dmims Page 55
Page 55
Murong Die wore a pomegranate red pleated skirt, with a blackish-yellow wide belt around her waist and a token tied to it.
This is the official symbol, representing that during the Lantern Festival, she is one of the members who maintains order and law in the county. If there is any dispute, going to her is equivalent to going to the government.
"Sister Butterfly!" Suddenly, a young man appeared in the distance, rushing towards her.
"Oh dear, Fu Hai, why are you running so fast? What happened?" Murong Die's mood brightened as soon as she saw the young man.
"Come with me to a place." Fu Hai grabbed her and ran towards the Goddess Temple. To take a shortcut, they went straight into an alley.
Seeing that no one was around, Murong Die immediately understood: "Hey! Fu Lang, you're really in a hurry." She immediately threw herself into his arms and began to rub against him.
"Sister Butterfly, wait a minute, wait a minute." Fu Hai noticed that Sister Butterfly was a little impatient, so he quickly grabbed her hand that was reaching down.
Chapter 102 Butterfly Girl's Intention to Test the School
Fu Hai gestured and explained the situation.
"Such a thing is true?" Murong Die looked surprised. "But this world is indeed full of wonders. Although demons, ghosts, and evil spirits are not very common..."
But even if it exists, it wouldn't be surprising.
After thinking about it, I realized that I hadn't said it lightly.
He added, "After all, there are even moving, living bones."
Fu Hai said, "I was startled at the time. It felt like I was grabbed by something called Mao Xuan and suddenly pulled down." He rolled up his trouser leg.
Murong Die noticed several obvious ligature marks on his legs.
"How do you feel?" She bent down to check, then looked up with concern. "This evil thing is extraordinary. Is there anything that's bothering you?" Sister Butterfly, who was lying on her stomach, suddenly looked up.
Fu Hai inexplicably felt that something was stirring within him.
He shook his head and said, "I felt a chill at the time, and the place where I was strangled felt like it had been frozen by ice. But after circulating my qi and blood, it got better quickly."
Murong Die stood up and grabbed his hand: "Let's go! Let's go take a look."
Fu Hai walked forward with her and said, "I never thought that our An County would have such strange things."
Murong Die said, "These kinds of evil spirits can appear anywhere, but there aren't many that are truly born and raised in nature, especially in a bustling city like this."
"Furthermore, according to what you've said, the previous Uncle Ping An was most likely injured by that thing, and you've encountered the same thing. This is clearly a case of someone rigging the ticket!"
Fu Hai had a headache: "But how do we investigate this? Cen Yao was not far from me at the time, and she didn't see anything. I didn't see anything myself either, but I did move the thing away by kicking it twice."
Murong Die smiled and said, "Although I've also encountered such things, it shouldn't be difficult to investigate."
"You should know that most cases are actually quite easy to investigate. Look at those novels and stories; those cases are all meticulously crafted and complex. But in reality, more than 99% of people simply can't come up with any meticulous plans."
"Let alone ordinary people, you'll know after seeing more of them that even those with status and position can be incredibly stupid when they commit crimes."
"Leave this matter to me. If we're lucky, we'll find out soon." They arrived at the Goddess Temple.
It was still afternoon, and the street opposite the main gate of the Goddess Temple was bustling with people. This Goddess Temple was rumored to be very efficacious.
Although tomorrow is only the first day of the Lantern Festival, there are already quite a few people coming to visit and make wishes. Murong Die, holding a token, summoned two nearby constables.
She instructed them to stand on either side of the Goddess Temple, dressed in black robes, and to occasionally grab a few people to question them. Then, she led Fu Hai toward the main gate of the Goddess Temple.
Fu Hai stood beside her and asked, "Sister Die, are you just going to let them question us like this?"
Murong Die smiled and said, "I just let them ask whatever they want. The key is to make it seem like a case is already being investigated in this area."
"As for what they're investigating, they don't actually know. But they understand this kind of thing; what they investigate isn't important, the gesture they make is." Hai let out an "Ah."
Murong Die looked at him and asked, "You understand now?" Fu Hai replied, "More or less."
Upon entering the Shennv Temple, the female abbess greeted us.
The female abbess, whose Taoist name was Jinglian Sanren, was dressed in a white robe, with her hair tied in a Taoist bun, and holding a whisk.
But she wasn't actually a real female Taoist priest. She was originally from Zhengjiazhuang. She had read scriptures, knew some Taoist philosophy, and had some connections, so she was arranged to be the abbess.
This lantern parade, for example, was nominally organized by the Shennv Temple, but it was actually funded by wealthy families in Zhengjiazhuang. The Shennv Temple merely provided the venue.
This recluse named Jinglian also had the surname Zheng; in fact, her real name was Zheng Jinglian. She was the cousin of Zheng Yi and Zheng Zhi, and she also knew Fu Hai. Seeing that he had brought a female knight-errant from the government, she was quite surprised.
"Sister Jinglian, this is Miss Murong Die," Fu Hai introduced her to Zheng Jinglian. Zheng Jinglian had also heard of the reputation of the heroine Murong Die, so she didn't dare to be hasty and inquired about her background.
Murong Die said, "I would like to ask if there have been any strange rumors around the Goddess Temple in the past two or three years. They are mostly legends about ghosts or something like that."
Although Fu Hai was standing next to Butterfly, he still secretly opened the "spy" window.
"While questioning Zheng Jinglian, the abbess of the Goddess Temple, Murong Die listened carefully to the footsteps around her."
"Murong Die noticed something was wrong with the old woman sweeping behind the pillar to her left rear." So fast?
Fu Hai did not turn around.
He tried to listen, but there was too much noise around him. He had neither Murong Die's skill nor her experience.
After careful observation, she discovered that there was indeed the sound of a broom sweeping from the left rear, but she didn't know why it had attracted Sister Die's attention. Zheng Jinglian was surprised that Murong Die, a famous heroine in the county, had come specifically to ask about such a matter.
Immediately, he also became tense: "If you want to talk about it, it's that wasteland beyond the backyard. People often say that they hear crying in the middle of the night."
"It's not just in the last few years, it's been many years. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't." Mu Rongdie asked, "As the abbot, have you heard it when you stay here at night?"
Zheng Jinglian shook her head: "My home is in the village, I didn't stay here tonight. This place is the clan's property, I'm just a figurehead." Murong Die said: "Some say it was a man crying, some say it was a woman crying, or something else?"
Zheng Jinglian replied, "Most of what I heard was a woman crying, but some said it was a child crying, and some even said it was an infant crying." Mu Rongdie asked, "Are there any other strange rumors?"
Zheng Jinglian shook her head: "We are the Goddess Temple here. Even if there are some bad rumors, they are just nonsense. "It's just that more people hear the crying over there, so there have been many rumors over the years, but nothing strange has been found. "I don't know anything else."
Murong Die nodded and said, "Go ahead and do your work." Zheng Jinglian bowed and then withdrew.
Murong Die turned around, seemingly casually glancing around.
They didn't specifically look at the old woman sweeping the floor as she slowly walked away; they only glanced at her briefly. After leaving the Goddess Temple, many people came and went around them.
Murong Die smiled and asked, "Have you discovered anything?" Fu Hai looked at the "spy" window.
"Murong Die further confirmed that the old woman sweeping the floor was highly suspicious." "Murong Die wanted to test the host, so she deliberately asked the host questions."
Fu Hai pretended to observe his surroundings, then looked at the old woman's back as she walked away and whispered, "Sister Die, I think that old woman is highly suspicious."
Murong Die suddenly turned to look at him, her face showing surprise and shock. "You actually found out too?"
Chapter 103 The female knight thought he might be a talent for martial arts.
Murong Die looked at Fu Hai's younger brother in surprise.
It should be noted that the Goddess Temple faces the street, and there were quite a few people around at this time.
Some people were walking into the temple, some were leaving after offering incense, and some were simply passing by.
In bustling areas, not to mention ordinary people, there are also quite a few petty thieves. However, seeing the police officers conducting checks in the distance, these thieves, who usually engage in petty theft, spread out and dared not make a move.
In this situation, Fu Hai's younger brother was able to so accurately determine that the old woman was suspicious. His insight was truly extraordinary.
"Oh?" Murong Diegu asked with interest. "Why do you think there's something wrong with her?" Because that's what you think!
Fu Hai's eyes flashed with light as he said, "This is what I think! The person who ambushed Uncle Ping An and me was probably not far from us at the time."
"If it were an outsider, touching it casually in the backyard would have been noticed long ago. Therefore, the person who rigged the ticket is most likely someone who visits the Goddess Temple every day but goes unnoticed."
"Actually, at first, I suspected it was someone from the lantern troupe, trying to replace Uncle Ping'an and me. But then I thought that didn't make sense; after Uncle Ping'an was injured, he didn't..."
Someone volunteered to replace him.
The two followed slowly behind the old woman. Murong Die said, "Even if it wasn't to replace you, it could have been to stop the Goddess Temple's parade from going out."
Fu Hai said, "I've thought about it too, but wouldn't it be better to harm Cen Yao instead?"
"Even if the lantern troupe is missing someone playing a monster, it doesn't mean they can't go out. The problem is if they're missing a 'fairy,' right? With fairies but no monsters, the performance just won't be as good. With monsters but no fairies, it's obviously unlucky during the festival."
"Besides, if we really wanted to stop the parade, wouldn't it be simpler to just set it on fire when no one was watching in the backyard?" Murong Die nodded: "That's right! So you think it's someone who isn't part of the parade, but who frequently appears at the Goddess Temple?" Fu Hai was actually just being wise after the event.
Because the girl, Butterfly, first concluded that the old woman was suspicious, and then he became wise after the event.
But that doesn't stop him from speaking eloquently now: "I'm not entirely sure, but I think it's highly likely." Then, before we even entered the Goddess Temple, the old woman was sweeping outside with a broom.
“After we went in, she followed us in and scanned behind the pillar, obviously trying to eavesdrop on what we were saying to Sister Jinglian.”
"After we finished talking, she swept the floor as she went out. When I passed by, I quickly glanced at her and saw that the area behind the pillar was not clean at all; she was obviously just putting on a show."
Murong Die said, "I didn't expect you to have such keen eyesight. I listened to her footsteps and knew she was quietly approaching from behind the pillar. You didn't even look behind the pillar, yet you were able to tell there was something wrong with her based on that subtle detail."
"Especially when there are so many people around, the ability to find the most suspicious person among so many people in such a short time is extraordinary. This ability to see the big picture from small details is remarkable."
"If you join the Six Doors in the future and become a constable, you will definitely have the opportunity to become a famous constable."
With so many people around, how could Fu Hai possibly have the ability to judge each and every one of them in such a short time?
But in Murong Die's mind, if he weren't incredibly observant, with exceptional memory and keen observation skills, how could he have identified the old woman, whom he had barely even glanced at, as the prime suspect among so many people?
Murong Die was able to make the judgment only because she had worked with the Six Doors for many years, seen many cases of all sizes, and possessed the strength of the seventh realm.
Fu Hai's younger brother is so young, and hasn't even really entered the martial arts world yet, but he already has this insight.
She glanced at Fu Hai, a hint of amazement flashing in her eyes... Could he be a genius? Fu Hai asked softly, humbly seeking guidance, "What do you think, Sister Die?"
Murong Die watched the old woman's retreating figure and lowered her voice: "Your guess is not wrong."
"The most important thing is that the method of harming people is too crude, and it is definitely not the work of an experienced martial arts practitioner."
"Since he's not an experienced江湖人 (jianghu person, a term referring to people who have a history of martial arts or江湖义气, a code of honor), he's very likely someone who originally lived nearby. Criminals like him are often unstable and easily panicked."
I noticed that the government had started an investigation, but I don't know if they were investigating her.
"It was inevitable that she would be terrified. She dared not approach the constables who were questioning passersby, and it was almost certain that she would sneak up and eavesdrop on our conversations inside the temple."
Fu Hai nodded: "I see, Sister Die, you're really amazing." Murong Die, however, knew that she was only speaking from experience.
Fu Hai's younger brother lacked this experience, yet he was able to deduce the same result as her through his extraordinary talent. This was true skill, making her feel inferior.
The two men hung behind the old woman, neither getting close nor far away.
Every now and then, the old woman would pretend to be sweeping in a corner, then steal a glance in their direction.
Upon discovering that the two of them were following him, the child was startled and suddenly turned and ran into the alley. Previously, the two had only made assumptions.