Xiaoyang Village makes a living by farming and raising sheep. This well was dug to provide drinking water for the animals. Before the incident at Yang Kui's house, there were not only derricks, well ropes, and wooden logs for drawing water next to this well. buckets, and stone troughs for the animals to drink.
After the incident at Yang Kui's house, the villagers dug another well nearby, and this well became useless.
Except for the few years when it was haunted and made people panic, this well has always been sealed with stone slabs. If the county magistrate had not visited, if the county magistrate had not died in the well for no apparent reason like those people back then, the people in Xiaoyang Village would have been almost the same. Already forgot about that.
For twenty years, for many juniors, that incident has been equivalent to a story.
Holding the sword, he invited all the people who had experienced that incident to the village chief's house. The small main room of the village chief's house was packed to the brim. The village chief sat in the middle, lowered his head and said nothing, his face full of anxiety.
"Master, I've said everything I can say, what exactly do you want to ask?"
"How did Miss Yang Kuina die?" He leaned against the door frame with his sword, pushing the scabbard with his thumb. Every time he pushed, the hearts of those in the room would beat.
"I have already told the master that he was beaten to death by Yang Kui!" The village chief said with a bitter face: "We don't know whether this is true or not. We all heard what the Taoist priest said. The Taoist priest is a capable man, he It’s definitely true.”
"Taoist priest? What Taoist priest? Where is the Taoist temple? I just invited him to ask."
"If I had come here a few years ago, I might still be able to see him, but now he is no longer in our Xiaoyang Village." The village chief stood up, bending his legs, looking honest and frightened: "Since the village has been out of control, The thing is, all the people with a little ability have moved away, and the Taoist temple is no longer good. We don’t know when the Taoist priest left. We only know that the Taoist temple collapsed after a heavy rain overnight, and the contents inside are gone. If you don’t believe it, sir , I can take you to that road to see, it’s all rotten tiles and weeds.”
"Really? Show me!"
Holding the sword and standing upright, the village chief hesitantly squeezed out of the crowd. As soon as he reached the sword, he pressed the sword against his neck.
"Lying will kill you!"
The village chief trembled, knelt on the ground with a plop, stammered, and told what he knew intermittently.
The little girl was beaten to death by Yang Kui, but the villagers in Xiaoyang Village were not innocent. Some of them were watching the fun, some were instigating, and some were pointing fingers, including the woman Xiao Yang. The villagers in the village also said some harsh words because they were jealous of the little girl's beauty.
They watched the little girl being beaten to death, but they unanimously kept silent. It wasn't until the village started to be haunted that they felt panic, fear, and even a trace of regret.
Burying mother and son was the only compensation they could make.
The village chief did not make up the haunting. In his mind, it was the little girl and her son who came back to claim their lives. It is true that a Taoist priest came to Xiaoyang Village. The village chief asked the villagers to invite him back from outside. The ghost-suppressing charm in this village was left by the Taoist priest.
That villager was the last person to fall into the well and die before the county magistrate came. Only he knew the origin of the Taoist priest. It's not that the village chief doesn't want to say it, but the village chief doesn't know which Taoist temple the Taoist priest lives in.
Among the dead who fell into the well, only the little girl, Yang Kui and the county magistrate who died a few days ago were hung upside down. The rest just died in the well in different postures, all of them drowned.
At the end of the question, the village chief also revealed a piece of news, saying that someone had inquired about the whereabouts of the little girl near Xiaoyang Village. The man was a young shopkeeper, his accent was similar to the girl's, and he should be from Huzhou. Yang Kui got the news and locked up the little girl. He wandered outside the village for several days until he confirmed that the salesman had not arrived at Xiaoyang Village, then he released the little girl.
At the end of the sentence, the village chief slapped himself twice, saying that although he had not participated in what happened back then, as the head of a village, he acquiesced in the village chief's evil deeds and should be equally guilty as the evildoers.
At the same time, Zhou Yuan opened the county magistrate's body in the Tutu Temple.
There was congestion in the internal organs, bleeding spots on the apex of the heart, no drowning in the stomach, and no changes in the liver. The county magistrate died of suffocation rather than drowning as they had previously speculated. The stomach of the deceased was basically empty. Based on the condition of the corpse spots, the time of death can be determined. In addition to the scars seen before, there are also some criss-cross post-mortem drag scratches on the back and shoulders of the deceased. The scars are good and distributed on the upper part of the deceased. Zhou Yuan concluded that the murderer used something when dragging the county magistrate. , such as the mattresses disappearing from villagers’ homes.
The murderer should have initially dragged the body by the feet of the deceased, but later changed his mind and pushed the deceased onto the mattress and dragged the body around. Firstly, it leaves less traces of the scene, and secondly, it reduces the weight of the deceased and facilitates the transfer of the body.
When moving the body, the magistrate slipped out of the mattress many times, and suffered repeated bruises after death. These injuries were very shallow, proving that the murderer was observant when moving the body. He was a cautious person. , a careful and very calm person.
This person matches the book boy.
When Shen Chongming came in, Zhou Yuan was helping the county magistrate sew up the body.
Sunlight shone in through the broken window of Tutu Temple, passed through Tutu Master's shoulders and fell on her body. The way she was concentrating on stitching up the body was completely different. It was a little different from when she was a female doctor, but she couldn't tell how different it was.
"Has the well been dug?"
Without looking up, he knew that the man standing in front of the temple was Shen Chongming.
"As you said, there is another mechanism at the bottom of the well." Shen Chongming entered the temple and stood on the right side of Zhou Yu'an: "There are indeed ropes, live snakes and cotton wool soaked in the well water. In addition, the villagers who dug the well We also found weights, stones, and a secret door at the bottom of the well.”
"Is there a secret room underground?"
"No, the secret door is only the size of a jewelry box, with an iron ring hanging on it."
"Iron ring?" Zhou Yu'an was stunned: "I didn't expect this. What are they doing hiding an iron ring in the well?"
"After asking, the iron ring was originally on the temple door, connected to an iron plate. When the well was being repaired, a stone was missing, so the villagers put the iron plate together with the iron plate. There were hairs on the iron ring. , after several years, it is still entangled in the iron ring.”
"So, when the corpse was floating, someone tied the hair of the deceased to an iron ring."
"Not only that, the iron ring is severely corroded, and the well water is different from other places." Shen Chongming said: "This is a saline-alkali land."
"That's it." Zhou Yu'an covered the white cloth: "Has the book boy been interrogated? Has he confessed?"
"You only have the case in your mind?" Shen Chongming looked at Zhou Yu'an with a cold face, but raised the corners of his lips and his voice suddenly became hoarse: "In addition to asking me about the case, can you ask me anything else?"
"Anything else?" Zhou Yu'an looked up at Shen Chongming: "Come back with the sword? Is there something fishy about the little girl's death?"
"Zhou Yu'an!" Shen Chongming had no choice but to call her name: "Aren't you hungry? Come and eat with me."
"Eat?" Zhou Yu'an was surprised. Seeing Shen Chongming approaching, he subconsciously stepped back and said urgently: "It's dirty and smells all over. I'll find a place to wash up first."
