Ming Guilan looked at Huo Weilou, thought for a while and said: "I still remember that the subordinates around Master Hou have changed a lot, and now these leftovers can follow Master Hou like cast iron. Now Master Hou has brought With a woman by my side, I am tireless."
Huo Weilou frowned slightly, and saw Bo Ruoyou squatting next to the Buddha statue, he didn't think the corpse was scary, carefully scraping something from the inner wall of the Buddha statue, how could he be tireless? She slept all the way in his arms that night.
Huo Weilou thought this way in his heart, but didn't show it on the surface. Seeing Bo Ruoyou playing with the corpse, Eunuch Fu stepped forward and asked, "What are you doing looking at these?"
Bo Ruoyou explained: "Minnv has seen the evidence, and found no other clues on it. Now that she is confirmed to be Master Jingkong, she needs to know where he was murdered in the past."
Eunuch Fu sighed, "It's been ten years, it's not easy."
"It's not easy, but it's not hopeless."
Holding a small knife, Bo Ruoyou scraped off another piece of shriveled corpse insect from the inner wall of the Buddha statue. After the corpse was dismembered and put into the Buddha statue, it could not escape decay. The decay gave birth to corpse insects, and the corpse insects had nowhere to go Fleeing, and eventually perishing in the Buddha statue, until now, they have all turned into shriveled corpses.
Bo Ruoyou scraped the surrounding area clean, and lit a lamp to look inside the Buddha statue. She bent her body with great difficulty, and after looking at it for a while, she said: "When making this Buddha statue, the base should be made first. , then the body of the Buddha statue, and finally the head. There are also some dark brown marks on the inner wall of the Buddha statue, which were stained when the corpse was put in from above."
Huo Weilou stepped forward at this time, "The people who went to Jizhou haven't sent back any news. If it's as you said, it's impossible for the people who molded the Buddha not to notice the abnormality."
Bo Ruoyou nodded, "When the corpse was first put in, it was the weight of a grown man, not to mention the smell of blood, just the increase in weight, but if you move it a little, you can find abnormalities."
After a pause, Bo Ruoyou looked up at Huo Weilou, "Is it possible that the person who molded the Buddha was bribed by the murderer?"
Bo Ruoyou was still squatting, with thin sweat on his forehead. He looked up at Huo Weilou at this moment, with a small face facing him, more and more red brows and red lips, clear eyes, Huo Weilou said: "Naturally, if If we can find the craftsman of the past, things will be much easier."
Bo Ruoyou responded, turned around again, put aside the corpse insects scraped out just now and the broken cloth strands stuck to the inner wall, and inspected them carefully. There are a lot of dead insects, although they are all shriveled and dead, but thinking about how they were born, it is still uncomfortable to look at, but Bo Ruoyou is not afraid to hold the bamboo tweezers, she rummages around, but she doesn't know what she is looking at, suddenly, Xiu Mou brightened.
She took a bamboo tweezers, picked up a brown corpse insect, and looked towards the direction of the sun. Eunuch Fu squatted aside, covering his nose, "How beautiful is this corpse insect?"
Bo Ruoyou shook her head, "This is not a corpse worm."
Eunuch Fu was slightly surprised, and Ming Guilan leaned over while turning the wheel.
Bo Ruoyou said: "This is the greenfly, which usually appears near the latrines and likes dirt, but if the corpse starts to rot, it will also attract it."
Eunuch Fu blinked, "What do you mean?"
Bo Ruoyou's eyes were filled with joy, "The place where Master Jing Kong was killed may be a place near the toilet, or the place where he was dismembered was near the toilet—"
Eunuch Fu rolled his eyes, "But ten years have passed, it should be difficult to find traces."
"My father-in-law forgot, there are also master Jingkong's beads. Of those 108 beads, only one has been seen now, and there are 107 left, which are probably still in the place where he was killed."
Bo Ruoyou stood up and looked at Huo Weilou, and Huo Weilou looked aside at Liao Fan, who still looked sad, "How many toilets are there in the temple?"
Famen Temple is huge, and naturally there are more than one latrines. Liao Fan calmed down and immediately said, "There are five places, one between the mountain gate and the Tianwang Hall, and one at the left rear of the Daxiong Hall. These two places are mostly for tourists. In addition, there is one outside the east and west temples, and one in front of the Dharma hall."
Huo Weilou said, "Take Benhou to have a look."
After he gave such instructions, the three of Yue Mingquan came out from the right room, and Huo Weilou said, "The three of you stay here and wait."
The three should be, Huo Weilou took the embroidered clothes envoy and left.
Bo Ruoyou looked at the corpse of the greenfly on the bamboo tweezers, with a hint of relief in his eyes, and Ming Guilan looked at her, "Such a small detail can make Miss Bo find—"
Bo Ruoyou put the green fly aside alone, "This is the case for the author, the autopsy is the most important thing, and the evidence of the sidelines should not be underestimated, as long as any thing happens, it will leave traces, and the author will do it. Help the Yamen find these traces."
Ming Guilan murmured, "As long as it happens, it will leave traces... If the evildoers in the world hear this, I'm afraid they will be horrified in their hearts."
Huo Weilou came back very quickly, Bo Ruoyou and others hurriedly looked around.
Huo Weilou said with deep eyes: "It's not like the place where the crime happened. The latrines near the Tianwang Hall and the Daxiong Hall are all guarded by special personnel, and the guards' houses are very close. After Qing Kong died, he was dismembered. If such a place is only Harmful people, there is still a chance of not being discovered, but dismembering the corpse, the blood and bloody smell are hard to hide, the same is true for the latrines near the East and West Chanyuan, as for the latrines near the Dharma Hall, they were only repaired seven years ago Yes, it didn't exist ten years ago."
Bo Ruoyou frowned slightly, did she think wrong? But the greenfly was real, and she didn't make a mistake.
Bo Ruoyou looked at Fan, "Master Fan, ten years ago, there were only four latrines in the temple? It was the relic ceremony at that time, and there were a lot of people in the temple. Did you build a temporary latrine in some remote place?"
At the grand ceremony back then, apart from Emperor Jianhe and the civil and military officials, there were quite a few imperial guards and the Luozhou garrison led by Yue Mingquan. With so many people, it is very likely that they would build a temporary latrine.
However, Liao Fan shook his head, "No, cleanliness and cleanliness are the most important thing in worshiping the Buddha in the temple. Although there were many people at that time, but His Majesty is here, and the relic ceremony is held every thirty years, so the temple is quite cautious."
Bo Ruoyou frowned, but at this moment, Eunuch Fu suddenly said: "That's not right, how did our family remember that there seemed to be a toilet outside the temple at that time?"
Huo Weilou looked at him, and Eunuch Fu smiled bitterly and said: "People have three urgencies. At that time, when the Imperial Forest Army was changing their values, many people went outside the temple. At that time, it was said that there was a toilet outside the temple. Our family vaguely remembered, but where is it outside the temple? but forgot."
Liao Fan frowned even tighter, but when he looked down, he saw the Buddha statue on the ground, and his eyes lit up slightly, "I remembered that there was indeed a latrine outside the temple at that time, and it was a temporary construction outside the temple. In the workshop, a large number of Buddha statues were to be molded at that time, and many craftsmen were invited. When the construction started, it was noisy and noisy, and there was no such a big place in the temple, so a workshop was built on the east side. In the workshop, there was only a place for mud and water smelting. In addition, there is a large toilet."
"Where was the workshop set up?" Huo Weilou asked.
Liao Fan pointed to the east side, "It's just outside the temple, right next to it. After the Buddha statue was built, it was quickly demolished in order not to damage the feng shui inside the temple. Later, white birches were planted, and now it is a birch forest."
Huo Weilou immediately said: "Find someone who knew something about the workshop at that time."
Liao Fan didn't hesitate, "Brother Liao Jue was the monk in charge of the workshop back then."
Huo Weilou immediately sent someone to bring back Jue Jue, and learned that the skeleton was indeed Qing Kong, and the Buddha sculpture workshop back then was most likely the place where Jing Kong died, Liao Jue looked very sad, he led the way, Bo Ruoyou followed Huo Weilou to the birch forest.
Going out from the east side door, once you go up and down the main road, you can go up to the back mountain, and go down to the birch forest. Ten years have passed, and the birch trees are dense and towering. Now at noon, the sun casts patches of mottled light and shadow in the forest .
Liaojue pointed to the forest and said: "Back then, this place was still a bit barren, and it took at least two or three months for the craftsmen to sculpt the Buddha, so they leveled the land and built a special workshop. At that time, the workshop was surrounded by wooden fences. On the north side of the interior is a long row of smelting houses, about ten or so. On the west side is a row of side rooms adjacent to the temple, where craftsmen live and eat. On the east side is a huge Buddha sculpture place. The open space is where the muddy water is mixed, and the latrine is on the northeast corner."
Liaojue led the people through the woods and came to a depression, where the birches grew more densely than the surrounding area, mostly because there were latrines here back then, "This is here, next to here, a sculpture The second is the place where the formed Buddha statues are dried, and the craftsmanship of the Buddha statues is complicated. Whether it is copper casting or clay sculpture, it must be gilded and painted here, and it must be carved and polished.”
Huo Weilou pointed to the outside, "What was there at that time?"
Liaojue hurriedly said: "There is nothing, the outside is all leveled."
If it was still in the wilderness at that time, it would have been easy to hide the corpse, but since everything outside has been razed, it would have been difficult to hide the corpse. If the murderer committed crimes near this place, and after the murder, he saw a Buddha statue drying in the air, so he simply hid the corpse in the Buddha statue It makes sense.
"Since you are in charge of this place, do you know what stage the sculpture Buddha reached when your master disappeared?"
Liao Jue frowned, "The little monk doesn't know much about Buddha sculpture, and he just arranges food, lodging and money for the craftsmen on weekdays, and it was a relic ceremony at that time, so he seldom paid attention to this side, and can't remember what stage he has reached, but..."
Liaojue looked sad, "But I remember the statues of Venerable Kasyapa and Venerable Ananda, and they were almost finished in a few days, because these two statues were the first to be molded, and they were not clay sculptures, and they were planned to be used in the Mahavira Hall. , so the little monk took some care. Later, the master disappeared. The little monk, the two senior brothers, and other people in the temple looked for the master together. The two golden lacquers were officially placed in the main hall after about two months."
At that time, no one would have thought that Jing Kong's body was actually hidden in the statue of the Venerable.
Huo Weilou saw that there was no trace of the workshop around, so he asked, "When the workshop was demolished later, did you find anything unusual?"
Liao Jue frowned, "That's not true. At that time, the beams of the roof were removed, and all the floors were pushed away, but nothing unusual was found."
Huo Weilou looked around, ten years later, the soil quality has changed a little, and the birch trees have grown to towering heights, what might be found in such a place
"The forest was planted at the beginning, but the people in the temple planted it?"
Huo Weilou asked this question, then shook his head after realizing it, "That's not the case, I asked a few farmers at the foot of the back mountain to help with the planting. These families are poor, and they grow some fruits and vegetables all the year round and send them to the temple to make some money. Most of the time, they will be invited to help with the work. When the Buddha was sculpted, some small workers who made mud and water were hired, and they were from these families."
Huo Weilou originally thought that the craftsmen who made the Buddha statues were all far away in Jizhou, but he did not expect to hire small workers nearby. Although ten years have passed, he must not give up any clues, so he immediately ordered Lu Ke: "Go to the foot of the back mountain to visit Go around and ask if there were any abnormalities in the time when the Buddha was sculpted ten years ago, especially ask about the statue of Venerable Kassapa.”
Lu Ke knew the clues that Bo Ruoyou had detected, and also knew that the Buddhist beads were still missing, so he naturally knew the key point of the inquiry, so he immediately responded, took a few embroidered clothes envoys, and headed down the mountain.
Huo Weilou led people to explore the forest again, and Bo Ruoyou also walked around this small area. Planting birch trees requires digging extremely deep pits, and the forest is quite dense. It is impossible for farmers to find nothing, but now that the roots of the trees are entangled, it is too difficult to dig up the soil to search everywhere.
The embroidered clothes envoys also searched around, but ten years later, even if they dug three feet, it was difficult to find anything, so Huo Weilou had to take people back. As soon as he returned to the temple, he saw Huo Qinghong looking for it , Seeing Huo Weilou, Huo Qinghong's face brightened, "Brother! I heard that you went out of the temple gate to search for clues, did you get anything?"
Huo Weilou shook his head, "You were with Lin Zhao just now?"
Huo Qinghong couldn't help yawning lazily when he heard the words, "Lin Zhao is reading ancient Buddhist scriptures in the temple, it's really boring, I'm squinting in the scripture building..."
Saying that, he glanced at Bo Ruoyou who was following behind, looked at her for a moment, walked over and said with a smile: "Miss Bo, do you know the origin of Famen Temple?"
Bo Ruoyou was a little dazed, and shook her head, "Ministers don't know."
Hearing this, Huo Qinghong narrowed his eyes like a fox, "This is how Famen Temple came about. According to legend, there was a scholar named Fa Amen who believed in Buddhism very much. In the beginning, he was the one who taught Buddhism in the world. To educate all living beings, as a result, the emperor at that time did not like Buddhism very much, so..."
Huo Qinghong leaned forward, and his tone became darker, "So, the Son of Heaven ordered someone to catch him, cut off his hands and feet, cut off his tongue, and dug out his eyes. Elsewhere-"
Before the word "death" was finished, Huo Qinghong was grabbed by the collar of the back of his neck, and Huo Weilou was holding him in one hand, dragging him forward like an object, "What did I say just now?" ? Now it's starting to mess around?"
"Hey, brother, I have something to say, don't do it, I just want to scare her, but she is not afraid at all." Huo Qinghong was dragged a few feet before he was released, he looked at Bo Ruo in astonishment Quiet, the eyes are unbelievable.
Eunuch Fu had a happy smile on his face, "Your Majesty, Miss Bo is a coward, and she is not afraid of corpses, so how can you be afraid of your words?"
Huo Qinghong hurriedly straightened his collar, and looked at Bo Ruoyou with disapproval, "Tsk, no wonder you were brought by my elder brother's side, are you a girl..."
Huo Weilou frowned and looked at him again, Huo Qinghong didn't dare to say any more at this moment, he coughed lightly and straightened his face, he didn't seem to be in his twentieth years, when he was not making trouble, he had a handsome face, quite like an orchid branch and a jade tree The unrestrained and romantic.
Eunuch Fu smiled and said, "What the son said just now, did you see it from the scripture storage pavilion?"
Huo Weilou had already stepped forward, and Huo Qinghong followed him and said: "Exactly, there are more books in the Sutra Pavilion here than in Xiangguo Temple. I took a book and just visited Famen Temple." I fell asleep because of it..."
Huo Weilou shook his head, "I don't know what to do."
Huo Qinghong stuck to it with a smile, "With big brother here, why should I learn this skill or that skill?"
Huo Weilou didn't bother to pay attention to him, but he always followed Huo Weilou, sometimes asked when the case would be concluded, sometimes said he wanted to go to Luozhou City, and Huo Weilou occasionally answered a few words, but he was still eloquent.
Bo Ruoyou could see the temperament of the eldest son, and he laughed for a while, but when he heard that there were a lot of books in the library, a thought suddenly occurred to him, when everyone returned to the yard where the corpse was buried, Bo Ruoyou would come Huo Weilou said beside him: "Master Hou, the son said that there are a lot of books in the Sutra Pavilion here, and the women thought, will there be any records about relics during this period?"
Huo Weilou turned to look at her, and Bo Ruoyou continued: "Thieves who steal the relics always have a purpose, because everyone knows that relics are the most precious treasures of Buddhism, so for many years, everyone has been most suspicious of Master Jingkong, but if Are there other uses for relics? It may be helpful to know the purpose of the thief who stole the relics."
The autopsy was also done, and the bone test was also done. The craftsman was far away in Jizhou, and there were not many other clues. Bo Ruoyou thought this was a new direction. Just ask the monks in the temple."
Huo Qinghong also leaned forward when he heard this, "Do you know how many books are in the Sutra Library? If you look for them from the books, I don't know when to find them..."
Bo Ruoyou naturally said yes.
Soon, Liaofan came to the crowd again, and asked about the purpose of the relics, Liaofan said: "The relics enshrined in this temple are the spiritual bones of the Buddha, and they are the supreme sacred objects of Buddhism. It is unbearable. Only the eminent monks who have achieved the Tao can get some good fortune. The little monk thinks that this Buddha bone relic can benefit any monks, and it can even protect the common people of the country. Miedu wide offerings to the relics, all people are full of love and desire to look up to them. All living beings are convinced, straightforward and soft, and they want to see the Buddha without regretting their lives. The relics are the incarnation of the Buddha and the image of the Buddha in the world. Believed by all people, and also by Buddhist disciples, if they want to obtain the Dao, they will not spare themselves."
After finishing all the words, Huo Weilou frowned, his words were earnest, but they were the words of Buddhist disciples, as if relics were only revered by monks, but what if they were just ordinary people
"Other than that, is there any rumors that have been circulated among the people?"
Liao Fan hesitated for a while, "The rumors that spread among the people are all rumors and unreliable. For example, relics can cure all diseases, make wishes come true, and even bring the dead back to life. Of course they are all false... The Buddha is in the heart, Amitabha."
Knowing that the rumors were false, as if saying it once was a sin, Liao Fan hurriedly recited a few Buddhist gatha.
Huo Weilou said: "You are a Buddhist disciple, so you naturally know the truth, but if someone believes in this statement, it is not impossible to take a risk. Sometimes people fall into despair, even if they know it is false, they will try desperately."
Liao Fan frowned, as if he found it difficult to understand, Huo Weilou turned to look at Bo Ruoyou, "Do you still want to go to the Tibetan Scripture Pavilion?"
I thought that most of Bo Ruoyou's questions had been answered, but she actually said: "The girl still wants to go and have a look."
Huo Weilou actually pampered her, glanced at Eunuch Fu, and Eunuch Fu smiled and said: "Then our family will go with Youyou—"
Bo Ruoyou was blessed and resigned, Huo Qinghong clicked his tongue and said, "Why are you so stubborn!"
Ming Guilan laughed beside him and said, "Of course the son won't understand."
Huo Qinghong snorted, looked at the slanting sun and said: "Should we go to rest for a while, I'm exhausted from the journey, I fell asleep just now."
Huo Weilou knew that the two of them were far away, and was about to order the embroidered clothes envoy to take them back, so he heard Ming Guilan say: "Your Majesty has been away from Beijing for a few days. not good."
Huo Weilou frowned upon hearing this, and finally went back to the Buddhist monastery with the two of them.
On this side, Eunuch Xiang Fu said as he walked: "My son has been spoiled since he was a child, and his temper is quite childish, so please don't be offended."
"How come."
Eunuch Fu said again: "Although Lord Hou has his own mansion now, his surname is Huo after all. The two brothers are like relatives. Although the son is a little afraid of Lord Hou, he also relies on him very much."
Bo Ruoyou saw it, "It's a good thing for brothers and friends to be respectful."
When the two were talking, they were very close to the Sutra Pavilion. Just as they walked to the door, they saw Lin Zhaozheng coming out with two monks. He was a little surprised to see Bo Ruoyou and Eunuch Fu, "Eunuch, this is..."
Eunuch Fu smiled and said, "Master, is the work finished today? Our family brought Youyou to look for some classics."
Lin Zhao paused as soon as he heard it, "I'm sorting out the books in the past two days, I don't know what the girl wants to read?"
Bo Ruoyou casually said: "I want to find some Buddhist records, such as relics and other Buddhist secret treasures, or Buddhist legends and so on—"
Lin Zhao understood as soon as he heard it, turned around and walked in, leading the two of them to a row of tall bookshelves, "Most of the scriptures here contain Buddhist stories and records of Buddhist secret treasures, among which there are many relics. .”
Bo Ruoyou narrowed her eyes, "Thank you, my lord."
Lin Zhao looked at Bo Ruoyou for a few moments, and thanked Mr. Fu for justice before leaving. When he reached the door, he couldn't help but glanced inward, muttering in his heart. His bookboy stood at the door and asked : "What are you looking at, son?"
Lin Zhao laughed, "I don't know why, but I think this girl is a bit kind."
After saying that, he shook his head and walked away.
In the Sutra Pavilion, Bo Ruoyou was indeed shocked by the vast collection of books. Fortunately, Lin Zhao pointed out the place for her. If she searched aimlessly, she didn't know how long it would take, but Eunuch Fu felt a headache looking at this row of bookcases. "Youyou, to tell you the truth, our family has the same problem as Shizi—"
Looking at Bo Ruoyou, Eunuch Fu said, "I feel sleepy just reading a book."
Bo Ruoyou laughed, "Elder-in-law, let's just rest, and the daughters of the people browse here, and they may not find anything. They should just look at the rare Buddhist scriptures for personal gain."
After hearing this, Eunuch Fu went to the tea room on the side of the Sutra Pavilion to wait for her with peace of mind.
In the quiet room, there was only the sound of flipping books. Bo Ruoyou turned her back to the window, concentrating on reading the Buddhist scriptures she had taken off the shelf. However, at a certain moment, she suddenly felt a chill down her spine.
A feeling of being watched suddenly hit her.
She took a breath, then suddenly turned around and looked out, but the window was empty, where was anyone
She breathed a sigh of relief, only when she was nervous and suspicious, she turned her head to read the book again, but in the corner outside the window that she couldn't see, there was a footprint just left on the pile of dead leaves, and a gust of cold wind blew With a whoosh, the dead leaves flew, and the footprints disappeared...