False evidence

Chapter 3 Horror Ballad

Money is a good thing; you can't do anything without it.

Seeing the six cents "huge sum" given by the beggar reminded me of someone and the strange things he said. I stood there, stunned, feeling a buzzing in my head.

"When you only have 352.6 yuan left, you can go to Elephant Trunk Alley in the west of the city..."

The old man with the bulbous nose's voice lingered in my ears like a spell.

I snapped out of my daze and looked around. This was the West City High-Speed ​​Railway Station, and Elephant Trunk Alley seemed to be nearby!

I'm not very familiar with this area, so I took out my phone to use navigation and found that Elephant Trunk Lane is only two streets away from here.

Following the navigation, I walked to the entrance of an old alley.

Looking at the road sign with the words "Elephant Trunk Alley," I felt like I was possessed.

Who exactly is this eccentric Yang Wudao?

A madman? A fraudster? Or a legendary, unassuming master?

I am not pessimistic, but I am not a blindly optimistic person either.

I'm not exactly at my wit's end, but I'm not far off either.

Most importantly, everything Yang Wudao said came true.

I'm still so unlucky. Will this life of constant bad luck continue forever?
The key point is... I really only have 352.6 yuan left on me, exactly the same as Yang Wudao said!
"Since we're already here, let's go take a look."

I was startled again after only walking a short distance into the alley.

This is one of the few remaining old alleyways in the city, and there is no room for renovation. The alleyway is not deep, and the buildings on both sides were built after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and some even date back to before the liberation.

What shocked me was a woman's voice that was as loud as a shrew's roar.

At the same time, I also saw a middle-aged woman at the end of the alley, wearing a white floral nightgown, with a plump figure and her hair in a bun, jumping up and down, pointing at a house and cursing.

"There really is a fat woman..."

I had a bad feeling. Could she be one of those 'plants' in the legend, and have conspired with Yang Wudao to set me up?
This concern was quickly dispelled.

What else do I have left? Even if they were going to cut off my organs, they wouldn't go to such lengths, would they?

I had barely walked over when the fat woman glanced at me and snapped, "You little punk, what are you looking at?"

I made up my mind, ignoring her rude remarks, took out my wallet, took out all the bills, thought for a moment, then poured out two coins and handed them to her without saying a word.

The plump woman's eyes lit up, and she snatched the money away. After counting it carefully, she glanced at me sideways and said, "Are you related to Old Man Yang? Did he send you to pay his rent? You're quite shrewd with your accounts. It's just enough for the water and electricity!"

I just stared at her without saying anything.

She probably felt uncomfortable too, because she turned around and muttered something before pushing open the door to the next room.

"Who were you just cursing?!" I suddenly raised my voice and asked.

The fat woman paused for a moment, then turned to look at me.

I raised my hand and pointed diagonally upwards towards the door: "You live here? That's pretty close."

"What do you mean?"

I said, "Swearing is wrong, but swearing for no reason is even more wrong."

The fat woman's expression grew increasingly unnatural: "What do you want?"

I smiled and didn't say anything.

At that moment, another person came out of the house.

When I saw this person, my eyes lit up.

She was a very tall and beautiful girl, probably around twenty years old. Her features were simple and delicate, with refined and pretty features. Although she was wearing ordinary loungewear, she possessed a unique and stunning beauty in my eyes.

"Mom, what are you doing?" the girl asked, but instead pulled the fat woman into the house.

I smiled at her and said, "Hello, my name is Sanqi."

"Sanqi?" The girl grinned. "My name is Siliu! What do you want with my mom?"

By now I had a general idea of ​​the situation, so I said, "I'm here to pay Yang Wudao's rent, and I'd also like to tell him that he lost his key. If you have a spare, could you lend it to me to get a copy made? Also..." I stared intently at the fat woman, "...your mother just started yelling at me for no reason..."

I may not be very capable, but I'm also not someone who's willing to suffer losses easily.

The girl was clearly very smart, but she was still young. When she saw me get straight to the point, and her eyes and brows gave off a rather intimidating vibe, I didn't know how to respond for a moment.

At this moment, it was the fat woman who made the move.

She pulled the girl behind her, lowered her head, pulled out a ten-yuan note from the bills I gave her, and stuffed it, along with two coins, into my hand. Surprisingly, she put on a nonchalant smile and said:

"I'm so sorry, young man, I just realized I miscalculated the electricity bill. Here's your money back. Wait a moment, I'll go get you the keys."

After saying that, she pulled the girl and closed the door, going inside. A short while later, the door opened a crack, and the fat woman handed me the key, nodding at me with a forced smile, "Sorry."

The bully who picks on the weak and fears the strong has already bowed down at this point, and I won't bother arguing with a woman anymore.

I took the key and opened the door next door. When I went inside, I was immediately surprised.

Yang Wudao looked almost like a beggar, but although his home was simple, it was quite clean.

Besides a table, two chairs, and a five-drawer chest that's older than my grandfather, there's only a bed left.

The only thing that attracted me was a picture frame on the wall.

It wasn't a single photograph, but rather, as many older people are accustomed to, many photos were pieced together in a large frame.

I examined all the photos one by one and made a summary.

Yang Wudao is a man with a story, but he may have suffered some major trauma, which later made him somewhat mentally unstable.

I say this because in the row of old, yellowed photos in front, whether it's a solo portrait or a group photo, there's always the same person in them.

This man looked to be in his early twenties. His clothes were quite fashionable for that era. He stood up straight, and although his eyes weren't big, they were bright and piercing, giving him a rather dashing appearance.

This is Yang Wudao's home, and I have a deep impression of the old man with the bulbous nose, so I'm sure this young man is Yang Wudao himself.

As for why I say he suffered a trauma, it's because, apart from these first few photos, all the subsequent photos, in my opinion, whether black and white or color, and from different eras, show Yang Wudao looking nothing like a normal person.

Some had crooked mouths and slanted eyes, some glared angrily... and there was one that was the most exaggerated. In the photo, everyone from seventy or eighty-year-olds to five or six-year-olds was serious, except for Yang Wudao, who looked to be around thirty years old. He rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue, looking exactly like a hanged ghost!
I became increasingly certain that he had mental problems. Even the most outgoing person wouldn't make so many bizarre and distorted facial expressions.

Old Yang said I should stay here for the night...

I checked the time; going back to the restaurant now wouldn't make any sense. The problem was, the owners were busy right now, and if I went to tell them the refund money had been stolen, it would only cause more trouble.

I became increasingly curious about Yang Wudao, so I decided to do as he suggested and sleep here for the night.

Man is made of iron, food is steel; you'll get hungry if you skip a meal. Queuing takes effort too; I'm starving.

Fortunately, under my 'coercion,' the fat woman guiltily returned some money. I remembered there was a steamed bun vendor not far from the alley entrance; that should be enough for a meal.

As I walked back after buying the steamed buns, just as I reached the alley entrance, I suddenly saw an old man sitting on the steps.

The old man was thinner than Yang Wudao, and his clothes were even more tattered. There was a chipped enamel mug in front of him; he really looked like a beggar.

Seeing that he didn't speak and was staring at the plastic bag of steamed buns in my hand, I thought to myself: Well, he's been dealing with the 'beggars' all this time.

I told him I couldn't give him the steamed buns, otherwise I would go hungry myself. Luckily, I had a few dollars left, which I wouldn't need anyway, so I just gave them all to him.

The money was placed in front of him, and the old beggar suddenly grinned at me.

I was startled. He did look pitiful, but he was also very ugly. When he opened his mouth, all that was left were two misaligned yellow teeth, which, combined with his somewhat neurotic old face, were really creepy.

Just as I was about to leave, the old beggar suddenly waved to me and said, "Hey, come here, I have something good for you."

I didn't want to get involved, but then he said, "Here, this is for saving lives!"

As he spoke, he actually handed something over.

When I looked at it, I realized it was just a spoke from a bicycle.

To avoid trouble, I simply took it and turned to leave, but then I heard him mumble something:
"If you hear any noise at night, sing! I'll teach you... Thunder, rain, the mute man is getting married..."

He sang only two lines before suddenly raising his voice sharply and shouting in a hoarse voice, like an iron brush scraping the bottom of a pot:

"Remember, go all out! Otherwise, you'll all die!"

(End of this chapter)