Murder

Under Gan Hao's introduction, Ma Haoyang met Sima Feng and Chi Yebai.

He knew Sima Liangren, and naturally he also knew the reputation of Sima's family and Ying Beishe, and he had Gan Hao by his side, so after hesitating again and again, he nodded and agreed.

The death cell in Qinghe City was empty, only Xu Ying was alone.Xu Ying slept curled up on the small bed, snoring loudly.It was raining outside the small window, and the rain splashed in, wetting half of the straw on the bed.

The Yacha shook the iron chain on the wooden door, making a bang. "Xu Ying! Get up!"

Xu Ying called out several times in a row before Xu Ying made any movement.He seemed to be in a deep sleep, writhing on the straw for a moment, and then slowly sat up.

Sima Feng and Chi Yebai followed behind the Yacha, one watching and the other listening.

The young man who walked slowly had an impressive face.His facial features were all crowded on his face, but the distribution was so uncoordinated, as if he had been kneaded severely by someone and then pressed on his face again.The person who was relocated didn't know how to properly position the eyes, nose and mouth, so Xu Ying's eyes were one big and one small, one high and the other low, the nasal bone was collapsed and the tip of the nose was big, and the two nostrils were wide open. Because of the cold, a clear nose dripped from the inside.He has high cheekbones, a narrow forehead, heavy bags under his eyes, and looks lifeless because of the wrinkles on his face.The lips are thick and protruding, which seems to be because the bones in the lower part of the face are also protruding outwards. His mouth cannot be closed, his teeth are protruding, and his speech is slurred.

When he got closer, Chi Yebai realized that his eyes were not good either.The relatively small left eye seemed to have been injured, and the eyeball could not move normally. Only the right eyeball was abnormally flexible, looking up and down at the three people outside the cell.

The Yacha escorted Xu Ying to the interrogation room and handcuffed him to the stool.Xu Ying's hands and feet were stained with blood, her prison uniform was in tatters, and the scars from the whipping had not healed, and because of the continuous rain, they seemed to be festering, emitting an unbearable stench.

Chi Yebai tried his best to control himself, not to cover his nose.

He whispered to Sima Feng about Xu Ying's situation.Sima Feng nodded, groping to stand still in front of Xu Ying, and pulled out a long whip.

Seeing the instrument of torture, Xu Ying was startled, and begged hoarsely, "Don't hit, don't hit!"

"I won't hit you if you answer the question." Sima Feng said gently.

But Xu Ying seemed to not understand what he said, and kept repeating the word "don't hit".

The communication with Xu Ying was not smooth.After finally calming down a little, he became very interested in the cloth strips that Sima Feng covered his eyes with.Sima Feng was very helpless, even the clerk couldn't help but said: "He's always been like this, he can't seem to listen to or understand everything he asks. With this appearance, he must be brainless, right?"

"No." Chi Yebai suddenly sneered, snatched the whip from Sima Feng, and slammed it on Xu Ying's shoulder.

The whip grazed the skin, which broke and oozes blood.Xu Ying's eyes suddenly changed, and the shaking of his head stopped immediately.

"Why are you turning your head to the left? Are you avoiding something... or protecting something?" Chi Yebai asked in a low voice, "What is there on your left shoulder?"

Yacha: "What?"

Xu Ying's prison uniform was already torn, his left shoulder was exposed, and there was nothing on it except scars.

Xu Ying's nagging stopped.He bit his lower lip, staring at Chi Yebai with guard and hatred.

"Why don't you speak? What's wrong with your left shoulder?" Chi Yebai took another step closer, but was immediately stopped by Sima Feng, "You can't see, I'll interrogate for you."

"If you don't want to talk, I'll ask." Sima Feng said, "But...do you allow me to talk to it?"

Yacha: "What?!"

When he exclaimed, Xu Ying answered with a firm word.

-"No!"

Sima Feng nodded and lowered his voice: "What is it? Are you protecting it?"

Xu Ying's eyes were tense like never before, his fists were clenched tightly, and his whole body was tense.

When Sima Feng threatened him with a whip just now, in order to make the threat more oppressive, Sima Feng kept throwing the whip on the ground and the chair Xu Ying was sitting on.Xu Ying was not afraid of the whip, but tremblingly begged "don't hit me".But every time Sima Feng raised the whip, he would subconsciously tilt his head slightly.

Chi Yebai thought at first that he was avoiding the whip involuntarily, but then found that no matter which direction Sima Feng threw the whip, Xu Ying's head would always turn to the left.He twisted his neck and lowered his face, not as if he was avoiding it, but as if he was protecting his left shoulder.

Chi Yebai just asked casually, but Sima Feng immediately guessed the reason for Xu Ying's strange behavior.

"Is it your friend?" He lowered his voice and asked calmly, "Or is it your god?"

Ma Haoyang only gave Sima Feng an hour.After he and Chi Yebai walked out of the dark cell, they heard Chi Yebai sigh softly beside him.

"Scary?" he asked.

"It's okay." Chi Yebai replied, "It's a bit cold in the cell."

"I think so too." Sima Feng asked him, "Is there anyone else here?"

"Ah Si is waiting on the opposite side, there is no one else." Chi Yebai said.

Sima Feng nodded, grabbed his hand, and pressed it against his chest. "Then I'll warm you up—don't move, don't be afraid, there's no one else."

Chi Yebai: "...I'm not afraid. Is it you who deserve a beating?"

"I'm blind, you don't want to hit me." Sima Feng laughed.

Chi Ye struggled to free his hand in vain, and Ah Si just ran over.The loyal Sima Sifang just pretended not to see the scene where the two young masters were arguing, but when he noticed the solemn expressions on their faces, he couldn't help becoming nervous: "Didn't you ask anything useful?"

"A lot of questions have been asked." Chi Yebai said, "It's all from your young master."

Ah Si: "So he did those things? Did he really take pleasure in killing people? Didn't he say he was a fool because of his bad brain?"

"He's not a fool." Chi Yebai frowned, "He said that killing people is not his pleasure, but his way of protecting himself."

The thing perched on Xu Ying's shoulder that needs his protection, Xu Ying calls it the second brother.

He was the only child in Xu Ying's family, but a long time ago, the Chen family gave birth to a frail little boy.Xu Ying no longer remembered what the child's name was, and only called him second brother.

That child was the first person Xu Ying killed.

The second brother died from a stone when he was three years old and Xu Ying was nine years old.

Xu Ying is dull, but his second brother is very intelligent.Xu Ying's parents are both good-looking, but he is ugly and is often bullied in the village. Even his father beat his mother many times because of him after drinking.The second brother is very similar to his father and mother, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and has nothing in common with Xu Ying.

The second brother is very clingy to him, so his parents often tell him "don't lead the second brother down".

At that time, Xu Ying was already familiar with the method of hitting cats and dogs with stones. He could also peel off their skins and hang their naked bodies on the branches.The second brother was very scared. Every time he did these things, he only dared to watch from afar and never approached.

Xu Ying decided to teach her second brother to skin cats and dogs.The second younger brother was caught by him and wept loudly, Xu Ying was afraid that his crying would attract people, so he slapped the second younger brother on the head with the stone still stained with dog blood.

He smashed it seven or eight times, the second brother's nails were cracked, and his left eye was scratched, and it would not heal for decades.And for more than 20 years since then, the little second brother has been sitting on Xu Ying's left shoulder and talking to him.

Xu Ying understood for the first time that killing people is very different from killing cats and dogs.He was more interested in it than he had ever been—but he was too young to have the strength.

He threw the second brother's body under the cliff, and when he returned home, he said that the second brother was gone. The whole village searched for it for a few days, and finally found the child who had been gnawed off in half by wild animals.

Xu Ying didn't allow his second brother to talk to others, so Sima Feng followed his wishes and dug out the information he wanted bit by bit.

Although there are 27 unsolved murder cases with a hammer, Xu Ying himself said that he killed at least [-] people, and I can't remember many more.

"They want to kill me, they treat me badly." Xu Ying tilted her head, very serious, "I'm stupid, I don't understand. That's why my second brother reminded me to kill people."

In Xu Ying's confession, he has no ability to survive, does not know how to communicate with others, and it is even more difficult to detect the malice of those around him.And the second brother, who is smart, sensitive, and kind, always whispers in his left ear, telling him who is malicious, who can be contacted, and whoever sees it should run away.

Because he was born with an ugly face, no one wanted to take a second look at him, and his second brother was always with him, so he thought in his heart that his second brother was the closest and best person.

"Well... so it is like this, your second brother is very powerful." Sima Feng was amazed, "Then what about Chen Er's family? He was only seven years old at the time, what did the second brother see?"

"He'll be serious when he grows up!" Xu Ying lowered her voice suddenly, as if she was overheard, "He will grow up soon, and when he grows up, he will beat me every day. I'm very scared, I was afraid of pain, very scared. The second brother told me to go to him with a hammer, scare him, and smash him if it doesn’t work.”

"Then you smashed it." Sima Feng added.

Xu Ying nodded cautiously: "When he smashed it, he still scratched several wounds on my hand. The second brother is right, what the second brother said is indeed true. He will definitely harm me in the future. Kill him first , and I will be safe."

The invisible "second brother" sat on Xu Ying's left shoulder for many years, pointing out one by one, teaching him to kill more than 30 people.

Ah Si felt cold all over.

"My God, there are really ghosts in the world!" He hurriedly hugged Sima Feng closely, "Master, you are full of yang, I, I, I must follow you."

"Do you believe what he said?" Chi Yebai asked.

Ah Si thought for a while, and was a little confused: "I don't believe it all... But there will be such people who can see things that people don't have in the world, and can talk to them. The world is so big, there are all kinds of wonders." .”

Sima Feng nodded with a smile, stretched out his fingers and slapped Ah Si's forehead heavily: "You are finished, you will never be the kind of independent hero like Murong Hai in your whole life."

Ah Si was pushed away, very wronged: "Why can't it be done?"

"Do you believe Xu Ying's words?" Sima Feng asked with a smile, "You actually believe in such ghosts and gods?"

"He... is he lying?" Ah Si was stunned for a moment, "but he is such a fool..."

"That's right, such a dull man who is not good at words has killed more than 30 people and has been absconding for so many years, but he has never been found." Sima Feng said softly, "Do you really think he is stupid?"