Card Room - 330

[Chapter 480, the clue left by the murderer]

Shao Qingge and Ye Qi were strolling on the street, and Qingfeng Town was crowded during the day, which was very lively. Ye Qi noticed with a sharp eye that many children were holding a red rattle in their hands, dangling them when they walked, and the sound was clear and pleasant.

When Ye Qi saw a few children gathering together to play, he walked up to a little boy, leaned over and looked at him and asked, “You are a funny rattle. Where did you buy it?”

The child pointed to the street in front of him, and said grinningly, “My mother bought it from Grandpa Zhang. Big brother, do you want to play this?”

Ye Qi smiled and put a piece of candy in the child’s hand, and said, “Thank you, I will buy one too.”

The two followed the children’s directions to the end of the street, and they saw a shop specializing in children’s toys, colorful faces, all kinds of beautiful marbles, and a large number of rattles hanging on the walls.

The old man who sells toys should be in his 50s, with all white hair and a long beard, wearing a washed-out blue blouse, smiling, and looking very loving. Shao Qingge took Ye Qi forward, took out an ingot of silver from his arms and handed it to him, whispering: “Old man, buy me a rattle.”

The old man put away the silver, found a large amount of broken silver for Shao Qingge, and said: “There are many patterns on the rattle, son, you can choose by yourself.”

Shao Qingge took a closer look and found that there are indeed many patterns painted on the surface of the rattle, the most classic of which is the Chinese zodiac.

Ye Qi’s eyes lit up and he asked curiously, “If the child in the family is a tiger, do parents usually buy a rattle with a tiger pattern?”

The old man smiled and touched his beard: “Yes, what is the zodiac sign of your child, you can buy one.”

Shao Qingge looked at Ye Qi and asked, “What do you belong to?”

Ye Qi coughed slightly: “It’s a monkey.”

Shao Qingge picked a rattle with a small monkey painted on it, smiled and handed it to Ye Qi, and then said to the old man: “This older child in our family has a childlike innocence. He bought the rattle.”

The old man looked confused and seemed to be thinking, is it appropriate for you as an adult to play this kind of thing?

Ye Qigan took the rattle with a smile, played with it in his hand, and asked curiously: “By the way, old man, are there many shops selling rattles in the town?”

The old man shook his head: “As for my family, I did this myself.”

Shao Qingge asked immediately: “You have done an exquisite rattle. Do the kids in the town have one?”

The old man looked proud: “That is natural, my craft is not something ordinary people can learn. It can be said that most people in this town have bought gadgets that I made.”

Shao Qingge and Ye Qi looked at each other, and it seemed that this was the key plot NPC.

Ye Qi asked softly: “Old man, you have been in the town for so many years, do you know what happened to the famine 20 years ago? One of my cousins, whose surname is Zhang, lives in Qingfeng Town. The former starved to death.”

When the old man heard the word “famine”, his face changed suddenly, and he sighed: “That year was really miserable! Not only our town, but also the nearby Qingzhou and Yuezhou, all were suffering from famine, if it weren’t for the fact that there was some food in the house, I almost starved to death. Alas… many people are eating bark and leaves, and some people who have died in their families ate the meat of the dead and survived!”

Ye Qi was frightened when he heard it. He had gone through the nightmare room of 3 of spades, where he survived by eating leaves. The gatekeeper allowed him to survive in the nightmare room for 15 days, and he almost couldn’t hold on. It is conceivable that if it were months of hunger, what would a person be like? I am afraid that, driven by extreme hunger, it is not surprising to eat and drink human blood.

Shao Qingge handed back the broken silver the old man had found to him, and said, “Old man, there was a famine that year, have you heard of anyone who deliberately murdered and cannibalized?”

The old man accepted the money, nodded solemnly, and mysteriously approached Shao Qingge’s ear and said: “At that time, the pigs, sheep and cattle in the small town had been robbed, and then they couldn’t find food. Some people set up a Gangs, specifically looking for those who are unable to resist, grab them and trap them, raise them as animals, and cut meat from them when they are hungry…”

Ye Qi could hear his whole body hairy, and it was really hard to bear hunger, but let him eat human flesh? He would rather starve to death. What’s more, just keep the same kind of animals in captivity, and cut some meat when you are hungry? This is more cruel than killing.

Shao Qingge said solemnly: “What happened to those people?”

The old man smiled bitterly and shook his head: “They probably also know that it is against the law to do this. When they came out to arrest people, they all wore black clothes and masks. No one dared to be nosy. After the famine passed, most of the people in the town died, and not many people knew about it.”

He looked around and cautiously lowered his voice: “Do you inquire about what happened 20 years ago? I advise you not to be too curious. Looking at the age of the two, your cousin should be very young back then, and he must be hungry. dead.”

Shao Qingge said: “My father asked us to listen to our cousin’s news on the way. If the cousin really passed away, we can also go to the grave to worship and burn some paper money for him.”

The old man shook his head quickly: “Don’t go. The bodies of people who died of starvation were thrown in mass graves. I heard that it was not clean and there were ghosts in the middle of the night. People in our town never go to mass graves!”

Shao Ye and the two looked at each other, Ye Qi smiled and said, “I see, thank you, old man!”

At exactly this time, Xiao Lou’s voice came from the two of them in their earphones, asking them to return to the inn as soon as possible. Shao Qingge also felt that the matter was unusual, and immediately took Ye Qi back.

Xiao Lou held down the earphone and asked, “Is everyone here?”

Shao Qingge said: “I and Ye Qi are back.”

Chu Huaying said: “I was in an alley to ask a few stray beggars to get some clues.”

Gui Yuan Zhang said, “I went to the local college to investigate. Don’t worry, I wear an invisibility cloak and can protect myself.”

Yu Hanjiang admired the efficiency of his teammates very much. He simply said: “Okay, everyone first gather the clues you know, and we can go to the ghost town in the evening to investigate.”

Ye Qi said positively: “Let me talk first. We found the boss who sells rattles in the small town and got two clues: First, the Chinese zodiac is painted on the drum surface of the rattle, which usually corresponds to the child’s zodiac; Two, it was the famine twenty years ago. Someone once set up a mysterious organization to catch those who had no resistance and raise them in captivity as livestock.”

Xiao Lou was slightly surprised when he heard this-famine. It may be difficult for modern people to imagine the feeling of not having enough of a meal for months. Xiao Lou once heard people talk about the chaos during the famine. The terrible things like “people” happen. It’s good to eat the dead, but to eat the living… It’s too cruel to set up an organization to raise people in captivity as livestock!

Chu Huaying added: “I asked a lame tramp to find out. This gang is called [Hounds]. They have a very ferocious wild dog. They smell the smell of people and look for their targets. They usually come and go at night. Grasp the elderly, children, and women who are weak in resistance and raise them in captivity. Those who are raised in captivity are called “human sacrifices.” They cut meat when they are hungry, and drink blood when they are thirsty.”

Human sacrifice? That is to say “people” as edible livestock?

Lu Jiuchuan couldn’t help cursing: “Fuck, circle the same kind of food to eat, this damn is not as good as a brute!”

Yu Hanjiang frowned and said, “Where is the old one?”

Gui Yuanzhang said: “I found a classmate of Zhao Zeping, the eldest son of the Zhao family, in the academy. At present, it can be determined that Zhao Zeping married eight years ago and married a woman from Qingzhou, whose surname is Qin, who is engaged in silk business at home. They are very beautiful. They gave birth to a son a year after they got married. His wife also disappeared three years ago, and her maiden family even came to the door.”

After synthesizing this information, Xiao Lou analyzed: “In the Great Famine 20 years ago, the mysterious gang raised the elderly, children, and women who were weak in resistance. Cruel. Those in captivity experienced more terrible suffering than Ling Chi before their death. If someone just escaped, or some of their relatives knew about these things, they would return to Qingfeng Town to retaliate. This is currently more reasonable. Motive of committing the crime.”

Yu Hanjiang added: “The murderer is thoughtful and possesses a kind of sorcery. He can manipulate living people and dead bodies, and act according to his instructions. We still don’t know the specific control method. But what is certain is that the Zhao family, The Chen family, who was controlled by him to walk to the mass grave on the rainy night three years ago, was anxious to summon everyone back, but he was afraid that the murderer would control one of our teammates. After all, the enemy was there. It’s dark, I’m bright, still have to be careful.”

Xiao Lou continued: “After leading those people to the mass graves, the murderer followed the famine of the year and starved everyone to death. During this period, he might even manipulate the zombies to scare those people, leaving them in a state of fear and hunger. Status. Our autopsy found that the deceased was panicked and there was no food left in the stomach and duodenum, which can justify this speculation.”

Yu Hanjiang said: “There were people in the mourning hall of the Zhao family. Judging from the name of the spiritual position, it is most likely that the wife and children of Zhao Zeping, the son of Zhao’s family, were not killed in the Zhao family killing. Perhaps she happened to escape the murderer. Devil’s Palm, go back to set up the mourning hall and secretly incense the family. She must know something.”

He paused, then said: “In addition, the two missing two have rattles at the same time. It is not ruled out that it is a coincidence. After all, all the children in the town will buy rattles. But if it is not a coincidence, then the rattle is a key clue to the props. It is probably related to the murderer.”

Xiao Lou took out the rattle that he had touched from the Zhao family, and said, “The pattern on the drum surface is a tiger. The child of the Zhao family should be a tiger? Liu Qiao, what about the one you found in the Chen family?”

Liu Qiao said, “It’s also a little tiger.”

Xiao Lou was stunned: “Why? According to the information obtained by the senior Gui, Zhao Zeping got married eight years ago and gave birth to a child seven years ago; and Chen Yu of the Chen family, the scene of his wife giving birth, we are in a ghost town at night. I have seen that it happened to be a rainy night three years ago. The two children are four years apart. It makes no sense that the zodiac pattern on the rattle is the same, right?”

Ye Qi looked at the rattle with the monkey pattern painted in his hand, and said, “That’s not right. The old man who sells toys has all the rattles of the Chinese zodiac, and the price is the same. As a parent, you must buy the corresponding baby for whatever your baby belongs to. Don’t think no one will buy a tiger zodiac pattern for a child of the monkey genus? The rattle patterns appearing in the two families are the same, isn’t it…”

Yu Hanjiang whispered: “It was left by the murderer.”

As soon as the voice fell, a clear voice suddenly came from outside the window. The sound is crisp and pleasing to the ear, and the “dangdang” sound of the projectile hitting the drum surface seems to be able to penetrate all barriers and reach people’s hearts.

With the sound, the surrounding suddenly became extremely quiet.

——That is the sound of the rattle.