Seeking immortality in a deceitful way starts by making oneself into a puppet

Longhe County.

It was raining heavily, and there were only a few pedestrians on the deserted street. The bustling city was unusually quiet, and the surrounding shops had little business, making them look very calm.

Even on the dock, because of the heavier rain, there were fewer cargo ships coming and going. Even in a busy city, only men can be seen on the streets, and almost no women can be seen. Some rouge and gouache shops that usually do very well are no longer around, so they have to close their doors.

This is not because local customs do not allow women to go out, but because the reputation of "Hell Painter" Sa Shili is too terrifying.

People in Longhe County have been in panic in recent days because the "Hell Painter" Sa Shili has committed consecutive murders.

Those captured by Sa Shili were all women. He has committed eight consecutive crimes in the county. Including the three people he killed in other places, he has killed eleven people in total. After each killing, he will arrange the scene to be extremely tragic.

The deceased women were tortured to death in extremely cruel ways, and their death methods were consistent with the punishments in the eighteenth level of hell according to folklore.

The county's government officials and gang members were all mobilized and patrolled the county for half a month. As a result, just two days ago, another oiran from the flower house in the county was also brutally murdered by the "Hell Painter". Shili's poisonous hand.

This also caused the major brothels and brothels in Longhe County to close one after another, out of fear that the "Hell Painter" Sa Shili would target the women in the brothels and brothels.

Later, the police officers in the county and the detectives responsible for investigating the case also discovered some characteristics of Sa Shili's murders. That is, the women killed by Sa Shili were all close to seventeen years old and liked to wear red clothes. , with her hair in a ponytail, and a beautiful hemorrhoid in the corner of her right eye - most of the women who have been killed so far have these characteristics.

Because of this news, many women in the city burned their red clothes and replaced them with plain clothes.

…

He Zhongheng frowned and sat in a small restaurant.

He had been sitting here for several hours, almost motionless, looking at the lights outside the window with cold eyes.

In front of He Zhongheng were placed exquisite tea dishes, all of which were cold dishes to go with wine. He also ordered a glass of sake, but unfortunately, he was not in the mood to eat it now, and even the glass of wine was not touched.

"Even if you don't eat or drink, you can't solve this case, but... this 'Hell Painter' Sa Shili has really gone too far -"

The speaker was Qi Baiyi, who was sitting on another chair. While he was talking to He Zhongheng, he stared at the inn at the other end of the street from the window sill on the second floor of the restaurant.

"Also, do you think the 'guests' from the Evil Slayer Department can really fish out the 'Hell Painter' Sa Shili?"

Qi Baiyi withdrew his gaze and looked at He Zhongheng sitting opposite him.

"Isn't this person sent by the Evil Slaying Division too bold? Using herself as bait, this woman is acting so randomly. If she misses, the consequences may be disastrous..."

"maybe!"

He Zhongheng held chopsticks in one hand, he was a little absent-minded, and his face still looked thoughtful.

"You are not worried about her. According to previous analysis, she is the most likely person to be targeted at the moment."

Qi Baiyi continued: "These days we have secretly spread rumors that there is a beautiful woman who likes to wear red and lives in this inn alone. We also found a few gangsters to bring bad luck to her, but she beat her up. Get kicked out... This news has been spreading in the county in the past few days, and everyone knows that a Jianghu heroine has entered the city and wants to capture Sa Shili with her own hands!"

"I know, although this method is a bit stupid, there is still a slight possibility of success against that 'Hell Painter' Sa Shili."

He Zhongheng put down the chopsticks in his hand and sighed softly.

"I analyzed the cases from thirty years ago and compared them with the cases during this period. I found that this person acted very ostentatiously. He would make the death scene of the deceased so exaggerated. Maybe he had this intention?"

Judging from the past killing methods of "Hell Painter" Sa Shili, his behavior is obviously to provoke those who are pursuing clues.

He Zhongheng heard a saying from several old police officers in the county government, claiming that some murderers would return to the scene again after killing people. In addition to checking for gaps and destroying evidence, the other purpose of doing this is to pursue a sense of accomplishment, appreciate the fruits of crime, and satisfy one's own twisted psychology.

The "Hell Painter" should be this kind of person. He likes challenging situations. If he knows that someone has laid this crude trap, he might be interested and come to find out...

"If everything goes as you expected, then Sa Shili will definitely step into this trap! After all, Miss Yanhong fully meets the characteristics of Sa Shili's chosen target. As long as...as long as he finds a chance to meet her, I will definitely make a decision to attack her."

Qi Baiyi stared at He Zhongheng.

"But you seem to have other ideas, right?"

"……Hard to say."

He Zhongheng hesitated for a moment and then said calmly: "I always feel that we have overlooked some issues in this case, but until now, we have no clue about this key point."

"Did you find something?"

Qi Baiyi knew very well that he was just a rough guy and a martial artist. There is not much to say in handling matters on the Jianghu Road... But when it comes to investigating and handling matters, we can only rely on He Zhongheng and Liu Yu, who are as meticulous as their hair.

"It's hard to say, there are just a few doubtful points."

He Zhongheng frowned. He had made some discoveries, but unfortunately there were too few clues and he was not sure.

"who?"

A loud shout suddenly came from the inn across the street.

This loud shout was a woman's voice. He Zhongheng and Qi Baiyi were startled, and they immediately realized that the person who made the shout was Miss Yan Hong in the inn.

——The loud shouting continued, and a wooden window in the pavilion on the third floor of the inn burst into pieces, and a figure flew out of it.

As soon as this figure appeared, several large nets fell from the top of the pavilion and covered it.

Chi! With a wave of the black figure's hand, several nets were torn open by invisible force, and the black shadow also flew up, darting far away like a bolt of lightning.

"'Hell Painter' Sa Shili, he really took the bait!"

Qi Baiyi shouted loudly, pulled out the long sword in his hand, stepped on it, and suddenly rose into the air, flying towards the direction of the inn.

"This Sa Shili is such an amazing light kung fu!"

He Zhongheng also pulled out his sword, jumped out of the window after Qi Baiyi, and rushed out after "Hell Painter" Sa Shili.

…

The light rain gradually became heavier, and there was lightning and thunder in the sky. The heavy rain fell down like a bead curtain, covering the sky and falling on the lake.

After raining for most of the day, it gradually became lighter. The thunder is getting further and further away. When the wind and rain stopped, I saw a small boat with a canopy floating in the lake.

The person driving the boat was an old boatman with white hair, holding a pole in his hand and moving towards the lake center island.

Liu Yu huddled in the cabin to hide from the rain while asking the old boatman wearing a raincoat outside: "Old man, I heard that you are a local. Do you still remember something about the painter named Wu on the island in the middle of the lake... ?”

"Painter named Wu?"

The old boatman frowned.

"There was indeed a family living on Huxinzhou in the past, but it disappeared about forty years ago. I don't know if there was a painter named Wu who lived on Huxinzhou. After all... ...This island in the center of the lake is said to be haunted, and few people go there on weekdays. I would like to ask you two gentlemen, when you go out to enjoy the mountains and rivers, what place would you choose? Why would you choose such a haunted place?"

"Haunted?"

He Ping, who was sitting in the cabin, suddenly said: "Old man, what is the method of haunting the island in the center of the lake?"

"That's a lot to say..."

The old boatman seemed to be interested, and he talked to the scholars He Ping and Liu Yu who were pretending to be on a study tour.

The rumors about Jiangxinzhou being haunted are quite famous in the local area, and there are many related theories with different contents. One of the most famous versions talks about a bold local fisherman with a vigorous and fearless temperament. Often fishing at night.

One winter night, after fishing nearby, he was tired and hungry. In addition, it was freezing cold, so he planned to park the boat by Jiangxin Island, go ashore to rest for a while, and light a fire to warm up.

There is usually no one in Jiangxinzhou. The nearby fishermen have heard that there are often strange things happening here, and no one comes close to it on weekdays.

Only this fisherman was extremely bold. He docked his boat on Jiangxin Island in the lake and went to the island.

Not long after he landed on the island, he saw firelight among the dense trees. His heart moved slightly and he walked in the direction of the firelight.

As the fisherman approached, he saw a dozen figures gathering around the raised fire to warm themselves up.

"I didn't expect that there would be people on the island in the middle of the lake who got there first and kept warm on the island. This is great. It just saves me having to collect firewood."

It was already very dark here. He took a few steps closer, intending to explain his purpose to a few people. He only walked a few steps, but he, who was known for his boldness, couldn't help but his hair stood on end and he was covered in cold sweat.

It turned out that among the dozen people gathered in front of the fire, six or seven people had no heads, and the other few people with heads were all wearing masks that covered the faces of the dead.

The fisherman immediately fled in fright, found his boat along the original road, and sailed away from Jiangxinzhou.

He told what he had seen and heard on the island the next day. Half a month later, he died of a sudden illness.

…

"There are several stories like this... There is also a folk saying that there is a group of evil spirits on the island who like to kill living people and then take away their faces and facial features. It is said that many people in the past, after landing on the island, He was killed by demons using sorcery, and his five senses were taken away.”

The old boatman continued: "Evil ghosts will use the facial features of living people to leave Jiangxinzhou to harm people. After this rumor spread, people nearby did not dare to come over. To be honest, if the two of you hadn't paid enough for the ferry, Duo, old man, I won’t come here either. Oh, here we are, right in front of us—"

Hearing this, He Ping leaned forward and opened the curtain of the boat. Directly in front of the boat, a green island in the center of the river emerged.

"Let's go!"

He got up and walked out of the cabin and went to the island first, followed closely by Liu Yu, who also went to the island.

At this moment, a voice came from behind——

"Hey! Two guests," the old boatman grinned, showing his scorched teeth.

"Remember to pay tomorrow's boat fare before you go up. If you two can't come back when I come to pick you up, my trip will be in vain, old man."