Master Luo Cao

The two wanted to find a local resident to ask about the origin of Yunjian Temple, but they walked on the official road with a horse for a long time without even seeing a person, let alone a village. Fu Yunshu gnawed on the dry food and said: "This is really strange. I have always known that the area between Ciyao County and Ming County is sparsely populated, but I never thought it would be so rare, but I don't know why. Such a large area of ​​land is deserted here. Are the magistrates of the two counties not in a hurry?"

Kou Luoche said: "One sells tea and the other sells porcelain. They live a good life. Maybe it's not short of these few dollars."

These words stabbed into Fu Yunshu's heart like a butcher's knife, he lowered his head and silently stopped speaking.Kou Luoche poked out the basket, so he had to be responsible for comforting himself, saying: "However, when Jiuhe's Bodhisattva was promoted to the world, the scenery was definitely beyond the comparison of Ming and Ci counties."

"Heroes don't mention the bravery of the past," Fu Yunshu said quietly: "This time when I return from the state capital, I must find a way to revive Jiuhe."

Nibbling on dry food and riding a horse, he walked along the official road for a long time before he saw a farmland in the distance. A few thatched huts were built beside the farmland, and an old man in gray was working in the field with a hoe. .

"Someone!" Fu Yunshu was so excited that he clamped his horse's belly and ran to the farmland and got off his horse. Regardless of the muddy field, he walked up to the old man in gray and called out politely. , "This old man!"

The old man was immersed in his work, when he heard a human voice, he was obviously taken aback, turned his head tremblingly, saw a young man with red lips and white teeth, he was relieved, and said: "What's the matter with you?"

Fu Yunshu said: "Grandpa, do you know that there is a place called Yunjian Temple near you?"

"Yunjian Temple?" The old man's skinny old bones shook violently, "Why are you asking about that place?"

Kou Luoche also followed Fu Yunshu and walked over slowly, and asked: "Isn't it said that the Bodhisattva in Yunjian Temple is very effective? How can you say that it is a ghost place?"

The old man said "Hi" and said: "The Yunjian Temple that the Bodhisattva you mentioned is very effective is in the Yunjian Temple in the state capital, the one near us." He looked around and lowered his voice: " Haunted!"

"Oh?" Fu Yunshu and Kou Luoche looked at each other, Fu Yunshu asked: "Dare to ask the old man, what kind of haunting method is it?"

The old man said: "Most of the people who entered there never came out again."

"It's not that scary, is it?" Kou Luoche smiled and turned his head to look at Fu Yunshu, and said, "We just stayed in that ruined temple last night, so nothing happened?"

The old man showed panic, dropped the hoe in his hand and backed up again and again, "You...then are you people or ghosts?!"

Kou Luoche pointed to the bright sun above his head, then pointed to the shadow under his feet, and said, "Can ghosts bask in the sun? Do ghosts have shadows?"

The old man looked them up and down tremblingly for a while, then said tremblingly, "You... are you really human?"

Fu Yunshu said earnestly: "Master, we are really human."

Hesitantly, the old man touched the back of Fu Yunshu's hand, then pinched Kou Luoche's face, and confirmed that it was soft and warm. Then he heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Where do you live? It's better to lie on a tree than to lie on the tree. It’s better to live there. It’s up to you to come out alive.”

Kou Luoche opened his eyes and said nonsense, "No, we didn't encounter anything last night."

The old man said: "That's because you are lucky. It's rare to meet that ghost and not drag you. Originally, it likes handsome young men like you the most!"

Fu Yunshu said: "Master, can you tell me more about it?"

The old man Moyue hadn't chatted with anyone for a long time. Leaning on a hoe, he took out a stick of dry tobacco from his waist, lit it, and began to smoke while talking: "Before the Yunjian Temple here was abandoned, there was a monk. The abbot of the temple, the abbot took care of the Yunjian Temple for many years by himself. Later, Moyue knew that his time was approaching, so he accepted an apprentice. Not long after accepting the apprentice, the abbot passed away. The apprentice took over as the abbot. According to his master's will, he tried to move the Yunjian Temple to the state capital, hoping to spread Buddhism to more people. This is how the Yunjian Temple in the state capital came into being. Since then, the Yunjian Temple here The Jian Temple was left in disuse, and for some reason, a ghost was born, who only ate people passing by, and especially liked young and beautiful ladies, gentlemen, or young children. In short, most of those who entered there never came out again. As the news spread, not only did no one dare to go in for a night, but even in broad daylight, no one dared to go there.” As he spoke, he glanced at Kou Luocha’s saber at his waist, and said, “Maybe it’s the two of you. A man who knows martial arts and has a strong yang energy, so that monster didn't dare to attack you."

Kou Luoche asked: "Master, do you know what kind of monster that is?"

"How do I know that, no one has seen it with their own eyes," the old man shook his head and said, "Those who have seen it with their own eyes are no longer human beings."

"Thank you, old man, for answering your questions." Fu Yunshu bowed slightly, and said, "We still have to hurry, so let's take our leave first."

The two walked out of the paddy field, and the old man's voice came from behind, "Don't go to that ghostly place next time!"

Fu Yunshu smiled and said: "Yes." Turning around, the smile on his face was gone, Fu Yunshu said coldly: "If the rumors are true, then the vixen has already killed countless people."

Kou Luoche shook his head and said, "It's not necessarily all caused by that vixen."

Fu Yunshu frowned slightly, and asked in confusion, "Brother Kou, why did you say that?"

Kou Luoche said: "Last night I was quite close to that vixen, and I saw her face very clearly. Judging from her appearance alone, she is a little girl who is only sixteen or seventeen years old. According to the old man, the cannibal Spirit monsters have been raging here for a long time, in terms of age, it doesn't make sense."

Fu Yunshu nodded thoughtfully, and said: "Furthermore, the murderer pretending to be a ghost has harmed so many people. It is difficult for one person to do it alone. There should be accomplices, and there may be a lot of them. Murders, abductions, and crimes Or dismembering and burying corpses is all laborious work, so if you think about it, it is very likely that a whole gang committed the crime."

Kou Luoche said: "And the proprietress of the tea shed and the vixen are probably part of the same gang."

"Yunjian Temple... Yunjian Temple..." Fu Yunshu murmured, "I don't know what kind of place the Yunjian Temple moved to the state capital is."

During the conversation between the two, the number of pedestrians on the official road gradually increased, Kou Luoche said: "I guess we will soon arrive at Ciyao County."

Fu Yunshu nodded and said: "Ciyao County is small, rushed to the state capital today, rested for a night, and went to meet the magistrate tomorrow morning."

After making up their minds, the two of them clamped their horses and galloped towards Ciyao County. After entering the county seat, it was already noon. Hiding the bag of dry food behind his back, he said with a smile, "Brother Kou, how about we find a restaurant to sit down and eat?"

Kou Luoche pretended not to see Fu Yunshu's little gesture, and responded intimately, saying, "Okay."

He found a restaurant at random and ordered a few dishes. Fu Yunshu couldn't help himself, and asked the waiter in the shop, "Brother, is there a beautiful young man missing from your place recently?"

Xiao Er said in a daze, "The beautiful boy is missing? I've never heard of it."

Fu Yunshu didn't know whether he was disappointed or sighed in relief.

Xiaoer said again: "But a few days ago, the youngest son of Widow Wang at the east end of Li's Lane disappeared."

Fu Yunshu asked, "Children?"

"Yeah," Xiao Er nodded, "I'm only seven or eight years old, but the baby was found by himself the day before yesterday, and I heard that when he came back, he was covered in blood, which scared his mother, but after washing it off Look, there aren't many wounds on the doll."

Fu Yunshu and Kou Luoche looked at each other, since it wasn't his own blood, it was someone else's blood.

Kou Luoche pretended to be concerned, and asked: "The child has no wounds on his body, so he should be safe and sound?"

Xiao Er shook his head, "There is no external injury, but I don't know if it is an internal injury or some kind of insanity."

Fu Yunshu asked: "How do you say?"

Xiao Er lowered his voice and said, "That kid is crazy!"

Leaving the restaurant after lunch, Fu Yunshu was in a daze, letting Kou Luoche lead him with one hand and drag the rein with the other. He didn't come back to his senses until he heard the sound of "arrived" from the front, looked around, twitched A woman with long hair is squatting at the door with a laundry tub in her arms to wash her clothes, a gray-haired old man is sitting on the stone steps basking in the sun, a group of children chasing each other, laughing and running past, it doesn’t look like a county gate full of streets. People are in a hurry.Fu Yunshu couldn't help frowning, and asked in confusion, "Brother Kou, where did you bring me here?"

"Lijia Lane." Kou Luoche lowered his head and smiled at Fu Yunshu, "I asked someone for directions," pointing his head again, "Going further, you will be at Dongtou."

Fu Yunshu was both grateful and happy, looking at Kou Luoche with bright eyes, and said, "Thank you, Brother Kou."

"Thank you for what I did," Kou Luoche said with a smile, "I'm also very concerned about this case, but according to what the mistress said, it was a child who was lost, and it may not have much to do with the cases we discovered before. "

"Even if it's really irrelevant, it's good to ask, if there is a hidden story that I know, I must take care of it." Fu Yunshu said.

The two walked all the way to the east end of Lijia Lane, and saw a house with closed doors and windows. They asked the neighbors in the neighborhood that this was indeed Widow Wang's house, and they knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" After waiting for a while, the door did not open, only a tired voice came from behind the door.

Fu Yunshu was about to speak, but was stopped by Kou Luochao. He groped around his waist for a while, took out a token, and waved it towards a hole in the door, saying: "We are the police from Ciyao County. It’s over, I’m here to inquire.”

Gently leaning on Kou Luoqi with his elbow, Fu Yunshu whispered, "Where did you get this token?"

Kou Luoche replied in a low voice: "Before I leave, I borrowed a piece from Wang Xiaozhu just in case."

While talking, the wooden door in front of her opened with a creak, revealing the face of a withered and haggard woman behind the door. She seemed to want to smile at the two of them, but after a long time, she could only squeeze out a little With a wry smile that still looks ugly after crying, he said in a hoarse voice: "I have seen the two officials."