Zhou Tong Detective Series

Chapter 46 Zhou Tong Detective Series III: Paper Burner (5)
A dark-skinned but handsome young police officer opened the door and walked in.

"Hello Chief!" The young police officer was a little shy, and after saluting the chief, he nodded to Yan Yongjie.

"Jin Dan, this is Officer Yan from the Special Criminal Investigation Team of the Ministry of Public Security." Director Pan introduced.

"Hello!" Because Yan Yongjie was wearing casual clothes, she generously extended her hand to the police officer named Jin Dan.

Jin Dan's face flushed, and he shook Yan Yongjie's hand in a panic.

"Jin Dan, take a look, do you know this place?" Director Pan said and handed Yan Yongjie the note to him.

Jin Dan took the note, picked it up and looked at it, his expression changed slightly, but he quickly returned to normal, almost didn't think about it, and then said: "Director, I...don't know about this."

"That's it." Director Pan also showed a disappointed expression on his face, "Officer Yan, it seems that this matter needs further investigation. Don't worry, I will arrange someone to follow up."

Jin Dan's weird reaction did not escape Yan Yongjie's eyes, but she didn't say it on the spot, she just nodded and said, "Thank you so much Director Pan, I'll take my leave first."

When Jin Dan was full of worries and came out of the Public Security Bureau building in a panic, he saw Yan Yongjie, a beautiful policewoman standing under a big tree not far away.

Jin Dan pressed down the hat on his head, lowered his head, pretended not to see Yan Yongjie, and hurried away to the other side.

"Are you going to leave like this?" Yan Yongjie shouted loudly behind him.

Jin Dan had to stop, turned around, and said with some embarrassment: "Ah, Officer Yan... hello..."

"Officer Jin, I believe you already know about my friend's disappearance."

"Yeah." Jin Dan nodded.

"I hope you can help me." Yan Yongjie looked at Jin Dan with anticipation in his eyes, making it hard to refuse.

Jin Dan looked at Yan Yongjie, his face turned red for a while, and his forehead was sweating faintly. It seemed that after a fierce ideological struggle, he finally bit his lips and said, "Don't you think this is a trap?"

"I know this must be a trap, but it's the only clue I can find him so far!" Yan Yongjie said firmly.

"Come with me." Jin Dan looked around, and after seeing that there was no one else, he led Yan Yongjie to his residence.

The dormitory where Jin Dan lives is not big, but the layout of the living room is very distinctive. The walls are covered with various Miao family handicrafts and some folk paintings, giving people a simple and elegant feeling.

But Yan Yongjie had no time to appreciate it, she sat opposite Jin Dan and looked at him anxiously.

Jin Dan poured himself a glass of white wine, took a sip, moistened his throat, and said in a low voice: "You know what? In our place, if there are children who are naughty and disobedient, the adults will say to the children ' If you don’t obey me again, I’ll send you to Wuzhai!’ Wuzhai has always been a terrifying and mysterious place among the Miao people in western Hunan.”

"Is Wu Village a legend, or is there really such a Miao Village?" Yan Yongjie asked impatiently.

Jin Dan didn't speak, but took another sip of wine, was silent for a moment, and then slowly said: "Yes, but no one knows its exact location, and no one dares to look for it."

"Why must you have such a place that you have never been to?" Yan Yongjie was a little confused.

Jin Dan hesitated for a moment, but said helplessly, "Do you know why I denied knowing Wuzhai in Director Pan's office?"

"There should be unavoidable reasons."

"If I had said I knew then what I would have said would have been appalling, and as a police officer, that was not the occasion for me to say that."

"Whether it's appalling or not, I still want to know." Yan Yongjie held firm.

"Here, it doesn't matter." Jin Dan patted his head embarrassingly, "If you believe it, believe it, if you don't believe it, just pretend it's me telling a story."

Yan Yongjie smiled slightly upon hearing this.

"Actually, I used to regard Wuzhai as a story, but until ten years ago..." Jin Dan paused here, recalling the scene ten years ago, the muscles in the corners of his eyes couldn't help twitching, "I I remember that day, the school informed me to go to the county high school to receive the admission letter. I was really excited at that time. In Qingshuizhai, I became the first Miao child to go to high school. My classmates were still in the restaurant near the school that day In the village, we held a special cocktail party. Everyone was crazy and noisy, and the drinking didn't end until after [-] o'clock in the evening. Taking advantage of the wine, I refused the retention of my classmates. Everyone was happy for me. However, because I drank too much at the time, even though I was so familiar with the mountain road, I actually took the wrong path. I walked for more than three hours, but I still haven’t Walked. At that time, it was past eleven o'clock in the evening. I was standing in a completely unfamiliar mountain forest, with the cold wind blowing, and the wine was sober. In this vast mountain jungle, I dare not continue to wander around , so I decided to find a place to lie down first, and wait until dawn before finding the way out. But at this moment, I saw a faint fire in the distant forest. I thought it was someone from the mountains, so I immediately thought Run to where there is fire."

Having said that, Jin Dan picked up the wine glass and took another big sip, his face was already turning rosy.

Yan Yongjie didn't interrupt, she looked at Jin Dan quietly, she knew that what Jin Dan was going to say next was the key.

"When I walked through the jungle, what I saw was not the house I imagined at all, but a wooden house on fire, and there were several girls crying for help from the house. I didn't have time to think about it at the time, and immediately I rushed in and snatched a girl out of the fire, but when I tried to rush in to find other people, the house had already collapsed." Jin Dan couldn't help but sigh when he recalled the scene at that time.

"Do you remember the situation of the rescued girl?" Yan Yongjie asked.

"She was about twelve or thirteen years old, when I hugged her, she just said something like 'Wuzhai...don't believe them...Wuzhai...the paper man is coming...'" .I thought she was burnt, so I took out the water bag I hung around my waist and poured water into her mouth. She finally woke up a little bit, but when she just woke up, she stared at her in horror. I, no, should be looking behind me. She slowly raised a hand, stretched out a finger, and pointed at the back of my head firmly!" Jin Dan opened his mouth and poured out the last bit of wine in the glass. After pouring it down, although it took a long time, it still seemed to happen before my eyes, "I saw her strange expression, and couldn't help turning my head slowly, I saw... saw...a paper figure, it... ...It actually stood beside the collapsed wooden house behind me, with a strange smile..."

When Jin Dan said this, his face was pale and his breathing was short, as if the terrifying paper man was right in front of him.

"Did you really see it?" Yan Yongjie felt chills when he heard this.

"I also thought it was my eyesight, so I tried to go up to see what happened, but the little girl hugged me tightly and said loudly in my ear, 'Wu Village, go Wuzhai!', I had no choice but to turn around and ask her: "Where is Wuzhai?", but she just kept trembling all over, as if possessed by an evil spirit, and kept spitting foam from her mouth, frightened. I was at a loss for what to do, for fear that she would die immediately, so I hugged her and said loudly: "What's your name, where is your home? Hold on, I'll take you back!"." At this time, Jin Dan's forehead was already sweating Come.

"Did she say it?" Yan Yongjie couldn't help becoming nervous.

Jin Dan took a deep breath and continued: "Her hands tightly grabbed my arm, her nails almost pierced into my flesh, pulling me, and she kept repeating something, I bent down, Putting my ear up, I finally heard her say 'Ai Chen'."

"What did you say?" Yan Yongjie stood up abruptly.

Jin Dan obviously did not expect Yan Yongjie to have such a reaction, and was stunned for a moment.

"What did you say the girl's name was?"

"She... she said Ai Chen."

"you sure?"

Jin Dan nodded very positively.

"What happened to her after that?"

"After repeating the name 'Ai Chen' several times, she died!" Jin Dan said regretfully.

"Impossible!" Yan Yongjie sat down on the chair weakly, staring at Jin Dan with a surprised face.

Episode 7 Reunion

If Zhou Tong is asked to say what he hates the most, he will definitely say it is the boundless primitive jungle. If he is asked what he hates most in the primitive jungle, then he will definitely say those strange insects .

Zhou Tong has been scurrying around like a headless chicken in this primeval jungle for four or five hours, but he still can't get out. On him, it's not too bothersome.

But it was hunger and fatigue that finally stopped him.

"How did that guy Robinson survive?" Zhou Tong sat down under a big tree, complaining to himself, why didn't he read that novel carefully, at least write down how Robinson found food s things.

The most hateful thing is that the eccentric young Miao family ran away after saying a lot of things that Zhou Tong couldn't understand. If he was there, maybe he could take himself out.Thinking of this, Zhou Tong picked up a dead branch and broke it severely.

"Has it really been a week?" Zhou Tong thought of the words of the young man from the Miao family and lost his mind for a moment.

Chen Xiang, who was hanged, suddenly appeared as a young man from the Miao family. Is it a coincidence, or was it deliberately arranged?

The heart-wrenching Gu, the paper figurines... those shocking words spoken by the young people of the Miao family, are they true or false?
Who was Ai Chen with and where did she go?
Where is Chen Xiang's grandmother, where is she?
……

Many questions kept circling in Zhou Tong's mind. Originally, he came to find Ai Chen, but things became more and more complicated, and even a murder case occurred, which he never expected.

"No matter what, you have to get out of here before you can find out the truth!" Zhou Tong tried to cheer up.

But cheer up, how to get out of this vast jungle, Zhou Tong has no choice.

Zhou Tong, who was hesitating in which direction to continue to walk, suddenly saw a bright light, and there seemed to be a figure flashing past in the bushes in front of him.

Zhou Tong didn't have time to think about it, and immediately ran in the direction where the figure flashed by.

Running in the jungle was not an easy task, the thorns were densely covered, the bushes were overgrown, Zhou Tong's clothes and even his skin were scratched a lot, with bloodshot streaks, it could be said that he was in a terrible state of embarrassment.

But Zhou Tong ignored it completely, because the appearance of this mysterious person might be his only hope to leave the jungle.

"Stop! Don't run!" Zhou Tong shouted desperately while chasing.

But the man didn't stop, but disappeared from Zhou Tong's sight at a faster speed.

Zhou Tong rushed through a dense forest lying in front of him with all his strength, but no one was seen behind the lush leaves.Looking around, it turned out to be silent.

"Zhou Tong!"

From behind Zhou Tong came Ai Chen's shrill cry.

"Ai Chen!" Zhou Tong turned around abruptly, but saw no one, only the breeze caressed and the leaves swayed.

"Zhou Tong." The voice came from behind again.

This time Zhou Tong didn't look back immediately, but clenched his fists tightly, and a drop of cold sweat slid down his forehead.

After about five or six seconds, the "Zhou Tong" sounded again in the jungle, and this time it was completely impossible to determine where the sound came from.

Zhou Tong calmed down now, just stood quietly, looking around, looking for the source of the sound.

"Zhou Tong." This call actually occurs every five or six seconds, quite regularly, and the sound level and emotion are exactly the same.

Zhou Tong stood there for about 5 minutes, and finally stepped out straight, and then stopped in front of a clump of weeds, bent down, and stretched out his hands to grope in the grass.

When Zhou Tong stood up, there was something extra in his hand, which was a miniature tape recorder.

In the primitive jungle, this miniature tape recorder just lay in Zhou Tong's hands, playing Ai Chen's shrill voice repeatedly and strangely...

After Yan Yongjie was shocked, she quickly calmed down. Even if everything Jin Dan said was true, it might just be two people with the same name.On the one hand, she asked Jin Dan to take her to the scene of the crime, and on the other hand, she notified her colleagues in the special criminal investigation team to investigate Ai Chen who graduated from Neptune University in detail.

The fire more than ten years ago was full of strange and mysterious colors, but the police at the time believed that it was an accident. Three children played with fire in the abandoned wooden house and lost their lives.No one believed what Jin Dan said about Wuzhai and the paper figurine, most people thought he was drunk and talking nonsense.Facing the reality, Jin Dan had no choice but to choose silence.

The three people who died in the fire were all local orphans, so the handling of the incident became extremely simple.The three corpses were hastily buried, not even a tombstone, but a simple grave mound.

Jin Dan could never forget the scene at that time all his life, and would go to the grave every year to pay homage during Qingming.There was a trace of guilt in his heart, and he often thought that if he was not drunk, he might be able to rescue the three children.Of course, he was more puzzled and fearful about this past event.

Yan Yongjie followed Jin Dan into a primeval jungle, and after a lot of hard work, they came to the graves of the three girls, which was the place where the fire broke out ten years ago.

There were only a few rotten and pitch-black wooden posts left in the wooden house, and weeds were growing all around. If it wasn't for Jin Dan's identification, if you didn't pay attention, you might have missed it.

The tomb is not far from the wooden pile, because Jin Dan will come to clean it when he is free, so the place is still tidy and not overwhelmed by weeds.

While recalling what Jin Dan said, Yan Yongjie slowly looked around carefully.

"Didn't the fire reach the nearby woods?" Yan Yongjie asked suddenly.

Sure enough, as Yan Yongjie said, the trees in the surrounding area are at least several decades old. It is inconceivable that there are no seedlings in the surrounding area in such a big fire.

Jin Dan seemed to have known that Yan Yongjie would ask such a question a long time ago, so he was not too surprised, but said: "Not at all, the fire is very strange. Although the wind is very strong at night, the fire is always only burning in a limited area next to the wooden house. There were sparks splashing out, but they did not ignite the nearby woods."

"When you discovered such a situation at the time, didn't you think it was very unreasonable?"

"I didn't realize this at the time." Jin Dan sighed, "It was only after I calmed down and reviewed all the details of that night that I discovered this strange thing."

"Someone must have tampered with it!" Yan Yongjie would not believe in ghosts and gods.

Jin Dan casually pulled up a weed beside him, and said a little discouraged: "Actually, I have been investigating this matter for the past ten years, but found nothing!"

Yan Yongjie looked at Jin Dan's haggard look, and felt a little sympathetic to him. After all, ten years ago, he was just a big boy, and he was helpless when he encountered such a thing, so he smiled and comforted him and said, "You are still a policeman now. Don’t be discouraged, the truth will always come to light one day.”

Looking at Yan Yongjie's beautiful face and sunny smile, Jin Dan felt a strange feeling in his heart, and his face blushed unconsciously.

Yan Yongjie didn't pay attention to the change of Jin Dan's expression. She thought of Zhou Tong's safety, and her heart was in a mess again.

"Don't worry, your friend will be fine!" Seeing the worried expression on Yan Yongjie's face, Jin Dan felt jealous towards the missing man.

"Wuzhai, will Zhou Tong be there?" Yan Yongjie looked at the high mountains in the distance, and said to herself in a daze.

(End of this chapter)