operant homicide

At four o'clock in the morning, after being awakened by a nightmare, Ren Chu lay on the bed covered in cold sweat, unable to fall back to sleep.

She looked out the window depressedly.The courtyard is very barren, only the mist seeps out of the ground endlessly, as if continuing the confusing malice in the dream.

This desolate scene made her feel more exhausted, but at the same time, even the slightest noise from the outside world would make her nervous like a frightened bird.

Ren Chu breathed out the darkness, and there was an irregular beating under his palm.The heart has lost its normal rhythm, and in every round of blood circulation, it has to go one step further towards the cliff.

(But with so much anxiety and grief, am I purely mourning the death of a dear friend?)

she asked herself.

No, maybe not.She knew it was all about protecting herself.Because of this, when she heard the news from Le Mei, she was so forceful, because she arbitrarily turned the person "Xu Chao" into an abstract force to support her loose soul.To deny the "Xu Chao" in her cognition is to deny a part of herself, and the solid wall built on this basis will soon be crumbling.

(So, what if she really committed suicide? What if she was really that weak?)

No matter how you say it, Ren Chu can't avoid this problem.

The mood started to contradict itself.She put the back of her hand on her forehead that was hot from thinking, then sighed, got dressed and walked out of the room.

At this time, there was no one in the corridor outside the door, even the sound of breathing could be heard clearly, she tiptoed down the wooden stairs, unexpectedly meeting Lemei by the window at the corner.

Le Mei turned her head when she heard footsteps, and the eyes of the two happened to collide.

"Hi, good morning, Ren Chu."

She leaned against the railing in a loose posture and greeted him cordially.

"Good morning." Ren Chu also said, she walked over, stood next to Le Mei, then turned to look outside and asked, "Is the weather bad?"

"Well, it looks like it's going to rain." Le Mei said, brushing her bangs upwards with her hands.She showed a peaceful smile to Ren Chu, "Did you sleep well last night?"

"Well, it's alright."

The two chatted innocuously, never mentioning yesterday's dispute.After a while, they walked into the living room together.

Outside the window, thick clouds reveal the meaning of rain, and the whole early morning continues in the dark tones.

Because they broke up last night, when Zhen Yang and Chang Wei got up, the four of them sat in the living room and discussed calmly again, and finally decided to go to pay homage to Xu Chao after reuniting with Lin Lan today.

Everyone had just agreed, and it happened that there was a knock on the door.Then, with the turning of a key, the door was pushed open in a grand manner.An old gentleman walked into the room. He was about 60 years old, with half-white beard and hair. At this age, he couldn't see anything unusual about his appearance, except for his approachable smile, which was so elegant that it was almost feminine.

"Ah, uncle!"

At the same time, Le Mei happily reveals her identity.

"You came here so early?"

"I also stopped by to see you, and it's too early after eight o'clock? You haven't had breakfast yet, have you?"

The old man said while pulling out the key.It sounds like he should be a very hearty person.

"How is that possible! You've eaten all of it, you sit here first, and I'll make tea."

With that said, she stood up happily and walked towards the kitchen.

The old gentleman calmly sat down on the chair near the door, and greeted them: "The place is simple, please bear with me if there are people who don't entertain well."

"No, no, please don't say that! We're really sorry that you've let us live here so generously!"

The way Chang Wei sat upright made the old man laugh.

"Hahaha! Young people, don't be so restrained!"

Chang Wei scratched his hair in embarrassment.He has never been good at getting along with elders, so he is indeed a little nervous.

"I just feel like I'm bothering you."

The old man waved his hand: "Don't keep saying that you are not disturbing. A house is called a house if there are people, otherwise it will become a haunted house! If you can come and disturb me, it is too late for me to welcome you."

"Why don't you live here? It's a waste of such a big place to be empty."

Zhen Yang also spoke up.

"Maybe I'm more used to living in an old house."

The old man shook his head, and then laughed brightly, "When people get old, they become nostalgic. This place is too open for me, I can't stand it."

At this time, Le Mei came over with a cup of tea, and she scolded: "Hey, look at you saying these frustrating words again, haven't I been here all the time? If you say a word, I will move back immediately."

Le Mei's parents died early, so the old man in front of her is actually her adoptive father. It can be seen that Le Mei has a deep affection for him.

"Hehehe, that's why I'm ashamed. I, an old man who is dying, are still dragging down the lives of young people."

The old man joked, but it was obvious that Le Mei didn't want to hear this kind of humor, so she quietly diverted the topic in other directions.

Ren Chuda has been observing from the sidelines from the very beginning, and she found that the elder's polite manners and humble speech are all outstanding. It is not difficult to imagine that he must have been a very attractive man when he was young.It's just that his subtle attitude towards Le Mei made her wonder... But let's stop for now, it's too arbitrary to make a judgment based on a few words.

The undisguised gaze caught the other party's attention.

"Little girl, is there something strange about my face?"

The old man said to her kindly.

Ren Chu responded immediately: "You may not believe it. Although it is the first time I have met you, you give me a feeling of déjà vu."

"Oh?" The old man was stunned for a moment, but then smiled nonchalantly, "This is probably the eye."

Maintaining such a smile, he stood up and said, "Okay, okay, I should go too. I'm relieved to see that you're not used to anything."

"Won't we stay a while longer? It's been a long time since we sat and talked like this."

Le Mei said disappointedly.

The old man turned his head and glanced at the wall clock on the wall.

"It's almost there, because I still have to prepare for the festival. Don't forget to get up early tomorrow morning."

"Festival? What kind of festival?"

Chang Wei asked curiously.

"It's not as grand as a festival. It's just a ceremony to pray for a good harvest. Although many people in the village don't rely on farming to support their families, the custom has always been preserved. So..."

When Le Mei explained to them, there was a sudden vibration in the pocket.So she stopped talking, lowered her head and took out her phone.

"The festival should be very lively!"

Zhen Yang deliberately pretended to be very interested and said to the old man.

"Haha, it will indeed be very lively. There will be troupe performances at that time. You must have never seen this kind of performance before. If you are interested, please come and watch the ceremony."

The old man finally left this invitation.

"This is a text message from Lin Lan...'Sorry, the boat is delayed. Tomorrow at the latest, please convey it to someone else for me.'"

After hearing Le Mei finished reading, Chang Wei and Zhen Yang looked at each other helplessly.

"Why am I not surprised..."

"It's almost normal."

"Then let's go first, God knows what will happen to him tomorrow."

Ren Chu said at this time that she seemed a little indifferent to this.

"Looks like that's all it takes."

Afterwards, the four of them, led by Le Mei, climbed the steps from the mountain road behind the villa, and walked for half an hour before arriving at their destination.

In the cemetery, the tombstones are neatly lined up, looking very solemn.

Le Mei took them to a newly built grave.On the white marble like bones, there is a photo of Xu Chao inlaid. Her smile has been frozen there by death and will never fade away.

Everyone stood in silence for a while, and Le Mei lit two candles, stuck them around the tombstone, and said to them, "Come and offer incense."

In view of Ren Chu's reaction yesterday, Zhen Yang was really afraid that she would collapse suddenly, so she took the initiative to shake her hand, wanting to give her support.

However, her worry was actually a bit superfluous, because although Ren Chu was in a heavy heart at this time, she was not indulging in mourning. To be precise, her mind was filled with disorganized fragments, and thinking overwhelmingly defeated sadness.

——Why did Xu Chao commit suicide suddenly?The reason for this is puzzling.

She would never admit to Le Mei's explanation for her depression, because Xu Chao still published articles in newspapers until the day before her death. Considering these, her depression is not serious enough to commit suicide.

So, what emotional trauma caused her to collapse overnight?Could it be that simple...

Whispering with thousands of thoughts in his heart, Ren Chu took the bamboo stick incense handed over by Le Mei, and stared at the mid-air in a trance, wisps of green smoke tactfully rising towards the endless sky.

"By the way," Chang Wei helped burn the rest of the sacrificial offerings, and asked suddenly, "Since they're all here, why don't you pay homage to Xu Chao's mother?"

Le Mei buried the ashes that still had sparks with a shovel, shook her head and said, "Don't worry, Aunt Xu's tomb is not here, it's in the urban area."

"what?"

Hearing this answer, Chang Wei scratched his hair a little inexplicably.

At this moment, footsteps came from behind them again, approaching this way, it sounded slow and dull, it didn't belong to young people.

"Then, is that Xu Chao's father?"

Chang Wei's eyesight is relatively good, and he can tell the identity of the other party from a long distance.

They met Xu's father unexpectedly like this.

"Uncle Xu."

Le Mei was the first to greet her.

Father Xu looked up at her, the dark circles under his eyes and the creases on his forehead made him look much older than his actual age.

"...you are?" He frowned hesitantly.

"We are all former classmates of Xu Chao." Le Mei introduced everyone's identities in a general way, and then smiled politely, "My name is Le Mei. You may not know me if you haven't come back for so many years."

"Your surname is Le..."

Father Xu's drooping eyelids twitched invisibly.As if trying to hide something, he nodded quickly, and said without fluctuation: "Well, thank you for coming to see Ah Chao."

"We were all taken care of by Xu Chao when we were in school, please don't be so polite."

Father Xu nodded again, and then had nothing to say.He silently took out a white towel and squatted in front of the tombstone to wipe off the dust on it.

Seeing this, Le Mei and the others tactfully said their farewell.

When he reached the exit, Ren Chu looked back at his back, and then slowly followed everyone down the mountain.

It was just after two o'clock when we got back to the villa.

"It's still early, why not take you to visit the ancestral hall."

In order to save the depressed atmosphere, Le Mei graciously sent out an invitation.

"I won't go. There will be jet lag in these two days." Ren Chu politely declined.

"Are you alone?" Zhen Yang looked at her worriedly, "How about I accompany you."

"Hey, don't really think of me as a kindergarten kid."

Ren Chu laughed, walked up the stairs, then turned around and waved at them.

"see you later."

"Okay... see you later."

At the end of a road lined with pine trees, you can see a building standing on a high stone platform.

The building sits in the mountains, so it looks magnificent.

When it comes to the history of the ancestral hall, it can be traced back to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. However, due to the wars over the years, the artillery fire once razed it to scorched earth, and its original appearance has long since disappeared.Although the craftsmen tried their best to restore the original appearance, but the information is incomplete, so modern elements are inevitable in the details.

"...After that, the villagers sent back many salvaged antiques. Unfortunately, before the ceremony, the main hall and the two adjacent side halls were forbidden to enter..."

Le Mei walked through the main entrance while explaining, just like a professional tour guide.

When Zhen Yang looked around aimlessly, he saw a square monument under the screen wall to the east.

"Lemei, what is that?"

she asked casually.

"That." Le Mei stopped and turned her head to look. "The content is nothing more than praise. But the inscription was written by my uncle himself."

"really?"

"By the way, you all don't know, he used to be the president of the Painting and Calligraphy Association."

"Wow, can we go and have a look then?"

Zhen Yang clapped his hands, looking very much looking forward to it.

Hearing what she said, Le Mei made a gesture with a smile on her face and invited, "I'm very happy."

Chang Wei didn't have much research on these things, so he was not interested in watching them. On the contrary, Zhen Yang sent out excited praises.

"this is amazing!"

She repeated this sentence several times.I saw her eyes brighten, showing the brightest expression in the past two days.

"Le Mei, please, I can take pictures..."

Zhen Yang got carried away, and didn't consider whether there were other people nearby, until she lacked restraint in her voice and drew a scolding.

——"What are you doing?"

An old lady stood in the right corridor, watching them sullenly from the shadows.

"No noise is allowed on the eve of the festival!"

Zhen Yang and Chang Wei were dumbfounded and froze in place.

But Le Mei obviously knew each other, and she hurriedly stepped forward and nodded: "I'm really sorry, Yan Lao. They are all my friends, and it's all my fault. I promise I will pay attention next time."

Her respectful attitude made it impossible to criticize, so even though the old man looked very unhappy and muttered something like "no rules", he turned and left with a stubborn face.

Chang Wei was very fortunate. After the other party left, he leaned into Le Mei's ear and whispered: "This is an excuse to make trouble for you, right?"

This person's intuition is particularly keen in certain areas.

"Even you can see it," Le Mei said helplessly, "I'm really sorry for implicating you."

"I wish I could keep my voice down." Zhen Yang said guiltily.

"No need to apologize, the grievances between our two families have long been there."

"Can……"

"Hey, let's not talk about these unhappy things."

Chang Wei quickly interrupted them.

"Yeah." Le Mei agreed, she looked at her watch, "It's almost time to go back."

The three of them returned the same way, because Chang Wei said they were going to the store to buy something, so they parted ways temporarily on the way.

It was almost three o'clock when we got back to the villa.

When Le Mei was about to open the door, Zhen Yang suddenly patted her on the shoulder.

"Hey, Le Mei, there's something in the mailbox."

"what?"

Le Mei unscrewed the door and turned her head back. The letter box, which was empty at first, was now pushed open a crack.

Looking inside, there is a document bag and a letter.

Flip to the back, the signature is... X Detective Agency?

"Who sent it to you?"

Le Mei subconsciously folded the letter paper.

"No"

Her expression was suddenly extremely cold.

Zhen Yang was stunned, and then felt embarrassed.

I'm talking too much again.she thinks.

"Well, I'm going to get some juice, what do you want to drink?"

Zhen Yang stood uncomfortably for a while, then made an excuse to go to the kitchen.

Le Mei recovered from her contemplation, and realized that she had acted too much just now.

"Well, bring me a bottle of Coke."

She deliberately made her tone sound more pleasant

Afterwards, the strange document bag was casually placed on the magazine rack.

——At the same time, at another location, a man sneakily delivered a letter.

After waking up from sleep, it was almost dinner time, Ren Chu went downstairs rubbing his drowsy head, and could hear voices coming from the living room in the distance.

"Hey, you're awake. Come and have a look together."

As soon as Zhen Yang saw her, he waved to her with a smile all over his face.

"what?"

Ren Chu yawned and walked over, she noticed a painting spread out on the coffee table.

"Chang Wei met Uncle Le Mei just now, and during the chat, he mentioned that I liked his calligraphy very much. As a result, you see," her face flushed slightly with shyness and joy, "He asked Chang Wei to forward this painting to me."

"Isn't that good." Ren Chu said with a casual smile.

This is a watercolor painting. The scenery in the painting should be an autumn field, with a round of sunset hanging among the grass, and a figure swaying a hoe nearby.In the lower left corner, there is a poem "Looking at the autumn grass independently, while the savage plows the sunset".

At first glance, the lines are smooth and the composition is harmonious, but judging from her unprofessional perspective, the large area of ​​cold tones with unclear meanings in the picture makes the overall feeling dull and obscure. In addition, the facial expressions of the characters are portrayed strangely, rather than expressing the hard work of farmers. It would be more appropriate to describe it as sad.

The idea of ​​painting and the idea of ​​poetry run counter to each other.Ren Chu pondered.

Once a contradictory comparison was formed, her curiosity was aroused, and as she continued to look at it, someone spoke.

"When I look at it, I always feel a little scared."

Chang Wei is a layman, he can say whatever comes to his mind.

Le Mei had already turned around and walked away. She opened the refrigerator and took out the ingredients while smiling.

"The thinking of old artists is so weird. Fortunately, I have not seen it for so many years."

"What's weird, it's too much, it's called ingenuity!"

Zhen Yang corrected her very persistently, and then she put away the gift with great care and brought it back to the room.

There are thick clouds outside the window.

After brewing for a long time, the heavy rain finally poured down at dinner time.The heavy rain and high wind intensified, crackling on the glass, as if they were about to break through the window in the next moment.

"I'll go to bed today, and I have a lot of things to do tomorrow morning."

Le Mei said this to them, and she went upstairs first after she packed the tableware.

Because there was nothing to do, the rest of the people quickly went back to their rooms.

That night, Ren Chu couldn't sleep because of the constant rain, but when the wind and rain subsided around [-] o'clock, silence replaced it and began to prick her nerves.

While tossing and turning, she recalled the conversation with Xu's father—yes, she made an excuse to stay, but ran back secretly.During the conversation, Xu's father kept insisting on the term "depression suicide"—at least in words.But his strict precautions pushed the matter into deeper doubts.

Considering that Xu Chao's work in the past few years has made him a target of public criticism, Ren Chu even wondered whether it might be the killer's work, but thinking about her cautious style, Ren Chu is more inclined to let her be killed by someone close to her.The wrongly paid trust was shamelessly used by others, so he stepped into the trap set by the betrayer unsuspectingly, so Xu Chaocai did not leave a trace of clues, and could only die in despair... She couldn't help being angry at this sinister idea, and Inexplicably caught in a kind of besieged fear...

"what……"

Ren Chu couldn't help making a distressed sound, she closed her eyes, and buried her face in the pillow.Then at some point, sleepiness finally swept over.

The next day, Ren Chu, who was sleeping unconsciously, was woken up hastily by a knock on the door.

"Hey, what's the matter?"

Outside the door, Zhen Yang's face lost all color.

"Uncle Le is dead!"

At nine o'clock in the morning, the body was found hanging from the roof beam of the main hall of the ancestral hall in full view of the public.

On this day, the start time of the festival is Sishi. According to the usual practice in previous years, the relevant personnel will gather one hour in advance.The abnormal signs began at that time. At that time, there were still 50 minutes before nine o'clock, and the uncle who was the chief priest was still missing.Because no one answered the phone, the elders in the village asked Le Mei to go to his house to urge her.

But Le Mei was in vain, the door of the uncle's house was closed, and no one was there.

When the news came, everyone looked at each other in blank dismay.Someone suggested at this time that the ceremony should end as soon as possible before making plans.So, at nine o'clock, the officiant opened the door and entered.

The icy air gushes out, making people's hair stand on end.

—— Such a tragic scene was unexpected by everyone. I saw the dark lobby where the portraits of the ancestors were placed. Due to the sudden disturbance of the air flow, the light flickered strangely. cast a shadow of terror.

Undoubtedly, Uncle has become a corpse.