Female General (Thirteen)
The heat pouring down from the eaves enveloped every aspect of the Huang Mansion. Even the wind on Huang Heng's face caused by running made him feel hot and cold at times.
He was clearly an injured man, yet he ran a few points faster than Gou Su and Achou. The two of them stumbled and moved awkwardly around the pillars before they could catch up with him.
"You...you slow down!" Gou Su's voice was shaken by the vibration coming from under his feet, and his breathing was a little heavy.
Huang Heng opened his mouth to breathe, and his clothes fluttered.
"You're slow..."
Before Gou Su could utter the next word of instruction, the swaying shadow in front of him suddenly stopped, its shoulders rising and falling with his chest.
Turning around and looking forward, I saw another rather tall figure.
"Where are you going?" Huang Zhi's gray hair danced in the cool breeze raised by the servants, but the drooping corners of his eyes revealed a fierce look that pierced Huang Heng's eyes.
He immediately looked away and bowed his head, "Father...Father..."
"I'm asking you a question," Huang Heng said without a trace of pity on his face. Even though Gou Susan was late, he refused to pretend to be nice. "Where are you going?"
His father's questioning was like a loud bell, hitting Huang Heng's weak back, so dull and boring.
As outsiders, Gou Su and Achou didn't understand why the father and son were so hostile to each other, but they were still intimidated by the pressure from Huang Zhishi and looked panicked.
Facing Huang Zhi's questioning, Huang Heng lowered his head even lower and quickly replied: "I want to go to the place where the incident happened."
"Why?"
"Father, as the sole survivor, I personally went to the aftermath to search for clues. Perhaps I could recall many details..."
But Huang Zhi remained calm and said, "You dragged your sick body to the scene of the incident instead of staying home to recuperate?"
Huang Heng: “…”
At this moment, the sun was high in the sky, and even the pool water was emitting heat, but the area around Huang's father and son was freezing cold.
Although Huang Zhi had kindly reminded Gou Su before, she still couldn't believe it.
Why did the man who rushed into the fire at all costs just to save a little girl he had never met and set an example by doing this become a scheming stranger in the eyes of his biological father?
Inadvertently, Gou Su caught sight of the servant holding a palm-leaf fan beside Huang Zhi. He lowered his head and looked straight ahead. Even though the atmosphere had dropped to freezing point, he still performed his "duty" as a servant as always.
The more the father and son acted like this, the more curious Gou Su became.
However, before she could ask her doubts, Huang Zhi's steps were getting closer and closer like a big snake, and he was about to eat Huang Heng, who was kneeling in front of him, alive.
The situation was not good, so Gou Su had to speak out to stop him: "Sir, I asked Master Huang to go with me."
Gou Su's interruption was like a sharp sword, cutting through the thorny bush that was about to drown Huang Heng.
Huang Zhi's eyes were cold as he cast them at Gou Su's cheek: "Oh? What do you think, General?"
"That's right." Gou Su stepped forward, stood between the two of them, and bowed to Huang Zhi.
I don’t know if it was out of face or for other reasons, but when Gou Su spoke, Huang Zhi’s aggressive mouth closed instantly.
The bitingly cold atmosphere was gradually invaded by the scorching sun.
The green turtle that was drying its shell at the bottom of the rockery in the yard suddenly plunged into the water with a splash, which was as loud as the chirping of a young bird on a branch.
After a long moment, Huang Zhi's gaze finally relaxed, replaced by an even more indifferent sentence: "If you want to go, go tomorrow. Tomorrow, this official will go with Lord Li from the Ministry of Justice. You can follow us then. Don't act on your own. If you ruin the situation, you will be the only ones to lose your heads."
That makes sense. It was really reckless to go straight to the scene of the incident. Fortunately, Huang Zhi reminded us, otherwise we would not be able to find any clues and all the charges would have to be borne by the three of them.
Upon hearing this, Gou Su was the first to bend his waist even lower, admit his mistake and express his gratitude.
Huang Heng was a step behind her, and his voice became weaker and weaker.
Fortunately, Huang Zhi did not take it to heart. Seeing that several people were about to retreat, he put away his frosty eyebrows, folded his wide sleeves, and left.
An obstacle suddenly appeared halfway, and Huang Heng, who was originally excited to show his skills, suddenly wilted like a rotten leaf.
Gou Su stood behind him, her eyes couldn't help but fall on the back of his head. Even though she couldn't see his lonely eyes, she could still get a glimpse of his decadence.
I really can't understand why the relationship between father and son is so bad.
Blood relatives have now become like strangers.
What happened to the father and son that turned the happy situation they should have had into a situation where strangers were kept away?
Although he was full of confusion, Gou Su felt that it was inappropriate to cause him pain, so he swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth and did not speak again.
She took a step forward and gently placed her hand on Huang Heng's left shoulder: "In that case, let's go back first. According to Master Huang, it won't be too late to set off tomorrow."
Huang Heng was silent for a moment before he lowered his head and nodded to Gou Su.
After saying that, Gou Su raised his arm, put it around Huang Heng's arm, let him use his full strength, and helped him move back to the bedroom step by step.
The two of them walked hand in hand past Achou. The fragrance of Gou Su's hair penetrated his nostrils, but he couldn't bring himself to smile.
The three returned empty-handed, unaware that another interesting drama was going on in the bedroom.
While confronting Huang Zhi, Xiao Lin stopped here at Mu You's request and joined him in the so-called "treasure hunt".
However, what they are looking for is not "treasure", but a key to explore Huang Heng's character.
Xiao Lin's sixth sense is rarely wrong, and Mu You, who is always carefree, also feels the same way. They have to be more cautious with Huang Heng.
It happened that he "kindly" testified for Gou Su and others, so they had time to look for clues hidden in this house.
Although they were the only two people left at that time, they could not make any noise openly because of the dragging footsteps of servants passing by outside the house from time to time. They had to crouch down and tiptoe to push aside the pages of the books stacked on Huang Heng's bookcase and examine them one by one.
The crisp sound of book spines colliding slid from Xiao Lin's fingertips to her heart, and her unnatural breathing revealed her growing inner uneasiness.
"Strange... why is there nothing special..." Xiao Lin scanned everything in front of him, afraid of missing anything.
But everything she saw told her that there was nothing strange in Huang Heng's bedroom as she had imagined.
However, just as she was defeated by the pain in her arm and was about to give up, there was a loud noise behind her.
Without saying a word, she turned back alertly.
However, her gaze passed over the tables, chairs and screens, and unconsciously fell on Mu You's half-squatting figure.
"What's wrong? What did you find?" Xiao Lin lowered his voice deliberately, stepped forward in cloth shoes, and tiptoed forward.
"This...this..." Mu You didn't respond directly. Instead, panic appeared in his eyes, and even his hair trembled. "What is this?"
Hearing the sound, Xiao Lin rushed over, but was stunned by the scene before him——
Mu You dragged out an old and dilapidated mahogany box from somewhere. There were some fuzzy gold fragments and a little bit of emerald green on it. Judging from the style, it was not a popular style at the moment.
Come to think of it, it’s been a while.
But the box is a small matter, but the things stored inside are a big matter.
That was definitely not an ordinary piece of jewelry, and it became even more bizarre with Mu You's every move—
His fingertips lifted the lid of the box as if possessed by a magician, and countless human faces were stacked in the green satin of the wooden box like dried fish hanging out to dry.
The one on the top was ivory white, with edges as thin as cicada wings and a corner that was raised.
Mu You's facial features wrinkled together, and he was picking with his fingers in a trance.
Who would have thought that the mask would be even more terrifying when it was lifted up? One could see the shadow cast by the window lattice wandering among the irregular folds, and there were still a few dark blue marks left in the eye sockets.
Xiao Lin was frightened into silence and covered his mouth unconsciously.
Mu You's expression also became surprised. His Adam's apple moved and he quickly reached out to search inside again.
Cold sweat slid down the back of his neck into the hemp collar. He just flipped it over casually, and the bottomless pile of skin on his face gave off a biting chill, and every piece of skin, even the fine lines on his throat were clearly visible.
What... what is this for? Why are there so many masks hidden in Huang Heng's private residence?
Even someone as brave as Mu You still shuddered and threw away the strange-feeling face in his hand the moment he saw everything clearly.
"Oh my god! What the hell is he doing!" Mu You exclaimed, subconsciously kicked the wooden box, and immediately retreated to Xiao Lin's side.
Xiao Lin also had no idea what was going on. He suppressed his panic and agreed, "I don't know! Oh my god, this thing is so scary!"
"When he hid this thing in the room, I knew he was not a good person!"
Mu You suddenly shuddered with indignation. Even when he just glanced at the box of unlucky things, he felt a chill down his spine.
Fortunately, Xiao Lin still had some sense. He grasped the hem of Mu You's clothes with his fingertips and moved forward tentatively, half-advancing and half-retreating.
"There must be some clues in here... We should go and take a look..." Her voice became smaller and smaller, and her steps gradually became slower and slower.
Mu You felt the residual heat from her body brush past him, and when he glanced sideways, he saw her face was pale. He guessed that with her courage, she would not dare to touch those people, and her current action was just a pretense.
"Stand back." Mu You suddenly said, covering Xiao Lin's stiff knuckles with his big hand, and then stood in front of her, "I'll go and see."
Seeing this, Xiao Lin was startled, his eyelashes flickered, and he didn't know how to answer.
Before she could react, Mu You suppressed his fear, rolled up his sleeves and squatted in front of the wooden box again.
There must be a clue here, Mu You thought.
As he whispered in his heart, his trembling hands gradually became numb and steady. He pinched the layers of dough one by one. It was during his not-so-quick rummaging that something beyond the dough suddenly emerged.
"This... this is..." Mu You scratched at it with his hands, and then his eyes suddenly lost focus. "It's human skin! It's human skin! Hands... feet... all kinds of skin!"
He screamed, his chest roaring like a bellows, and fear spread to every corner of his body.
This time, Xiao Lin didn't dare to say a word. The chill that had finally dissipated suddenly came back.
What is Huang Heng hiding? Why is he collecting so many human skin masks?
Could it be that he killed someone?
Before she could react, Xiao Lin could only feel her heart beating faster and faster, causing her eardrums to buzz.
With a pair of eyes whose whites were larger than the pupils, her legs seemed to have taken root, deeply dug into the ground, unable to move.
At this moment, a buzzing sound enveloped her ears, filtering out many noises and allowing the sizzling sound of soles of shoes scraping against the brick surface to sneak in.
"Oh no!" Xiao Lin suddenly came to his senses, overcoming the fear in his heart. He hurried forward to put away the box of noodles and frantically closed the lid. "Someone's coming! Put it back where it belonged!"
Mu You had never felt so nervous before. He was so nervous that his palms were sweating for the first time and he couldn't hold the lid of the box steady.
The old wood slipped and accidentally shook off some debris.
Xiao Lin and the other man didn't bother to clean up carefully. They hurriedly pushed the box back into the dark, kicked away the debris on the ground with the soles of their shoes, and turned to face the light coming through the crack in the door when they heard the sound.
Gou Su took the brunt of the attack, clasping his hands on the door carving, his gaze flickering between the two men's faces: "What... are you doing..."
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