dead innocent

Songhe Cemetery is located in the suburbs, on a hillside surrounded by dense pine forests. Even in autumn, the needles are bright green and tall, full of vitality.

Standing at the entrance of the cemetery and looking up, there are endless tombstones standing on the steps, like a city of ghosts.

"Chen Yunan is buried here?"

Chu Xingyun asked.

He Cheng said: "I have investigated, and Chen Jing bought a monument here back then, so it should be here."

After finishing speaking, he lifted slowly and walked up the stairs.

Chen Yunan's body has not been found so far. Even if there is her tomb, it is just a tomb of clothes.

The cemetery where it had just rained was very empty, and the stone steps were covered with still wet rainwater. He Cheng's leather shoes stepped on them, crushing the bubbles filled with the midday sun.

Chu Xingyun watched him go up a few steps, and walked a few steps to keep up with him: "Where is her tomb?"

He Cheng's eyes passed through the scattered and orderly layers of tombstones, and fell on the southwest corner, silent.

Chu Xingyun didn't know where Chen Yunan's tombstone was, but He Cheng seemed to know the direction, so he boldly followed him.

The cemetery was very large, and just as they almost crossed the cemetery and stepped on the last step, He Cheng stopped suddenly, with a thin layer of sweat on his forehead from the sun.

He Cheng looked at him a little helplessly and said, "I didn't bring any sacrifices."

Chu Xingyun looked at him silently, and he could clearly see the evasion and fragility in his eyes. This cemetery was like a hopeless situation for him. He could muster up the courage to step in here. It's the limit he can bear.

When he came to this place where Chen Yunan's soul lived, he used the appearance of a survivor to meet the dead who brought him out of the cage, and looked for the little girl back then. If he really came to Chen Yunan's tomb, what would he do?what will he do

Chu Xingyun suddenly began to be afraid, afraid that he would be stuck here forever and refused to go out, like a trap in a swamp.

He grabbed He Cheng's hand and hurried down the steps: "Then come back another day, and now go visit the families of the victims."

In the car, Chu Xingyun sent the information of the five victims to Qiao Shishi, asking her to investigate the connection between the five children.

That's right, contact, the fact that the five children have the same birthday is not accidental, but a prey specially selected by the perpetrator. Since they have the first commonality between them, there must be a second, third indivual--

If the commonality of these children is found, the criminal's motive for committing the crime can be found, and even the real culprit who may still be alive can be found out.

He Cheng is the sixth child, so he told Master Qiao not to let 'He Cheng' go.

He Cheng heard him finish talking on the phone, and asked, "Aren't we going to visit the victim's family now?"

Chu Xingyun held the steering wheel with one hand, freed one hand to flip through the phone, and said absently: "Huh? Who said that?"

He Cheng: "...you said it yourself in the cemetery just now."

Chu Xingyun raised his head and looked at the road ahead, and recalled it casually, only to realize how stupid he said in a moment of desperation.

The five children are all over the 'ends of the earth', regardless of whether the family members of the victims can remember valuable clues, if they really visit one by one, even if there is a helicopter to pick them up, they will have to fly in the sky for three days and two nights.

This is the disadvantage of the old case. The family members of the victims are scattered, and there is very little information that can be collected for a long time. The court trial and confession of the criminal suspect disappeared mysteriously. Worried about whether he can fulfill his promise.

"not going."

Chu Xingyun looked down at the phone once again, and said, "Go to Yuan Pingyi now."

He Cheng was puzzled: "Looking for?"

Chu Xingyun got the address that Qiao Shishi sent him, and while entering the address in the navigation, he said: "Well, look for it."

"How to find it?"

"If you want to understand a murderer, start from his childhood."

Yuan Pingyi's childhood was in a third- and fourth-tier city not far from where they lived. They drove straight west on the expressway for five hours, and before sunset, they arrived in City S.

City S is small in size, and it takes two and a half hours to travel around the city by bus.

According to the information provided by Qiao Shishi, Yuan Pingyi grew up in S City. He was a single-parent family. There was only one father in the family, and the father was still alive. He just changed his address many times. The address Qiao Shishi searched is now It is a small elderly art activity center.

Chu Xingyun found the street police station where Yuan Pingyi's father lived before, and after showing his ID, he explained the origin concisely.

"Are you looking for Yuan Xijiang?"

Chu Xingyun felt a little unusual when he heard the secretive tone of this little policeman, and said, "Well, what? Do you know him?"

The grassroots police contacted a lot of parents, so this policeman who just graduated had the same look and demeanor as the aunts who were collecting gossip and sharing gossip in the square.

He curled his lips, looking as if he had eaten something, and said while retrieving information in the computer: "Who doesn't know him, anyone who has settled down with us for more than two generations will know him."

Chu Xingyun took out the disposable paper cup familiarly, took a glass of water from the water dispenser and handed it to He Cheng who was standing in front of the fish tank watching the rain.

"Yo, is he so famous?"

Chu Xingyun pretended to be curious and asked with a smile.

The little policeman rolled his eyes, revealing the whites of his eyes: "He is not famous, his son is famous."

He Cheng was actually not thirsty, but Chu Xingyun handed him water, and he still took a couple of sips, and then returned the cup to Chu Xingyun.

Chu Xingyun took the cup, raised his head and drank it, and asked knowingly, "Who is his son?"

"Yuan Pingyi, our 'great man' here."

Speaking of this 'great man', the little policeman couldn't hold back his spittle, and he pushed the mouse and couldn't wait to share gossip with Chu Xingyun: "You who come from big cities may not be very clear about the things in our small place. You don't know, this Yuan Pingyi is a murderer, he has killed people! And not just one, but several children, who are so vicious, it's so vile, it's spread all over our area."

"It's been more than ten years, and it hasn't passed yet?"

"Where can we live? Thanks to Yuan Pingyi, this place that doesn't shit like us has made a big splash. Now people outside mention that our place is a place where murderers come out. Yuan Pingyi can be regarded as Become the real name of the eternal sinner!"

A small place with a small population base and a low crime rate. A serial killer like Yuan Pingyi is rare in a hundred years. No wonder the people here 'miss' him so much.

The little policeman thought that his analysis of Yuan Pingyi's crimes was not vivid enough, and added: "Up to now, every year when Yuan Pingyi is executed, the common people send Yuan Xijiang the word '囍'."

Chu Xingyun raised his eyes and stared at him silently. The water he drank just now was rolling in his stomach, making him feel a little nauseous.

No matter what the evil consequences of the children, sending a white-haired person to a black-haired person is already a cruel punishment for Yuan Xijiang, so why bother to abuse the old man again.

The little policeman was ignorant, and couldn't stand his knife-wrapped eyes. He felt like needles on his back, and he didn't dare to talk to him anymore. He dragged the mouse back and continued to check the information.

Chu Xingyun turned around and took another glass of warm water. Half a glass of water diluted a lot of the nausea in his stomach. He fed the cat like he was afraid that He Cheng would die of thirst, so he handed the glass to him again: "Is it tired? Tired? How about I go by myself and you wait for me here?"

As long as Chu Xingyun gave him food and drink, He Cheng would not be picky. He would open his mouth when he was being fed, and drank a few more sips of water along the mouth of the cup he touched just now, and then put the rest poured the water into the green radish beside the fish tank, and said, "I'm not tired, I'll go with you."

At this time, the policeman found Yuan Xijiang's current address, wrote a note and handed it to Chu Xingyun.

Facing the sunset and stepping on the twilight light, they arrived at the address indicated on the note - the second-hand home appliance recycling factory.

The factory is in the open air, and piles of old household appliances and scrap copper and rotten iron have been pushed as high as several hills.Chu Xingyun parked his car on the dirt road outside the factory, and tried his best to find a clean place to settle among the piles of discarded household appliances full of iron smell. From time to time, he turned his head and pointed to He Cheng, telling him to be careful of the scrap copper and rotten iron under his feet.

Going around the sorting place on a flat ground, and came to a row of colored steel houses, Chu Xingyun asked a woman who was cooking with a stove outdoors about Yuan Xijiang.

The woman was busy cutting vegetables, without looking at them, raised the blade and pointed to the front, and said with a strong local accent: "Go forward, go straight."

Chu Xingyun tentatively understood that she meant to go to the end, so he thanked her and walked forward with He Cheng.

The ten-meter-long color-steel house quickly came to an end, and the last two rooms were separated from the front room by a piece of military canvas, showing the solitude of the occupants.

Chu Xingyun opened the green canvas, and saw an old man in a white undershirt under the bloody setting sun, hunched over, holding a crowbar with two dry and emaciated hands like eagle claws, trying to move the card In the middle of a pile of rotten iron, a hundred and ten kilograms of heavy truck tires.

"Yuan Xijiang?"

With this questioning cry, the old man turned around.

They were able to meet the father of the 'great man'.

According to the information, Yuan Xijiang was only in his early sixties, but the old man in front of him seemed to be dying and old.

The undershirt on his body has turned yellow after being washed many times, and the shredded fabric is covered with oil stains and dirt that cannot be washed off. Around his neck is a soy-brown towel that cannot be seen in its original color.His spine is like steel that has been bent and deformed by a blacksmith. The skin on his body has almost completely lost its moisture. It is like grabbing an old tree that grows on dry land. It has been sucked dry, his body is cracked, and his skin is loose.

After walking a few steps forward, Chu Xingyun discovered that his right eye had a severe cataract, the eyeball and the white of the eye were integrated, as if covered with a layer of dirty flocculent omentum, his right eye was almost blind, and he His left eye is still healthy and bright.

Seeing him for the first time, Chu Xingyun was still worried about whether his mind was still clear, but when he met his eyes, Chu Xingyun found that he was completely worried. His eyes tell them - he's awake

Yuan Xijiang seemed to know everything, as if he had the ability to read minds, he instantly understood their reason for coming.

When Chu Xingyun said Yuan Pingyi's name, Yuan Xijiang dropped the crowbar in his hand, hunched his bent back, as if carrying a mountain, and entered the room without saying a word.

There was no light in the room, and it was dark. Standing at the door and taking advantage of the setting sun at dusk, you could see pots and pans all over the floor.

He Cheng hadn't personally experienced the sufferings of the world, so he seemed a little at a loss at this time, his eyes kept wandering between high places and near places, as if he couldn't find a fixed foothold.

Although Yuan Xijiang didn't expel them, he didn't intend to cooperate well. He didn't know how long it would take here. Chu Xingyun regretted not insisting on letting He Cheng stay in the police station. This was not the place He Cheng should come to.

Even if he is selfish, he doesn't want He Cheng to be involved in any crimes, and he doesn't want him to feel the pain he shouldn't feel.

This is not fair to He Cheng.

Maybe no one can get absolute fairness. Since everyone has to face the dripping reality and bear heavy suffering, why can't He Cheng alone?

Yes, there is no reason, for him, only He Cheng can't.

He looked at He Cheng, comforted him with his weathered yet firm and bright eyes, smiled at him very lightly, then looked into the dark room and raised his voice: "We have a few questions for you , about Yuan Pingyi, your son."

Soon, Yuan Xijiang came out, moved a mat and placed it at the corner of the doorway where he could still enjoy the sunset, and sat down on the mat slowly and stiffly, as if his joints were rusted, ignoring the two visiting guests. He took out a bottle of eye drops in his pocket, raised his head and dripped a few drops into his right eye, then closed his eyes.

Chu Xingyun squatted in front of him, planning to launch a lobbying offensive: "Master, we have no malicious intentions, just want to ask you, what kind of person is your son Yuan Pingyi, I think no one knows him better than you—"

The green canvas was lifted suddenly, and an elderly woman with gray hair held the sleeping child in her arms and said, "Don't tell him, Lao Yuan is deaf."

Both Chu Xingyun and He Cheng were stunned for a moment.

"Can't he hear?"

Chu Xingyun hurriedly asked.

The old woman shook her head and said, "I've been deaf for a long time."

"what happened?"

"Last year during Chinese New Year, several children tied him to a tree, and the branches of the tree were hung with firecrackers. When the fire was lit, he ran away, deafening Lao Yuan."

Holding the child in his arms, the old man couldn't stand up gradually. He also moved a horse to sit down in front of the canvas, shook his head and sighed: "Xiao Yuan doesn't live up to it, they torment Lao Yuan. People who commit crimes don't deserve to live."

For a while, Chu Xingyun couldn't ask anything. He stood up on his knees, took a few breaths, and asked the old man: "Can he still talk? Is normal communication okay?"

The old man said: "It can't be done, his mind is messed up, and now he can only say a few words—"

Before he finished speaking, Yuan Xijiang, who was chasing the last sunset with his face up and his eyes closed, suddenly let out a rough and powerful growl: "Don't do evil! Don't kill people!"

The six words hit the ground resoundingly, rumbling on the ground.

Even if Chu Xingyun is not a local, he can understand what this sentence with a strong local accent means.

No evil was done, no murder was done.Who is it?Yuan Pingyi?

After Yuan Xijiang finished speaking, he remained motionless like a living fossil, like a dead Buddha.

He Cheng who kept silent for a while suddenly said, "Can I see Yuan Pingyi's photo?"

Yuan Xijiang was hidden in the world, and what He Cheng asked was the old lady.

"Lao Yuan has a few, I'll find them for you."

The old woman handed the sleeping child to Chu Xingyun, and sneaked into the house behind Yuan Xijiang.

After a while, she came out with an old magazine, handed it to He Cheng, and said, "It's all here, you flip through it slowly, don't lose it."

He Cheng took the magazine with the photos between them and walked to a place with more light, and simply squatted down to look through the photos.

Chu Xingyun thought that he was comparing Yuan Pingyi's face with the face in his memory, so he allowed him to compare, returned the child to the old woman, and chatted with her: "Do you know Yuan Pingyi?"

"Yes, I have watched him grow up since I was a child."

"In your impression, what kind of person is Yuan Pingyi?"

"When I was young, I was very well-behaved. Whenever I was disobedient, Lao Yuan would beat me. I lost my temper after beating the baby. I didn't have the guts to dare to take responsibility. We all said that the baby is good, but I'm afraid it will be useless in the future. Later, he went out to school. , I heard that I made a girlfriend outside, and never came back."

"Didn't send money back to his father?"

"It seems that he played several times, one or two hundred yuan, and he didn't earn much."

Chu Xingyun couldn't help but fell into deep thought. On the way here, he was still doubting that if Yuan Pingyi was not the murderer but claimed to be the murderer, then it must be money that bribed him, but judging from Yuan Xijiang's hard-pressed life, Yuan Pingyi did not leave a sum of money Objective money to his father.

Besides, Yuan Pingyi is alone, without a wife and children, who can he work for?

The idea of ​​spending money and buying life seems untenable——

Chu Xingyun was thinking about it when he was suddenly pulled up from the ground by He Cheng's arm.

"Walk."

He Cheng's eyes were slack, and he looked at Chu Xingyun, but he didn't know where his mind wandered, his face was pale, and a layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.

He grabbed Chu Xingyun's hand and opened the green canvas involuntarily, wanting to leave here.

Chu Xingyun held his hand in the opposite direction, forcing him to stop, holding his hand tightly, anxious and worried: "What's wrong? What did you see?"

At this time, Yuan Xijiang's voice, hidden behind the green canvas, exploded under the sky like a thunderbolt.

"Don't do evil! Don't kill people!"

He Cheng trembled all over, his feet were swollen, and he almost couldn't stand, the blood all over his body rushed from the top of his head to the soles of his feet in an instant, his face was pale, and his whole body was ice-cold.

He held Chu Xingyun's hand firmly, trembling teeth and said a word with all his strength: "Go."

At this time, He Cheng's appearance was like the afternoon when he received the white bear, his eyes were full of fear and daze.

Chu Xingyun resisted the urge to take him away, grabbed his shoulder, looked into his eyes, and tried to calmly say: "He Cheng, don't be afraid. Tell me, what did you see?"

He Cheng looked at him, tears welled up in his eyes, and he uttered with difficulty as if he was being choked: "I saw that Yuan Pingyi's photos—every photo location, every scenic spot, is the same as that of Chen Jing. It’s exactly the same as what you see at home.”

Chu Xingyun was taken aback for a moment, inexplicably feeling chills all over his body, and repeated blankly: "Chen Jing?"

"Is Chen Jing a graduate of Jiangcheng Vocational College?"

"……Yes."

He Cheng bent his lips with difficulty, showing a bitter smile, lowered his eyes to hide the violent tears in his eyes, and said, "What a coincidence, I saw Yuan Pingyi's graduation certificate just now, and he also graduated from Jiangcheng Staff Academy."

After speaking, he paused, gritted his teeth with hatred and said, "Yuan Pingyi is Chen Yunan's father!"

Yuan Pingyi is Chen Yunan's father?

Is it Chen Jing's boyfriend who lived together after graduating from college?

At this time, every drop of blood on Chu Xingyun's body is cold, and every pore is trembling.He turned his head in disbelief and looked at the green canvas blocking Yuan Xijiang on the other side like a wall.

In other words, Yuan Xijiang is Chen Yunan's grandfather——

There was a crackling sound, like the wind lifted the green canvas.

Yuan Xijiang suddenly appeared in front of them like a ghost, staring at them closely like eyes covered with a layer of flocculent white nets, as if a white mourning banner was always floating in the eyes, and on the mourning banner was a tree that never rested. The ghost of the ghost, the veins on his neck were bulging, and he shouted hoarsely as if he had exhausted his remaining strength: "Don't do evil! Don't kill people!"