooling around together.

In this 'water dungeon' where the safety line keeps sliding down due to changes in the water level, the bodies of the two of them overflowed to the ground from time to time as if they couldn't be put into the water.

At that time, it was already dead of night.

Amidst the indistinct sound of splashing water, the clothes and boots of the two of them were soaked to the waist and back. The water rushing from the front was sometimes intense, and sometimes it stopped and slowed down with a certain frequency.

The sudden flow of water was happier, and when Duan Xiao, whose mind was already blank as if being burned by fire, was forced to lean against the wall, he only felt that a guy who would always go crazy with him hugged him.

Like two wild horses with such natures, they always like to run amok. It seems that only such unscrupulous appearance is like the style of the two.

The bodies of the two who were already similar overlapped at this moment.

The back of Fu Yu's neck, which was faintly exposed, still had an old injury left over from before, so the two of them could only hug each other more tightly under this premise.

But then, Duan Xiao touched his back with some hands, and got the most direct response from Fu Yu, so he couldn't help but raised his head and responded to him, and the two continued to stand next to each other. climbed a long way up.

But when they climbed together and continued upward, when they approached the depths, it was obviously cold at night, and it was unknown when it was outside, and both of them felt that there was an unknown fire in their chests that could not go down.

Not to mention, the panting and physical entanglement of the two close at hand still reminded them where they were.

"I really should change the time or come with my partner."

That bastard Fu Yu started to say something.

"What do you mean."

Duan Xiao and he are pretending here with their eyes open.

"What do you mean by me? You are my heart, and I will not protect you or anyone else."

Fu Yu bowed his head and said this.

"Shut up, Fucha Fuyu."

This kind of remark is actually similar to his situation. Duan Xiao, whose wet clothes could barely cover him, choked him. Fu Yu was just making trouble with him, so he lowered his head and laughed, and then the two of them calmed down together. Then go up against the wall and escape together.

And just when they advanced for about half an hour, they saw a stone cover appearing in front of them, and when they continued to go in and needed to open this place, they suddenly heard that there seemed to be some strange things blocked inside, and they were hit again and again. At the same time, the velocity of the water changed unnaturally over the stone cover.

"—!"

This time, the water seemed to be turbulent.

"Grab."

"There seems to be something wrong in front, let's go up."

Seeing this, Fu Yu realized something was wrong. Seeing that the iron gate of Daming Hao, which was filled with sewage and river mud under the entire imperial city, was forced out of the gate under the pressure of the ground, he turned his head and said something. .

In this regard, Duan Xiao, who looked up, jumped up and down together with him, and each used one arm to grab the cast iron handle of the ditch on the top of the Daming Moor, and looked forward, but saw a floating ditch that seemed to be floating thousands of miles away. Tens of thousands of foul-smelling river bottom floats flowed out along the feet of the two——

Bubbles on the surface of the dark sewage river, buried with countless sins, burst 'gudong' and 'gudong'.

But there seems to be something creepier underground.

And for a moment, everything obsessed at the bottom of the river reflected the dark eyes of the two people who were hanging on the top with one hand and narrowly escaped being swept out and drowned by fate.

"I'll go down first."

"Don't touch the water."

Taking the first step, Fu Yu put his feet against the wall and turned forward. Regardless of the dirt in the water, he jumped down and stepped into the sewage that was almost up to his waist. On the shoulder, he just stretched out one of his arms and stabbed it hard——

"thump--"

The surface of the water was smashed and then plunged into the depths with a sudden sound.

Pieces of black mud that had accumulated and settled on the bottom layer seemed to be scattered into balls of quicksand, billowing and drifting away. Fu Yu, whose mouth and nose were covered, had red eyes a little stimulated by the foul-smelling water, and his hands were gone. met at the same time

He felt what was in the ground.

In fact, the touch of the palm of his hand made Fu Yu judge that it was a leg bone that was completely skeletalized after the death of animals such as cattle and sheep.

"Ayu."

Duan Xiao, who was holding on to the top, realized that things had changed. He frowned and wanted to go down and pull him, but before he got close to the water under his feet, Fu Yu, who had stopped him from approaching this ghostly place from the beginning to the end, had already seen clearly what was going on underneath. What is it.

"and many more."

"Don't come down yet!"

In an instant, Fu Yu, who was just on his way, suddenly turned his head and stopped him. He had never spoken so heavily to Duan Xiao, but Fu Yu who suddenly uttered a stop from his throat like this stopped, with a bit of coldness piercing his bones. He lowered his head in sweat, but only saw something sinking in the translucent black water.

It was at the bottom of a river, surrounded by densely packed white skeletons around Fu Yu.

But this skeleton doesn't look like an adult's, it looks like a child who hasn't grown up.

It turned out that the secrets buried under the Daming Hall were those who died under the Daming Hall due to various unknown reasons, dripping wet, greasy, with human hairs hanging from them. of--

—the heads of hundreds of little children.