in the dark

Arriving at the destination, Song Chan saw a land temple from a distance. The temple was small, but unburned incense could be vaguely seen from it. Outside the temple stood many policemen in uniform and many spectators. Big people.

"He Yang." Song Nan'an got out of the car, led Song Chan over, glanced around a few times, and then called out to a man in a deep voice.

"Hey, it's finally here!" A fair-looking man in the crowd turned around, his police uniform looked upright, he stubbed out the cigarette in his hand, and walked forward with a smile, "I thought you I won't be here today!" The man named He Yang stretched out his hand as soon as he finished speaking.

Song Nan'an didn't move, but just explained lightly: "I'm very interested in the case, so I came here earlier."

He Yanggai stretched out the hand he wanted to shake, clenched it into a fist, and punched Song Nan'an's shoulder symbolically. He smiled cheerfully, and joked: "It's been so long since we haven't seen each other, it's still the same! Anyway, I have worked together so many times that I don't even hold hands." Give me a shake!"

Song Nan'an said frankly, "I'm not used to it."

"Okay, okay." He Yang waved his hands indifferently, and led Song Nan'an to the back of the temple: "Have you read all the information? We have just arrived here, and the dog owner will be here in a while."

"I see." Song Nan'an replied, looking around.

Song Chan was stunned for a while outside the crowd, then lowered his head and glanced at his chubby left hand. It seems that these two people are very familiar?This is both a handshake and a greeting. Well, although the handshake was not completed, anyone who is not blind can tell that the relationship between the two is unusual.

Song Chan saw that the two were completely unable to get in the conversation, and felt a little bored. Then he thought, one is a policeman who specializes in solving crimes and the other is an expert who assists the police in solving crimes. .

There is a stone tablet about two meters in front of the gate of the Earth Temple. There are many names engraved on the tablet, which should be the names of the people who raised money to build the Earth Temple.The area around the temple was very empty, and there were many weeds growing on the ground. It should have rained recently, and the soil was soaked in rainwater. The soil was dark brown, and it was soft under the feet.In addition to the green Asakusa, there are still many remnants of bombed firecrackers on the ground. It seems that this is still a very popular earth temple.

This is a good thing about a small town. There are not many people on the land. Although a small earth temple is only a few square meters, there are no tall buildings or heavy traffic around it, and everything is quiet and peaceful.

"Captain He, people are here." A criminal policeman walked up to He Yang and said.

He Yang looked at the man in the sweatshirt behind him, and asked, "Liu Zhonghui? The one who reported the crime?"

"It's me." The man looked very old, in his 50s.

"Retell the scene you saw at that time." He Yang looked serious and didn't talk nonsense.As soon as the words fell, the eyes of the surrounding people all fell on Liu Zhonghui.

Song Nan'an stood aside and looked at the man in front of him.

"My family lives not far from the front, and I take the dog out for a walk every evening." I saw Liu Zhonghui took a step towards the front of the Earth Temple, pointing to the pine tree in front of the temple, "I was standing there I smoked a cigarette somewhere, and when I turned around, I saw something black and biting in my dog’s mouth, I walked over and saw it was here——here—” He made a small gesture with his hand behind the temple. Not a small circle, "It dug up all the soil, and there was a deep hole at that time. It is estimated that the soil was not compacted-it used to dig holes in the mud, but it was never that deep."

"Then I stopped drinking, and it dropped the thing in its mouth, right here—" He pointed to another place, and continued: "It was a big lump, and I didn't know what it was at the time. There is still a strange smell, and after a closer look, a humanoid, although black and coke-like, can barely see the head, arms, etc., was startled, and did not dare to move it. Immediately report to the police." After speaking, Liu Zhonghui looked at the police, "I locked the dog at home, and I don't know if it was bitten by him. Do you want to use its mouth for inspection?"

"No need." He Yang thought for a moment, and was about to speak out when Song Nan'an interrupted, "Do you believe this here?" He looked at the temple beside him and asked.

"Believe it, everyone in the town believes it." Liu Zhonghui nodded, and said carefully: "We are a remote place, poor and rustic, and young people don't want to stay here. They are all elderly, so naturally they believe these things. , besides festivals and festivals, I also come here to burn incense and fulfill my wishes every day."

He Yang frowned, knowing Song Nan'an's habits, so he asked curiously: "What did you find?"

Song Nan'an nodded but didn't explain too much, he seemed to be thinking.

Seeing that he was unwilling to speak, He Yang stopped asking, and ordered the criminal police next to him, "Xiao Gao, bring the fat man here."

"Yes." The criminal policeman named Xiao Gao quickly ran to the place where the police car was outside the crowd, and brought in a ferocious and strong wolf dog. The dog was at the knee of an adult man, and it was sticking out its tongue and sniffing left and right. With a mighty appearance, it seems that this is the fat man He Yang is talking about.

He Yang took the dog's leash, touched the dog's head, and asked, "Did he smell it?"

"If you smell it, you can search it directly." Xiao Gao replied.

"Okay." He Yang stood up and said a password, and the fat man began to sniff vigilantly from his feet.The people who were standing near the Earth Temple were ordered to stand far away, and the criminal police also retreated a lot, giving up the area around the Earth Temple to the dogs.

Song Nan'an, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly said, "Search from the back." He looked at the place Liu Zhonghui had just pointed to.

He Yang instantly understood what Song Nan'an meant, and immediately led the dog to the back of the Earth Temple.

"I think so too." At this time, Song Chan who was standing behind also silently added.

Several criminal policemen beside him looked at him. Suddenly, a criminal policeman seemed to realize something and said, "Hey, I'm sorry, please don't cross the cordon if you have nothing to do with it!"

Song Chan was taken aback for a moment, and it was okay to stand behind and be left alone for a long time, but now he is an irrelevant person?What, this is bullying him for not holding a solid job?He is very good at fighting, okay?

Song Chan choked for a moment: "I am..." Bodyguard?attendant?

No, it's all too low.

"This is my assistant." Song Nan'an said lightly, explaining to the criminal police who spoke just now.

"Ah... so it's Mr. Song's assistant... I'm sorry... I thought he was from the town!" The criminal policeman smiled coyly. He worked under He Yang for many years and followed up many cases with He Yang. Therefore, he is very familiar with Song Nan'an.He still remembered that it was because of Song Nan'an that those cases that had been suppressed for many years because of no clues could be revealed.But in his impression, Song Nan'an used to be a loner when he assisted his team leader in solving the case. He didn't expect to hire an assistant now. It is probably because his professional ability is too strong and he is too busy with things.

"It's okay!" Song Chan waved his hand graciously, showing his big white teeth, and began to introduce himself familiarly, "Hello, my name is Song Chan!"

"You... okay." The criminal policeman was a little confused. It would not be appropriate to make friends at the scene of the crime. He was afraid that he would be cut down by the grumpy Dui He later, so he stared at the distance not far away Fat man sniffing the ground.

"Hey, your dog's fur is so smooth." Song Chan praised.

"..." There was a harmonious silence all around.

"I usually eat well." Song Chan nodded to himself: "That's right, eating and drinking with public money, the food should be pretty good."

The harmonious silence continued. Suddenly, the fat man not far away yelled three times and stood still.

Everyone was overjoyed, there was a discovery!

"Come here two people! Hurry up!" He Yang shouted.

The criminal police on the side immediately started to move.

I don't know how many camouflage elements are in the grass, rubble, and soil.

The soil was turned upside down by handfuls, and after everyone dug about 40 centimeters, a black unknown object gradually began to reveal the soil.When they were all dug out from the soil, everyone was stunned.

Corpse!Another corpse!

A charcoal-like corpse that has been burnt black, about 60 centimeters in length, the whole body is distorted, and the whole body has been burned so that there is no evidence to be found. The only thing that can be identified is the corpse Which side is the head and which side is the foot.

"The death method is the same as the first corpse." He Yang pondered: "The body is similar, the death method is the same, and they were all buried behind the temple..." He looked at Song Nan'an: "It was done by the same person."

Song Nan'an nodded, and added: "There is one more thing... the necklace around the neck."

He Yang hurriedly looked at the corpse again, sure enough!He had neglected earlier, there was also a necklace on this corpse!

It is said that the necklace is actually an object similar to the longevity lock that the child will wear. Many parents will prepare it before the child is born, and let the child wear it all the time after birth, praying for blessings and safety, and auspiciousness.This kind of thing is generally made of metal, and it may be burned when it encounters fire, but it will never turn into coke.

The one taken from the first corpse was intact, but unfortunately the words on the pendant of the necklace were blurred.

"There are words on it." Song Chan's eyes were sharp. He had squatted by the pit for a long time and read a few words. Eyebrow said: "What the hell? I can't read clearly. There are quite a lot of words. I can only recognize a few."

"Xiao Gao, bring me the gloves!" He Yang ordered, and the criminal police at the side immediately brought the special gloves.

Under the cautious actions of several people, the corpse was pulled out of the mud pit.

"Go back to the police station first, call back! Let the forensic doctor wait in the station!"

"Yes!".

He Yang helped get the body into the police car, then looked at Song Nan'an, and asked, "Do you want to go back to the police station with me now?" He Yang, who has worked with him many times, knew that Song Nan'an had many small habits, for example, he liked to report Instead of just staying in the bureau to do research.

Song Chan, who squatted for a while, stood up and came behind Song Nan'an, and glanced at He Yang.

"No." Song Nan'an refused decisively.

"That's fine, I'll send someone to assist you!" He Yang turned his head and shouted, "Xiao Wu!"

"No need—" Song Nan'an wanted to stop him, but Song Chan cut off the conversation: "—Hey, there is me, there is me! No need to ask people to follow!"

He Yang looked at Song Chan without knowing his hometown.

Song Chan smiled and said, "Hello!"

He Yang was stunned, staring at Song Chan: "Who are you?" It's not that he has no memory, but as a serious policeman, as long as he stands next to a corpse or a prisoner, his thoughts are tense, and he can't pay attention to his surroundings at all. Who and what happened.

"My name is Song Chan, Song Nan'an's assistant." Song Chan paused, and added a sentence: "I just need to protect him."

He Yang frowned: "This is a high-risk job, can you do it?" It wasn't that he said something deliberately to scare people. Song Nan'an almost had an accident when he helped him solve the case for the first time. Fortunately, there were people guarding him at that time.He can only trust his criminal policemen, all of them are very skilled.

"I know." Song Chan raised his gauze-wrapped left hand, stared at He Yang from the end of his eyes, and said carelessly: "As for whether it's okay..." He seemed to be thinking about how to answer, and after thinking for a while, he asked : "...Do you want to have a date with me?" One of Laipi's characteristics is to make an appointment if there is a disagreement.

"Song Chan." Song Nan'an reminded him in a cold voice, "You don't want your hands anymore?"

Song Chan was taken aback, yo, I almost forgot that the boss was still standing by the side, I haven't shouted slogans for a long time, I saw him immediately smiled, and approached Song Nan'an: "If you want it, how can you not? .”

Seeing that the person who asked him to have a fight with an arrogant face just now changed his face immediately, and He Yang Fue couldn't figure out the situation, so the reversal must have been too fast.

"Where did you find a follower, dog-legged like this?" He Yang always spoke very straightforwardly, so he asked with a smile.

"..." What Song Chan wanted to say was choked in his throat.

dog leg?This is clearly a basic survival skill, okay?

Unexpectedly, just as He Yang finished speaking, Song Nan'an who was beside him actually laughed.

Song Chan was surprised. He was full of words and wanted to complain, but when he turned his head to look at Song Nan'an's side face, he froze in a daze.

Song Nan'an's side face is very clean, calm and clean, and he is smiling at the moment, like... Like the third photo among the more than 500 photos in his mobile phone - and his favorite The other one also had a gentle and clean side face. At that time, he was sleeping and looked defenseless against the outside world.

Suddenly, Song Chan blushed, well, he admitted that he often used that photo to do some unscrupulous things... Just now those clips flashed into his mind, and he suddenly felt a little overwhelmed with blood .

"Cough, cough, cough." Song Chan pretended to make some noises, and glanced at Song Nan'an, "I...what's wrong with me, no!"

"Okay, you didn't." He Yang looked at Song Chan playfully.If he read correctly just now, this little follower seems to be in a strange mood?Song Nan'an's assistant, tsk tsk tsk, interesting.

"Then I'll go back to the bureau first, and I'll contact you if there's anything I need." He Yang stopped teasing and said seriously.

Song Nan'an nodded, and led Song Chan to the town.