The group walked out of the mountain gate.

Standing on the steps in front of the mountain gate, you can see the stone village hidden under the pine and cypress.

The pine and cypress of the stone village are as tall and stout as the trees in the Cold Moon Temple, which shows that the history of the stone village is as long as that of the Cold Moon Temple.

The high ridges and upturned cornices hidden under the pine and ancient cypress also reveal the atmosphere of ancient vicissitudes.

When the comrades went up the mountain, they once passed the stone village, and at that time, everyone was thinking about the case, so they didn't pay special attention to the ancient buildings of the stone village.

As soon as he walked into the village, Zhao Zimeng understood the origin of the name of the stone village: the walls of all the houses in the village, including the courtyard wall, were made of stone.

All the roads here are paved with stone slabs, and the stones used are bluestone.

In Zhao Zimeng's impression, the stones of all the buildings and steps in Lengyue Temple are also made of bluestone, so walking in this village, there is a bit of déjà vu.

Zhao Zimeng noticed that in the middle of the stone village, whether it was the door block or the door head, there were extremely exquisite patterns carved.

However, due to the erosion of wind and rain and time, most of the stone carvings have been mottled and broken.

These stones silently tell the long history of the stone village.

At the entrance of the village, three towering ancient banyan trees stand out impressively, these three banyan trees have deep roots and thick leaves, and the roots are intertwined.

The canopies of the three trees grew so well that they were connected to each other, covering the courtyards of the three families.

There is also a large stone mill under a banyan tree in the middle, which has been split into several parts, and some places are still a little broken.

There are two courtyard gates next to the big mill, there is a pair of drum-shaped door blocks in front of the courtyard gate, and there are three stone steps outside the threshold, and the threshold is thirty centimeters high.

"Captain Zhao, this is Teng Laosan's family." Supervisor Jueshui said as he walked towards the courtyard gate.

Supervisor Jueshui just wanted to pick up the knocker and knock on the door, but the courtyard door opened automatically, and the bolt of the door was not plugged in.

Supervisor Jueshui pushed the courtyard door open a little, and then said to the courtyard, "Is anyone at home?" ”

"Someone, please come in." From inside the hall came the voice of an old man.

Master Jueshui said that the courtyard door was completely opened, and the group walked into the courtyard.

An old man of about sixty years old came out of the hall: "This—isn't this Master Jueshui!" Rare guest...... Rare guests. The old man glanced at a few people: "Come in and sit down." ”

"Captain Zhao, this is Teng Laosan, Teng Laosan, this is Captain Zhao of the Criminal Investigation Team of the Municipal Public Security Bureau."

"Uncle Teng, I'm sorry to disturb you." Zhao Zimeng said politely.

"Oh, your honorable guest welcomes you, this public security comrade must be here for the case in the temple! Please come into the house and sit down and talk. Teng Laosan introduced the group into the hall.

At this moment, an old woman in her fifties came out of the back kitchen, with an apron tied around her body, her sleeves rolled up high, and some cornmeal on her fingers—she was making noodles in the kitchen.

Seeing someone enter the hall, the old woman quickly turned around and went into the kitchen, washed her hands, wiped the water on her hands with her apron, and then walked out of the kitchen, took out two benches from the west wing, and entered the hall.

Zhao Zimeng could see that although the Teng family's house was dilapidated, there were many houses.

He counted a little: the main room, the east and west wings, and the kitchen, there were eleven rooms in total.

There are only two chairs and a bench in the hall.

"Master Jueshui, please take a seat—please take a seat." The old woman set up the bench and greeted Master Jueshui.

"me, go make some cups of tea." Teng Lao Sandao.

"Hey, I'm going to make tea."

The old woman walked out of the hall, and Teng Laosan beckoned everyone to sit down.

"Dad, are we here?" Suddenly, a young man's voice came from inside the Westroom.

And they went after the voice, but no one came out of the inner room.

"Yes! Master Jueshui is here. Ergui, you lie down and don't move. Dad and Master Jueshui talked. ”

Zhao Zimeng guessed that the person lying in the West House should be Teng Laosan's son who had his leg broken by a stone.

Zhao Zimeng could feel that the Teng family's life was very tight.

There was nothing but a large table with cracked panels, two worn-out chairs, and a few long benches.

Zhao Zimeng glanced around, but in broad daylight, the light in the hall was very dim.

After everyone sat down, Teng Laosan sat down on a chair by himself.

Zhao Zimeng saw the difficulties of life from Teng Laosan's tightly knit brows.

After the old woman put the teacup on the big table, she was about to leave the hall when she was stopped by Zhao Zimeng: "Aunt Teng, you can also sit down and talk to us." ”

Aunt Teng obediently took out a bamboo chair from the east room and sat at the door solemnly.

"Boss isn't home today?" Master Jueshui looked at Aunt Teng and said.

"The boss is busy in the quarry!" Aunt Teng said.

"And what about the three girls?"

"Three daughters got married a few years ago."

"Now, can life be passable?"

"Thank you Master Jueshui for your concern, after the three daughters got married, our days are much more relaxed." Teng Laosan smiled bitterly.

"There was a murder at the monastery, have you heard?" Master Jueshui said.

"I heard that just now, there were a lot of people in the stockade. Just now, there were still many people standing under the big banyan tree talking about the case! ”

"Captain Zhao, they want to ask you something." Jueshui Supervisor said.

"What do you want to ask?" Teng Lao Sandao.

"Uncle Teng, Aunt Teng, fifteen years ago, there was a group of craftsmen working in the Cold Moon Temple, did they live in your house and partner here?" Zhao Zimeng asked Teng Laosan about the situation that Master Jueshui told him.

"Yes, they eat and live in my house, and I cook them three meals a day." Teng Laosan did not shy away from telling the truth.

"How many of them are there?"

"There are ...... in total," Teng Laosan pondered, "Lianjiang foreman, there are seventeen people in total. ”

"Two old men, according to our judgment, the person who died in the belly of Shakyamuni Buddha is probably one of those people." Zhao Zimeng said.

"Comrade Public Security, dare to ask, how old is this person?" Aunt Teng said.

"It's a young man, between thirty-one and thirty-three."

"At this age, it's hard to say." Aunt Teng shook her head and said.

"Yes! Half of those men were in their early thirties. Teng Laosan added.

"This guy has a tooth that's very special."

"What kind of special law?" Teng Lao Sandao.

"There's a tooth under the gum that grows in."

"The teeth grow inward, and you can't see it with a dozen eyes, but there is an offspring with two tiger teeth."

"Don't those people usually talk to you?"

"Talking, but not much, they sleep in my house except for eating, and every time they eat, it is the old woman who brings the food to the west wing—they make a bunk on the ground in the west wing. After eating, I either went to sleep or went to the temple to do work. Teng Lao Sandao.

"I have three daughters in my family, and they are very shy and rarely speak. Besides, they spend a very short time in my house every day. Aunt Teng said.

"Yes! They were in a hurry, and most of the work had to be completed in half a year, sometimes until about twelve o'clock in the night. We rarely get to meet them, and if we can sit down and say a few words face-to-face, we might still be able to see the teeth. Teng Lao Sandao.

"Two old men, you should always remember their appearance!"

"I remember that they stayed in my house for nearly half a year." Aunt Teng said,

"We serve food to the West Wing three times a day in the morning, noon and evening, and sometimes, I also serve them rice and hand them steamed buns, I can remember the appearance."

"However, I have to be a living person standing in front of me to recognize it, and you must not let me look at the skull!"

"Aunt Teng, we have arranged for someone to paint a portrait of the deceased, and after the portrait comes out, we will show it to you for identification. Please cooperate with me then. ”

"Can you paint a portrait of a skull exactly like a real person?" Aunt Teng frowned.

"Don't worry, auntie, it's guaranteed to be exactly the same as the real person."

"Okay, as long as it's exactly like a real person, I'll recognize it."

Zhao Zimeng also wanted to know more about the situation: "The two old men, when Foreman Jiang's gang left, did they leave from your house?" ”

"Yes."

"Were they seventeen when they left?"

"It should have been seventeen people, but we didn't count them, it was our husband and wife who sent them out of the stockade. There are few people, we will remember the number of people, a dozen people, and don't care. Aunt Teng said.

"Who would have thought of such a thing? There were too many of them, and they were in a hurry to leave, and we didn't care if there was one person missing. Teng Lao Sandao.

"Dad, when they leave, Ge Zhenggen should say goodbye to me." The man in the Westinghouse suddenly said something very abrupt.

It turned out that the man lying inside the Westroom had been listening to the conversation outside.

"Ergui is right, when they came home after they went down the mountain, Ergui told me about it. Ergui was very angry at the time, Xiaoge and Ergui usually played so well together, and they didn't say hello when they left. ”

Zhao Zimeng felt that these two expensive words were very important, so he asked: "Two old people, who are lying in the back room?" ”

"It's our second son, Ergui, who broke a leg and was paralyzed." Aunt Teng's expression was very sad.

"Is it convenient for the second expensive to come out and talk?"

"It's inconvenient, our old couple is old, we can't move him, we can only let him lie on the bed."

Zhao Zimeng stood up and said gently: "Since it is inconvenient for Comrade Ergui to come out, can we go to the inner room?" ”

"I'm sorry, the back room is so dirty...... Ergui is also afraid of seeing people. Only...... Speaking like this, Ergui can hear it. Teng Laosan's face was embarrassed.

Seeing this, Zhao Zimeng no longer insisted, and said with concern:

"It's not a thing for Ergui to lie in bed all day, didn't you take him to the doctor?"

"Back then, his kneecaps and calf bones were smashed by stones rolling down from the mountain, and at that time, his family was so poor that the bell rang......" Teng Laosan couldn't go on.

"Is he just lying in bed all the time?"

"His eldest brother works in the quarry, and we can't get him, so we can only ......," Aunt Teng choked up.

The life of the Teng family was even more difficult than what Zhao Zimeng and his comrades saw.