After several migrant workers recorded their confessions, Zhao Da asked them to be sent out. I immediately decided to go to Tiemuguan, and without hesitation, Zhao Da agreed. Our destination is a relatively remote small county town, where there is a Xianglin Mountain, and Tiemuguan is on the Xiangshan Forest. Zhao Da told me that even if we didn't take a break, it would take us more than five hours to get to that small county town.

Time was in a hurry, and Zhao Da immediately went down to explain the affairs of the police force. I looked at my watch, it was almost nine o'clock in the morning, I called my mother, and told her not to go to Shen Nuo again, my mother was sullen, and hung up the phone after a few perfunctory words. I was a little helpless, put the phone away, and saw Xiao Nan blinking at me.

Not long after I came in, Lao Zhang put Xiao Nan in the office and went out to buy us breakfast. Xiao Nan combed a ponytail today, compared to yesterday, Xiao Nan's face is much better-looking, but a discerning person can see at a glance that the child is sick.

When I turned my head to look at Xiao Nan, Xiao Nan suddenly cried with a "wow", I was helpless, I hadn't had much contact with children, so I wouldn't coax. At this time, Lao Zhang came back, he hurriedly put down the things in his hand and hugged Xiao Nan, Lao Zhang patted Xiao Nan's back while coaxing.

Finally, Xiao Nan stopped crying, she put her mouth to Lao Zhang's ear, and I didn't know what to say, Lao Zhang turned his head to look at me, his eyes were very weird, I didn't open my mouth, Lao Zhang smiled and told me, the child is timid, and he is afraid when he sees strangers. What Lao Zhang said immediately made me realize that something was wrong.

Lao Zhang is very careful with this granddaughter, if Xiao Nan is really so afraid of people, Lao Zhang will not put Xiao Nan alone in the office. Before he had time to ask, Zhao Da ran in, he had already taken off his police uniform and changed into civilian clothes. Zhao Da saw the breakfast that Lao Zhang bought at a glance, unceremoniously stuffed two mouthfuls into his mouth, and handed me some.

I didn't have much of an appetite and took it and put the food aside.

"Professor Li, I'm ready, it's not too early, let's leave now." Zhao Da hurriedly ate a few bites and urged me to set off.

Lao Zhang hugged Xiao Nan and buried her head in his arms. I glanced at Lao Zhang, asked him to be careful, and then went out of the police station with Zhao Da. Zhao Da brought seven or eight people, and the criminal policeman Xiao Gang was also with us. Everyone changed into casual clothes, and the two cars drove towards their destination as fast as they could. Zhao Da sighed as he drove.

"It's been so long, and the superiors don't mean it." Zhao Da complained. Shen Nuo was involved in such a big case, Zhao Da's superiors should give an answer in the shortest possible time, but there was no news at all, which made me feel difficult to handle. It can already be determined that Shen Nuo has a backstage, and this backstage is not small.

I didn't answer Zhao Da, thinking about what to do next. It seems that there are only two clues left, and these two clues are still unknown. Even if Shen Nuo's identity can be ascertained, it may not be able to prove that she is really an internal ghost; And the split-lip Taoist priest we are looking for next, I can't be sure if the cracked lip marks on the cup in Sun Hui's house are left by him, everything will have to wait for identification and comparison.

Not long after the car drove out of the city center, the road became steeper, and the car bumped on the loess road, kicking up clouds of dust, and we had to close all the windows. Zhao Da was cursing all the way, thinking that the road was steep, indeed, after the windows were closed, the air became stuffy, and the car kept going up and down, everyone's spirit was not very good.

Zhao Da originally said that it would take more than five hours to get to the county we were going to, but it actually took us more than six hours. When the car stopped, it was almost four o'clock in the afternoon. When we got out of the car, everyone was dizzy, and we sat down by the rocks and rested for a long time before we could recover our strength.

It was getting dark, and I urged everyone to hurry up and get on the road. Zhao Da had already driven the car to the foot of Xianglin Mountain, and there was no mountain road on the mountain, so there was no way for the car to drive up, so we could only walk up the mountain. Everyone became cautious, and as they climbed up the hill, they touched the guns on their waists.

The split-lip Taoist priest is likely to have something to do with the serial murder case of the woman in red, in order not to startle the snake, Zhao Da personally brought people to Tiemuguan, and did not even contact the police force in this county. The path in the mountains is narrow, with stone steps that zigzag all the way to the top.

It seems that it has just rained here, and there is still a lot of water on the potholed stone steps, making the road up a little slippery. We cautiously made our way up the mountain, and in the meantime several people were walking down the mountain. Looking at them, they looked like people who had gone up the mountain to worship, but at the moment they were all very anxious, the road was slippery and narrow, but these people were walking like flying, running down the mountain in two steps and one step at a time.

When we met, they all looked at us strangely, but immediately they leaned sideways to give way to us, and when we passed them, they rushed down the hill in a hurry, and turned back to look at us in three steps. Again and again, Zhao Da finally couldn't help it, and after another person hurriedly walked past us, Zhao Da scolded angrily: "These people are sick, what to see!" ”

It took us more than 40 minutes to come to the Tiemu Temple, which is said to be a Taoist temple, but in fact, it is just a wall surrounded by broken bricks and a plaque hung on the door. The sun has slowly set, and the gray color is swallowing the distance where heaven and earth meet. The wooden door of Tiemuguan was closed, Zhao Da waved his hand to the accompanying criminal police, and everyone was ready.

Zhao Da knocked on the door a few times, the mountain was very quiet, and the sound of knocking on the door kept floating in the mountain for a while before dissipating. The door didn't open, Zhao Da knocked a few more times, and after waiting for a long time, no one came to open the door.

"Captain, let's rush in!" Xiao Gang rolled up his sleeves and was about to hit the door, Zhao Da thought about it for a while and let Xiao Gang do it. However, when Xiao Gang bumped into it, the door suddenly opened, and he bumped into a figure. The two of them fell to the ground together.

But immediately, Xiao Gang, who had fallen to the ground, jumped up from the ground, took two steps back in horror, and stood side by side with us. Before it was completely dark, I could see the appearance of the person who had been knocked to the ground. It can be seen from the dress that he is a Taoist priest, wearing a blue Taoist uniform, and sewing a few rags.

I know why Xiao Gang was scared because of the Taoist priest's appearance. The Taoist priest's face was red and white, densely covered with dead skin from the blisters bursting, and his face was wrinkled, obviously badly burned. From the face to the neck, there is no place for a good piece of meat.

The light is not very sufficient, and people who can't see the appearance of the Taoist priest clearly will be startled, and if they can see clearly, they will feel disgusted. The Taoist priest also got up from the ground, patting the dust off his body and staring at us with his eyes. The skin on his face was so rotten that I couldn't tell the expression on his face at the moment.

Zhao Da was shocked by this rotten-faced Taoist priest, and shouted in his mouth: "Hey, Taoist priest, why didn't you open the door for a long time?" ”

The rotten-faced Taoist priest looked at Zhao Da for a moment before he slowly spoke, his voice intermittent, as if there was a large mouthful of phlegm blocking his throat.

Grim-faced Taoist: "Who are you?" Don't know the rules of the view? His attitude was very bad, his tone was yin and yang, and he pointed to the way down the mountain: "Before it's completely dark, go down the mountain, in case something happens, I'm not responsible!" ”

The words of the bad-faced Taoist priest made Zhao Da angry, but Zhao Da was still a smart person, so he didn't bother with the bad-faced Taoist priest, and directly took out his police officer card and showed it to the bad-faced Taoist priest.

"I'm the captain of the G City Police Team, who of you can be responsible, let him come out and talk to me!" Zhao Da said, glancing into the gate of the Taoist temple, it was empty, and there was no one. Inside the wall, there is a very broken hall, and there are various incense altars and Taoist sculptures in the main hall.

The bad-faced Taoist priest took the police officer card and looked at it carefully, and suddenly laughed faintly twice, this time, Zhao Da was not frightened by the grim-faced Taoist priest, reached out and snatched the police officer card in his hand, and shouted: "See clearly, let the person in charge come out and speak if you see clearly!" ”

The grim-faced Taoist priest glanced at us, said that he was the person in charge here, and walked into the door as he spoke, and the door was not closed, which was a signal for us to go in with him. As he spoke, it was already completely dark, and it was dark in the Tiemu Temple, Zhao Da looked inside again, and he didn't dare to go in for a long time.

I've been observing the grim-faced Taoist priest, and this Taoist priest is also acting a little weird. Without hesitation, I walked directly across the threshold, and Zhao Da and the other accompanying criminal policemen followed. In the Tiemu Temple, there were several small brick houses, and as soon as Zhao Da came in, he asked people to keep an eye on those brick houses to prevent the split-lip Taoist from escaping.

The grim-faced Taoist priest led us into the main hall, where he touched the darkness and lit a few candles. The candlelight flickered, illuminating all those hideous Taoist statues, Zhao Da looked at those Taoist statues and teased: "Why is this Taoist statue so fierce?" ”

The rotten-faced Taoist priest lit three incense sticks, walked to a Taoist statue to worship, and inserted the incense into the incense altar before answering Zhao Da's words.

"The Tao is like auspicious and evil, auspicious is to pray for blessings, and fierce, naturally it is a ghost town." The bad-faced Taoist priest turned around and looked directly at Zhao Da. When the ghost word was spoken, the muscles on Zhao Da's face twitched. This word has been touching everyone's nerves during this time. The other seven or eight criminal policemen were all staring at the brick houses outside the door, and at this moment only Zhao Da and I were in the main hall.

The smell of burning permeated the whole hall, and it didn't smell very pleasant, and I hated this kind of thing. Zhao Da was silenced by the words of the rotten face Taoist priest, and I directly explained my intentions.

"We're looking for a Taoist priest with a split lip."