Xixia dead book

Chapter 117 The Decisive Battle at the Peak of Helan (2)
5
When Yelena was about to take a closer look at the photo, Ilyukin arrived with his people.She emerged from the ashes and said to Ilyukin: "We are late again."

"How could this be? It's...so shocking!" Ilyukin shook his head, his face full of doubts.

Yelena looked back at the villa that had been burned to ashes, and seemed to say to Ilyukin, but also seemed to be talking to herself: "Maybe... maybe we made a mistake in the first place."

"What do you mean?" Ilyukin was puzzled.

"What do you mean? Don't you understand? Looking back now, Han Jiang's inference is reasonable. The lost 1964 was not simple. And we didn't pay enough attention to it at the beginning. I didn't pay attention to it at all. I don't have any hope for this clue, I think it's just that the files in 1964 are missing. So when I investigated, I just took it as a general work and checked everyone one by one. When Breining, Isakov and Stech When the three Kim came into our sight, they were full of mystery from the beginning, and the three of them carried out the task of protecting Misha around 1964; especially Stechkin, but we still haven’t given them enough. Take it seriously. I went to ask Brenin, and I went to Ponotska to interrogate Stechkin. Before I went, according to the information we got, Brenin was an old man with a weird temper, and Stechkin was a perverted killer , but my questioning of the two of them went smoothly, and the narratives of the two basically answered my questions, and they were just right, without any flaws. This made me gradually relax my doubts about them, and I have today disaster." Yelena analyzed the investigation process of several people.

"But I don't think we did anything wrong!" Ilyukin was still puzzled.

"Yes! There is nothing wrong with our approach, but don't forget that our opponents are by no means mediocre! When I asked Breynen and Stechkin, I think there is basically no flaw in their narrative , so I believed that there was no problem with them, and Isakov was confirmed to have died 20 years ago, so I was ready to end this investigation. But now that I think about it, the biggest flaw is the lack of flaws!"

"No flaw is the biggest flaw? What do you mean?" Ilyukin looked at Yelena in surprise.

"Brenning and Stechkin, one lives in a villa in the country and rarely communicates with others, and the other is locked in a high-security prison, and cannot communicate with the outside world. It is impossible for them to collude; and according to According to our investigation, the two of them have not been in touch for many years. But when they recall the old events decades ago, the contents of their narratives are completely consistent, and there is no flaw. Isn't this in itself doubtful?"

"What you said... yes! So many years have passed, and most people recall the past many years ago. If it is not an important and memorable event, there must be some things that are forgotten or inaccurate, but the narration of these two is indeed too We got it together." Ilyukin also thought of this.

"What does this mean? It means that the past events many years ago are unforgettable and memorable to Brainin and Stechkin. Something that’s clean and painless. I think they’ve probably prepared for this moment years ago, so that’s why these two narratives are so aligned, so clean.”

"You mean that many years ago, Brenin and Stechkin expected that someone would investigate them because of Misha?" Ilyukin was even more surprised.

"Well, I think so, there must be that Isakov, and maybe someone else, and that's the only way to explain everything. Brynin, Stechkin and Isakov must be the same as Misha's." At the same time, they made an offensive and defensive alliance many years ago, advancing together and retreating together. So many years have passed, although their later life destinies are different, but no matter how the world changes, they are still silently obeying the original plan. This offensive and defensive alliance between them until I talked to them."

"My God! What kind of power is this that can make them still abide by the agreement after so many years? You know, the world has changed. Now Brenning is the general and Stechkin is a prisoner. One is in the sky and the other is in the underground. The two still have the tacit understanding they had back then!" Ilyukin couldn't believe it anyway.

"The fact is that they all seem to be keeping some secrets of the past, and this is what we are interested in. It's a pity..."

"Then who among them is the real mastermind behind the scenes?"

"I don't know, maybe none of them are, but they must have something to do with what happened back then."

"Could it be Stechkin? He was commanding by remote control in prison, and no one would have guessed it was him. But when you went to interrogate him, he panicked, so he escaped from prison and set fire to Brening to death." Yiliu Kim speculates boldly.

"It's possible, but I don't think it's realistic. Ponotska is heavily guarded and far away from the city. It's difficult to command remotely in that place. But here, whether the corpse in the sea of ​​fire belongs to Brenning or not? Further confirmation is needed.”

"Why, do you suspect Brenning?"

"Don't forget the 'general' mentioned by Tymoshin!" Yelena paused, and then said, "Of course, according to common sense, I preliminarily judged that the corpse was Brenning, and Brenning really doesn't seem to be the one behind the scenes. Black Hand. But besides Stechkin and Brenin, who else can we investigate? Unless that Isakov comes out of the grave!"

"Yes! Now Stechkin has escaped, and Brynin is dead. If Stechkin does not show up again, we have no other clues. Alas! It seems that we are back where we started."

"That's right, Colonel, your understanding is correct. This requires you and your subordinates to speed up the progress of work. On the one hand, identify the corpse to determine whether he is Brenning; on the other hand, rescue Igor and further investigate and collect evidence. On the other hand, we must be more vigilant to prevent that perverted madman Stephkin from reappearing." Yelena seemed to be assigning a task, and Ilyukin, who had a higher rank than her own, said.

"Stechkin? Will he come out again?" Ilyukin did not believe that Stechkin would show his face easily.

"No?" Yelena seemed to be talking to herself, "Yes! Those people took such a big risk and put in so much effort to save him from Ponotska. He will definitely come in handy!"

"Perhaps...perhaps the mastermind just wanted to silence Stechkin," Ilyukin speculated.

"You mean to kill people to silence?! If that's the case, wouldn't it be better to turn him into a scorched corpse like Brenning?" Yelena asked back.

Ilyukin nodded yes.After Yelena finished speaking, she turned her head and walked towards her car. Ilyukin hurriedly called to her: "You have assigned me so many tasks, so what are you doing?"

"Me?" Yelena smiled at Ilyukin, "I should take a good rest, or I will collapse!" After speaking, Yelena got into her "Fiat" and drove out of the black forest.

6
As soon as Yelena finished talking about the terrifying memories, Han Jiang couldn't wait to ask: "Then what happened afterwards? What about the results of your investigation?"

Yelena shrugged and spread her hands: "I got nothing."

"Nothing? How is it possible?" Han Jiang asked.

"That's right! Is that burnt corpse Brenning's?" Tang Feng also asked.

"The corpse was burned too badly. We can only preliminarily determine that the corpse belongs to a man over middle age. The detailed autopsy report has not yet come out. Although Igor was rescued, he failed to provide any valuable information. According to him, the group of militants came by helicopter, and they cooperated from inside to outside, with strong firepower and a clear target, and they came at Stechkin. So, by the time the prison guards reacted, it was too late."

"This is completely in line with the method of the man behind the scenes." Tang Feng expressed his judgment.

Yelena nodded: "There are two things that confuse me now. One is why such a big change happened to Stechkin and Brenning just after I found them?"

"Obviously this is for your investigation," Han Jiang said.

"Yes, Stechkin has been in prison for more than ten years, and no one has robbed him; Brenin has been retired for more than ten years and is alive and well, but something happened after I found them. "

"This shows that your investigation has touched the nerves of the mastermind behind the scenes. He can't tolerate you going to Stechkin and Brenning." Tang Feng analyzed.

"The second thing that puzzles me is that Stechkin and Brenin have not been in touch for many years, but when I asked them about the past, they answered almost exactly the same, seamlessly." Yelena said.

"Just like what you analyzed with Ilyukin, if there is anything that can still be remembered by a person decades later, it must be an unforgettable and indelible event. And the two of them described this event seamlessly and impeccably. , there must be a problem. It has been decades since they concealed the matter from you, but they still keep it secret, I think they must be afraid of something." Tang Feng speculated.

"Afraid of what?" Yelena asked.

"This goes back to your first doubt. They are afraid that other people will know their secret back then. This secret is still valid today, and it can still make the experienced and far-sighted General Brenning and the murderous, Stechkin, the prisoner on death row, is terrified, terrified!" Tang Feng said.

"What kind of secret could this be?" Yelena asked.

"I think it must be related to the lost year 1964. The people who participated in protecting Misha in 1964 must have encountered a major event in their lives that year." Tang Feng said.

"I thought so too, but now that Misha is dead, Isakov is dead, Brenin is dead, and Stechkin has escaped from prison, who else was the insider?" Yelena frowned.

"Maybe..." Han Jiang paused, Tang Feng and Yelena looked at him together, "Maybe the problem lies with Stechkin."

"Oh?"

"Think about it, according to the inference just now, the mastermind behind the scenes didn't want us to get in touch with the people who knew the truth back then. Then, assuming that Misha and Brenin were both killed by the mastermind behind the scenes, why was Stechkin rescued by someone from prison? Gone? If you don’t want Stechkin to speak, just shoot him, the dead will not speak, so why save him?” Han Jiang speculated and expressed his doubts.

"You mean Stechkin is the mastermind behind the scenes?" Tang Feng was surprised.

Han Jiang shook his head: "I'm not sure yet, but I can't rule out the possibility. Yelena, then you didn't find Stechkin afterwards?"

"Of course I did. Ilyukin cast a wide net, but he didn't even smell Stechkin at all."

"What about this photo? Judging from the photo, this guy seems to be doing well now." Han Jiang said while staring at the photo in his hand.

"Then another strange thing happened, which was this photo. One day, Ilyukin suddenly received it." Yelena said.

"Do you know who sent it?" Han Jiang asked.

Yelena shook her head: "I don't know, there is only this photo in the envelope."

"This is indeed another strange thing. Who will send you photos of Stechkin? The man behind the scenes? Obviously impossible. It is impossible for him to save Stechkin and provide clues for you to arrest him. " Tang Feng murmured.

"Well, don't worry about who sent the photo, look at this photo, what else do you see?" Yelena asked.

"What did you see? Isn't it Stechkin?" Han Jiang looked at it for a while, but couldn't see anything from the photo.

Tang Feng seemed to see some problems. "This background..." He hesitated, but finally said with certainty, "This background is in China."

"What? Stechkin has arrived in China?" Han Jiang was astonished.

"Not only can I see that this is in China, but it is very likely that it was filmed in the Helan Mountain area."

"How...how is this possible? From this photo, you can tell that Stechkin went to Helan Mountain?" Han Jiang didn't quite believe it.

Tang Feng pointed to the background in the photo, and said: "Look here, the mountains in the background are full of Mongolian almonds, and the distant hillsides are Qinghai spruce. These two kinds of plants are distributed in Northwest my country. According to my knowledge I know, it is distributed in Helan Mountain."

"Just because of this?" Han Jiang was skeptical.

"Also, look at that steep cliff in the background." Tang Feng reminded Han Jiang.

"On the cliff? It seems to be two animals, goats?" Han Jiang didn't understand Tang Feng's meaning.

"That's blue sheep." Tang Feng said with certainty.

"Blue sheep?"

"The cliffs of Helan Mountain are the places where blue sheep like to live. With the blue sheep and the plants in the photo, I can basically be sure that this photo was taken in the Helan Mountain area." Tang Feng deduced.

"Stechkin appeared in Mount Helan?! Don't they already know our next plan?" Han Jiang was a little puzzled.

"It seems that they are likely to take another step ahead." Tang Feng said.

Yelena didn't understand what Han Jiang and Tang Feng meant, so Tang Feng told her the information that Professor Luo had deciphered.After hearing this, Yelena said: "It seems that I came here right this time. Let's go to Mount Helan next, maybe we can not only get that piece of jade screen, but also catch Stechkin."

"You? Go with us?" Han Jiang looked at Yelena, hesitant.

"What? Can't you? That Stechkin is much stronger than Stephen and the others. Without me, you can't beat him alone!" Yelena said.

"It seems that this is the only way to go. Before Stephen caught it, another Stechkin appeared." Han Jiang murmured.

Everyone prepared separately, and soon Tang Feng, Han Jiang, Yelena, Xu Renyu and Makarov set off separately.

[Section [-] Mountain Inn]

1
In early spring, after the five met in Yinchuan, they left the fertile Hetao Plain in a Cherokee and plunged into the depths of Helan Mountain.The huge Helan Mountains are like a giant, lying between the Badain Jaran Desert and the Hetao Plain, blocking the wind and sand in the Badain Jaran Desert with their bodies, and bringing prosperity to the Hetao Plain.This was once the sacred mountain in the minds of party members. It has witnessed the rise and fall of the Xixia Dynasty, and it also hides many secret histories of the dynasty.

Entering the mountain pass, two towers stand majestically. "This is the pagoda from the Xixia period." Tang Feng recognized this Xixia building at a glance. "Dangxiang people believe in Buddhism. Yuan Hao once ordered the construction of Buddhist temples in the middle of the country. It is said that there are dense Buddhist temples in Helan Mountain during Xixia."

"But which one is the Black Vulture Temple we are looking for?" Xu Renyu asked.

"It's a pity that all these Buddhist temples have disappeared. To find the Black Vulture Temple, we can only rely on Misha's notes." Tang Feng said.

Not long after the car entered the mountain pass, the road turned into a dirt road, and after walking for a while, there was a faint wisp of cooking smoke in front of us. "There seems to be a village ahead." Tang Feng remembered the villagers mentioned in Misha's notes.

The Cherokee slowly approached the smoke, and Tang Feng saw clearly that there was no village in front of him, only a single family.There is a signboard in front of this family, which looks like an inn.

"There is no village in front of this place, where is an inn?" Xu Renyu asked suspiciously.

"Maybe it's a hotel specially opened for backpackers." Tang Feng guessed.

(End of this chapter)