I opened the car door, got out, and looked around. The nights in the countryside are always a little chilly, and coupled with the fact that they go to bed early every day, it was dark all around, and the atmosphere made me feel a little scary.
While I was still looking around, Zhang Qishan had already paid and got out of the taxi. Before I could react, the taxi sped away. I waved to the taxi hurriedly, but the driver couldn't see my movements in the dark and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Zhang Qishan looked at me in confusion and asked, "What happened? Did you leave something in the car?"
I gnashed my teeth with hatred and said angrily, "What? You asked the driver to leave in the middle of the night. How are we going to get back? It's a wonder we can get a taxi here!"
Zhang Qishan realized the problem and slapped his head, saying, "Oh, how could I have forgotten about this? Forget it. Everyone has left. At most, I can just walk back along the railway."
I really wonder if Zhang Qishan was a soldier before? How can he run so fast and still like walking so much? It would probably take him till dawn to walk back after such a long journey.
But the incident had already happened, so I didn't pursue it any further. I looked around and asked, "Why did you bring me here?"
Zhang Qishan suddenly laughed, pulled out a shining dagger from his arms, and said coldly: "Of course I'll send you to the grave!"
If I hadn't known her for such a long time and knew that she liked to joke, I would really think that she brought me here just to do something bad to me. I snatched the rubber dagger from her hand with contempt and said, "Why are you still carrying this thing? Don't you think it's troublesome?"
"I'm a girl alone outside, so of course I have to bring some self-defense items with me. Let's go quickly, so that we can get there earlier and go home earlier." Zhang Qishan said, leading the way towards the tunnel ahead.
Looking at Zhang Qishan's back, I thought to myself that this girl was really careless and didn't take her current situation seriously at all. But despite what I thought, I still followed her closely. After all, it was dark here and I might lose her if I wasn't careful.
The tunnel is not very long. It is designed to facilitate pedestrians to cross the railway safely. Soon we both passed through the tunnel and came to the other end of the railway. Zhang Qishan stood there to identify the direction and then walked forward.
It is now the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. The surrounding farmlands are irrigated and very moist. We did not take the main road, but walked along the edge of the farmland all the way forward. I took every step very carefully. This dirt road is not very stable. If I step on empty air, I might fall. If I fall, I will definitely be covered in mud.
We walked forward like this, and I don’t know how long we walked, but we finally walked out of the fields and came to an empty wasteland.
The wasteland was surrounded by weeds that were taller than the knees, but right in the middle of the wasteland, there was a big tree with lush branches and leaves.
"The clue is here, follow me." Zhang Qishan didn't know what tiredness was. I felt my feet were very sore after walking this distance, but she walked straight towards the big tree in front as if nothing had happened.
I swear I regret it very much now. If I were given a choice, I would never come here with her in the middle of the night to fool around. But there was no way. We had already arrived at the destination, and I couldn't give up halfway, so I had to follow her helplessly.
We both came to the bottom of the tree with difficulty, and Zhang Qishan pointed to a corner under the tree and said, "This is it."
I looked in the direction of her finger and discovered that in this desolate place, there was actually a grave mound hidden in the weeds!
The grave mound must have been there for quite a few years. The weeds surrounding it hid it perfectly, so it was hard to find. I took out my cell phone and turned on the flashlight to take a closer look. I discovered that the grave mound did not seem to be abandoned. Although the mound was surrounded by weeds, there was not a single weed on it. It was obvious that someone came to clean it up regularly.
In front of the grave mound stood a wooden tombstone. The words on it were no longer clearly visible due to wind and sun. I carefully examined it for a long time before I realized that there were only four words written on it.
Mother's Tomb.
As for the signature, date, name of the tomb owner, etc., there is none of that.
Standing in front of such a grave in the middle of the night, I felt a chill on my back and the atmosphere became more and more terrifying.
"What does this tomb have to do with the clues you mentioned? Are you planning to take me here to rob a tomb in the middle of the night? Are you so short of money? Do you have the tomb-robbing talisman and candles with you?"
Zhang Qishan was stunned by what I said, and asked in confusion: "What are you bringing?"
I chuckled and said, "You don't understand this, do you? Haven't you read Ghost Blows Out the Light and Grave Robbers' Chronicles? As the saying goes, the Fa Qiu Seal, the Mo Jin Fu, the Ban Shan Xia Ling Xun Long Jue"
Zhang Qishan then realized that I was teasing her. She reached out and hit me hard on the back and said, "Be serious. I'm here to do business with you. Look carefully at this grave mound. Can you find anything?"
Zhang Qishan's hit was very strong and it hurt my back. I endured the pain and lowered my head to carefully examine the grave mound. At this moment, I suddenly discovered that the color of the soil in front of the tombstone seemed to be different from the surrounding area.
I immediately used my phone to check carefully, and found that it was not that the color of the soil was different, but that this piece of soil seemed to have been turned over by someone and the surface was still a little moist, so the color looked different.
I turned around and asked Zhang Qishan, "Could it be that the clue you mentioned is buried here?"
Zhang Qishan nodded and said, "Yes, it is buried here. You can dig it up and take a look."
I don't think Zhang Qishan would joke with me about this matter, but I always felt that I had psychological barriers and resistance to digging the soil of this lonely grave late at night. Zhang Qishan beside me urged me impatiently for a long time, and I was forced to find a tree branch from the surroundings. I kept chanting "Amitabha" in my heart and gently dug up the loose soil.
Every time I dug, goose bumps appeared on my body. I had a very bad premonition that kept lingering in my heart, as if I was doing something wrong.
Just as I was daydreaming, I suddenly felt an indescribable feeling in the branch in my hand, as if I had poked something soft. It immediately aroused my curiosity, so I dug faster and soon dug out the thing with a special touch.
However, when I looked carefully at what that thing was, I felt as if I had been electrocuted. A numb feeling instantly spread from my feet to my whole body. I was so scared that I screamed on the spot, dropped the branch in my hand, fell to the ground, and kept backing away. I just wanted to leave this horrible place as soon as possible.
Because I clearly saw that I dug out a mass of bloody flesh!
How could I dare to take a closer look at this thing dug out from a cemetery in the middle of the night? I stared at Zhang Qishan with wide eyes, wanting her to give me an explanation.
Zhang Qishan was obviously not much better than me, but she suppressed her fear and picked up the branch I had thrown away to wipe the dirt off the bloody surface of the flesh. She turned to me and said, "These are the hearts that were dug out from the victims before."
Although I already had a vague idea of what this thing was, when I heard it again from Zhang Qishan's mouth, I finally couldn't help but feel nauseous in my stomach, and turned around and started vomiting.
It was too dark around me and I didn't know how much I vomited. I just felt that in the end there was nothing left in my stomach. Then I felt a little better, and my brain, which had been blank due to the shock, became much clearer.
My legs were weak at this moment. I forced myself to stand up but I didn't dare to look at the hearts that had been dug out. I turned my head and looked at Zhang Qishan and asked, "How did you know that the dead's heart was buried here?"
Zhang Qishan looked at me with a hint of mockery in his eyes and said, "My sister came to me in a dream, so I found this place."
"Who would believe your nonsense? Speak nicely."
Zhang Qishan turned around and looked for something on the ground. After a while, he picked up a leaf and said, "This is it. I found this kind of leaf under the bed in my sister's bedroom before. I didn't think it was a clue at the time, so I put it in my pocket. When I was chatting with my classmates here, I accidentally touched this leaf and was about to throw it away, but my classmate actually recognized this kind of leaf."
"She asked me why I had a jujube leaf in my pocket. I said I just picked it up. She thought I needed this kind of leaf, so she said there was an open space near her home with a jujube tree. If I needed it, I could find a lot there."
Zhang Qishan sighed and said, "Everything has its own destiny. I was planning to spend the night at her house, so I followed her to Jiadao Village. With her guidance, I found the jujube tree, the lonely grave under the tree, and the victim's heart buried in the grave."
After listening to Zhang Qishan's narration, I just felt that this world is really amazing. I didn't expect that Zhang Qishan accidentally found such an important clue. I immediately asked: "Have you asked your classmates, who owns this lonely grave?"
Zhang Qishan sighed and said, "Of course I asked, but not only her, but even the old people living here don't know. They just said that this lonely grave is quite old, and seems to be as old as this jujube tree."
I said with some regret: "It seems that things are very obvious. The real murderer of this case is inextricably linked to this lonely grave. He must have accidentally dropped this kind of leaves under the bed when he killed your sister."
Speaking of her sister, Zhang Qishan fell silent again. I stepped forward and patted her on the shoulder and said, "Don't be sad. Your discovery will be of great help in solving this case. Tomorrow I will ask Uncle Bai to investigate who built this lonely grave. As long as this person is found, the case will be completely solved, and you will have avenged your sister with your own hands. But now we should think about how we can go back."