Myriad Calamities - Chapter 16
Ma Junnan's eyes flickered as he said, "I don't know about that. Or perhaps, the ghostly Gu didn't possess you and was scared away by the gunshot."
That makes sense. Xu Haicheng then asked, "You just said I went berserk because I was infected with the Ghost Gu. If I wasn't infected, why would I have gone on a shooting spree?"
Ma Junnan's expression was somewhat unpleasant. He said, "Captain Xu, I don't know what happened either. At that time, I was so scared that I was completely terrified. How could I have paid attention to these details?"
That makes perfect sense. Xu Haicheng thought for a moment and said, "Professor Ma, please think about it again..."
Ma Junnan's expression changed drastically. He said, "Think again, think again! Do you know that I dream about this seventeen or eighteen times every night? I wish I could erase it all. And you're telling me to think again!" He was breathing heavily, his nostrils flared, and his expression was very strange.
Xu Haicheng was startled by Ma Junnan's sudden outburst, swallowing back the words he was about to say. He wasn't angry at Ma Junnan; he himself suffered from nightmares every night, a truly unbearable experience. "Professor Ma, I understand your feelings. I, like you, have recurring nightmares every night. But please understand, only you know the truth about the Julong Cave shootout, and that's the only question I can ask you."
As his breathing gradually calmed down, Ma Junnan probably realized he had lost his composure. Feeling a little embarrassed, he said awkwardly, "I'm sorry, I've just recovered, and my emotions are still fluctuating. I've already told you everything I know, and I really can't help you with anything you don't know." By the end, the awkwardness in his tone had disappeared, replaced by a somewhat firm one.
Xu Haicheng knew that asking again would not yield any results. Considering that he had just recovered and his mind and body had not yet adjusted to a balanced state, he decided to ask him again when he had the chance in the future, and then said goodbye to him.
Ma Junnan escorted him to the door. Just as they closed the door, Xu Haicheng suddenly turned around and saw Ma Junnan's expression as he let out a long sigh of relief, which startled him.
Ma Junnan's expression froze on his face.
Xu Haicheng had his doubts, but didn't voice them. He politely said, "Professor Ma, please get some rest. Tell me if you remember anything later."
Ma Junnan couldn't relax his facial muscles immediately, so he could only give a stiff "hmm". Xu Haicheng then strode down the stairs, and hearing the door close behind him quickly, he thought to himself that Ma Junnan was secretly sighing, so it seemed that he was still hiding something from him.
It was nearly evening when we left Ma Junnan's house.
The road was jammed with cars, and Xu Haicheng slowly moved along with the flow of traffic, pondering the matter at hand. Back at the police station, Pan Xiaolu was still on duty. As soon as she saw him, she said she had found the real name of the "witchcraft family," but there was little joy on her face.
Pan Xiaolu first discovered that the IP address belonged to the campus network of Nanpu University. She was a little dumbfounded at the time, as Nanpu University has more than 10,000 students. Fortunately, the network administrator of Nanpu University said that the witchcraft family had always been quite active, so he recognized the name as Song Duo, a 2003 graduate of the Archaeology Department of Nanpu University who was assigned to the Nanpu City Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology in the first half of this year.
Section 32: Chapter Six, Part Three of the Abiding Calamity (3)
Song Duo is from Jingyun City, while his grandfather, Song Sanping, lived in Shangshui Township, Jingyun City. We were unable to contact him. Shangshui Village is about 100 li away from Songlang Village, meaning that Shangshui Village is adjacent to the Jingyun mountainous area.
Song Sanping's neighbors had long since moved elsewhere. Pan Xiaolu found her uncle's family through the household registration system, but they couldn't remember the details of his death clearly. Some said there were teeth marks on his neck, while others said there weren't. So this lead was basically useless.
"But there's something strange, I don't know if it's related to our case?" Pan Xiaolu said hesitantly.
"Speak."
"Song Duo died this summer, in August."
Xu Haicheng was taken aback, then listened as Pan Xiaolu continued.
In August of this year, the Nanpu City Archaeological Institute and the Jingyun City Archaeological Institute each sent five people to jointly organize a ten-person archaeological team, aiming at the ancient altar at Tongtianling. Considering the high mountains and long distances, all the team members were selected as young and strong men, and the team was led by Huang Yisen, deputy director of the Nanpu City Archaeological Institute.
Song Duo was among them, but four days after they arrived at Tongtianling, Song Duo fell off a cliff and his body was never found. Song Duo's parents refused to believe that their son was dead, so when Pan Xiaolu was investigating, they kept nagging her for a long time, complaining that the archaeological team hadn't done their best to search, and that they even dreamed that their son said he had died unjustly.
Xu Haicheng thought back for a moment and realized that Tongtianling was a high mountain with steep roads, so it was not impossible for him to accidentally fall into the valley.
"What's most strange is that the archaeological team immediately ended their excavation of the Tongtianling altar and returned to the city."
"Oh?" Xu Haicheng frowned slightly. "How many days did they originally plan for their investigation?"
"Song Duo told his family it would be at least fifteen days."
Xu Haicheng recalled the densely packed human heads in the second underground level of the cave and the eerie paintings on the ceiling, realizing that four days was indeed insufficient to complete the archaeological task. Logically, after Song Duo fell to his death, the archaeological team should have sent someone to notify Song Duo's family, waiting for them to come to the scene to pay their respects while continuing their work. They shouldn't have immediately led the team away from Tongtianling and then verbally informed Song Duo's family of his death.
The archaeological team's actions were indeed a bit strange. Xu Haicheng thought for a moment and asked, "Did Song Duo's family say anything?"
"They didn't believe Song Duo was dead and kept asking the archaeological institute for an explanation, but all the members of the archaeological team said the same thing, so they couldn't do anything. The grandfather, Song Sanping, just couldn't believe his grandson was dead and that there were no remains, so he went alone to search for him deep in the mountains, which is why he couldn't be contacted."
"Have you checked with the archaeological team?"
"Not yet, mainly because nothing has been found that is related to our case."
"It was Huang Yisen who led the team, right?" Xu Haicheng pondered, head bowed. He had woken up in early June and, while being investigated, had written a detailed report detailing everything that had happened after he and Xiao Zhang entered Songlang Village. One key point was the skull pit beneath the altar. Three days after the report was submitted, Huang Yisen, deputy director of the municipal archaeological team, and Professor Lei Yunshan came to the hospital together.
Huang Yisen was about forty-five years old, of medium height, with an ordinary appearance and a dark complexion, probably from years of archaeological work. He spoke a bit quickly, but was meticulous. He inquired in detail about the altar and the human head cave on the second underground level, showing a strong interest in the human head cave, even saying that it filled a gap in domestic archaeological research on sacrificial sites. There was no reason for such a person to let an archaeological expedition end without a result.
Unless something unexpected happens, but what kind of unexpected thing could happen?
Xu Haicheng recalled the mountaintop where the wind blew through the grass, the ancient altar standing lonely, and the thousands of heads on the second basement floor of the altar, along with the smiles on their heads. He couldn't help but shudder. Even though so much time had passed, whenever he thought about it, he felt that those eyes, though dead, were still staring at him.
Xu Haicheng shook his head, exposing the pair of deep, dark eyes to focus on the case before him. "Tomorrow we'll visit Deputy Director Huang Yisen."
"Okay," Pan Xiaolu replied enthusiastically.
Xu Haicheng couldn't help but smile and said, "Director Chen said you're very hardworking, and it's true."
Pan Xiaolu chuckled and said, "That's Director Chen praising you. I heard everyone say how capable you were when I was in Tongyuan, and then I heard the same thing again when I got to the Chengnan branch. I've been looking forward to learning from Captain Xu for a long time."
"Let's go back, it's getting late."
Pan Xiaolu was slightly disappointed. Whenever she tried to get closer to him, he always seemed aloof and unapproachable. It was the same yesterday, and it was the same today. Suppressing her frustration, she replied again, "Okay." This "okay" lacked its previous force. While glancing at Xu Haicheng's departing figure out of the corner of her eye, she tidied up the scattered documents on the table, her movements noticeably slower than usual.
Section 33: Chapter Six, Part Three of the Abiding Calamity (4)
Xu Haicheng, of course, had no idea that his words had stirred up so much of Pan Xiaolu's thoughts. He walked to the conference room on his own and casually turned on the television. In the past, when he was busy, he often stayed at the bureau, so he had long been used to treating the bureau as his home.
Lying on the sofa smoking, he was thinking about Xu San's case.
Where did those dark purple teeth marks come from?
What scared him to death?
The television broadcast echoed in his ears, "Today we are honored to have with us the renowned archaeologist, Professor Lei Yunshan from Nanpu University. Professor Lei is the discoverer of the Mansi ancient tomb. Professor Lei, on November 10th two years ago, you were the first to push open the door of the Mansi tomb. What were your feelings at that time?"
"I was so excited, really, my hands were shaking."