Halting Brother, and tying the reins around the saddle horn, Shen swung himself out of the saddle.<br/><br/>He walked towards the tree, shaking his head at Su Lan's nonsense.<br/><br/>"'Just' a dead tree, xiao mei?  I don't think so.  Every dead man has hung from this tree.  THIS tree - no other.  Why this one?  What is so important about it?  What happened here?"<br/><br/>He held up a finger between his eyes.  "The dead were taken from different places, but all were hung HERE.  A normal man would simply find the closest tree to use for the hanging...yet, the killer risked exposure by obsessing over this tree.  That implies something...special."<br/><br/>"Do not let its appearance fool you, xiao mei.  This is something about this tree...and I want to know what it is."