Chapter 19 eighteen

Twenty-five years have passed. Irie is now standing at the place where Xie Shiyu fell and lay on his side covered in blood. Cryptogam flora creep among the rocks.Needless to say, the ferns that had sucked Xie Shiyu's blood at that time had long since died, and new ones grew again, and I don't know how many generations. This happened the next morning after staying overnight in Ruidianzhuang. After entering the river at noon, you must go to Shanghai and set foot on your way home.Zhou Fujing, who was accompanying him, was ready to leave for his hometown Yongou as soon as he was sent off into the river.

There is still some time before departure, and Irijiang wants to go to Wufengwei and Yuling, which the car passed by a few days ago, to take another look.After expressing his intention, Zhou Fujing said let's go together. Irie actually wanted to go alone. However, the regulations do not allow foreign guests to be left alone in such a country. Comrade Zhou, I will trouble you then. The young village head of Ruidianzhuang entrusted the river entry to Zhou Fujing. Irie immediately went to the mansion that used to be Lee Dong-gong's family.Now, there are three families living in that big house.Those people have nothing to do with Lee Dong Gong.

Then, the two of them walked down the narrow ramp. On the way, Irie recalled the place where he threw away the sawdust in his pocket that night, and felt a little difficult to breathe. For him, it was a relic of youth. Leaving the road under the cliff, Rujiang stopped at the place where Xie Shiyu fell to his death, and Zhou Fujing also stopped silently.Originally a person who doesn't talk much, Zhou Fujing on that day seemed to want to let Irie be quiet by himself. The scene of Xie Shiyu falling off the cliff was a terrifying memory for Irijiang. Stare straight at the rocks at your feet.

Although he thought he couldn't keep standing here and let Zhou Fujing wait, but he couldn't move an inch. He finally made up his mind. Yingxiang took my knife away because he knew the ancient legend. After secretly reading it to himself, he said to Zhou Fujing: let's go. The village committee of Ruidianzhuang not only has a museum, but also a library.In a room of the village committee, most of the recently published books are placed, and a few ancient books are piled up in the farthest corner. Last night, Irie found "Miscellaneous Research on Yuling Stories" in it, and naturally picked it up to read.

Li Donggong's collection of books is written on the book cover, and there are books on it that sing the wind and play the moon.Seeing this, Irie hesitated to open it. It was indeed the book that Li Donggong had shown to Iri at that time. It may have been donated to the library by an old man, and ghosts of the past seem to appear between the pages. I might feel bored tonight. If you have a book you want to read, you can borrow it.There is nothing to see in such a rural place, sorry. The village chief said beside him. Um. Irie put "Miscellaneous Research on Yuling Stories" back on the shelf, picked up the ancient book next to it, and said:

Then, I'll borrow this one. Anything will do, as long as there are no other books that seal the spirits of the past. The title of the book is "Zhang Gongan". The so-called koan means trial.In ancient China, stories about famous judges were all given the name of that judge, such as "Bao Gong Case", "Di Gong Case" and so on. Back in the room, he idly flipped through the "Zhang Gongan" to see that Zhang was referring to Zhang Xianping, a famous minister of Emperor Wu of Liang. Turning a few more pages, I also wrote about killing Baoxuan. "Miscellaneous Research on Yuling Stories" focuses on Zhu Shaofeng's selection of a son-in-law, and only briefly records the whole story of the murder:

Inspector Zhang Gong, set up evidence ◇ However, "Zhang Gongan" focuses on the latitude and longitude of the incident resolution: The engraving of Shi Neng has fine flaws.Zhang Gong held one of the carved garden trees, and there were flaws in the wood. It was correct to check that there were streaks left on the foot of the ladder. ◇ When Shi Neng was carving Buddha statues, he mistakenly stuck a chisel into the hard part of the rock and damaged the blade, which is also recorded in "Miscellaneous Research on Yuling Stories". Carving with a chisel with a damaged edge, leaving only slight marks, but remaining in the wood or sawdust.Based on this, the chisel used to chop wood and legs can be detected, and then the person who owns the chisel can be found out to be the murderer.

I see Irie thought to himself, and at the next moment, he suddenly called out: ah! In order to kill people, cut off the legs of the wooden frame. Not only Shi could do this 1,400 years ago, but also Irie 25 years ago did the same thing.Moreover, the navy knife used at that time was also slightly damaged when the hardness of the rock was investigated on the third peak.At that time, Yingxiang at the side saw it.Irie remembered this scene. Yingxiang took the knife away. Yingxiang, who grew up in this place, of course knows the story of Zhang Xianping.That's why she took the knife from the entrance to the river.

In fact, Lieutenant Miyake did not know the story of the third peak, and did not investigate the traces after the pillar was scraped. Instead, a bullet was found in the back of Xie Shiyu's head. Shot from behind.He probably wanted to escape from the hanging building in panic because of the enemy's intrusion, maybe it was because of his feet being tripped.At the same time as he was hit, he rolled to the hanging building, and the weight of his body broke the pillar and fell down. Since the pillar broke quickly, it was possible that the hands and feet were moved, which was once regarded as a doubt.

However, Second Lieutenant Miyake ended the incident with his own speculation. The guerrillas knew that Xie Shiyu was a spy of the Japanese army. To punish him, they first surrounded the mansion.However, he may have attempted to escape by sliding down the pillars of the hanging building.The guerrillas first thinned the pillars and cut off his retreat. Although they are our enemies, they still have to admit that their combat methods are really high.If this is done, the number of people surrounded does not need to be too many. Second Lieutenant Miyake said in admiration. I didn't know that Second Lieutenant Miyake would explain it this way.Yingxiang must have taken precautions to prevent dangerous evidence from being kept in Jiang's hands, so he destroyed the knife.

Thinking of this, Irie felt a little relieved. The day after Xie Shiyu's death, Yingxiang suddenly disappeared.Actually violated the important agreement between him and him. Back to school in Nanjing, the kid has to study hard. Li Donggong said. At that time, Irie already had a premonition that she would never appear in front of him again. On the day when I had to return to Beijing after less than a month of stay in Jiang, Li Donggong said: Oh, this is what Yingxiang asked me to hand over to you, I forgot. After speaking, handed Irie a piece of paper. For women, it is a very strong and powerful handwriting. A poem is written on it: Enmity and world affairs, The precious love is strong. Kind of like a red lip knot, The hanging building is covered with green grass. Benevolence exists together, Xia is on the third peak. Dream of Handan in Yuling, Wake up and ride the crouching dragon. ◇ The main idea of ​​this five-character poem is that in the normal state of enmity and enmity bestowed by human beings, war is of course one of them, and the only thing that can surpass these is priceless true love.Expressed his appreciation for Irie's love for himself. It is impossible for both parties to forget the vermilion lips of the Cliff Buddha and the green grass under the hanging building where Xie Shiyu fell to his death.The emerald green characters are easily reminiscent of blood in Chinese poetry.In a Chinese story, it is described that the blood of a wronged person will turn emerald green in the soil after three years.In Li He's poems in the Tang Dynasty, there is a sentence of hating blood for thousands of years. The so-called benevolence is always considered to be an abstract virtue and belongs to the metaphysical, while the chivalrous heart is reality and belongs to the metaphysical.This is to praise Irie for imitating the chivalry of the third peak story. Yingxiang once swore to the country of his motherland that he belonged to the man who killed Xie Shiyu, but he disappeared unexpectedly.The poem must have been an apology letter. Then the last two sentences read: I hope you take what happened in Yuling as an illusory dream.I have woken up from this dream and drove the crouching dragon away. Finally, after a few lines, there are some blackened sepia characters.The calligraphy of the poem written with a brush is skillful, but the last few words are crooked, and it is difficult to recognize them Yingxiang pricked blood thanks ◇ The dark brown writing was dipped in blood.It may have been written after cutting a finger, no wonder the words look crooked. Even if he received a blood letter of thanks, it still couldn't make up for Yingxiang's regret of escaping. She is in the student dormitory in Nanjing.On the way back, I will stop by Nanjing, I want to see her Irie said.Old Man Li shook his head: That child, to be honest, is not in Nanjing. So, where did you go? I told you, what are you going to do? I am chasing all over the world. It's a place that Japanese people can't go to. The old man said, looking up at the ceiling. Half a year later, on his way back to the country, he passed through Shanghai, and at the military headquarters, he happened to meet the first class Hasegawa, who was out of tolerance. Asked him about Yuling, Senior Soldier Hasegawa said: Later, the guerrillas seldom had any activities, and recently they were too idle to panic. Looking back twenty-five years later, it really seems like a dream.But it was a vivid reality at that time, so no matter what, I couldn't believe that I was in a dream. let's go! Irijiang urged, but this time Zhou Fujing didn't move. There is still time, stay a little longer.Let's chat! For the taciturn Zhou Fujing, it was a rare encouragement. What are you talking about? Before, a man fell to his death here? I know, exactly twenty-five years ago, when I was here. The man's death was very similar to what happened on the third peak a long time ago. I know that too.In order to compete for the beautiful girl of the Zhu family, two young men competed to carve Buddha statues on the third peak. Yes, your country seems to have a similar story.Unlike carving Buddha statues, archery competitions are held with waterfowl as targets.As a result, one shot to the head and the other to the tail, it was hard to distinguish Xuan Jin.The girl didn't know what to do, and later committed suicide.The plot is probably like this? Oh, it's clear! Irie was taken aback.Zhou Fujing is a traffic technician and doesn't understand a word of Japanese, but he knows the legend of the Tohara girl from "Manyoshu" or "Yamato Monogatari". Heard it from my wife. Madam? yes! While talking, Zhou Fujing took out his pocket and took out a knife. Hey, this is Irie really wanted to rub his eyes.It is exactly the same as the naval knife that Yingxiang took away from him twenty-five years ago. You used to give my wife something. Zhou Fujing tried hard not to show any emotion. As if to let Irie see clearly, he kept holding the knife in his hand. then, your lady Yes, it's called Li Yingxiang.Our husband and wife are currently working in Zhejiang Province. This time, only I will return to Yongou on vacation. My wife can’t come back together because of work, so she just sent me to Shanghai.In Shanghai, I said that there was a Japanese university professor named Irie who wanted to go to Yuling.My wife said it must be Mr. Irie.Originally, I said I would go to the hotel to see you, but I haven't seen you for twenty-five years, but after thinking about it, Mr. Irie may have a wife and children, and maybe he doesn't want to think about the past.So my wife changed her mind and said it would be better not to come to see you.She is always so self-righteous, wishful thinking that if Mr. Irie still thinks about herself So, my wife handed me the knife, and I hope you keep it as a souvenir.However, she asked me to judge and see Mr. Irie's reaction.If I judge that it can be handed over to you, then it will be returned to the original owner.Would you like to accept it? Zhou Fujing maintained the posture of handing out the knife.Between the two was the majestic navy knife that seemed to hang between the past and the present. Irie wanted to reach out to take it, but was afraid that his hand would tremble, so he hesitated. This is your stuff.Zhou Fujing said, however, it has been with my wife for twenty-five years.She keeps it in her purse, and takes it with her wherever she goes, which means it belongs to her, and it is the most suitable gift for you as a souvenir.After seeing you, I thought it was time to hand it over to you. I'm happy to accept, in addition As he spoke, Irie took out a white envelope from his suit pocket. Please give this to your wife.It was given to me by your wife before, and it has been placed on my chest for twenty-five years. It can also be said to be mine.Like this knife, it is the best souvenir. The two men exchanged sabers and letters, as if in a solemn ceremony. For the woman he loves fiercely in his heart, Irie once wanted to abandon everything, even forgetting that he was Japanese. It was a vortex, an upwelling climax, mixed with some madness, in the tide of his life.But a fruitful life was indeed once wrapped in that whirlpool. Is not this marvelous ritual performed before our eyes, to obliterate the vivid memory that cannot be forgotten?Thinking of this, Irie felt a little regretful. Irie stroked the saber he had exchanged. The knife I got back was a commemorative item of that era, and it was a bit like a relic.This seems to indicate that 25 years ago, the raging flames entered the river, and now it is time to put out the remaining flames. Zhou Fujing took out the letter from the envelope, and read the poem in the second half of the blood book. Oops, this poem is not very well written. It is a nineteen-year-old work, and it is barely passable.She always boasted that she had a talent for literature in Girls' Generation, I don't believe it, but it seems that she has a little bit of it.However, this girl is just too strong! Zhou Fujing, who had been suppressing his emotions until now, finally eased up a little.There was some expression on his face at last. Although he always belittled his wife, Zhou Fujing's eyes showed deep love when he read his wife's poems in her girlhood. (they're so in love) it's great Irie thought so from the bottom of his heart. Zhou Fujing put the letter in an envelope, put it in his pocket, and looked up at the cliff. A man fell from there and died. He pointed to the cliff and said that a girl asked two men to kill people, and then she was willing to give herself to the man who killed them.How about it, is it similar to a Japanese legend? she also let you Irie stared at Zhou Fujing's raised chin and asked. The chin of the man who was locked up in the guerrilla house, lying on the couch with the book covering his face.Irie tried hard to recall, but the memory had already become blurred like fog. Zhou Fujing turned his gaze back from the cliff, looked directly at Irijiang's face, and said: Since the drawdown of the guerrillas and the transfer of base areas were faster than expected, I met her that night. When my wife told me about Japanese legends, guess what she said?She said that if she was the Japanese woman who believed that the two sides were tied, she would rather decide that the person who shot the waterfowl in the head won.Why?Because, hitting the tail waterfowl may not necessarily kill, but hitting the head is fatal.Of course this is her own theory, and she applies the same theory to us. Applied to us? It was me who hit the head of the man who lived on the cliff.You just chopped off the pillars of the hanging building. I'm sorry to say that, it means that you shot the waterfowl's tail, so she decided that I won. Hey, that's what happened! At this moment, Irie felt his cheeks swell.Even though it was out of place, it still felt a little funny and quirky. I really want to laugh. Because until just now, he was still blaming Yingxiang for breaching the contract back then. Zhou Fujing's explanation swept away the haze in Irijiang's heart. Zhou Fujing went on to say: If my bullet missed the head, and the man's fall from the hanging building was the real cause of death, Yingxiang would call you, how can I express it?make you It might even take me away. Irie said it naturally. That's right, Zhou Fujing looked like he knew me better than you, and smiled for the first time, taking it away, yes.This word can express her actions very well, very apt.Although she sometimes seems absurd in her actions, she is actually a very straightforward and courageous woman. Irie guessed that she disappeared because she knew the cause of Xie Shiyu's death. After knowing the outcome, she immediately left with Zhou Fujing. Irie suddenly remembered that he had heard from Hasegawa and other soldiers that since the incident, guerrilla activities have decreased a lot. Later, you left the occupied area with her, right? Yes. Commander Wolong is you? I never claimed to be.However, people in that area at that time called me that very exaggeratedly.Not bad, that name is Commander Wolong Zhou Fujing smiled.Her snow-white teeth glistened, and deep dimples appeared on her cheeks. (End of the book)