Murder painting - Chapter 3
The mountain path is about two meters wide, with a hard, cold cliff on the left and a bottomless precipice on the right. The path makes a small bend along the mountainside about 20 meters from the temple.
"Where does this road lead?" Luo Fei had no idea that there was such a road behind the Kumu Temple. Since the road had no slope, it was obviously not a passage to go up or down the mountain.
“There’s a small house ahead; you’ll see it after you turn the corner,” Kong Jing said as she led the way forward.
Sure enough, just around the bend, a small wooden house nestled against the mountainside came into view at the end of the road not far away. The wooden house was clearly built using local materials, and now it stood alone in the wind and snow, the weathered patterns on the wooden walls seemingly telling visitors about the years it had witnessed.
Kong Jing stopped two or three meters from the corner near the hut: "That person probably fell from here."
"What are they doing on the mountain road behind the temple in the middle of the night?" Luo Fei naturally had this question.
Kong Jing looked somewhat embarrassed under Luo Fei's gaze: "The three of them stayed in this little house last night!"
"Why is that? Are all the guest rooms in the front yard full?"
"The guest rooms are empty... It was arranged by the head of the temple. I... I don't know the specifics." Kong Jing's answer was somewhat hesitant. He also realized that if those three guests had stayed at the temple, the fall off the cliff might not have happened.
Luo Fei frowned in displeasure; such an arrangement was indeed inappropriate. However, the most important thing now was not to assign blame for the inappropriateness of the arrangement, but to understand how things actually happened.
Due to the heavy snow cover, the traces left on the road at the time of the incident could not be identified (in fact, even without snow, it is difficult to leave footprints or similar marks on a hard stone road).
Luo Fei cautiously walked to the edge of the cliff and leaned over to look down. A few withered shrubs grew at the cliff's edge, and directly below Luo Fei's feet, the shrubs showed clear signs of being trampled. From this, Luo Fei deduced that he was now standing precisely at the location where the incident had occurred.
In Luo Fei's view, the valley walls were extremely steep, consisting entirely of exposed, hard rock except for the shrubs. Now, he began to truly understand the meaning of Kong Jing's words: "...Even if we find the person, it won't mean much..."
Luo Fei retreated back onto the mountain path, looking thoughtful. Kong Jing and Shunde dared not utter a sound, for fear of interrupting his train of thought.
After a moment, Luo Fei spoke up: "When you arrived, were Zhang Bin and Hu Junkai standing here?"
Kong Jing nodded: "Yes!"
Did you notice what they were wearing at the time?
"What are you wearing?" Kong Jing frowned, seemingly trying hard to remember.
"I asked them if they were wearing coats."
Kong Jing answered very confidently: "I wore it!"
On this cold early winter night, several people involved, dressed neatly, came outside. What were they planning to do? Luo Fei began to believe that this fall from the cliff was most likely not accidental. He recalled the strange things Zhang Bin had said before he lost consciousness.
Have you ever heard of the 'headless ghost'?
"A headless ghost?" Kong Jing looked bewildered, but Shunde immediately raised his eyes and stared intently at Luo Fei.
Luo Fei curled his lips in exasperation. As a police officer, it felt somewhat absurd to say such a thing: "Yes, Zhang Bin said when he reported the case that he saw a 'headless ghost' at the scene of the incident."
Upon hearing this, Shunde couldn't help but let out a soft "Ah!" Luo Fei's sharp gaze immediately shot towards him: "What's wrong? You've heard about it?"
Shunde's answer shocked Luo Fei: "I was the one who told them about the 'headless ghost' first! How... how could they have actually seen it too?"
"Aren't you talking nonsense?" Kong Jing said with a hint of reproach. "Where would there be any 'headless ghost'?"
"It really exists, I've seen it." Shunde was still a child after all, and at this moment he seemed both anxious and aggrieved.
"Hmm." Luo Fei looked at Shunde. "Tell me, what exactly happened?"
Shunde turned his gaze to the wooden house not far away, and it was clear that he was gradually sinking into some kind of terrifying memory.
“The headless ghost I saw appeared in this house,” he said, pointing to the small house over there.
"What?" Kong Jing and Luo Fei turned around at the same time, and involuntarily took half a step back in the direction away from the wooden house.
However, this sudden sense of fear only flashed through Luo Fei's mind for a moment, and he quickly calmed down: "Continue, tell me in more detail."
"It was one night last week. I caught a cold and had an upset stomach. I got up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet. Unfortunately, the only stall in the toilet was occupied by a senior student. I couldn't wait any longer, so I went out the back door to find a secluded spot to make do. It was a cloudy day, and it was pitch black all around. After I squatted down, I realized that there was a faint light shining from this small, uninhabited room."
Luo Fei: "Is it candlelight? Is someone inside?"
“It wasn’t candlelight.” Shunde’s voice began to tremble slightly. “The light was very faint, a dark reddish-brown. Then I noticed wisps of smoke appearing on the window. Soon the smoke grew thicker and thicker, seemingly filling the entire room. At first, I thought there was a fire, and I was about to shout when suddenly a dark figure appeared from the smoke. At first, the figure was just a dark blob, but as the smoke thickened, it slowly stretched out and became a headless human shape!”
This was straight out of a ghost story. Luo Fei couldn't believe it was true, but Shunde's demeanor didn't seem like he was lying.
Kong Jing shook her head slightly, clearly finding Shunde's description difficult to accept: "Did you go inside to see what was going on?"
"I...I dare not. I ran back to the temple before I even had time to wipe my butt."
"Let's go inside now." Luo Fei made this decision naturally.
The three walked towards the cabin in silence. The cabin exuded an eerie atmosphere in the quiet snow.
The small hut, about fifteen or sixteen square meters in size, nestled against the mountainside. No one had entered since the incident last night, so the door remained ajar. Luo Fei, walking at the front, pushed the door open; the doorframe creaked softly, sounding almost like a long groan.
Although it was daytime, the cabin was very dimly lit because it was built against the sun. Luo Fei and the others walked in from the bright snow, and their eyesight was not quite adjusted.
Shunde followed behind the two, looking trembling with fear, seemingly still recovering from that terrifying memory.
The room was simply furnished: near the door was a table and a matching chair; diagonally opposite the door against the wall was a single bed, and the makeshift bed next to it was clearly a temporary addition, enough for two people to lie down and rest. The bedding on the bed and on the floor was scattered and open, giving the impression that the guests had just gotten up.
There were many scrolls piled up on the plan, and Luo Fei picked one up at random and opened it. It was a black and white landscape painting, signed "Monk Kongwang".
Kong Jing leaned closer to the painting and looked at it, saying, "My junior brother used to live in this little house. He loved to paint, and these are all his works."
It's clear that the scroll has accumulated a thick layer of dust. Although it was wiped clean not long ago, the dirt on the edges indicates that the cleaning was not thorough.
A piece of furniture placed under the window inside the room caught Luo Fei's attention.
It was a small stove.
According to Shunde, the "headless black shadow" appeared mysteriously in the smoke. So, is the stove the source of the smoke?
Luo Fei walked closer to examine it carefully. The stove looked very old, with a small pile of charcoal next to it, covered in ash. Looking into the stove, he could see a lot of ash inside, making it difficult to tell from the color whether it was from recent combustion.
"Is anyone living in this house normally?" Luo Fei asked.
“It’s been a long time,” Kong Jing replied. “Actually, no one has lived here since Junior Brother Kong Wang moved into the temple. It’s been about seven or eight years.”
"Has this stove always been here?"
“Yes, this stove is quite old.” Kong Jing took two steps closer and examined the stove closely. From his expression, it was clear that he also connected the stove with the smoke that Shunde had mentioned.
Shunde suddenly exclaimed "Oh dear!"
Luo Fei immediately turned his head: "What's wrong?"
“That, that is…” Shunde pointed to something on the floor.
It was a rectangular empty box. Luo Fei bent down and picked it up. He saw that there was a piece of paper half-stuck to the box, which read in bright red characters: "Zhengming sealed the painting on May 2, 1972".
"A murderous painting?!" Luo Fei suddenly remembered what Zhang Bin had said before his heart attack and couldn't help but exclaim.
“They…they saw the ‘murderous painting’.” Shunde seemed somewhat flustered.
Kong Jing stepped forward, took the box from Luo Fei's hand, and shook her head repeatedly, looking anxious and annoyed: "Oh no! This is the seal my master put on! How could they..."
Clearly, the box was supposed to contain a painting, and this painting seemed to have some extraordinary significance.
Luo Fei frowned and asked, "What happened?"
“There should have been a painting by Kong Wang in here,” Kong Jing explained. “It is said that this painting carries an ominous aura and is very unlucky! Therefore, my master sealed it in a box back then and strictly forbade the monks in the temple from opening it to look at it.”
Luo Fei shook his head in confusion, unable to grasp the concept of "the painting exuding a fierce aura".
Kong Jing noticed Luo Fei's confusion and continued, "I don't even know the specific content of that painting. Apart from my master Zhengming, I'm afraid only my junior brother himself has seen it."
"Where did the painting go? You still don't know?" Luo Fei said, glancing at Kong Jing and Shunde with a questioning look.
The master and apprentice shook their heads simultaneously.
"Where is Kong Wang now? Find him quickly, what happened last night is very likely related to this painting," Luo Fei said with a serious expression.
Shunde seemed startled by Luo Fei's words, his face turning pale. Kong Jing looked troubled and said, "My junior brother started practicing meditation in seclusion a while ago and hasn't shown his face for half a month..."
Luo Fei interrupted him: "If he won't go out, we'll go find him. Shunde, take me there."
Shunde seemed to realize the importance of the matter. He glanced at Kong Jing, then led Luo Fei outside.
Kong Jing sighed helplessly and followed.
The three arrived at the backyard, where Kong Wang stayed in the second room from the east. Kong Jing rushed forward and grabbed Luo Fei, saying, "Director Luo, please wait a moment." Then he said to Shunde, "Go and talk to your uncle and see if he can make an exception."
Luo Fei stopped in his tracks. Shunde walked alone to the closed door, knocked gently, and called out, "Uncle-Master!" Seeing no response, he raised his voice and called out again.
The room remained quiet. Shunde scratched his head in confusion: "What's going on?" Then, as if he had thought of something, he walked to the windowsill, pulled on the window frame, and sure enough, the window wasn't closed properly; it opened outwards with a soft click.
Shunde leaned forward, peering into the house. Suddenly, he cried out in surprise, his legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground.
"What's wrong?" Luo Fei rushed to the window, and the sight before him made him gasp: in the dimly lit room, a corpse was hanging from the rafters, its wide-open eyes staring intently out the window, as if it had been waiting for their arrival.
It's nearly 30 kilometers from Nanmingshan Police Station to the Municipal People's Hospital, but fortunately there weren't many vehicles on the road at night. Zhou Ping sped along and parked the car in front of the hospital in less than 20 minutes.
After learning about the situation, the hospital immediately organized on-duty doctors to provide emergency care to Zhang Bin. The situation was not particularly serious, and Zhang Bin's condition was quickly brought under control. According to the doctor, he had only suffered a heart attack due to overwork and shock, and with a few days of rest, his body would recover.
Zhou Ping relaxed a little. While Zhang Bin was still asleep, he went outside alone, intending to light a cigarette. At that moment, he noticed snowflakes dancing in the night sky. Thinking of Luo Fei walking up the mountain, he couldn't help but feel a pang of worry for him.
After that, Zhou Ping stayed in the hospital ward all night without closing his eyes. Around 6:30, Zhang Bin woke up. After several hours of sound sleep, he looked much better.
"Officer Zhou, you brought me here, right? Thank you so much!" Zhang Bin greeted Zhou Ping with great gratitude.
Zhou Ping smiled slightly and said, "You're welcome. This is our duty as police officers. Your cooperation is the best way to thank us. As the saying goes, 'The people's police serve the people, and the police and the people are as close as fish and water.'"
Zhang Bin was touched by Zhou Ping's friendly smile and words, and he also relaxed and smiled.
Zhou Ping got up, poured a cup of hot water, handed it to Zhang Bin, and said casually, "Why would you guys go to such deep mountains to paint?"
"Thank you." Zhang Bin took the water glass and subconsciously took a sip. "Our purpose in coming out was to choose a quiet, secluded mountain so that we could feel the atmosphere and create good works of art. Besides, we played around as we walked up the mountain and didn't feel that it was that far. It's just that we missed the time to come down the mountain and had to decide to stay at a temple not far away."
Zhou Ping hummed in agreement and sat down next to Zhang Bin, then turned the conversation to the crucial point: "What exactly happened after you arrived at the temple? And what about the 'headless ghost' and the 'evil painting'?"
Zhang Bin suddenly fell silent, and that tense emotion reappeared on his face and in his eyes.
"Don't rush, take your time, start from the beginning." Zhou Ping tried his best to make his tone sound calm and gentle.
After a moment, Zhang Bin finally spoke, recounting his experiences that began yesterday evening.
"We arrived at the temple around 5 p.m. Besides me, the other two people who came with me were my colleagues, one named Chen Jian and the other named Hu Junkai."
"The temple is quite large and looks quite old. We walked around it from front to back, prayed to the Bodhisattva, and donated some money for incense. A very kind young monk led us around, and later I heard someone call him Shunde. However, when we asked to stay overnight at the temple, Shunde refused."
"That shouldn't be the case," Zhou Ping said, somewhat puzzled. "As far as I know, the temples on the mountain all have guest rooms, and it's quite normal for pilgrims to stay overnight. At most, they'll charge a small fee for the accommodation."
“We also raised questions at the time. Shunde explained that they originally allowed overnight stays at their temple, but some things were lost when there were many worshippers recently. After this incident, the abbot decided to no longer allow ordinary worshippers to stay at the temple.”
Something was stolen from the temple? But the police station hasn't received any reports of that. We'll have to investigate this when we have time. Zhou Ping pondered this in his mind, but said nothing aloud, listening to Zhang Bin continue:
"At that point, it was impossible for us to go down the mountain, so we had to use all our persuasion. Finally, a monk in charge came and was said to be the head of the temple. After a lot of talking, he finally agreed to let Shunde take us to stay in a separate small house behind the temple."
"The little hut behind the temple?" Zhou Ping muttered. "Where is it? I've been to Kumu Temple several times, how come I've never seen it before?"