Madness of the Heart

Wancui Village, Hexiang County.

In the fall, the air is filled with the rich scent of sweet-scented osmanthus and the soot of burning coal.

"Wu's family, they have moved away long ago." The village cadre stood in front of a yard where no one lived, and pointed inward, "This is where they used to live."

Xu Chun asked: "Move away? When?"

The village cadre said: "At the beginning of this year, let's celebrate the Spring Festival."

There are three people in Wu Tong's family, but only Wu Tong currently lives in Dongye City. Since her parents are not in Wancui Village, where did they go?

And the family moved out during the Spring Festival, which is too weird.

Xu Chun asked immediately: "Do you know why the Wu family moved?"

"I know, we are always envious!" The village cadre smiled and spit out his cigarette. "They have a relative who works as a boss in a big city, and said that they are asked to help with a part-time job. Hey, the city is good, one month It’s easy to make thousands of dollars! Before they leave, they invite us to have a water table!"

Work for relatives in the city? wrong!

Xu Chun responded quickly—Wu Tong did let his distant relative Liang Lu help solve the work in Dongye City, but Liang Lu was not a big boss, and it was impossible to ask the Wu family to work for herself, and Wu Tong’s parents, Wu Shoulian Wang Aixia is not with Wu Tong now.

There is only one possibility, something happened to the Wu family.

Xu Chun hurriedly asked the village cadres to call the village chief, and asked the team members to inquire about the situation of Wu’s family from house to house, and learned an amazing fact—Wu Tong in Dongye City is not the real Wu Tong, the real Wu Tong. Tong died as early as seven years old.

The Wu family has been farmers for generations. Wu Shoulian and Wang Aixia never gave birth to children when they were young. They did not give birth to Wu Tong, the real Wu Tong, until they were nearly 40.

Wu Tong is a premature baby, and his mother is an advanced parturient, Wu Tong has been frail and sick from birth.

Wu Shoulian and Wang Aixia clung to the child. When Wu Tong was four years old, they followed the fortune teller and stole a girl of the same age back, with the goal of "renewing their life" for Wu Tong.

The so-called "continuation of life" is to raise the girl as a livestock, and the name is also Wu Tong, as the shadow of the real Wu Tong. Once Wu Tong has any illness, Wu Shoulian and Wang Aixia will ask the fortune teller to "work". The pain transferred to the shadow.

The shadow that accepts the pain must be painful, and only the shadow pain can indicate the successful transfer of the pain.

In the "practice", the fortune teller often hangs the girl upside down, pierces the girl with a needle, whips, and even cuts the girl with a knife.

The more the girl cried, the more the fortune-teller said to Wu and Wang: "The evil spirit has left Wu Tong and has been absorbed by the shadow."

This matter is not a secret in the village, and no one even thinks that Wu's child stealing is a crime.

The girl was chained and tied to the Wu's yard, living a life no different from a dog.

The fortune-teller's "continuation of life" method ultimately failed to save Wu Tong's life. After Wu Tong died of illness, the girl became the only child in the Wu family.

According to the fortune teller, the girl already has a ray of Wu Tong's soul on her body. It is best for the Wu family to continue to raise the girl and treat the girl as Wu Tong.

Under the great pain of losing her daughter, Wu Shoulian accepted the advice of the fortune teller, untied the chains on the girl's hands and feet, and gave the girl a new name-Wu Tong.

Many years ago, in Wancui Village, the household registration management was quite backward. The girl was originally a black household. After inheriting Wu Tong's name, she also inherited Wu Tong's identity.

She is Wu Tong, and Wu Tong is her.

Xu Chundang informed the Hexiang County Public Security Bureau of the situation under investigation, and communicated with Mingshu.

"The Wu family has no relatives in the city to rely on. The people in the village must have heard lies." Ming Shu said: "Wu Shoulian and Wang Aixia left Wancui Village for no reason. Wu Tong now lives alone. The most likely thing is that -Wu Shoulian and Wang Aixia did not leave Wancui Village at all. They were already dead."

Xu Chun said: "I think so too. We found several rusty chains in Wu's house, which should have locked Wu Tong back then. She has been abused since she was four, and she was forced to pass away at the age of seven. A stand-in for the person. If I were her, I don’t know how deeply I hate the Wu family and his wife."

Ming Shu leaned against the wall and paused for a few seconds, "I don't know how distorted it is."

"Then I will be here for the time being to investigate the case with the Hexiang County Public Security Bureau." Xu Chun said: "I will report to you as soon as I have any progress."

Ming Shu said, "Thanks."

Wu Tong sat in the interrogation room, humming a song softly. She did have a sweet face. When she tilted her head to look at people, it was always easy for softhearted people to pity.

Ming Shu said, "Sha Chun and Wu Tong are very similar, don't they?"

The singing stopped abruptly, and Wu Tong stood still, looking at Ming Shu like an exquisite white porcelain doll.

When Ming Shu met Wu Tong before, he thought Wu Tong looked like something, but he couldn't think of an appropriate description.

Knowing what happened in Wu's house many years ago, a noun suddenly appeared in his mind.

dummy.

Wu Tong is like a dummy, with a name and identity, but without his own soul.

Wu Tong's big eyes were shining, and he repeated in a very strange tone, "Wu...tong?"

Ming Shu saw the doubt in Wu Tong's eyes. This doubt was different from her innocent and romantic disguise. It turned out to be real.

"I am Wu Tong." She said.

"Then who are Wu Shoulian and Wang Aixia?" Ming Shu asked.

Hearing these two names, Wu Tong's expression immediately became disgusting and vicious, "They are my parents."

Ming Shu asked, "Where are they now?"

Wu Tong lowered his head, "Of course he is in his hometown."

"But there is no one in your hometown house."

"..."

After a moment of silence, Ming Shu said: "This year's Spring Festival, the Wu family told the neighbours that they would come to the city to seek refuge with relatives. Why are you alone here, and your parents?"

"They..." Wu Tong said nervously, "I don't know."

Ming Shu said, "No, you know. No one knows the whereabouts of your parents except you."

Wu Tong slammed his chest, and the fierceness on his face turned into a hideous, "What do you want to ask?"

Ming Shu stared at Wu Tong solemnly and spoke loudly, "Ask you if you killed Wu Shoulian and Wang Aixia, and if you killed Sha Chun who is similar to the real Wu Tong!"

Wu Tong half-opened his mouth, and after half a minute he laughed strangely, "I don't have one. I am Wu Tong. I have an ID card. Would you like to see it?"

Ming Shu suddenly asked: "If I can find your biological parents, would you like to see them?"

Wu Tong's smile solidified, and her charming face was shaking slightly, "I..."

"You can think about it again." Ming Shu got up and returned the seat. "Every case I want to investigate will eventually come to light."

There is no doubt that Wu Tong is the murderer, but the evidence chain is currently incomplete, and the investigation must be continued.

Ming Shu rushed to Wu Tong's residence again, and once again noticed the long square carpet at the bedroom door.

"The clothes that Wu Tong wore when committing the crime are the most important. There must be key information on it. Wu Tong has to deal with them all, which is very troublesome." Xiao Man said, "but this is actually considered indirect evidence."

Ming Shu squatted down, put on his gloves, asked Xiao Man for a large bag of evidence, and put the carpet in it.

Wu Tong, Meng Xue, and Li Tianyue do not have the habit of going home to change their shoes. The living room is equivalent to a common area, and their slippers are in their bedrooms.

"Take this carpet back for detailed inspection." Ming Shu said: "Although Wu Tong has disposed of the clothes she wore when committing the crime, she must have stepped on this carpet when she returned from the scene. The carpet and clothes were not removed. It was her negligence to deal with it together."

Xiao Man immediately understood, "The dirt attached to her shoes will fall on the carpet!"

Ming Shu rushed to the Nancheng Sub-bureau non-stop and asked to adjust the road monitoring in the early morning of August 24.

According to Li Tianyue, Wu Tong returned home on the morning of the 24th. This means that after Wu Tong killed and buried Sha Chun, it is very likely that he hid in the performing arts group until dawn, and then returned to Dongcheng District by bus or taxi.

Every traffic station is monitored, and Wu Tong will not choose a bus with a high probability. In the early morning, every taxi or private car that drove on Nanye Avenue where the Performing Arts Group is located may carry Wu Tong.

This clue required a lot of manpower to investigate. The Nancheng District Branch took the initiative to cooperate, and the reason is clearly forgotten-Xiao Yuan left the trouble of Chu Can in the Crime Squad, directly reducing the burden on the Nancheng District Branch.

On the other side, the Hexiang County Public Security Bureau began an investigation into Wancui Village.

Xu Chun asked many villagers and determined that the Wu family was holding the running water table on the twelfth day of the first lunar month, and Wu Shoulian and Wang Aixia were still alive when they were running the running water table.

"In fact, I didn't seem to have seen Wu Shoulian and his old woman during the Spring Festival." Ou Chunxiang, who lives near Wu's house, said, "It was Wu Tong who came to my house and said that he was going to move. Let us go to her house for dinner."

"On the day of the Wu family's treat, you actually didn't see Wu Shoulian and his wife?" Xu Chun asked.

"I..." Ou Chunxiang scratched his head, "I can't remember, I should have seen it. They treat guests at home, of course they are at home."

The answers of many villagers were similar to those of Ou Chunxiang.

Xu Chun immediately thought of a possibility—Wu Shoulian and Wang Aixia had already been killed when the Wu family hosted a banquet. Wu Tong spread the news that his family was going to the city, and invited people to eat at home, just to create the illusion that Wu and Wang were still alive.

The Spring Festival is a very convenient time to do things. Every family has their own business to be busy. Set up a table of running water, and the owner eats the western food. If someone asks where Wu Shoulian and Wang Aixia are, they can use "preparing dishes later", "Drink with Uncle Wang and Uncle Li" perfunctorily.

"I also found Aixia that day. After all, I've been an old friend for many years, but I really haven't seen anyone." Villager Chen Qicui said sadly.

Xu Chun asked: "Then why do you think Wang Aixia was at home on the day of Wu's treat?"

"I..." Chen Qicui thought for a long time, and finally said: "I heard Wu Tong calling her mother."

Xu Chun finally figured out the key.

People are extremely susceptible to outside influences and are easily confused by false appearances.

Wu Tong said that he would go to the city with his parents to join wealthy relatives. The villagers believed it. Afterwards, they went to Wu’s house for a banquet. Although only Wu Tong was toasting and serving dishes in the yard, as long as Wu Tong shouted "Mom, chicken" from time to time Is the stew ready", "Dad, the wine is gone" can give the people present a hint that Wu Shoulian and Wang Aixia are both present.

This is obviously a very risky method, but Wu Tong has succeeded. After half a year, people in Wancui Village didn't know that Wu Shoulian and Wang Aixia had actually died long ago.

The Public Security Bureau of Hexiang County is very efficient. On the same day, traces of the murder were found in Wu’s house—the living room floor has many knife-cutting marks, and a small amount of blood can be seen in the gaps, and the whole floor is almost full of luminol reagent. reaction.

Captain Liu, who is in charge of investigating the case, said to Xu Chun: "This is very likely the scene of the crime."

"There are so many slashing marks, it should be a dismemberment." Xu Chun recalled Wu Tong's innocent face, and found it incredible, but when he thought of everything Wu Tong had experienced in his childhood, he felt that all this was not inexplicable.

Wu Tong just looks naive, since he has no humanity in his heart.

It is precisely because there is no human nature and only an empty shell is left, so when pretending to be a silly white sweet girl, he pretends to be so like and deceives everyone.

At night, the police dog found a pile of corpses buried in a pit in the northwest corner of Wancui Village.

The corpse had been badly decomposed, but it was able to piece together two complete corpses.

However, the forensic doctor said that judging from the decay of the legs, the murderer scraped some of the meat from the legs when he was dissecting the body.

It is not easy to identify the specific cause of death for the severely decomposed corpses. Forensic doctors can only preliminarily judge from the damage of the deceased’s neck bones.

Xu Chun hadn't figured it out at all. Strangulation is not a simple matter. Wu Tong wants to kill Wu Shoulian and Wang Aixia, and there are many options. Why does he have to strangle his neck?

The cause of Sha Chun's death was also mechanical asphyxiation caused by strangulation.

Why is Wu Tong obsessed with strangulation?

"Didn't you find the iron chain that bound Wu Tong in the Wu family's yard?" After listening to Xu Chun's report, Ming Shu closed his eyes and thought for a while, "The real Wu Tong has been dead for so many years, Wu Tong has long stopped wearing iron chains. Why does the iron chain stay in the Wu family? Neither Wu Shoulian nor Wang Aixia have any reason to keep the iron chain."

"Is it Wu Tong?" Xu Chun said, "Wu Tong deliberately left the iron chain?"

"The pain that Wu Tong suffered in childhood is hard for outsiders to imagine. She was chained and beaten by a whip. The chains and whips are her horrible memories." Ming Shu said: "It is also her hatred. Memory. She left the chains, perhaps to remind herself not to forget the hatred and the sins she suffered before, and one day, she will have revenge."

"I understand." Xu Chun smoked a cigarette, her eyes narrowed in the smoke, "Wu Shoulian and his wife used iron chains to imprison her, so she will use similar strips to kill them."

Ming Shu said: "This can also explain why Sha Chun died of strangulation."

Xu Chun sighed for a long time, "How is your investigation done over there? I'll be back soon."

Mingshu is still in the Nancheng District Branch, "rest assured, the evidence chain will be completed soon."

Xiao Man’s observational power is not as good as Ming Shu, but he is technically professional. After extraction and identification, the mark showed a key identification report—the mud on the carpet at the door of Wu Tong’s bedroom and the location of Sha Chun’s body. The soil is consistent.

Soon after the appraisal report was released, the Nancheng District Branch found a BYD owner named "Yang Qiuyong" after intensive investigations.

Yang Qiuyong does the "black car" business in Nancheng all the year round. The inside of the car has been modified to look like a normal taxi, with protective barriers and surveillance cameras.

The camera recorded the situation when Wu Tong got on and off the car—At 5:49 on August 24, Wu Tong, wearing a black T-shirt, dark blue jeans, and a backpack, got into Yang Qiuyong’s car in a blind corner of road surveillance and sat in The right side of the back seat. At 6:27, Wu Tong got off at Xingzhao Road in Dongcheng District and paid cash to leave.

Xingzhao Road is four kilometers away from Wu Tong’s residence, and it is difficult for the police to find Xingzhao Road.

Ming Shu came to Wu Tong again.

After Wu Tong's disguised innocence faded, she looked even more beautiful. But that kind of beauty was not at all angry, it looked hollow and pale.

"The police in Hexiang County have found your parents..." Ming Shu paused and changed his words: "We found the corpses of Wu Shoulian and Wang Aixia. It has also been determined that Wu's family is the first scene."

Wu Tong blinked without speaking.

"The cause of their death is mechanical suffocation. You used the iron chain they locked you to complete your revenge." Ming Shu said softly, unlike facing a murderer carrying three lives, "Wu Tong, you are satisfied Yet?"

Wu Tong remained silent.

Ming Shu looked at her for a while, "No, you didn't."

Wu Tong's expression finally changed, as if he wanted to speak, but he didn't open his mouth immediately.

"How can you be satisfied?" Ming Shu said, "Before taking revenge on the person who caused your bad luck in your life."

Wu Tong's slender neck slightly shrank.

"You stayed well with your family, but you were suddenly stolen. You suffered inhuman torture before the age of seven. After the age of seven, although life is getting better, the real you is dead. You used to be for that person. The shadow of'continuing life' will be the person's substitute in the future." Ming Shu said: "In your heart, the most hateful thing is not the fortune teller, nor is it Wu Shoulian or Wang Aixia, but the real Wu Tong, right?"

Wu Tong took a sharp breath, and then began to tremble.

Ming Shu continued: "But she is dead, and you have no way to avenge her. This year's Spring Festival, you killed Wu Shoulian and Wang Aixia. You thought you could vent your anger and start a new life in a new place. You set it up well. Nearly perfect, so that no one in your hometown knows that Wu Shoulian and Wang Aixia are dead. But when you really start a new life, you realize that you can’t let go. If you don’t kill the real Wu Tong with your own hands, you can’t go. come out."

Wu Tong lowered his head, pursed his lips, and said vague words.

"You got pleasure in dismembering the army and the king, so you chopped down chickens and stray dogs near your residence many times." Ming Shu said: "They are real Wu Tong substitutes. But chopped. The pleasure of killing small animals is far less than that of human beings, so when you discover the secrets of Sha Chun and Yu Xiaocheng, Sha Chun becomes your substitute."

Wu Tong finally spoke at this time, "Yes, it was me who killed Wu Shoulian and Wang Aixia, and it was me who strangled Sha Chun."

After saying this, Wu Tong suddenly fell silent.

Ming Shu waited for her next sentence.

After a long time, Wu Tong's eyebrows were beating insignificantly, and there was a strange light in his eyes, "You said you would help me find my parents. I confess my guilt and I will explain everything. You can really let me see them before I die. One side?"