Pawn Crossing the River

Several crane-cloaked Taoist priests were sitting, but after seeing Tang Yongde, they stood up one after another.

Tang Yongde introduced: "This is Deputy Hall Master Zhang and Deacon Qi of Tiangang Hall. They passed by here and were invited by me to help solve the case. You must listen to the orders of these two."

When the Taoist priests heard the words "Vice Hall Master", they couldn't help but look solemn, responded in a deep voice, and saluted Zhang Yuelu respectfully, with a look of awe on their faces.

Zhang Yuelu waved his hand, indicating that there was no need to be polite, and asked directly: "Where is the body?"

"In the guest room at the back." A crane-cloaked Taoist priest replied.

Tang Yongde motioned to the crane-cloaked Taoist priest to lead the way out of the main hall, passed through a corridor, and came to a guest room.

There were two armored spiritual officers guarding the door.

Tang Yongde asked two spiritual officials to open the door, and then said to Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu: "Thank you, Deputy Hall Master Zhang and Deacon Qi."

This room is very different from ordinary rooms. The first thing that catches the eye is various gauze, red and pink, hanging from the beams, semi-transparent and looming. Then there is a huge bed, which can accommodate four or five people, also shrouded in gauze.

It was here that Mason died.

Zhang Yuelu was not used to the strong and pungent scent of rouge in the room, so he couldn't help but cover his nose with his hands. Considering that the businessman died because of the wind, she simply stood at the door and did not rush over.

In any case, she was still a relatively conservative girl. She was young and not a professional doctor, so she really couldn't examine the corpse without any scruples.

Qi Xuansu also smelled the strong fragrance of powder, and under the fragrance of powder, there was a strange fragrance, which even made him have some reaction. He immediately calmed down with his true energy and cursed: "The incense in this room also contains love potion? It's really unique."

Qi Xuansu thought this and walked to the bedside, lifted up the gauze and looked towards the bed.

A naked male corpse was lying on the bed. He looked about forty years old, his lower body was in a mess, and there was still a look of pleasure on his face.

Qi Xuansu was used to seeing dead people, so he naturally had no taboo words. He roughly inspected the corpse and found that there were no external injuries. The skin, bones, and meridians were intact. There were no internal organs that had been shattered or displaced, and there were no obvious signs of poisoning.

If it weren't for the extremely clever poison, it would have been like an ordinary sudden death.

But according to Tang Yongde, the dead businessman had a level of cultivation. He had not been with women for a long time, and he was in his prime. He traveled all over the country and had a strong body. He was not a frail scholar who spent all day in his study. How could he suddenly suddenly sudden death. This is like saying that a great master of heaven and human beings fell into a state of disgrace due to misalignment during cultivation. It is really hard to believe.

After Qi Xuansu told Zhang Yuelu the results of the examination, he said, "It would be great if there was an alchemist who entered the dreamland. He could trace the earth's energy."

Zhang Yuelu said from a distance: "If it is the method of Nightmare Town, the person who performs the technique does not have to show up at all, and the method of tracing back the earth's energy is useless."

The method of Nightmare Suppression is famous. Major witchcraft cases in the past dynasties have implicated thousands of people. The so-called "witchcraft" actually has nothing to do with witchcraft. They are all Taoist methods of Nightmare Suppression. The method of using hair, nails, and birth dates to harm others makes people die silently and without any clues. Concubines vying for favor and princes vying for position were all accustomed to resorting to such tactics.

Speaking of the power of Nightmare Town, it is not limited to the palace, but even the common people are very afraid of it. There is a custom among the people that if you want to build a new house, you must not offend the carpenter, because the carpenters all know some Feng Shui and nightmare methods. If you offend the carpenter, people with evil intentions will do some tricks in the foundation or the beams. , such as villains, can change Feng Shui. Or there is a wooden sculpture of an old man holding a child in the tenon of the beam. The child has a big nail driven into his belly. Living there for a long time will make the child weak and sick, or even die young.

Among the Five Immortals inheritance, the ones who are truly proficient in the method of Nightmare Town are the alchemists of the Ghost Immortal inheritance.

There was once an alchemist who took the life of a heavenly being by using the method of Nightmare Town. First, set up an altar, tie a straw man, write the name of the enemy and birth date on the person, a lamp on the head, a lamp on the feet, a gangbang on the feet, tie the calligraphy and talisman, burn the seal, pray three times a day, and on the second At noon on the 11th. During this process, the victim had almost no ability to resist, and his spirituality was greatly damaged. He did not even know that he had been subjected to the nightmare method. Twenty-one days later, the enemy's three souls and seven souls will be dispersed. At this time, stabbing the straw man with the magic sword will cause both the straw man and the enemy to spurt out blood. But the disadvantage is that it takes too long, and it must have the birth date, which is the real name. If the opponent notices and attacks, it will be difficult for the alchemist to keep the altar.

This is where the "false body of Ying Jie" inherited from the immortals comes from. The Sanren's "Cicada Slough Technique" can only evade swords and ordinary water and fire spells, but it cannot avoid the Gu Technique and the Overwhelming Nightmare Town Technique. The "Tribulated False Body" of the banished immortal is transformed into a flesh-and-blood stand-in with his blood, which is the same as the aura of the original body. Whether it is a curse spell or a soul-stealing technique through the medium of blood and hair, the false body can bear it on his behalf. , is the method of perfection. It is said that after practicing to the extreme, supplemented by other precious materials and part of one's own cultivation, one can even deceive the way of heaven and withstand heavenly calamity, hence the name "Ying Jie".

Therefore, Zhang Yuelu is not afraid of such methods.

As for Qi Xuansu, because he was born in the Wanxiang Taoist Palace, even he himself does not know his birth date, and congenital people will not lose hair, skin flakes, or nails. As long as they are careful, they are not very afraid of such methods.

Qi Xuansu said: "If it is a nightmare technique, then its soul must be damaged, and it still needs an alchemist to check it."

Zhang Yuelu thought for a while and said to Tang Yongde: "Mr. Tang, please have someone dress the body, and I will check it myself."

Chief Tang made a look, and the two spiritual officers immediately stepped forward.

Not long after, the spiritual officer dressed the body, and Zhang Yuelu came to the bed with purple energy flowing in his eyes.

There are still many subtle differences between the normal dissipation of a person's soul after death and being forcibly captured by various means. Although Zhang Yuelu does not have the "transparent Dharma Eyes" of the alchemist, the "Immortal Qi Seeing Technique" can still be partially similar. It plays the role of "clear eyes of Dharma".

Zhang Yuelu's gaze mainly stayed on the head of the dead body, where the soul was. After about a stick of incense, she slowly withdrew her gaze, and the purple color in her eyes gradually faded away.

According to Western timing conversion, there are twelve hours in a day, and one hour equals two hours. An hour means a small hour and a half hour; there are eight quarters in an hour, and a quarter equals fifteen minutes; there are three cups of tea in a quarter, and one cup of tea. A cup of tea has two sticks of incense, and one stick of incense lasts two minutes and thirty seconds; one stick of incense has five minutes, and one minute lasts thirty seconds; one minute has six finger snaps, and one finger snap lasts five seconds; one finger snap lasts Ten moments, one moment equals half a second.

The time it takes to burn an incense stick is actually very short.

Zhang Yuelu said: "There are indeed traces of the Nightmare Suppression Technique. Mr. Tang, you did a good job. You noticed the abnormality at the first time and did not close the case hastily. Nowadays, many people in the Taoist sect always hold the belief that doing more is worse than doing less. When things happen, you always think about making peace with yourself, which gives the evil cult an opportunity to take advantage of you.”

Tang Yongde was a little embarrassed, but he still said: "Thank you, Deputy Hall Master Zhang, for the compliment. It is my responsibility and I am not worthy of it."

Zhang Yuelu sighed softly: "It's a pity that the leader of Lingquan is not here, otherwise we could rely on his soul-calling skills to find traces."

Qi Xuansu said: "We are not here to investigate the case, we can only make do with it. What kind of nightmare suppression technique is the key now? Is it the birth date, hair, nails, or blood?"

Zhang Yuelu muttered: "With just the two of us, it's almost impossible to determine this."

Qi Xuansu thought for a while and then said: "There is another clue. When this businessman died, who was sleeping with him?"

Tang Yongde hurriedly said: "It's a waiter from the courtyard here."

Zhang Yuelu was puzzled for a moment, and Qi Xuansu explained at the right time: "Generally, the guilds are divided into red herdsmen and clear herdsmen. The red herdsmen sell their skills as well as their lives, while the clear herdsmen sell their skills but not their lives."

Zhang Yuelu glanced at him and said with a half-smile, "You understand very well."

Qi Xuansu coughed lightly: "I just heard that I can't afford pork, so let's just watch the pigs run away."

"Can't afford it?" Zhang Yuelu's tone suddenly became gentle.

Qi Xuansu realized his slip of the tongue and quickly changed his words: "What can't I afford? It's not that I don't have peace money. The main reason is that I'm not interested. Let's get down to business quickly."

Tang Yongde kept an eye on his nose and his heart, and did not interfere in the affairs of young people.

Zhang Yuelu no longer dwelled on the matter and said, "Go and meet the red shopkeeper."

Just looking at the size of the palace, you can tell that it cannot be supported by a single bustard, and its background must be huge. And the red shopkeepers were the money-spinners of the brothel. If they wanted to redeem themselves, each of them would be worth thousands of peace coins. Without definite evidence, Tang Yongde would not be able to do anything to the red shopkeepers involved in this matter, so he just kept them. He is temporarily under house arrest in a room.

Tang Yongde led the two people out of this place, and they went up a long corridor. On both sides of the long corridor, there were tall red lights, swaying with shadows. In the night, it seemed that only red and black were left. After twists and turns, he suddenly heard the sound of a woman laughing, and Tang Yongde came to the door. There were still two spiritual officers guarding the place, but there were two more female crowns.

Tang Yongde motioned to the two women to open the door, and they saw red light filling the room, which was blocked by a screen. The floor was covered with thick lichen, and ground dragons were gathered for warmth. Although it was winter, the room was as warm as spring.

Looking at the interior decoration, the tables and chairs are all made of fine mahogany, and the porcelain, calligraphy and paintings are all authentic. It is just like Miss Qianjia's boudoir. It is hard to say how it compares to Zhang Yuelu's residence, but it is much better than Qi Xuansu's residence.

Qi Xuansu couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "No wonder the world laughs at poverty but not at prostitution."