Blutiger Handabdruck - Kapitel 28
Having learned his lesson from Pan Xiaolu, Xu Haicheng dared not look the old man in the eye, focusing instead on his mouth. He finally discerned a square jaw and, judging by the texture and luster of his skin, estimated him to be around fifty years old. The old man murmured something for a moment, then uttered a sentence. However, his accent was too heavy for Xu Haicheng to understand.
"Officer, what have we done?" he repeated, his tone innocent, but Xu Haicheng knew he was a master of feigning innocence and dared not be careless. He walked two steps away from the two men and said, "You hypnotized two police officers in succession; this is what you've done."
"Officer, you must be joking. We country folk don't know anything about hypnosis!"
Xu Haicheng threw the handcuffs over and said, "Stop arguing, cuff them."
The country bumpkin seemed about to bend down to pick it up, but Xu Haicheng stopped him, looking at the little country bumpkin and saying, "You pick it up."
Little Tu Mao glanced at Old Tu Mao, slowly picked up the handcuffs, and looked uneasy with his head down.
"Officer, this isn't my fault. I didn't want to go, but that policewoman insisted I go to the police station. As for that guy earlier, I didn't even know he was a policeman. He stared at me for a long time and I thought he had malicious intentions," the old man cried out, his words tinged with innocence, though there was some truth to his story.
Section 53: Chapter Nine, Part Two of the Cataclysm (5)
"Hurry up and handcuff her." Xu Haicheng shouted at Xiao Tu Mao. She flinched, and the handcuffs clanged as they were pulled.
Where is your wooden box?
Because you can't look the old man in the eye, you can't fully see the changes in his expression. But you can vaguely sense that his face darkened and he said, "So you're also interested in my wooden box."
Where did the wooden box go?
"I sold it. I originally intended to sell it for a higher price in a big city."
Xu Haicheng paused, then asked, "What's in the box?"
"I can't tell you that. If you want to know, go check out Chunfengji."
Chunfengji is an antique shop. Xu Haicheng knew about it because it was owned by Guo Chunfeng, whom he had investigated last year. He couldn't tell which of this old bumpkin's words were true and which were false. He seemed honest, but in reality, he was a master of deception, making him hard to understand.
"Officer, I've told you everything you wanted to know, so please don't handcuff my daughter and me anymore."
Upon being reminded, Xu Haicheng noticed that the country bumpkin had been fiddling with the handcuffs and hadn't actually handcuffed them yet. He hesitated; if what the country bumpkin said was true, then taking them back to the city police station would be pointless. And if they were to be taken back, what charge should they be charged with? The officer was undecided when the country bumpkin stepped forward and said, "Officer, please let us go. We're just a father and daughter from the countryside; we don't want any trouble."
Xu Haicheng thought for a moment and decided that the two men were too strange, so he took them back to the municipal police station to talk to them first. "I just want you to come back to the station to assist us with the investigation. If there's nothing wrong, we'll release you." He seemed to hear Lao Tu let out a mocking laugh and said something else, but it was all mumbled.
"What did you say?"
"I was wondering why you weren't dead..." He suddenly lowered his voice, and Xu Haicheng was startled, looking up at him with surprise. The night was deep, and his eyes reflected the light like glass beads, with an indescribable allure.
I must have seen those eyes before; the thought suddenly flashed through my mind.
His eyes reflected Xu Haicheng's two small shadows, so clearly that he couldn't help but look closer. In that instant, he finally understood why the old country bumpkin's eyes gave people such a special feeling: because the whites of his eyes were so white, and the pupils so black, so black that they were like crystal, able to reflect the image of others. Once others looked into his eyes, they were involuntarily drawn to their own reflection within them.
Xu Haicheng realized it too late; he too had been drawn in…
After an unknown amount of time, a loud shout came from behind: "Captain Xu!"
Xu Haicheng was jolted, freed from the old man's grasp, secretly relieved that he had narrowly escaped. Suddenly, he felt a rush of blood to his head, like a thousand horses galloping, and the veins in his temples throbbed uncontrollably. "You…"
The old bumpkin's eyes no longer sparkled; they held neither fear nor joy, only a cold stare.
Suddenly, a strange thought flashed through Xu Haicheng's mind: his fearless and joyless expression resembled Fang Li's. A sudden, sharp pain shot through his head again, and he could no longer grip the gun in his right hand. He cried out and pounded his head with his right hand.
Pan Xiaolu had already approached and quickly grabbed Xu Haicheng's right hand to stop him. She glanced at the empty wooden box and the pair of eyes carved on the lid, and paused, momentarily stunned.
A hint of pity seemed to flash in the old country bumpkin's eyes as he pulled the little country bumpkin away.
Pan Xiaolu had caught up and wanted to continue, but seeing Xu Haicheng's pale face, his forehead covered in sweat, and his body swaying slightly, she could only watch the two, Old Countryman and Little Countryman, disappear into the distance, stamping her foot in frustration. She picked up Xu Haicheng's gun from the ground, helped him up, and asked with concern, "Captain Xu, what's wrong?"
Xu Haicheng looked confused, patted his head, and muttered, "Where have I seen this before? Where have I seen this before?"
Seeing that he had completely lost his usual demeanor, Pan Xiaolu felt a pang of heartache. She grabbed the hand that was slapping his head and said, "What have you seen?"
"I've seen him before."
"You saw me at the subway station."
"No, I saw him even earlier." Xu Haicheng pulled his hand away from Pan Xiaolu's and patted his head. "My head hurts so much." Seeing him tormenting himself like this, Pan Xiaolu's eyes welled up with tears. She quickly helped him to the intersection ahead and hailed a taxi to the People's Hospital.
As they approached the hospital, Xu Haicheng's pain gradually subsided. He hadn't planned to go back, but Pan Xiaolu kept pestering him and dragged him there. He underwent CT and MRI scans, and the doctor said there were no organic lesions in his brain and the bullet hadn't shifted.
"Then why was he in so much pain?" Pan Xiaolu looked at Xu Haicheng sitting to the side. Although he had recovered now, his appearance just now had really frightened her.
Section 54: Chapter Nine, Part Two of the Calamity (6)
The doctor prescribed painkillers, saying, "We don't know exactly what effect a bullet will have on the brain, and it could potentially cause memory-related issues."
"Why the memory loss?" Pan Xiaolu asked, puzzled.
The doctor explained gently, "Human skin and organs have their own memories, and the brain is no exception. He was shot, and that pain might be remembered and recur in certain situations."
Pan Xiaolu still didn't quite understand, but Xu Haicheng suddenly looked up at the doctor with a slightly enlightened expression.
The doctor then advised them not to take too many painkillers and to have regular check-ups before letting the two leave.
As he walked out of the hospital, Xu Haicheng suddenly remembered the policeman lying in the middle of the road and asked him how he was.
"A traffic cop happened to be passing by, so I just handed him over to them. I wonder how he is now?" Pan Xiaolu said, taking out her phone to call the plainclothes officer. After a moment, she hung up. "He's sober now. It seems that the old codger didn't mean any harm."
"Yes, he was just teasing him," Xu Haicheng replied casually. If the old bumpkin had intended to make things difficult for the plainclothes officer, he might already be dead in a car accident.
"That old bumpkin is a really strange person." Pan Xiaolu couldn't help but touch her head, though she couldn't physically recall the two cold laughs that lingered in her mind. "Captain Xu, what did he do to you just now? Was it because of the bullet?" At first, she was genuinely frightened when she learned that Xu Haicheng had a bullet in his head. Later, after researching, she learned that although rare, such cases did exist. There was a Russian woman named Angelica who was shot, and the bullet remained in the "numb area of her brain" and was not removed. She claimed that it had no effect whatsoever and that she felt like she had become two people: one was her original self, and the other was a highly skilled man.
"I saw Lao Tu Mao's eyes just now, and my head started to throb." Xu Haicheng had a vague idea of what was going on, but he didn't want to say more. Moreover, the pain he had just experienced had left him feeling weak all over, and even speaking was a struggle. The two returned to where they had parked, both feeling very heavy-hearted. The case seemed to have reached a dead end, and they didn't know when things would turn around.
Driving to Chunfengji Antique Shop, the first thing you see upon entering is a wooden box displayed prominently. Seeing the two lingering, the shop assistant quickly came over to introduce the box, explaining how rare the wood was and how exquisite the carving was. He then opened it to show the box; it was unpainted, its natural, rustic texture emitting a rich fragrance. It was likely that the antique shop had specially scented it after receiving the item, because when Xu San opened it last time, he didn't smell any fragrance; it had a strange, somewhat eerie odor.