Covered with water

They had exchanged mobile phone numbers before, so there was no need to declare their family name.Xiao Yunhe also saved unnecessary politeness, and said directly: "It's me, please tell me."

Tang Mingqing said: "I'm here to report the progress of the current work to the two of you. Just now I contacted Ms. Horikawa Chiemi and the auctioneer. Ms. Qianhui said that she is free tonight, and the time of the video call is tentatively scheduled for [-] tonight. Around [-]:[-], I don’t know what you two think? The auctioneer has no time tonight, and the other party asked if he could consider after [-]:[-] tomorrow morning. In addition, Tong Chu called and asked me to tell you that everything in the hospital Alright, please rest assured."

Xiao Yunhe turned on the hands-free when he said the first sentence, so Qin Zhi replied: "No problem. Set up a time with Ms. Qian Huimei first, and contact after the auction. Also... no, no Other things." He temporarily pressed the idea of ​​contacting the pawn shop, glanced at the watch on his wrist, quickly estimated the time required for the follow-up journey, and added, "We will leave the apartment in 10 minutes, Mr. Tang, Please take us back to Kanno's house."

Tang Mingqing said: "Okay, I'll wait for you two downstairs." Then he hung up the phone.

Xiao Yunhe put down his phone, saw that Qin Zhi seemed to be taking the laptop away on purpose, so he got up and sorted out the books and regulations scattered on the ground, and continued the topic just now: "Master Qin, it seems that we... are late this time One step."

Qin Zhi smiled: "Not only is it a step late, but we don't even have to step on the shoulders of giants." Judging from the traces left by Tsubaki Kojiro, it is not so much that he studied the missing inscriptions as a bronze expert, but rather Rather, it is a patient who is desperately looking for a solution.

Totems, talismans... Xiao Yunhe looked at the key words on the cover. It seems that this is Tong Yu's real purpose for inviting them over, right?As for Tsubaki Kojiro... he was born in an ordinary family in Tokyo, Japan. According to the background of the Bureau of Secrecy, it shouldn't seem like they have these messy origins of gods and ghosts.

If the person parasitic in the bronze tripod is really a ferocious-faced evil ghost, does he still want to draw a demon-slaying formation of nine heavens and ten places by himself?

Xiao Yunhe couldn't help but slander, but he unexpectedly remembered Yuko's evaluation of Tsubaki Kojiro.Following Zhengguo, the face of this unfortunately seriously injured bronze expert also began to become blurred.To put it bluntly, it was only over a day and a half before they arrived in Kushiro. Although there were no shortage of conversational changes and scattered clues, there were still many things that they had not explained clearly to Tong Yu, and they had not finished browsing through all the case files. , It’s almost like reading a catalog and going to the examination room.

The reason why Qin Zhi decided to go back to Kanno’s house was because the video with Qian Huimei was really late, it would be more convenient to find a safe place, and the second was because most of the information about Tsubaki Kojiro remained at Kanno’s house In the guest room, they always have to go back and check to see if there is any missing detail.

As for why they contacted Qian Huimei——Although Tsubaki Kojiro and Masakuni’s actions are full of doubts, there is no conclusive conclusion. The transmission chain of Kanno Masakuni goes back link by link.Now Qian Huimei represents the Horikawa family as the source of the incident. Once the whole story of the inscription is confirmed from her, whether the auction pawnshop can have a positive dialogue with them is secondary.

At this time, Qin Zhi had already packed his things, returned the power and electrical appliances to their original places, and almost restored the room to the way it was before they came.Xiao Yunhe said casually: "Do you have anything else to take away?"

Qin Zhi said, "Let's have a look." He had already skimmed through these books, and he didn't think they were of much use.The content that can enter the library must be beneficial to the physical and mental health of all age groups. No matter how fantasy the cover is designed and the introduction is eye-catching, the essence is still based on scientific fancy arguments, and everything can be labeled as a folk hat .He seldom read such books, so he just randomly picked one up and held it in his hand, and commented: "Although he is one step ahead of us, this Professor Chun's direction is not right. He has time to study these, Why not just buy the Qimen Dunjia and learn from it."

Xiao Yunhe didn't even raise his head, "Mmm", and said, "Not as good as you, okay? You can see everything just like you...I'll give you [-]% and I'm not afraid of your pride, dear~"

Qin Zhi: "..." Wait a minute, I was being perfunctory, right? I was definitely being perfunctory, right?Watching Xiao Yunhe close the second suitcase, push it back under the window and put it away again, then took out the "Wuyue Nuo God" by Xueyuan Publishing House from his hand, flipped through the signature on the title page, and said with a smile: "Why? , isn’t it happy to praise you? He doesn’t have your brains, and he has memorized all these things for nothing—”

Before the words fell, it stopped abruptly.

Xiao Yunhe was holding the book in his hand, and for some reason he was suddenly lost in a daze.

Qin Zhi said: "What's wrong?"

Xiao Yunhe: "..." A very subtle thought flashed through his mind like lightning, "Wait, don't talk yet." Then he asked to himself, "What did I... just say? "

Qin Zhi said: "...Praise me for being great?"

Xiao Yunhe frowned: "Not this sentence!"

Qin Zhi said again: "...he carried so many things for nothing?"

Xiao Yunhe paused, and replied: "...that's right." He spread out the page with borrowing information in front of Qin Zhi, tapped his finger on the date, and emphasized, "The time is wrong." After rearranging the books, I found that the timelines of those Chinese periodicals were all before April, and most of the Japanese materials were concentrated in the first week of April.

He tried to sort out the chaotic logical relationship in this timeline: "According to Yuko and Yoshiki, Zheng Guo and Tsubaki Kojiro were strangers at first. In mid-April, that is, after Ichiro Maeda announced the result of donating the tripod. Now the borrowing date of these books is before the middle of the month, even more than a month earlier than the weird things that happened in the museum. Then Tsubaki..." How did he do it in advance? How about these preparations?

"Nuo culture in "Zhou Li" is a witchcraft to drive away ghosts and epidemics. I take back what I just said. He is very accurate in this direction." Qin Zhi said, "I thought he discovered it together with Zhengguo. The secret of the 'curse', and then began to look for a solution. Now it seems... well, we thought he was saving himself, but in fact..."

Xiao Yunhe said: "He came prepared." In other words, Tsubaki Kojiro probably knew the secret hidden in the bronze tripod from the very beginning, so he chose to contact Zhengguo.

What about Zhengguo, what is his position?Is their so-called "love at first sight" really that simple?

Qin Zhidao: "Consider another possibility? Tsubaki Kojiro was already doing research on talisman seals and totems, and these materials were all made by mistake."

Xiao Yunhe said: "Do you think it is convincing?" Too many chances are infinitely close to necessity, "The historical records of the database. Since he wants to do research, it makes no sense for him to only search for one topic. What's more..." If he didn't If I remember correctly, those search terms were left just the day before Tsubaki Kojiro suffered an "accident". To say that these are two distinct things, Tsubaki Kojiro himself, who has been judged to be brain dead, would not believe that there would be such a thing. Such a "coincidence".

Seeing that he didn't speak any more, Qin Zhi stretched out his hand to help him put the third suitcase back in place, and said, "Let's go back first, Tang Mingqing is still waiting for us downstairs."

Compared with his boss, Tang Mingqing's biggest advantage is that he is not so noisy. The husband and wife came out a quarter later than the agreed time, and he just asked if there was anything wrong.Qin Zhi still had some subtle thoughts in his mind, so he didn't assign Tang Mingqing any new tasks.The husband and wife also had their own concerns, the car drove all the way, and soon returned to the Kanno family mansion where there was no master.

Because Tang Mingqing still had to communicate with the video at night, he consciously took over the chores after sending the people.Yoshiki and Yuko were not around, so they didn't turn on the open fire. They just heated up the bento they bought on the way in the microwave, and boiled some hot water for later use.

The three of them simply had dinner, and because there was still some time before the agreed eight o'clock, the husband and wife opened the case file and briefly read the results of Tong Yu's investigation against Tsubaki Kojiro.

But I don't know if his identity as a bronze expert was too confusing in this incident, or his image as an "innocent passer-by" was too deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the Bureau of Secrecy did not find anything else in the early investigation wrong.Feng Xianchun is indeed the pseudonym Tsubaki Kojiro used during his stay in China. He began to teach in a university in Xi'an four years ago, participated in several projects related to the bronze ware Sanxingdui, and also published cooperative articles in journals.After graduating from university, he had a short marriage history of eight months. His ex-wife was named Miko Ise, who was two years older than him. She was from Osaka, and her current household registration information was registered as divorced and unemployed.

After the Secrecy Bureau intervened, Tong Yu also tried to contact Ms. Shenzi, but the phone number she left had been invalid for a long time, and Chun's family had no latest news about her.

Miko Ise... This is as weird as hearing a Chinese girl introduce herself and say that my surname is the imperial concubine of the Forbidden City!

Because of the experience of traveling in Japan a hundred years ago, Qin Zhi also has a certain understanding of the Japanese Shinto system.Ise Jingu Shrine enshrines Amaterasu, the artifact hidden in the Yata mirror. As a psychic who communicates with the sky, Yu Shenzi is often a holy image in white clothes and scarlet pants. It is inevitable to be disrespectful or unbearable rumors when used as a name. .

But this marriage has been over for more than [-] years, and Miko Ise never showed up. Although Tong Yu paid more attention to this ex-wife because of this exaggerated name, after the contact failed, it disappeared. .

At eight o'clock, the video call with Chiemi Horikawa officially started.

In addition to Chiemi herself sitting in front of the camera, there is also a young man in a light blue plaid shirt who is the son of Eita and Chiemi, Koji Horikawa.

Before the call officially started, the couple also learned about the current situation of the Horikawa family through Tang Mingqing.Although the pawn payment six years ago saved the precarious company, Qian Huimei was a full-time housewife and didn't know much about business, so after the company gradually returned to normal, she was quickly trusted as a "partner" "Cheating all the shares, the mother and son had a very difficult time.

But fortunately, now his son Houji has graduated from university, and has set up a small start-up company with his classmates. Although the material conditions are not as rich as before, life has finally returned to that warm and peaceful state.

And after going through those ups and downs, Housi's distress for his mother has also reached its peak.Now he wants his mother to live a stable life and stay away from the intrigues of the outside world, so he is particularly disgusted that someone disturbs his mother over and over again because of an old incident.But he still maintained his due courtesy, nodded slightly, and immediately got up and left the screen.

"Mrs. Horikawa, I'm sorry to take up your time." Qin Zhi said, "I still have a few questions to check with you, and I hope you can answer them."

At the same time that Qin Zhi spoke, Xiao Yunhe was secretly observing Ms. Juechuan.Seeing that she has a relaxed expression and a calm smile, she looks like a soft-spoken and well-bred woman.

This is the benefit of the interview.Compared with cold written questions and answers, the demeanor and micro-expressions during communication can obviously better reflect a person's true inner thoughts and help them make more accurate judgments.

Qian Huimei replied: "Yes. The bronze ware has caused such a big disturbance, and I have always been uneasy. If there is something that can help, please feel free to ask, you are welcome."

Qin Zhidao: "Thank you. This morning, we went to the Kanno Museum to check the actual bronze ware, and found a trace of wear and tear in the belly of the tripod. Do you know about this?"

Qian Huimei showed a thoughtful look, and affirmed after a while: "Yes, I know. Because I need someone to estimate the value of the bronze tripod, Eita and I did some simple cleaning by ourselves. During the process, we found this wear and tear. It looks very old. At that time, the company was in urgent need of money, and Eita complained about it, saying, "It would be great if there was no such scar, and the perfect bronze will definitely sell for a higher price."

Qin Zhi said: "Then how did this wear and tear come about, do you know?"

Qian Huimei said: "I don't know. At that time, Yingtai and I thought it was because of the age. The bronze tripod has been kept in the basement with a lot of sundries, and it is normal to bump into it. As for whether it is due to ancestors... Mr. Xianzhi He passed away early, and his father and Eita were not very close, so there is no way to verify it now."

"Thank you, I have one last question." Qin Zhi said, "Apart from us, has anyone asked you about the source of this wear?"

Qian Huimei said: "Only the staff of the pawn shop asked. Because it involves money transactions, they will be more cautious and have to verify every detail. I was asked the same question during the inspection process, and I also answered that way."