Hu Pingtao slowly straightened up, with a different meaning in his eyes: "I think we should not make things too complicated. After all, Yan Xiang is a veteran. Even if he deliberately wants to cover up some things, he will not cover up.

.”

"Third brother, this is a murder case! Including Dao Yong who committed suicide by taking poison today, it adds up to three lives."

Zhang Qingwei nodded in understanding: "You mean, Yan Xiang will be on our side?"

Hu Pingtao thought for a moment and muttered: "There is a high probability that this should be the case. I think he may not have had such thoughts during the day. But with Dao Yong committing suicide, Yan Xiang must have panicked."

"Covering up also requires a strategy. Yan Hanguang's case is a bit far away from now, and Yan Zai also died in an unknown way. To be honest, today at Yanpa's house, the young monk said that he saw Yan Zai coming from the temple when he got up last night

Passing by outside, Yan Xiang must have had some thoughts at the moment. But it was not convenient for him to stop him, and he couldn't stop him."

Zhang Qingwei suddenly became energetic: "Then what are you waiting for? I will send someone to bring the rock facies back and interrogate him overnight."

Hu Pingtao raised his hand to stop him: "Don't do this! This is not the mainland, and Mengsuo is also a gathering place for ethnic minorities. Even if there are problems with the lithology, we can't act recklessly... Let's do it! Third brother, please bring more with you.

Personally, let’s set off now and go to Yan Xiang’s home to find him.”

…

The bamboo house is a characteristic dwelling of the Dai people. Because it is located in the tropics, this kind of building is very cool, and is insect-proof and rodent-proof. In addition, it uses local materials, making it convenient and simple to build.

In recent years, many families in the village have imitated the models in the mainland and built cement brick houses. On the one hand, they are stable, and on the other hand, this kind of building design is reasonable and has a lot of space for construction. In comparison, the bamboo house is

Seems crude.

The bamboo house of Yan Xiang's house is very big and very old.

When Hu Pingtao, Zhang Qingwei and others climbed up the stairs to the bamboo building, Yan Xiang was sitting by the fire pit smoking a hookah.

This is a special "smoking equipment" made of large bamboo. By sucking the water at the bottom of the tube with your mouth, a negative pressure is generated in the closed tube, and the smoke is sucked into the mouth through the water. This can reduce harmful ingredients.

And the aroma can be changed by adding different substances to the water. For example, if you add sugar, the smoke will be sweet when you smoke it. If you add mint, it will feel cool.

There are also mixed with coffee, licorice, orange juice...but these smoking methods are very niche, only young people like them.

There are no electric lights installed in the house, only the flames burning in the fire pit are used for lighting.

The door leading to the bedroom was closed. Yan Xiang's family should have taken a rest, leaving him sitting here alone.

When you go up to the bamboo house, you don't need to knock on the door. You just need to walk up the steps and check whether the door is open or closed, and you will know whether the owner is at home.

Zhang Qingwei walked in front. He looked at the rock figure who slowly twisted a ball of tobacco into a circle in his hand and placed it on the socket of the hookah. He whispered: "Old village chief..."

Yan Xiang turned to him, raised his hand, slowly lowered it, pointed to the opposite side of the fire pit, and said slowly: "I know you will definitely come... Sit down, sit down and talk."

Hu Pingtao and Zhang Qingwei looked at each other. The latter whispered a few words to the other police officers, and he and Hu Pingtao sat down next to Yan Xiang, one on the left and the other on the right.

The firewood in the fire pit has turned red, there is not much flame on the surface, and there is no choking smoke, but it just makes people feel a little hot.

Yan Xiang pointed to another hookah leaning against the opposite corner and asked, "Want to smoke? Get it yourself."

Hu Pingtao took out his cigarette case from his pocket, smiled and said: "I smoke this."

As he spoke, he took one out of the box and handed it to Li Xiang.

The old man reached out to take it and gently put it in the tobacco bag next to him.

Zhang Qingwei had already prepared his opening remarks on the way here. He looked at Yan Xiang and said, "Old village chief, you shouldn't hide this from me!"

The petrographic figure "Hululu" was smoking a hookah. After a long time, he put down the pipe and exhaled a long breath filled with smoke.

"It's not that I intentionally hid it from you, but I really don't want to see them go to jail."

Hu Pingtao keenly grasped the word "they" in Yanxiang's dialect. He did not ask questions immediately, but just picked up a branch from the fire pit, put it to the fire, lit it, and lit the cigarette held between his fingers.

Zhang Qingwei didn't notice the special words in Yan Xiang's words, and asked doubtfully: "Why, you already knew that Dao Yong killed Yan Zai?"

Yan Xiang nodded silently, and after a while, he said slowly: "Yan Hanguang's case was also committed by Dao Yong."

Zhang Qingwei asked: "How do you know?"

"That night, someone saw him drinking with Yan Hanguang, and then taking Yan Hanguang out of the village." The old man was a little depressed: "I didn't mean to hide it from you, it's just..."

At this point, the words stopped abruptly. He lowered his head and let out a heavy sigh.

Hu Pingtao accurately figured out Yan Xiang's thoughts: "Old village chief, do you think this is just a conflict between Dao Yong and Yan Hanguang, that he was impulsive and killed someone by mistake?"

Yan Xiang raised his head and looked at him, his face full of astonishment: "...you...how do you know?"

Hu Pingtao said calmly: "Zhang Qingwei was the police station chief at that time. He led people to investigate the murder scene and concluded that the cause of Yan Hanguang's death was "falling off a cliff." You are the old village chief of Mengsuo Village. Do you believe it?

The police, and at the same time guard against the police. If Yan Hanguang died of other reasons, such as stabbing, blunt force blow, poison, etc... No matter what kind of death, you would stand up and testify against Dao Yong."

"The reason why you didn't do this was because you considered that Yan Hanguang's death might be caused by him accidentally falling off the cliff. After all, there is a big difference between homicide and manslaughter. You don't want the young people in the village to be killed because of this."

Grasp."

"There is another reason - you want to give Dao Yong a chance."

The corners of Yan Xiang's eyes kept twitching. He felt his mouth was dry, so he picked up the cup on the ground and took a sip of strong bitter tea.

Raising his head and looking at Hu Pingtao sitting next to him, the old man hesitated and asked: "You... I remember your surname is Hu, Officer Hu."

A kind smile appeared on Hu Pingtao's face: "You are older than me, just call me Xiaohu!"

After a pause, he added: "My dad is also a soldier. Like you, he fought in self-defense and counterattack."

This was said on purpose.

Veterans who have participated in the war all like to rank based on seniority. With this relationship, a lot of barriers can be reduced.

Sure enough, there was an unexpected look on Yan Xiang's face: "My surname is Hu... I remember that there used to be a commander in the artillery regiment, and he also had this surname."

Hu Pingtao nodded: "That's my dad. He was in the artillery regiment at the time and is now the commander of the Zhaocheng Military Region."

Yan Xiang suddenly became excited: "I know your father. I was in the second group to go abroad to fight. I followed the artillery regiment at the time. We even drank together."

Hu Pingtao smiled and said: "My dad came to the border inspection station just the day before yesterday. It's a pity that I don't know your relationship, otherwise I would have asked you, the old village chief, to have dinner together... Otherwise, when I am on vacation,

I will accompany you to Zhaocheng."

Building relationships is very effective, and the resistance in Li Xiang's heart will be worn away a little bit.

He was holding the hookah in his hand, with a look of confusion on his wrinkled face. After thinking about it again and again, he shook his head with a wry smile: "Come to think of it, it's my fault. If I had told you the news earlier, Dao Yong would have been arrested.

There is no such thing as the latter."

Hu Pingtao asked seriously: "Are you sure that Yan Hanguang's case was really done by Dao Yong?"

Yan Xiang fell into memories and nodded slowly: "He did it. But... I don't understand why Dao Yong wanted to kill Yan Hanguang?"

"I grew up watching these dolls in the village. Yan Hanguang, Yan Zai, and Daoyong are all. Especially Yan Hanguang, who was a monk in the temple when he was a child, and later became a layman. He is a very good young man."

"In the past, the village was poor, so I took the lead in growing bananas and pineapples and earned some money. We did not have an independent primary school here, and my children had to walk more than three kilometers to go to school in the town in the north. There were no roads at that time, and the town's

There are no dormitories in the school, so most of the dolls choose to be monks."

"Speaking of which, I still have no knowledge! It is a good thing to go to school. After all, what I learned from the Buddha in the temple will only be useful in the village when I grow up. When I go out, I will be nothing. People outside do not believe in Buddhism and their living habits are the same as ours.

It's different here, but what can we do? Young people can't stay in the village all their lives. They have to make money and support their families."

"More and more people went out to work, and there were fewer and fewer young monks in the temple. Later, those who were the first to go out came back with a lot of money, built big houses, and bought TVs and refrigerators.

, settle everything at home and continue to go out and make money."

"You Han people have a saying, "People go to higher places, and water flows to lower places." This is true, but I just feel that the atmosphere in the village is not as good as before, not as happy as before, and it is uneasy to live there.

, I always feel that I am not as good as those who make money.”

Yan Xiang raised his head, looked at Hu Pingtao, smiled bitterly and asked, "Can you understand what I mean?"

Hu Pingtao nodded and said with relief: "I understand. This is caused by the environment. It's not surprising. It's normal. Most people yearn for a wealthy life, and there will inevitably be conflicts between old and new ideas."

Yan Xiang patted his thigh: "That's the truth."

Hu Pingtao struck while the iron was hot: "Let's talk about Yan Hanguang's case first!"

Yan Xiang once again pinched a small ball of tobacco and placed it on the top of the hookah rod. He was not busy lighting a fire and said seriously: "I also find this strange. Yan Hanguang and Dao Yong are about the same age. They can be said to be together.

When I grew up, the two families lived together and played together. Being a monk requires money. Dao Yong's family is poor. Every time Yan Hanguang came back from the temple, he would teach Dao Yong some of the knowledge he had learned.

"

Zhang Qingwei asked doubtfully: "Old village chief, I remember that the Buddha in the temple is not allowed to do this!"

Yanxiang explained: "That was a rule in big places, and it was also a rule in the past. If you want to be a monk, you have to send offerings to the temple. In the past, the status of the Buddha was very high, just because they knew a lot and could tell a lot.

A truth that ordinary people don't understand. When I was a child, my family was poor and my parents were illiterate. After the People's Liberation Army came, they opened night schools and my parents learned to write their own names. Later, I joined the army and learned some things in the army.

"

"The Mengsuo Temple was built in the past. There were few people here, so there were few offerings. In addition, the country has implemented nine-year compulsory education in recent years. People with knowledge send their children to school, and pious people send their children to temples.

As a result, there are fewer and fewer monks, especially when they grow up and no longer want to stay in the temple, they all go out to find work, so the Buddhist temple gradually becomes empty."

"On the night when Yan Hanguang died, someone saw him and Daoyong together. I didn't know about it until later. I didn't think of the worst at the time. Young people all like to drink, and they like to make trouble when they are drunk.

The relationship is better than that of real brothers. What's more, Director Zhang and your appraisal results at that time showed that the cause of Yan Hanguang's death was "falling off a cliff and dying." Although I also doubted Dao Yong in my heart, I felt that he could not kill anyone anyway, especially

Sha Yan Hanguang, so... I hid this matter."

Hu Pingtao nodded slightly and continued to ask: "What about Yanzai?"
To be continued...