Madness of the Heart

Chapter 23 Demon Hunting (23)

“I’m really not the heart of the tomb!” Hou Cheng kept twisting in the interrogation chair, looking very upset, “What do you want me to say? When I said I was the heart of the tomb, you forced me to say that I was not the heart of the tomb. Now I admit that I am not the heart of the tomb, and you don’t believe it!”

Xiao Yuan sits upright and has a gentle voice, but there is no lack of oppression. “The story you fabricated is not convincing.”

Hou Cheng stared at it and asked, “Why is it not convincing?”

Xiao Yuan looked at his eyes silently. He first frowned and looked back. After half a minute, he couldn’t help himself, and his gaze began to drift away.

“From your perspective, this is not a fabricated story. You can’t ask’how is it not persuasive’.” Xiao Yuan said: “You should deny it fiercely. This is a logical response.”

The masseter muscles on Hou Cheng cheeks agitated, “I am not the heart of the tomb, I just help the heart of the tomb. If the heart of the tomb commits something, you go to him, find him! Let me go, okay?”

“I want to find him too, but where is he?” Xiao Yuan’s tone is always unhurried. Normal people are comfortable to hear, but people with ghosts are particularly uncomfortable.

“I don’t know what I said!” Hou Cheng said, “I regret helping him. Don’t force me!”

Xiao Yuan said: “I don’t push you, but I want to hear you talk about the first time you met Tomb Xin, and what he said to you, making you willing to sign a contract with Xinyun Publishing House for him.”

“I’ve already talked about it!” Hou Cheng said loudly.

“But I didn’t hear it.” Xiao Yuan said: “I have the right to ask you to say it again. Of course, you can also choose to be silent.”

Anger was rolling in Hou Cheng’s eyes, and the heavy breathing echoed in the interrogation room.

“Choose to be silent, don’t you?” Xiao Yuan smiled.

Hou Cheng did not answer.

“You have realized that you made a mistake when setting up the bureau. This mistake can no longer be made up.” Xiao Yuan said: “You also know that if you speak more, you will lose it. You chose to be silent because you are worried about facing me at this time. , Will say something that contradicts the details of the last narrative.”

Hou Cheng’s sagging eyelids were drooping, and his gloomy gaze shot out from under his eyelids, without any brilliance.

Ming Shu stayed in Qingyue Village to preside over the search of Hou Cheng’s house, but he did two things with his heart. He thought of Hou Jianjun, the old village chief, and Hou Oar, the unfilial son of the villagers.

In fact, in the eyes of the Ming family’s relatives, he should also be regarded as a filial son. When I was young, I didn’t kiss my parents, grandfather and grandmother, but he was like the youngest son of Xiao family. Later, when he was seventeen or eighteen years old, his wings were not completely hardened, so he ran away from home and didn’t take the paved road. He wanted to run Xiao Yuan, not only to sever ties with the family, but also to be shameless and out of the closet.

In the Ming family, men like men, which is an undesirable stain.

When he was a child, he was afraid of his grandfather and grandmother, so he endured being beaten. The growth of age forced out arrogance, Yun didn’t bow his head, and stopped beating or scolding. He left his cage-like home behind him and walked his legs to chase his dreams and chase his own people.

But even if he is not filial like him, he is not without feelings towards his parents.

After the stalemate a few years ago, his father came to see him in Dongye City, conveyed his mother’s miss, and implicitly invited him to go home and sit down.

Back then, he went home with Xiao Yuan for a New Year’s Eve dinner. And then still live a non-interference life.

With that level of blood, even though he and his parents cannot be the closest relatives, they will not be hostile to each other.

If you push yourself to others, you feel that Hou Oar’s approach is not normal.

According to the villagers, Hou Oar was the result of Hou Jianjun’s hard work. Hou Oar is promising now. Even if he despised his father, he would not shut his father out when he asked to meet him with a gift.

The year when the relationship with his family broke the ice, his father gave him a famous watch, which he had never worn, but when he took it, he personally said “thank you” to his father.

Could there be other reasons why Hou Oar refused to see Hou Jianjun?

As I was thinking, I suddenly heard Fang Yuanhang’s voice, “Master, what are you doing there? We are going to the basement!”

He had to pull away from the clues of Hou Jianjun and Hou Oar, and walked into the house and said, “Here.”

The dilapidated building of Hou Cheng’s house has three floors, with two floors above ground and a basement below. The furniture in each room is very old, the paint is almost gone, and Hou Cheng hasn’t made up for it. The first floor is a little messy, but the second floor is very tidy. The three bedrooms, the locked one, are the cleanest, even spotless, but to outsiders, it is a bit gloomy.

Because there are black and white photos of a middle-aged couple hanging on the wall.

Hou Cheng lost his parents when he was young. The person in the photo is Hou Cheng’s parents, and this bedroom is also their residence during their lifetime.

“In such a comparison, Hou Cheng is really a filial son.” Fang Yuanhang said: “His parents have passed away for decades, and Hou Cheng still does not forget to clean every day. The sheets and quilts are all new. The gap with Hou Jianjun’s son is also different. too big.”

This is indeed a strong contrast. Ming Shu thought for a while and called Xiao Yuan.

“Maybe I overreacted.” He said, “I now suspect that something has happened to Hou Paddle.”

Xiao Yuan listened patiently, “Why?”

“Intuition.” Ming Shu paused for two seconds, and changed his words: “It’s not entirely intuition. If I were Hou Pad, I wouldn’t have done it this way. Anyway, Hou Jianjun has always cared about him. With a gift, he shouldn’t have never seen him.”

“Reasonable doubt.” Xiao Yuan said: “I’ll tell the Hua team. If he thinks it is necessary, he may send someone to the University of Los Angeles to have a look.”

Ming Shu gave an “um” and was about to hang up, Xiao Yuan suddenly said, “Wait.”

Ming Shu put the phone back to his ear again, “Xiao Ju?”

“After the case is solved, let’s go home and stay for two days.” Xiao Yuan said.

Ming Shu was startled slightly, lowering his eyelashes, “I was emotionally fluctuating just now?”

“It’s not obvious, maybe only I can feel it.” Xiao Yuan smiled, “Don’t define yourself as’unfilial’. You and your parents are just different from many families. This doesn’t mean you’re unfilial. ‘,Understand?”

Ming Shu felt hot in his heart, “I understand.”

“Go.” Xiao Yuan said: “Complete the task at hand with peace of mind.”

Ming Shu descended from the rusty iron ladder to the basement, smelling an indescribable strange smell.

“It smells too bad!” Fang Yuanhang quickly covered his mouth and nose, “What smell is this?”

The basement is small, square, without partitions, with an area of ​​about 70 square meters, dimly lit, and piled with dusty boxes and farm tools.

Ming Shu walked to the wall and knelt down to take a look, “It’s rotten watermelon and vegetables.”

“What?” Fang Yuanhang asked in shock: “Put the watermelon here, it’s still such a big pile, are you sick?”

“The basement is shady and it’s not strange to store fruits and vegetables.” After Ming Shu finished speaking, he felt something flashed through his mind, but he couldn’t catch it.

“Oh, so.” Fang Yuanhang began to flip through the box, “Let’s start looking for it—hey, why is it so messy here, there are all kinds of tatters. The upper two floors look like people living in it, and the bottom here is nothing but rubbish. Let’s go!”

Ming Shu also noticed that most of the things in the basement were useless, and there were even **** like torn paper boxes and crushed cans.

“Hou Cheng is hiding something.” Ming Shu patted the wooden board on the wall. “What we see is exactly what he wants us to see.”

“We can see everything here…” Fang Yuanhang responded quickly, “The money is not here!”

“But it won’t be too far away.” Ming Shu stepped on a box of disconnected tapes, and the soles of his shoes made a crisp sound, “Hou Cheng has only two safe areas, his home, and his field—here !”

After that, Ming Shu turned around, “Get me a screwdriver!”

Fang Yuanhang looked around, “I’ll go up and get it!”

“Forget it.” Ming Shu took a few steps back, raised his right leg quickly, and kicked forward abruptly. He heard a muffled sound, and the solid wooden board broke off in the middle, just like the tape on the ground.

“This is…” Fang Yuanhang saw the dark space behind the wooden board, “Dark room?”

The wooden plank collapsed and raised layers of thick gray, Mingshu dissipated it with his hands. Looking at it with the light, he found that it was a small space less than 10 square meters.

“Master, you stay outside.” Fang Yuanhang jumped in first and almost slipped.

“Be careful.” Ming Shu noticed that the ground inside was different from the basement. It was a piece of mud. People walking on it would fall down if they didn’t pay attention.

“I saw it!” Fang Yuanhang walked to the left corner laboriously, “Master, you light me up!”

In the corner, three iron boxes with locks are neatly stacked.

The iron box was moved to the courtyard, the lock was broken, and all the hundred-yuan bills in it were stored.

“Finally found it!” Fang Yuanhang said, “If Hou Cheng is not the heart of the tomb, why did he hide so much money in the basement of his home and hide it so concealed? Let’s show him the scene and see how he can sophistry!”

Ming Shu also felt relieved, but there was something in his chest.

He pressed his temples, trying to discern what had passed by before. Intuition tells him that it is very important. But after thinking about it, I still couldn’t figure out what it was.

The banknotes in the iron box have been counted, a total of 2.67 million. 90,000 less than the after-tax author’s remuneration.

Hou Cheng watched the video taken by Ming Shu at his home, his face gradually changed, and the dullness in his eyes disappeared, as if the cloud disappeared without a trace, revealing his true face.

“Yes, the heart of the tomb is me.” He leaned back in his chair, looked at Xiao Yuan loosely and gloomily, and sneered, “The two million yuan is my legal income. I can store them in the bank or take them. For investing, you can also put it in your basement. Is this strange?”

“Not surprising.” Xiao Yuan said calmly: “I am looking for this money, just to prove that you are indeed the heart of the tomb. Now you have admitted.”

Hou Cheng groaned in his nose, “Oh, then you have proved that I am the heart of the tomb. What do you want to do to me? What can you do to me? I legally sign a contract, legally publish a book, and there is no tax evasion. Why are you? Catch me?”

“The one who caught you was the security detachment, and the one who detained you was also the security detachment, not me.” Xiao Yuan said, “You lifted a rock and wanted to play a game of turning stones into gold, but unexpectedly hit your own foot.”

“You!” Hou Cheng patted his hands on the table, his expression grim, and soon he laughed again, “Yes, it was my fault to find a prostitute. I was wrong, I would never dare to do it again, okay? Fornication is illegal, but it doesn’t constitute a crime. I didn’t do anything heinous, so let me go back when you finish your education, ah? I promise to write a book honestly in the future and never sleep with women.”

“Write a book honestly?” Xiao Yuan said: “Use the method of writing a book to incite potential criminals?”

“Oh-” Hou Cheng smacked his lips and turned to the recorder aside, “Listen, listen, is this like what the contemporary police say?”

The recorder glanced at Xiao Yuan, his eyes were a bit complicated, and he seemed to think that Xiao Yuan’s statement was incorrect.

“The little policemen know that they can’t say that.” Hou Cheng said: “I have the freedom to write, and I also have the freedom to publish. What’s the matter with you law enforcers? Instead of catching the real criminals, you set me up. Suspense writer?”

Xiao Yuan said, “I never let off the real criminals, no matter how honest and innocent the TA has packaged himself.”

The atmosphere in the interrogation room gradually solidified, and a burst of invisible pressure enveloped Hou Cheng.

After a short silence, Hou Cheng shook his head, “It makes no sense for you to say that. I have no crime, and I don’t need to pack myself. If my book is an illegal publication, then you say that I am writing a book to instigate potential criminals. I admit it. But what about the facts? Is my book an illegal publication? No! I signed a contract with a serious publishing house, and there is nothing wrong with the review process of the book. You are a layman and don’t understand that you are publishing a book now. How difficult is the book? Whenever there is a problem with my book, the publisher will shoot me to death, and it will be listed on the market?”

This made sense, and the recorder nodded at hearing.

“If you believe that my book has problems and the content is unhealthy, then you should also check Xinyun Publishing House, check the’mystery’ studio, what’s the point of catching me and not letting it go?” Hou Cheng continued, “I just write. Books, the publishing process has nothing to do with me. I don’t even know what content will be photographed by the publishers. Since they are not photographed, they can publish it, right? My books are sold in various bookstores. I can know who read it. My book? Does it mean that criminals have read my book, my book is responsible? They committed crimes and killed people, what does it have to do with me who wrote the book? You talk about me, it seems too much Incompetent? Punishing murderers and maintaining public order are not your police’s business? If you don’t do it well, you will embarrass us creators?”

Another detective in charge of the interrogation rose in anger, “Hou Cheng, don’t be too arrogant!”

Hou Cheng shrugged, “Why, want to torture to extract a confession?”

Xiao Yuan smiled and didn’t get angry, “You are very interesting. You learn to write books with real talents, and the sales are good, but you have to make up a fake identity for yourself, play with our police and then reverse.”

“Is this suspicious?” Hou Cheng said, “I am a suspense writer. I need inspiration. I don’t mind transforming my life into a suspense drama. Without hurting others, I play suspense games with myself. What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t say it was wrong, I just said that you are very interesting.” Xiao Yuan stood up and looked down at Hou Cheng condescendingly.

Hou Cheng raised his head, the overhead light poured on his face, and the Adam’s apple under the shadow twitched without warning.

Xiao Yuan glanced over all his subtle expressions and smiled: “For interesting people, I don’t mind digging up more interesting stories about him.”

Hou Cheng stiffened his shoulders.

“For the time being, you still have to stay in the security detachment.” Xiao Yuan looked cold, “Since you are good at writing suspense, you should know that the more the murderer wants to cover up the crime, the more cover ups are arranged on the scene, the easier it is to expose to the police. In the heart of the tomb, you have done too much, and you have said too much. From your words just now, I got another inspiration.”

Hou Cheng’s face was cold.

“Zha Xinyun Publishing House?” Xiao Yuan said, “I just meant it.”

Ming Shu rushed back to the Luocheng Bureau from Qingyue Village and saw Xiao Yuan making tea with water.

“Xiao Ju!” Ming Shu ran up, making sure that there were no others around, and then whispered: “How do you make tea and drink?”

“Change the taste.” Xiao Yuan rarely drinks tea, but the technique of making tea is very beautiful.

When Ming Shu lived in the old house of the Xiao family, he saw Xiao Yuan entertain guests with tea. His slender hands shuttled between the ancient tea sets, powerful and full of rivers and lakes, and it was pleasing to the eye.

Although it’s just brewing tea bags now, it’s different from other people’s brewing tea bags.

“You are tired.” Ming Shu was heartache. “Only when you are tired, you will take the initiative to make tea and drink. You usually only drink boiled water.”

Xiao Yuan put the teacup aside and smiled: “When investigating a case, as long as you work hard, you will get tired. Aren’t you holding on?”

There is no way to refute this, Ming Shu narrowed his mouth and stretched out his hand to get the tea cup, “I just came back, I’m thirsty, give me… Ouch!”

“Give me a drink” before he finished speaking, he was hit on the back of his hand. He quickly retracted his hand and stared at Xiao Yuan, “It hurts, brother!”

“The freshly poured boiling water is hot.” Xiao Yuan took half a cup of warm water in a paper cup, “drink this.”

Ming Shu glanced at it, but didn’t answer, “It’s tasteless, I want something flavorful.”

Xiao Yuan looked at him, and he said: “It’s okay, the tea will be cold in a while, I’ll blow it.”

Xiao Yuan turned to the window, it was night, “Come.”

“Huh?” Ming Shu was about to blow tea.

“Go out for a walk.” Xiao Yuan said, “I’ll buy you something flavorful.”

Ten minutes later, Ming Shu held a cup of latte smoothie and walked with Xiao Yuan on the street where the heat had faded.

“If Hou Cheng insists on what he says now, it will be very difficult for us to do it. We can only let people go in the end.” Ming Shu said: “There is no real evidence to prove that he instigated a crime. Just’some people are in fact “Damn’, it’s too far-fetched. But to say that he did not have the motive to instigate a crime, I don’t believe it. There are so many suspense writers, but he is deliberately trying to hide his identity. On this point, he is already very suspicious. .”

“Hou Cheng had an act of’throwing the pot’ today and pointed the finger at Xinyun Publishing House.” Xiao Yuan said: “I now suspect that there is a certain problem with the publication of the tomb core.”

Ming Shu immediately thought of Liu Zhiqiang, the director of the “Mystery” studio, who reacted very strangely when he learned that the police were investigating the heart of the tomb.