Zhou Tong Detective Series

Chapter 60 Zhou Tong Detective Series III: Paper Burner (19)
"You can continue to keep silent, but this symptom will flare up every six hours in the future, and each time will get longer and longer." Grandma said looking at Zhou Tong who was still lying on the ground panting.

"You...what the hell...are you injecting me with?" Zhou Tong hugged his body with both hands, rolled into a ball on the ground, his voice was still trembling slightly.

Grandma gave a dark smile.

"The Miao people call it a Gu, but after our scientific improvement, it is now a very effective biological medicine."

"Gu? Is there really such a thing?" Zhou Tong felt a little unbelievable, and asked to himself.

Grandma didn't answer his question, but just let out a cold "hum" and said, "Who told you to come to Ai Chen?"

Zhou Tong still kept his head buried and did not speak, but his mind was still clear. It seemed that everything was closely related to Ai Chen.But she is just a magazine editor who just graduated from university, how could these people care so much, there must be a lot of articles in it.I'm afraid I will suffer if I keep pretending to be deaf and dumb. That taste is really more painful than death, but how should I say it?

"It doesn't matter if you don't want to say it now, you will beg me to listen to you soon." Grandma didn't press Zhou Tong anymore, she gave him a disdainful look, then left him and walked out.

The door was tightly locked, and Zhou Tong was the only one left in the sealed room.He struggled to get up slowly, but his body was still very weak, and the extremely painful feeling just now made his body tremble uncontrollably.

But fortunately, Zhou Tong's consciousness is still very clear, he observes the surroundings carefully, thinking about the way out from here.The only door here is locked from the outside, no matter how superb the lockpicking skills are, it won't help.There is a vent on the ceiling, but with my current physical condition, it is difficult to even stand up, let alone climb such a high vent.

Zhou Tong looked left and right, finally sighed, and gave up the plan to escape.The only thing we can do now is to quickly make up a story to deal with the old witch, otherwise when the time comes, I'm afraid... Zhou Tong couldn't help shivering when he thought of the scene he had just experienced.

Just as he was concentrating on making up the story, a "rustling" sound suddenly came from the vent that was out of reach for him.

Zhou Tong raised his head and looked at the vent curiously.

Soon there was another "clang" sound, and as the protective net of the vent was pushed away, a beautiful figure jumped down.

"Chen Xiang! You..." Before Zhou Tong could close his mouth in surprise, Chen Xiang's soft hand covered his mouth, and something sweet like candy was stuffed into Zhou Tong's mouth.

At this time, Chen Xiang had already taken off her white coat and put on a set of Miao costumes.

"Don't ask anything, the old witch has already delivered the goods, you put on your clothes first, we'll talk after we run out." Chen Xiang put her mouth next to Zhou Tong's ear and said.

Zhou Tong looked at Chen Xiang, although he was a little dubious, but finally nodded.

Chen Xiang carefully let go of Zhou Tong, handed him the clothes in his hand, then turned around and gently pushed the bed under the vent.

"Are you feeling better?" Chen Xiang helped Zhou Tong up from the ground.

Zhou Tong took a deep breath, and sure enough, he gradually felt that his body was much better than before, and his strength gradually recovered.

"I seem to have recovered."

"Don't be too happy, this 'candy' can only make you okay temporarily."

"Candy? This is the 'candy' that the old witch just said? Then what do you do?"

"This is not a place to chat, let's go out and talk."

After Chen Xiang finished speaking, she jumped onto the bed first, and then climbed up the vent.

Zhou Tong stretched his limbs and crawled in behind Chen Xiang.

The ventilation ducts lead in all directions, but fortunately, Chen Xiang is very familiar with it, leading Zhou Tong to shuttle through the ducts as usual.

"Let's go down here, be careful." Chen Xiang stopped in front of a vent, turned around and told Zhou Tong.

Zhou Tong didn't know why Chen Xiang had such a sudden change, but judging from the current situation, he had no choice but to trust her, so he nodded obediently.

Chen Xiang was not in a hurry to go down, but observed for a while, and after confirming that there was no one else below, she carefully pushed open the protective net of the vent.

The two climbed down from the vent one after the other.

This room seemed to be a sundry room, full of messy things, but the most eye-catching thing was a somewhat tattered and blackened paper figure.

The paper figurine was about the size of a real person, leaning crookedly against the wall. Although it looked old, it was still exquisite.Its face was painted with a brush, with black eyes, pink cheeks, and scarlet mouth, which made people feel a little scary.

"This is..." Zhou Tong patted the paper figurine curiously.

"It's for them to scare people." Chen Xiang seemed to relax a lot when she came here, she lifted up the paper figurine as she spoke, and put it on herself.

The bottom of the paper man turned out to be empty, and a person could get in.

"It turns out that what the courier company said was true, it seems that the person who sent me the letter played this trick." Zhou Tong suddenly realized.

Chen Xiang got out of the paper figurine again, as if she was a little suffocated inside, she took a breath and said: "Yes, I am the one who sent you the letter."

There was no surprise on Zhou Tong's face, he had thought of this a long time ago.

"What is your relationship with Ai Chen, and why did you bring me here?"

"Don't ask now, I will tell you slowly when I get to a safe place." Chen Xiang took Zhou Tong's hand and walked into the room.

When the two of them reached the end of the room, a sewer appeared under their feet.

"Drilling again?" Zhou Tong felt that he was about to become a mouse.

"If you don't want to drill, stay here and continue to accompany the old witch."

"You call her old witch too?" Zhou Tong had already called her hundreds of times in her heart.

Chen Xiang's face turned serious when he heard the words, and said quietly: "She is a person more terrifying than a witch."

"Then if you do this, aren't you afraid of her..." Zhou Tong looked at Chen Xiang and said meaningfully.

"Afraid? I have nothing to be afraid of." There was something stronger than fear in Chen Xiang's eyes, that was grief and anger.

Zhou Tong didn't ask any more questions, and lifted the lid of the sewer by himself.

The sewer is not wide enough to allow the next person to walk on his knees, but the strange thing is that there is no water in it, but the stench is still pungent.

Chen Xiang jumped down without fear, while Zhou Tong took a deep breath, covered his nose and followed.

The sewer was pitch black, but fortunately there was no sidewalk, so the two kept crawling with their bodies bowed.Chen Xiang is fine, but Zhou Tong seems to have been in a coma for too long, neither eating nor drinking, and after such a toss, the whole person is dizzy, relying on willpower to barely sustain.

Fortunately, the sewer is not very long, the two of them climbed for about half an hour, and finally saw the exit.

"The river below is poisonous. When you jump down, you must hold your breath. Don't drink the water." Chen Xiang squatted at the exit of the sewer, telling Zhou Tong with a serious expression.

Zhou Tong is still very confident in her water quality, and is not worried about choking on the water.

Chen Xiang didn't say any more, drew a beautiful arc, and plunged into the river.

Zhou Tong originally wanted to jump down in a similar manner, but when he got to the edge, he hesitated for a while, and finally pinched his nose with one hand and covered his mouth with the other, and jumped down with his eyes closed like an object falling from a height.

When Zhou Tong emerged from the water, Chen Xiang was already standing on the bank waiting for him.

"Grandma, is this water really poisonous?" Zhou Tong swam ashore. He hadn't drank water for almost a day and a night. Suddenly he saw such a clear river, but he couldn't drink it. He was really breathless.

"If you don't believe me, you can try drinking it." Chen Xiang said while carefully wringing out the water from her hair.

Zhou Tong looked at the river and shook his head.

"No, there's not a single fish, and there's not even a bird nearby. I guess you didn't lie to me."

"You're not stupid."

"Excellent, where do we go now?"

"Go to Wuzhai."

Zhou Tong was stunned when he heard the words, but looking at Chen Xiang's expression, it didn't look like he was joking.

"Didn't we just come out of it, why did we go in again?"

"It's not going back inside, it's going up!" Chen Xiang said, pointing to the cliff behind Zhou Tong.

Only then did Zhou Tong turn her head and look in the direction of Chen Xiang's finger. As expected, a cottage loomed out of the dense fog on the top of the cliff.

"Let's go, we will sneak in after dark, the most dangerous place is also the safest place." Chen Xiang looked at Zhou Tong with deep eyes.

The night came faster than expected, and under the leadership of Chen Xiang, the two slowly approached the village.

"There are guards all around, follow me closely and don't make a sound." Chen Xiang looked a little nervous, but his movements were still very fast.

Although Zhou Tong was suffering from hunger and cold, but when she heard her say this, she still tried her best to pull herself together, not daring to be sloppy at all.

Chen Xiang deftly bypassed the sentry box and brought Zhou Tong to her room.

"There are water and dry food here, you can eat some first." Chen Xiang lit the oil lamp in the room, then found something to eat and drink and handed it to Zhou Tong.

Zhou Tong didn't have the kung fu to be polite, he almost snatched the food from Chen Xiang's hand, and ate it hungrily.

But at this moment, Chen Xiang's complexion became more and more ugly.

"What's wrong with you?" Zhou Tong put down the food in his hand.

"The medicine... the medicine has begun to take effect...you...gag my mouth...hold me tightly...don't let me make a sound..." Chen Xiang's beautiful face twisted, and she squatted down in pain.

Zhou Tong has experienced that kind of heart-piercing pain, knowing what will happen next, he was moved and worried for a while.Chen Xiang left him the rest of the "candies", but she had to endure the unspeakable torture.

"Where is there 'candy', I'll find it for you." Zhou Tong tightly hugged Chen Xiang who was struggling in pain.

"No...no..." Chen Xiang was almost hissed by the piercing pain, she bit her lips tightly with her teeth with the last remaining consciousness, and blood kept oozing from the corner of her mouth.

Zhou Tong hugged her even tighter, tangling her limbs, trying to share the pain for her, but there was nothing she could do.

Tears, tears had already blurred Zhou Tong's eyes, and he swore in his heart that no matter what organization or purpose the other party had, he must stop it.

On a cold night, the oil lamp had already been extinguished, and there were only two bodies warmed by each other, gradually falling asleep...

Chapter 21 The Book of Divine Gu
When Zhou Tong woke up, the sun just hit his face, he didn't dodge, and the sun was not as glaring as he imagined.He enjoyed this feeling very much, the gentle sunshine made people feel comfortable, as if nothing had happened, and there seemed to be a feeling of emptiness in his memory.

"Are you awake?" Chen Xiang walked in front of him with a smile, blocking the warm sunlight.

Zhou Tong looked at Chen Xiang in a daze, and his memory seemed to recover in an instant.

"Are you okay?" Zhou Tong almost bounced off the bed.

Fear and anxiety flashed in Chen Xiang's eyes, but it was only for a short moment, and soon she turned around with a smile on her face, and the Miao skirt on her body fluttered like the wings of a butterfly.

"never mind."

"That……"

"Don't worry about that, let's eat something first."

Chen Xiang pulled Zhou Tong to sit at the table.

There is a bowl of yellow soup and a plate of fried pancakes on the table.

Zhou Tong really felt a little hungry, so he took a sip of the bowl of yellow soup first.It was a little sour at the beginning, but soon there was a sweet taste again. The taste was very good, like sour plum soup, but the taste was still a little different, and I don't know what it was made of.

"This is the Miao family's sour soup, how do you feel?" Chen Xiang stood aside and asked expectantly.

"It's delicious." Zhou Tong finished the sour soup in one breath.

"Try our Miao family's fried cake again." Chen Xiang pushed the plate of fried food in front of Zhou Tong.

Zhou Tong glanced at her, smiled, then picked up a piece of fried cake and got up.

Without waiting for Chen Xiang to ask again, he quickly said: "It's delicious."

Only then did Chen Xiang sit down contentedly, and also picked up a piece of fried cake and put it in his mouth.

"You've had your fill, should you tell me everything?" Zhou Tong wiped his mouth rudely with his hand, looked at Chen Xiang and said.

Chen Xiang knew that he would ask a long time ago, so she didn't show any surprise, but continued to chew the food in her mouth, as if she didn't hear Zhou Tong's words.

Zhou Tong was not in a hurry, he began to observe the room carefully, the furnishings inside were very simple, similar to most of the houses in the Miao family village, but there was an extra signboard on the hanging beam at the door, and the signboard was also engraved with the body of a dragon A bull-headed monster.

"Isn't it special?" Chen Xiang asked suddenly.

"Yes, I've never seen this kind of totem before, it feels very evil." Zhou Tong said bluntly.

Chen Xiang smiled wryly upon hearing this.

"Ai Chen asked me to come to you and said that you are someone who can help us."

Zhou Tong listened quietly, although Chen Xiang tried to keep his tone as calm as possible, but he could still feel some expectation in Chen Xiang's heart.

"Let me tell you a long-ago story first." Chen Xiang's mood suddenly became very low, as if she didn't want to recall that long-ago past, "Ten years ago, in this dense jungle, there was a man named In the Miao village of Daqingzhai, the people there are men farming and women weaving. Although their lives are not rich, the people in Daqingzhai are very happy and content. But one day, a few people picked up a box from outside the village, and the box was engraved with looking at the monster pattern you see now."

"Then this pattern means..."

"The pattern is the symbol of Wuzhai. At that time, for all the Miao people living in this jungle, Wuzhai was the spokesperson of the devil. If anyone offended people in Wuzhai, or entered Wuzhai by mistake, there would be terror. The paper figurine brought death and fear, and ignited the flame of revenge." Chen Xiang explained a bit before continuing: "But no one thought that a box in Wuzhai would bring unprecedented bad luck. In one night, An inexplicable fire burned down the village, and almost all the people in Daqingzhai died, except for a few children who escaped by chance."

"A big fire? How could a big fire burn so many people to death? There must be someone who can escape!" Zhou Tong couldn't believe it.

Chen Xiang said sadly: "The fire was just to destroy the dead bodies, what really killed the people in Daqingzhai was the water in the river yesterday."

Thinking of what happened yesterday, Zhou Tong could not help but shudder.

"How did those children survive?"

"They were playful and wanted to secretly see what was in the box, so instead of going home to eat, they escaped unharmed."

Zhou Tong began to understand a little bit, and he tentatively asked: "Are Ai Chen and you two of the children who escaped?"

Chen Xiang nodded tacitly.

"Then why are you here now?" Zhou Tong asked a little puzzled.

Chen Xiang looked haggard, she poured herself a bowl of sour soup, took a sip, and then slowly said: "The family is gone, we escaped and we were sent to another Miao village for foster care by the government, the boy is fine, but the three of us The little girl was tortured and bullied, and finally one day, we three sisters couldn't bear it and did something stupid. We burned the paper figurines for...for revenge."

"The Burning Paper Man? Could it be the legendary Miao Xinjiang witchcraft?" Zhou Tong recalled the legend about the Burning Paper Man that he had heard in the "You Tiandi" magazine.

"Yes, we made a bunch of paper figurines, wrote the birthdays of those bad guys on the paper figurines, and then set fire to them, but...unexpectedly, we accidentally set fire to the house, causing a big fire, almost The whole village was burned down, and we ran away as soon as we were afraid. Because it was night, and we were scared and flustered, they and I ran away, and I accidentally broke into Wuzhai by accident and was adopted by my grandmother come down."

"Who are the people here in Wuzhai? What are they trying to do with so much effort to produce so many things?"

(End of this chapter)