"That was a murder that happened in Hezhou. It should have happened two years ago. It was also a sensation at the time. Five members of the family were killed and their heads were removed. There are many superstitions in the south, so this case was also called a ghost sacrifice case!"
"Sacrifice to ghosts?"
"It is a custom outside the lake to use humans as sacrifices to ghosts. Every child and woman is sacrificed, their eyes are removed, their ears and noses are cut off, they are buried in traps, and they are fertilized with boiling water to erode their skin. Everything goes unchecked..."
When Gongsun Ce said this, he felt both miserable and hateful. He gritted his teeth and said, "When I was in Luzhou, I saw evil cults killing people. What they did was horrific and outrageous!"
Di Jin also frowned.
There are many witchcraft practices in the Chu region, and there are many obscene rituals in the south of the Yangtze River. Since ancient times, there have been many obscene worship cults in the south. One of Di Renjie's achievements in history was to patrol the south of the Yangtze River, destroying 1,700 obscene temples, and rectifying the folk customs.
The situation in the Song Dynasty was even more exaggerated. It is said that the prototype of A Chinese Ghost Story, which became famous in later generations, was a murder case in the Song Dynasty.
It is said that a Confucian scholar was on his way, and it was getting late, so he stayed at a large house. The owner of the house was extremely enthusiastic and sent the most beautiful maid in the house to serve him late at night. Unable to hold back, just as she was in ecstasy, the beautiful maid told the Confucian scholar that she was a woman from a good family who was captured by this family to deceive the passing Confucian scholar. When the time comes, she will kill him and sacrifice him to ghosts.
The Confucian scholar was so frightened that he cut a hole in the wall and ran away with his maid overnight. At dawn, he reported to the police and arrested all the wealthy people who believed in the cult. They found more than a dozen corpses with their bellies cut open and their internal organs hollowed out from under the trees.
Di Jin thought of this and said in a deep voice: "Those who sacrifice the five internal organs to ghosts, what does it mean to cut off the head?"
Gongsun Ce said: "In the past, most of the victims of ghost sacrifices were children. Children were stolen and killed to offer sacrifices to prostitutes in temples, which was called 'caisheng'; in Hubei there were 'edge-opening ghosts' who specialized in feeding on human liver; in Bashu, First there was the 'Western Mountain God', who had to sacrifice a young girl as his wife every year to appease the beast. Then there was the 'Seven Wolf Poison Well'. There was a demon in the well who called himself the 'Jade Girl'. Every year, a young man had to be thrown into the well as his son-in-law. Otherwise, the well would No salt was produced, so later an official acted as a matchmaker for the two demons and matched the jade girl statue with the God of the Western Mountain, and the two places finally found peace..."
Di Jin nodded: "This is very good. It can not only convince the ignorant local people, but also save the boys and girls who were harmed. It is really a great merit!"
"But it turns out that the obscene priest can also make up new rumors..."
Gongsun Ce frowned and said: "According to legend, after the union between the God of the West Mountain and the Jade Girl, an evil fetus was born. Because it was headless, it was later abandoned and was named a 'Headless Ghost'. It needs to be appeased by the head of the Six Yang Assembly to prevent chaos. First, Bashu emerged, and then spread to the south of the Yangtze River. The local people worshiped this ghost, and people often robbed tombs and cut off their heads. Eventually, the Hezhou government took the whole family to sacrifice the 'headless ghost', and declared the case closed. "
Di Jin was not surprised, but still sighed: "So sloppy..."
"Always like that!"
Gongsun Ce snorted: "Those rubbish in the yamen couldn't solve the case, so they blamed it on ghosts, and then asked monks to do it to dispel the evil atmosphere and fool the people, so no one mentioned it again. But this unsolved case, I Both Bao Heizi and Bao Heizi want to break it!"
If you want to crack it, it hasn't been cracked yet. After all, it's not in Luzhou. It's not that simple to investigate cases across states.
But now that he encountered similar killer methods, Gongsun Ce suddenly became excited: "Sure enough, following Shilin, there will be a big case to investigate. We missed the Hezhou case. This case of annihilation in the capital must not be missed!"
"What does it mean to have a big case with me...Don't slander me!"
Di Jin almost jumped up, but this case was a continuation of the previous Blizzard Inn, and it did seem to be caused by himself. He could only say dullly: "This case is not trivial. The difficulty lies not only in the case, but also in the missing official. , burned case files and escaped convicts are by no means as simple as sacrificing ghosts, so don’t be impulsive!"
After Gongsun Ce heard the whole situation, his eyes turned cold: "I heard that when Prime Minister Lu knew the power of the Kaifeng Mansion, he was strict and vocal in his governance, but his attitude towards this case was quite negative! This is because he is anxious After my term is completed, I can join the two houses as prime minister!"
Di Jin said seriously: "Mingyuan, if you really want to solve the case, don't say this, at least not at this time!"
Lu Yijian was involved in political affairs. With his current prestige and achievements in power, it can be said that he was promoted to prime minister. Liu Congguang, the former Chongban of the Inner Palace, even though he is the nephew of the Queen Mother, he is not worthy of this man.
Therefore, some words can be thought but not said when they are empty words.
Gongsun Ce was arrogant. After all, he knew how powerful the Prime Minister was. He muttered: "It's because of these high-ranking officials and powerful people... Anyway, Shilin, you just said that you would wait until the trial is completed before investigating the case. Is this why?"
Di Jin said: "We need to prepare in the first place, and then listen to what you said. Murderous cases of exterminating families with their heads taken off happened in more than one place. The involvement of this case may be bigger than I thought before. If half of it is found, we need to After leaving Beijing and catching up with the exam, should we just give up?"
Just as Gongsun Ce was about to speak, Di Jin continued: "Mingyuan, I know very well that your determination to pursue the truth cannot be shaken by fame and fortune, but the truth that ordinary people can find out, and the unjust cases that the criminal justice can solve along the way, It’s completely different, not to mention that being a prisoner is not the end! I sincerely hope that you and I can join Ke Deng and become a Jinshi, so that in the future we can speak out for more innocent people who died unjustly!"
Gongsun Ce listened and nodded: "Yes! If I can't even pass the Jinshi examination, how can I be like Su Wuming, who protects the country at the top, does things that others cannot and dare not do, and governs the people at the bottom? What about the injustice that Snowman cannot do? Humph, isn’t it the first trial? It seems that I can’t win it! Let’s go!”
Seeing the handsome figure waving away, Di Jin smiled, then looked thoughtful.
According to the current clues, there is no clue to this case. If we are going to find out the truth, it seems that those people have to get in touch.
After thinking for a moment, he called out: "Come in!"
Lin Xiaoyi and Zhu Er walked in, and Di Jin looked at the former: "Xiao Yi, have you been to the Daxiangguo Temple?"
Zhu'er didn't need to ask. He was originally from the capital. It was impossible that he had never been to Daxiangguo Temple. Lin Xiaoyi immediately replied: "I have been! The temple business there is very lively!"
Di Jin said: "I'm still thinking about it. I've been in the capital for a few months. I really should take a look at this No. 1 temple in the world. The day after tomorrow is the trading day. Let's take a look around!"
Zhu Er was very surprised that this young master was actually getting ready to go out. Lin Xiaoyi also felt it was a bit sudden, but she was very happy: "Okay! Okay! I'll get ready right away!"
…
Daxiangguo Temple was a royal temple of the Song Dynasty. After Lu Zhishen uprooted the willows, it became a household name.
But it was different from the ancient Zen temples and quiet Buddhist temples imagined by later generations. This place was more like a trading market for the common people. Later, it also had a professional name called "Wanxing Trading".
Because the Daxiangguo Temple is open to the public five times a month, on the first, fifteenth, and eighth days of the lunar month, and on the eighth day, the eighth, eighteenth, and twenty-eighth days of the lunar month, ordinary people are allowed to go to the temple to set up stalls and trade on these five days. The temple even Set aside a special place as a venue.
Otherwise, Buddhism was a special economy in ancient times. This measure not only attracted local people to visit, but also merchants from other places came in droves.
Di Jin hadn't seen the temple yet, but just walking around the Daxiangguo Temple felt like he had entered a huge market. What he saw and heard was the lively scene of selecting transactions and bargaining.
Lin Xiaoyi skillfully led the way. Di Jin saw him and smiled and said, "Xiao Yi, how many times have you been here?"
"I've been here five times!" Lin Xiaoyi said with a smile: "The first time I turned around, I felt dizzy and almost got lost in it. After asking, I slowly came out!"
Di Jin looked at the street stalls on both sides of the corridors: "What daily necessities at home can you buy at the market here?"
Lin Xiaoyi scratched his head: "No! I'm afraid I bought the wrong thing..."
Zhu'er added: "Sir, it's better to buy these daily necessities in various shops. It's not easy to buy fakes there, and the prices are naturally higher. The market in Daxiangguo Temple is diverse and cheap, but you have to be selective. If your vision is really screwed up, don’t blame anyone, who wants others to take advantage of it!"
Di Jin nodded slightly: "Xiao Yi did the right thing. After all, we are not familiar with the place, so we still buy things in big stores for the sake of stability."
Zhu Er is actually very familiar, but outside she has also become a maid from Bingzhou, nodding her head repeatedly.
While they were chatting, a warm voice suddenly came from the side: "Amitabha, the donor is polite!"
Di Jin turned his head and saw a young monk standing behind him. He was not even twenty years old.
Seeing Di Jin looking over, the monk clasped his hands together again and bowed: "The young monk just accidentally overheard the conversation between the donor and his servant. I apologize for interrupting him rashly! However, if the donor wants to find the real thing, he will not be The stall owner passes off inferior goods and deceives others, but the young monk can help him a little."
Di Jin raised his eyebrows slightly: "So, the young master is planning to give me a blind eye?"
After the Tang Dynasty, "master" began to be used to refer to people with special skills. In the Song and Yuan Dynasties, monks began to be addressed respectfully. The title "little master" was very common, but "palm eye" was the term used by later generations.
"Palm eye..." However, the monk thought about it for a while and seemed to think it was quite appropriate. He pretended to be humble and said: "We monks dare not say such nonsense, but I still have some experience in discerning it."
In fact, after just listening to Zhu Er's description, Di Jin knew that such a chaotic market would inevitably give birth to some intermediary professions. Just like the extremely high housing prices in the capital, the dental shop was booming, and the commissions earned from renting houses were enough for those dental people. Enough to drink.
Now he glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw that there was more than one such monk among the buyers and sellers, and some were directly next to the stall, posing as appraisers.
The next scene is a transaction between the buyer and the seller. The buyer hands the item he wants to buy to the monk next to him. After observing it, the monk gives a suitable price. After the transaction is completed, the buyer pays the monk an evaluation fee.
Please visit the latest address
Well, it is indeed something that the Daxiangguo Temple will do...
"Um?"
Di Jin was quite interested in these little things in life and had accumulated power. He was about to ask the monk to follow him and see the level of his palms and eyes. Suddenly his brows moved and he saw Di Xiangling strolling past from the corner of his eye.
The two siblings looked at each other, and Di Jin understood. Knowing that the group of people were coming, the conversation suddenly changed: "Don't you know my little master's name?"
The monk clasped his hands together and said, "The little monk is enlightened."
Di Jin said: "Little Master Zhiwu, I would like to find a quieter temple to worship Buddha. Do you have any recommendations?"
The monk hesitated.
Di Jin looked at Lin Xiaoyi. Lin Xiaoyi immediately took out a medium-sized money bag from his waist and handed it over like the official Qiao Er did at that time.
After taking the money bag, the monk weighed it, and the smile on his face suddenly became sincere: "Donor please!"
Facts have proved that there is still a quiet place in Daxiangguo Temple. Follow Zhiwu and turn left and right to avoid the bustling palace in front. A large hall comes into view in front of you. In the hall, the smoke is filled with smoke. From the three-legged furnace in front of the Buddha statue Soaring.
"You guys stay outside the palace."
Lin Xiaoyi and Zhu Er were waiting outside as promised. The monk stopped when he saw them and started chatting with them.
After learning that this was a student who was sent to Kaifeng Mansion, he became even more enthusiastic. The poor scholars were really poor, and the rich ones were really rich. They must stabilize this source of customers.
Not to mention the graceful monks outside, Di Jin walked into the temple alone, without offering incense or worshiping the Buddha. He just looked at the tall golden statue calmly, and after a moment he said calmly: "Now that you are here, don't hide, come out! "
A man in a gray monk's robe flashed out, jumped three feet away, and stopped warily: "Di Shilin, we meet again! When we sealed the hill, I said we would see each other again!"
Di Jin looked at the other party: "Wu Jing, you have been guarding the outside for two months and you still have no regrets at all?"
Wu Jing gritted his teeth: "As expected, the people from the Imperial City Division are not here to protect you. You are using them to fight against us!"
No matter how stupid a person is, he will realize that something is wrong after spending two months outside. Besides, Wu Jing is by no means stupid, but he still wakes up too late.
The Imperial City Division has now ceased operations. After confirming that the attack was not caused by Di Jin's men, but a group of desperadoes who seemed to be specifically looking for trouble for the Imperial City Division, Jia Xianchun urged again and again, but could not get anyone to do anything.
Even if the higher-ups don't care about their lives, the lower-level officials don't want to. With a monthly salary of a few guan, what are they trying to do with their lives?
Fortunately, they also fulfilled their role of "looking after the home and caring for the home."
The five monks have also been through a lot during this period. The soldiers of the Imperial City Division have mediocre military force, which is not to mention, but they are obstacles after all. They still have to avoid the government's search. The most important thing is, Di Jin's family was extremely difficult to deal with.
Under the third-level factors, the five brothers tried to rush in several times, but gave up several times. It can be said that they were exhausted mentally and physically.
Others don't know, but in Di Jin's eyes, Wu Jing has aged four or five years after not seeing him for several months, and his current temperament really looks like an ascetic.
But Wu Jing still did not give up: "Di Shilin, I know that if you dare to come out this time, there will be a dragnet waiting for you, but our brothers and sisters are not afraid of death. You can send your men to fight, the worst is to drag the people outside." People are buried with them, hey, they went out to buy things, do you know whether they will go back today or not?"
This is threatening the people in the Daxiangguo Temple, but Di Jin's expression did not show any fluctuation: "What a ridiculous threat, it is the consequences of your killing, and it will not be blamed on me at all!"
Wu Jing observed carefully and found that this guy really refused to take the hard way. His heart sank and he clenched his fists. Fortunately, since the other person showed up, there was a possibility of conversation: "How are you doing?"
Di Jin calmly stared at the golden body of the Buddha.
Wu Jing gritted his teeth and said proactively: "The deceased in the capital murder case is my close relative. As long as you solve the case and avenge the unjust death of the whole family, I will go to the Kaifeng government office immediately and surrender! And my junior brothers also I can sell my life to you!"
Di Jin continued to stare at the golden body of the Buddha statue.
Wu Jing said angrily: "Why, you don't believe me?"
Di Jin finally spoke: "You have an extreme temperament, kill innocent people indiscriminately, and have fallen into evil ways, but you are not a two-faced and despicable person. I believe you will surrender."
Wu Jing's face softened slightly, and he sneered: "Then you are not satisfied? Yes, a talented man like you will be able to become a high official in the future, but he will look down on us desperadoes who wander around the world and kill people at every turn! But I tell you You, there are probably many people like us still living in the mansions of those powerful people! If you don’t want it now, no one will do dirty things in the future, so don’t regret it!”
Di Jin still looked at the golden body of the Buddha statue.
Wu Jing said irritably: "What do you want?"
Di Jin then turned his head and looked at him coldly: "Are you asking me to investigate the case for your relative?"
Wu Jing thought he understood. His cheek muscles twitched and his legs bent slightly.
However, Di Jin frowned: "If you kneel down and threaten again, get out and die with my sister!"
"Ahhhhh!"
Wu Jing wanted to look up to the sky and roar, but he was worried that he would actually lead that terrible woman in from outside the palace. He roared with eyes split open: "What do you want? Tell me!"
Di Jin said: "First of all, who in Fengqiu Inn contacted you and Xue Chao and plotted to kill someone?"
In the past, Wu Jing would not have answered obediently, but now he said almost without hesitation: "It was Master Qi, the leader of the seven beggars of the Beggar Gang. He arranged everything so that I could cooperate with Xue Chao and kill him." Chen Zhijian and Dong Ba faked their deaths and entrusted them to evil spirits to seek justice!"
"A beggar's head..." Di Jin asked again: "Who was responsible for the Yangwu County murder case? Don't try to deceive me!"
Wu Jing snorted, but answered honestly: "It was also the Qi Ye Gang who arranged the murder scene!"
Di Jin said: "What is the purpose of the Beggar Gang being so strenuous?"
Wu Jing said proudly: "It's a favor from our fellow apprentices! Among the martial monks in Wutai Mountain, our fellow apprentices are the most powerful in martial arts and are the martial arts instructors. If we really ignore the obstruction of the old monks in the mountain and blindly lead the disciples down the mountain, what will happen to them?" A capable team of a hundred people! The seventh master agreed to help us with three evil ghost murder cases in Kaifeng Mansion, forcing the government to reopen old cases, and we brothers will have to sacrifice our lives for him in the future!"
A hundred people may not seem like many, but a hundred monks who are proficient in martial arts and can cooperate tacitly are a quite terrifying scale. This reason makes sense.
Di Jin nodded: "In that case, starting from tomorrow, every three days you will arrest a criminal who has committed a crime in the Beggar Gang and throw him in front of the Kaifeng Mansion Yamen. As the price for your delay in surrendering after your escape, you will be arrested for two days." Months!”
"What!"
Wu Jing frowned: "It doesn't matter about other things. If you want to kill officials, we will all go and kill them for you. The Beggar Gang has helped our brothers a lot before, but now you want me to turn around and harm his disciples?" Doesn’t this trap me into injustice?”
Di Jin did not distinguish what justice was from this paranoid monk who regarded human life as nothing, and added lightly: "This is the first thing I want you to do!"
"you!"
Wu Jing was shocked and angry: "How many more things do you want?"
"three item!"
Di Jin raised three fingers: "If you can complete the three things I ask for, I promise you to do my best to find out the tragedy of the family extermination in the capital! Of course, after investigating the case, you go to the Kaifeng government office to surrender and apologize. This is It will never change!”
"Hello!"
Wu Jing wanted to just walk away, but he thought that the world is huge, and based on what he knew so far, the person who could best find out the truth for his master might be right in front of him. After all, he nodded bitterly, and retreated out in a flash. The voice came from afar: "Just wait and see!"
Di Jin put his hands behind his back and took one last look at the resplendent golden Buddha statue, which seemed to be overlooking all living beings. He still refused to bow and turned around to leave.
Please visit the latest address
