The nine people at the beginning made an agreement with Lu Shanjun. Although many of them have forgotten about it, for Lu Shanjun it was an important part of his practice and enlightenment. He never forgot this point. As his mind became clearer and clearer, he always had a vague feeling in his heart.
To be honest, Lu Shanjun had thought of many possibilities, but he had never thought that someone would choose to become a monk.
In this world, generally speaking, people who become monks are either desperate or are children adopted by monks. They recite Buddhist scriptures from a young age with the mission of becoming a monk.
It is really rare for someone like Zhao Long, who comes from a well-off family, to become a monk.
Hearing Lu Shanjun's surprised expression, Du Heng also added.
"Yes, it's not the famous Luming Temple in Kyoto, but the Luming Zen Temple in Xining Prefecture. It's quite remote and not many people know about it. I was also told about it by Brother Zhao's family when I went to look for him a few years ago."
Lu Shanjun listened, nodded, and asked.
"Did Master Du go to Luming Zen Temple to meet Zhao Long?"
Du Heng didn't dare to hide it when he returned.
"That's right. Du has been to the Luming Zen Temple in Xiaoliang Mountain. Brother Zhao had been ordained for three years at that time, and his words and actions were like those of a monk. However, he did not give up his martial arts, but he changed from using a stick to using a Zen staff."
"Oh I got it!"
Lu Shanjun nodded, a thoughtful look on his face, and glanced at the ghost Lan Ningke beside him. The ghost was now looking at Wang Ke and Du Heng in a trance, and the two of them kept their eyes on Lan Ningke, who looked no different from an ordinary person.
Ghosts such as minions are relatively special among ghosts. People who don't know them well find it difficult to tell the difference between them and living people. They are extremely deceptive. In addition to being unable to resist their masters, they also possess the wisdom and abilities of their previous lives and also have emotions.
Lan Ningke is Lu Shanjun's accomplice, so Lu Shanjun can naturally sense his current emotions. Even now, Lan Ningke still feels unwilling and resentful, as if he is extremely unhappy when he sees the current situation of Wang Ke and Du Heng.
"Oh, you are a devil who never changes your bad habits."
Lu Shanjun whispered, sucked Lan Ningke into his mouth, and then bowed to Du Heng and Wang Ke again.
"Captain Wang, Mr. Du, I will take my leave now. I am very happy to see you today. If we have the chance in the future, maybe we can have a drink together."
Du Heng and Wang Ke looked at each other and quickly saluted.
"If you invite me someday, I will definitely prepare some good wine." "You are also welcome to invite me anytime."
Just as Lu Shanjun said, if you have not done anything wrong, you don't have to be afraid of ghosts knocking on your door. After the initial fear of Du Heng and Wang Ke passed, they did not have much psychological burden at this moment.
Seeing the two people's frankness, Lu Shanjun smiled, rode on a gust of wind, rolled up the fallen leaves, and quickly disappeared into the forest.
"Huh..."
"Ah… "
Du Heng and Wang Ke both breathed a sigh of relief.
On the other hand, Li Tongzhou and others seemed a little excited. Compared with Du Heng and Wang Ke, in the eyes of outsiders, Lu Shanjun instead had a sense of being a supernatural being. Even when he summoned ghosts, they were mysterious and you couldn't tell they were monsters at all.
"Brother Du, Captain Wang, who was that expert just now?"
"Yes, Master Du, that expert just now blew out a living person. Is that some kind of magic?"
Listening to the slightly excited words of the people around him, Du Heng smiled bitterly.
"It's a long story. He is indeed an expert, but he is a little different from what you think..."
Wang Ke said quickly.
"Let's not talk about it for now. We should escort scum like Zhao Datong back to Yaqian Prefecture. There are many people waiting to see them being crushed to ashes!"
"Yes! Brother Wang is right!" "That's right, tie them up first."
The group of people suppressed their doubts for the time being and began to deal with the matters at hand. It was half a quarter of an hour later when they tied Zhao Datong and others onto the horses.
At this time, many of the escaped horses were gathered together, and some that could not be found had to be left alone for the time being, which might be a good thing for the people of that village.
When they came, they chased on eight horses quickly. When they went back, the team of more than 20 horses had to look after the horses as well as the remaining seven or eight prisoners, so their speed naturally slowed down.
They were now in the wilderness, and Yaqian Mansion was at least two hundred miles away from here. It was impossible to go back in an instant, so naturally, Du Heng and the others needed to find a place to camp before dark.
It was a cloudy day today, and it got dark quickly. Li Tongzhou led the horse in front, trying to find a suitable place to camp. The surrounding woods were too transparent, windy and cold, and did not shelter from the rain, and it was easy to be ambushed. It would be best if there was a place with a stone wall or something. He had seen this place before when he was chasing.
The horse was galloping at a moderate pace. When it crossed a stream, it saw a flash of fire near a stone wall in the distance.
Li Tongzhou rode his horse forward. When he got closer, he saw a man in white shirt lighting a bonfire and sitting there reading a book while warming himself by the fire. When he heard the sound of horse hooves, he stood up and looked over here.
"Is this gentleman alone?"
Li Tongzhou did not dismount, but asked from a distance.
Ji Yuan, who was sitting by the fire, stood up, grabbed a book, and looked past Li Tongzhou and behind him.
"My dear warrior, I am going to Xining Prefecture in Yizhou. I am alone at the moment. It is dark tonight and the road is difficult to travel. If you don't mind, please come here to rest."
Li Tongzhou is a martial arts expert with good eyesight. At this moment, the firelight reflected on Ji Yuan's face gave Li Tongzhou a sense of familiarity.
"This person looks familiar."
After thinking so in his mind, he suddenly found that the color of this person's eyes was not right, as if they were pale. His heart suddenly trembled, and he immediately got off the horse, clasped his fists and bowed.
"Li Tongzhou has met Mr. Ji!"
Although he had only met Ji Yuan twice in Jinzhou, he was definitely impressed and actually recognized him directly.
Ji Yuan was a little surprised. In fact, there were quite a few people there on the snowy night in Jinzhou, but he only remembered Du Heng. However, he always showed respect to others, so he naturally returned the greeting immediately.
"So it's Master Li. Since you have such a plan, you don't have to pretend to be a stranger. Please ask King Du and the others to come here and rest. There is no danger around."
"Yes, I will go and inform you immediately."
Li Tongzhou immediately mounted his horse and turned around to go and notify.
A moment later, the sound of galloping horses came, and Du Heng and Wang Ke rode their horses first, each with complicated and excited emotions.
After a round of greetings and preparations, the entire team arrived at Ji Yuan's campfire.
Ji Yuan did not discriminate between relatives and strangers and asked everyone to sit around the campfire. Even criminals who had been acupunctured, such as Zhao Datong, sat closer due to supervision issues.
Except for someone who was roasting horse meat and needed to pay attention to the meat, everyone else was listening to Ji Yuan's story carefully. What was he talking about? Mainly about the previous experiences of Luo Ningshuang, Lu Chengfeng and Lan Ningke.
He talked about everything from the process to the results, which made Du Heng and Wang Ke sigh, and also lamented that God is watching what we do.
What's interesting is that Ji Yuan's words made Zhao Datong and others, who had been very tough before, look even uglier. After Ji Yuan said that Lan Ningke was already a ghost and could not go to the underworld, they finally couldn't help but interrupt him.
"Mr. Ji! I would like to ask, does the underworld really exist? After a person dies, will there really be ghost messengers to collect the soul and take it to the underworld?"
There was silence by the campfire for a while. Ji Yuan looked at the man who had been acupunctured and tied up, and Wang Ke introduced him in a low voice.
"Sir, this man is the wanted criminal we are hunting this time. He has done many evil things in his life and has killed countless innocent people. He will be sentenced to death by slow slicing when he returns to Yaqian Mansion."
Ji Yuan nodded.
"It can be seen that the anger and resentment are entangled with evil karma. The person's anger is full of blood and his life will not last long."
Zhao Datong asked again with a slightly pale face.
"Mr. Ji, can you tell me the question just now?"
Not only him, but also the people around him are very concerned about this matter. Everyone now knows that this seemingly ordinary and even blind gentleman is actually a master, maybe even a god. This kind of thing that is difficult for mortals to access is undoubtedly very easy to arouse curiosity.
Ji Yuan put away the faint smile he had always had.
"Of course there is a netherworld. I can also tell you that given your condition, Zhao Datong, I'm afraid there will be ghosts from the netherworld in Yaqianfu guarding the execution ground. One is to prevent your evil spirit from escaping after your death. They will subdue you and take you away as soon as possible. Secondly..."
Ji Yuan paused for a moment, thinking it was a bit cruel, but it was also his own fault, so he continued speaking.
"Second, I heard that you will be subjected to the punishment of slow slicing. Although the executioner does not know, the Yincha will help him protect your heart and soul, and keep you awake throughout the whole process. If you are cut more than 3,600 times, you will not die."
Zhao Datong's face turned pale, and he was suddenly covered in cold sweat. His body was even shaking slightly.
This meant that he was facing the death penalty by slicing, and even fainting was a luxury. The fear had never been so strong as it was now. Zhao Datong wanted to commit suicide but he was powerless.
After shaking his head slightly, Ji Yuan looked at Wang Ke again.
"Captain Wang, can I borrow your seal?"
Seal? Wang Ke was startled, and took out a thumb-sized official seal from his inner pocket, handed it over and asked.
"But this?"
"that's it."
Ji Yuan took the seal and looked at it. There was a big word "Prison" written on it, and below it there were small words "Chief Constable in Front of the Cliff".
"Yes, the word is very suitable!"
As he spoke, Ji Yuan pinched out a wolf-hair brush like a magician, then raised the brush to trace the word "Prison" on the surface of the seal. With the last stroke, the word "Prison" on the seal actually flashed with light and then disappeared.
Strictly speaking, Lu Chengfeng, Yan Fei, and Du Heng were all influenced by Ji Yuan to some extent, but Wang Ke was the one who truly chose to be a constable, and became the chief constable of a prefecture by virtue of his ability and merit. The others all gained something, but Wang Ke did not.
Time flies, and this might be the last time he meets Wang Ke. Of course, Ji Yuan would not give gifts to everyone, but Wang Ke is qualified, so he made a special trip to buy him a seal and a painting brush.
"Captain Wang, this seal is used to nourish your own righteousness in criminal investigations. If you hate evil and are impartial, it will be as fierce as the aura of a prison. In the future, when you handle cases, even the ghosts and gods in the underworld will give you some face. When you encounter evil things, holding this seal can help you restrain them. It can be used on a person's body to raise the Yang evil spirit, on a knife's body to raise the evil spirit, and on a Yin soul to seal the evil spirit. Use it wisely and with caution."
Wang Ke took back his seal with both hands. After listening to Ji Yuan's words, he felt that the seal became more than ten times heavier.