Chapter 2031
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7:50 p.m.
In the parking lot at the foot of Xiushan, two police cars from the Furong Branch of Jiangnan City were parked side by side in a corner.
Gu Chen, Lu Weiwei, Police Officer Wang and Yuan Shasha have already put on their gear and are ready to go up the mountain from here.
It is indeed difficult to climb the mountain at night, but fortunately everyone has prepared a strong flashlight.
And in order to ensure sufficient power, Police Officer Wang and Yuan Shasha also brought two more police equipment from other colleagues' individual police equipment.
Looking at the faint street lights in front of him, Police Officer Wang said with some fear, "Gu Chen, do you really decide to climb up the mountain at night? Instead of choosing to go tomorrow?"
"Just tonight." Gu Chen also said earnestly after seeing his equipment checked:
"The only clue has been investigated. If we have time, we may meet Wang Xinyu, or the clue left by Wang Xinyu."
"But if we miss it again, maybe we will enter a state of confusion again."
"Yes." As soon as Gu Chen finished speaking, Lu Weiwei couldn't help but echoed:
"Think about it, old Wang, all the clues we are investigating now are suddenly interrupted in the middle."
"I didn't expect that this Wang Xinyu did have two brushes, and he set up puzzles for us on the way out of the police station."
"It seems that he is deliberately playing games with our police."
"Playing games?" Yuan Shasha on the side was a little puzzled, and also asked Lu Weiwei:
"But Senior Sister Lu, do you think this game is interesting? Since this Wang Xinyu can tell us where the corpse is hidden, she shouldn't be so boring, right?"
"Hehe, who knows?" Lu Weiwei also shook her head and said helplessly:
"Maybe this Wang Xinyu is crazy? After making so many moths, it actually made us go climbing at night."
Pointing to Xiushan in front of her, Lu Weiwei also said, "Look, it's such a high mountain. It's late at night, so bring your equipment to climb up."
Taking a deep breath, Lu Weiwei smiled wryly and said, "This person committed crimes in his previous life, right? To torment us like this."
"Don't talk about it, I feel that this time, Wang Xinyu is almost going crazy." Officer Wang sighed softly, but also took out the flashlight and couldn't help feeling:
"I don't know if there is anyone in the same state as I am now? I can't swing well, I can't win if I lie down, I can't wake up when I sleep."
"Full of exhaustion, body restraint, intermittent smugness, continuous eating and waiting to die."
"Anyway, during this period of time, I was also dizzy." Yuan Shasha also agreed.
Gu Chen smiled slightly and said, "Let's go, don't waste time."
"Row."
Everyone immediately echoed and walked towards the entrance of the mountain together.
To get to the top of Xiushan Mountain, there are actually many paths up the mountain.
But the route Gu Chen has chosen so far is the steepest up the mountain, but it is also the shortest route.
Since Gu Chen has climbed Xiushan many times since he was a child, he also has a little understanding of the situation here.
So under the leadership of Gu Chen, everyone passed the first checkpoint, which is the iron gate up the mountain.
There is a duty room next to the iron gate, but the current duty room has long been a room full of sundries. …
The iron gate is not locked, and visitors can come in and out at will.
So after stepping through the iron gate, everyone continued to march into the mountains.
There are some farmhouse buildings on both sides of the surrounding area, distributed near the iron gate, but no one is open now.
However, after walking for a while, at the corner of a small river, there is a small courtyard of a farmhouse with lights, and there are customers dining inside, chatting about their daily life in the small courtyard.
But Gu Chen and the others did not stop moving forward, and continued to walk into the mountains.
Seeing Lu Weiwei staring at the mutton soup sign in the small courtyard of the farmhouse in a daze, Gu Chen turned around and reminded:
"This is the last farmhouse on the way up the mountain, and if you go further in, you will be in the mountains."
"Junior Brother Gu, why don't we go buy some water?" Lu Weiwei patted her police water bottle and said involuntarily:
"I'm afraid I didn't bring enough water."
"Don't worry about that." Gu Chen pointed to the road ahead and said, "There are two places ahead, both of which can be taken from mountain springs."
"Residents here use pipes to draw spring water from the mountains, and flow down the pipes to the side of the road."
"We will collect some spring water at two water points on the side of the road at that time."
"Is that so?" When Lu Weiwei heard this, she immediately said that there was no problem.
Sure enough, after passing through a bamboo forest along the cement road, everyone found the movement of running water on the right side.
I saw the mountain spring continuously flowing out of a pipe, and the surrounding ground was covered with many marble blocks.
"Is this it?" Yuan Shasha asked.
"Yeah." Gu Chen nodded slightly, and then took off his police water bottle.
So everyone followed behind Gu Chen and filled up their water bottles.
Officer Wang simply washed his face by the spring water to wake himself up.
After completing the operation, everyone continued to walk in, and soon came to a gate made of stones.
On the top of the stone gate, there are three big characters "Xiushan View" written in artistic fonts.
Lu Weiwei thought for a moment, then asked Gu Chen, "Junior Brother Gu, is Xiushan Temple a Taoist temple?"
"That's right, it was built a few years ago, and it's quite a nice building." Gu Chen said.
"There seems to be a female Taoist priest there." Officer Wang hurriedly shared what he knew with everyone.
Yuan Shasha's eyes lit up: "Female Taoist priest? Could it be related to Wang Xinyu?"
"It's hard to say, we have to go up and see the situation." Gu Chen felt that it was necessary to go up and investigate clearly.
At the very least, Wang Xinyu's reminder of "the top of Xiushan" to everyone must have some kind of hint.
Judging from Wang Xinyu's tormenting behavior these days, what Gu Chen is most worried about now is that someone will have an accident because of Wang Xinyu.
Wang Jiayao was the one who stayed behind at the reservoir dam before, who will it be this time? Right now, no one can say for sure.
Therefore, Gu Chen needs to be vigilant to avoid accidents from happening again.
Thinking that it will take a lot of time to enter the mountain forest from here and climb to the top of the mountain, Gu Chen gave everyone a preventive shot in advance:
"Entering from here is the steps of the mountain forest. There is no lighting on both sides. Everyone needs to save batteries. I will lead the team and only use one flashlight at a time."
"This is no problem." Lu Weiwei said. …
Police officer Wang said with a wry smile: "I'm afraid that if I can't climb to the top of the mountain, I'll have to lie on the road tired."
"Old Wang, can you be a little bit more ambitious?" Seeing that Police Officer Wang hadn't reached the mountain yet, he began to complain again and again, and Lu Weiwei couldn't help complaining.
But Police Officer Wang said indifferently: "This mountain is difficult to climb, you will know later, it is very steep."
"Some sections of the stone steps are so steep that every time you take a step, you feel that your body is being strangled down by someone. You will know it later."
"Is it really so difficult?" Yuan Shasha had never been here before, so naturally she didn't know the situation of going up the mountain.
But Police Officer Wang said swearingly: "When your sister-in-law and I were not married, I came here to climb once."
"Good guy, I was almost exhausted that time. I originally wanted to go up the mountain to watch the sunrise, but I was so tired that I missed it."
"That's not enough. When going down the mountain, my legs are sore. Every step I take, I feel that my legs are not my own. Every time I step on this step, I feel that the flesh of my calf is shaking violently."
"Pfft! Is that an exaggeration?" Yuan Shasha couldn't help but joked when Officer Wang said that mountain climbing was so scary.
When Lu Weiwei heard this, she was a little scared, so she asked Gu Chen for confirmation: "Junior Brother Gu, is it really as scary as Lao Wang said to go up this road?"
"No." Gu Chen irradiated the surrounding area with a flashlight a few times before replying:
"It feels quite relaxed, and it's not as scary as Senior Brother Wang said."
"That's good, that's good." Hearing what Gu Chen said, Lu Weiwei also felt relieved, she couldn't help but patted her tall chest, and sighed:
"Almost frightened to death by Lao Wang, I still feel that this place is really scary."
"Don't believe me." Officer Wang felt that Gu Chen was a little expert at tearing things down. He wanted to scare Lu Weiwei, but he didn't want to be exposed by Gu Chen.
Yuan Shasha complained with a smile: "Maybe Senior Brother Wang is not physically strong, maybe Senior Brother Gu won't have such troubles."
"Don't talk about that for now." Gu Chen looked down at his watch, and also reminded, "It's already 8:20 in the evening."
"If I climb the mountain at my speed, it may take half an hour, but considering that I need to pay attention to the steps under my feet when I climb up at night, it is estimated that it will take about 40 minutes."
"Half an hour?" Hearing what Gu Chen said, Yuan Shasha immediately said happily:
"That is to say, it's not that difficult to climb? Co-author..."
Turning her head and glancing at Police Officer Wang who was drinking water, Yuan Shasha continued, "Is Senior Brother Wang trying to scare us?"
"Haha, it seems I can't hide it." Seeing that his "conspiracy" was exposed, Officer Wang had no choice but to confess:
"Actually, as Gu Chen said, if you have good physical strength and try your best to climb up, you may be able to climb to the top of the mountain in half an hour."
"However, the prerequisite is good physical strength, or frequent climbing. If you don't usually go mountain climbing, it's a bit difficult for you to suddenly reach Gu Chen's level."
"And I want to remind everyone that you have to climb the mountain step by step and don't try your best, otherwise, after intense exercise, when you go down the mountain, maybe your legs will start to be sore."
"In order to be able to walk normally the next day, I suggest that you slow down."…
"Okay, just do what Senior Brother Wang said." Gu Chen also knew that what Police Officer Wang said was true.
So after everyone sorted out and checked their equipment, they began to line up on the mountain.
In order to take care of everyone's sight, Gu Chen adjusted the police flashlight from spotlight mode to astigmatism mode.
This way, the entire area can be shrouded in strong light.
The entire area where Gu Chen's team walked suddenly became brighter.
I don't remember how long everyone walked. On a steep hillside, Lu Weiwei and Yuan Shasha obviously felt a little strenuous.
Looking at Police Officer Wang who was walking at the end, he seemed to be on par with the elderly.
And look at the leader Gu Chen, it seems that he has been deliberately slowing down, waiting for everyone.
Thinking that Gu Chen is now based on going to the mountain to find out the truth, so it is not good to waste time here.
After thinking about it, Lu Weiwei still suggested: "Junior Brother Gu, I don't think this is the way to go."
"We climbed Xiushan for the first time, and we felt that we couldn't keep up. Why don't you go up first, and I, Xiao Yuan and Lao Wang will follow, and we will meet at the top of the mountain. What do you think?"
Gu Chen pondered for a moment, looked at everyone's exhausted looks, thought for a while, and echoed:
"It's fine, or I'll go first, and you all remember to follow at any time."
"Senior Brother Gu, is there a fork in the mountain?" Yuan Shasha hurriedly asked in fear of going the wrong way.
Gu Chen shook his head, pointed to the stone steps in front of him and said, "You guys just keep walking from here until you reach the top of the mountain, just meet me when the time comes."
"Okay." Yuan Shasha nodded silently, and quickly handed her other spare flashlight to Gu Chen, reminding her:
"Then Senior Brother Gu, be careful."
After receiving Yuan Shasha's flashlight, Gu Chen continued to quicken his pace, and soon disappeared at the corner of the stone steps.
Watching Gu Chen's light source gradually disappear, Lu Weiwei also looked at Police Officer Wang at the foot of the mountain, and couldn't help complaining:
"Old Wang, if you didn't drag everyone down, how could we become the second echelon? It's all your fault?"
"Blame me?" Hearing that Lu Weiwei was obviously throwing the blame, Police Officer Wang struggled to climb to Lu Weiwei's side, and couldn't help complaining:
"Are you very tired yourself? Now throw the blame at me?"
"Anyway, it's you who dragged everyone back." Lu Weiwei didn't care about these things, mainly because she couldn't keep up with Gu Chen's footsteps now, so she had to find someone to take the blame.
The last Comrade Wang is undoubtedly the best choice.
Everyone here is still making various accusations, but on the other side, Gu Chen almost quickened his pace and began to keep walking towards the steps on the top of the mountain.
With the blessing of energy drinks, Gu Chen didn't feel too tired at all.
I just feel that the road in front of me is getting steeper and steeper. At the end, the steepness exceeds 45 degrees.
But at this time, Gu Chen also knew very well that he was only a few feet away from the top of the mountain.
If ordinary people climbed here, every step they took would feel like they were carrying a boulder on their backs.
This is also the force brought by the high altitude and steepness.
It was also when he saw the neat fir trees on both sides in front of him that Gu Chen knew that he had reached the edge of the mountain.
With a sprint, Gu Chen climbed to the top platform. …
At this moment, a different kind of starry sky has a panoramic view.
If you usually stay in the urban area, surrounded by street lights, it is difficult to see the true appearance of the sky.
And the top of the mountain at this moment is the best place to observe the starry sky.
On the left is Xiushan Temple, a newly built Taoist temple.
Gu Chen only remembers that this place used to be an earthen slope, which was later leveled and this Taoist temple was built.
The surrounding Taoist flags fluttered in the wind.
At the center of the mountain top, there stands a weather radar with a steel structure.
Looking to the right, there is a TV tower.
Three structures, almost occupying the main position on the top of the mountain.
On the other side, there is also a landscape pavilion.
Gu Chen is not quite clear, where is the clue given by Wang Xinyu? So first walked towards the Taoist temple.
This is Xiushan Temple, a somewhat grand Taoist building.
But the light inside was extremely weak.
Gu Chen walked around the Xiushan Temple, only to find that there is a small world surrounded by fences on the edge of the Xiushan Temple theme building.
Some people planted various flowers and plants inside, as well as swing pavilions.
On the wall near the fence, there is a striking bronze plaque.
The bronze plaque says no entry.
And Gu Chen looked inside again, and on the iron door on the side wall, there was a yin and yang gossip painted impressively.
Inside the iron gate, there are some faint lights.
So Gu Chen asked: "Excuse me, is anyone there?"
The voice fell, and the surroundings were as quiet as before, and there seemed to be no reaction at all.
But Gu Chen was not discouraged, and continued to shout at the door: "Excuse me, is anyone there?"
However, the voice was recorded, and there was still no one answering in the house.
At this moment, Gu Chen doesn't want to waste time here either.
It's pretty quiet no matter how you look around.
It can be said that this beautiful mountain view and the duty room of the TV tower on the opposite side are the only two light spots on the mountain.
In addition to the lights in these two buildings, there is only the iron frame radar in the middle.
But this weather radar is just some edge lights, and there are no people on the iron frame.
Thinking that he should immediately find the residents inside, so Gu Chen didn't care too much. He browsed through the one-meter-high fence, entered the courtyard, walked to the iron gate painted with Yin-Yang and Eight Diagrams, and knocked the door with his hands:
"Excuse me, is anyone there? Excuse me..."
Before the words finished this time, Gu Chen suddenly heard a commotion in the room.
Perhaps it was his knocking on the door and shouting that had already disturbed the residents inside.
Gu Chen hurriedly took two steps back, watching the situation quietly.
Not long after, there was a sound of unbolting the bolt behind the iron gate. With the sound of "squeak", a female Taoist priest in Taoist robe looked at Gu Chen who was wearing a police uniform in front of him under the moonlight, and felt a little bit of pain. face surprise.
"Benefactor, may I ask what you can do to come to our Xiushan Temple at night?"
The female Taoist also seemed to feel that Gu Chen's visit this time might be something urgent.
After all, there are very few people who climb to the top of the mountain at night.
And Gu Chen was wearing a police uniform, apparently here to investigate something.
Gu Chen, on the other hand, hurriedly took advantage of the moonlight to carefully look at the female Taoist priest in front of him.
The female Taoist priest is nearly 50 years old, with many silver threads mixed in her long hair. …
And he should be resting at this time, and the Taoist robe is also a little casual.
At this moment, the female Taoist priest is fastening the buttons of her Taoist robe.
"Oh, I'm from the Criminal Investigation Team of the Furong Sub-bureau. My name is Gu Chen. I have something to ask you about this starry night visit."
Looking at the room behind the female Taoist priest, Gu Chen asked again: "Do you live here alone?"
"That's right." The female Taoist nodded silently, also inexplicably.
Mainly because I was curious about Gu Chen's overnight visit.
Gu Chen continued: "Is it convenient to go in and talk?"
"Uh, of course." Although there was a moment of hesitation, the female Taoist priest still gave up her seat and invited Gu Chen into the room for a detailed discussion.
So the two walked into the room one after the other, and the female Taoist priest turned on the light, and the whole room became much brighter in an instant.
So the female Taoist priest came to another wooden table, opened the drawer, and started making tea for Gu Chen.
Although there are many inconveniences in life on the top of the mountain, there is electricity and many electrical appliances are available here.
The side door that Gu Chen entered from the fenced yard was where the female Taoist priest lived.
From the main entrance, you need to walk up the steps to the entrance of the main hall.
But it was obvious that the main hall gate had already been locked.
Gu Chen naturally needed to find the light all the way.
"Officer Gu, please drink tea." The female Taoist priest handed the tea to Gu Chen.
And after Gu Chen took the paper cup with the words "Xiushan Temple" printed on it, he also looked around and quickly observed.
"From the perspective of the layout, there is only one person living here, and all the daily necessities are also configured for one person."
Gu Chen pondered in his heart, and continued to observe other corners.
"The shoes are only for female Taoist priests. It seems that Wang Xinyu is not here."
"Officer Gu." Seeing that Gu Chen was inspecting the room, the female Taoist also asked.
"Ah?" Gu Chen froze for a moment, then quickly turned to look at the female Taoist priest.
"You haven't said, what's your business here this time?" the female Taoist priest asked.
"Oh, it's like this." Gu Chen put down the teacup in his hand, and quickly explained to the female Taoist priest:
"We are currently investigating a case, and the person involved left me a letter, and the contents of the letter were four large characters written in blood."
"Which four?" The female Taoist priest looked puzzled.
"The top of Xiushan Mountain." Gu Chen said.
"The top of Xiushan Mountain?" The female Taoist priest looked hesitant and asked inexplicably, "What does this mean?"
"I don't know either." Gu Chen shook his head and said truthfully, "This hint seems more like a hint from the person involved."
"She's used these tips before to keep us running and even find a rotting body that's been buried for years."
"And... there's this matter?" Hearing what Gu Chen said, the female Taoist priest suddenly became nervous.
And Gu Chen was also observing the changes in the female Taoist priest's expression. Seeing the female Taoist priest's expression of hesitation, Gu Chen hurriedly said again:
"The person involved in the case will leave us some investigation clues every time, and these days, we have been investigating based on the clues."
"And this time, the blood book reminder she provided is the top of Xiushan Mountain, which means that the next clue is on the top of Xiushan Mountain."…
Looking up at the female Taoist priest, Gu Chen also cut to the chase and said, "So, master, have you seen this person?"
After the words fell, Gu Chen quickly took out his mobile phone, clicked on the photo album, and showed Wang Xinyu's photo in front of the female Taoist priest.
The female Taoist priest squinted her eyes with the light in the room, but quickly waved her hand in denial:
"I don't know, I've never seen this woman before."
"Are you sure?" Gu Chen was a little disappointed, but still wanted to persevere.
"I'm sure." The female Taoist seemed to want to get rid of this connection, so she explained in a positive tone:
"I have an impression of the people I have met, but I have never seen this woman before."
"Since you haven't seen it before, why did this person use 'Top of Xiushan' as a reminder?" Gu Chen retracted his phone, also thoughtful.
Seeing the female Taoist priest standing on one side at this moment, she also seemed to feel inexplicable.
So Gu Chen reminded again: "Master, think about it again, or, during this period of time, have there been any suspicious people on the mountain?"
"Suspicious person?" The female Taoist priest looked blank.
But Gu Chen nodded in affirmation: "That's right, some people whose behavior is very suspicious."
"Perhaps the person who came to the mountain was not this woman, but her accomplice."
"After all, the top of Xiushan literally refers to the top of Xiushan."
"So, I have to ask the person who lives at the top of Xiushan Mountain."
"Then you can ask that old Liu." The female Taoist said.
"Old Liu? Who is Old Liu?" Gu Chen looked curious.
The female Taoist quickly explained: "Old Liu is a staff member in the TV station's duty room, and it's just across from our Xiushan Temple."
"Except for me staying in the Taoist temple, Lao Liu lives here."
Hearing what the female Taoist priest said, Gu Chen turned his head and glanced outside, also thoughtful: "This old Liu, how much do you know about him?"
"Not many." The female Taoist priest sat on a wooden chair and replied calmly:
"Although I live in a Taoist temple, the incense here has not been warm. The main reason is that there are fewer people climbing to the top of the mountain."
"If this Taoist temple is built at the foot of the mountain, it might be a different matter."
"So, my daily job is to burn incense to the statues in the Taoist temple, and in normal time, I will practice in the mountains, and I rarely stay in the Taoist temple."
"So I don't have much contact with Lao Liu on the other side of the mountain. It's just that everyone bows their heads and doesn't look up, so they will say hello when they meet."
"What else?" Gu Chen adjusted the angle of the body camera and continued to ask.
"Anything else? Oh, by the way, Lao Liu opened a small shop on the top of the mountain, right in front of his duty room."
"Usually tourists would go to his canteen to buy something when they are on the mountain."
"Therefore, there should be quite a lot of people who have been in contact with him, and he should know best who are acting suspiciously."
Seeing that Gu Chen listened carefully, and even wrote down the main points with pen and paper, the female Taoist hurriedly reminded:
"Compared to Lao Liu, I usually seldom show my face in public, because I usually lock the door of the main hall in the Taoist temple, and tourists cannot enter."…
"And when I return to the Taoist temple, I will stay in the Taoist temple to practice, and I will rarely interact with these tourists outside."
"So, I don't know much about these things outside. If you have anything to do, you can go to the old Liu on the opposite side. He must know more than me."
"Okay." Seeing the female Taoist priest didn't seem like she was lying.
In other words, the female Taoist priest may have concealed something, but at present, it is difficult for Gu Chen to find out.
So Gu Chen continued to ask: "May I ask what your name is? Can you tell me your ID number?"
"Hehe, of course." The female Taoist priest didn't seem to reject it, and took the initiative to explain to Gu Chen:
"My full name is Zhao Limei, and my ID number is..."
After a brief communication with Gu Chen, Zhao Limei personally sent Gu Chen to the door, pointed to the TV tower ahead and said:
"See, that's the TV tower over there, and there's a duty room below, that's where Old Liu lives."
"It's more useful for you to go directly to find him than to find me here."
"Okay, thank you then." Gu Chen pulled out the iron bolt of the fence, and walked out this time in a fair manner. After bidding farewell to Zhao Limei, he quickly walked towards the opposite TV tower.
The two buildings, Xiushan Temple and TV Tower Duty Room, are respectively located on the two edges of the top of Xiushan Mountain.
From Xiushan Temple, you need to go straight for 50 meters.
At this time, outside the TV tower, Gu Chen walked up the steps and came to the iron gate.
And a wooden sign with the words "Shop" painted with red paint is placed in a conspicuous position on the steps.
Through the iron gate, Gu Chen found that this place, like Xiushan Temple, also has its own small courtyard.
However, compared with the small fenced courtyard of Xiushan Temple, the fence here is very high, and the TV tower is built in the courtyard.
The flashing lights above are like stars in the dark night, twinkling and twinkling.
In the middle of the bungalow, there was a faint light.
It seems that Lao Liu, the watchman, lives in it.
It was Gu Chen who knocked on the iron door again, and shouted into the room: "Master Liu, is Master Liu there?"
Seeing the movement of the news channel in the house, Gu Chen knocked on the iron door again, and continued to ask: "Excuse me, is anyone inside?"
After pausing for a moment, Gu Chen used his master-level observation skills to hear footsteps coming from the room.
As the wooden door opened with a "squeak", a middle-aged man wearing slippers was also watching with a flashlight.
When the flashlight shone on Gu Chen, the middle-aged man stared blankly, and took two tentative steps forward.
When he saw Gu Chen wearing a police uniform, the middle-aged man took a step forward, walked up to the iron gate and said, "Excuse me, are you..."
"Oh, I'm from the Criminal Investigation Team of the Furong Sub-bureau. My name is Gu Chen. I came here at night to get some information from you."
While speaking, Gu Chen took out his police ID.
"Gu Chen? Are you Gu Chen? That celebrity policeman in the Furong branch?" The middle-aged man seemed to know Gu Chen.
Gu Chen also smiled and said, "You know me?"
"Damn, the star policeman of the Furong branch, Bai Xiaolan on the TV station often mentions you, how could I not know?"
"Bai Xiaolan?" Hearing what the middle-aged man said, Gu Chen also asked him curiously: "Do you know Bai Xiaolan?"...
"It's not just acquaintance? We are a unit, and I am also a TV station." The middle-aged man said.
But at this moment, Gu Chen looked up at the tall TV tower in front of him, and suddenly realized:
"That's right, this is the duty room of the TV tower on the top of the mountain, so your work unit should also be a TV station, right?"
"That's right." The middle-aged man was about to open the iron door as he spoke.
But when he realized that he didn't bring the key, he immediately said, "Wait, I'll get the key and open the door for you."
While speaking, the middle-aged man turned around and left.
Not long after, he took another bunch of keys and hurriedly opened the door while stepping on his slippers.
Greeting Gu Chen into the courtyard, the middle-aged man also took the initiative to invite Gu Chen into the house.
Like the female Taoist priest just now, the middle-aged man hurried to make tea for Gu Chen.
Seeing this, Gu Chen quickly stopped and said, "Master Liu, you're welcome. I've already had tea at Xiushan Temple just now."
"Oh?" Hearing what Gu Chen said, the middle-aged man also stopped making tea, turned his head and said, "Do you know my surname is Liu? Did the female Taoist priest tell you?"
"That's right." Gu Chen randomly found a wooden chair and sat down.
And Master Liu said with a smile: "Bai Xiaolan actually promoted you on the TV station, so from top to bottom of our TV station, there is no one who doesn't know about you, Gu Chen."
"Because I have been working on the top of the mountain, I rarely go down the mountain, so I have never seen you in person."
"Hehe." Hearing what Master Liu said, Gu Chen also said modestly: "Bai Xiaolan is a good friend of our Furong branch."
"That's right, that's what this girl said." Master Liu nodded slightly, and said politely again:
"Oh, I only saw you, Gu Chen, on promotional posters before, but I didn't expect to see a real person today. By the way, why did you run to the top of the mountain alone at night?"
"Oh, it's like this." It felt necessary to explain clearly to Master Liu, so Gu Chen quickly explained:
"We went up the mountain together as a small team. Since I climbed the mountain quickly, I got there first, and my other three colleagues arrived later."
"Well, let me guess." As soon as Gu Chen's voice fell, Master Liu crossed his arms and walked back and forth in front of Gu Chen, also thoughtfully said:
"The other three people should be Lu Weiwei, Police Officer Wang, and... Yuan Shasha, right?"
Seeing that Master Liu was able to explain his team members so clearly, Gu Chen was also quite surprised.
And here, before Gu Chen could speak, Master Liu smiled and said, "Don't look at me with such strange eyes, I often watch Bai Xiaolan's "Positive Energy in Action" column."
"These are basically your partners, and Bai Xiaolan often introduces you in the column."
"So I come and go again and again, I don't think it will be difficult for me not to know you."
"Hehe, so that's the case?" It seemed that Master Liu couldn't stop talking about this.
But when Gu Chen climbed to the top of the mountain this time, he didn't come here specifically to chat with Master Liu, so he quickly explained to him:
"By the way, Master Liu, we are here this time to investigate a case and need your assistance."…
"Investigate the eucalyptus? Ask me for assistance?" Previously, he and Gu Chen had smiling faces, but when he heard the eucalyptus, Master Liu immediately changed his face and said curiously:
"By the way, what did Officer Gu ask me to investigate? I have been working in the duty room and rarely go down the mountain. If you want to investigate the case, I might not be able to help you?"
"Master Liu, don't worry." Seeing that Master Liu seemed a little nervous, Gu Chen also took out his notebook after turning on the law enforcement recorder, and hurriedly comforted him first:
"It's like this. We are investigating a case, and there is a female suspect who has been providing us with clues to the case before."
"We also found the top of the mountain based on the clues she provided. We came here this time just to find out the specific situation."
"No... I don't understand." As if he didn't quite understand what Gu Chen meant, Master Liu shook his head and continued to ask:
"What does the female suspect you mentioned have anything to do with me?"
"She provided us with an address, which is the four big characters of 'top of Xiushan', and these handwritings are all written in blood."
"Blood book?" Hearing what Gu Chen said, Master Liu's brows quickly frowned into a deep "Chuan".
Gu Chen nodded slightly, and continued to explain in a calm tone:
"The top of Xiushan, literally means the top of Xiushan, and, as far as I know, this is also the highest peak of Xiushan."
"Just now, I met Master Zhao face-to-face at Xiushan Temple, and got to know her better there."
"Master Zhao said that she usually practiced in seclusion, so she rarely had contact with outsiders, and she didn't know the woman who provided the clue."
"But you are different. You have been active in every corner of the mountain, and you also run a small store on the mountain."
"According to Master Zhao, many tourists who go up the mountain will buy goods at your store."
"Also, you know the tourists who go up the mountain best."
"So, who are you looking for?" Master Liu was also confused, nervous and at a loss.
Gu Chen didn't talk nonsense, immediately took out his mobile phone, clicked on the photo album, showed Wang Xinyu's photo in front of Master Liu and said:
"Her name is Wang Xinyu, and she is from other provinces. I wonder if you have seen her before?"
"Wang Xinyu?" Master Liu narrowed his eyes and couldn't help moving his body closer.
And Gu Chen immediately moved the phone forward.
After a moment of observation, Master Liu seemed to be lost in thought.
Gu Chen didn't bother, but waited quietly.
Tens of seconds later, Master Liu looked at Gu Chen blankly, and said thoughtfully, "Officer Gu, I seem to have seen this woman somewhere before, but I definitely haven't had anything to do with her recently. Intersecting."
"Have you seen her?" Hearing what Master Liu said, Gu Chen's tense nerves immediately eased up.
Compared to the female Taoist priests in Xiushan Temple who knew nothing, at least Master Liu knew something.
So Gu Chen hurriedly reminded, "Think slowly, don't worry, it's best if you can provide me with some specific information about this woman."
"Officer Gu, tell the truth." Seeing Gu Chen's expectant face, Master Liu seemed a little at a loss, so he hurriedly explained: ...
"Although there are not many tourists who come to the top of the mountain every day, I can basically see some of them."
"But this woman, obviously, I have some impressions, but I don't have a deep impression."
"And I haven't seen her recently, so I conclude that I should have seen her before, and it has been a long time."
"How long is that? Could it be a few years ago?" Gu Chen found the body buried in the No. 2 warehouse of Binjiang Freight Yard because of the envelope reminder given by Wang Xinyu.
Therefore, it can be seen from the autopsy that the deceased should have died a few years ago.
And a few years ago, Zhao Xiaohu from Binjiang Freight Yard also mysteriously disappeared, and it was a few years ago that Wang Jiayao, who hanged himself on the reservoir mountain, divorced his wife.
Therefore, based on these known clues, Gu Chen can basically conclude that many things may have happened a few years ago.
And the reason why Wang Xinyu is so mysterious must have something to do with the deceased a few years ago.
Coupled with what Master Liu said just now, Gu Chen also concluded that Master Liu might have met this Wang Xinyu a few years ago.
Master Liu frowned, looked up at Gu Chen, and said blankly: "It should be a few years ago, right? But, I don't seem to have much impression of what happened a few years ago."
After thinking about it, Master Liu asked again: "Oh, by the way, besides her, is there anyone else you are looking for?"
"Yes." Seeing that Master Liu took the initiative to ask for other personnel's information, Gu Chen immediately took back his phone, showed the photo of the deceased Wang Jiayao in front of Master Liu and asked:
"This man is Wang Jiayao, do you know him?"
"Wang Jiayao?" According to Gu Chen's words, Master Liu repeated Wang Jiayao's name, squinted his eyes, and soon fell into deep thought.
It was also a burst of thoughts, as if the previous things were gradually recalled in my mind.
Master Liu's eyes lit up, and he quickly said: "By the way, I have seen this person before. It was also a few years ago. A few years ago, this woman named Wang Xinyu, and this man Wang Jiayao, they all visited the top of Xiushan Mountain. .”
...
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7:50 p.m.
In the parking lot at the foot of Xiushan, two police cars from the Furong Branch of Jiangnan City were parked side by side in a corner.
Gu Chen, Lu Weiwei, Police Officer Wang and Yuan Shasha have already put on their gear and are ready to go up the mountain from here.
It is indeed difficult to climb the mountain at night, but fortunately everyone has prepared a strong flashlight.
And in order to ensure sufficient power, Police Officer Wang and Yuan Shasha also brought two more police equipment from other colleagues' individual police equipment.
Looking at the faint street lights in front of him, Police Officer Wang said with some fear, "Gu Chen, do you really decide to climb up the mountain at night? Instead of choosing to go tomorrow?"
"Just tonight." Gu Chen also said earnestly after seeing his equipment checked:
"The only clue has been investigated. If we have time, we may meet Wang Xinyu, or the clue left by Wang Xinyu."
"But if we miss it again, maybe we will enter a state of confusion again."
"Yes." As soon as Gu Chen finished speaking, Lu Weiwei couldn't help but echoed:
"Think about it, old Wang, all the clues we are investigating now are suddenly interrupted in the middle."
"I didn't expect that this Wang Xinyu did have two brushes, and he set up puzzles for us on the way out of the police station."
"It seems that he is deliberately playing games with our police."
"Playing games?" Yuan Shasha on the side was a little puzzled, and also asked Lu Weiwei:
"But Senior Sister Lu, do you think this game is interesting? Since this Wang Xinyu can tell us where the corpse is hidden, she shouldn't be so boring, right?"
"Hehe, who knows?" Lu Weiwei also shook her head and said helplessly:
"Maybe this Wang Xinyu is crazy? After making so many moths, it actually made us go climbing at night."
Pointing to Xiushan in front of her, Lu Weiwei also said, "Look, it's such a high mountain. It's late at night, so bring your equipment to climb up."
Taking a deep breath, Lu Weiwei smiled wryly and said, "This person committed crimes in his previous life, right? To torment us like this."
"Don't talk about it, I feel that this time, Wang Xinyu is almost going crazy." Officer Wang sighed softly, but also took out the flashlight and couldn't help feeling:
"I don't know if there is anyone in the same state as I am now? I can't swing well, I can't win if I lie down, I can't wake up when I sleep."
"Full of exhaustion, body restraint, intermittent smugness, continuous eating and waiting to die."
"Anyway, during this period of time, I was also dizzy." Yuan Shasha also agreed.
Gu Chen smiled slightly and said, "Let's go, don't waste time."
"Row."
Everyone immediately echoed and walked towards the entrance of the mountain together.
To get to the top of Xiushan Mountain, there are actually many paths up the mountain.
But the route Gu Chen has chosen so far is the steepest up the mountain, but it is also the shortest route.
Since Gu Chen has climbed Xiushan many times since he was a child, he also has a little understanding of the situation here.
So under the leadership of Gu Chen, everyone passed the first checkpoint, which is the iron gate up the mountain.
There is a duty room next to the iron gate, but the current duty room has long been a room full of sundries. …
The iron gate is not locked, and visitors can come in and out at will.
So after stepping through the iron gate, everyone continued to march into the mountains.
There are some farmhouse buildings on both sides of the surrounding area, distributed near the iron gate, but no one is open now.
However, after walking for a while, at the corner of a small river, there is a small courtyard of a farmhouse with lights, and there are customers dining inside, chatting about their daily life in the small courtyard.
But Gu Chen and the others did not stop moving forward, and continued to walk into the mountains.
Seeing Lu Weiwei staring at the mutton soup sign in the small courtyard of the farmhouse in a daze, Gu Chen turned around and reminded:
"This is the last farmhouse on the way up the mountain, and if you go further in, you will be in the mountains."
"Junior Brother Gu, why don't we go buy some water?" Lu Weiwei patted her police water bottle and said involuntarily:
"I'm afraid I didn't bring enough water."
"Don't worry about that." Gu Chen pointed to the road ahead and said, "There are two places ahead, both of which can be taken from mountain springs."
"Residents here use pipes to draw spring water from the mountains, and flow down the pipes to the side of the road."
"We will collect some spring water at two water points on the side of the road at that time."
"Is that so?" When Lu Weiwei heard this, she immediately said that there was no problem.
Sure enough, after passing through a bamboo forest along the cement road, everyone found the movement of running water on the right side.
I saw the mountain spring continuously flowing out of a pipe, and the surrounding ground was covered with many marble blocks.
"Is this it?" Yuan Shasha asked.
"Yeah." Gu Chen nodded slightly, and then took off his police water bottle.
So everyone followed behind Gu Chen and filled up their water bottles.
Officer Wang simply washed his face by the spring water to wake himself up.
After completing the operation, everyone continued to walk in, and soon came to a gate made of stones.
On the top of the stone gate, there are three big characters "Xiushan View" written in artistic fonts.
Lu Weiwei thought for a moment, then asked Gu Chen, "Junior Brother Gu, is Xiushan Temple a Taoist temple?"
"That's right, it was built a few years ago, and it's quite a nice building." Gu Chen said.
"There seems to be a female Taoist priest there." Officer Wang hurriedly shared what he knew with everyone.
Yuan Shasha's eyes lit up: "Female Taoist priest? Could it be related to Wang Xinyu?"
"It's hard to say, we have to go up and see the situation." Gu Chen felt that it was necessary to go up and investigate clearly.
At the very least, Wang Xinyu's reminder of "the top of Xiushan" to everyone must have some kind of hint.
Judging from Wang Xinyu's tormenting behavior these days, what Gu Chen is most worried about now is that someone will have an accident because of Wang Xinyu.
Wang Jiayao was the one who stayed behind at the reservoir dam before, who will it be this time? Right now, no one can say for sure.
Therefore, Gu Chen needs to be vigilant to avoid accidents from happening again.
Thinking that it will take a lot of time to enter the mountain forest from here and climb to the top of the mountain, Gu Chen gave everyone a preventive shot in advance:
"Entering from here is the steps of the mountain forest. There is no lighting on both sides. Everyone needs to save batteries. I will lead the team and only use one flashlight at a time."
"This is no problem." Lu Weiwei said. …
Police officer Wang said with a wry smile: "I'm afraid that if I can't climb to the top of the mountain, I'll have to lie on the road tired."
"Old Wang, can you be a little bit more ambitious?" Seeing that Police Officer Wang hadn't reached the mountain yet, he began to complain again and again, and Lu Weiwei couldn't help complaining.
But Police Officer Wang said indifferently: "This mountain is difficult to climb, you will know later, it is very steep."
"Some sections of the stone steps are so steep that every time you take a step, you feel that your body is being strangled down by someone. You will know it later."
"Is it really so difficult?" Yuan Shasha had never been here before, so naturally she didn't know the situation of going up the mountain.
But Police Officer Wang said swearingly: "When your sister-in-law and I were not married, I came here to climb once."
"Good guy, I was almost exhausted that time. I originally wanted to go up the mountain to watch the sunrise, but I was so tired that I missed it."
"That's not enough. When going down the mountain, my legs are sore. Every step I take, I feel that my legs are not my own. Every time I step on this step, I feel that the flesh of my calf is shaking violently."
"Pfft! Is that an exaggeration?" Yuan Shasha couldn't help but joked when Officer Wang said that mountain climbing was so scary.
When Lu Weiwei heard this, she was a little scared, so she asked Gu Chen for confirmation: "Junior Brother Gu, is it really as scary as Lao Wang said to go up this road?"
"No." Gu Chen irradiated the surrounding area with a flashlight a few times before replying:
"It feels quite relaxed, and it's not as scary as Senior Brother Wang said."
"That's good, that's good." Hearing what Gu Chen said, Lu Weiwei also felt relieved, she couldn't help but patted her tall chest, and sighed:
"Almost frightened to death by Lao Wang, I still feel that this place is really scary."
"Don't believe me." Officer Wang felt that Gu Chen was a little expert at tearing things down. He wanted to scare Lu Weiwei, but he didn't want to be exposed by Gu Chen.
Yuan Shasha complained with a smile: "Maybe Senior Brother Wang is not physically strong, maybe Senior Brother Gu won't have such troubles."
"Don't talk about that for now." Gu Chen looked down at his watch, and also reminded, "It's already 8:20 in the evening."
"If I climb the mountain at my speed, it may take half an hour, but considering that I need to pay attention to the steps under my feet when I climb up at night, it is estimated that it will take about 40 minutes."
"Half an hour?" Hearing what Gu Chen said, Yuan Shasha immediately said happily:
"That is to say, it's not that difficult to climb? Co-author..."
Turning her head and glancing at Police Officer Wang who was drinking water, Yuan Shasha continued, "Is Senior Brother Wang trying to scare us?"
"Haha, it seems I can't hide it." Seeing that his "conspiracy" was exposed, Officer Wang had no choice but to confess:
"Actually, as Gu Chen said, if you have good physical strength and try your best to climb up, you may be able to climb to the top of the mountain in half an hour."
"However, the prerequisite is good physical strength, or frequent climbing. If you don't usually go mountain climbing, it's a bit difficult for you to suddenly reach Gu Chen's level."
"And I want to remind everyone that you have to climb the mountain step by step and don't try your best, otherwise, after intense exercise, when you go down the mountain, maybe your legs will start to be sore."
"In order to be able to walk normally the next day, I suggest that you slow down."…
"Okay, just do what Senior Brother Wang said." Gu Chen also knew that what Police Officer Wang said was true.
So after everyone sorted out and checked their equipment, they began to line up on the mountain.
In order to take care of everyone's sight, Gu Chen adjusted the police flashlight from spotlight mode to astigmatism mode.
This way, the entire area can be shrouded in strong light.
The entire area where Gu Chen's team walked suddenly became brighter.
I don't remember how long everyone walked. On a steep hillside, Lu Weiwei and Yuan Shasha obviously felt a little strenuous.
Looking at Police Officer Wang who was walking at the end, he seemed to be on par with the elderly.
And look at the leader Gu Chen, it seems that he has been deliberately slowing down, waiting for everyone.
Thinking that Gu Chen is now based on going to the mountain to find out the truth, so it is not good to waste time here.
After thinking about it, Lu Weiwei still suggested: "Junior Brother Gu, I don't think this is the way to go."
"We climbed Xiushan for the first time, and we felt that we couldn't keep up. Why don't you go up first, and I, Xiao Yuan and Lao Wang will follow, and we will meet at the top of the mountain. What do you think?"
Gu Chen pondered for a moment, looked at everyone's exhausted looks, thought for a while, and echoed:
"It's fine, or I'll go first, and you all remember to follow at any time."
"Senior Brother Gu, is there a fork in the mountain?" Yuan Shasha hurriedly asked in fear of going the wrong way.
Gu Chen shook his head, pointed to the stone steps in front of him and said, "You guys just keep walking from here until you reach the top of the mountain, just meet me when the time comes."
"Okay." Yuan Shasha nodded silently, and quickly handed her other spare flashlight to Gu Chen, reminding her:
"Then Senior Brother Gu, be careful."
After receiving Yuan Shasha's flashlight, Gu Chen continued to quicken his pace, and soon disappeared at the corner of the stone steps.
Watching Gu Chen's light source gradually disappear, Lu Weiwei also looked at Police Officer Wang at the foot of the mountain, and couldn't help complaining:
"Old Wang, if you didn't drag everyone down, how could we become the second echelon? It's all your fault?"
"Blame me?" Hearing that Lu Weiwei was obviously throwing the blame, Police Officer Wang struggled to climb to Lu Weiwei's side, and couldn't help complaining:
"Are you very tired yourself? Now throw the blame at me?"
"Anyway, it's you who dragged everyone back." Lu Weiwei didn't care about these things, mainly because she couldn't keep up with Gu Chen's footsteps now, so she had to find someone to take the blame.
The last Comrade Wang is undoubtedly the best choice.
Everyone here is still making various accusations, but on the other side, Gu Chen almost quickened his pace and began to keep walking towards the steps on the top of the mountain.
With the blessing of energy drinks, Gu Chen didn't feel too tired at all.
I just feel that the road in front of me is getting steeper and steeper. At the end, the steepness exceeds 45 degrees.
But at this time, Gu Chen also knew very well that he was only a few feet away from the top of the mountain.
If ordinary people climbed here, every step they took would feel like they were carrying a boulder on their backs.
This is also the force brought by the high altitude and steepness.
It was also when he saw the neat fir trees on both sides in front of him that Gu Chen knew that he had reached the edge of the mountain.
With a sprint, Gu Chen climbed to the top platform. …
At this moment, a different kind of starry sky has a panoramic view.
If you usually stay in the urban area, surrounded by street lights, it is difficult to see the true appearance of the sky.
And the top of the mountain at this moment is the best place to observe the starry sky.
On the left is Xiushan Temple, a newly built Taoist temple.
Gu Chen only remembers that this place used to be an earthen slope, which was later leveled and this Taoist temple was built.
The surrounding Taoist flags fluttered in the wind.
At the center of the mountain top, there stands a weather radar with a steel structure.
Looking to the right, there is a TV tower.
Three structures, almost occupying the main position on the top of the mountain.
On the other side, there is also a landscape pavilion.
Gu Chen is not quite clear, where is the clue given by Wang Xinyu? So first walked towards the Taoist temple.
This is Xiushan Temple, a somewhat grand Taoist building.
But the light inside was extremely weak.
Gu Chen walked around the Xiushan Temple, only to find that there is a small world surrounded by fences on the edge of the Xiushan Temple theme building.
Some people planted various flowers and plants inside, as well as swing pavilions.
On the wall near the fence, there is a striking bronze plaque.
The bronze plaque says no entry.
And Gu Chen looked inside again, and on the iron door on the side wall, there was a yin and yang gossip painted impressively.
Inside the iron gate, there are some faint lights.
So Gu Chen asked: "Excuse me, is anyone there?"
The voice fell, and the surroundings were as quiet as before, and there seemed to be no reaction at all.
But Gu Chen was not discouraged, and continued to shout at the door: "Excuse me, is anyone there?"
However, the voice was recorded, and there was still no one answering in the house.
At this moment, Gu Chen doesn't want to waste time here either.
It's pretty quiet no matter how you look around.
It can be said that this beautiful mountain view and the duty room of the TV tower on the opposite side are the only two light spots on the mountain.
In addition to the lights in these two buildings, there is only the iron frame radar in the middle.
But this weather radar is just some edge lights, and there are no people on the iron frame.
Thinking that he should immediately find the residents inside, so Gu Chen didn't care too much. He browsed through the one-meter-high fence, entered the courtyard, walked to the iron gate painted with Yin-Yang and Eight Diagrams, and knocked the door with his hands:
"Excuse me, is anyone there? Excuse me..."
Before the words finished this time, Gu Chen suddenly heard a commotion in the room.
Perhaps it was his knocking on the door and shouting that had already disturbed the residents inside.
Gu Chen hurriedly took two steps back, watching the situation quietly.
Not long after, there was a sound of unbolting the bolt behind the iron gate. With the sound of "squeak", a female Taoist priest in Taoist robe looked at Gu Chen who was wearing a police uniform in front of him under the moonlight, and felt a little bit of pain. face surprise.
"Benefactor, may I ask what you can do to come to our Xiushan Temple at night?"
The female Taoist also seemed to feel that Gu Chen's visit this time might be something urgent.
After all, there are very few people who climb to the top of the mountain at night.
And Gu Chen was wearing a police uniform, apparently here to investigate something.
Gu Chen, on the other hand, hurriedly took advantage of the moonlight to carefully look at the female Taoist priest in front of him.
The female Taoist priest is nearly 50 years old, with many silver threads mixed in her long hair. …
And he should be resting at this time, and the Taoist robe is also a little casual.
At this moment, the female Taoist priest is fastening the buttons of her Taoist robe.
"Oh, I'm from the Criminal Investigation Team of the Furong Sub-bureau. My name is Gu Chen. I have something to ask you about this starry night visit."
Looking at the room behind the female Taoist priest, Gu Chen asked again: "Do you live here alone?"
"That's right." The female Taoist nodded silently, also inexplicably.
Mainly because I was curious about Gu Chen's overnight visit.
Gu Chen continued: "Is it convenient to go in and talk?"
"Uh, of course." Although there was a moment of hesitation, the female Taoist priest still gave up her seat and invited Gu Chen into the room for a detailed discussion.
So the two walked into the room one after the other, and the female Taoist priest turned on the light, and the whole room became much brighter in an instant.
So the female Taoist priest came to another wooden table, opened the drawer, and started making tea for Gu Chen.
Although there are many inconveniences in life on the top of the mountain, there is electricity and many electrical appliances are available here.
The side door that Gu Chen entered from the fenced yard was where the female Taoist priest lived.
From the main entrance, you need to walk up the steps to the entrance of the main hall.
But it was obvious that the main hall gate had already been locked.
Gu Chen naturally needed to find the light all the way.
"Officer Gu, please drink tea." The female Taoist priest handed the tea to Gu Chen.
And after Gu Chen took the paper cup with the words "Xiushan Temple" printed on it, he also looked around and quickly observed.
"From the perspective of the layout, there is only one person living here, and all the daily necessities are also configured for one person."
Gu Chen pondered in his heart, and continued to observe other corners.
"The shoes are only for female Taoist priests. It seems that Wang Xinyu is not here."
"Officer Gu." Seeing that Gu Chen was inspecting the room, the female Taoist also asked.
"Ah?" Gu Chen froze for a moment, then quickly turned to look at the female Taoist priest.
"You haven't said, what's your business here this time?" the female Taoist priest asked.
"Oh, it's like this." Gu Chen put down the teacup in his hand, and quickly explained to the female Taoist priest:
"We are currently investigating a case, and the person involved left me a letter, and the contents of the letter were four large characters written in blood."
"Which four?" The female Taoist priest looked puzzled.
"The top of Xiushan Mountain." Gu Chen said.
"The top of Xiushan Mountain?" The female Taoist priest looked hesitant and asked inexplicably, "What does this mean?"
"I don't know either." Gu Chen shook his head and said truthfully, "This hint seems more like a hint from the person involved."
"She's used these tips before to keep us running and even find a rotting body that's been buried for years."
"And... there's this matter?" Hearing what Gu Chen said, the female Taoist priest suddenly became nervous.
And Gu Chen was also observing the changes in the female Taoist priest's expression. Seeing the female Taoist priest's expression of hesitation, Gu Chen hurriedly said again:
"The person involved in the case will leave us some investigation clues every time, and these days, we have been investigating based on the clues."
"And this time, the blood book reminder she provided is the top of Xiushan Mountain, which means that the next clue is on the top of Xiushan Mountain."…
Looking up at the female Taoist priest, Gu Chen also cut to the chase and said, "So, master, have you seen this person?"
After the words fell, Gu Chen quickly took out his mobile phone, clicked on the photo album, and showed Wang Xinyu's photo in front of the female Taoist priest.
The female Taoist priest squinted her eyes with the light in the room, but quickly waved her hand in denial:
"I don't know, I've never seen this woman before."
"Are you sure?" Gu Chen was a little disappointed, but still wanted to persevere.
"I'm sure." The female Taoist seemed to want to get rid of this connection, so she explained in a positive tone:
"I have an impression of the people I have met, but I have never seen this woman before."
"Since you haven't seen it before, why did this person use 'Top of Xiushan' as a reminder?" Gu Chen retracted his phone, also thoughtful.
Seeing the female Taoist priest standing on one side at this moment, she also seemed to feel inexplicable.
So Gu Chen reminded again: "Master, think about it again, or, during this period of time, have there been any suspicious people on the mountain?"
"Suspicious person?" The female Taoist priest looked blank.
But Gu Chen nodded in affirmation: "That's right, some people whose behavior is very suspicious."
"Perhaps the person who came to the mountain was not this woman, but her accomplice."
"After all, the top of Xiushan literally refers to the top of Xiushan."
"So, I have to ask the person who lives at the top of Xiushan Mountain."
"Then you can ask that old Liu." The female Taoist said.
"Old Liu? Who is Old Liu?" Gu Chen looked curious.
The female Taoist quickly explained: "Old Liu is a staff member in the TV station's duty room, and it's just across from our Xiushan Temple."
"Except for me staying in the Taoist temple, Lao Liu lives here."
Hearing what the female Taoist priest said, Gu Chen turned his head and glanced outside, also thoughtful: "This old Liu, how much do you know about him?"
"Not many." The female Taoist priest sat on a wooden chair and replied calmly:
"Although I live in a Taoist temple, the incense here has not been warm. The main reason is that there are fewer people climbing to the top of the mountain."
"If this Taoist temple is built at the foot of the mountain, it might be a different matter."
"So, my daily job is to burn incense to the statues in the Taoist temple, and in normal time, I will practice in the mountains, and I rarely stay in the Taoist temple."
"So I don't have much contact with Lao Liu on the other side of the mountain. It's just that everyone bows their heads and doesn't look up, so they will say hello when they meet."
"What else?" Gu Chen adjusted the angle of the body camera and continued to ask.
"Anything else? Oh, by the way, Lao Liu opened a small shop on the top of the mountain, right in front of his duty room."
"Usually tourists would go to his canteen to buy something when they are on the mountain."
"Therefore, there should be quite a lot of people who have been in contact with him, and he should know best who are acting suspiciously."
Seeing that Gu Chen listened carefully, and even wrote down the main points with pen and paper, the female Taoist hurriedly reminded:
"Compared to Lao Liu, I usually seldom show my face in public, because I usually lock the door of the main hall in the Taoist temple, and tourists cannot enter."…
"And when I return to the Taoist temple, I will stay in the Taoist temple to practice, and I will rarely interact with these tourists outside."
"So, I don't know much about these things outside. If you have anything to do, you can go to the old Liu on the opposite side. He must know more than me."
"Okay." Seeing the female Taoist priest didn't seem like she was lying.
In other words, the female Taoist priest may have concealed something, but at present, it is difficult for Gu Chen to find out.
So Gu Chen continued to ask: "May I ask what your name is? Can you tell me your ID number?"
"Hehe, of course." The female Taoist priest didn't seem to reject it, and took the initiative to explain to Gu Chen:
"My full name is Zhao Limei, and my ID number is..."
After a brief communication with Gu Chen, Zhao Limei personally sent Gu Chen to the door, pointed to the TV tower ahead and said:
"See, that's the TV tower over there, and there's a duty room below, that's where Old Liu lives."
"It's more useful for you to go directly to find him than to find me here."
"Okay, thank you then." Gu Chen pulled out the iron bolt of the fence, and walked out this time in a fair manner. After bidding farewell to Zhao Limei, he quickly walked towards the opposite TV tower.
The two buildings, Xiushan Temple and TV Tower Duty Room, are respectively located on the two edges of the top of Xiushan Mountain.
From Xiushan Temple, you need to go straight for 50 meters.
At this time, outside the TV tower, Gu Chen walked up the steps and came to the iron gate.
And a wooden sign with the words "Shop" painted with red paint is placed in a conspicuous position on the steps.
Through the iron gate, Gu Chen found that this place, like Xiushan Temple, also has its own small courtyard.
However, compared with the small fenced courtyard of Xiushan Temple, the fence here is very high, and the TV tower is built in the courtyard.
The flashing lights above are like stars in the dark night, twinkling and twinkling.
In the middle of the bungalow, there was a faint light.
It seems that Lao Liu, the watchman, lives in it.
It was Gu Chen who knocked on the iron door again, and shouted into the room: "Master Liu, is Master Liu there?"
Seeing the movement of the news channel in the house, Gu Chen knocked on the iron door again, and continued to ask: "Excuse me, is anyone inside?"
After pausing for a moment, Gu Chen used his master-level observation skills to hear footsteps coming from the room.
As the wooden door opened with a "squeak", a middle-aged man wearing slippers was also watching with a flashlight.
When the flashlight shone on Gu Chen, the middle-aged man stared blankly, and took two tentative steps forward.
When he saw Gu Chen wearing a police uniform, the middle-aged man took a step forward, walked up to the iron gate and said, "Excuse me, are you..."
"Oh, I'm from the Criminal Investigation Team of the Furong Sub-bureau. My name is Gu Chen. I came here at night to get some information from you."
While speaking, Gu Chen took out his police ID.
"Gu Chen? Are you Gu Chen? That celebrity policeman in the Furong branch?" The middle-aged man seemed to know Gu Chen.
Gu Chen also smiled and said, "You know me?"
"Damn, the star policeman of the Furong branch, Bai Xiaolan on the TV station often mentions you, how could I not know?"
"Bai Xiaolan?" Hearing what the middle-aged man said, Gu Chen also asked him curiously: "Do you know Bai Xiaolan?"...
"It's not just acquaintance? We are a unit, and I am also a TV station." The middle-aged man said.
But at this moment, Gu Chen looked up at the tall TV tower in front of him, and suddenly realized:
"That's right, this is the duty room of the TV tower on the top of the mountain, so your work unit should also be a TV station, right?"
"That's right." The middle-aged man was about to open the iron door as he spoke.
But when he realized that he didn't bring the key, he immediately said, "Wait, I'll get the key and open the door for you."
While speaking, the middle-aged man turned around and left.
Not long after, he took another bunch of keys and hurriedly opened the door while stepping on his slippers.
Greeting Gu Chen into the courtyard, the middle-aged man also took the initiative to invite Gu Chen into the house.
Like the female Taoist priest just now, the middle-aged man hurried to make tea for Gu Chen.
Seeing this, Gu Chen quickly stopped and said, "Master Liu, you're welcome. I've already had tea at Xiushan Temple just now."
"Oh?" Hearing what Gu Chen said, the middle-aged man also stopped making tea, turned his head and said, "Do you know my surname is Liu? Did the female Taoist priest tell you?"
"That's right." Gu Chen randomly found a wooden chair and sat down.
And Master Liu said with a smile: "Bai Xiaolan actually promoted you on the TV station, so from top to bottom of our TV station, there is no one who doesn't know about you, Gu Chen."
"Because I have been working on the top of the mountain, I rarely go down the mountain, so I have never seen you in person."
"Hehe." Hearing what Master Liu said, Gu Chen also said modestly: "Bai Xiaolan is a good friend of our Furong branch."
"That's right, that's what this girl said." Master Liu nodded slightly, and said politely again:
"Oh, I only saw you, Gu Chen, on promotional posters before, but I didn't expect to see a real person today. By the way, why did you run to the top of the mountain alone at night?"
"Oh, it's like this." It felt necessary to explain clearly to Master Liu, so Gu Chen quickly explained:
"We went up the mountain together as a small team. Since I climbed the mountain quickly, I got there first, and my other three colleagues arrived later."
"Well, let me guess." As soon as Gu Chen's voice fell, Master Liu crossed his arms and walked back and forth in front of Gu Chen, also thoughtfully said:
"The other three people should be Lu Weiwei, Police Officer Wang, and... Yuan Shasha, right?"
Seeing that Master Liu was able to explain his team members so clearly, Gu Chen was also quite surprised.
And here, before Gu Chen could speak, Master Liu smiled and said, "Don't look at me with such strange eyes, I often watch Bai Xiaolan's "Positive Energy in Action" column."
"These are basically your partners, and Bai Xiaolan often introduces you in the column."
"So I come and go again and again, I don't think it will be difficult for me not to know you."
"Hehe, so that's the case?" It seemed that Master Liu couldn't stop talking about this.
But when Gu Chen climbed to the top of the mountain this time, he didn't come here specifically to chat with Master Liu, so he quickly explained to him:
"By the way, Master Liu, we are here this time to investigate a case and need your assistance."…
"Investigate the eucalyptus? Ask me for assistance?" Previously, he and Gu Chen had smiling faces, but when he heard the eucalyptus, Master Liu immediately changed his face and said curiously:
"By the way, what did Officer Gu ask me to investigate? I have been working in the duty room and rarely go down the mountain. If you want to investigate the case, I might not be able to help you?"
"Master Liu, don't worry." Seeing that Master Liu seemed a little nervous, Gu Chen also took out his notebook after turning on the law enforcement recorder, and hurriedly comforted him first:
"It's like this. We are investigating a case, and there is a female suspect who has been providing us with clues to the case before."
"We also found the top of the mountain based on the clues she provided. We came here this time just to find out the specific situation."
"No... I don't understand." As if he didn't quite understand what Gu Chen meant, Master Liu shook his head and continued to ask:
"What does the female suspect you mentioned have anything to do with me?"
"She provided us with an address, which is the four big characters of 'top of Xiushan', and these handwritings are all written in blood."
"Blood book?" Hearing what Gu Chen said, Master Liu's brows quickly frowned into a deep "Chuan".
Gu Chen nodded slightly, and continued to explain in a calm tone:
"The top of Xiushan, literally means the top of Xiushan, and, as far as I know, this is also the highest peak of Xiushan."
"Just now, I met Master Zhao face-to-face at Xiushan Temple, and got to know her better there."
"Master Zhao said that she usually practiced in seclusion, so she rarely had contact with outsiders, and she didn't know the woman who provided the clue."
"But you are different. You have been active in every corner of the mountain, and you also run a small store on the mountain."
"According to Master Zhao, many tourists who go up the mountain will buy goods at your store."
"Also, you know the tourists who go up the mountain best."
"So, who are you looking for?" Master Liu was also confused, nervous and at a loss.
Gu Chen didn't talk nonsense, immediately took out his mobile phone, clicked on the photo album, showed Wang Xinyu's photo in front of Master Liu and said:
"Her name is Wang Xinyu, and she is from other provinces. I wonder if you have seen her before?"
"Wang Xinyu?" Master Liu narrowed his eyes and couldn't help moving his body closer.
And Gu Chen immediately moved the phone forward.
After a moment of observation, Master Liu seemed to be lost in thought.
Gu Chen didn't bother, but waited quietly.
Tens of seconds later, Master Liu looked at Gu Chen blankly, and said thoughtfully, "Officer Gu, I seem to have seen this woman somewhere before, but I definitely haven't had anything to do with her recently. Intersecting."
"Have you seen her?" Hearing what Master Liu said, Gu Chen's tense nerves immediately eased up.
Compared to the female Taoist priests in Xiushan Temple who knew nothing, at least Master Liu knew something.
So Gu Chen hurriedly reminded, "Think slowly, don't worry, it's best if you can provide me with some specific information about this woman."
"Officer Gu, tell the truth." Seeing Gu Chen's expectant face, Master Liu seemed a little at a loss, so he hurriedly explained: ...
"Although there are not many tourists who come to the top of the mountain every day, I can basically see some of them."
"But this woman, obviously, I have some impressions, but I don't have a deep impression."
"And I haven't seen her recently, so I conclude that I should have seen her before, and it has been a long time."
"How long is that? Could it be a few years ago?" Gu Chen found the body buried in the No. 2 warehouse of Binjiang Freight Yard because of the envelope reminder given by Wang Xinyu.
Therefore, it can be seen from the autopsy that the deceased should have died a few years ago.
And a few years ago, Zhao Xiaohu from Binjiang Freight Yard also mysteriously disappeared, and it was a few years ago that Wang Jiayao, who hanged himself on the reservoir mountain, divorced his wife.
Therefore, based on these known clues, Gu Chen can basically conclude that many things may have happened a few years ago.
And the reason why Wang Xinyu is so mysterious must have something to do with the deceased a few years ago.
Coupled with what Master Liu said just now, Gu Chen also concluded that Master Liu might have met this Wang Xinyu a few years ago.
Master Liu frowned, looked up at Gu Chen, and said blankly: "It should be a few years ago, right? But, I don't seem to have much impression of what happened a few years ago."
After thinking about it, Master Liu asked again: "Oh, by the way, besides her, is there anyone else you are looking for?"
"Yes." Seeing that Master Liu took the initiative to ask for other personnel's information, Gu Chen immediately took back his phone, showed the photo of the deceased Wang Jiayao in front of Master Liu and asked:
"This man is Wang Jiayao, do you know him?"
"Wang Jiayao?" According to Gu Chen's words, Master Liu repeated Wang Jiayao's name, squinted his eyes, and soon fell into deep thought.
It was also a burst of thoughts, as if the previous things were gradually recalled in my mind.
Master Liu's eyes lit up, and he quickly said: "By the way, I have seen this person before. It was also a few years ago. A few years ago, this woman named Wang Xinyu, and this man Wang Jiayao, they all visited the top of Xiushan Mountain. .”
...
7:50 p.m. In the parking lot at the foot of Xiushan, two police cars from the Furong Branch of Jiangnan City were parked side by side in a corner. Gu Chen, Lu Weiwei, Police Officer Wang and Yuan Shasha have already put on their gear and are ready to go up the mountain from here. It is indeed difficult to climb the mountain at night, but fortunately everyone has prepared a strong flashlight. And in order to ensure sufficient power, Police Officer Wang and Yuan Shasha also brought two more police equipment from other colleagues' individual police equipment. Looking at the faint street lights in front of him, Police Officer Wang said with some fear, "Gu Chen, do you really decide to climb up the mountain at night? Instead of choosing to go tomorrow?" "Just tonight." Gu Chen also said earnestly after seeing his equipment checked: "The only clue has been investigated. If we have time, we may meet Wang Xinyu, or the clue left by Wang Xinyu." "But if we miss it again, maybe we will enter a state of confusion again." "Yes." As soon as Gu Chen finished speaking, Lu Weiwei couldn't help but echoed: "Think about it, old Wang, all the clues we are investigating now are suddenly interrupted in the middle." "I didn't expect that this Wang Xinyu did have two brushes, and he set up puzzles for us on the way out of the police station." "It seems that he is deliberately playing games with our police." "Playing games?" Yuan Shasha on the side was a little puzzled, and also asked Lu Weiwei: "But Senior Sister Lu, do you think this game is interesting? Since this Wang Xinyu can tell us where the corpse is hidden, she shouldn't be so boring, right?" "Hehe, who knows?" Lu Weiwei also shook her head and said helplessly: "Maybe this Wang Xinyu is crazy? After making so many moths, it actually made us go climbing at night." Pointing to Xiushan in front of her, Lu Weiwei also said, "Look, it's such a high mountain. It's late at night, so bring your equipment to climb up." Taking a deep breath, Lu Weiwei smiled wryly and said, "This person committed crimes in his previous life, right? To torment us like this." "Don't talk about it, I feel that this time, Wang Xinyu is almost going crazy." Officer Wang sighed softly, but also took out the flashlight and couldn't help feeling: "I don't know if there is anyone in the same state as I am now? I can't swing well, I can't win if I lie down, I can't wake up when I sleep." "Full of exhaustion, body restraint, intermittent smugness, continuous eating and waiting to die." "Anyway, during this period of time, I was also dizzy." Yuan Shasha also agreed. Gu Chen smiled slightly and said, "Let's go, don't waste time." "Row." Everyone immediately echoed and walked towards the entrance of the mountain together. To get to the top of Xiushan Mountain, there are actually many paths up the mountain. But the route Gu Chen has chosen so far is the steepest up the mountain, but it is also the shortest route. Since Gu Chen has climbed Xiushan many times since he was a child, he also has a little understanding of the situation here. So under the leadership of Gu Chen, everyone passed the first checkpoint, which is the iron gate up the mountain. There is a duty room next to the iron gate, but the current duty room has long been a room full of sundries. The iron gate is not locked, and visitors can come in and out at will. So after stepping through the iron gate, everyone continued to march into the mountains. There are some farmhouse buildings on both sides of the surrounding area, distributed near the iron gate, but no one is open now. However, after walking for a while, at the corner of a small river, there is a small courtyard of a farmhouse with lights, and there are customers dining inside, chatting about their daily life in the small courtyard. But Gu Chen and the others did not stop moving forward, and continued to walk into the mountains. Seeing Lu Weiwei staring at the mutton soup sign in the small courtyard of the farmhouse in a daze, Gu Chen turned around and reminded: "This is the last farmhouse on the way up the mountain, and if you go further in, you will be in the mountains." "Junior Brother Gu, why don't we go buy some water?" Lu Weiwei patted her police water bottle and said involuntarily: "I'm afraid I didn't bring enough water." "Don't worry about that." Gu Chen pointed to the road ahead and said, "There are two places ahead, both of which can be taken from mountain springs." "Residents here use pipes to draw spring water from the mountains, and flow down the pipes to the side of the road." "We will collect some spring water at two water points on the side of the road at that time." "Is that so?" When Lu Weiwei heard this, she immediately said that there was no problem. Sure enough, after passing through a bamboo forest along the cement road, everyone found the movement of running water on the right side. I saw the mountain spring continuously flowing out of a pipe, and the surrounding ground was covered with many marble blocks. "Is this it?" Yuan Shasha asked. "Yeah." Gu Chen nodded slightly, and then took off his police water bottle. So everyone followed behind Gu Chen and filled up their water bottles. Officer Wang simply washed his face by the spring water to wake himself up. After completing the operation, everyone continued to walk in, and soon came to a gate made of stones. On the top of the stone gate, there are three big characters "Xiushan View" written in artistic fonts. Lu Weiwei thought for a moment, then asked Gu Chen, "Junior Brother Gu, is Xiushan Temple a Taoist temple?" "That's right, it was built a few years ago, and it's quite a nice building." Gu Chen said. "There seems to be a female Taoist priest there." Officer Wang hurriedly shared what he knew with everyone. Yuan Shasha's eyes lit up: "Female Taoist priest? Could it be related to Wang Xinyu?" "It's hard to say, we have to go up and see the situation." Gu Chen felt that it was necessary to go up and investigate clearly. At the very least, Wang Xinyu's reminder of "the top of Xiushan" to everyone must have some kind of hint. Judging from Wang Xinyu's tormenting behavior these days, what Gu Chen is most worried about now is that someone will have an accident because of Wang Xinyu. Wang Jiayao was the one who stayed behind at the reservoir dam before, who will it be this time? Right now, no one can say for sure. Therefore, Gu Chen needs to be vigilant to avoid accidents from happening again. Thinking that it will take a lot of time to enter the mountain forest from here and climb to the top of the mountain, Gu Chen gave everyone a preventive shot in advance: "Entering from here is the steps of the mountain forest. There is no lighting on both sides. Everyone needs to save batteries. I will lead the team and only use one flashlight at a time." "This is no problem." Lu Weiwei said. Police officer Wang said with a wry smile: "I'm afraid that if I can't climb to the top of the mountain, I'll have to lie on the road tired." "Old Wang, can you be a little bit more ambitious?" Seeing that Police Officer Wang hadn't reached the mountain yet, he began to complain again and again, and Lu Weiwei couldn't help complaining. But Police Officer Wang said indifferently: "This mountain is difficult to climb, you will know later, it is very steep." "Some sections of the stone steps are so steep that every time you take a step, you feel that your body is being strangled down by someone. You will know it later." "Is it really so difficult?" Yuan Shasha had never been here before, so naturally she didn't know the situation of going up the mountain. But Police Officer Wang said swearingly: "When your sister-in-law and I were not married, I came here to climb once." "Good guy, I was almost exhausted that time. I originally wanted to go up the mountain to watch the sunrise, but I was so tired that I missed it." "That's not enough. When going down the mountain, my legs are sore. Every step I take, I feel that my legs are not my own. Every time I step on this step, I feel that the flesh of my calf is shaking violently." "Pfft! Is that an exaggeration?" Yuan Shasha couldn't help but joked when Officer Wang said that mountain climbing was so scary. When Lu Weiwei heard this, she was a little scared, so she asked Gu Chen for confirmation: "Junior Brother Gu, is it really as scary as Lao Wang said to go up this road?" "No." Gu Chen irradiated the surrounding area with a flashlight a few times before replying: "It feels quite relaxed, and it's not as scary as Senior Brother Wang said." "That's good, that's good." Hearing what Gu Chen said, Lu Weiwei also felt relieved, she couldn't help but patted her tall chest, and sighed: "Almost frightened to death by Lao Wang, I still feel that this place is really scary." "Don't believe me." Officer Wang felt that Gu Chen was a little expert at tearing things down. He wanted to scare Lu Weiwei, but he didn't want to be exposed by Gu Chen. Yuan Shasha complained with a smile: "Maybe Senior Brother Wang is not physically strong, maybe Senior Brother Gu won't have such troubles." "Don't talk about that for now." Gu Chen looked down at his watch, and also reminded, "It's already 8:20 in the evening." "If I climb the mountain at my speed, it may take half an hour, but considering that I need to pay attention to the steps under my feet when I climb up at night, it is estimated that it will take about 40 minutes." "Half an hour?" Hearing what Gu Chen said, Yuan Shasha immediately said happily: "That is to say, it's not that difficult to climb? Co-author..." Turning her head and glancing at Police Officer Wang who was drinking water, Yuan Shasha continued, "Is Senior Brother Wang trying to scare us?" "Haha, it seems I can't hide it." Seeing that his "conspiracy" was exposed, Officer Wang had no choice but to confess: "Actually, as Gu Chen said, if you have good physical strength and try your best to climb up, you may be able to climb to the top of the mountain in half an hour." "However, the prerequisite is good physical strength, or frequent climbing. If you don't usually go mountain climbing, it's a bit difficult for you to suddenly reach Gu Chen's level." "And I want to remind everyone that you have to climb the mountain step by step and don't try your best, otherwise, after intense exercise, when you go down the mountain, maybe your legs will start to be sore." "In order to be able to walk normally the next day, I suggest that you slow down." "Okay, just do what Senior Brother Wang said." Gu Chen also knew that what Police Officer Wang said was true. So after everyone sorted out and checked their equipment, they began to line up on the mountain. In order to take care of everyone's sight, Gu Chen adjusted the police flashlight from spotlight mode to astigmatism mode. This way, the entire area can be shrouded in strong light. The entire area where Gu Chen's team walked suddenly became brighter. I don't remember how long everyone walked. On a steep hillside, Lu Weiwei and Yuan Shasha obviously felt a little strenuous. Looking at Police Officer Wang who was walking at the end, he seemed to be on par with the elderly. And look at the leader Gu Chen, it seems that he has been deliberately slowing down, waiting for everyone. Thinking that Gu Chen is now based on going to the mountain to find out the truth, so it is not good to waste time here. After thinking about it, Lu Weiwei still suggested: "Junior Brother Gu, I don't think this is the way to go." "We climbed Xiushan for the first time, and we felt that we couldn't keep up. Why don't you go up first, and I, Xiao Yuan and Lao Wang will follow, and we will meet at the top of the mountain. What do you think?" Gu Chen pondered for a moment, looked at everyone's exhausted looks, thought for a while, and echoed: "It's fine, or I'll go first, and you all remember to follow at any time." "Senior Brother Gu, is there a fork in the mountain?" Yuan Shasha hurriedly asked in fear of going the wrong way. Gu Chen shook his head, pointed to the stone steps in front of him and said, "You guys just keep walking from here until you reach the top of the mountain, just meet me when the time comes." "Okay." Yuan Shasha nodded silently, and quickly handed her other spare flashlight to Gu Chen, reminding her: "Then Senior Brother Gu, be careful." After receiving Yuan Shasha's flashlight, Gu Chen continued to quicken his pace, and soon disappeared at the corner of the stone steps. Watching Gu Chen's light source gradually disappear, Lu Weiwei also looked at Police Officer Wang at the foot of the mountain, and couldn't help complaining: "Old Wang, if you didn't drag everyone down, how could we become the second echelon? It's all your fault?" "Blame me?" Hearing that Lu Weiwei was obviously throwing the blame, Police Officer Wang struggled to climb to Lu Weiwei's side, and couldn't help complaining: "Are you very tired yourself? Now throw the blame at me?" "Anyway, it's you who dragged everyone back." Lu Weiwei didn't care about these things, mainly because she couldn't keep up with Gu Chen's footsteps now, so she had to find someone to take the blame. The last Comrade Wang is undoubtedly the best choice. Everyone here is still making various accusations, but on the other side, Gu Chen almost quickened his pace and began to keep walking towards the steps on the top of the mountain. With the blessing of energy drinks, Gu Chen didn't feel too tired at all. I just feel that the road in front of me is getting steeper and steeper. At the end, the steepness exceeds 45 degrees. But at this time, Gu Chen also knew very well that he was only a few feet away from the top of the mountain. If ordinary people climbed here, every step they took would feel like they were carrying a boulder on their backs. This is also the force brought by the high altitude and steepness. It was also when he saw the neat fir trees on both sides in front of him that Gu Chen knew that he had reached the edge of the mountain. With a sprint, Gu Chen climbed to the top platform. At this moment, a different kind of starry sky has a panoramic view. If you usually stay in the urban area, surrounded by street lights, it is difficult to see the true appearance of the sky. And the top of the mountain at this moment is the best place to observe the starry sky. On the left is Xiushan Temple, a newly built Taoist temple. Gu Chen only remembers that this place used to be an earthen slope, which was later leveled and this Taoist temple was built. The surrounding Taoist flags fluttered in the wind. At the center of the mountain top, there stands a weather radar with a steel structure. Looking to the right, there is a TV tower. Three structures, almost occupying the main position on the top of the mountain. On the other side, there is also a landscape pavilion. Gu Chen is not quite clear, where is the clue given by Wang Xinyu? So first walked towards the Taoist temple. This is Xiushan Temple, a somewhat grand Taoist building. But the light inside was extremely weak. Gu Chen walked around the Xiushan Temple, only to find that there is a small world surrounded by fences on the edge of the Xiushan Temple theme building. Some people planted various flowers and plants inside, as well as swing pavilions. On the wall near the fence, there is a striking bronze plaque. The bronze plaque says no entry. And Gu Chen looked inside again, and on the iron door on the side wall, there was a yin and yang gossip painted impressively. Inside the iron gate, there are some faint lights. So Gu Chen asked: "Excuse me, is anyone there?" The voice fell, and the surroundings were as quiet as before, and there seemed to be no reaction at all. But Gu Chen was not discouraged, and continued to shout at the door: "Excuse me, is anyone there?" However, the voice was recorded, and there was still no one answering in the house. At this moment, Gu Chen doesn't want to waste time here either. It's pretty quiet no matter how you look around. It can be said that this beautiful mountain view and the duty room of the TV tower on the opposite side are the only two light spots on the mountain. In addition to the lights in these two buildings, there is only the iron frame radar in the middle. But this weather radar is just some edge lights, and there are no people on the iron frame. Thinking that he should immediately find the residents inside, so Gu Chen didn't care too much. He browsed through the one-meter-high fence, entered the courtyard, walked to the iron gate painted with Yin-Yang and Eight Diagrams, and knocked the door with his hands: "Excuse me, is anyone there? Excuse me..." Before the words finished this time, Gu Chen suddenly heard a commotion in the room. Perhaps it was his knocking on the door and shouting that had already disturbed the residents inside. Gu Chen hurriedly took two steps back, watching the situation quietly. Not long after, there was a sound of unbolting the bolt behind the iron gate. With the sound of "squeak", a female Taoist priest in Taoist robe looked at Gu Chen who was wearing a police uniform in front of him under the moonlight, and felt a little bit of pain. face surprise. "Benefactor, may I ask what you can do to come to our Xiushan Temple at night?" The female Taoist also seemed to feel that Gu Chen's visit this time might be something urgent. After all, there are very few people who climb to the top of the mountain at night. And Gu Chen was wearing a police uniform, apparently here to investigate something. Gu Chen, on the other hand, hurriedly took advantage of the moonlight to carefully look at the female Taoist priest in front of him. The female Taoist priest is nearly 50 years old, with many silver threads mixed in her long hair. And he should be resting at this time, and the Taoist robe is also a little casual. At this moment, the female Taoist priest is fastening the buttons of her Taoist robe. "Oh, I'm from the Criminal Investigation Team of the Furong Sub-bureau. My name is Gu Chen. I have something to ask you about this starry night visit." Looking at the room behind the female Taoist priest, Gu Chen asked again: "Do you live here alone?" "That's right." The female Taoist nodded silently, also inexplicably. Mainly because I was curious about Gu Chen's overnight visit. Gu Chen continued: "Is it convenient to go in and talk?" "Uh, of course." Although there was a moment of hesitation, the female Taoist priest still gave up her seat and invited Gu Chen into the room for a detailed discussion. So the two walked into the room one after the other, and the female Taoist priest turned on the light, and the whole room became much brighter in an instant. So the female Taoist priest came to another wooden table, opened the drawer, and started making tea for Gu Chen. Although there are many inconveniences in life on the top of the mountain, there is electricity and many electrical appliances are available here. The side door that Gu Chen entered from the fenced yard was where the female Taoist priest lived. From the main entrance, you need to walk up the steps to the entrance of the main hall. But it was obvious that the main hall gate had already been locked. Gu Chen naturally needed to find the light all the way. "Officer Gu, please drink tea." The female Taoist priest handed the tea to Gu Chen. And after Gu Chen took the paper cup with the words "Xiushan Temple" printed on it, he also looked around and quickly observed. "From the perspective of the layout, there is only one person living here, and all the daily necessities are also configured for one person." Gu Chen pondered in his heart, and continued to observe other corners. "The shoes are only for female Taoist priests. It seems that Wang Xinyu is not here." "Officer Gu." Seeing that Gu Chen was inspecting the room, the female Taoist also asked. "Ah?" Gu Chen froze for a moment, then quickly turned to look at the female Taoist priest. "You haven't said, what's your business here this time?" the female Taoist priest asked. "Oh, it's like this." Gu Chen put down the teacup in his hand, and quickly explained to the female Taoist priest: "We are currently investigating a case, and the person involved left me a letter, and the contents of the letter were four large characters written in blood." "Which four?" The female Taoist priest looked puzzled. "The top of Xiushan Mountain." Gu Chen said. "The top of Xiushan Mountain?" The female Taoist priest looked hesitant and asked inexplicably, "What does this mean?" "I don't know either." Gu Chen shook his head and said truthfully, "This hint seems more like a hint from the person involved." "She's used these tips before to keep us running and even find a rotting body that's been buried for years." "And... there's this matter?" Hearing what Gu Chen said, the female Taoist priest suddenly became nervous. And Gu Chen was also observing the changes in the female Taoist priest's expression. Seeing the female Taoist priest's expression of hesitation, Gu Chen hurriedly said again: "The person involved in the case will leave us some investigation clues every time, and these days, we have been investigating based on the clues." "And this time, the blood book reminder she provided is the top of Xiushan Mountain, which means that the next clue is on the top of Xiushan Mountain." Looking up at the female Taoist priest, Gu Chen also cut to the chase and said, "So, master, have you seen this person?" After the words fell, Gu Chen quickly took out his mobile phone, clicked on the photo album, and showed Wang Xinyu's photo in front of the female Taoist priest. The female Taoist priest squinted her eyes with the light in the room, but quickly waved her hand in denial: "I don't know, I've never seen this woman before." "Are you sure?" Gu Chen was a little disappointed, but still wanted to persevere. "I'm sure." The female Taoist seemed to want to get rid of this connection, so she explained in a positive tone: "I have an impression of the people I have met, but I have never seen this woman before." "Since you haven't seen it before, why did this person use 'Top of Xiushan' as a reminder?" Gu Chen retracted his phone, also thoughtful. Seeing the female Taoist priest standing on one side at this moment, she also seemed to feel inexplicable. So Gu Chen reminded again: "Master, think about it again, or, during this period of time, have there been any suspicious people on the mountain?" "Suspicious person?" The female Taoist priest looked blank. But Gu Chen nodded in affirmation: "That's right, some people whose behavior is very suspicious." "Perhaps the person who came to the mountain was not this woman, but her accomplice." "After all, the top of Xiushan literally refers to the top of Xiushan." "So, I have to ask the person who lives at the top of Xiushan Mountain." "Then you can ask that old Liu." The female Taoist said. "Old Liu? Who is Old Liu?" Gu Chen looked curious. The female Taoist quickly explained: "Old Liu is a staff member in the TV station's duty room, and it's just across from our Xiushan Temple." "Except for me staying in the Taoist temple, Lao Liu lives here." Hearing what the female Taoist priest said, Gu Chen turned his head and glanced outside, also thoughtful: "This old Liu, how much do you know about him?" "Not many." The female Taoist priest sat on a wooden chair and replied calmly: "Although I live in a Taoist temple, the incense here has not been warm. The main reason is that there are fewer people climbing to the top of the mountain." "If this Taoist temple is built at the foot of the mountain, it might be a different matter." "So, my daily job is to burn incense to the statues in the Taoist temple, and in normal time, I will practice in the mountains, and I rarely stay in the Taoist temple." "So I don't have much contact with Lao Liu on the other side of the mountain. It's just that everyone bows their heads and doesn't look up, so they will say hello when they meet." "What else?" Gu Chen adjusted the angle of the body camera and continued to ask. "Anything else? Oh, by the way, Lao Liu opened a small shop on the top of the mountain, right in front of his duty room." "Usually tourists would go to his canteen to buy something when they are on the mountain." "Therefore, there should be quite a lot of people who have been in contact with him, and he should know best who are acting suspiciously." Seeing that Gu Chen listened carefully, and even wrote down the main points with pen and paper, the female Taoist hurriedly reminded: "Compared to Lao Liu, I usually seldom show my face in public, because I usually lock the door of the main hall in the Taoist temple, and tourists cannot enter." "And when I return to the Taoist temple, I will stay in the Taoist temple to practice, and I will rarely interact with these tourists outside." "So, I don't know much about these things outside. If you have anything to do, you can go to the old Liu on the opposite side. He must know more than me." "Okay." Seeing the female Taoist priest didn't seem like she was lying. In other words, the female Taoist priest may have concealed something, but at present, it is difficult for Gu Chen to find out. So Gu Chen continued to ask: "May I ask what your name is? Can you tell me your ID number?" "Hehe, of course." The female Taoist priest didn't seem to reject it, and took the initiative to explain to Gu Chen: "My full name is Zhao Limei, and my ID number is..." After a brief communication with Gu Chen, Zhao Limei personally sent Gu Chen to the door, pointed to the TV tower ahead and said: "See, that's the TV tower over there, and there's a duty room below, that's where Old Liu lives." "It's more useful for you to go directly to find him than to find me here." "Okay, thank you then." Gu Chen pulled out the iron bolt of the fence, and walked out this time in a fair manner. After bidding farewell to Zhao Limei, he quickly walked towards the opposite TV tower. The two buildings, Xiushan Temple and TV Tower Duty Room, are respectively located on the two edges of the top of Xiushan Mountain. From Xiushan Temple, you need to go straight for 50 meters. At this time, outside the TV tower, Gu Chen walked up the steps and came to the iron gate. And a wooden sign with the words "Shop" painted with red paint is placed in a conspicuous position on the steps. Through the iron gate, Gu Chen found that this place, like Xiushan Temple, also has its own small courtyard. However, compared with the small fenced courtyard of Xiushan Temple, the fence here is very high, and the TV tower is built in the courtyard. The flashing lights above are like stars in the dark night, twinkling and twinkling. In the middle of the bungalow, there was a faint light. It seems that Lao Liu, the watchman, lives in it. It was Gu Chen who knocked on the iron door again, and shouted into the room: "Master Liu, is Master Liu there?" Seeing the movement of the news channel in the house, Gu Chen knocked on the iron door again, and continued to ask: "Excuse me, is anyone inside?" After pausing for a moment, Gu Chen used his master-level observation skills to hear footsteps coming from the room. As the wooden door opened with a "squeak", a middle-aged man wearing slippers was also watching with a flashlight. When the flashlight shone on Gu Chen, the middle-aged man stared blankly, and took two tentative steps forward. When he saw Gu Chen wearing a police uniform, the middle-aged man took a step forward, walked up to the iron gate and said, "Excuse me, are you..." "Oh, I'm from the Criminal Investigation Team of the Furong Sub-bureau. My name is Gu Chen. I came here at night to get some information from you." While speaking, Gu Chen took out his police ID. "Gu Chen? Are you Gu Chen? That celebrity policeman in the Furong branch?" The middle-aged man seemed to know Gu Chen. Gu Chen also smiled and said, "You know me?" "Damn, the star policeman of the Furong branch, Bai Xiaolan on the TV station often mentions you, how could I not know?" "Bai Xiaolan?" Hearing what the middle-aged man said, Gu Chen also asked him curiously: "Do you know Bai Xiaolan?"... "It's not just acquaintance? We are a unit, and I am also a TV station." The middle-aged man said. But at this moment, Gu Chen looked up at the tall TV tower in front of him, and suddenly realized: "That's right, this is the duty room of the TV tower on the top of the mountain, so your work unit should also be a TV station, right?" "That's right." The middle-aged man was about to open the iron door as he spoke. But when he realized that he didn't bring the key, he immediately said, "Wait, I'll get the key and open the door for you." While speaking, the middle-aged man turned around and left. Not long after, he took another bunch of keys and hurriedly opened the door while stepping on his slippers. Greeting Gu Chen into the courtyard, the middle-aged man also took the initiative to invite Gu Chen into the house. Like the female Taoist priest just now, the middle-aged man hurried to make tea for Gu Chen. Seeing this, Gu Chen quickly stopped and said, "Master Liu, you're welcome. I've already had tea at Xiushan Temple just now." "Oh?" Hearing what Gu Chen said, the middle-aged man also stopped making tea, turned his head and said, "Do you know my surname is Liu? Did the female Taoist priest tell you?" "That's right." Gu Chen randomly found a wooden chair and sat down. And Master Liu said with a smile: "Bai Xiaolan actually promoted you on the TV station, so from top to bottom of our TV station, there is no one who doesn't know about you, Gu Chen." "Because I have been working on the top of the mountain, I rarely go down the mountain, so I have never seen you in person." "Hehe." Hearing what Master Liu said, Gu Chen also said modestly: "Bai Xiaolan is a good friend of our Furong branch." "That's right, that's what this girl said." Master Liu nodded slightly, and said politely again: "Oh, I only saw you, Gu Chen, on promotional posters before, but I didn't expect to see a real person today. By the way, why did you run to the top of the mountain alone at night?" "Oh, it's like this." It felt necessary to explain clearly to Master Liu, so Gu Chen quickly explained: "We went up the mountain together as a small team. Since I climbed the mountain quickly, I got there first, and my other three colleagues arrived later." "Well, let me guess." As soon as Gu Chen's voice fell, Master Liu crossed his arms and walked back and forth in front of Gu Chen, also thoughtfully said: "The other three people should be Lu Weiwei, Police Officer Wang, and... Yuan Shasha, right?" Seeing that Master Liu was able to explain his team members so clearly, Gu Chen was also quite surprised. And here, before Gu Chen could speak, Master Liu smiled and said, "Don't look at me with such strange eyes, I often watch Bai Xiaolan's "Positive Energy in Action" column." "These are basically your partners, and Bai Xiaolan often introduces you in the column." "So I come and go again and again, I don't think it will be difficult for me not to know you." "Hehe, so that's the case?" It seemed that Master Liu couldn't stop talking about this. But when Gu Chen climbed to the top of the mountain this time, he didn't come here specifically to chat with Master Liu, so he quickly explained to him: "By the way, Master Liu, we are here this time to investigate a case and need your assistance." "Investigate the eucalyptus? Ask me for assistance?" Previously, he and Gu Chen had smiling faces, but when he heard the eucalyptus, Master Liu immediately changed his face and said curiously: "By the way, what did Officer Gu ask me to investigate? I have been working in the duty room and rarely go down the mountain. If you want to investigate the case, I might not be able to help you?" "Master Liu, don't worry." Seeing that Master Liu seemed a little nervous, Gu Chen also took out his notebook after turning on the law enforcement recorder, and hurriedly comforted him first: "It's like this. We are investigating a case, and there is a female suspect who has been providing us with clues to the case before." "We also found the top of the mountain based on the clues she provided. We came here this time just to find out the specific situation." "No... I don't understand." As if he didn't quite understand what Gu Chen meant, Master Liu shook his head and continued to ask: "What does the female suspect you mentioned have anything to do with me?" "She provided us with an address, which is the four big characters of 'top of Xiushan', and these handwritings are all written in blood." "Blood book?" Hearing what Gu Chen said, Master Liu's brows quickly frowned into a deep "Chuan". Gu Chen nodded slightly, and continued to explain in a calm tone: "The top of Xiushan, literally means the top of Xiushan, and, as far as I know, this is also the highest peak of Xiushan." "Just now, I met Master Zhao face-to-face at Xiushan Temple, and got to know her better there." "Master Zhao said that she usually practiced in seclusion, so she rarely had contact with outsiders, and she didn't know the woman who provided the clue." "But you are different. You have been active in every corner of the mountain, and you also run a small store on the mountain." "According to Master Zhao, many tourists who go up the mountain will buy goods at your store." "Also, you know the tourists who go up the mountain best." "So, who are you looking for?" Master Liu was also confused, nervous and at a loss. Gu Chen didn't talk nonsense, immediately took out his mobile phone, clicked on the photo album, showed Wang Xinyu's photo in front of Master Liu and said: "Her name is Wang Xinyu, and she is from other provinces. I wonder if you have seen her before?" "Wang Xinyu?" Master Liu narrowed his eyes and couldn't help moving his body closer. And Gu Chen immediately moved the phone forward. After a moment of observation, Master Liu seemed to be lost in thought. Gu Chen didn't bother, but waited quietly. Tens of seconds later, Master Liu looked at Gu Chen blankly, and said thoughtfully, "Officer Gu, I seem to have seen this woman somewhere before, but I definitely haven't had anything to do with her recently. Intersecting." "Have you seen her?" Hearing what Master Liu said, Gu Chen's tense nerves immediately eased up. Compared to the female Taoist priests in Xiushan Temple who knew nothing, at least Master Liu knew something. So Gu Chen hurriedly reminded, "Think slowly, don't worry, it's best if you can provide me with some specific information about this woman." "Officer Gu, tell the truth." Seeing Gu Chen's expectant face, Master Liu seemed a little at a loss, so he hurriedly explained: ... "Although there are not many tourists who come to the top of the mountain every day, I can basically see some of them." "But this woman, obviously, I have some impressions, but I don't have a deep impression." "And I haven't seen her recently, so I conclude that I should have seen her before, and it has been a long time." "How long is that? Could it be a few years ago?" Gu Chen found the body buried in the No. 2 warehouse of Binjiang Freight Yard because of the envelope reminder given by Wang Xinyu. Therefore, it can be seen from the autopsy that the deceased should have died a few years ago. And a few years ago, Zhao Xiaohu from Binjiang Freight Yard also mysteriously disappeared, and it was a few years ago that Wang Jiayao, who hanged himself on the reservoir mountain, divorced his wife. Therefore, based on these known clues, Gu Chen can basically conclude that many things may have happened a few years ago. And the reason why Wang Xinyu is so mysterious must have something to do with the deceased a few years ago. Coupled with what Master Liu said just now, Gu Chen also concluded that Master Liu might have met this Wang Xinyu a few years ago. Master Liu frowned, looked up at Gu Chen, and said blankly: "It should be a few years ago, right? But, I don't seem to have much impression of what happened a few years ago." After thinking about it, Master Liu asked again: "Oh, by the way, besides her, is there anyone else you are looking for?" "Yes." Seeing that Master Liu took the initiative to ask for other personnel's information, Gu Chen immediately took back his phone, showed the photo of the deceased Wang Jiayao in front of Master Liu and asked: "This man is Wang Jiayao, do you know him?" "Wang Jiayao?" According to Gu Chen's words, Master Liu repeated Wang Jiayao's name, squinted his eyes, and soon fell into deep thought. It was also a burst of thoughts, as if the previous things were gradually recalled in my mind. Master Liu's eyes lit up, and he quickly said: "By the way, I have seen this person before. It was also a few years ago. A few years ago, this woman named Wang Xinyu, and this man Wang Jiayao, they all visited the top of Xiushan Mountain. . ...
