Time passed silently in minutes and seconds.
The bustling courtyard where pilgrims usually gather is now extremely deserted under the blockade of the Night Patrol Department.
Under the vicissitudes of the ancient Bodhi tree, everyone craned their necks and tried to find the prayer tubes that Lin Jiaoyue and the others hung on among the densely packed thousands or even tens of thousands of bamboo tubes.
Li Nanke sat quietly in front of the door, his brain constantly sorting out clues.
The reason why he was so persistent in looking for the prayer tube that Lin Jiaoyue and the others placed on the Bodhi tree stemmed from his first interview with the monk on duty in the temple.
According to the information provided by the monk, after Lin Jiaoyue and the others finished praying, Wan Yingying stayed alone for a while.
Then she lost her temper for no apparent reason.
After losing her temper, she suggested a trip to Cuihong Mountain.
Therefore, the prayer tube hanging on the tree must contain some clues, which led to the subsequent murder case.
"Here he is!"
Not long after, Leng Xinnan hurriedly came to the man with the prayer tube she found from the Bodhi tree.
Li Nanke opened them one by one.
The content of Wan Yingying's prayer in the bamboo tube was a love poem and a few words about girls' emotions. It probably meant that she hoped to develop a relationship with He Qingyu.
It seems that this girl really loves He Qingyu very much.
The content of Lin Jiaoyue's prayer is that she hopes the sisters can live happily forever.
But when Li Nanke opened Wen Jin'er's prayer tube, he found that it was empty—to be precise, the prayer paper inside had been taken away!
"Let me ask you, did they hang up the three prayer tubes themselves, or did you do it for them?"
Li Nanke asked Chang Yu.
Chang Yu shook his head and said, "We didn't help hang it. After they finished writing the prayers in the Wenjing Hall, it was Miss Lin who hung them together."
really!
Li Nanke had the answer in his mind and said again: "Let me tell you what happened next."
Chang Yu wiped the sweat from his fat face and described the situation that day: "After hanging the prayer tube, the three of them knelt down under the Bodhi tree. Later, Miss Lin said that she wanted to make it easier for Wen Jin'er to I accompanied her to the backyard hut."
"So only Wan Yingying stayed under the bodhi tree?"
"right."
"Then did you see Wan Yingying touch the prayer tube?"
"It seems to have happened."
Chang Yu frowned and tried to remember. "At that time, the young monk was entertaining other pilgrims and did not pay attention. But later, the young monk heard Miss Wan cursing something and lost his temper alone.
After Miss Lin and the others came back, the young monk faintly heard Miss Wan saying that they were going to Cuihong Mountain to play. "
Li Nanke's starry eyes were sharp: "I'll ask you again, did Miss Lin and the others have any unusual behavior before this? I'm not just talking about the fourth day of August, but also earlier."
This made Chang Yu embarrassed.
There were so many pilgrims coming and going every day, how could he deliberately remember them.
"Half a month ago..."
At this time, Chang Ming, who was a little shy, suddenly spoke up. "Miss Lin seems to be in a bad mood."
"Tell me more specifically."
Li Nanke's eyes lit up.
Chang Ming seemed a little unaccustomed to being watched by so many people, his slightly dark cheeks turned a little red, and he timidly said: "Half a month ago, Lin Yuanwai brought his wife and young lady to Lichen Temple to offer incense. There are also Miss Wan and Miss Wen.
Miss Lin was normal at first, but something happened afterwards. Miss Lin looked very dazed and looked ugly.
Miss Wan and Miss Wen have been comforting her. Oh, right! "
Chang Ming suddenly remembered something, pointed to a Vajra Bodhisattva hall and said: "In the afternoon, the young monk saw the three of them kneeling there, as if they were making some oath.
The young monk only heard Miss Wan say, "We have to keep this secret for Jiaoyue, and no one is allowed to tell it." '"
Li Nanke looked at the thin young monk in front of him, the corners of his lips raised slightly, with a meaningful smile.
The information provided by the other party was too detailed and too much.
This is obviously not normal.
After all, there are so many pilgrims coming to the temple every day, especially what happened half a month ago, it would be good to have a general impression and remember it so clearly.
There is only one reason——
This monk named Chang Ming secretly admired Lin Jiaoyue.
If you like someone, you will pay special attention to them.
But Li Nanke doesn't care who the other party has a crush on. The clues provided by Chang Ming are too useful at present.
It also made the truth that had already emerged clearer.
But with a rigorous attitude, Li Nanke decided to investigate in detail what happened that day.
"Tell me what happened when Miss Lin and the others came to the temple. Where did they go and what did they do?"
Li Nanke asked.
Chang Ming hesitated for a moment and led everyone to a quiet and elegant courtyard. There were several Zen hall rooms enshrining Buddha, lamp and Bodhisattva statues, and a huge incense burner in the middle.
"This is a place where some guests light lamps to pray for peace. There is a special mage who chants scriptures and prays for peace. The young monk happened to be with the master at the time, so he remembers it clearly."
Chang Ming opened a Zen room and said. "At first, Lin Yuanwai and the others entered this room, preparing to light lamps and worship Buddha. But Miss Wan and the others were a little noisy, and Lin Yuanwai was a little unhappy, so he asked them to go to the meditation room next door.
Later, after the Master finished reciting the scriptures, Mr. Lin accompanied him to the main hall to listen to the teachings, leaving only Mrs. Lin to worship Buddha here..."
"etc!"
Li Nanke suddenly caught a key piece of information and stared at Chang Ming. "In other words, Mrs. Lin Mei Xing'er was alone in this Zen room at that time. And Lin Jiaoyue and the others were right next door?"
"right."
Chang Ming nodded.
Li Nanke looked at the meditation room and asked: "How is the sound insulation here? If there is a quarrel, can the next door hear it?"
Chang Ming frowned: "It should be okay."
In order to verify the conjecture, Li Nanke asked Tieniu and Guo Gang to talk next door, ranging from normal conversations to loud quarrels.
After experiments, it can be heard as long as the sound is not very small.
"Then what?" Li Nanke asked again.
Chang Ming said: "Later, when the young monk and the master came back with Lin Yuanwai, they saw that Mrs. Lin, including Miss Lin, looked not very good."
"At that time, did you see anyone else entering Mrs. Lin's meditation room?"
"This little monk doesn't know."
Chang Ming shook his head.
Li Nanke asked the last key question: "You should also know He Qingyu. That day... did he come to Lichen Temple to offer incense?"
"some!."
This time it was Chang Yu who spoke.
He stepped forward and said, "The young monk still remembers this, because someone kicked over a small incense burner outside the temple that day. It was Mr. He. It seemed that he was very angry. He probably had a quarrel with someone."
Hearing Chang Ming's answer, Li Nanke closed his eyes slightly and murmured: "Everything is clear."
Although he had already deduced the final truth, he still hoped in his heart that he was wrong.
This was not the truth he wanted.
Because it is too cruel.
Leng Xinnan was not stupid, and she gradually understood something from Li Nanke's series of conversations. She said with great solemnity, "In other words, Mrs. Lin had a quarrel with someone in the room at that time, and it happened that Lin Jiaoyue and the others next door heard it. "
"By the way, Mr. Leng, when you rushed to the Lin Mansion, did you hear that Miss Lin fell into a red rain dream?"
Li Nanke turned to look at the woman's beautiful face and asked.
Leng Xinnan shook his head: "No, we just came from Yuncheng and happened to see the maid of Lin Mansion looking anxious in front of the county government office. I only found out after asking her that Miss Lin had a nightmare and couldn't wake up. Something was wrong, so I rushed over.”
Li Nanke murmured: "That's it."
In other words, Lin Jiaoyue could have been saved even without him at the time.
"Go to He Qingyu's house!"
Li Nanke took a long breath and said in a deep voice.
…
This is the second time Li Nanke has entered He Qingyu's house.
Although the body has been moved away, the scary, residual aura of death seems to still be lingering in the house.
Li Nanke rummaged around the house but didn't find what he wanted.
"Ms. Zhang said that He Qingyu would paint some paintings of women alone on weekdays. He never let anyone see these paintings, so he must have hidden them. There must be hidden compartments in this house. Look carefully."
Although the identity of He Qingyu's old lover has been determined, Li Nanke still wants to find evidence.
This is a rigorous attitude inherited from previous lives.
"Dark grid?"
Leng Xinnan looked at the bookcases, tables and chairs in the room and frowned. "How about calling Mrs. Zhang over? Maybe she knows where the agency is."
"Oh, why bother?"
Without waiting for anyone to react, Meng Xiaotu suddenly waved his arm and saw a stream of light flash past. With a bang, the tables and chairs in front of him were shattered into pieces.
Immediately afterwards, all furniture such as bookcases and wooden boxes were not spared.
It wasn't until a corner of the wall inside the bookcase was smashed open that pictures flew out mixed with scraps of paper.
The secret compartment is here.
"for you."
Meng Xiaotu handed the scroll with the woman in front of Li Nanke.
Li Nanke stared at the house that was demolished in an instant. He was speechless. He gave a thumbs up: "You are more husky than husky. I'm convinced."
"What is a husky?" The little girl looked confused.
Although the process was very violent, finding the secret compartment so quickly saved time.
However, Li Nanke's attention was attracted by Meng Xiaotu's weapon.
It turned out to be the Meteor Double Hammer.
The double hammers are as big as a girl's fist, engraved with delicate runes, and made of special metal.
The golden iron chain connected to it is also engraved with runes.
At first glance, it is not ordinary.
Li Nanke secretly complained: "The girl is so young, she actually likes to play ball."
The women in the paintings are delicate and graceful, and many of them are disheveled. The lines are drawn so cleverly that it makes people daydream, as if the painter had experienced it himself.
But after looking through all the scrolls, there was no picture of a woman’s face.
"Oh, you are really cautious."
Li Nanke smiled.
Although the woman's face is not painted, a small crescent mark on the woman's waist is preserved.
This can be used as evidence.
"What's this?"
Leng Xinnan, who was rummaging through the secret compartment, suddenly let out a startled cry and took out something.
After opening it, it turned out to be an animal skin.
The fur of the animal skin is thick enough to cover an adult man.
Li Nanke took the animal skin and looked at Leng Xinnan with flickering eyes: "Do you have the transcript of Lin Jiaoyue's confession at that time?"
"have."
Guo Gang took it out.
Li Nanke opened the transcript and browsed it carefully. He soon sighed and showed a line of the record to Leng Xinnan: "After Lin Jiaoyue was injured, people from the Yamen and Night Patrol Department questioned her, and everyone else answered very well. Detailed, only this.”
"She didn't tell you the appearance of the monster?" Leng Xinnan's pupils narrowed.
Guo Gang said: "I asked the brother who took the transcript before, and he said that Lin Jiaoyue was a little confused because he was too scared."
"Fear?"
A trace of ridicule flashed across the corner of Li Nanke's mouth. "But when we encountered a monster in the backyard of the Lin Mansion, she was able to recognize it at a glance."
Leng Xinnan suddenly raised his head: "Lin Jiaoyue and the others did not encounter monsters in Cuihong Mountain at all!"
"No, they met."
Li Nanke picked up the animal skin and spoke word by word. "This monster is He Qingyu!"
