Professor Tong has an apartment in the county, very generous, but not luxurious, the shelves are full of all kinds of books, I picked out one while waiting for him, turned a few pages casually, a yellow sunflower specimen fell out, Professor Tong said behind me, "It's all Xiaoyanagi Cai, she likes these, and she clips each of my books as a bookmark." ”

I put the book back and waited for him to follow.

"I know you're still blaming me, if I was—" The professor's back was hunched, and at first glance, it seemed that he was in his old age.

"Let's talk about the present." I interrupted him.

He sighed lightly, as if he was a few years old in an instant, "Our investigation team has lost contact, and the last call is very unclear, and we are asking someone to analyze it." ”

"That is, it has not come to fruition yet." I say.

The professor nodded, "But trust me, our team is very professional. ”

"Last time, we believed in you, and your team was not amateur." I said lightly, and the professor was speechless, just bowing his head and sighing.

"I'm sure the team will have made a big gain, as long as they can get in touch......" he paused and looked up at me, "or find them......

I sneered in my heart, he was finally about to tell his true purpose for meeting me.

"Xiao Li, if you can-"

"I can't." I interrupted him, "I'm not going to do anything for you anymore, and I'm not going to risk my own life again." ”

Professor Tong looked at me with a complicated expression, hesitated for a long time, and finally said, "But you've been taking risks!" ”

I looked back at him, and my heart shook slightly.

"In the past six years, you have been back to Songhu no less than ten times...... went deep into the hinterland of Inner Mongolia twice; Three trips to the mountains of Miao District; five times bordering the southern border; Once, Professor Tong ...... talking about me, like peeling the skin of a green onion, found that I was staring at him, and explained, "Xiao Li, don't get me wrong, I didn't mean to spy on you, every time you travel with teammates, people in our industry are indispensable." You should know that a lot of the time we share resources and information. ”

"In the industry? What line of work is the professor now? I'm afraid it's not just archaeology......" I asked.

Professor Tong was silent for a moment, "Yes, I have never given up looking for Xiaoliu's whereabouts over the years, and at the same time, I am also helping her complete her unfinished business...... Actually, I know that you are the same, otherwise you wouldn't have ventured to those places. ”

"For me, these are 'businesses'—" I said, "when people pay me, I take risks with them, and if I give more money, I work harder, and if I give less, I have to save my own life...... It's no different from a 'bodyguard'. ”

"But I've heard that you're particularly concerned about 'anomorphic creatures', and you've personally exterminated several species."

"Is the professor trying to say that I am a sinner in nature?" I sneered.

"Nope! On the contrary, I feel that you are a hero of humanity and harmony with nature! Professor Tong's eyes were resolute, and only at this moment did I see his courage and determination six years ago, "There are some things that should not exist on a civilized earth!" That's what Koyanagi said in his previous notes. I fully support you, and it is precisely because of the selfless efforts of people like you behind the scenes that we have made human society ......"

"Professor, you said me too noblely, or that sentence, I'm just for money." I interrupted him again, "Besides, I'm tired too and I'm going to stop." ”

"And you still carry these things with you?" Professor Tong stared at the suitcase in my hand, "I didn't mean to snoop, there is a detection instrument at the door." ”

"Wait until your investigation is final, come back to me." I diverted the topic, turned around and walked out, he stopped pestering and asked Tong Yang to send me back.

In the car, I saw a woman, with heavy makeup and glamorous makeup, thick fat powder covering her face, and I couldn't tell her actual age, but her figure was fat, it should be above forty, she kept telling Tong Yang that this car was too old and should be replaced, and said that Tong Yang couldn't dress up, and she would hit her in the face when she went out, I thought the woman was Tong Yang's elder at first, and then I heard Lu Yao and them say that it was his girlfriend-

Tong Yang resigned less than a year after I returned to my hometown, and some people said that it was because of the exaggerated work and the leaders did not want to be seen; Others said that he felt guilty and couldn't get over his own hurdle; But more people firmly believe that he fell because of this, was wrapped up by a "rich woman", had no worries about food and clothing, and was far away from danger......

Tong Yang wanted to talk to me several times in the car, but seeing that my face was cold, he didn't open his mouth until I got out of the car, and he squeezed out a sentence, "Yang, I'm sorry...... I miss her too......"

……

As agreed, I met the girl named Zhou Yi at a breakfast shop. After breakfast time, the berries and fruits (soy milk fritters) had already been sold out, and we each ordered a bowl of tofu brain, plus two drawers of steamed buns.

The girl was dressed very neatly today, a pale yellow down jacket, a woolen ski hat, and she spoke quickly, and without waiting for me to ask, she explained the "trouble" she said clearly.

Her mother went to visit relatives in the countryside a few days ago, and encountered a strange thing -

At that time, there was a horror movie that was very popular, and there was a passage about a "female ghost" who climbed up from a well to harm people, and the scene was terrifying, and some local bear children imitated it and climbed up and down in a dry well in the village.

But then something happened, a boy with the most courage played a prank, it was dark and the cat went into the well, intending to "surprise attack" to scare the aunts and aunts in the village, but after waiting for more than half an hour, a scream came from the well, and the other friends came up to take a look, and suddenly they were stupid - the dry well was flooded with water, and the man had long disappeared.

The villagers immediately went down to the well to look for it, but they didn't see anyone in the end, and the police also rushed to the rescue, but there was no shadow of the boy. A few pumps were transferred to drain the water, but no matter how it was pumped, the well water was so high, just when the child's parents were crying darkly, some villagers who went up the mountain to pick firewood brought the boy back, saying that he was found in a cave halfway up the mountain, the child was confused, and he had a high fever that night, and he has not woken up until now. The old people in the village all said that this was a "ghost door", which was a sign that the village was about to suffer a catastrophe, which made people panic, and now they dare not go out at night.

After Zhou Yi finished speaking, seeing that I didn't have a stubble, he added, "How about it?" Isn't it weird? ”

"Then you have found the wrong person, you should invite a Taoist priest or a great fairy, I can't do this." I heard Lu Yao mention the term "turning over the ghost gate", someone disappeared in a daze, and inexplicably appeared in other places, and the superstitious old man thought that this was a mistake into the "ghost gate", and then released it. Over the years, I've looked up similar news, but most of them are made up out of thin air, based on supernatural novels and ghost stories.

Seeing that I was not impressed, Zhou Yi was a little anxious, "I said, why don't you have any curiosity?" Doesn't it feel like it's a bit similar to what you experienced six years ago? ”

I knew that she was referring to Tong Liu's disappearance, and Lu Yao must have mentioned it to her. I said that curiosity doesn't just kill cats, people die even worse. Come, I'll tell you something even weirder-