"Have you ever heard a word?"

"What?"

"Build bridges and repair roads, and there are no bones."

"What do you mean?"

"According to legend, there was such a custom a long time ago, before the construction of the bridge, a pair of boys and girls were captured alive and buried alive in the piers at the head and end of the bridge, which can not only ensure the safety of the construction period, but also make these two children become the guardian saints of the bridge, and the people call it a pile."

"Driving stakes?" Gu Changfeng shook his head: "I've never heard of this appearance." ”

"It is rumored that this stake was first proposed by a person named Luban, so it is also called Luban stake. In the people, they attach great importance to the start of construction and groundbreaking, and they are very particular, they believe that every time the ground is broken will destroy the local feng shui, it will bring bad things, in order to reverse the feng shui situation, slightly larger civil engineering projects will drive piles. I also heard an old craftsman mention it, whether it is true or not, I can't verify it, but when I heard this, I instantly felt a cold sweat flowing. ”

"Madame thinks these children are ......."

Yan Suwen nodded, looking at the seven boys in a row: "What do adults think these children's postures look like?" ”

"Like lifting?"

"What if it's the other way around?" Yan Suwen made a reversal pose: "These seven children are all boys, and their hands and feet have been artificially broken, and then supplemented by tools to make them look like this." Don't adults think they look like the holes of arched bridges? ”

"Bridge hole?"

"The limbs are the supports, the back is the point of focus, and the curved body is a hole. Of the seven children, the eldest is about nine years old, the next two are about seven years old, these two are the second, about five years old, and the two youngest, about three years old. One, two, two, two, exactly seven. There are also adults, please see, in addition to the eldest child, the remaining six children are also of similar age and height, which is obviously not a coincidence, but was carefully selected and deliberately arranged by the murderer. ”

"Madame just mentioned that this stake has to bury the child alive......"

"Hmm." Yan Su asked and nodded: "I have just checked, these seven children, in addition to the three big ones who have traces of being forcibly bound, they have also been injected with the same drug. This drug, which has an anesthetic effect, can make people lose all sensory perception in a short period of time, and even when their hands and feet are broken, there is no reaction. ”

"Lord Zuo."

"The lower official is here."

"Have you ever identified these seven children?"

"Back to Xiangye, after discovering the bodies of these seven children, the lower official ordered the messenger to inquire, and so far, only this one can be confirmed." Zuo Zongquan pointed to the eldest child and said: "This child's big name is Mao Youcai, and his little name is Mao Child, his father and mother have passed away a long time ago, and he grew up with his uncle and aunt since he was a child." Under the fence, life is naturally not very comfortable, and his uncle and aunt's family is also very difficult, so this child is very young on the street to earn a living. "How can such an old child earn a living on his own?"

"Hey!" Zuo Zongquan sighed: "In the early years, following some second bastards, sneaking around, because of his young age, being caught was just two punches and two kicks. When he was seven or eight years old, he was taken by the old bustard of Baihualou, saying that he was clever and knew the rules of doing things, so he asked him to do some cleaning and serving work in the building. This hairy boy is white and clean, and his mouth is sweet, which is liked by those guests and liked by those girls, and he has gained a lot of weight in the past two years. ”

"How do you know these things, Lord Zuo?"

"Xiangye is aware that the lower officials have never been to such a place, these are all said by the people below."

"The people below?"

"It's the person sent by the lower officials to verify their identity." Zuo Zongquan wiped the sweat on his head again: "Among the lowly officials in the Criminal Department, there is a person named Mao Buxu, who happens to be the child's own family, and the place where he lives is very close to the Baihualou. After bringing these children back, the lower officials ordered people to draw portraits and let them visit them privately. With just one glance, the hairy man recognized the child, so the only one who can be confirmed right now is this hairy child. ”

"Have you sent someone to Baihualou to ask?"

"If you go back to Xiangye, I went, but the person who was sent to interrogate has not come back yet." As soon as Zuo Zongquan finished speaking, he heard someone knocking on the door outside, and after going out to ask a few words, he turned back and bowed his head and said, "Xiangye, the person sent to Baihualou for questioning is back." ”

"Let him come in and talk back."

"Yes!" Zuo Zongquan went out, and after a while, he led a person dressed in the clothes of the criminal department back. This person has a childish appearance, and depending on his age, he is no more than eighteen or nineteen years old. Although his face was dark, he obviously had a hint of redness, and his clothes were also torn by someone.

"What's your name?" Yan Su asked, and the man didn't even raise his head, so he blushed again.

"Subordinate...... The subordinate is named Li Erxing. ”

"When you went to Baihualou to interrogate, but you were troubled by the girl there?"

"I didn't ...... No trouble. ”

"It's okay, I know what's going on there." Yan Suwen was originally relieving this nervous little errand, but Gu Changfeng, who didn't want to stand aside, frowned after hearing what she said.

"You don't have to be nervous, talk slowly, can you find out about that child?"

"Back to ...... Back to Mrs. Hui's words, they are ...... It's all clear. Li Erxing's nervous forehead also oozed a row of dense beads of sweat. It was estimated that when Zuo Zongquan called him in, he was worried that he would be rude, and told him Gu Changfeng's identity.

It is normal for an ordinary petty official to be nervous in the face of a boss who is older than him and knows how many levels. Moreover...... Yan Suwen looked around. Besides, corpses are still parked here, and the air is filled with the smell of corpse decay. Eighteen or nineteen-year-old boys, in Dawei, are already at the age when they can start a family and take charge of the portal alone, but in her original world, she is just a child.

Thinking of this, Yan Suwen didn't urge anymore, but just motioned for Gu Changfeng to wait patiently with her. Li Erxing secretly took a few breaths and replied: "My subordinates went to Baihualou according to Lord Zuo's instructions, and I also saw the shopkeeper of Baihualou. According to the flower girl, the hairy boy left Baihualou in the evening seven days ago. At that time, Baihualou had just opened its doors and had not yet welcomed guests. A girl named Yan Hong in the building sent her hairy boy to buy her rouge, but she never came back. ”

"Where is the rouge?"

"It's at the end of the street, not too far from Baihualou. Baihualou is just an ordinary Qingloufang, the business is not good, the girls' private money is limited, but these rouge gouaches used for decoration have to be bought at their own expense, so they dare not go, and they can't choose those big rouge shops. The house at the end of the street is often taken care of by the girls, and the shopkeeper's surname is Hu, who is also a frequent visitor in their Baihualou. ”

"What did Miss Scarlet say?"

As Hua Niang said, she found that she didn't have enough rouge when she got up to make up, so she asked the girl who was waiting next to her to call the hairy boy over, gave him some loose silver, and sent him to the rouge shop at the end of the street to buy rouge. Miss Yanhong said that the hairy boy usually has very quick hands and feet, and the foot is fast, and she never covets the girls' things in private, so whatever the girls in the building need, they will let the hairy boy buy it. This rouge shop is not far from Baihualou, and it is said that she will come back after drinking two sips of tea, but that day, she waited for a long time, and when the guests came, she didn't see the hairy child. For this reason, she also lost her temper with Hua Niang, and she didn't pick up customers well at night. ”

"What did the shopkeeper of the rouge shop say?"

"I said I didn't see the hairy boy."

"Didn't see that?"

"Yes! Mao Boy often helps the girls in Baihualou to buy rouge, and is also very familiar with the shopkeeper of this rouge shop, but according to the shopkeeper, he didn't see Mao Boy that evening. At that hour, it may be the most deserted time for Baihualou, but the street is still very lively, and the shopkeepers adjacent to the rouge shop also said that they did not see the hairy boy. ”

"Do you have a map?"

Gu Changfeng gave Gu Yunfei a look, and Gu Yunfei went to the door to summon Zuo Zongquan and asked him to find a map of Yecheng and come over. Li Erxing was not nervous this time, and when he saw Yan Suwen spread out the map, he came to her and told her the location of Baihualou, the location of the rouge shop, and the route that the hairy boy walked during daily shopping. Judging from the map, it is a very straight street, and there are no other forks except for a dark alley.

"Where does this dark alley lead?"

"It's a dead end, and there are only three families in it."

"Can you be familiar with the furry boy?"

"The three families belong to the same clan, and they all have the surname Tan. In the household on the left, the son and daughter-in-law have all died, leaving only an old woman to live with her grandson. The two households on the right are brothers, and the elder brother Tan Hu is a thug in the casino and has not yet married a wife. The younger brother Tan Bao is a butcher who sells meat, and he just married a woman surnamed Wei last year. These three families have no dealings with the hairy children, and there is no conflict and hypocrisy. In addition, when the hairy child disappeared, the old woman took her grandson to visit relatives and was not at home that night. Brother Tan Hu, in the casino, there are gamblers to testify. The younger brother Tan Bao killed pigs at home to prepare for the next day's stall, and his wife was with him at that time. ”

"You know very well."

"My lord said that when the Criminal Department handles the case, no clues can be missed. This clue is often hidden in an unnoticed place. ”

"For example, this place?" Yan Su asked and pressed his index finger somewhere on the map, "Why is this piece marked black?" ”