Urban Night Returner

There was a mixed bag of fish and dragons on Wenhua Street, when Shen Gu and Zhong Lecen found the store, the boss stared and said nonsense, saying that such a piece of jade had never been sold at all.Shen Gu suspected that the jade had not entered into his hands through legal channels, so he covered it up like this.It wasn't until Shen Gu lost his patience that he slapped the police officer's ID card on his desk and asked him if he wanted to stay in the police station for two days. Then he hesitated and said that the person who sold it to him might have stolen it. I gave it to a rich businessman, saying it was to give a gift, but he didn't know the name of the rich businessman.

"Officer, I really don't know. In our line of work, read more, ask less, and don't know what you shouldn't know. Those who can pay a lot of money are not easy to mess with. We can just take the money. Why do you ask so much, no? You can't live with yourself!"

Zhong Lecen has been standing by the side, and only then did he speak: "Boss, when that piece of jade was delivered, did you put a seat in it?"

"Yes." The boss saw that they didn't look into the origin of the jade, and immediately said everything, "There is a wooden seat. It is an old peach wood. I think it fits well, so I didn't move it and sold it directly. gone."

Walking out of the jade shop, Zhong Lecen breathed a sigh of relief: "As long as the seat is still there, Qiongqi will not dare to come out. There is still time, and we will check it out slowly."

Shen Gu looked back at the store door: "I dare to accept the stolen things, I really wanted to arrest him just now."

Zhong Lecen sighed: "There are too many things like this in the antique jade shop. This piece of jade originally belonged to the owner, what about those unowned items? For example, dug out from the grave? That is actually stealing, but it is just a piece of jade. Stealing dead people. Nowadays, old ancient jade is only bought by people, and few people sell it. As long as you see it in the market, nine out of ten it was dug out secretly.

The two were talking and walked out from Wenhua Street.Zhong Lecen stretched his waist: "I have to go to the clinic to have a look. It's been two days. Fortunately, nothing happened these days."

Shen Gu looked at his watch, it was more than two o'clock in the afternoon, so he turned the steering wheel: "I'll take you there."

There were no customers in the clinic at this time, and Xiao Lai was cleaning the floor, seeing them quickly hang up the curtains embroidered with static symbols: "Brother Le Cen, Brother Shen."

"Is there anything going on today?" Zhong Lecen ran over to pet the cats and dogs fostered here one by one.

"Nothing. A few customers called to say that the dog had indigestion. I told them to observe it first. If it is not good tomorrow, I will come to see it. Today, only one customer came with a dog and said that the dog was restless at home. I was shivering, maybe I was sick. But I checked, and there was nothing wrong with it, and I was not restless here, it was normal. The customer refused to listen, saying that I was incompetent, so he must ask me to prescribe medicine. I prescribed some digestion pills, and then told her that if the dog still behaves like this at home, I will call and you can show it.”

"Everything is normal? Is there any problem with body temperature?"

"No problem." Xiao Lai was sure, "And she said that the dog would suddenly become restless and trembling at home. She observed it in our clinic all morning, and nothing happened."

"It may be an environmental problem. Maybe there is something new in her house or some new noise nearby that makes the dog anxious. So, I will call her later, if it doesn't work, I will go tomorrow—" Zhong Lecen Before finishing a sentence, the mobile phone in Shen Gu's pocket launched a series of life-chasing calls again. Shen Gu glanced at it, "Han Jinyue?"

"Brother Shen! Xiaokang is missing!"

Shen Gu frowned: "Don't cry, speak slowly, what's going on?"

Han Jinyue was sobbing and speaking intermittently, Shen Gu managed to organize the truth of the matter from her fragmented language.Xiaokang and a colleague invited a client to dinner last night. The dinner ended at about nine o'clock. They sent the client back to the hotel, and then went home separately.As a result, Xiaokang didn't come back that night.Han Jinyue waited for him until two o'clock in the morning, and finally couldn't help calling, but the phone was turned off.At first, Han Jinyue thought that they had gone to some sensual place, and was so angry that he planned to go to his company to find him to settle accounts early the next morning, but only after he went did he find out that they went home separately that night.Han Jinyue looked everywhere, calling all the classmates and friends he might contact, but no one had seen Xiaokang.Now she wants to call the police, but the missing time has not reached 24 hours. The police station advised her to go home and wait, but she couldn't wait for a minute.

"Phone off?"

"Yeah." Han Jinyue cried, "Xiaokang's mobile phone is never turned off. Because he is in the technical department, he may be asked some technical questions by customers at any time or go to the on-site service, so the company requires everyone in the technical department to switch on the phone 24 hours a day. Yes. I’ve known him for so long, and there’s never been a time when the phone was turned off. Something must have happened to him, for sure!”

"Don't worry, what about the colleague who accompanied the client with Xiaokang that day? You find him first, and I'll go there right away."

The young man who was with Xiaokang was named Wu Cheng. He was very young and had just started working. I took a taxi home. There happened to be an empty car. Manager Kang asked me to get in first, saying that his house was close. Then I got in the car and left. I didn’t know that Manager Kang didn’t come home until he didn’t come to work this morning. .I don’t know anything else.”

Zhong Lecen said softly: "Don't be nervous, think about it carefully, did Manager Kang act abnormally at that time or did he talk about where he was going next?"

Xiao Wu thought desperately, "No. Manager Kang said he's going home, and there's nothing unusual about it."

Han Jinyue had no choice but to look at Shen Gu anxiously.Shen Gu thought for a while, then made a call to Xiao Heizi: "Heizi, go to China Unicom to find out when and from which number the Xiaokang phone number was last called."

Xiao Heizi checked these things very efficiently: "Brother Shen, I checked. The last call record was at 137:[-] last night. The phone number is: [-]********."

Shen Gu frowned, feeling that the phone number was somewhat familiar.Han Jinyue murmured: "This phone number is quite familiar, whose is it?"

Xiao Wu whispered: "I'm afraid it's not from the company. Most of the company is from 130 and 139..."

Shen Gu went through the number again in his mind, and suddenly remembered: "This is Yu Ling's phone number!" He had an impression when he checked this number last time.

Han Jinyue flipped through his phone book in a hurry: "Yes, this is Yu Ling's phone number!"

Shen Gu and Zhong Lecen looked at each other and asked in unison: "What was the text message on April Fool's Day a few days ago?"

Han Jinyue said: "Could it be because of this... Ah yes! Xiaokang's phone book has her number, so I must have sent her a text message at that time. But, doesn't it mean that her number has been shut down? "

Shen Gu didn't have time to explain anything more to her, so he immediately ordered Xiao Heizi: "Heizi, send someone to the seaside to search immediately. Xiao Wu, which hotel is your client staying at?"

"Hisense Hotel."

"To the seaside near Zhanshan—" Shen Gu thought for a while, and added, "Especially Taipingjiao!"

Han Jinyue shouted anxiously: "Brother Shen, what happened to Xiaokang? What will happen?"

"You stay here, we'll look for it, and we'll let you know when we have news." Shen Gu said, and went straight to the beach with Zhong Lecen.

From Zhanshan to Taipingjiao, the seaside is full of reefs and there are few sandy beaches, so it is more difficult to search.And this area is not like the side of the trestle bridge where there are many tourists every day, and there is no one at night, and it is impossible to find witnesses.Xiao Heizi led four people to drag the net to search, rock by rock.Shen Gu took a look at the surrounding environment: "Go over there and check carefully. The road here is too steep. If Xiaokang is attracted by Yu Ling's singing, he has to go to a relatively flat place to reach the seaside. If the road is too steep , He fell down, the phone must have dropped, and the singing didn’t work.”

Before he could finish speaking, Zhong Lecen ran towards the direction he pointed.At this time, the tide was rising, and several people raced against the clock, looking at every crack in the stone.Shen Gu did some calculations. It was the time when the tide ebbed to the bottom at two o'clock in the middle of the night yesterday. Based on this calculation, the tide has risen from the lowest tide in the afternoon for an hour, and the things they want may have been submerged.

Sure enough, several people followed the tide and retreated from the sea to the shore, but they didn't find anything.Shen Gu stood on the beach, looking at the vast sea, really anxious.He was afraid that Xiaokang might have drowned in the sea at this time, and his body would float on the water in a few days or even hours.

Nearby is the breeding pond for raising sea cucumbers and abalones. Some people have already been attracted by their rummaging, but they did not dare to come because they saw that they had not entered the breeding area and were wearing police uniforms.At this moment, someone finally couldn't help but lean over curiously: "Hey, comrade policemen, what are you doing?"

Shen Gu asked him: "Are you also looking at the pool near here at night?"

"Yes. I have to watch it day and night. I have to be careful when the tide rises and falls, and I'm afraid someone will come and cause damage. But—" the man was a little proud, "we can save people sometimes? I don't know why. , Now these young people are always running to jump into the sea or something, sometimes we can meet twice a month. Last night, we saved one."

Shen Gu cheered up: "Who is it? Is it a young man?"

"That's right! How do you know? It's just a young man who jumped into the sea for no reason! We only saw it when we got up in the middle of the night to cast bait. Because it was too dark and there was no moon, we It must have been submerged for a long time when we found it. We made a small boat and went to pick him up. At first we thought he was dead. After a round of rescue, we found that he was still alive, but he was unconscious. Later, he was sent to the police station. I went to the hospital. I don’t know if I’m awake now.”

"Do you know which hospital it is?"

"I don't know. We don't care about it. People from the police station sent it over."

When the Taipingjiao Police Station heard that someone was looking for the man who threw himself into the sea, it seemed that the hot potato could finally be sent out, so he hurriedly took them to the hospital: "This man hasn't woken up yet, the hospital said that the brain had been deprived of oxygen for too long. , there may be necrosis, and if he can’t wake up, he’s probably in a vegetable state! He doesn’t have any documents on him, and we’re still checking his identity. The hospital will pay the treatment fee in advance…”

"I see. His family will pay for the medical expenses." Shen Gu said a few words to reassure the police station, and then plunged into the ward.

Sure enough, Xiaokang was lying on the hospital bed with a calm expression, as if he had fallen asleep.His electrocardiogram was pulled out from the instrument next to him, and the up and down green lines slowly stretched forward.The doctor stood next to the hospital bed and explained: "The patient's heartbeat and breathing were normal when he was brought in, but he was unconscious. We guessed that the brain was necrotic due to lack of oxygen for too long underwater. If he couldn't wake up, he might be in a vegetable state. The family members should be mentally prepared."

Shen Gu nodded to express his understanding, motioned for Xiao Heizi to invite everyone out, and then asked Zhong Lecen: "How is it?"

Zhong Lecen's face was heavy: "Most of his three souls and seven souls have been taken away. If those fishermen hadn't found him at that time, he would have been drowned in the water. But although he is alive now, he is actually a body, and the rest A little soul can't support it, and it won't be long before it needs a ventilator or something to maintain it, and finally..."

Shen Gu punched hard on the iron bed: "It's late again!"

Zhong Lecen lowered his head in thought, and suddenly said for a long time: "Do you remember the sudden decay of Qiu Feng's body?"

"What?" Shen Gu felt that there was something in his words, and turned to look at him.

"At that time, you said that Liu Wu had just drowned for a few hours, but then he rotted quickly?"

"Yes. Liu Wu said that judging by the water entering his watch, he has been submerged in the water for several days, but the body is very fresh, as if he had died not long ago."

"Do you know what might be the reason for this?"

"what reason?"

"It means he's been underwater for days."

"But the corpse doesn't look like it's been soaked for many days."

"If it hadn't been soaked for many days, how could it rot so quickly?"

"But it was only a few hours before Liu Wu checked that he was indeed dead."

"That's right."

"What does this mean?" Shen Gu was a little confused, but faintly, he also figured out something from Zhong Lecen's words, which-may have something to do with Xiaokang's life or death.

"I think that maybe Qiu Feng's three souls and seven souls were pulled out of his body bit by bit. As long as the three souls and seven souls are not completely removed, he is still alive. But in fact, he died more than ten minutes after entering the water. Just drowned, so it looks like he's only been dead for a few hours, but he's been physically dead for days."

Shen Gu was a little confused about the doorway here: "Since he is dead, how can he still be alive?"

Zhong Lecen pondered for a while: "For example, when your soul was taken away by the Nian beast last time. If I hadn't used a life-saving talisman to protect your body at that time, you would have broken down like an ordinary—ordinary corpse. If your soul If you don’t come back in the end, your body will quickly break down after taking off the life-saving talisman, because although the life-saving talisman keeps your body intact, you have actually..."

"Understood." Shen Gu pondered for a while, "But what do you want to say?"

"I want to ask, why are Qiu Feng's three souls and seven souls taken away little by little? But the latter two people are not like this. Xiaokang still retains a little soul now because those fishermen discovered it early and disturbed Yu Ling, but Wang Tao But all of his soul was taken away at once. Why?"

Shen Gu thought quickly: "When Wang Tao was drowned, it was right in front of our eyes, maybe we disturbed Yu Ling... In this way, the reason why the three people's situations are different is because the latter two people threw themselves into the sea. It was disturbed, but Qiu Feng probably didn't."

"Yes." Zhong Lecen gently tapped the head of the bed with his fingers, "Assuming that Yu Ling can draw away from Qiu Feng's soul little by little without being disturbed...why do you want to do it little by little?"

Shen Gu's mind turned, and a thought came up that made his back feel a little cold: "Because you want fresh ones?"

Zhong Lecen also felt hairs on his back: "It's like a spider eating insects. First inject venom to make the insects immortal, and then slowly..." At this point, he felt a little nauseous and couldn't continue.

"Now we understand this problem, but does it have anything to do with Xiaokang?" Xiaokang is also doomed if he can't find Yu Ling.

"What I mean is that Xiaokang's soul may still be preserved in Ling's hands."

"How to say?"

"We assume that Yu Ling collects human souls for Yu Yue's children, but judging from the fact that she took away Qiu Feng's soul little by little, at least Yu Yue's children don't need a whole person's soul in a day, but It takes a little every day."

Shen Gu immediately understood: "Yu Ling took away all of Wang Tao's soul at once, so it can't be used up in a day or two—but, it's only been a few days since Wang Tao's death, why is she in such a hurry to attack Xiaokang? Doesn't this mean that she needs a soul again?"

"No. Did you forget that you shot her that day? Maybe she was injured and couldn't go ashore in a short time to search for new targets. The two legs of a mermaid are transformed from fish tails. Walking on land is actually It's not convenient, and leaving the sea for a long time will make them uncomfortable-so I hurriedly dealt with Xiaokang to save some... From Wang Tao's matter, she has the ability to take away all the souls of people in a few minutes, but Xiaokang still retains a little soul, does it mean that she is not in a hurry to take away all the soul, but wants to keep it slowly... It is not easy to find a target. She opened a shop in Taitung and can contact many people every day , but she doesn't kill everyone. Judging from the situation of Qiu Feng's targets, as long as she doesn't show interest in pursuing her, she won't attack. Didn't Xue Ming get in touch with her earlier? But she and her husband are both safe. And the dead are only men, not women. Therefore, there are not many targets that can be chosen at will. Then she may want to hurry up and collect more, so that she can ensure that Yu Yue is safe during the recovery period. The soul is available."

"That is to say, Wang Tao's soul may not be consumed yet, so Xiaokang's soul may not be consumed yet?"

"Very likely. If so, we still have a chance to ask her back."

"Come back? Will she return it?"

"The matter of Xiaokang is different from that of Wang Tao and Qiu Feng. As I said before, the mermaid still retains the habits of animals. When a male pursues a female, that is pursuit. There is no such thing as cheating, let alone joking. She received a text message from Xiaokang , I think that Xiaokang is also willing to give her soul, if we can explain to her that this is not out of Xiaokang's voluntary, maybe she will return it."

Shen Gu felt that this was a bit mysterious: "But we can't find her now, right?"

"Maybe there's a place to find her, or at least hear about her."

A flash of inspiration flashed in Shen Gu's mind: "You mean—a sea market?"