Madness of the Heart

"I'm really not Tomb Heart!" Hou Cheng kept twisting on the interrogation chair, looking very irritable, "What do you want me to say? When I said I was Tomb Heart, you forced me to say that I was not Tomb Heart. Now I admit that I am not the tomb heart, but you don't believe me!"

Xiao Yuan sat tall and straight, her voice was gentle, but there was no lack of oppression, "The story you made up is not convincing."

Hou Cheng stared for a moment and asked, "Why are you not convincing?"

Xiao Yu'an looked into his eyes silently, he frowned and looked back at first, but after half a minute, he couldn't hold back, and his gaze began to erratically dodge.

"From your point of view, this is not a fabricated story. It is impossible for you to ask 'why is it not convincing'." Xiao Yuan said: "You should vehemently deny it. This is the logical reaction."

The masseter muscles on Hou Cheng's cheeks twitched, "I'm not Tomb Xin, I'm just doing things for Tomb Xin. If Tomb Xin commits a crime, you all go to him, to him! Let me go, please?"

"I want to find him too, but where is he?" Xiao Yu'an's tone was always unhurried. It sounds comfortable to normal people, but it is especially uncomfortable to hear from people with ulterior motives.

"I've said it all, I don't know!" Hou Cheng said, "I regret helping him, don't force me!"

Xiao Yu'an said: "I won't force you, but I want to hear from you about the first meeting between you and Mu Xin, and what he said to you, so that you are willing to sign a contract with Xinyun Publishing House for him."

"I've already said it!" Hou Cheng said loudly.

"But I didn't hear it." Xiao Yuan said: "I have the right to ask you to say it again. Of course, you can also choose to remain silent."

Hou Cheng's eyes rolled with anger, and the sound of his heavy breathing echoed in the interrogation room.

"Choose silence, don't you?" Xiao Yu'an smiled.

Hou Cheng didn't answer.

"You have realized that you made a mistake when setting up the situation. This mistake is irreparable." Xiao Yuan said: "You also know that you will lose your words if you talk too much. You chose to remain silent because you are worried about facing me at this time. , will say something that contradicts the details of the last narration."

Hou Cheng's slack eyelids drooped, and gloomy eyes shot out from under the eyelids, without brilliance.

Mingshu stayed in Qingyue Village to preside over the search of Hou Cheng's house, but he was preoccupied with two things. He thought of the old village chief Hou Jianjun for a while, and Hou Zhi, the son who was not filial in the villagers' mouths.

In fact, in the eyes of all the relatives in the Ming family, he should be regarded as an unfilial son.When I was young, I was not close to my parents, grandparents, but like the youngest son of the Xiao family.Later, when he was seventeen or eighteen years old, and his wings were not fully hardened, he ran away from home, refused to walk on the paved road, and focused on chasing Xiao Yuan away. Not only did he want to sever ties with his family, but he also came out shamelessly.

In the Ming family, men liking men is an undeserved stain.

When he was a child, he was afraid of his grandparents and endured the beatings.The growth of age has forced out the arrogance. He doesn't bow his head, and he no longer accepts beatings or scolding. He leaves the cage-like home behind him in a chic and unrestrained manner. With long legs, he chases his dreams and people.

But even if he is as unfilial as he is, he has no affection for his parents.

After the stalemate a few years ago, his father came to Dongye City to see him, conveyed his mother's miss, and implicitly invited him to go home when he was free.

Back then, he and Xiao Yu'an went home and had a New Year's Eve dinner together.And still live a life of non-interference.

With that level of blood relationship, although he and his parents can't be the closest relatives, they won't be hostile to each other.

Thinking of himself and others, he felt that Hou Pao's actions were not normal.

According to the villagers, Hou Jian was brought up by Hou Jianjun through hard work. Now that Hou Pai is promising, even if he looks down on his father, he will not shut his father out when he brings a gift and begs for a meeting.

In the year when the relationship with his family was broken, his father gave him a famous watch. He had never worn it, but he personally said "thank you" to his father when he took it.

Could there be other reasons for Hou Pao's refusal to see Hou Jianjun?

Just as he was thinking, he suddenly heard Fang Yuanhang's voice, "Master, what are you doing there? We're going to the basement!"

He had to withdraw from the clues of Hou Jianjun and Hou Pao, and walked into the house while saying, "Here we come."

The dilapidated small building of Hou Cheng's house has three floors, two above ground and a basement below.The furniture in each room is very old, and the paint is almost peeled off, and Hou Cheng has not seen it.The first floor was a bit messy, but the second floor was neatly tidied up. Among the three bedrooms, the locked one was the cleanest. It could even be said to be spotless, but to outsiders, it looked a bit gloomy.

Because there are black and white photos of a middle-aged couple hanging on the wall.

Hou Cheng lost his parents when he was young, and the people in the photo are Hou Cheng's parents, and this bedroom is also their former residence.

"In this comparison, Hou Cheng is really a dutiful son." Fang Yuanhang said: "Hou Cheng's parents have passed away for decades, but Hou Cheng still doesn't forget to clean them every day. The sheets and quilt covers are all newly changed. The gap between him and Hou Jianjun's son is also too big."

This is indeed a strong contrast, Mingshu thought for a while, then called Xiao Yuan.

"Maybe I overreacted." He said: "I now suspect that something may have happened to Hou Pao."

Xiao Yuan listened patiently, "Why?"

"Intuition." Ming Shu paused for two seconds, then changed his words: "It's not entirely intuition. If I were Hou Pai, I wouldn't have done such a terrific thing. Anyway, Hou Jianjun has always cared about him. With a gift, he shouldn't even see one side."

"Reasonable suspicion." Xiao Yu'an said, "I'll report it to the flower team. If he thinks it is necessary, he may send someone to Los Angeles University to have a look."

Ming Shu gave a "hmm" and was about to hang up when Xiao Yu'an suddenly said, "Wait."

Mingshu put the phone back to his ear again, "Xiao Ju?"

"After the case is solved, go home and stay for two days." Xiao Yu'an said.

Mingshu was startled slightly, lowering his eyelashes, "I was obviously emotional just now?"

"It's not obvious, maybe I'm the only one who can feel it." Xiao Yu'an smiled, "Don't use 'unfilial' to define yourself, you and your parents just get along in a different way from many families, it doesn't mean you're 'unfilial' ',Understand?"

Mingshu felt hot in his heart, "I understand."

"Go." Xiao Yu'an said, "Complete the current task with peace of mind."

Mingshu went down the rusty iron ladder to the basement, and smelled an indescribable smell.

"It stinks!" Fang Yuanhang quickly covered his mouth and nose, "What kind of smell is this?"

The basement is small, square, without partitions, with an area of ​​about 70 square meters, dimly lit, and piled with dusty boxes and farm tools.

Mingshu walked to the wall, squatted down and looked, "It's rotten watermelon and vegetables."

"What?" Fang Yuanhang said in surprise: "Put watermelons here, and there are such a big pile, are you sick?"

"The basement is shady and cool, so it's not surprising to store fruits and vegetables." After Ming Shu finished speaking, he felt something flash through his mind, but he couldn't catch it.

"Oh, that's it." Fang Yuanhang began to flip through the boxes, "Then let's start looking—hey, why is this place so messy, there are all kinds of broken things. The upper two floors look like a place where people live, but the bottom is just a place. Junkyard!"

Mingshu also noticed that most of the things in the basement were useless, and there were even garbage such as torn cardboard boxes and crushed cans.

"Hou Cheng is covering up something." Ming Shu patted the wooden board on the wall, "What we see is exactly what he wants us to see."

"We can see everything here..." Fang Yuanhang responded quickly, "The money is not here!"

"But it won't be too far away." Mingshu stepped on a broken tape, and the soles of his shoes made a crisp sound, "There are only two safe areas for Hou Cheng, his home and his field—— here!"

Then, Mingshu turned his head, "Find me a screwdriver!"

Fang Yuanhang looked around, "I'll go up and get it!"

"Forget it." Ming Shu took a few steps back, raised his right leg quickly, and kicked forward suddenly, only heard a muffled "bang", and the solid wooden board broke in the middle, just like the cassette on the ground.

"This is..." Fang Yuanhang saw the dark space behind the board, "A dark room?"

The collapse of the boards raised layers of thick ash, and Mingshu dispersed it with his hands. Looking through the light, he found that there was a small space of less than 10 square meters inside.

"Master, you stay outside." Fang Yuanhang jumped in first and almost slipped.

"Be careful." Mingshu noticed that the ground inside was different from the basement, it was a piece of mud, people walking on it would fall if they didn't pay attention.

"I saw it!" Fang Yuanhang strenuously walked to the left corner, "Master, light up for me!"

In the corner, three iron boxes with locks were neatly stacked.

The iron box was moved to the yard, the lock was broken, and the boxes were full of hundred-yuan bills.

"Finally found it!" Fang Yuanhang said, "If Hou Cheng wasn't the heart of the grave, why did he hide so much money in the basement of his home and hide it so secretly? Let's show him the scene and see how he still argues!"

Mingshu also felt relieved, but there was still something inexplicably stuck in his chest.

He pressed his temples, trying to make out what had flashed by before.Intuition told him that was important.But after thinking about it, I still couldn't figure out what it was.

The banknotes in the iron box have been counted, a total of 267 million.9 less than the post-tax remuneration.

Hou Cheng watched the video Mingshu took at his home, his expression gradually changed, the dullness in his eyes dissipated, as if the clouds and mist disappeared without a trace, revealing his true colors.

"Yes, the heart of the tomb is me." He leaned back in his chair, looked at Xiao Yuan casually and darkly, and sneered, "The more than 200 million yuan is my legal income, I can deposit it in the bank or take it away As an investment, you can also put it in your basement. Isn’t that weird?”

"It's not surprising." Xiao Yu'an said calmly, "The purpose of my asking for this money is to prove that you are indeed the heart of the grave. Now you have admitted it."

Hou Cheng snorted through his nasal cavity, "Oh, then you have proved that I am the heart of the grave, what do you want to do to me? What can you do to me? I signed a contract legally, published a book legally, and did not evade taxes. Why do you Catch me?"

"It was the security detachment that arrested you, and it was the security detachment that detained you, not me." Xiao Yu'an said, "You picked up a stone and wanted to play a game of turning stone into gold, but you accidentally hit your own foot."

"You!" Hou Cheng clapped his hands on the table with a ferocious expression, but soon laughed again, "Yes, it was my fault to find a prostitute. I was wrong, and I will never dare again, okay? Fornication is illegal, but it does not constitute a crime. I did not do anything heinous, so let me go back after you finish your education, huh? I promise to write books honestly in the future, and I will never sleep with women casually again.”

"Write a book honestly?" Xiao Yu'an said, "Use the method of writing a book to incite potential criminals?"

"Hey——" Hou Cheng smacked his lips, and turned his gaze to the recorder aside, "Listen, listen, does this sound like what the contemporary police say?"

The recorder took a look at Xiao Yu'an with complicated eyes, and seemed to think that Xiao Yu'an's statement was inappropriate.

"All the little policemen know that they can't say that." Hou Cheng said: "I have the freedom to write, and I also have the freedom to publish. What's the matter with you law enforcement officers? Instead of arresting real criminals, frame me Suspense writer?"

Xiao Yu'an said, "I never let the real criminal go, no matter how upright and innocent he pretends to be."

The atmosphere in the interrogation room gradually froze, and an invisible pressure enveloped Hou Cheng.

After a brief pause, Hou Cheng shook his head, "It doesn't make sense for you to say that. I haven't committed a crime, and I don't need to pack myself. If my book is an illegal publication, then you say that I wrote it to incite potential criminals. I admit it. But what about the facts? Is my book an illegal publication? No! I signed a contract with a serious publishing house, and the black and white letters are there, and there is no problem in the review process of the book. You are a layman, and you don’t know how to publish a book now How difficult is the book, if there is a problem with my book, the publishing house will kill me, and it will be listed again?"

This makes sense, and the recorder nodded.

"If you believe that my book has problems and the content is unhealthy, then you should also go to Chaxinyun Publishing House and the 'Mystery' Studio. What's the point of catching me?" Hou Cheng continued: "I just write Books, the publishing process has nothing to do with me, I don’t even know what content will be auctioned off by the publishing house. Since they didn’t auction off, they can be published, right? My books are sold in various bookstores, so I can know who reads them My book? Could it be that my book is responsible if criminals have read it? What does it have to do with me, the author of the book, when they committed crimes and killed people? Incompetent? Punish murderers and maintain social order, isn’t it your job as the police? If you can’t do it well, why don’t you embarrass us creators?”

Another criminal policeman in charge of the interrogation became angry, "Hou Cheng, don't be too arrogant!"

Hou Cheng shrugged, "Why, do you want to extract a confession by torture?"

Xiao Yu'an smiled and didn't get angry, "You are very interesting. You write books with real talents and learning, and the sales are not bad, but you insist on fabricating a false identity for yourself, and playing with our police in reverse and reverse."

"Is this suspicious?" Hou Cheng said: "I am a suspense writer, I need inspiration, and I don't mind transforming my life into a suspense drama. On the premise of not hurting others, I play suspense games with myself. What's wrong?"

"I didn't say I was wrong, I just said that you are very interesting." Xiao Yu'an stood up and looked down at Hou Cheng from a high position.

Hou Cheng raised his head, the overhead light poured on his face, and the Adam's apple under the shadow twitched without warning.

Xiao Yu'an had a panoramic view of all his subtle expressions, and said with a smile: "For interesting people, I don't mind digging out more interesting stories about him."

Hou Cheng's shoulders stiffened.

"For the time being, you still have to stay in the security detachment." Xiao Yu'an's expression turned cold, "Since you are good at writing suspense, you should know that the more the murderer tries to cover up the crime, the more cover-ups he arranges at the scene, the easier it is to be exposed to the police's sight. Tomb Heart, you have done too much and said too much. From your words just now, I got another inspiration."

Hou Cheng's face turned cold.

"Is it Zha Xinyun Publishing House?" Xiao Yuan said, "That's exactly what I mean."

Ming Shu rushed back from Qingyue Village to the Luocheng Bureau, and saw Xiao Yu'an was boiling water to make tea.

"Xiao Ju!" Ming Shu ran up to make sure there was no one else around, then whispered: "How do you make tea?"

"Change your taste." Xiao Yu'an seldom drinks tea, but the way he makes tea is very beautiful.

When Mingshu lived in the old house of Xiao's family, he saw Xiao Yu'an entertaining distinguished guests with tea, his slender hands shuttled between the ancient tea sets, powerful and full of quackery, it was pleasing to the eye.

Although it is just brewing tea bags now, it is different from others when brewing tea bags.

"You are tired." Mingshu's heart ached, "Only when you are tired, you will take the initiative to make tea. You usually only drink plain water."

Xiao Yuan put the teacup aside, and said with a smile: "As long as you put your heart into investigating the case, you will be tired no matter what. Aren't you holding on?"

There is no way to refute this, Mingshu shrugged and reached out to get the teacup, "I just came back, I'm thirsty, give me... ouch!"

"Give me a drink" before he finished speaking, he was hit on the back of his hand. He quickly withdrew his hand and glared at Xiao Yuan, "It hurts, bro!"

"The boiling water just poured is hot." Xiao Yuan took half a cup of warm water in a paper cup, "Drink this."

Mingshu just glanced at it, but refused to answer, "It's tasteless, I want to drink something with taste."

Xiao Yu'an looked at him, and he said again: "It's okay, the tea will get cold in a while, I'll blow it on."

Xiao Yuan turned to look out of the window, it was already night, "Come here."

"Huh?" Mingshu was about to blow tea.

"Go for a walk." Xiao Yu'an said, "I'll buy you something delicious."

Ten minutes later, Ming Shu held a glass of latte smoothie and walked with Xiao Yuan on the street where the heat had faded.

"If Hou Cheng insists on his current statement, it will be very difficult for us. We can only release him in the end." Mingshu said: "There is no real evidence to prove that he instigated crimes. It is just that 'some people are Damn', it's too far-fetched. But I don't believe that he didn't have the motive of instigating a crime. There are so many suspense writers, only he deliberately wants to hide his identity. In this regard, he is already very suspicious .”

"Hou Cheng has a behavior of 'throwing the pot' today, pointing the finger at Xinyun Publishing House." Xiao Yu'an said: "I now suspect that there are certain problems in the publishing of Tomb Heart."

Mingshu immediately thought of Liu Zhiqiang, the director of the "Mystery" studio, who reacted very strangely when he learned that the police were investigating the tomb.