Ye Zi was sitting in the interrogation room. Opposite her sat two policemen. The policeman called the chief had a dark face but did not look at her. He was probably distressed by the current deadlock. The other policeman had a dark face. The policeman was immersed in taking notes, and from time to time he raised his head to ask a few detailed questions.

Tian Yijiang stood leaning against the door, sometimes smoking a few steps and walking a few steps away from Ye Zi. He was probably worried that the smell of smoke would make Ye Zi unbearable, but even with the distance, Ye Zi She still felt that this small space was filled with the smell of three grown men and tobacco, which made her chest tight, especially Tian Yijiang's scrutinizing eyes, which repeatedly focused on her face, like huge transparent cubic jellyfish eyes. The entire eyes are in the shape of an umbrella, with multiple unnoticed tentacles quietly lurking in ambush, suddenly tightly binding the leaves, secreting paralyzing venom.

So, you were still very young, right? Tian Yijiang asked cautiously.

That’s right, she said calmly.

You just said, at what age did this bullying start? The young policeman who was concentrating on taking notes raised his head and asked dryly. Standing in the interrogation room compartment, watching the surveillance video, Ah Zhi thought, if it hadn't been for Xiaosong's incident this morning, he would have been the one to take notes. This was really surprising. He hadn't thought about it yet. In such a scene, sitting opposite the beautiful leaves, speaking to her in a critical tone.

But this time was different from last time. Last time it was just a routine inquiry to search for information on the deceased. But this time, Ye Zi's hair was found on the inside of the head. Did she stroke that head too? How could she have come across such a terrifying thing? Ah Zhi thought that her slender, catkin-like fingers had once brushed against the terrifying head glowing with white light, and that a hair had inadvertently remained in the depths of the head, and he felt that such a scene was impossible to exist.

I must be 8 years old. Children in the countryside study late. I was just in preschool at that time, Ye Zi said thoughtfully.

Zi Zi remembered that it was September, late summer and early autumn, when a group of boys grabbed her on the road. The leader was called Luobotou. His appearance was indescribable, and he felt top-heavy. He may also be aware of this imbalance, so he wears a pair of huge old-fashioned leather shoes, which are often muddy. For this reason, everyone dislikes him and is afraid of him.

They grabbed Ye Zi and searched her schoolbag first, but found nothing. Then the boys discussed it and decided to let Ye Zi suffer some hardships. They walked along the path with Ye Zi. It was a very narrow path between fields. It was very difficult for Ye Zi, who was still very small, to walk. At the end of the path, there was a lush bamboo forest.

The terrain of this bamboo forest is very high. In the middle is a narrow and slender shortcut leading to the school. On the left is a regular grave mound, and on the right is a dark green river. In this sparsely populated place, they often repeat the horrific tricks they play on children.

They caught a small snake, a smooth and pliable green bamboo leaf.

In this bamboo forest, small snakes cling freely to the crisp bamboos, hidden by dense bamboo leaves and similar colors. A petite and beautiful little snake, Ye Zi didn't know why she would use such words to describe it. In Ye Zi's eyes, snakes have always been a symbol of viciousness and terror, cunning and insidious, so although she knew this shortcut to school , but she didn’t dare to leave even once, not only because of the deep atmosphere here, but also because it was full of insects and snakes. She didn’t want to stay here, she cried and shouted and wanted to leave, but one of the big boys pressed her neck and said, It was like escorting a prisoner, leaving her unable to move.

Ye Zi looked at the fragile little snake, not understanding the situation and being played with by them. It clung to a bamboo branch and was thrown into the blazing fire.

The fields in late summer and early autumn have a kind of primitive maturity, and they are silent as if they have seen through it. After harvesting, only scattered dried straw is left in the rice fields, spread flat on the ground that has been injured by machines, and the wounds are as naked as the wounds. They picked up a lot of branches and built a big fire. The little green snake was placed on the fire. The bigger the fire, the tighter the little green snake clinging to the bamboo branches became. Cruelly, I clung to the bamboo branches like a life-saving straw, afraid of falling into the fire.

This saved them a lot of trouble. They sprinkled salt into the cracked and smoking meat burned by the fire. When the smell of meat slowly spread, they kicked the fire away. , the snake meat is completely attached to the bamboo branches, and is unreservedly presented in front of the leaves.

You want to eat the snake head. Carrot Head said menacingly, very proud of the trick he invented to tease people.

He refused to eat the leaves no matter what. Finally, Carrot Head boldly bit off the snake's head, spit out the sharp teeth on the snake's upper and lower mandibles and palatine bones one by one, and spread them out in the palm of his hand. , to show off his courage to everyone. The other boys looked at him with admiration and envy, chewing the remaining snake meat.

Ye Zi felt nauseated, closed his eyes in the coercion, and took a cautious bite. When her lips touched the dark brown, burnt little snake, the smell of burning straw irritated her nasal membranes, and she choked involuntarily.

The thick smoke in the distant fields rose slowly. When it was at the highest point in the sky, it was blown away by the wind. A big bird flew over. Where the smoke dispersed, it screamed shrilly. Leaf, who has believed in the cycle of life and death since she was a child, and the relationship between cause and effect, bowed deeply in that direction. She believed that the little snake's body was liberated and its soul had ascended to heaven.

She didn't know why she did it at the time. Such a move was beyond her imagination. It seemed abrupt and crazy because it was not done step by step. Like kowtowing to the dead grandma, bow slowly towards the sky. She wanted to repent, but her inexplicable reverence for life and superstitious worship of the dead made her feel guilty. Such a strong sense of guilt made her sadder than being bullied by a few boys or the deep terror of the wilderness.

She remembered that the old people once said that when a person dies and ascends to heaven, there will always be a big white bird that carries the soul that has just left the body and flies to his eternal home. It may become a little green snake in the sky, or it may be reincarnated into something else. In short, it will never experience the hardships of its previous life again.

But her actions attracted even crazier ridicule, and those people were laughing so hard. For some reason, Ye Zi gradually became less afraid.

She was thin, raised her head, and calmly glanced at these bullies. They were all ordinary-looking children, but they concealed their violent tempers.

A boy was also standing in the crowd, staring at her without taunting, and stood out among the group of jeers. Ye Zi and him looked at each other without speaking.

Later, on the way back, the boy suddenly ran up to her and gasped, "My name is Su Yunshen, Su Yunshen is unknown."

My name is Ye Yunzhi, the cloud of white clouds, the branches of branches, she said softly.

That was their official acquaintance, ironic and full of meaning. They became one, being bullied by children who were taller than themselves.

Later, one time, Luobotou got an old boat from nowhere.

There is a river on the right side of the small bamboo forest, flowing all the way down. In late autumn, the river looks sad and quiet. The thick shade of the trees on the river bank is reflected on the water, making the river appear cold and alienated from beginning to end. The eerie atmosphere. The river is densely covered with wild water chestnuts criss-crossing the river, and the old and dilapidated boat is placed on the dense water chestnut leaves.

The hull of the boat seemed to have been soaked and then exposed to the scorching sun. It was as bleak as a row of female corpses. Especially after being put into the water, from a distance, it is particularly conspicuous among the dark vines. Like a woman who committed suicide by drowning herself in a river, after a desperate struggle, she finally surfaced, looked at the world, and stood firm and determined with incomparable resentment and hatred.

This sight made Ye Zi very scared, but all eyes were looking at her, and what she faced was Carrot Tou's teasing smile.

We want to test your courage. How about you take a boat from the upper reaches of the river to the lower reaches of the river? Do you dare to challenge?

Ye Zi knew that she was Luotou Tou’s new prey, and he would only let her go if he felt that no matter how much teasing her, it was no longer interesting. Now think about it, Carrot Tou is well versed in the ways of organization. After being bullied and teased by him in his team, he instead defected to him and became his minion.

But she was very scared at that time, and she could almost feel the severe pain caused by the grinding of lips and teeth caused by fear.

That kind of fear was so unforgettable that it was branded in her mind and bones. When she thought about it, her whole body trembled and her blood seemed to be frozen, waiting to be shattered and eliminated. body.

Everyone burst into laughter. Her head was filled with the buzzing of ten thousand flies. She only saw Yun Shen being knocked down by several children because of what she said. They beat her with their fists. in his face and pushed his head into the grass.

Yi Zi once again realized that those were ordinary children, but they had hidden violent tempers.

She lowered her head and said nothing. She stepped onto the boat, and the boat shook unbalanced a few times. The shadows of the leaves on her face seemed like swaying feathers, or flowing. In the river, there seems to be a floating shadow of a woman hidden there, a floating shadow of a dead woman. She saw her shadow cast in the water shatter, with cracks.

The boat left the shore and rowed unsteadily for a while, then couldn't move anymore. The water chestnut vines were entangled and connected, making it difficult to move even an inch on this wild river.

The leaf reached out and pulled out a piece of seedling vine. The hull of the boat had been abandoned to dry out for a long time. The rotten wood was soaked in water and gradually sank.

She struggled in the water, panting, and heard the screams of the children on the shore. Some of them got scared, howled, and ran away. Ye Zi's brain was in chaos, and everything surged up in an instant.

When she was six or seven years old, her father took her to Yaowan Ancient Town and bought her delicious pastries and beautiful cloth drum toys. It was the nearest ancient town to Yunpian Village where she grew up. Yes, that ancient town has all kinds of pastries, unlike Yunpian Village where she was born, where every household only produces Yunpian cakes. At that time, the Qingshi street was turning late, and she was running forward on tiptoes.

That was the most beautiful moment in her memory. Lying on her father's shoulder, she could smell the fragrance of oil and the faint fragrance of osmanthus.

The image of her father leaning forward, holding a sharp square knife, cutting pastries, vividly appeared in her mind, but the knife seemed to be slashing at her at this moment.

She only felt that the sky was dark and the earth was dark, and everything became blurry.

At the moment of death, only sadness is filtered out, everything is clear to the heart, and all the sadness is like a mirror. Everything was despairing and I gave up. I went up and down in the water, and the tears I choked out merged with the water I drank.

The touch of a hand slowly and tossingly pulled her to the shore.

Ye Zi stroked her fingers, looked at Tian Yijiang steadily and said, "Look, I said that no matter what, I don't hate Luo Xing, you don't believe it, but to me, those It was just a childhood prank, but I got the most important person in my life. After all the children were scared away, only Yun Shen jumped into the water to save me, and took me to Mr. Lingye's house with all his life. Local travel.

The dark-faced director spoke on behalf of Tian Yijiang. He had already become a little irritated because these childhood memories had nothing to do with his current murder case. He didn’t want to know the identity of the deceased Luo. Xing, what kind of pranks did he do when he was a child, and how notorious was he? What he cared about was what happened to the head, and who killed Luo Xing, so he waved his hand and said, we don’t doubt you at all, But that hair is of great significance. We originally planned to use you to learn about the head, but now it seems that you know very little.

Ye Zi lowered his head, as if apologizing for not being able to help.

Tian Yijiang looked at her carefully, which means that the first time you saw the head was in the fifth grade, right?

I have already answered. Ye Zi raised her face and looked at the stern-looking policeman. He had already asked her countless questions over and over again, and Ye Zi was a little tired and restless from his questions.

Then answer it again. Tian Yijiang said dryly.

Yes. Ye Zi replied angrily.

Why didn’t you call the police at that time? Your first reaction when you see something like this is to call the police, right? He lit the cigarette and stared at the leaves, but his movements were methodical.

Call the police? She looked at him in surprise. He slowly shook his head.

Where is the bridge hole you mentioned? It's a repeat question again.

Ye Zi sighed.

It was a bridge opening on the main road. When the ditch was opened to water, the bridge was often flooded. Later, the farmland here was abandoned and the ditch was rerouted, so it became a dry bridge. , the bridge hole is empty, only wet and dry mud and moss.

The group of people asked Ye Zi and Yun Shen to bow and repent in front of the bridge pier. They did so without saying a word, and then squatted quietly in the bridge hole. The weather in late autumn was still slightly hot, but the bridge hole was humid. The soft mud and the darkness all over the sky made them shivering with cold. Ye Zi took a breath, choked and coughed out quickly. They had already lit the fire. The freshly dried harvest straw almost still smells of sunshine, but here there is nothing but fear.

They surrounded the two exits of the bridge with straw and lit a fire. The dark bridge was illuminated. The choking firelight swayed at the entrance of the cave wall. The flames followed the wind and jumped inside. The clouds were deep. Pulling Yunzhi deeper into the bridge hole, they hugged each other, listening to each other's heartbeats, thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump.

Ye Zi still remembers that when they were pushed into the bridge hole for the first time, they were not familiar with each other. Each of them tremblingly relied on a corner of the bridge hole. The soft mud was slowly heated by the scorching heat, and the air was full of warmth. There was a fermenting smell, and Ye Zi felt like she wanted to get into the soft mud, trying to wrap herself up. She looked at her tremblingly, and he stared back with helpless eyes with frightened and innocent eyes. In the corner of the bridge, under the light of the fire, his brows revealed a tranquility that was unusual for a child.

He told Ye Zi that it would get better slowly, and the situation gradually improved. Since that time when he almost lost his life, Luobotou gradually restrained himself. In addition to the routine rituals in the bridge cave, Leaves receive almost no other penalties.

Zi Zi was thirteen years old. When she entered the fifth grade, she no longer suffered any bullying, except mentally. At that time, in the team led by Luobotou, there were often children who left this generation due to their parents' work reasons. They lived in a small city and lived in a big city. Although new unlucky children continued to join the team, Ye Zi and Yun Shen gradually became the veterans of the team. They tried to slowly start to leave the team. , except when necessary, they were called to observe some kind of teasing ritual newly invented by Luobotou, they rarely saw Luobotou again. As Ye Zi grew up, she began to take on necessary chores at home. When her father was frying glutinous rice, she would stand by and sometimes help.

The day before her thirteenth birthday, Carrot Tou made a rare announcement that he wanted to give her a gift. It was also the first time she had seen the skull, and another terrifying thing.

That evening, she and Yun Shen followed Luobotou and stopped in front of the bridge. Luobotou glanced at them, said nothing, and got in first. She and Yun Shen walked in uneasily. Get in there. In the darkness, Carrot Head turned on the prepared flashlight. The light was not enough, creating another kind of frightening terror in this small space.

He took out a box for shoes from the corner of the bridge. He told them that it was a treasure. Yun Shen and Yunzhi both waited with bated breath. The box slowly moved away, and then he took out a box for jewelry. A smaller and more delicate box was used. Through the corner of the box, the leaves could only vaguely see a piece of white. The shiny white was like a pure lily blooming among the black cliffs. But when the small box was opened, they were all shocked. Ye Zi was stunned. It was a black and white eye. It's disgusting with the roots behind it. She stared blankly, but Yun Shen had already started to feel nauseated. Ye Zi remembered that once when Luobotou cut open the belly of a lazy toad with a knife, Yun Shen had the same painful expression, his face was twisted. He was afraid of such dirty things, so he turned his head and faced the darkness of the bridge wall. side.

The leaves seemed to smell a faint smell of rotting toad entrails in the air. It was not strong, as if it came from deep underground. It is humid here all year round, and the dense moss exudes an unpleasant smell. Looking at the eyes placed in the palm of the carrot head, Ye Ye sees for the first time that human eyes have the holes of fish eyes. Without the flow of eyes, this eyeball Looks dry and frizzy. Carrot Head indicated that Ye Zi could touch it, but Ye Zi timidly stretched out his hand and did not dare to touch it hard.

Carrot Head’s eyes were full of pride, and he said this was a good thing. He said, I have something better to show you.

He opened the larger shoe box before, and a skull glowing with cold blue light suddenly appeared in front of him. Perhaps because of the light, the pale orange that hit the skull exuded a softness. The obedience, like the shrouded smoke, makes the skull look not very old, but like one that has just been picked out of the human body, complete and moist.

The look in Carrot Tou's eyes now lost the mocking look. Zi Zi felt that his eyes were filled with a kind of tenderness that she had never seen before. He said to Zi Zi, "touch it." His expression was so serious that Ye Zi couldn't resist for a moment. She stroked her hand back and forth along her broad and flat forehead. He said that the most beautiful thing about her was her eyes.

This sentence made Ye Zi feel extremely terrifying. Her hand couldn't help but stop. Then Luobotou took Ye Zi's hand and stuffed it into the inside of her head. Ye Zi only felt the chilling coldness of her heart. This coldness It makes the touch of fingertips more sensitive, and you can clearly feel the small cracks and the sand embedded in the cracks.

Ye Zi said, my hair was probably left at this time. You can identify it, it is the hair of a thirteen-year-old child. I was too scared at the time to even think of calling the police. . Moreover, Ye Zi looked at Tian Yijiang steadily and said, that was the countryside twenty years ago. Whether it was a head or eyes, although these things were scary, they would not make people think of committing crimes or calling the police. At that time, Many of the schools were built after the mass graves were bulldozed. For a group of students who could dig up the bones of dead people during physical education classes, such heads were scary at best, but they would not think of calling the police. What's more, Luobotou also told me that he picked it up in the bridge hole.

Picked it up? Tian Yijiang smiled softly and casually picked up his mother's head. He crushed the cigarette in his hand and lit a second one.

He didn’t tell me at that time that it was his mother’s head. He told me that he had kept this skull beside him for many years and that it was found in this bridge hole.

Then I pointed to the eyeballs. The pair of eyeballs looked very fresh and well-preserved. He said they were the treasures he just got not long ago, but he didn’t tell me how he got them. I thought He robbed the grave, because there are some people there who often dig other people's graves in search of treasures. Some bold people gouge out the dead person's eyes before digging the grave to prevent the dead person from seeing his face.

After Ye Zi finished speaking, her face was lowered, and the light around her reflected through the glass made her look very soft.

You said that bowing to the bridge and being cremated in the bridge are both rituals, right?

Ye Zi nodded, this is a ritual that everyone must undergo and will be held once a month.

On what day of each month is it held?

It will be held at the end of the month.

Do you know how long ago it started?

I asked one of the children closest to Luobotou, and he said that he has been holding such a ceremony every month since he was bullied.

Do you know what this ceremony means? Tian Yijiang suddenly asked with a smile, as if he had discovered something.

Ziye shook his head, maybe it just made us scared.

Are you afraid? He scanned the leaves with meaningful eyes.

Ye Zi didn't seem to take it seriously. She said thoughtfully that she was scared at the time, but now that she thought about it, she laughed, and it was actually nothing.

I felt very scared at that time. Why didn’t I tell my teachers and parents?

Ye Zi looked into Tian Yijiang's eyes and said word for word, this is the same as not calling the police, it is normal.

Take it for granted? Tian Yijiang looked at her doubtfully.

Yes, you are used to it. When you stay in a situation for a long time, you will think it is normal. People around you are also experiencing this kind of life, and you think it will be fine as long as you get through it. .

Do you think this is normal?

Me? Ye Zi looked surprised. I think it doesn’t matter if it’s normal or not. I’ve survived it anyway. But comrade police, there are children bullying others in every school, and there are children being bullied. Teachers know it all, and parents I have heard it from time to time, but who would think there is a problem with this? From the past to the present, everyone thinks this is like a law of nature, right? Of course, children will suffer a little bit from older children. It will be fine when they grow up. Most people think so, don’t they?

Do you think so too?

I, Ye Zi, answered Tian Yijiang’s question with a sweet smile. It doesn’t matter what I think now, I have grown up.

Tian Yijiang patted his head in appreciation, then turned to the director and said seriously, what we are investigating now is no longer just one murder case, there are already three in front of us.

Three? The director, who was having a headache, looked at Tian Yijiang in surprise.

The deceased Luo Xing, the head of the deceased’s mother, and the pair of eyes the deceased was holding were not three. I don’t think the pair of eyes he held were obtained by some tomb robber. What came were the eyes of the dead, which had long since become cloudy. The eyes that Ye Zi saw were still bright and clean. They were either gouged out from a living person, or taken out immediately from a newly deceased person, no matter what. , this is another new murder case, and the most troublesome thing is that we don’t even know whose eyes these are.

The director held his forehead in pain, somewhat unwilling to admit what Tian Yijiang said. After a long time, he asked, what should we do next?

What’s next? Tian Yijiang said maliciously, "Of course we need to talk to Mr. Su first." He looked at Ye Zi meaningfully, "Your husband must have been waiting for a long time, you should go and take a rest first!"

Ye Zi walked out of the interrogation room tiredly.

"The Bully" Chapter 4 Bullying (2)

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"The Bully" Table of Contents

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