Su Xiaolou saw a pond that was neither deep nor shallow and was suitable for paddling, so he asked someone among his friends who could paddle to teach him paddling.
After discussing the crime scene for a while, Director Cui and Director Liu decided to check out the place where the first student hanged himself. Then he asked: "Where is Mr. Su?"
A government official pointed to the distance and said, "Master Su! He is paddling in the pond over there."
"Do you want to call Mr. Su back?"
"No, let him paddle, he won't be of much help."
Chief Cui led everyone away. Su Xiaolou, who was unaware of the situation, was still lying on the water and kicking his legs in his underwear. Several people were holding Su Xiaolou to maintain his balance. As soon as they let go, Su Xiaolou would start to sink. Otherwise, Su Xiaolou would start to sink. Just running around in circles, I drank a lot of water.
The day passed unknowingly. After investigating the clues left at the scene and the closed living environment of the academy students, Director Cui and Director Liu agreed that the murderer was an acquaintance and had no accomplices. As for the motive for the crime, it is still unclear.
Although Donglin Academy accepts students from all over the world, the tuition fee is indeed not low. Those who come here are either rich or expensive, so most of the students here come from the prosperous Jiangnan.
One of the two deceased was from Hangzhou and the other was from Nanjing. There are about a thousand students in Donglin Academy, including hundreds of teachers, guards, and handymen. The investigation is time-consuming and laborious, and the superiors are rushing to solve the case. After the investigation is completed, they are afraid that It was an incompetent edict that came down.
The most important thing now is to narrow down the scope. The murderer is likely to be someone who gets along with the deceased every day. They decided to use this as a breakthrough to inquire secretly.
Su Xiaolou thought of the hatred of being crushed, and said: "Master Cui, these students are very naughty. They will definitely not tell the truth without using some means. Why don't you teach them a lesson?"
Mr. Cui has been an official for decades and has long been immersed in the world of officialdom. If he offends these students who are either rich or noble, he is afraid that if the case is not completed, he will be finished. Besides, here is a gathering of sages from all over the world. The scholar's Donglin Academy is a holy place in the hearts of literati. The mouth of a literati is like a bloodless knife. Master Cui does not want to be criticized with words and writings.
Master Cui asked Su Xiaolou with concern: "Master Su, how are you doing with paddling? Have you mastered it?"
Su Xiaolou doesn't understand what this has to do with what he just said? Should we throw those unruly students into the water? He replied: "I have learned it, I have learned to swim on the shore."
"Very good! A Jinyiwei who can't paddle is not a good Jinyiwei. Mr. Su, please continue to learn!"
…
In the evening, Su Xiaolou bought some dishes to go with wine at a restaurant and invited the losers to drink in his newly renovated house.
They set up a table in the courtyard and started eating. The evening wind seemed to take away the fatigue of the day.
Yu Sheng directly chopped the thick, fat and crawling crabs that he had not eaten yesterday into two halves, sprinkled them with wine, salt, orange peel, pepper, ginger and other condiments, put them into a big basin and served them. The deliciousness of crabs is retained to the maximum extent. This is the raw pickling of that era, also called "crab raw", which has been around as early as the Song Dynasty.
"Boss, you are living a good life as a kid! This house is really well built, and the food is also good."
"Boss, you are missing something in this courtyard, something very important!"
Su Xiaolou looked around and saw what was missing even though there were dogs in the courtyard. He asked with a puzzled look on his face: "What is missing?"
"I still need a beautiful girl!"
"Hahahahaha..."
"..."
"Come on, come on, have a drink, and hope that the boss will find a beautiful girl soon."
After a few ounces of wine, everyone was dizzy. The banquet lasted until late at night. If the case had not been investigated the next day, they would have been drunk and would not have returned.
…
In an abandoned temple in the mountains on the outskirts, a man in black robes stood on the lecture platform. His appearance and gender could not be clearly seen. Several guardians below were also in black robes. The dilapidated courtyard was filled with people, all in ragged clothes. They were young adults, about a hundred of them.
A bell rang, and a man in black robe walked up to the high platform and sang: "Kneel down and worship! The Lord of Shadows will lead you out of suffering, devout believers! You will get everything you want."
Everyone knelt down all over the yard, not knowing why they were kneeling. Many people didn’t even know why they were here. Some were deceived by relatives and friends, and some were knocked unconscious and carried here.
Someone asked quietly: "What are you doing?"
"Why are you asking so many questions? Just kneel down."
"Isn't this a demon sect? I heard that they can eat people. I don't want to die yet. My old cow is about to give birth. I have to go back to deliver it."
"I have to go to the morning market tomorrow to sell meat. I have to go back to kill the sheep."
"This is the Shadow Moon Sect, not the Demon Sect. Killing is a grave sin. After death, you will go to hell and be burned."
"What should I do? I have killed more pigs than I can count. Please help me! I don't want to go to hell, I'm afraid of pain."
"Believe in our great Lord of Shadows, and he will help you wash away your sins in this life, and seek glory, wealth, high official status and salary in the next life."
"Great! Great! I don't have to go to hell."
The people knelt down and worshiped even harder. Many of them were ordinary people who made their own living or relied on their skills to survive. They had not studied for a few years and had lived in small towns for generations. They were easily deceived by others.
There are many sects in the Western Region, and secret organizations emerge from time to time in the Central Plains. The imperial court refers to all cults as demonic sects. As a result, the people only know the demonic sect’s bad name, but do not know that the demonic sect is the collective name of the seven largest sects outside the region.
This Shadow Moon Sect is one of the seven major sects.
"Atonement charms are being distributed! Come and grab them!"
"What is the atonement charm?"
"Buying an atonement charm blessed by the Lord of the Moon can help you reduce your karma. If you don't buy it quickly, it will be gone if it's too late."
"This is too expensive."
"Do you think the doctor would find the medicine expensive?"
"..."
Everyone was grabbing indulgences. An inconspicuous man in green clothes was looking around against the wall. He saw someone guarding the door. He took advantage of the darkness and tiptoed toward a tree in the corner.
"what are you doing?"
"I'm so anxious. I can't hold it in any longer."
"Is there an internal emergency?" The man in black robe looked at the sneaky man in green and shouted to the others: "Get it!"
A group of men in black gathered around.
The man in Tsing Yi waved his hand, and the darts flew out overwhelmingly. The men in black hurriedly dodged, and many people were hit. Looking again, there was no one else under the tree. The man in Tsing Yi had long since disappeared.
"There's no need to chase him. He won't be able to run far after being poisoned by me."
…
