Myriad Calamities - Chapter 39
"Yes." Xu Haicheng was a little disappointed, but he didn't have a better solution.
Chen Chen thought for a moment, then said, "Xiao Lu, you must protect her."
"yes."
Chen Chen looked at Xu Haicheng thoughtfully and said, "This girl is quite good. You haven't seen her good qualities yet."
His words were loaded with hidden meaning, and Xu Haicheng, with a headache, avoided his scheming gaze, saying, "The person the bureau chief values is certainly not bad."
Chen Chen shook his head and sighed, "You, Da Xu, sometimes I really want to crack open your head and see if you're just one-track-minded." He waved his hand, indicating that he could leave.
Xu Haicheng felt a great sense of relief and quickly left the bureau chief's office. As he walked outside, he sighed softly. Pan Xiaolu's kindness to him was like spring rain; how could he not notice it? How could he not be moved? But he only had one heart.
Xu Haicheng went to the Criminal Investigation Brigade's office and found Deputy Captain Feng. He briefly told him about the conversation between the suspect and Ma Junnan the previous night, and then Xu Haicheng went into the monitoring room next to the interrogation room to watch. After a while, Deputy Captain Feng and Officer Chen brought the suspect into the interrogation room. He looked a little tired, probably because he hadn't slept well due to the late interrogation the night before, but the fierce look on his face remained unchanged, and a long scar on his forehead was quite conspicuous.
Upon seeing the suspect's appearance, Xu Haicheng was stunned. Wasn't this his second uncle from the Tongluozhai Nuo dance troupe? Wu Dajun had mentioned his name when he introduced him; it was something like Chun.
Last night's interrogation ended hastily due to the suspect's tough stance. This time, Deputy Captain Feng personally conducted the interrogation. As usual, he first explained the policy of leniency for confession and severity for resistance, then asked for the suspect's name, age, and place of origin. These were actually recorded in yesterday's interrogation notes, but the best way to deal with such a tough suspect is to wear him down until he loses patience and his psychological defenses crumble. Therefore, Deputy Captain Feng patiently asked the questions again.
As expected, Old Chun raised his eyebrows impatiently. "Old Chun, 63 years old, from Tongtian Village."
Xu Haicheng's heart stirred, and many memories of Lao Chuntou surfaced in his mind, such as his disappearance after the inspection team left Tongtian Village, the mysterious young wife in his family, and Lu Mingjie's statement that Lao Chuntou saved him and took him back to Tongtian Village for half a year.
Clearly, Deputy Captain Feng had also realized this. He sized up Lao Chuntou for a while and said, "Do you know Lu Mingjie?"
Old Chun shook his head.
Deputy Captain Feng showed Lu Mingjie old photos.
"It was him, I recognized him. He was from the inspection team; I led the way for them."
When was the last time I saw him?
"I haven't seen them since the inspection team left."
Deputy Captain Feng then showed Lu Mingjie's current photo, asking, "Have you seen this person before?"
"I met him once, about ten days ago. The Tongluozhai Nuo dance troupe was short-handed, so they asked me to fill in for rehearsals. I saw this person at Wu Dajun's house; he stayed for a day and then left."
Section 74: Chapter Twelve, Part Two of the Void Calamity (4)
Deputy Captain Feng then asked who Wu Dajun was and what kind of person he was. Old Chuntou answered in detail, saying that he was the elder brother of the Nuo dance troupe, that he was usually very kind, and that he danced the Nuo dance beautifully. Xu Haicheng looked at Deputy Captain Feng with admiration; he had controlled the atmosphere of the conversation very well from the beginning, making Old Chuntou lower his guard.
After discussing Wu Dajun and the Tongluozhai Nuo Dance Troupe, Deputy Captain Feng finally brought up the events of last night. Old Chuntou's relaxed expression vanished instantly; his neck stiffened, and the scar on his forehead twisted like an earthworm as he said, "I didn't do anything wrong. I just borrowed some money from a friend."
"Professor Ma Junnan said he didn't recognize you. Is there anyone else who would mistake money like this? You scared someone so badly they ended up in the hospital." Xu Haicheng had already heard Deputy Captain Feng mention that Ma Junnan wouldn't talk about last night's events, his expression filled with fear, only repeating over and over: "You killed him, you killed him..."
"It's his own fault for feeling guilty, what does it have to do with me?"
"You're still being stubborn. Tell me honestly what happened." Deputy Captain Feng also dropped his previous gentle tone.
Old Chuntou said indignantly, "I know him. I used to guide their expedition team in Wuri Valley..." He briefly explained that he had led an expedition team out of Wuri Valley before, and this time he came to perform with the Nuo dance troupe from Tongluozhai. He saw Ma Junnan on TV and wanted to borrow some money. Who knew that Ma Junnan would not lend him money and would even turn his back on him.
Deputy Captain Feng, having already been reminded by Xu Haicheng, asked, "I saw everything you did in the cave. Did you say that?"
A look of surprise flashed across Lao Chun's face. He wondered if Ma Junnan had confessed. He hesitated for a moment and then nodded.
"You dare to kill, but you're too ashamed to admit it? You said that too, didn't you?"
Old Chun's arrogance subsided a bit, and he nodded helplessly again.
"Then why don't you explain your relationship with Ma Junnan clearly now?"
Old Chun had originally planned to keep it a secret and seek further benefits from Ma Junnan later. Now, seeing that the police knew everything about last night's conversation, and considering there were no outsiders present, he suspected Ma Junnan had already confessed. Since seeking further benefits from him was impossible, he decided not to hide anything. He recounted how he followed the expedition team into the deep mountains, witnessed their perilous journey to Julong Cave, and how, due to the encounter with the Ghost Gu, a gunfight broke out among the rescue team. Curious, he went to investigate and saw that most of the rescue team had been killed or wounded. The Ghost Gu had possessed Ma Junnan, and he, dragging his injured leg, picked up a pistol and killed four people.
Of course, he concealed the fact that he was a member of the Pupil Society, how he released the Ghost Gu in the Ancient Banyan Cave, and that the underground space leading to the Ghost Pool was the place where the descendants of the Mansi tribe lived... In short, he concealed anything that was detrimental to him. Since most of those who knew the truth were already dead, he was not afraid of others exposing his words.
Deputy Captain Feng asked, "Why is Ma Junnan still alive after being infected with the Ghost Gu?"
Old Chun was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting him to know so much. His eyes darted around as he said, "I saved him, which is why I wanted to borrow some money from him. Who knew he was such an ingrate?"
"You said you saved him? Then why didn't the rescue team sent by Jingyun City see you when they arrived at Julong Cave?"
Old Chun paused for a moment, then said, "I went to relieve myself in the cave next door."
"Bang!" Deputy Captain Feng slammed his hand on the table. "You still dare to lie?"
Old Chun was startled, his previous ferocity diminished considerably, and he stammered, "Officer, I didn't mean to lie. I went to the cave with their expedition team, thinking that if they encountered anything interesting, I could get involved too. Who knew they'd be dead or wounded? That day, there was a chaotic gunfight in the cave, blood everywhere, flowing into the stream. I took a closer look, and the cave was full of half-dead people. I didn't dare go any closer. I saw that Professor Ma killing people, he looked very crazed. Later, I returned to Tongtian Village alone. You know how hard it is to survive in our village? I'm old." "I can't hunt, and I don't earn much money joining the Nuo dance troupe. I saw Professor Ma on TV yesterday, and I thought that since I helped them in the mountains before, they should be able to lend me some money. Officer, I'm telling you the truth. I shouldn't have had this thought, but Professor Ma can't just ignore me like this. If I hadn't led them out of Wuri Valley, they might have been trapped and died there..." He made up his mind and said, half truth and half falsehood. Anyway, since other witnesses were found regarding what happened in the Jingyun Mountain area, no one could prove that he released the Ghost Gu, nor could they prove that he was a member of the Tongzi Society.
Old Chun's words made perfect sense, and Deputy Captain Feng couldn't find any fault with them for the time being. Remembering Director Chen's instructions, he showed Xu Haicheng's photo and asked, "Do you recognize this person?"
"I recognize him. I saw him at the TV station a few days ago. Everyone calls him Captain Xu."
Have you seen me before?
[This post was edited by Fusheng on 2008-03-07 01:03]
Section 75: Chapter Twelve - The Second Part of the Void Calamity (5)
"No."
"Think again carefully, have you seen him in Julong Cave?"
Old Chun looked closely at the photo. Xu Haicheng was wearing a police uniform and looked very serious. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Never seen him before."
"When you saw Professor Ma kill someone, what kind of gun did he use?"
"pistol."