Madness of the Heart

Since Ming Shu handed the skull to Xiao Man and let Xiao Man see it, the sadness and panic on Wang Jun's face became more obvious.

At this moment, when Xiao Man said, "This is a human skull", she covered her mouth and her voice trembled: "What did you say?"

Xiao Man glanced at her, clicked his temple, and said stiffly: "Skull, human skull."

Wang Jun screamed.

Ming Shu frowned and asked, "Do you know when Li Zhaofeng got this skull back? Where did you get it back?"

Ordinary people will be frightened and panicked when they learn about the skulls of someone in their family. Wang Jun couldn't stand firmly for a while, and slammed his back against the door, "Really, really human, bones, bones?"

Ming Shu said: "It is true."

Wang Jun was terrified: "Zhaofeng did he kill?"

Xiao Man shook his head: "It's not necessarily. Having a skull does not mean killing someone. The skull is intact and there are no scars caused by the hit. It is temporarily impossible to judge how the owner of the skull died, let alone assert that Li Zhaofeng killed someone. "

After listening to Xiao Man's explanation, Wang Jun calmed down, but his voice was still trembling, "Zhaofeng lied to me, he said that this is a model he bought back for more than 50 yuan!"

Ming Shu asked: "When?"

"Last year!" Wang Jun said: "In February last year, he went to the Southwest alone."

"Then what about these?" Ming Shu pointed at the wolf head and raised eye mask. "When did he bring these two back?"

"I don't know!" Wang Jun shook his head vigorously, "but it must be earlier than the skull. When I noticed them, they were there. I asked Zhaofeng, but Zhaofeng didn't say anything, only that those were all him. Souvenirs, tell me not to touch it. I... even if he doesn’t say it, I won’t touch that kind of thing."

·

Human skulls, wolf heads, and eye-catching masks were all sent to the crime squad for identification.

The most interesting thing is the skull. Everyone wants to know, whose skull is this? Why does it appear in Li Zhaofeng's home? Is there a murder case hidden behind it? And is this murder case related to the deaths of Li Zhaofeng and Huang Yan?

A light was on in a room of the forensic examination center, and the temperature controller made an extremely faint sound.

"My preliminary judgment is that this is a male skull." Xing Mu was wearing a mask and showing the skull to Ming Shu as he said: "The male skull is larger, thicker and thicker than females, and the eyebrow arches are also thicker. Developed. The upper edge of the eye socket is round and blunt, the forehead is more inclined, the cheekbones are taller and stronger, and the occipital protuberance is developed-these characteristics are consistent with this skull."

Ming Shu asked: "What about your age?"

"From the perspective of teeth and skull sutures, this man was between 28 and 30 years old when he died." Xing Mu placed the skull on the appraisal platform. "The skull is in complete shape and can be used for craniofacial restoration, but I personally think that, This skull may not have much to do with the murder."

"Huh?" Ming Shu thought for a while, "because it's too ‘clean’?"

"This is a processed skull. It did not decay naturally in the wild." Xing Mu said: "But the method of processing is simple and rude. Someone uses a blade with insufficient hardness and an arc-shaped scraper, one point by one. Click to scrape off the flesh and brain tissue. There is one more point."

As he said, Xing Mu pointed to the forehead of the skull, "There are some inconspicuous and irregular cavities here, which seem to have been eaten by birds of prey."

Ming Shu suddenly reacted, "Vulture? Heavenly Burial?"

"Yes, the only thing that the sky burial will keep is the skull. But in different places, the sky burial has different details." Xing Mu said: "In some places, the sky burial master will not specifically deal with skulls and let them decay naturally. But in other places, The celestial burial master will clean up the skulls like this, give them to the families of the deceased, or store them together. On the western plateau, skull towers and skull walls can be seen everywhere, and some are not even taken care of. Some so-called "wenqing" come here. Planting places, I often get into the skull tower to take pictures and take photos. As long as you are brave enough and lack awe of ghosts and gods, it’s not difficult to bring a skull back."

Ming Shu supported his chin, "It is indeed possible for Li Zhaofeng to do this kind of thing."

"Just in case, I will still perform craniofacial reconstruction of the skull." Xing Mu couldn't help sighing, "How come our recent investigations are related to folklore and superstition? This Li Zhaofeng is still a bit abnormal. Who would treat the skull to normal people? Take it to your own home?"

"Perhaps this is what he and Huang Yan have in common." Ming Shu said to himself.

Xing Mu looked up: "Huh?"

"Normal people don't support'ghost cards', right." Ming Shu said: "I am more inclined to believe that they once had some kind of intersection."

On the other side, the origins of the protruding eye mask and wolf head are also under investigation.

"The mask is made by hand, and the workmanship is not meticulous enough. It can be considered shoddy. I can't find any mask with similar workmanship on the market." Xiao Man said: "So I can only give it to Dongye University specializing in folklore. Look at the teacher. This teacher is studying folk customs in the Southwest. He said that in the area of ​​Wulizhou in the southwest, many folk artists would make this kind of masks. After they were made, they would be sold on the highway with fruits and dry food. Passing by the "Asses"."

Ming Shu held the mask in his hand again and looked at it over and over again, "How much can it sell for?"

"The cheap one is 100 yuan, and there is no ceiling." Xiao Man sighed, "Don't look at its poor workmanship. The convex eye mask souvenirs in the museum can't be sold at such a high price. The person who bought it is the so-called picture. 'Spirituality' and'divineness'-because they are not pressed out by machines, but hammered out by local residents."

Ming Shu said: "Li Zhaofeng has this kind of handmade mask, which shows that he has been to Wulizhou, but it may also be obtained from someone else."

"I heard from Teacher Xing that the skull is most likely to come from the celestial burial person." Xiao Man said: "The celestial burial is popular in the southwest plateau, and the most prosperous one is in Wulizhou. From this point of view, it is very likely that Li Zhaofeng has been to Wulizhou in person. ."

Ming Shu nodded.

This can be seen from Li Zhaofeng's train ticket purchase records. After marrying Wang Jun, Li Zhaofeng would arrive at the Jincheng Railway Station in the west by train almost every year and transfer from there to more remote places. However, the west is vast, and many places are not accessible by trains. You can only rent cars and take buses. This has brought many difficulties to the investigation.

Skulls and hand-made convex eye masks show that Wulizhou should be one of Li Zhaofeng's destinations.

What about the wolf head?

Ming Shu turned around, "Have you checked the source of the wolf head?"

"This..." Xiao Man said embarrassingly: "I also hope it has a special directivity, but compared with masks and skulls, it is the most common one. It is just a werewolf prop. When the werewolves killed fire a few years ago, There are many stores on the Internet that sell this kind of headgear. I compared some of the products I could find, but I can’t determine its source yet."

"There is no such wolf head in Li Zhaofeng's online shopping records." Ming Shu suddenly thought of Xiang Tao. He had seen wolf head props in an abandoned scene in the "Storm" secret room club. "I'm going to Nancheng District."

It was the weekend when the "Storm" secret room club was overcrowded.

The former employee's support of the "ghost card" has spread in the club. Xu Cheng, the deputy marketing manager, immediately showed a cooperative attitude when seeing the police, saying that the "turmoil" had no knowledge of Cai Xinyue's private behavior.

"I didn't come today because of Cai Xinyue." Ming Shu took the wolf head out of his pocket. "Do you have any impression of this wolf head?"

Xu Cheng was surprised, "This..."

Ming Shu keenly captured his emotions, "Do you know how it came from?"

"You wait." Xu Cheng quickly got up and made a call.

Ming Shu heard that he was asking his colleague to bring something over.

"This may be our props." Xu Cheng said nervously: "It may also be the peripherals we sold."

Ming Shu knew that he had come on the right trip.

Five minutes later, one person opened the door and sent in a dusty wolf head.

The two wolf heads are put together. They are different in size and slightly different in shape, but the overall style is undoubtedly the same.

Xu Cheng said: "Our club now focuses on secret rooms, but we used to do board games. We designed the werewolf-themed secret rooms during the most popular years of werewolf killing. When customizing the tools, I considered that if the tools were not mass-produced, each The price of the investment was relatively high, so it was later launched with the props. There is a series of such wolf heads, a total of seven models, as well as spikes, wolf claws, and mace. Later, the werewolves were murderous, and these surrounding us It’s never been sold again."

Mingshu asked: "Then where have you sold these surroundings except in the store?"

Xu Cheng shook his head, "Only sold in the store. Let me tell you the truth, the workmanship of these peripherals is not very good. If it is out of this atmosphere, in fact, no one will buy it."

Ming Shu fell silent.

Only selling in the store, basically means that Li Zhaofeng got the wolf's head in "Storm." There is a possibility that he and Huang Yan and the murderer are intersecting in "Storm."

Have they played Werewolf together?

"You mentioned the atmosphere just now." Ming Shu asked: "Could you elaborate on what kind of atmosphere is it?"

Xu Cheng thought for a while, with a look of satisfaction and nostalgia on his face, "At that time, the people who came to us to play were divided into two groups, one was for friends gathering, the other was for people who knew each other, and the other was werewolf killing fans. They don’t know each other. They gather here, not to make friends, but to enjoy the game. Most of the people who buy the surroundings are them, and some guests are particularly speculative, and they will organize offline live werewolf killings."

Mingshu's eyes tightened, as if he had caught an important clue, "Who organized the killing of real werewolves?"

"I don't know about this." Xu Cheng said: "We tried to host a live werewolf killing, but we were rejected in the project budget, because a very small number of people will actually participate, and we can't make money if they are not scaled up. So the guests are self-organized and have nothing to do with us."

Ming Shu asked again: "When was the last time Ronin's headgear was sold?"

"Two, two years ago." After Xu Cheng finished speaking, he added: "The killing of werewolves was outdated at that time."

"Then in your store, when was the most popular werewolf killing?" Ming Shu said, "When was the customer organizing the real werewolf killing?"

Xu Cheng said: "It was three years ago."

·

Dongcheng District, Tianrong Medical Beauty.

"Linglong Linglong, we opened a gym upstairs. I just asked about it. They have discounts for merchants in the same building!" Liu Ying enthusiastically raised the leaflet in front of Zhu Linglong. Couples, there are discounts and discounts. I have gained weight recently, and I want to exercise, or let's do it together!"

Zhu Linglong took the leaflet and looked at it, and said with a smile: "Forgive me, I can't hold on."

"Let's supervise each other!" After get off work, Liu Ying took off her skirts, thinking that there is no man in the dressing room anyway, she lifted the bottoming shirt carelessly, pinched the small belly of her abdomen with her fingers and said: "Look, it's still Before the Spring Festival, I will start to'fat'. Once the Spring Festival is over, don't I have to grow into a little fat pig! Linglong, you go with me!"

A trace of discomfort flashed in Zhu Linglong's eyes-Liu Ying's voice sounded too greasy and sweet to her. A man might like it, but she couldn't bear it.

But this displeasure was quickly hidden. Zhu Linglong put a white plush coat on her body, wrapped her scarf, and said: "I really don't go anymore. I don't have the two good qualities of suffering and persistence. Compared to sweating in the gym, I am more I like to go back and face the'little sun' and eat my self-heating hot pot."

Liu Ying was easily led astray, "Do you still eat self-heating hot pot? Aren't you afraid of gaining weight and getting acne?"

Zhu Linglong is ready to leave, "I'm afraid, but shouldn't women treat themselves better?"

Liu Ying pursed her lips, "That's true. Then I won't force you, I will also go back today to buy a box of self-heating hot pot."

The smile on Zhu Linglong's face became more and more false, but Liu Ying just didn't see it.

Tianrong Medical Beauty is located in the center of Dongcheng District. After dark, the lights flicker, and if there is light, the river is flowing.

Zhu Linglong walked towards the subway station amidst the weaving crowd, her expression getting colder and colder.

Do card fitness together?

What a joke!

When she was a student, because of her beautiful and delicate face, Zhu Linglong has always been the focus of the opposite **** around her. In any group photo, she is the best looking one. The title "Banhua" has followed her from elementary school to university.

Compared with her, the roommates are all ugly. And relying on this face and this outstanding figure, she got the easy job now. She is obviously the bottom-most person in the department, but she holds the middle and upper class salary among her classmates, which is the envy of her former classmates.

But she also has troubles--

She used to be the most beautiful woman in her circle, but in Tianrong Medical Beauty, her beauty has become less noticeable. In this circle with the ultimate goal of "being beautiful", there are no ugly girls, everyone is naturally beautiful. Who is the beauty in the United States often depends on who is more rich.

Zhu Linglong didn't seem to mind, but she became more anxious in her heart.

She was born in a middle-class family, but she is not poor. When she was in high school, she began to use skin care products and cosmetics that many people could only afford to work. Now she spends a lot of her salary on maintenance.

But this is not enough!

Where is the upper limit for beauty?

It was past the evening rush hour, and there were not many people on the subway. Zhu Linglong did not take a seat. Even though she was very tired, she still stood by the door.

Someone cast a strange look at her, and she didn't bother to take care of it.

Just now she told Liu Ying that women should treat themselves better.

In fact, she is very strict with herself-even on the subway, she has to practice her standing posture, and she does not want to sit down easily.

As for going home to eat self-heating hot pot, it is even more impossible.

She has never bought a self-heating hot pot. She usually doesn't eat anything at night. She is too hungry to eat some low-sugar fruit.

Of course she can exercise, but unlike those who post to Moments as soon as she runs, she never let others know, let alone apply for a card with her colleagues.

The subway passes through a small half of Dongcheng District and stops at the edge of Dongcheng District.

Zhu Linglong walked to the "Jishan Qunshu" 200 meters away from the subway station.

There is her home.

Although there is a "villa" in the name of this community, it is not a villa, but a mid-range commercial building. Its selling point is that it is backed by the Green Phoenix Mountain, and there is a trail that leads directly to the mountain.

The house was bought by her parents when she graduated from university. Zhu Linglong's most satisfied is that she can go for a run in the mountains every night.

Green Phoenix Mountain is a forest park for all citizens, but because it is on the edge of the city, there are not many people climbing the mountain. There is an entrance guard between "Jushanqunshu" and the real mountain road. Entering the mountain from the entrance guard actually leaves the monitoring range of the property management of the community.

There are no lights in the mountains at night, but under the light of the city, it is not completely dark. When Zhu Linglong first moved in, she didn't dare to run at night, but after running a few times, she found that there was no one on the mountain at night.

She was not a timid person, she even dared to go to a deserted village, and Green Phoenix Mountain was even more trivial.

After returning home, Zhu Linglong took a sigh of relief, changed into winter night running outfits, put on headphones, and clocked in at the entrance guard as usual to enter the mountain.

When she runs every night, it is the most relaxing moment of her day. No one is watching her efforts to be beautiful, and there is no need to smile hypocritically to deal with stupid colleagues and customers. The world seems to be integrated with her, sober The air spreads on her face, and sometimes she even imagines that a cold moonlight falls on her body. She is blessed by heaven and is a fairy in this world.

But after running for half an hour today, she suddenly felt very uncomfortable, as if she had a pair of eyes staring at her in the dark, closely following her footsteps.

But how is this possible?

She has been running in this half of the mountain for nearly two years, and she hasn't met anyone even in summer, let alone a cold winter night.

It must be a sequelae of going to the "Ninth Battlefield".

The level of blood in that secret room made her very uncomfortable.

But the anxiety expanded in my heart, like a thick black mist, shrouded the good mood that should have been.

Zhu Linglong's pace became slower and slower, and gradually stopped.

She took off the earphones and listened carefully to the surrounding sounds.

There was no sound, only her own heartbeat and breathing.

She calmed down and turned around slowly.

Behind is a familiar path, dense leaves cast mottled shadows on the ground.

nobody.

Zhu Linglong swallowed and hesitated.

This is already in the depths of Green Phoenix Mountain, but she hasn't reached the place where she usually turns back. Now if she goes back, the night run task is only half completed.

And she has always been an extremely self-disciplined person in private.

After gritting her teeth, she ran again, but because of the fear in her heart, she didn't put on the earphones again.

After running for a hundred meters, she clearly heard the footsteps.

The heartbeat reached its peak at this moment, and she didn't dare to deceive herself anymore.

Someone is behind her and has been following her!

How to do?

She didn't dare to stop, and she didn't dare to look back, her heart confused.

Is it robbery? Still looking for sex?

The footsteps behind her seemed to be closer, and she had to speed up her pace, thinking about the countermeasures indiscriminately.

It is impossible to call for help. Green Phoenix Mountain knows best that there is no one in the mountain, and this place is far away from all the exits. It is difficult for her to get rid of the opponent by running.

"puff--"

A faint voice came from behind, and at the same time he felt the pain in the lower back.

Zhu Linglong stopped instinctively, her hand trembling and touching her back waist.

The sorrow is not obvious, it's just smashed by something.

She couldn't help it anymore, and suddenly turned around, her pupils constricted in an instant.

She saw the most terrifying scene in her life, and this scene was so familiar--

Under the dim light, a figure stood not far away from her. In the dark sports suit, the top was not a human head, but a huge wolf head!

Three years ago, in the live werewolf killing in a deserted village, she drew a worthless civilian card. When night fell and the werewolves started to kill, she could only run for her life.

At that time, there was also a man wearing a werewolf headgear chasing her from behind, and held up the mace in the moonlight.

But that is a game!

She hadn't played Werewolf for a long time, and she clearly remembered that she was running at night on the Green Phoenix Mountain instead of participating in a live werewolf killing!

Her breathing became uncontrollably rapid, and a large amount of cold air was drawn into her lungs. She wanted to cough, but she felt that her throat was gripped by fear.

The "Werewolf" came forward slowly but with ease, without a funny inflatable mace in his hand, only a knife that slipped through the dark light in the light.

Zhu Linglong almost collapsed. She fell on the ground with a soft leg, tears streaming from her eyes, and she wriggled backwards like a snail, "Who are you? What do you want to do?"

"Werewolf" did not answer, but raised his right hand and lit up the sharp knife.

Zhu Linglong shook her head frantically, "No! No! Don't kill me! I beg you don't kill me!"

"Werewolf" let out a weird laugh, flashed in front of Zhu Linglong, and grabbed Zhu Linglong's top hair.

Zhu Linglong saw clearly the wolf face that was close at hand—the left eye was blood red, the right eye was pierced by a sharp object, and the fangs were like blades, exuding a bloodthirsty breath.

She couldn't call it out. She had a strong hunch that she would die here tonight.

The "werewolf" grabbed her neck and laughed like a squeeze from her throat.

Zhu Linglong's tears dripped onto the "werewolf"'s black gloves, followed by a liquid that was warmer and thicker than tears.

The blade severed Zhu Linglong's trachea and neck arteries, and blood spattered out under pressure, splattering on the red eyes of the "werewolf".

The "werewolf" stood up, but Zhu Linglong, who had not yet died, struggled and convulsed on the ground.

The last desire to survive made her reach out her right hand to the assailant.

After a few seconds, his right hand dropped lifelessly.

The "werewolf" looked down at the corpse. After a few minutes, he raised his hand against the backdrop of the city and smashed the object in his hand on the corpse's head.

Soon, the "werewolf" left the corpse, and his figure gradually blended with the thick ink of the forest.