Chapter 79: Zhenwu Hall
Chapter 79: Zhenwu Hall
Woohoo~
The morning mist had not yet dissipated, but Li Yuan felt that he could smell blood.
"There are dozens of monks. They will all die just like that?!"
Looking at the blood-stained cart pushed out of the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple, Li Yuan felt a chill in his heart.
"Too cruel, it's really going to wipe out the whole family!"
There was a commotion on the street. Some people stepped back in fear, while others craned their necks to look.
"All gone, all gone! Your blood has gone cold, and you still want to dip it in steamed buns or something?"
A yamen runner was scolding loudly, and on the cart he was pushing, there were more than a dozen dog corpses piled up.
Not a single dog was left alive...
"Kong, Kongding host is dead!"
Someone in the crowd exclaimed, followed by an uproar.
Among the nine temples in Gaoliu, Bodhisattva Temple is the first.
In the eyes of most common people, the abbot of the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple is a big shot who has connections and even the county magistrate has to consult him from time to time.
But now, he was lying on the cold cart, his chest and head were rotten into a ball. If it weren't for his conspicuous robes, no one would have recognized him.
Last night, the old monk's voice was like a lion's roar and his strength was like a strong wind. Yu Zhen was beaten badly. But now...
Li Yuan glanced at the wound, and the more he looked at it, the more familiar it looked:
“This is a hammer kill!”
Kill with a hammer, and a heavy hammer!
Li Yuan mentally measured the wounds on Kong Ding's body and came to a conclusion.
The murderer's hammer was much bigger than his. The old monk, who was as ferocious as a tiger last night, didn't even take a single blow before his head was shattered into pieces...
"Too fierce!"
Li Yuan felt a little scared when he thought that there was such a vicious person hiding in Gaoliu City, and the people nearby were also in an uproar.
"All gone, all gone!"
County lieutenant Liu Bin had a gloomy face and scolded loudly. All the yamen runners dispersed and cleared the area.
Just as Li Yuan was about to leave, he saw Liu Zheng there too. With an idea in mind, he approached him:
"Brother Liu."
"Brother Li is here too?"
Before Liu Zheng said anything, several yamen runners bypassed Li Yuan and started pushing other people. After a short while, most of the onlookers were dispersed.
"How miserable!"
Liu Zheng shook his head: "The popularity of the Thousand Eyes Bodhisattva Temple will definitely drop sharply in the future."
If even the Bodhisattva cannot protect the monks in the temple, the popularity of the temple will surely drop significantly.
Li Yuan nodded, but he felt no sympathy.
His second brother and his wife burned incense and paid tribute every year, which was considered pious. However, these monks who were plagued by the plague not only had no gratitude, but also secretly plotted against them.
Even if he died, it would be a great relief.
"Father."
Liu Bin came over with a gloomy face, glanced at Li Yuan, and frowned slightly:
"you are?"
"Father, this is Li Yuan, the disciple of Master Zhang, the Weapon Forger."
Liu Zheng introduced him.
"So he is Master Zhang's best disciple."
Liu Bin nodded, his expression slightly changed: "You came at the right time..."
"What did your Excellency say?"
Li Yuan had already guessed it, but pretended not to know.
"Your family's third shopkeeper, Mr. Wang Ding, was also murdered last night..."
Liu Bin pointed to the cart not far away, ignoring the bloodstained nightgown:
"Then I'll trouble you to take it back, little brother."
"The third shopkeeper..."
Li Yuan was shocked, but he had no choice but to accept this tough task. He took a closer look and found that Wang Ding was completely naked, not even the spear he carried with him was gone.
"Everyone is good at touching corpses."
Glancing at the yamen runners from various squads, Li Yuan pushed the cart, but before he had gone far, he heard another scream.
“There are still dead people here!”
"Why are there still more?!"
Liu Bin's face looked very ugly.
As the county lieutenant in charge of public security and catching thieves, he seemed to have seen a huge pot about to be put on his head.
What comforted him a little was that the county magistrate had disappeared, and he was not the only one who had neglected his duty.
"Another one dies..."
Li Yuan was pushing the cart along the way, and when he glanced at it, he was stunned.
Another acquaintance!
"Li Ba?"
Li Yuan couldn't help but narrow his eyes.
In an alley filled with sewage, a middle-aged man with a sallow face was lying on his back, grabbing the wall with unwilling hands, a black knife was stuck in the ground, and blood dyed the ground red.
"Human skin mask!"
Li Yuan shuddered and remembered something.
But under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he could only watch Liu Bin and the coroner walk over.
"That mask is so realistic, it shouldn't be discovered, right?"
Li Yuan quickened his pace and pushed the cart out of the inner city. After a while, under the constant gaze of passers-by, he pushed the cart back to the blacksmith shop.
"Wang Ding?!"
Zhang Ben was stunned upon hearing the news. He read it carefully several times but was still confused:
"Why, why are they all dead?!"
Li Yuan didn't even pretend to ask, because Yu Zhen's body was lying nearby, covered with rags and still smelling of blood.
"This, this...the two of them..."
Looking left and right, Zhang Ben felt very confused for a moment.
The second and third shopkeepers all died overnight?!
"Third Shopkeeper, he, he actually..."
"They are all wearing night clothes, could it be..."
"Who killed the shopkeepers?!"...
The disciples in the front and back yards, and the blacksmith assistants in the forge, all came upon hearing the news, and were all in an uproar when they saw the bodies of the two shopkeepers.
Afterwards, they all looked at Zhang Ben:
"Old Zhang..."
Cao Yan is no longer around, and the second and third shopkeepers are all dead. Now, Zhang Ben is the most experienced person in the weapon forging shop.
Zhang Ben frowned, but before he could say anything, a strong voice came from outside. Leader Zhao came in with a gun, his face solemn:
"Notify the families of the two shopkeepers. Everyone else, disperse and do what you need to do!"
Zhang Ben frowned slightly, but also echoed the scolding:
"It's all gone!"
……
Li Yuan put down the body, turned around and left without wasting any time.
"father!"
Faintly, he seemed to hear Wang Gong crying.
But he didn't look back, pushing the empty cart and running very fast. After a while, he got back to the blockade under the pretext of delivering the cart.
But the alley was empty.
late……
"Brother Liu, who is the one who died?"
Li Yuan sighed inwardly and slowed down his movements.
Liu Bin finished watching the excitement and was about to leave when he heard Li Yuan's question. He looked around and lowered his voice: "That man is the murderer!"
"???"
Li Yuan was stunned.
"That man was a notorious thief who was suspected to be in collusion with Nian Jiu. He wanted to steal the temple's property but failed. He was so angry that he killed all the masters in the temple, but was severely injured by Master Kongding's White Cloud Palm..."
Liu Zheng shook his head, his face full of regret. He didn't care whether Li Yuan believed it or not, he believed it first:
"It's a shame. Although this person has been executed, Nian Jiu is still at large..."
"..."
Is that how you play?
Li Yuan was speechless and complained in his heart, but he could only agree: "That year Jiu was too hateful, I don't know..."
"There is nothing the government can do about this matter."
Liu Zheng sighed:
"More than half a year ago, after Nian Jiu committed a murder, my father wrote to the capital city, and the capital also said that someone from the Zhenwu Hall would come back to help, but half a year has passed, and no one has appeared..."
Zhenwu Hall?
Looking at the empty alley, Li Yuan put down the cart.
Zhenwu Hall was founded at the beginning of the Dayun Dynasty. It was composed of the elite masters selected by Taizu Pang Wenlong from many sects under his command.
He had also heard of the violent agency that combined assassination, assault, intelligence, beheading, etc., and had a great reputation.
"Have the people from Zhenwu Hall arrived?"
Li Yuan asked.
He was quite curious about this violent organization that claimed to have gathered the elite from all over the world.
But there are also some doubts.
He didn't believe that a local lord like Shenbing Valley would send its elite disciples to serve the imperial court...
"No."
Liu Zheng yawned. He had just come out of Chunfeng Tower and was very sleepy. He waved his hand and prepared to go home to sleep.
Li Yuan asked:
"Brother Liu, how will the murderer be dealt with?"
"The murderer didn't..."
Liu Zheng felt sleepy and almost didn't react:
"Oh, you mean that bandit? He's already dead. Most likely they'll just record it and throw it into a mass grave in a couple of days to be eaten by wild dogs. That'll be a good deal for him!"
"A mass grave?"
Watching Liu Zheng go away, Li Yuan glanced at the lifeless Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple and turned to leave.
"Could it be that the people who killed these monks were from the Divine Weapon Valley?"
On the way back, Li Yuan thought about it and felt that it was very likely.
"So, last night, the first person to sneak into the Bodhisattva Temple was Li Ba? After he escaped with serious injuries, Yu Zhen and Wang Ding joined him. I was the third group. After that, were there any masters from the Divine Weapon Valley?"
"Who is this Li Ba? What does he want to do? He is so useless, he can't be from Zhenwu Hall, right?"
"What are Wang Ding and the others planning to do at the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple?"
chaos!
Li Yuan felt confused just thinking about it, so he simply didn't bother to think about it. He turned a few streets and came to Four Seasons Pharmacy.
He really didn't dare to touch or take the medicine on Yu Zhen.
He planned to come here to identify some elixirs and buy a few detoxification pills to prepare for the little field mouse.
"Give me two bottles of detoxification pills, some for all kinds of poisons!"
……
……
The Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple was gloomy and the smell of blood seemed to linger for a long time.
"It was Mr. Han who did it!"
After taking a look at the sunken bluestone floor in the front yard, Fang Yunxiu didn't have to guess. She had only seen Han Chuijun act so brutally.
A normal person, no matter how vicious a bandit, would never kill even a dog...
"The Valley Master also said that Mr. Han has been cultivating himself for many years and no longer likes to fight with others. I almost got fooled..."
Looking at the traces all over the temple and courtyard, Fang Yunxiu's eyes twitched. She looked around but found nothing. When she was about to leave, she suddenly turned back.
"I remember there seemed to be an incense burner in front of the main hall?"
After frowning and looking at him, Fang Yunxiu turned and left. She was very fast and returned to Lu Mansion in a short while.
"Aunt, where have you been?"
In the backyard of the Lu Mansion, Lu Bailing was sweating profusely. Seeing Fang Yunxiu with a heavy face, she hurried over to greet him.
"Where's your father?"
"what?"
Her tone was cold, and Lu Bailing was startled and quickly replied:
"Father was not at home last night. He should be in the Bodhisattva Temple, right? He often discusses Taoism with Master Kongding all night long..."
"He was at the Bodhisattva Temple last night?"
After looking at Lu Bailing expressionlessly, Fang Yunxiu turned and left.
(End of this chapter)