Bo Ruoyou left Hou's mansion and went to the Yamen with Hou Yang. The case was not taken over by the direct envoy, and Huo Weilou did not go with him because he had official duties.
When he arrived at the Yamen, Wu Xiang had returned, and there was a six or seven-year-old boy who came back with him. The boy looked familiar, and it was the little doll who answered Bo Ruoyou's question with a ghost mask that day. He followed the Yamen When the messengers came, they were a little nervous, Wu Xiang was sending people to the street to buy some sweets for him to eat.
Seeing Bo Ruoyou, the little baby was a little surprised, but he didn't dare to come forward to speak. Bo Ruoyou smiled at him, and Wu Xiang said from the side: "This kid's name is Zhang Duo, and he belongs to a farmer's family on the back street. You should have seen it, kid."
Seeing Bo Ruoyou nodded, Wu Xiang said again: "After I went to Xiangguo Temple, I visited the town, except for the guests in the inn, trying to find out everyone who knew Wen Jin. Said, several times when Wen Jin was playing at the entrance of the inn, he played with some children, so I went to the town to look for it."
"Then I found him. His family knew that something happened in the town, but they didn't know it was Wen Jin. After asking him, he said that he had seen Wen Jin on the eleventh day of the winter moon."
Bo Ruoyou frowned, "Do you remember clearly?"
"Remember, because it was his grandmother's birthday that day, he wore new clothes, but when he ran to play in the street, he fell on the ground and soiled his clothes. At that time, he saw Wen Jin followed by a Next to the masked person, as you guessed before, it was a man wearing a monkey king mask, and Wen Jin was wearing a fox fairy mask, seeing him, he happily took off the mask to show off, Zhang Duo also went back that day and begged his family to buy him a ghost mask."
After Wu Xiang finished speaking, she went to see Zhang Duo. After Zhang Duo finished eating the sugar cake, he looked at them curiously. Bo Ruoyou stepped forward and said, "You remember me, don't you?"
Zhang Duo nodded, and Bo Ruoyou asked: "I didn't know you recognized Wen Jin that day, but today you might think about it again, where did you take Wen Jin's man that day, what you were wearing, and whether you were in town before?" Have you seen it before?"
Zhang Duo blinked, and a little nervous, Wu Xiang said: "I have asked about this, he said that Wen Jin was taken away in the direction of the Fanyin Inn, and he thought that the man was Wen Jin's father at that time. The clothes are also very ordinary, if he can't see the face, he doesn't know if he has seen it before."
After Wu Xiang finished speaking, he continued: "However, he said that the man was a little strange. When he was holding Wen Jin, although he couldn't see his face clearly and didn't speak, he kept coughing, and his coughing body bent down. Looking at the back of Wenjin's hand, you can still see some light-colored bruises, I suspect that the man is sick, because I can't tell, so I brought him back so I can tell you more about it."
Only then did Bo Ruoyou understand what Wu Xiang meant by bringing the child back to the Yamen. She moved slightly in her heart, and hurriedly asked Zhang Duo, Zhang Duo said in a low voice, "It sounds like you've got a cold from the cough. I looked at the mask, but he refused, and said something in a low voice when he pulled Wen Jin away. It was just dark at that time, and because I was close, I could see some scars on his wrists, not scars, but like a fall The bruised bruise is purple in color, and it's not a big one, it's just that big—"
Zhang Duo drew a circle the size of a peach pit, and Bo Ruoyou frowned. Wu Xiang looked at her expectantly, "How? Can you tell what kind of illness it is?"
Bo Ruoyou shook her head, "I'm not sure yet. I don't know if it's a skin disease or other internal diseases. I'm going home and asking my adoptive father."
Wu Xiang nodded, and then asked about Zhang Duo's clothes and demeanor. Zhang Duo was just a child, so he could only describe it vaguely, "It's not very fierce. Wen Jin wanted to talk to me, but he didn't seem to allow it, but He also spoke softly, I didn't even hear what he said, so I thought it was Wen Jin's father, how tall... let me reach his waist... "
His description made Bo Ruoyou feel more and more that he saw the same person as the old man who sold the mask. If so, he could almost narrow down the murderer's point of view.
Wu Xiang didn't dare to let Zhang Duo stay longer, and ordered someone to send him home. After the arrangement was completed, Bo Ruoyou was waiting for him, "Does the arrester know about Mr. Ming?"
"I know, you still ask people to check whether there are similar cases in the past few years."
Bo Ruoyou nodded, "Yes, after Mr. Ming mentioned the missing details yesterday, I feel more and more likely that it is the same murderer, and the way the murderer kills people with the bell is always strange, so Lord Hou sent an attendant I went to Xiangguo Temple."
Bo Ruoyou told the servants of the Hou's Mansion what they got at Xiangguo Temple, and Wu Xiang's expression became more solemn after hearing this, "So you already suspect that this matter is related to the Taoist's death-death technique?"
Bo Ruoyou nodded, "That's right, and this kind of death-defying technique often happens to old Taoist priests who are about to die, but if a person is seriously ill and feels that his time is numbered, is it possible to use this kind of sorcery?" ?”
Wu Xiang's eyes brightened, "The person who took Wen Jin away is very likely to be seriously ill!"
Bo Ruoyou responded, "Master Hou has sent people to investigate the Taoist temples inside and outside the city, and he wants to find a powerful Taoist priest to ask me what kind of way of cultivating the art of death is. There are clues."
Wu Xiang thought for a while and said: "Since that's the case, I'll go to the Sanqing Temple in the city first. If the murderer is really a Taoist and seriously ill, he may often go to and from Buddhist temples and Taoist temples. Ordinary people get serious illnesses. Don’t you always ask the gods and Buddhas first?”
This was exactly what Bo Ruoyou wanted, and the two went to the inner treasury to meet Hu Changqing. In the past two days, Hu Changqing led the officials to uncover several suspicious cases, and Bo Ruoyou handed it over to Wu Xiang for interrogation. Go home and find Cheng Yunzhi.
She has only a rudimentary knowledge of medicine, and only listened to what Zhang Duo said, but she was not sure what kind of illness it was. After returning home, Cheng Yunzhi finished speaking to Cheng Yunzhi, and Cheng Yunzhi thought for a moment and said: "It's just that, it's hard to make a conclusion. It's cold in early winter. An occasional cold is nothing, but the scars on the hands may be due to injury or other symptoms, and if you look at the two separately, the possibility of this person's illness is extremely high, and it is not necessarily a serious illness."
Bo Ruoyou said: "What if it is seriously ill?"
"If you are seriously ill, cough or tuberculosis, and you have purple scars on your body..." At this point, Cheng Yunzhi's eyes suddenly darkened, "I just remembered that there is a disease that makes people feel a cough like a cold. There will also be scars. This disease is called blood disease, and it is mostly caused by the weakness of the five internal organs. When it is dangerous, it can kill people within two months, and for some people, it will last for several years. This disease is terminal and difficult to cure. Once you get this disease, you can almost prepare for the future."
At this point, Cheng Yunzhi's voice paused slightly, "There is another symptom of this disease. If ordinary people are injured and bleed, the wound will clotting and heal. However, patients with this disease will bleed continuously once they are injured, even if it is a small injury. Very likely to die."
Bo Ruoyou had also heard about this disease, she secretly remembered it in her heart, and at dusk, the servants of the Hou's mansion invited her to the mansion.
Knowing that the matter of asking the Taoist chief had come to fruition, Bo Ruoyou hurriedly went out in a carriage, and when he arrived at the Hou's mansion, Mr. Fu was waiting for him at the door.
Bo Ruoyou stepped forward and asked, "Elder-in-law, did you invite the Taoist priest?"
Eunuch Fu smiled and said, "The Taoist priest was invited, but this Taoist priest has a special status."
Bo Ruoyou was slightly surprised, but Eunuch Fu kept it a secret, "You'll know when you arrive."
Walking all the way to the main courtyard, Bo Ruoyou saw a big change in the northwest direction of the mansion. It was the southern garden created by the craftsmen of Huo Weilou. .
Huo Weilou sat on the main seat in the hall, but the person who accompanied him was the loyal Bo Fengqin who hadn't seen him for many days. On the second seat, Huo Qinghong and Feng Ye sat opposite each other. All smiles.
Huo Weilou saw Bo Ruoyou first, and he got up to greet him, and everyone looked over, so they got up one after another.
It was not the first time Uncle Zhongyi saw Bo Ruoyou, at first he only knew that Bo Ruoyou was the daughter of the Bo family, but now that Bo Ruoyou is the head of the county and has a relationship with Huo Weilou, naturally it is different now, he looked at it with a smile Bo Ruoyou, when Bo Ruoyou was blessed to meet her, he greeted her kindly.
After Bo Ruoyou sat down, Huo Weilou said: "The master of the Sanqing Temple has not returned yet, and it would be a waste of time to go outside the city. Uncle knew what we wanted to ask, so he came to the house to explain our doubts."
Huo Qinghong smiled and said: "It's a coincidence, when I came here, I heard elder brother ordering people to leave the city, I thought, why go out of the city, there are many cultivators in the capital, I don't recognize others, but Uncle I know that a few years of self-cultivation is considered a half cultivator, and it happened that Feng Ye had an appointment with me in the afternoon, so I mentioned it."
Bo Ruoyou knew that Huo Qinghong had contributed a lot to this. After he finished speaking, Feng Qin said with a smile: "I am indeed only half a person who cultivates the Tao, and it is only for self-cultivation. The one you want to ask is dead." I know the technique, but that method is very dangerous, and the process is extremely painful, even if ordinary people know that their time is short, they dare not try it."
"Although I don't know what kind of case it is, but there are a lot of people who commit evil, and it's very human when you think about it. This method of death can be regarded as a Taoist secret technique. If you really stay inside, you die first and live later, but the price is very high. And this method also originated from Taoism. In a passage in the "Sutra of Saving People", Yuanshi Tianzun said that after saying the scriptures ten times, the dead bones will be reborn, and he also said that the great practice of Brahma qi, returning to the ten directions, there is a god who saves people from death—"
"Although this scripture is a precious scripture of Taoism, orthodox Taoism does not advocate this kind of cultivation technique, and it is regarded by many people as evil and crooked. It can be said that it can be said to return to death. Many people want to use this method to become immortal. Reborn to seek longevity, but everyone in the world knows, how is this possible... "
Feng Qin sighed and shook his head, suddenly he was puzzled, "Is it because someone used this method to practice Taoism and killed someone?"
Bo Ruoyou hesitated for a moment, but didn't speak clearly, "I'm not sure if it's related to Taoism, but I just suspect that someone used this method to harm people."
Feng Qin was confused when he heard it, but he also knew that he shouldn't ask more questions, so he said: "Taoism has flourished in the Great Zhou Dynasty for many years, and there are many people who have joined it, so there will naturally be people with impure thoughts..."
Feng Qin murmured at this point: "But this death technique is to cultivate one's own mortal body, why would it harm others?"
Huo Weilou said: "Since his mind is impure, he will naturally not be able to cultivate the righteous way. I'm afraid that this person will hide in the ordinary Taoist temple and do evil without showing his trace."
Putting it this way, Feng Qin seemed to think of something, "What Hou Ye said, I do remember something. I often go to and from several Taoist temples outside the city because of Taoism. There was once a Taoist priest who was expelled from the Taoist temple, and later people talked about it, saying that the Taoist priest taught people the Taoism in private, but the Taoism he taught was different from the orthodox Taoism."
Bo Ruoyou's expression tightened, "Uncle, do you know the Humane Name?"
Feng Qin shook his head, "I didn't ask about the Daoist name, but this matter happened last year. Going to Feiyun Temple and asking about it will definitely find out."
This point is clear, Bo Ruoyou immediately revived, Feng Qin couldn't do anything else for a while, seeing that it was getting late, he offered to leave, Huo Weilou and Bo Ruoyou sent a few steps, and Huo Qinghong took Feng Qin and his son The two sent out the gate of the mansion.
Without further ado, Huo Weilou sent someone to report to the yamen, and also informed the yamen of Cheng Yunzhi's hemorrhage, while Bo Ruoyou stayed with Huo Weilou to finish the meal. When Huo Qinghong came back, he saw Huo Weilou accompanying him. Follow Bo Ruoyou to look at the drawings of the garden in the mansion.
Huo Qinghong curled his lips, feeling his teeth sour at this scene, Huo Weilou raised his eyes and said: "You are very close to the Feng family?"
The last time Huo Qinghong used the gold ointment was thanks to Feng Ye, although he didn't do it on purpose, but Feng Ye was a bit careless, and he was a little vigilant in his heart.
Huo Qinghong rubbed his nose and said: "It's not that it's close, it's just that Taichang Temple has more dealings with clansmen, so naturally it also walks with Feng's family more. He’s been very cooperative.”
At this point, he looked at the sky with some sorrow and said: "Forget it, I'm going back to my residence too. I'm going out of the city to go to Xiangguo Temple tomorrow morning, and I won't be free all day."
Bo Ruoyou rolled her eyes, "But for the Amitabha Buddha's birthday ceremony?"
Tomorrow is the seventeenth day, which is the day of the Buddha's birthday, Huo Qinghong sighed bitterly, "Yes, the two His Majesties are also going to this puja, and His Majesty will also send people from the inner palace to present Buddha treasures. Ask Taichang Temple to come forward."
Bo Ruoyou originally intended to go to this puja, but thought that the case was still unclear, so he suppressed this thought.