Chapter 5: Cracks
In this way, three days later, the day of Xiaoling's ascent to the mountain arrived, and at noon, all my relatives and friends participated in the mourning ceremony, including the mark, of course. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info The annoying thing is that there is such an unwritten rule in our side, anyone who dies before the age of 50 cannot be buried in the ancestral mountain of the village, but can only be buried on a barren mountain in the next village.
The elders looked at the time, and at the signal of the funeral host, the long humanoid procession lined up according to the rules, eight stout men carried Xiaoling's coffin and walked in the front, the eldest brother followed closely with Xiaoling's posthumous photo, in the middle were laborers and bands holding white items, and finally the honor guard and neighbors.
According to the rules of the village, Xiaoling's coffin should go around three circles outside the village, no matter who we meet, as Xiaoling's relatives, we must kneel and salute, according to the past, it is to "atone" for Xiaoling.
The barren mountain was not far from us, like a mud tun, and after three circles around the village, our group went up the mountain. Along the way, I saw many graves on the side of the road, but most of them were overgrown with weeds, and they were probably old, and their descendants could not remember that such a relative was buried here, so no one took care of them.
Thinking of the desolation around Xiaoling's "home" after her death, I felt a sour feeling in my heart, but unfortunately what could I change.
Four hours later, the burial had been completed, and some people dispersed one after another after worshipping Xiaoling. With the support of my eldest brother, my parents, who had long been crying, also left, and there was a huge barren mountain, leaving only me and Biaozi.
Looking at the lonely grave in front of me, I couldn't hold back for a while, tears fell again, at this moment I understood, understood the value of life, and understood the taste of "losing a person".
Biaozi stepped forward to comfort me a few words, saying that the matter has passed, you shouldn't blame yourself, and then accompanied me to burn a stack of thick paper money on Xiaoling's new grave.
For three whole days, I lived in a daze as if I had lost my soul, and it was not until the next day that Lao Cai came to the door again, and my mood slowly recovered, and after that day, the most important turning point in my life took place.
Seeing that I looked lifeless, Lao Cai handed me a cigarette and persuaded: "Comrade Xiao Yang, don't be sad, let's talk about business first, I hope you can provide us with some clues." "After that, he began to introduce me to people.
It turned out that after Lao Cai went back, he quickly reported the matter, thinking that such a bizarre case would definitely not agree to his request, and maybe he would be criticized. Surprisingly, the next day, the Municipal Public Security Bureau called, not only agreed to all of Lao Cai's requests, but also sent a professor-level biological expert to assist in the investigation.
And at this moment, the person Lao Cai introduced to me was the professor named Zhang Decheng in front of him, this person looked like a radiant look, and his eyes were particularly bright, giving people a feeling of great wisdom and foolishness. The figure also looks very strong, if Lao Cai hadn't told his real age, I really wouldn't have seen that he was fifty-one years old.
Professor Zhang Decheng did not beat around the bush, even more direct than Lao Cai, he immediately asked me: "Comrade Xiao Yang, although I heard Captain Cai talk about the water monkey, but as a professor of biology, I think it is necessary to listen to you again, because it is very likely that Captain Cai has ignored some details. ”
Professor Zhang Decheng did not speak in a hurry or impatience, but his expression seemed a little serious, which made me feel like a prisoner was being interrogated. I was in a very bad mood at the time, and even a little disgusted with him, and said very impatiently: "You go and ask my friend about this matter, and I also listened to him." ”
Being splashed with such a basin of cold water by me, Professor Zhang's face looked very ugly, and he probably felt that I didn't give him face, no matter how he said that he was also a big professor. Seeing that the situation was wrong, the standard on the side hurriedly explained to me: "This Professor Zhang, don't be surprised, my buddy has been in a bad mood recently, you can ask me if there is anything, I am the real witness." ”
Professor Zhang's face changed slightly, cast a suspicious look at the target, and asked, "But I heard Captain Cai say that your words are a bit unrealistic." "Professor Zhang said this, it is completely the same meaning, your kid is unreliable, we can't believe you.
Biaozi was extremely embarrassed, stared at Lao Cai with bull's eyes, and said angrily: "The surname is Cai, did you say anything bad about me in front of others again?" ”
Lao Cai knew that Biaozi was an acute child, and he didn't talk nonsense with him, so he immediately smiled and said: "Don't get excited, I didn't say anything, that is, when you describe the water monkey, you have a strong mythological color." ”
In front of so many people, Biaozi couldn't say anything, he poured himself a cup of tea, turned his head to the side, and there was such a meaning in it, since you can't trust me, then it's better for me not to exist.
Seeing that Biaozi and I had an indifferent attitude, Lao Cai's face was distorted into a bitter gourd head, and finally persuaded me: "Comrade Xiao Yang, I know that you are sad now, but you must know that now is not the time to be sad." So please cooperate with our work and tell Professor Zhang about the water monkeys! Are we waiting to go down to the Black Pool? ”
Down the Black Pool? Are they going to go into the water to find the water monkeys? I couldn't help but be moved in my heart, so to speak, the matter of Heishuitan this time has finally made a big fuss, and it has also been taken seriously by the top management above? This is a good thing for me, so I nodded, and did not shirk it again, and immediately told Professor Zhang exactly what I encountered with Biaozi in Heishuitan that day.
This professor Zhang is really very professional, just listening to my description, he immediately came to a conclusion, he said that he has heard a lot of rumors of water monkeys in the past, and this strange creature is not only in Hunan, but also in some mountain villages in the north.
He also said that although the legend was a bit overdone, he believed that this strange creature absolutely existed, and this view coincided with my thoughts.
After confirming my words and that of Biaozi, Professor Zhang nodded, and then said to me: "Comrade Xiao Yang, we will definitely find out the truth about this matter, but I have one more request, I hope you can agree." ”
What would be the request, was it to ask me to go into the water with him to catch the water monkeys? But it's okay, although it's a bit risky, but I've long wanted to see what this water monkey is. So immediately said, "As long as your request is not excessive, I will grant you." ”
Professor Zhang nodded and said, "That's fine, because you are a friend of Captain Cai, and you happen to know more about the water monkeys, so I have decided to stay at your house for the time being until this matter is clarified, of course, including some technicians from the Oceanic Bureau, I hope you can be accommodating." ”
I was feeling bored, when did I become friends with Lao Cai, and I have only known each other for a few days? But I didn't hesitate and agreed.
Although Lao Cai said that Xiao Ling's death had nothing to do with the water monkey, but since that day, after Biaozi saw the water monkey with his own eyes, I didn't take Lao Cai's words seriously at all, and I decided in my heart that Xiao Ling's death must be related to the water monkey, so I couldn't get used to Professor Zhang in front of me, but I still tried to cooperate with him, because I wanted to see Xiao Ling's murderer die as soon as possible.
In the afternoon, my mother vacated the two houses next door, and not long after, Professor Zhang brought three staff members of the Oceanic Bureau to my house and introduced them to me one by one.
Later, I learned that there were far more people sent by the Oceanic Bureau, and there were seven or eight people living in Lao Cai's house, but they had put some underwater survey instruments in my house, saying that these guys were too big to move around.
In the evening, Professor Zhang arranged all the things about the detection of the Black Water Pool, and I heard that they had made a detector in the Black Water Pool, because they didn't want to take the risk directly, and after trying to figure out the underwater situation, they decided whether to go into the water or not, and connected to the computer at home, and the survey route of the detector can be left and right on the computer, which is very convenient.
Through the operation of several staff members of the Oceanic Bureau, it didn't take long for me to see the picture of the bottom of the Black Water Pool on Professor Zhang's laptop, and the image inside was quite clear.
Under everyone's gaze, the surveyor slowly sank to the bottom of the lake, according to the data on the computer, the black water pool is not very deep, only less than 30 meters, but the water temperature difference between the upper and lower is large, the surface water temperature is 15 degrees, and the water temperature below is 4 degrees.
But it's also very strange, I saw that the detector was in the water for a long time, but I didn't see a single fish swimming, could there be no fish in such a large pool? Professor Zhang explained, he said that the sensory system of the fish is very strong, and it must be scared away by the infrared rays emitted by the detector, so we can't see it.
At about ten o'clock in the evening, Professor Zhang called the three people from the Oceanic Bureau to rest, but he was still sitting in front of the computer and working. I guess I found something, so I hurriedly walked over and cast my eyes on the computer screen.
I saw a lot of stones on the screen, different shapes, but all the colors were black, seeing this, I was more and more sure in my heart, the reason why the water in the black pool looked turbid must be because of these black stones.
And the stranger thing is behind, the probe moved dozens of meters, I didn't expect that there were these black stones all the way, could it be that the entire black water pool is covered with such strange stones? I had doubts in my heart, and I thought it was possible.
At this time, a vertical crack appeared in front of the detector, but the shape was very irregular, which should be naturally formed. The crack opened in a cliff, and bubbles bubbled out of it from time to time, and I don't know how deep it was. Professor Zhang said that if there were real monkeys in the waterhole, it was likely to inhabit these cracks, so the mouse clicked a few times on the computer to control the probe to enter the cracks.
The road surface was a little uneven, and the detector skipped a bit as it moved, but it still approached the edge of the crack smoothly. But at this moment, the camera shook suddenly, as if there was an earthquake over there, stirring up a series of blisters.
I was wondering what was going on, when all of a sudden, I saw a furry thing bobbing around the camera, and then the detector went silent and it was pitch black in front of us.
Professor Zhang said angrily: "It must be a good thing done by the water monkey, now it's troublesome, the detector has also been destroyed, and we don't have a spare, do we still go to the city to get it?" ”
Although the picture that appears on the computer screen is colorless, it does not affect the underwater resolution, I looked carefully just now, it seems to be a big furry hand, a drag away the detector, it is definitely a water monkey right.
At this time, Professor Zhang confirmed his guess even more, saying that the water monkey was 100% inhabited in that crack, and there should be enough space inside. After thinking about it, Professor Zhang immediately decided that since he had found the habitat of the water monkeys, there was no need to explore it anymore, and he would directly prepare for the water tomorrow.