Since Mingshu handed the skull to Xiao Man and let Xiao Man see it, the sadness and panic on Wang Jun's face became more obvious.
At this moment, when Xiao Man said, "This is a human skull," she covered her mouth and her voice trembled, "What did you say?"
Xiao Man glanced at her, clicked his temple, and said firmly, "Skull, human skull."
Wang Jun screamed.
Mingshu frowned and asked, "Do you know, when did Li Zhaofeng get this skull? Where did he get it?"
Ordinary people will be scared and panic when they learn that there is a skull in their family. Wang Jun didn't stand still for a while, and slammed his back against the door, "Really, really human, bone, bone?"
Mingshu said, "It's absolutely true."
Wang Jun was terrified: "Zhao Feng, did he kill someone?"
Xiao Man shook his head: "That's not necessarily true. Having a skull does not mean that someone has killed someone. The skull is complete and there are no wounds caused by blows. It is impossible to judge how the owner of the skull died, let alone Li Zhaofeng who killed someone. "
After listening to Xiao Man's explanation, Wang Jun calmed down a bit, but his voice was still shaking, "Zhaofeng lied to me, he said this is the model he bought for more than fifty yuan!"
Mingshu asked, "When?"
"Last year!" Wang Jun said, "In February last year, he went to the southwest alone."
"What about these?" Mingshu pointed to the wolf head and the bulging-eye mask, "When did he bring them back?"
"I don't know!" Wang Jun shook his head vigorously, "but it must be earlier than the skulls. When I noticed them, they were there. I asked Zhaofeng, and Zhaofeng didn't say anything, just said that those were all from him. Souvenirs, tell me not to touch them. I… even if he didn’t say it, I wouldn’t touch that kind of thing.”
·
The human skull, wolf head, and bulging-eye mask were all sent to the serious crime team for identification.
The most interesting thing is the skull, everyone wants to know, whose skull is this? Why did it appear in Li Zhaofeng's home? Is there a murder case behind it? And will this murder have something to do with the deaths of Li Zhaofeng and Huang Yan
In one room of the forensic center, the lights were on, and the temperature controller was making an extremely faint sound.
"I preliminarily judged that this is the skull of a man." Xing Mu was wearing a mask and said while showing the skull to Mingshu: "Men's skulls are larger than women's, and they are thicker and thicker, and their eyebrows are more arched. Well-developed. The upper edge of the orbit is rounded and blunt, the forehead is more sloping, the cheekbones are higher and stronger, the external occipital eminence is well developed—all features that this skull fits.”
Mingshu asked, "What about your age?"
"Judging from the sutures of the teeth and the skull, the man was between 28 and 30 years old when he died." Xing Mu put the skull on the appraisal table, "The skull is in complete shape and can be restored craniofacially, but I personally think that, This skull may not have much to do with the murder."
"Huh?" Mingshu thought for a while, "because it's too 'clean'?"
"This is a processed skull, it did not rot naturally in the wild." Xing Mu said: "But the processing method is simple and rough. Scrape off the flesh, the brain tissue. And a little more."
Saying that, Xing Mu pointed to the forehead of the skull, "There are some inconspicuous and irregular concave holes here, as if they were eaten by birds of prey."
Mingshu reacted at once, "Vulture? Celestial Burial?"
"Yes, the only thing that will be preserved in the celestial burial is the skull. But in different places, the celestial burial has different details." Xing Mu said: "In some places, the celestial burial master will not specially handle the skulls and let them rot naturally. But in other places, Sky burialists will clean up the skulls like this and give them to the family of the deceased, or store them together. On the western plateau, skull towers and skull walls can be seen everywhere, and some are even unattended. Some so-called 'wenqing' come here In this kind of place, I often get into the skull tower to take pictures and take pictures. As long as you are brave enough and lack awe of ghosts and gods, it is not difficult to get a skull back.”
Mingshu held his chin, "It is indeed possible for Li Zhaofeng to do such a thing."
"Just in case, I will still perform craniofacial restoration on the skull." Xing Mu couldn't help but sigh, "Why are the cases we investigated recently related to folklore and superstition? This Li Zhaofeng is still a little abnormal. Take it to your own home?"
"Maybe this is also something he and Huang Yan have in common." Mingshu said to himself.
Xing Mu raised his head: "Huh?"
"Normal people wouldn't make offerings to 'ghost cards'." Mingshu said, "I am more inclined to believe that they once had some kind of intersection."
On the other hand, the origin of the bulging-eyed mask and the wolf's head is also under investigation.
"The mask is purely handmade, and the workmanship is not meticulous enough. It can be regarded as shoddy. I can't find any masks with similar workmanship on the market." Xiao Man said: "So I can only give it to Dongye University who specialize in folklore. Look at the teacher. This teacher studies the folk customs of the southwest region. He said that in the area of Wuli in the southwest, there are many folk artists who will make this kind of mask. Passing 'ALICE'."
Mingshu took the mask in his hand again and turned it over and over, "How much can you sell it for?"
"It's 100 yuan cheaper, and it's not capped." Xiao Man sighed, "Don't look at its poor workmanship. The raised-eye mask souvenirs in the museum can't sell for such a high price. The people who bought it are the so-called pictures. 'Spirituality', 'Divinity'—because they were not made by machines, but hammered by local residents."
Mingshu said: "Li Zhaofeng has this kind of handmade mask, which means he has been to Wuli Prefecture, but he may have obtained it from someone else."
"I heard from Teacher Xing that the skulls are likely to come from celestial burials." Xiao Man said: "Sky burials are prevalent in the southwestern plateau, and the most prosperous is in Wuli Prefecture. From this point of view, it is very likely that Li Zhaofeng personally went to Wuli Prefecture. ."
Mingshu nodded.
This can be seen from Li Zhaofeng's train ticket purchase records. After marrying Wang Jun, Li Zhaofeng takes the train to Jincheng Railway Station in the west almost every year, and transfers from there to more remote places. But the west is vast, and many places have no train access, so you can only rent a car or take a bus, which brings a lot of difficulties to the investigation.
Skulls and hand-made raised-eye masks show that Wulizhou should have been one of Li Zhaofeng's destinations.
What about the wolf head
Mingshu turned around, "Have you found out the source of the wolf head?"
"This..." Xiao Man said embarrassedly: "I also hope that it has a special direction, but compared with masks and skulls, it is the most common one, it is just a werewolf prop. A few years ago, when werewolves killed fire, online There are a lot of stores selling this kind of headgear. I compared some products I could find, and I can't confirm its provenance at the moment."
"There is no such wolf head in Li Zhaofeng's online shopping records." Mingshu suddenly thought of what Xiang Tao said, in an abandoned scene of the "Storm" secret room club, he saw the wolf head props, "I will go to Nancheng District."
It was the weekend, and the "Storm" secret room club was overcrowded.
The fact that the former employee supported the "ghost card" has spread in the club. Xu Cheng, the deputy manager of the marketing department, immediately showed a cooperative attitude when he saw the police, saying that the "storm" was completely unaware of Cai Xinyue's private life.
"I'm not here today because of Cai Xinyue." Mingshu took the wolf head out of his pocket, "Do you have an impression of this wolf head?"
Xu Cheng was surprised, "This..."
Mingshu captured his emotions keenly, "Do you know where it came from?"
"Wait." Xu Cheng quickly got up and made a phone call.
Mingshu heard that he was asking his colleagues to bring something over.
"This may be our prop." Xu Cheng said nervously: "It may also be a peripheral we sold."
Mingshu knew that he had made the right trip this time.
Five minutes later, one person pushed open the door and sent a dusty wolf head in.
The two wolf heads are put together, they are different sizes and slightly different shapes, but the overall style is undoubtedly the same.
Xu Cheng said: "Our club now mainly promotes the secret room, but it used to be a board game. In the most popular years of werewolf killing, we designed a werewolf-themed secret room. When customizing tools, I considered that if not mass-produced, a single The price of throwing in is relatively high, so we launched peripherals along with the props. There is a series of such wolf heads, a total of seven models, as well as mace, wolf claws, and mace. Later, the werewolf was killed, and these peripherals we never sold again."
Mingshu asked: "Then, where have you sold these surrounding areas besides the store?"
Xu Cheng shook his head, "It's only sold in the store. Let me tell you the truth, the workmanship of these surrounding areas is not very good. If you leave this atmosphere, no one will actually buy it."
Mingshu fell silent.
It is only sold in the store, which basically means that Li Zhaofeng got the wolf head in a "storm". There is a possibility that he, Huang Yan and the murderer had an intersection in a "storm".
Did they play Werewolf together
"You mentioned the atmosphere just now." Mingshu asked: "Can you tell me in detail what the atmosphere is?"
Xu Cheng thought about it for a while, with a satisfied and nostalgic expression on his face, "At that time, there were two types of people who came to play with us, one was a gathering of friends, a table full of acquaintances, and one was a werewolf killing enthusiast. , they don't know each other, and we gather here, not to make friends, but to enjoy the game. Most of the people who buy the peripherals are them, and some guests play very speculatively, and they also organize offline live werewolf killings."
Mingshu's eyes tightened, as if he had caught an important clue, "Who organized the killing of the real werewolf?"
"I don't know about that." Xu Cheng said, "We originally tried to hold a live werewolf killing, but the project budget was rejected, because very few people would actually participate, which was not large enough, and we couldn't make any money. So the guests are self-organizing and have nothing to do with us.”
Mingshu asked again, "When was the last time the Ronin hood was sold?"
"Two, two years ago." After Xu Cheng finished speaking, he added: "At that time, werewolf killing was outdated."
"Then in your store, what year was the most popular werewolf killing?" Mingshu said, "Which year was the customer organizing the real werewolf killing by themselves?"
Xu Cheng said, "It was three years ago."
·
Dongcheng District, Tianrong Medical Beauty.
"Linglong Linglong, we have a gym upstairs. I just went to inquire about them. They have discounts for merchants in the same building!" Liu Ying cheerfully raised the flyer in front of Zhu Linglong, " Two people go together, and there are discounts on top of each other. I have gained weight recently, and I want to exercise, why don't we go together!"
Zhu Linglong took the leaflet, looked at it, and smiled: "Forgive me, I can't hold on."
"Let's supervise each other!" After getting off work, Liu Ying took off her skirt, thinking that there were no men in the locker room anyway, she lifted up her bottoming shirt carelessly, pinched her belly with her fingers, and said, "Look, this is still a problem. Before the Spring Festival, I will start to 'grow fat', and once the Spring Festival is over, don't I have to grow into a little fat pig! Linglong, come with me!"
A trace of displeasure flashed in Zhu Linglong's eyes - Liu Ying's voice sounded too greasy and sweet to her, a man might like it, but she couldn't stand it.
But this displeasure was quickly hidden. Zhu Linglong draped a white plush jacket over her body and said while wrapping a scarf: "I really don't want to go, I don't have the two beautiful qualities of enduring hardship and perseverance. Compared with sweating in the gym, I am more Like to go back to the 'Little Sun' and eat my self-heating hot pot."
Liu Ying was easily led astray, "You still eat self-heating hot pot? Aren't you afraid of gaining weight and getting pimples?"
Zhu Linglong was ready to leave, "I'm afraid, but shouldn't women be better to themselves?"
Liu Ying pouted, "That's true. Then I won't force you. I'll go back and buy a box of self-heating hot pot today."
The smile on Zhu Linglong's face became more and more false, but Liu Ying couldn't see it.
Tianrong Medical Beauty is located in the center of Dongcheng District. After dark, the lights flicker like a river of light flowing.
Zhu Linglong walked towards the subway station in the crowd of people, her expression getting colder and colder.
Do card fitness together
What a joke!
When she was a student, because of her beautiful and delicate face, Zhu Linglong was always the focus of the opposite sex around her. In any group photo, she is the best-looking one. The name "Class Flower" has followed her from elementary school to university.
Compared to her, her roommates are ugly. And she also relied on this face and this outstanding figure to get the easy job now. She is obviously the one with the lowest grades in the department, but she has a middle and upper salary among her classmates, which makes her former classmates envious.
But she also has troubles—
She used to be the most beautiful woman in her circle, but in Tianrong Medical Beauty, her beauty has become less noticeable. In this circle with the ultimate goal of "becoming beautiful", there are no ugly women, all of them are born beautiful. Who is the beauty of the beauty often depends on who has more money.
Zhu Linglong didn't seem to mind, but her heart became more and more anxious.
She was born in a middle-class family, but she is not poor. When she was in high school, she began to use skin care products and cosmetics that many people could only afford after working. Now she spends the bulk of her salary on maintenance.
But this is simply not enough!
Where is the upper limit for beauty
At this time, it was past the evening rush hour, and there were not many people on the subway. Zhu Linglong did not sit. Even though he was very tired, he still stood by the door.
Someone cast a strange look at her, and she didn't bother to answer.
She said to Liu Ying just now that women should treat themselves better.
In fact, she was very strict with herself—even taking the subway, she had to practice standing and was reluctant to sit down easily.
As for going home to eat self-heating hot pot, it is even more impossible.
She has never bought a self-heating hot pot. She usually eats nothing at night. She is so hungry that she eats some low-sugar fruits.
Of course she can exercise, but unlike those who post on Moments as soon as she runs, she never lets others know, and it is even less likely that she will apply for a card with her colleagues.
The subway passes through a small half of Dongcheng District and stops at the edge of Dongcheng District.
Zhu Linglong walked towards the "Mansion in the Mountains", which is 200 meters away from the subway station.
There is her home.
Although there is a word "villa" in the name of this community, it is not a villa, but a medium-grade commercial building. Its selling point is that it is backed by Green Phoenix Mountain, and there is a trail leading to the mountain in the community.
The house was bought by her parents when she graduated from college. Zhu Linglong is most satisfied with being able to go for a run in the mountains every night.
Green Phoenix Mountain is a forest park for all citizens, but because it is on the edge of the city, not many people climb the mountain. There is an access control between the "residential villas" and the real mountain road. Entering the mountain from the access control has actually left the monitoring range of the community property management.
There are no lights in the mountains at night, but in the light of the city, it is not completely dark. When Zhu Linglong first moved in, he did not dare to run at night, but after running several times, he found that there was no one on the mountain at night.
She is not a timid person, she even dares to go to a barren village, and Green Phoenix Mountain is even more trivial.
When she got home, Zhu Linglong took a breath, put on her winter night running outfit, put on her earphones, and clocked in at the access control to enter the mountain as usual.
Running every night is the most relaxing time of her day, no one peeps her efforts to become beautiful, no need to smile hypocritically to deal with stupid colleagues and customers, the world seems to be integrated with her, sober The air spreads on her face, and sometimes she even fantasizes that there is a cold moonlight falling on her body, she is favored by heaven, and she is a fairy in this world.
But after running for half an hour today, she suddenly felt very uncomfortable, as if a pair of eyes were staring at her in the dark, closely following her footsteps.
But how is this possible
She has been running in this half of the mountain for nearly two years, and she has never met anyone even in summer, let alone a cold winter night.
It must be the sequelae of going to the "Ninth Battlefield".
The level of blood in that secret room made her very uncomfortable.
But the uneasiness expanded in my heart, like a thick black fog, shrouding the good mood that should have been there.
Zhu Linglong's footsteps became slower and slower, and gradually stopped.
She took off her earphones and listened carefully to the sounds around her.
There was no sound, just her own heartbeat and breathing.
She calmed down a bit and turned around slowly.
Behind the familiar path, the thick leaves cast dappled shadows on the ground.
nobody.
Zhu Linglong swallowed and hesitated.
This is already the depths of Green Phoenix Mountain, but it has not reached the place where she usually turns back. If she goes back now, the night running task will only be half completed.
And she has always been a very self-disciplined person in private.
Gritting her teeth, she started running again, but because of the fear in her heart, she did not put on her earphones.
After running a hundred meters, she could clearly hear footsteps.
At this moment, her heartbeat reached its peak, and she dared not deceive herself.
Someone is behind her and has been following her!
what to do
She didn't dare to stop, and she didn't dare to look back, her heart was numb.
Is it a robbery? Or lust
The footsteps behind her seemed to be getting closer, and she had to speed up her pace, thinking about countermeasures in her head.
It was impossible to call for help. She knew the most about Green Phoenix Mountain. There was no one in the mountain, and this place was far from all exits. It was difficult for her to run away from each other.
"puff-"
A small voice came from behind him, along with the dull pain in the lower back.
Zhu Linglong stopped instinctively, and touched his waist with trembling hands.
The pain wasn't obvious, it was just being hit by something.
She couldn't bear it any longer, turned around suddenly, and her pupils shrank rapidly in an instant.
She saw the most terrifying scene in her life, and this scene was so familiar—
Under the dim light, a figure stood not far from her, a dark sports suit, not a human head, but a huge wolf head!
Three years ago, in the real werewolf killing in the deserted village, she drew a useless civilian card. When night fell and the werewolves began to kill, she could only run for her life.
At that time, there was also a man in a werewolf hood chasing after her, holding his mace aloft in the moonlight.
But that's a game!
She hadn't played Werewolf for a long time, and clearly remembered that she was running at night on Green Phoenix Mountain instead of participating in some real Werewolf!
Breathing became uncontrollably rapid, and a large amount of cold air was drawn into her lungs. She wanted to cough, but felt her throat gripped tightly by fear.
The Werewolf stepped forward slowly but with ease, with no comical inflatable mace in his hand, just a knife that slid through the dim light.
Zhu Linglong almost collapsed, her legs fell limp and she sat on the ground, tears welling up in her eyes, and squirming back like a snail, "Who are you? What do you want to do?"
"Werewolf" didn't answer, but raised his right hand and lit the sharp knife.
Zhu Linglong shook her head frantically, "No! No! Don't kill me! I beg you not to kill me!"
"Werewolf" let out a strange laugh, flashed in front of Zhu Linglong, and grabbed Zhu Linglong's top hair.
Zhu Linglong could clearly see the wolf face that was close at hand—the left eye was blood red, the right eye was pierced by a sharp weapon, and the fangs were like blades, exuding a bloodthirsty breath.
She couldn't cry out, she had a strong premonition that she would die here tonight.
"Wolfman" grabbed her neck, and the laughter seemed to be squeezed out of her throat.
Zhu Linglong's tears dripped onto the "Wolfman"'s black gloves, followed by a liquid warmer and viscous than tears.
The blade severed Zhu Linglong's trachea and neck artery, and the blood spurted out under pressure, spitting on the red eyes of the "Wolfman".
The "Wolfman" stood up, and Zhu Linglong, who had not yet died, struggled and twitched on the ground.
The last desire to survive made her extend her right hand towards the perpetrator.
After a few seconds, the right hand hangs down lifelessly.
The "Wolfman" looked down at the corpse, and after a few minutes, in the background light of the city, he raised his hand and smashed what was in his hand on the corpse's head.
Soon, the "Wolfman" left the corpse, and its figure gradually blended into the thick ink of the forest.