Between the vast sea of ​​clouds

The next day, Li Yan went to the temple to offer incense according to Qingping's instructions. The early morning in Zhaoye was still very lively. Pedestrians came and went along the street. Vendors who came here from various states rushed to exhibit their goods; Here, the tricks in his hands kept coming, which attracted many people to stop and watch.

Li Yan bought a few sticks of incense and some ingots on the side of the street, and the lady who sold the incense said: "The guests are going to offer incense? Today Lanyin Temple has invited lanterns, so why not go and watch the excitement."

Li Yan said: "Thank you shopkeeper, but what do you mean by asking for a lamp?"

The aunt wiped the hands holding Yuan Bao and said: "Just to invite the dragon lanterns, each temple has to send some people to carry the lanterns. It has to go from Chenzhou to Minzhou. Now they are inviting the lamp holders."

Li Yan thanked her and went to find Nalanyin Temple.

Li Yan inquired all the way to the past, walked many wrong roads under the sun, and finally found this Lanyin Temple.

The temple is located in the east of the city, which is relatively secluded.The distant mountains are misty, their peaks are majestic, and they are lonely and arrogant. Under the clear sky, they are like freehand paintings made of splashed ink.Nearby is a green lake, on which are parked several painting boats.The mountains and rivers reflect each other, and the Lanyin Temple is also surrounded by greenery, only the temple with flying eaves is exposed, and the top of the temple shines a round of golden light in the light, which can be seen from a distance.

The tall trees cast a shade, and Li Yan was able to breathe for a while.She was just about to enter in front of the temple gate with her things in hand when she suddenly felt something was wrong.

It's not about asking for lights today, why is it so quiet in this temple?

A person came out from the door, and seeing her holding an incense stick with ingots in her hand, he was not surprised and said, "Yuanke is here to offer incense? Please come inside."

Li Yan suddenly felt that she was overthinking, so she followed this person into the hall, but before she stepped in, she almost yelled out.

The people who were filled with the scent could not open their eyes, only to see that the hall was full of people kneeling, and there were lamps on both walls, shining like a waterfall of light.The statue of the Dragon God is no longer as serene and peaceful as it used to be, but has an extremely ferocious face, standing on top of the blue waves with a magic weapon in hand.

The atmosphere in the hall was solemn, faithful men and women bowed to the ground to worship, Li Yan wanted to find an open space to kneel in, but it was overcrowded and there was no room to stand.In addition, the smell of burning incense and burning candles was too strong, and after taking a few breaths, she felt tight in her chest and felt dizzy. After staying for only a moment, she hurriedly left the palace gate with her things.

With the breeze blowing on his face, Li Yan woke up a little bit, and wanted to find a stove to burn these things in his hands.She walked around the temple by herself, but she came to a long corridor in the shade, and after a few steps, there were two roads in front of her.Just when he didn't know what to do, he saw a female Taoist walking towards him, so he stepped forward and asked, "Excuse me—"

The female Taoist student had delicate features, glanced slightly at the thing in her hand, and pointed to the intersection on the right, Li Yan said: "Thank you very much."

She walked along the road for a while before she saw a stove with an incense table next to the stove, and the burnt incense ash inside was almost full.

Li Yan burned a few ingots, and always felt something strange, the yard was exceptionally cool, she had only stood there for a while, but her arms felt a little cold.She scanned the surroundings, but there was nothing unusual, except that there were a few big locust trees outside the yard that covered the sun, so she couldn't feel the heat, and it was naturally very cool.

I don't know which god is enshrined in this courtyard. Li Yan lit the incense and was about to bow down when he suddenly froze.

I don't know if it was her illusion, but she seemed to see a child running over just now.

But this place is a solemn place, how could children be allowed to run around, Li Yan couldn't help feeling chills down his back, bowed a few times indiscriminately, inserted the incense into the ashes, threw the remaining few ingots into the furnace, and turned away-

At some point, a girl appeared by the door, looking at her with her head tilted.The girl was only eleven or twelve years old, with a copper ring hanging around her neck, and a string of chains hanging from the ring, she held it in her hand and shook it.

Li Yan's heart stopped for a moment, the girl looked at her fixedly, Li Yan took a deep breath, and said a little unhappy: "Which family are you from, why are you here alone?"

The girl didn't answer, just looked at her like that.Li Yan lost his patience and strode forward to catch her. The girl dodged and was caught by Li Yan. Li Yan was about to teach her a lesson when he suddenly noticed that the girl looked familiar, and the girl let out a whining sound. Opened his mouth like a puppet.

There was only half of the tongue moving in the mouth, which was unspeakably creepy. Li Yan was taken aback and let go of his hand. The girl smiled maliciously, threw the chain on Li Yan's face, and then ran into the room. in a door.

Li Yan said in pain: "You..."

Isn't this the ghost boy she met on that boat with the adults last time? How could it be in Lanyin Temple?

Li Yan intuitively felt that there was a difference, and chased the girl into the door. The light suddenly dimmed. She covered her eyes with her hand and looked into the room. There are so many tablets, pressing down like a mountain, making people's hearts tremble.

No wonder this place is so shady and cool, and there are no people. It turned out to be a spiritual room.

She had only walked a few steps, but she couldn't help looking at the names of the deceased on the spirit tablets. The house was built like a winding corridor, and Li Yan felt regretful, regretting that she didn't bring two guards with her when she came out.She bit the bullet and walked for a while, but this place was still in sight, and there were memorial tablets everywhere, reminding her that this place was not a place where she could step foot casually.

Li Yan couldn't help being a little apprehensive, but when her eyes touched a certain place, she froze, feeling that every inch of her blood was frozen, she opened her mouth, but couldn't make any sound.

"My lord, it seems that someone is following us from behind."

The entourage turned sideways cautiously, Qingping used his fan to block the light, stood on the street in the busy city and turned around to look, saying: "Let her follow, let's go to the next house to see."

After saying that, the group of people entered another shop, followed by another person in the hidden place on the corner of the downtown street.

When he returned to the inn at night, his entourage handed over the letter. Qingping opened the letter and saw that the guard of honor was almost at Zhaoye.

She sat by the window and listened for a while, and felt that it was very lively outside. Seeing this, the entourage said: "Master, do you want to go out for a walk? This subordinate will go call for someone."

Qingping waved his hands and said: "No need, you all just rest."

The entourage left, and gently closed the door before leaving.

Qingping listened to the movement again, then lowered his head and plucked the floating leaves in the teacup. The tea had already cooled completely, and he felt a little cool when he touched it with his fingertips.

Unknowingly, she leaned against the edge of the table again, her eyes fell on the silent lights, and she fell into the old scene in a trance.

It was night, Wu Yue returned to the old house in a hurry, just changed his clothes and cleaned his hands, and then someone came to report that Miss Six had been waiting in the mansion for a long time.

Wu Yue said: "Quickly ask her to come in."

Wu Ji hurried in, with a red mark on the right side of his face, he was so embarrassed, when he saw her, he said, "Hey, third sister..."

Although Wu Yue was exhausted, he still cheered up and said, "Who beat you up?"

Wu Ji's expression was a little subtle, and he raised his sleeves to cover his face and said in shame and indignation: "You're making a joke of Third Sister, this is me, this is beaten by my mother."

Wu Yue asked in surprise, "What did Aunt beat you up for?"

Wu Ji's complexion changed slightly, and he said flatly: "No, third sister, you forgot? Didn't you tell me to go back and check on Wu Yi? The ancestral hall of my Hui clan secretly looked through the genealogy, eh."

"Wu Yi?" Wu Yue thought for a while, and suddenly realized: "Look, I've forgotten about this in a hurry, so sit down and take a breath."

Wu Ji took out a thin piece of paper from his sleeve, stuffed it secretly into Wu Yue's hand, and said in a low voice, "Here's something for you, I sneaked here without telling my mother, there are so many people in your place, and you can't speak well." It’s hard to say. Let me make a long story short. Wu Yi’s name is not missing from the genealogy, but his name has been deleted. I don’t know why, but this person seems to have committed some taboo. If you want to explain the reason in detail, you have to trace it back to During the Qingjia period, this person died of illness in the sixth year of Qingjia, but at the age of 36, it is a pity..."

According to Wu Ji, Wu Yi is a member of the main branch of the Wu family. He once participated in the scientific examination, and later became an official. He spent the longest time in Chenzhou and experienced the "Hongbo Rebellion" in Chenzhou. A young official was convicted and sacked. Wu Yi was accused of being unfavorable to the supervision, was deprived of merit, became white, and died in depression.

Wu Yue waited for her to finish speaking, stood up and bowed, "Sixth sister, thank you very much! You really did me a great favor!"

Wu Ji was taken aback, and avoided saying: "No way! Third sister, it's just a random search. Fortunately, the ancestral hall still has old records, otherwise I wouldn't be able to find out the life of this person."

After Wu Ji left, Wu Yue returned to the room, took out the jade box from the cabinet, and opened it carefully.There was a stack of papers in the box, and she gently took it out, pulling out the last one.However, seeing the characters are messy and scribbled, domineering, almost torn out of the paper, and the ink smudges through the paper, it can be seen that the writer is sad, angry and helpless.

"...People say that things happen for a reason, and if there is a cause, there will be an effect, and the disturbance of cause and effect is endless. It is not caused by cause and effect. , the sky can learn from it. But there are many nameless people in the world, and I am nothing more than this. This life is mediocre, illusory and unreal, and arises and perishes in an instant. In the scriptures, it is often said that all dharmas are impossible. What is the dharma and what is the dharma? Ten thousand laws. Even though I think this way, I still talk nonsense to spend the whole day. Everyone in the clan laughs like an idiot, but the building will collapse. If the country does not control the country, it will not be known to the Holy One. The embankment of a thousand miles will eventually collapse in an ant's nest. Alas! My heartfelt love In the future, look at the bitter sea and turn around, and realize Lan Yin early. Yue Jin stays."

On the other hand, the handwriting on the first few sheets of paper was neat and beautiful, and it could be seen that it was not written by one person. Wu Yue rubbed his hands on the thin paper and sighed deeply.

Yuan Sui returned to the hotel from the archives warehouse as usual, and the police came to report that a man surnamed Wu had come here to present evidence.

The policeman quickly complained: "I see that she doesn't look like a nonsense, so I decided to keep her here and wait for the adults to come back and make a decision."

Yuan Sui said, "Please come to the living room."

The arrester ordered his subordinates to lead people into the living room to meet the guests. Yuan followed the door in the back, sat in the living room and watched straight to the point and said: "You are here to present evidence. Do you know what case the department is investigating now? If you dare to say such things, if the headquarters finds out that you are lying, today's execution hall will be left to you."

Wu Yue bowed and said: "My lord, the student is not talking nonsense, the evidence is here, how dare you deceive me at will?"

Yuan Sui raised his hand, and the arrester quickly went down to take the things in Wu Yue's hand, and said, "My lord, please take a look."

Yuan Sui first took out an account book and flipped through it. After reading a few pages, he suddenly stood up and asked, "Where did these things come from?"

Wu Yue said slowly: "Students don't dare to lie to the adults. The sister of the family used to be an inspector in the mutual market prison. She checked the accounts many times and found discrepancies. Before reporting to the court, Le'an County fell, and she also..."

She knelt down to salute, and said word by word: "The family sister has a single word Ying, adults can also check her identity—"

Yuan Suidao: "The headquarters knows her, Mrs. Wu Ying and Wu. In the twelfth lunar month of last year, when the headquarters was serving as the inspector in Hezhou, we met her once."

Wu Yue raised his head suddenly, and only heard Yuan Sui say: "At that time, the headquarters was still investigating a case of being cheated by a bookseller. For some reason, this Mr. Wu was also looking for the old edition of "Qingjia Yizhi" in the book market. The headquarters asked her why she wanted to Looking for this book, she only said that although this book is a legendary storybook, it is fake and fake, but some of the stories in it are indeed true."

Qingping leaned on the chair, tapped his hand on the table and said: "Wei Yuanling, you have been with me for five days, and you will follow me wherever I go in these five days. If you want to say something, you can say it now."

The person who described madness raised his head, and said stupidly: "You, it's you..."

Qingping lowered his eyes and smiled, and said: "If you are not crazy, don't pretend to be stupid. This place is very safe, and no one will know that you have been here."

Wei Yuanling's eyes were empty, and he said, "You are the lunatic, you are all lunatics!"

Qingping sighed, and could only say: "Ten years ago, your sister disappeared for no reason. You reported it to the government, and then you lost six girls one after another, all between the ages of thirteen and fifteen. But these people all came back later. Only your sister was missing. You persevered and continued to report to the government, but your neighbor came to testify that he had seen your sister appear in the outskirts of the city, and the government concluded that your sister was obviously not lost, but did it deliberately, and the case was settled... "

The man who was tied up on the ground gritted his teeth and made a creaking sound. Qingping smiled meaningfully and said: "I have read all your files, so I won't talk about the case. I heard that you used to be a skilled craftsman. Wang Haiyan You will always be included in the statue of the dragon girl, so why didn’t you make an offering that year? And your sister was also lost at the Wanghai Banquet that year, so what’s the relationship here?”

Wei Yuanling finally raised her head to look at her, with a sinister and fierce expression, and said in a hoarse voice: "What does this have to do with you?"

Qingping said calmly: "Of course it has something to do with it. When I was 13 years old, I used to play the role of a dragon girl at the Wanghai Banquet and dance to welcome the gods."

Wei Yuanling's breathing stagnates, and Qingping continued: "Wanghai Banquet is held every year, and the role of the dragon girl must be a girl under the age of 15. If she is over [-] years old, she will not be allowed. Where did these rules start, and who made them..."

She bent down and looked at Wei Yuanling so that she could see her face clearly.Wei Yuanling straightened her back, she did not return to the crazy look just now.

Qingping smiled, and said softly: "For so many years, you have pretended to be crazy and acted foolishly, and you have checked a lot of things secretly, right? Yes, no matter how cautious you are, people will show their feet, but your ability is limited, and you have never been able to find out the most important one. Huan. However, this year’s Wanghai Banquet made you vigilant in advance. You have been paying attention since you lost your first child. After many years, that group of people acted so blatantly and with such great fanfare, as if they were not afraid of the government. check……"

She leaned back in her chair and said with a half-smile: "Wei Yuanling, does your sister look a little like me? It's amazing."

"As for what it looks like, you know better than me."

Wei Yuanling squeezed the hands that were tied behind her back, the veins on her forehead bulged, and her breathing suddenly became short of breath.

The author has something to say: sleepy, good night