False evidence

Chapter 37 No Way to Kill
Gao He asked me, "What did you take down from that beam?"

"Later I asked my grandfather and found out that it was a wolf skin, the skin of a mother wolf that had just given birth. The wolf skin was nailed to the main beam, and underneath... underneath was a dried-up dead child."

The monkey bared its teeth: "What's the explanation for this?"

I shook my head: "I don't understand this either, and Grandpa won't tell me. All I know is that Shao Hanzi was killed by wolves when he went to collect firewood in the ravine."

Back then, wolves were rarely seen in our mountains. Strangely, the wolf only bit through his throat and tore off his face, but didn't eat his body.

In the dead of winter, even wild animals are short of food, which is rather puzzling.

"What's there to be confused about? Even dogs wouldn't eat a wicked person, let alone a wolf."

Gao He took another cigarette, took a puff, and said, "I'm a little curious, how did that family offend the workers? It's just that the food is a bit worse, and the employer is bossing them around, which isn't a big deal. Is it really necessary to use such a ruthless method?"

I chuckled twice: "I don't know if this custom exists in the South, but in my hometown, raising the main beam of a house is a very important event. It doesn't matter if we eat well or poorly normally, but on the day of the beam raising, the workers must be given plenty of good wine and meat."

The family did provide them with food and drink, but it was just homemade sweet potato wine from the countryside. Anyway, I don't know what happened, maybe the food spoiled because of the summer heat, but after eating and drinking, all the workers got diarrhea.

Think about it, strong laborers rely on the little bit of stuff in their bellies to keep going. If they're all weak and limp, how can they work?

But the family wouldn't allow the work to stop, saying that they had already drunk the wine and eaten the meat, and it wouldn't be appropriate to ask for more.

What could the workers do? They just had to tough it out.

As a result, a worker lost his grip, was struck in the chest by a beam, fell off the fence, and was immediately taken to the hospital.

That day, my grandfather was first summoned to see the worker. After the worker was taken away, my grandfather said that he was probably not going to survive.

The beams were still laid, and the house was still built. The same workers were used, but the seeds of disaster were sown.

Gao He twisted his neck and said, "If we skin a female wolf and keep her in the house, our family will be tainted by her scent and become a target for wolves in the wild. This makes perfect sense logically."

You said that Shao Hanzi died in winter, and in the mountains. His body was carried back, put in a coffin, and brought into the house. After thawing, his wounds bled, and he made some movements due to nerve reflexes, which can all be explained.

"What I find strange is something else. You were only in the first year of junior high back then? How old were you? Eleven or twelve? Where did you get the nerve to stand naked on a coffin and even try to piss on a dead person?"

I gave a wry smile: "I was forced into this by Old Bai. Do you think I wanted to?"

I told Gao and Monkey that what happened that night was still quite creepy to think about.

According to Old Master Bai, Shao Hanzi's soul should have returned on the seventh day after his death, but it was driven away by the wolf demon and returned to cause trouble on the second day after the body was laid to rest.

It's true that my grandfather sold wild herbs, but he was very knowledgeable and a notorious ruthless man in the surrounding area.

As soon as Shao Hanzi's soul entered the room, my grandfather grabbed him by the neck and threw him out.

Perhaps, that night I really did clash with the ghost of Shao Hanzi, but as Grandpa said, I may be young, but I have a strong backbone. The gods will not deceive me, and evil spirits will not invade me.

I don't know what kind of destiny a person has, what destiny is, or who arranges it.

But I believe in what my father said—a person who has no backbone should just die.

Gao He pointed to the wolfhound and said to me, "It's injured. Isn't this perfect for your expertise? Go treat it?" "I already checked it. No bones are broken, and the wound isn't necrotic. Just apply two tubes of aureomycin eye ointment. Bandaging it is fine."

"As expected of a veterinarian, simple and brutal," Gao He grinned.

The monkey said, "Hey, have we forgotten something? We've been so busy listening to Sanqi talk about old stories that we've forgotten about the dog getting stuck on the rooftop."

Gao He looked at me calmly: "I believe in the existence of curses, but do you really believe that trapping a dog on a rooftop, even a dead dog, can actually harm people?"

"I just suddenly remembered this thing, and you want me to believe that some kind of curse formation can harm people..."

I didn't continue, I just shook my head.

Gao He said, "Since no one believes it, let's talk about something else. It's been several days already, will Sun Jing still show up?"

I said, "How would I know?"

"Hey, didn't you tell me to lure the snake out of its hole?"

"I was just saying, getting a wife doesn't include having children!"

"Your mouth's all better now? You can talk so much!" Gao He was exasperated. "Actually, I started to suspect a couple of days ago that you asked me to bring Pei Xiaofan to the hospital so that we could recuperate for her? And incidentally, get your mouth malfunction treated by public funds?"

I said, "It's somewhat interesting, but it's convenient to do it anyway."

The monkey laughed and said, "Now that you've become Brother Gao, don't forget, Sanqi also helped you solve the 736 case. You've got it all, haven't you?"

Gao He has really gotten to know us well. He waved his hand and said, "That makes sense, but we can't keep dragging this on like this! Sun Jing hasn't shown up, are we just going to stay at the hospital like this? What if he comes to his senses, abandons the plan, and runs away?"

There's another crucial point that's been constantly on my mind: if he hasn't given up, and we're keeping such a tight security perimeter, how will he make his move? Should we just assume he's gone mad and comes running over with two kitchen knives? That would be much easier; if that happens, I'll just tell him to save the government some resources.

I helplessly shrugged: "I thought we already had an understanding. You also said that everything I suggested was just empty talk, and at most it could only be used as a reference for you. Now... now I don't know what to do."

Gao He put his arm around my shoulder: "I know, I know, I was just venting to you two. Okay, the rain's gone down, hurry up and go down. Oh, by the way, I'll go down first and find you a rope. This dog is so big, if we don't tie it up, it'll scare a few of them before we even get it out of the hospital."

The cell phone rings.

Gao He patted my shoulder, took out his phone and put it to his ear, "Hello, what's up?"

Seeing his actions and expression at that moment, a sudden chill ran through me. "Oh no!"

He uttered those words and immediately took off running.

"What happened?" Gao He didn't even bother to make the call and chased after him to ask.

I didn't have time to talk to him and ran straight to the connection between the annex and the inpatient building.

Just as I ran up to them, I saw a figure fall out of a seventh-floor window...

(End of this chapter)