The old alley in the afternoon is always favored by the sunshine in spring.
The light passes through the narrow and cramped space on the top of the alleyway, and spreads silently on the blue bricks all over the floor, exuding a lazy and comfortable charm.
The blue-brick alleyway with a strong historical atmosphere cannot stand the passage of time, and it is oily and reflective by the people who come and go. It even emits a strange halo in the sun, which looks hazy and illusory.
In the depths of the old alley, there is an antique green brick and tile courtyard hidden.
The yard is full of green bricks, and the spring rain from last night is still dripping from the eaves. A bamboo reclining chair loved by the elderly is placed in the corner.
Chen Xian was lying on the bamboo chair taking a nap, enjoying this rare comfort.
"Excuse me, is Mr. Chen there?"
A sudden knock on the door broke the silence in the courtyard.
Chen Xian rubbed his eyes sleepily, yawned and sat up, got up and walked to open the door.
"You are?"
There was a strange fat man standing outside the door, with a friendly smile on his face: "My surname is Huo, I'm looking for Mr. Chen Xian."
"It's me, what do you want from me?" Chen Xian nodded and said.
Fatty Huo was obviously stunned for a moment, his expression was a bit unbelievable, he looked at Chen Xian carefully, and there was a little doubt in his eyes: "Are you Chen Xian?"
"My family's surname is Chen in this alley." Chen Xian said.
"Then what... I may have found the wrong one..." Fatty Huo smiled a little embarrassedly, and turned to leave.
Chen Xian was no stranger to Fatty Huo's reaction. After all, he had just graduated from Ningchuan University this year, and to those who came to him for work, he seemed a bit tender.
"Uncle, do you have something to do with me?"
Fatty Huo didn't say a word, his expression was very tangled.
Chen Xian leaned forward lightly, sniffed Fatty Huo carefully, and asked curiously: "You smell like a dead person, and it's quite fresh. Did you come across something dirty? Someone introduced you here." Find me?"
Hearing this, Fatty Huo looked at Chen Xian in surprise and asked, "Can you smell it?"
"Come in first."
Chen Xian did not answer Fatty Huo's question, but politely invited Fatty Huo in.
The quaint yard is neatly organized by the owner, and the most conspicuous thing is the century-old locust tree planted in the corner of the yard.
When the wind blows, the leaves will rattle, and the sunlight will shine in through the gaps in the canopy, making the whole yard feel lazy.
Chen Xian led Fatty Huo into the living room, walked to the side and poured water for him, talking.
"I don't have many friends in Ningchuan. Those who can call me by name are probably looking for me to do business. Are you a private job introduced by someone else, or... an official one?"
Hearing this, Fatty Huo hesitated for a moment, and then replied: "I am a member of the Bureau of Secrets."
Someone from the Secret Service
Chen Xian paused for a moment while pouring the tea, and couldn't help but look at the fat man a few more times before bringing him the hot tea.
"Let's talk about the case." Chen Xian sat on the chair opposite him, his face full of curiosity.
Fatty Huo nodded, and took a sip of his drink, but wanted to vomit it in the next second.
Damn overnight tea!
"The content of this case is relatively complicated, and the level of confidentiality is very high, so whether you accept this case or not, all information about this case must be kept confidential."
Fatty Huo put down his teacup, not intending to drink any more, and his tone became serious.
Hearing what he said, Chen Xian didn't say much, and nodded quietly.
"Hong Jinxi, the king of thieves in Ningchuan City, you, a local, should have heard of him, right?"
"I know, I've seen his reports on TV, but I haven't seen him in person." Chen Xian said with a smile.
Fatty Huo nodded dully, and said slowly, "He stole a national treasure."
"National treasure?" Chen Xian was slightly taken aback, but he was not surprised.
Over the years, under the exaggeration of the media in Ningchuan City, Hong Jinxi is almost like a thief in the eyes of the citizens. He has even moved Lin Dafu's vault. I really don't know what he can't steal.
"What kind of national treasure?" Chen Xian asked curiously.
Fatty Huo took a deep look at Chen Xian, and said after a while, "A bronze key."
Seeing that he was unwilling to say more, Chen Xian didn't ask any more questions, and continued to wait for his next words.
"The key was in our hands at first, but then it was lost due to an accident. It was not until 1998 that we got a tip that the key was in Hong Jinxi's hands..." Fatty Huo sighed, with a tired face, "We are looking for him , but I have been looking for it for twenty-one years!"
When Fatty Huo said this, his voice was cadenced and he was speaking from the bottom of his heart. If others heard it, they would definitely feel a lot of emotion, but Chen Xian just nodded.
"and then?"
"..."
Fatty Huo was silent for a few seconds before he said, "He turned himself in to the police station. After preliminary interrogation, we got a lot of useful information."
"Hong Jinxi was threatened to surrender himself, and the group who threatened him had already taken away the key. According to Hong Jinxi's account to us, those people are a bit strange...they eat people."
Hearing this, Chen Xian paused while drinking tea, and there was a rare change in the expression on his face.
"Are you sure they eat people?" Chen Xian asked.
"Not sure, that's why I came to you." Fatty Huo replied.
Strictly speaking, Chen Xian and Fatty Huo belonged to the same department, both under the Detective Department of the Bureau of Secrets. Although Chen Xian was only a temporary worker, when dealing with some special cases, internal employees had to come forward when they were uncertain.
The same is true of this case.
"Can you smoke here?" Fatty Huo asked.
Chen Xian nodded, took out an ashtray from under the coffee table and gave it to him: "It's okay, let's smoke."
After lighting the cigarette, Fatty Huo took a few puffs, and his mental state improved slightly, and the fatigue in his eyes was dispelled by the nicotine a lot.
"Hong Jinxi died during the interrogation process. According to my preliminary judgment, it should have been caused by myocardial infarction and died of fright."
Fatty Huo was smoking a cigarette while recalling the scene that appeared in the interrogation room before.
"He seemed to have seen something strange before he died."
"Unclean things?" Chen Xian thought for a while and asked tentatively, "Is it a spirit body?"
"I don't know." Fatty Huo shook his head and said, "I was the only one in the interrogation room besides him, but I did see three other figures in the reflection of his eyes, maybe they were spirit bodies."
Death is not the real end for humans or other living things.
After death, consciousness and spiritual energy will leave the body and continue to "survive" in another state. In scientific terms, this state should be a non-material special energy body, but it is actually the so-called soul, which is also called by the industry. For the spirit body.
If Hong Jinxi's death was related to these spirit bodies, or even directly caused by them, then it was certain that they were very different from ordinary spirit bodies.
Because ordinary spirit bodies cannot kill people, and they will leave after the first seven days, and will not stay in the yang world.
Chen Xian was thinking without saying a word, lowering his head slightly, looking at the teacup in his hand in a daze.
"Do you need me to help you find out the cause of Hong Jinxi's death?" Chen Xian asked.
Fatty Huo shook his head, saying that there was no need for it, there were special internal personnel to do it, and in this case, Hong Jinxi was an insignificant existence, the most important thing was the key.
"The people who threatened him to turn himself in were the ones who took the key... Who are they?" Chen Xian asked curiously.
"Do you know Wushan Mental Hospital?" Fatty Huo asked, "It's the one next to Wushan on the outskirts of your city."
Chen Xian recalled it for a while, and said he didn't know, never heard of it.
"The psychiatric hospital bought a batch of gold bricks a while ago, about a ton." Fatty Huo said, "It's because of this that they were targeted by Hong Jinxi."
A ton of gold bricks
Chen Xian couldn't believe it, what kind of mental hospital can have such a big hand
"That night, Hong Jinxi sneaked into this psychiatric hospital with his gang, intending to secretly transport these gold bricks away, but in the end they all fell down."
As Fatty Huo said, he couldn't help shaking his head.
"Except for Hong Jinxi, the rest of them were killed by the doctors in the mental hospital, and they seemed to be... eaten." Fatty Huo smoked with a sullen face, frowning, "Hong Jinxi is the only survivor, and they let him out on purpose. They said they wouldn’t kill him because of the key, but I can’t figure it out, aren’t they afraid of being exposed?”
Chen Xian took a sip of tea and didn't speak.
"This mission may be a bit dangerous, you..."
Fatty Huo glanced at Chen Xian, and felt a little twitching in his heart. Although he knew that in this special case, Lao Zhou, the contact person, would not randomly give him temporary workers, and people with no skills could not get into Lao Zhou's eyes at all, but … Is this temp a bit young
"How old are you?" Fatty Huo couldn't help asking.
"Twenty-three." Chen Xian replied.
Fatty Huo's hand holding the cigarette trembled, and he looked at Chen Xian with some doubts.
In their department, there are nearly a thousand certified temporary workers.
The ages of these temporary workers are different, there are old men in their eighties and nineties, and there are also juniors in their seventeen or eighteen years old. However, temporary workers are also divided into professional titles, which are divided into high-level, middle-level, and low-level.
These three distinct titles represent their personal abilities, and also mean that their salaries and benefits are different, and the cases they can access are also different.
If I remember correctly, Lao Zhou called before and said that the registered Chen Xian was a senior temporary worker
Are there any senior temporary workers that young
I remember the few high-level temporary workers I met before, the youngest one must be over forty years old!
Although Fatty Huo thinks so, he also knows very well that the department never raises waste. Since Chen Xian can get the senior title of temporary worker, it naturally shows that he has this ability.
After thinking about it, there is only that possibility.
"Xiao Chen, are you a stranger?"
Hearing this question, Chen Xian glanced at Fatty Huo and smiled: "If I'm not a stranger, this case can't be arranged with me, right?"
Fatty Huo laughed at himself, feeling that his question was redundant.
The concept of aliens was first proposed by Fatty Huo and his department in the 1980s, specifically referring to those who have special abilities and are different from ordinary people.
Simply put, it is a person with special functions.
Under the influence of science in recent years, supernatural powers have been denounced as metaphysics, and some have even become the subject of science fiction, causing ordinary people to lose the ability to distinguish true from false.
But what the truth is, only a very few people know the truth.
Historically, the qigong craze in the 1980s was just a carnival of falsehoods and lies to modern people. That era was rich in liars and fake masters, but it is undeniable that that era full of farce also produced a lot of strange people.
The 507 Institute established by the country was used to study these aliens in the 1980s. The official statement was to study human science and supernatural phenomena, and to carry out a scientific revolution. But as time passed, this institute also quietly faded out of everyone's vision. , The qigong craze has also turned into a grand farce.
Up to now, many people are curious, do supernatural powers really exist
In particular, some people often have this question after watching American comics, but soon they will get the answer from their hearts, it cannot exist, movies, comics and novels are all fiction, and reality is not so sci-fi.
But what about the facts
Aliens are not as exaggerated as in the movies, but they do exist, and they are inseparable from the real society. Many people have even heard of such people.
For example, Taoist priests, monks, Feng Shui masters, fortune tellers, disciples on horses, etc.
As long as there is real ability, people who can use some supernatural power or cause supernatural phenomena can be called aliens.
At present, there are two types of aliens in China.
One is the acquired alien, born with no strangeness, born as the most ordinary ordinary person, but through religious system practice, has obtained some supernatural power, most Taoist monks belong to this situation.
The second type is congenital aliens, which are extremely rare and can be treated specially by Fatty Huo and his department.
They are born with special abilities, and most of them will be awakened before they become adults. The abilities of each alien are different, and the most common ability is yin and yang eyes. In scientific terms, yin and qi particles can be observed with the naked eye. , which is the so-called Yin Qi, so that you can directly see the spirit body in the air.
In addition to having unique abilities, innate aliens have a higher ability to sense yin and yang particles. If they practice religious systems, their progress in practice will be hundreds of times faster than ordinary people.
Because of this, congenital aliens can be said to be a favorite in the department, and in Fatty Huo's department, there are only nearly a hundred people in their department.
And those temporary workers who have obtained senior professional titles are almost all born with different talents.
"You can be a high-level temporary worker at such a young age... Are you a genius?"
Fatty Huo glanced back and forth in the living room, but he didn't see any clues. There was no tablet enshrining the ancestors or any gods. It was as clean as an ordinary house.
"Which branch do you practice?" Fatty Huo asked, whether it is innate or acquired, aliens need to practice to increase their own strength. After all, supernatural powers are not a panacea, and they may not be necessary in many cases.
"Neither one nor the other." Chen Xian rubbed his nose with a smile, "Let me say yes first, I don't know how to tell fortunes, look at astrological characters, or look at Fengshui. live."
"You only clean up those dirty things?" Fatty Huo was stunned, and asked suspiciously, "Which sect are you from?"
"No family, no faction."
Fatty Huo thought for a while, and asked tentatively, "Is it from the ancestors?"
"Self-taught." Chen Xian said with a smile.
"Fuck."
Fatty Huo was blocked back and suffocated, as if someone had strangled his neck, his face flushed from holding back, and it took him a long time to speak.
"You are awesome."
Chen Xian just smiled shyly, his youthful and indifferent appearance made Fatty Huo amused.
"Can you be self-taught by cleaning those things?" Fatty Huo asked jokingly, asking him as if teasing a child, with a rare smile on his face, "How do you clean them?"
Hearing this question, Chen Xian answered without hesitation.
"Curse them when you meet them, beat them if you catch them, and eat them if you don't listen to them."
"..."
Fatty Huo was silent for two seconds, and asked cautiously: "Are you sure we are talking about the same thing?"
Chen Xian didn't make a sound, but nodded affirmatively.
"Have you eaten them?" Fatty Huo was more careful when he asked.
Chen Xian smiled, showing two rows of bright and big white teeth. The clean smile was really pretty, but what he said next made Fatty Huo a little nervous, and the fatty felt hairy when he heard it.
"I've eaten a lot, but most of them have no taste. It's better to eat white rice."
Seeing that Chen Xian didn't seem to be joking, Fatty Huo also fell silent.
After smoking the cigarette in his hand, Fatty Huo pinched the end of the cigarette, got up and said.
"The psychiatric hospital has been stared at by our people, and no escape has been found for the time being. Go and see with me now. If what you said before was not a joke... I can only rely on your protection when handling this case." me."
"Yes, bodyguard." Chen Xian laughed.
"Basically, anyway, you..."
Before Fatty Huo could finish speaking, an old-fashioned cell phone rang in his pocket. Fatty Huo took out the phone, glanced at it, and connected the call.
"What's wrong?" Fatty Huo asked.
Fatty Huo's subordinate Zhang Dahai was on the phone. He was fully responsible for the follow-up operation in the mental hospital this time, and he could be regarded as a small leader.
"Boss! Something happened here!"
Zhang Dahai's broken gong voice came out through the phone, almost like a broken loudspeaker specializing in subwoofers, even Chen Xian who was standing beside him could hear it.
"The mental hospital is on fire!"