Living Paper

nostalgia/article

Before dawn, there was a sudden thunder and heavy rain.

Raindrops dripped down the tile eaves, and a rain curtain was hung in front of the patio.

Bai Zhun was sitting there, looking at the spire of the Town God's Temple through the misty sky.

On the Ghost Festival, when the gate of hell is open, it is the time of the year when the yin and resentment are the most intense. What he wants to do, he can only choose this time.

When Huo Zhenye saw it was raining, he was afraid that the paper bundles would be damaged by the rain, so he searched for tarpaulins all over the house, and wanted to go to the Temple of the City God to cover up the paper bundles. After spending so much effort, he couldn't be watered by the rain.

Bai Zhun glanced at him, and finally spoke: "The Temple Celebration will take care of it."

Huo Zhenye put down the tarpaulin, and he also walked to the patio, squatted down and followed Bai Zhun's gaze, frowning and asked him, "Are you really okay?" He had an intuition that Bai Zhun had something to hide from him.

Bai Zhun looked lazy, and nestled in the bamboo chair: "You should hurry to Qiao's house and dig out Xihong's body, lest she knock on the door one by one and ask someone to sew her skin."

This is a bit difficult, Huo Zhenye took two steps: "Then I can't knock on the door of Qiao's house, saying that there are corpses flying in your garden, and I want to dig them out and take them away?"

Bai Zhun looked up at the rainstorm: "The newly dug soil cannot withstand this kind of rain."

Huo Zhenye gritted his teeth: "Okay, I've already lost my face anyway." As he said that, he went out with an umbrella, and took Ah Chiu with him, and before leaving, he said to Bai Zhun, "Let's have hotpot dinner tonight." ?”

In such a heavy rain, it is most suitable to eat shabu-shabu. Ask the Beijing restaurant to send a copper pot. The sliced ​​​​meat is boiled and dipped in sesame sauce to eat.

Bai Zhun nodded: "OK."

It's rare for him to be so eloquent. Usually, even if he likes it in his heart, he would never say a good word. Huo Zhenye smiled: "Then I'm leaving, wait for me to come back."

The little squirrel was very reluctant to go out, it was made of paper, its wings could not touch the water, and its feathers would be shriveled if it touched the water, and Zhu Ding looked down on it even more.

But Huo Zhenye put it on his shoulders: "Never let the rain drench you."

Ah-jiu was still not happy, it was so humid outside, and the moisture was sticking to his body, so it didn't feel comfortable at all, so it pecked Huo Zhenye's neck with its beak, Huo Zhenye clutched his neck, and took Ah-jiu out.

As soon as the door was closed, Axiu took out the incense burner, and she didn't dare to lean against the courtyard. All the paper figurines were stuck against the wall, for fear of getting wet.

Bai Zhun lit the incense stick with yellow paper, inserted it into the stove, and wrote the word "Song Ying" on the paper.

Seeing the smoke drifting out through the rain curtain, Bai Zhun went out with an umbrella.

There was no one in the long alley, and every household closed their doors and windows tightly. No one would go out in this weather. The sound of Bai Zhun's wheelchair was covered by the sound of rain. He reached the entrance of the alley and waved to stop a rickshaw.

As soon as he walked out of the long alley, his gown was already wet from the rain. The rickshaw driver looked at him and said, "Master, do you have someone to accompany you?"

"I'm going out of town." He said and threw out a piece of silver.

Those who are still pulling the cart outside in this weather are the ones who can't get away with it at home. Seeing that Bai Zhun is spending a lot of money, he hurriedly carried him into the cart: "Then young master, let's go."

Huo Zhenye drove to the arrest room, and called out the big head: "Come with me."

After driving to Qiao's garden, he looked at the iron gate and asked, "Mr. Huo, we are not investigating the tailor's case, why did we drive here?"

Huo Zhenye patted his head: "I'll go in later, don't say anything, just listen to me."

Without a police officer, how could the Qiao family let him search the garden.

The big head didn't know why, but he was very convinced by Huo Zhenye and nodded in agreement.

Huo Zhenye knocked on the door of Qiao's house, and it was a maid who came out to answer the door: "Who are you looking for?"

"It's good to talk to your family." Huo Zhenye was wearing a suit, but the big head behind him was wearing a police uniform, with batons hanging around his waist. The maid took a look and invited them into the hall.

After a while, a very haggard young woman came down from upstairs. She looked at Huo Zhenye and Datou, and asked softly, "Gentlemen, what can I do for you?"

"We received an anonymous report that there was a body hidden in your yard."

Huo Zhenye didn't take a detour at all, and he didn't know if the rain made him upset, or there were other reasons, he always felt uneasy in his heart, and wanted to solve this matter quickly and go back quickly.

Young Mistress Qiao's face turned pale with fright: "Nonsense! How could we have... have..."

She couldn't even say the word corpse.

Huo Zhenye glanced at her and knew in his heart that Xihong's revenge is really a revenge. It seems that this young lady Qiao did not participate in it, so the whole family got "sick", only she was safe and sound.

"Master Qiao's back is rotten?"

Young Mistress Qiao looked at Huo Zhenye in surprise, and looked him up and down. Not only her husband, but also her mother-in-law, father-in-law, and the whole family were suffering from the same strange disease.

At first, the back was itchy, and then the skin began to rot, and pus flowed out.

But I couldn't help it and didn't scratch it, and scratched the meat to pieces!In order to keep him from moving, I had to tie his hands to the bedpost. I have seen both Western and Chinese medicine, but there is nothing I can do.

The mother-in-law said that he contracted the plum sore disease from Changsantangzi, but her mother-in-law and father-in-law had the same strange disease, and she was the only one in the whole family who was well.

"how do you know?"

Huo Zhenye smiled: "Xihong told me." Her paws are not vegetarian, and he still feels an itchy back when he says it.

Datou didn't know who Xihong was, but Mrs. Qiao knew it. She took a step back with a pale face, and the maid beside her supported her. She trembled and said, "You...you are Mr. Yin Yang?"

"Never mind who I am, that thing can't be left in the yard anymore."

The maid pulled Young Mistress Laqiao: "Miss, their whole family is very sick, let this person take a look, if there is no one, we will feel at ease."

Young Mistress Qiao gritted her teeth and nodded, as if she had made a decision: "Okay."

Huo Zhenye walked around the yard, the rain diluted the smell of blood, Huo Zhenye walked very slowly with every step, even the little oriole was afraid of the rain, huddled in his suit and refused to come out.

Just when Huo Zhenye frowned and wanted to dig the ground with a shovel, Young Mistress Qiao came out holding an umbrella. She stood a few steps away from the shade of the tree and whispered, "Under the tree, I...I can always see her under the tree."

Whenever the sky is overcast, she can see a red shadow, standing slender and slender under the tree, very faint, if it rains, the shadow will be thicker.

"Which tree?"

Young Mistress Qiao pointed with her fingers. She always thought that she had burned the paper for Xihong, so she could always see her. Now that she thought about it, it might be because of the burning of the paper that she didn't hurt her.

The shovel only dug a thin layer of wet mud, revealing a white hand inside.

After digging again, the other hand was exposed. Both hands were buried in the mud, making the appearance of claws at the same time, as if to "scratch someone's back" every night.

The big head gasped: "This, is this murder and burial?"

This is terrible, no matter whether Young Master Qiao is sick and lying on the bed, he will go up and ask. There are corpses dug up in the garden, how can it be said that it has nothing to do with Qiao's family.

Qiao's family had a phone, and the big head called the chief arresting room, and the chief arresting house sent patrols to take over.

Huo Zhenye stood at the head of Young Master Qiao's bed. He was tied to the bed with his back up and his face down. His body was only covered with a thin piece of silk, which was soaked with blood.

The three members of the Qiao family suffered from the same strange disease. Western and Chinese medicine doctors were helpless. At first they thought they had scratched their backs, but then they tied them up.

At night, it breaks again, day after day, without end.

When Master Qiao heard that Xihong's body had been dug up in the garden, he cried and laughed with sobs: "She came to look for me, she came to look for me."

"Xihong didn't commit suicide, she was...she was tied up and fed drugs." He cried bitterly, he clearly saw it, but it was too late when he rushed over to stop his mother.

Xihong was foaming at the mouth, not dead for a while, she stared at him with wide eyes, as if asking for help from him.

But he couldn't do anything, she was stripped naked and carried back to the hall.She is a redeemed girl from the hall, so what does it matter if she dies?

When Mrs. Qiao heard that Xihong's body had been dug up in the yard, she fainted from fright: "She drank the medicine herself, she drank the medicine herself!"

But her husband and son all admitted that it was Mrs. Qiao who poisoned Xihong to death.

When they thought it was a disease, they tried their best to conceal the fact that Mrs. Qiao had poisoned Xihong to death. When they knew that it was a ghost who came back to take her life, they couldn't wait to push Mrs. Qiao out.

"You never thought about saving her? Or giving her some last respect?" Huo Zhenye didn't bother to look at these people, he seemed to suddenly understand why Bai Zhun was always so lazy.

Of course, Young Master Qiao never thought that Xihong was just a toy to him, and he could spend a lot of money or throw it away like a shoe.

Huo Zhenye turned around and went downstairs, and left the rest to the Chief Detective. Regardless of whether the Qiao family could buy Taiping with money, the reporter would always expose it.

The big head came out of Qiao's garden in the rain. He stood by the car and asked, "Mr. Huo, if I ask you, don't you know how to tell?"

Huo Zhenye smiled: "I have something to do, I'm going back."

He drove back to Yuqingli, Axiu opened the door for him, Huo Zhenye strode into the house and put the freshly baked butterfly cakes on the table: "The matter is settled, but the body has been taken to the arrest room, and the medical examiner needs to do an autopsy first. "

Whether the leather is sewn up or not, and when it is sewn up depends on what Bai Zhun plans to do.

The house was very quiet, the sound of the rain was too thick, but there was no wind at all, the soda bottle wind chime hung by Axiu in the courtyard was motionless, and the house was too quiet.

Huo Zhenye didn't wait for Bai Zhun's response, he searched around the room and asked Axiu, "Did he go out?"

Axiu nodded.

"He went out alone?" Bai Zhun hated rainy days the most. Whenever this kind of weather came, he would either stay lazy in bed all day, or just sit in front of the patio and watch the rain. How could he go out by himself?

The female ghost must have said something yesterday. Huo Zhenye paced up and down the room, trying to recall Bai Zhun's words, but he only heard Bai Zhun's words.

Huo Zhenye suddenly stood still, Xihong had been dead for more than half a year, why did Qiao's family and Changsantangzi only start to be "haunted" recently?

Xihong was poisoned to death by Mrs. Qiao, she was dead, why did she have to take her skin?

Unless... she herself traded "skin" for something!

He took a quick look at the corpse. Although it had begun to rot to varying degrees, the skin on the back was torn neatly.

It was exactly the same as Song Ying's time.

Huo Zhenye exhaled, he asked Ah Jiu: "Can you find him?"

Ah Chiu held his head high, of course it could find its owner.

"Let's go." Before leaving, Huo Zhenye turned his head and glanced at the paper figurines in the room. He had a bad feeling in his heart, "Who can help?"

Both "Prince Yue" and "Mu Guiying" lowered their heads one after another. With such a heavy rain, they would get wet as soon as they came out of this door, and the silver guns became soft guns.

Huo Zhenye turned his head and ran out. The little squirrel could not fly in rainy weather and could only use its wings to command.

They drove out of the city and passed through the wilderness all the way. The car kept skidding in the mud, and finally stopped in front of a big house. When the little squirrel stretched its wings, it was here.

There are earth slopes on both sides. This house is built in a low-lying depression, like a house in the Qing Dynasty, with the gate tightly closed, and two stone lions squatting in front of the door.

The sky was cloudy, and the rain was falling heavily. From a distance, it was gloomy when viewed from between the rain curtains.

Huo Zhenye got out of the car and walked to the door. The black-painted door opened a crack by itself. From this gap, one could see the broken bricks and stones in the vestibule, and the weeds were overgrown. It didn't look like people were living inside.

Huo Zhenye pushed open the door and walked in, his eyes widened, he breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed that a funeral had just been held here.

A row of white lanterns hung on the chaoshou verandah. The lanterns had long been dilapidated, revealing the bamboo bones inside. Paper money was scattered everywhere in front of the court, which was wet by the rain and stained the ground.

This looks like a haunted house from the outside to the inside.

It was almost dusk at this time, and because of the rain, the sky was getting dark faster than usual, and I couldn't hear anything except the sound of rain. The longer I listened, the more isolated I felt.

Huo Zhenye had never broken into a haunted house in his life. He stepped in, and the door behind him squeaked shut.

The sky darkened suddenly, and the house could not be seen. Huo Zhenye didn't look back. He took out his lighter and walked along the corridor into the hall with a little light.

The main room is full of paper bundles, with golden boys and jade girls standing on both sides. The tables and chairs here are entwined with cobwebs, but the paper bundles are all clean, without any floating dust.

There is a big "Dian" character posted in front of the hall.

Huo Zhenye walked to the table, picked up half a broken candle, and when the candle was lit, the room became brighter. I don't know how many people have entered the house. Where will Bai Zhun be?

Holding the candle, he turned around and looked around the room, trying to find clues, his gaze swept away, and he stopped in front of the door again. There was one missing girl in paper-wrapped gold standing in front of the door.

Jin Tong didn't move his head, his eyes swiveled and fixed on Huo Zhenye.