"How did the dead bird die?" Bo Ruoyou asked in a deep voice.
Sun Zhao's expression became strange, "The people who stayed in the yamen said that they found a smashed bird by the lake in the garden. The bird was the size of a palm, and the bloody flesh was smashed—"
Bo Ruoyou and Huo Weilou glanced at each other. One of the victims fourteen years ago was tortured to death with his lower body smashed to pieces.
Sun Zhao said again: "Liu Qing and Chen Mo have been locked in prison for many days. Originally, they were suspects, but last time Ye Fei died, they were almost cleared of their suspicions. They were brought back later for the sake of Protect them, but they don't want to go out."
Huo Weilou said: "The dead sparrows in the garden have to be checked by someone."
Sun Zhao responded, and Bo Ruoyou asked again, "Is Catcher Wu back?"
"Place those corpses in Yizhuang." Sun Zhao replied.
Bo Ruoyou pondered for a while, "Those graves are remote, and Master Qian hasn't been back to the village for many years, and the last worship was only a few months ago, so Master Qian probably doesn't know about the fact that we went to dig the grave to dig out the bones."
Sun Zhao looked at her suspiciously, but Huo Weilou understood what she meant, "The murderer doesn't know that we have already learned about the Zhaojiaban, this dead bird is saying that the murderer intends to use the same method to kill people, maybe he can take advantage of this Let the murderer do the work."
Speaking of this, Huo Weilou said: "Take Benhou to meet the two of them, Liu Qing."
Sun Zhao looked serious, and quickly ordered people to go to the prison to prepare. At this moment, Wu Xiang came back from the outside with the servants. When he saw Huo Weilou and Bo Ruoyou, he immediately came forward to salute. He didn't know about Bo Ruoyou until he returned to the city today. Ruoyou was canonized as county head.
Wu Xiang was very happy and cheerful, he didn't sleep all night and rarely felt drowsy, Bo Ruoyou still couldn't stand it, so he ordered him to rest for a while, but Liu Qing and Chen Mo were going to be interrogated, how could Wu Xiang rest.
Bo Ruoyou sighed helplessly, knowing that the corpse had been placed in Yizhuang, she didn't worry about it after thinking about it, she also wanted to know how Liu Qing and the others argued.
Not long after, Liu Qing and Chen Mo were brought into the back hall.
Huo Weilou was sitting in the main seat, not angry and pretentious, Sun Zhao was sitting in the first place on the left, also looking solemn, Wu Xiang was standing next to Sun Zhao with a saber in hand, in the corridor separated by a wall, Bo Ruoyou listened with bated breath movement outside.
Liu Qing and the two had never seen such a battle, but they recognized Huo Weilou and Sun Zhao, and thinking that even Wu Zhaohou was here, they knelt down and shrank their shoulders, not daring to lift their heads.
Huo Weilou looked at the two people, he remembered that when he went to the Bird Garden on the first day, people were cleared, but when he went to search the inner garden, there were many people gathered around Xun's yard, and the two were there in.
At that time, there were expressions of fear on everyone's faces, and Liu Qing was not immune, so no one had any doubts about him at that time.
Liu Qingnian passed Double Ten, with a handsome face and a slender figure. He is usually very good at taking care of himself, but he has been locked up in prison for a few days. At this moment, his clothes are wrinkled and his temples are disheveled, and he looks a bit embarrassed, as does Chen Mo beside him.
Huo Weilou picked up the teacup, and his eyes fell on the slightly frothed tea soup, "You all learned Zhao Yue's favorite poultry opera from the head teacher of Zhao's class?"
Liu Qingren was trembling, and her voice was trembling, "Yes... Later I went to other theaters and learned something..."
Huo Weilou raised his eyes, his eyes were cold, like a cold knife hanging on the door of the two of them, "Then you can't even remember when the Zhao's troupe disbanded? Besides, the Zhao's troupe is not It's dismissal, but everyone is dead, do you know this?"
Liu Qing swallowed hard, "We... We left the Zhao family class very early and went to seek a living elsewhere. Later, when we returned to the capital, we heard that the Zhao family class was gone. It had been three or four years, so We said that the Zhaojiaban broke up many years ago, we...we don't know what happened back then."
There was a lot of cold sweat on Liu Qing's forehead, after saying this, she couldn't help but raised her eyes to wipe the sweat on her forehead, Huo Weilou looked at the two of them, and suddenly asked: "Do you want to go back to the Bird Garden?"
Liu Qing tilted her head and glanced at Chen Mo. Chen Mo was just as nervous as him. The two quickly met each other. Liu Qing lay on the ground and said, "You guys haven't made any mistakes, so it's not good for you to stay in prison forever. Others The death of a person really has nothing to do with the villains, and the villains will still have to make a living in the future, if it is known that they have been sent to the Yamen prison, it will be difficult to find a job in the future."
Huo Weilou closed the lid of the teacup, and there was an abrupt sound, Liu Qing was startled, but soon, Huo Weilou said in a gentle voice: "Since that's the case, I will let you go back."
Liu Qing raised her eyes suddenly, as if she couldn't believe it, both Sun Zhao and Wu Xiang looked at Huo Weilou, wondering what his plan was.
Liu Qing came back to her senses for a moment, and quickly thanked her, while Chen Mo kept kowtowing beside her.
Huo Weilou said: "It's just that the murderer has not been caught yet, so if you go back, your lives are in danger."
Liu Qing gritted her teeth, showing a determined look on her face, "Little people must be careful, and I believe that the Yamen will soon find the murderer—"
Huo Weilou nodded, and said in a talkative way, "I'll let you go back to the Bird Garden now, just leave."
Liu Qing looked slightly relieved, although Sun Zhao was puzzled, he still called the yamen to send them out. After the two left, Huo Weilou called the embroidered envoy who followed him outside the door, "Follow."
The embroidered envoy led away, Sun Zhao looked at Huo Weilou and said, "Master Hou, are you really going to put it back? The murderer is not that easy to deal with. Last time we accidentally fell into the murderer's scheme and Ye Fei died. This yamen jail is their best protection, once they return to the Bird Garden, it will be a disaster."
Huo Weilou said, "Who says they are going back to the Bird Garden?"
Sun Zhao frowned, Wu Xiang thought for a while, then suddenly clenched her fist, "Oops, if they are hiding something, or if the incident of the year really has something to do with them, then are they going to escape?"
"Whether you want to escape, we will know later."
Huo Weilou calmed down and was not in a hurry. After waiting for less than half an hour, the embroiderer escorted Liu Qing and Chen Mo back together.
The two were still as embarrassed as before, the difference was that they had more injuries, and the embroidered clothes envoy came to report, "They left the yamen, first they headed for the Bird Garden, but they walked out of two After the main street, he suddenly changed direction, first went to the bank on Guang'an Street in Dongshi City, and after coming out of the bank, he went straight to the south of the city. The subordinates saw that they were going out of the city, so they came forward to arrest them. Let’s face it, these two people are quite dexterous, but they still resisted stubbornly, and were injured when they were captured.”
Naturally, they went to the bank to get money, and they went out of the city to escape. They said they wanted to go back to the Bird Garden, but when they left the Yamen, they made such a plan. It can be seen that they dare not go back to the Bird Garden, because Knowing that the murderer's target is still them, and they dare not stay in the Yamen, because they conceal more important matters.
Huo Weilou said without any surprise: "Take it back to the prison, Benhou will personally go to interrogate—"
He stood up and looked at Bo Ruoyou who had already arrived in the hall, "You wait for me outside."
Bo Ruoyou nodded in response, and Huo Weilou took Sun Zhao and Wu Xiang to the torture cell in the Yamen.
The cell was dark and dark, with tables and chairs on the north wall, and instruments of torture hanging on the wall directly opposite. Chen Mo was taken away, Liu Qing was escorted to kneel on the ground, and when Huo Weilou appeared, the others trembled into tears. Sift the chaff.
Looking at Liu Qing like this, Huo Weilou's eyes flashed a hint of ridicule, he has seen the most vicious and dangerous person in the world but also the most calm and difficult to break, this Liu Qing is really nothing.
When he was seated, he saw dozens of taels of silver on the table, and Huo Weilou asked slowly, "Didn't I tell you to go back to the Bird Garden? Why do you want to go out of the city?"
At this point Liu Qing knew that she couldn't be coaxed any longer, her face was sweating like rain, and her blood had faded away, but she still gritted her molars and remained silent.
Huo Weilou said indifferently: "Let me help you sort it out. You did leave the Zhao family class first, but the Zhao family class was in the capital, so you should stay in the capital to make a living, but you said that you have been living for several years. You came back later, Ben Hou guessed, you must have done something before you left the capital, and you escaped with fear in your heart."
What Liu Qing said must not be all lies, if the truth and the false are mixed together, there will always be a reason for sophistry.
When he finished speaking, Liu Qing still kept his eyes down, Huo Weilou lost his patience, and nodded to the two embroidered clothes envoys, who stretched Liu Qing's well-maintained hands, Then he folded his arms around, and amidst the crisp sound of bones snapping, Liu Qing let out a tragic cry of pain.
He was limp on the ground in pain, golden light flashed in front of his eyes, before he could catch his breath, the next wave of pain came again, he only felt the bones in his hands were broken, and for a moment, he thought of the scene many years ago.
"I... I said..."
Both Sun Zhao and Wu Xiang didn't see how the two embroiderers were moving, they saw Liu Qing's face paled in pain, both of them felt a little hairy in their hearts, and when they heard that Liu Qing was about to speak, they lifted up their spirits.
Huo Weilou's eyes moved to Liu Qing's face, Liu Qing curled up on the ground, one cheek was pressed against the wet ground, his arms were drooping weakly, he was so painful that he was sweating and tearing, he was looking at Huo Weilou in prayer, intermittently I opened my mouth.
"That was fourteen years ago..."
"Master's troupe can't make a living, so he doesn't want to continue to adopt us. He has no children, so he only chooses the five most obedient and filial ones to stay with him. The rest of the troupe have to leave the troupe to make a living on their own."
"You don't understand our hatred. It's fine if he treats us badly on weekdays, but he drove us away at that time. We defected to other class masters for our livelihood, but that man was happy, so he only let us serve the nobles for fun. If you are not happy, you will kill us, and we will never have a good day... "
Wu Xiang couldn't help it anymore, "So you don't hate the class leader who punished you, but your master, so you ran back and killed someone?"
Liu Qing flinched, took two more breaths before continuing to speak, his tone was a bit light and hesitant, as if he couldn't remember clearly, "I forgot who mentioned it first, we all just Those children, he abandoned us like that, he created his own karma, and those are his retribution—”
Huo Weilou frowned when he heard that, Liu Qing didn't know what to think of, the fear on his face actually faded a bit, "Yes, it's his retribution, we just want him to get the retribution he deserves."
Wu Xiang shuddered when she heard that, "You were just half-grown kids at the time, how did you manage to kill so many people?"
Due to the pain, Liu Qing's eyes were bloodshot, he turned to look at Wu Xiang, his eyes were scarlet and scarlet, "Don't underestimate any child, we were not afraid of anything at that time, and they underestimated us just like you. I followed the theater troupe, learned juggling, singing, and juggling. We have suffered too much, and we have seen too many heresy things... We found the poisonous stone medicine for rats, and we poisoned them first. Move your hands—"
Mostly recalling the scene fourteen years ago, Liu Qing's eyes flashed a gleam of fear and joy, "We found too few stone medicines, and the poison can't kill people. It's just right, we will follow the scripture According to the method above, punish them one by one."
Wu Xiang couldn't help but took a step forward, "What scriptures? The punishment you mentioned is drowning, hanging, or burning them to death?"
Liu Qing's eyes dimmed for a moment, and it took a while to realize what Wu Xiang was asking, "Yes, this is the retribution they should have. As for the scriptures, I can't remember clearly, anyway, after reading the scriptures, it is the scriptures that can be blessed by the Bodhisattva. arts… "
Wu Xiang heard it very strangely, "You have already left the troupe at that time, do you believe in Buddhism? Why is there this scripture?"
"No... we don't believe in Buddhism, we don't believe in anything. At that time, whoever gave us food, we believed. At that time, we had already escaped from the master behind us and fled to the pier outside the city. We wanted to find work. , but others saw that we were too young to use us at all. Later, we recognized a person who gave us food. He was the reincarnated Bodhisattva, and he recited the Bodhisattva Sutra for us... "
Wu Xiang was inexplicable, "So you admit that you guys wanted revenge, so you went back and killed them? Before leaving, you set a fire and destroyed the corpses?"
The fear on Liu Qing's face suddenly increased, as if he realized the consequences of his mistakes, "We didn't do it on purpose, even the Bodhisattva scriptures say that people will go to hell if they encounter karma, we... we It’s just that we were too young, we didn’t understand it at all, and after we killed someone, we became afraid, and we regretted it very much…”
He lowered his eyes, buried his head in his chest, and began to cry tremblingly, "We went outside to beg for a living for a few years, and later we heard that this matter was not a big deal, so we went back to the capital. Know, no one will find out what we did that night—”
Wu Xiang knew the whole case best. He said anxiously: "Then what about the death this time? You know what happened back then, didn't you think that someone came back to take revenge?"
The corners of Liu Qing's lips twitched a few times, and the fear in his eyes was even worse, "Jiang Xing didn't expect it when he died, we were scared when Yu Xun died, until... until Ye Fei died, Ye Fei died exactly the same as before, It’s just, it’s just that we didn’t use coffin nails back then, but iron arrows used by troupes for juggling performances…”
Wu Xiang was still a little puzzled: "At the beginning, your master and others were killed by you, but there were other people in the yard. When you set fire, did any living people see it?"
Liu Qing cried and said: "No... no, everyone was overwhelmed by us... Later we asked if five or six died, some people were injured, and the troupe was completely disbanded, so we went again It has not been traced, we thought, if someone saw it, why didn't they report it to the authorities?"
Realizing that there were indeed some people who knew what they did, and they came back to do the same and treated them in the same way, he couldn't help shaking, "It must be someone who was alive at that time, and someone who was alive came back it's..."
Wu Xiang gritted her teeth and said, "So you don't know who is still alive?"
Liu Qing's expression had already given the answer, Wu Xiang looked at Liu Qing incredulously, seeing that his skin is tender and tender now, if he puts on a silk shirt and sings and beats, there is quite a clear rhyme, but Who would have thought that when they were less than ten years old, these people could gang up and kill others so cruelly
He turned around and looked at Huo Weilou, "Master Hou, what happened back then must have been like this, what should we do now?"
Huo Weilou seemed to be thinking about other things, he stared at Liu Qing and said, "What is the name of the Bodhisattva scripture you mentioned? Is it a Buddhist thing? And the person who gave you food and let you read the Bodhisattva scripture Who is it?"
Liu Qing shook her head in pain, "I don't know the name. For those who don't have a name, I only know that the Bodhisattva saved us from suffering. The living Bodhisattva gave us money back. Otherwise, none of the five of us would survive."
When Sun Zhao heard Huo Weilou's question, he turned around and said in a low voice, "Do you want to send someone to investigate?"
Huo Weilou nodded slightly, and then asked Liu Qing, "Does that person know what happened to you? He said that you can go back and kill people?"
Liu Qing's expression became weird, he seemed to be thinking about how to explain it best, and soon he said: "He knows, he knows our experience, he... seems to have said that we should act according to the scriptures, and later We have never seen him again, and we have forgotten what he said at the time. We have been very scared all these years... "
Sun Zhao's heart trembled when he heard this, and at this moment he understood Huo Weilou's intentions, "Master Hou is worried about the rise of a cult?"
Buddhism and Taoism are prevalent in Dazhou, but there are also many sects among the people. If they don’t cause trouble, that’s all. In the past few years when Wei Lou was in power, he had dealt with several incidents related to cults, but he did not expect that this old case seemed to have something to do with cults.
Although Liu Qing called Bodhisattva in his mouth, it is not only in Buddhism that there are Bodhisattvas, and this Bodhisattva Sutra actually teaches people the heart of killing. People are bewitched, but being seduced and thinking about it is very different from really ruthless killing people.
Huo Weilou didn't realize that these five people were just instigated by others, and based on Liu Qing's words, he couldn't tell whether there really was this "living Bodhisattva". Its ferocity is indeed more terrifying than many adults, so how can it bear the word of innocence.
Huo Weilou suppressed for the time being whether he still had thoughts of cults, "Go and interrogate Chen Mo to see how true or false what he said. Now that this old case has been dug up, it needs to be carefully examined. If This case was investigated more than ten years ago, and there will be no such scourges now, and now that we know what happened back then, the murderer of this Bainiaoyuan case can almost be determined."
Sun Zhao quickly responded, Liu Qing and Chen Mo committed crimes more than ten years ago. They have struggled to earn a living these years, and there is no trace of ferocity in their bodies. It is not difficult to interrogate these two people, but there is no evidence before. Improper use of punishment is very different now.
Huo Weilou glanced at the sky outside the transom window, and thought that Bo Ruoyou had been waiting for a long time, so he got up and said, "You do the interrogation, let Wu Xiang follow Benhou to the Bird Garden, and see how the dead man bird."
After Huo Weilou explained, he left the cell, and arrived in the back hall not long after, when Bo Ruoyou saw him appear, he hurried up to greet him.
"How about it, Lord Hou?"
Huo Weilou said: "All recruited."
Seeing his serious expression, Bo Ruoyou had to answer like this again, and the worst deduction in her heart had come true, "So they really did the murder back then?"
Huo Weilou nodded, and said again: "Go to the Bird Garden to see the dead bird, tell me on the way."
He acted swiftly and decisively, Bo Ruoyou went out with him and got into the carriage. Huo Weilou just told the story of what he got in the cell. Although Bo Ruoyou had guessed after the autopsy, he still couldn't figure out what happened to the children. To be able to do such a cruel thing.
Bo Ruoyou couldn't help but said: "Ordinary half-old children are afraid of blood, but they are so ruthless. What kind of Bodhisattva is he talking about, Lord Hou can be trusted?"
"Of course you can't listen to his family." Huo Weilou held her slightly cold hand, "When the murderer is found out, we will know the whole story of the year."
Bo Ruoyou also knew this truth, sighed and said: "I didn't expect it to be like this. Just now, Lord Hou went to prison. I thought maybe they just knew the truth about what happened back then and concealed it for others."
Huo Weilou squeezed her palm to comfort her. Bo Ruoyou's initial shock dissipated, but she accepted the situation. She has seen many cases, and she told Wu Xiang last night that she should not be preconceived. Since then, he turned his mind to the murderer hidden in the Bird Garden.
For Bo Ruoyou, every dead bird was a clue. Before the carriage arrived at the Bird Garden, they entered the house and went straight to the lake where the dead bird was found.
The clerk who stayed in the Bird Garden waited for Wu Xiang for a long time, but he did not expect that Wu Zhaohou would come in person, so he did not dare to take everyone lightly to the place where the dead sparrow's body was found, and said as he walked, "It was discovered in the morning. There are plants and trees by the lake, and the place where the corpse appeared is not obvious. It was a wild cat in the garden. It smelled blood and came over. When I first saw the corpse, I thought it was a wild cat that caught Que'er and killed Que'er. , but when I got closer, I realized that this is not the case.”
Everyone walked to Moon Lake and found that the place where Ye Fei died was opposite the rockery where Ye Fei died. up.
However, looking closely, Bo Ruoyou could clearly see the bloody sparrow body.
And it's still a blood sparrow.
She quickly withdrew her gaze and looked around Moon Lake. Tree shadows flickered in the woods on the other side of the lake, as if someone was looking into it, but when she looked carefully, there was no one there.
Bo Ruoyou felt a chill in her heart, she knew that even if the murderer didn't appear in her sight, he must know that the government officials would find the bird's corpse, his behavior was almost provocative.
She pondered for a while, and said softly: "Master Hou, since the murderer is so arrogant and arrogant, can we take the initiative to lure him out?"