Shao Anjing, a Qianhu in the Central Palace of Eternal Life, is a tall, bearded man and a fourth-grade martial artist.
After this incident happened, he stayed in Lu County and has been waiting for the arrival of He Ping'an and the others.
"Hahahaha, Brother Tang, it's been a hard journey."
Shao Anjing smiled heartily and said, "Please sit inside."
He and Tang Longshan were in the same Hall of Eternal Life and had similar cultivation levels. They had met each other before and had some friendship.
When the three of them sat down, Tang Longshan ignored the rest and asked, "Brother Shao, I don't know where the file is. Can you take a look at it first?"
"Hey, Brother Tang has come a long way, why not rest for a while first."
Shao An said politely.
"Human life is at stake, so let's take a look at the files first to see if we can find any clues."
Tang Longshan said seriously.
Shao Anjing was actually more anxious than Tang Longshan. After all, something happened in the area under his jurisdiction. If the monster was not caught, he might not be able to secure his position in Qianhu.
But generally, even if the monks at the top are of the same level, the people below are born half a level shorter.
Not only good wine and good meat are served, but also some local special services at the end...
Everyone who understands understands.
Just like that, I was still worried that if I said something wrong, I would offend the monks above.
When the time comes, the person above him slaps his butt and leaves directly...
The people below you are staring at you with big eyes and small eyes, and you have to beg grandpa and grandma to please come back.
Seeing that Tang Longshan didn't look fake, Shao Anjing waved his hand, and two captains from the Changsheng Palace moved the files over.
After Tang Longshan read it, he handed the dossier to He Ping'an and Jiang Yishan, asking them to express their opinions after reading it.
"Hey, this number seems wrong..."
He Ping'an remembered that Tang Longshan had introduced that more than 30 people were missing, but in the file, more than 100 people were missing.
Looking at Tang Longshan and Jiang Yishan again, neither of them raised any questions. They seemed to have become accustomed to it. He Ping'an suddenly felt at ease.
Bureaucrats in feudal dynasties often did this.
For example, if a natural or man-made disaster occurs in a certain place, the figures reported by officials below will generally shrink.
I’m just worried that I won’t be able to bear the punishment from my superiors...
The same goes for Daxuan. From the beginning of Daxuan's founding, Daxuan has been conducting assessments on monsters causing chaos. If there are too many casualties, the relevant local officials will be held accountable.
Low-level officials usually conceal their shrinkage for the sake of their own reputation.
As long as the case is solved and everyone is happy at the end, the superiors will not care about punishment.
If the case is not solved, the remaining people will be assigned to other cases.
During the reign of Emperor Jiaming, official governance was loose, and the officials above turned a blind eye to matters.
Taking a closer look, He Pingan discovered that these missing people were both male and female, old and young. On the surface, they did not seem to have much connection.
He Pingan read the entire file and found nothing, so he turned it back and looked at the information about the first missing person.
Sun Xinjing, also known as Sun Pozi, was in her fifties and lived alone. She usually engaged in buying concubines, singers and dancers for wealthy families.
She disappeared fifteen days ago, and she was the only one missing that day.
The place where she disappeared was in Lujun City.
Tang Longshan saw that Jiang Yishan had already finished reading, and before He Pingping finished reading, he started asking: "What did you find?"
Jiang Yishan shook his head and said he didn't find it.
Tang Longshan nodded and looked at He Pingan.
In his opinion, He Ping'an's cultivation level was low and he was only in his early thirties. He should not be able to tell much, so he didn't wait much.
He Ping'an said in a deep voice: "My lords, I think the demon does not harm people randomly, but has a target."
Shao Anjing said in surprise: "It's impossible. We have investigated before and there is no close connection between these people."
"The demon probably hurts people randomly."
There was something strange in Tang Longshan's eyes, and he said, "Let him talk about it."
Seeing that Tang Longshan agreed, Shao Anjing stopped talking and looked at He Ping'an.
He Ping'an straightened his back, and it was time for him to pretend to be a saint in front of others: "There are so many people, and it is really not easy to find the connection between them."
"But it's not that there isn't, maybe we just haven't discovered it yet."
"Everyone should know that if a demon randomly harms people, it will generally not choose to enter a large human city."
A few people in Tang Longshan nodded, that was indeed the case.
Because there are countless scattered people outside the city, if the demon randomly eats people, it can be outside the city.
There is no need to risk entering the city. If you are discovered by human monks, you will lose more than you gain.
Shao Anjing said: "We have also thought about the reason you mentioned. Maybe it is because the demon has a high level of cultivation and feels that the monks in the city will not pose a threat to him."
He Ping'an smiled and shook his head: "No, if so, then he is at least a third-grade demon."
"A third-level demon wants to eat people, so it just swallows a whole city alive."
"How can I keep Lu County till now?"
"Everyone knows that demons like to eat human flesh and blood, and the flesh and blood of monks is a great supplement to them."
"But if you look at the files, of all the missing people in it, the one with the highest cultivation level is only a ninth-grade martial artist."
After listening to He Pingan's analysis, Tang Longshan and Shao Anjing nodded. His analysis seemed to make some sense.
Shao Anjing asked: "Then according to your opinion, the demon has a purpose to harm people?"
"Yes, I even think that this demon harms people just for revenge."
He Pingan concluded that there was a reason.
There are generally three reasons why demons harm people. The first is to eat people to satisfy their appetites.
The second is to improve their cultivation level. Human flesh and blood is a great supplement to them. The higher their cultivation level, the more popular they are.
Another one is for revenge, such as Xia Enyuan.
At this time, he had some initiative. He picked up the file, pointed at the person above and asked, "Master Shao, what is the origin of this Mrs. Sun, Sun Xinjing, apart from what is recorded in the file?"
The files of the Palace of Eternal Life are generally relatively simple. They only record some information related to the case and basic personal information. No matter how much there is, there will be no records.
When He Ping'an asked her, he was basing his past life experience on the fact that under normal circumstances, if someone seeks revenge, the first or last person killed is the person he hates the most.
The first kill, this is easy to understand, is to kill immediately.
The last one killed means that the murderer is a bit perverted and likes to let the people he hates the most watch the people around him die one by one, and finally tortures the people he hates the most to death.
People are still missing in the city, so I don't know who the last person is.
No one came to the Eternal Life Palace to seek refuge.
Therefore, He Ping'an decided to look for a breakthrough from the first missing Mrs. Sun.
"This Grandma Sun is just a mouthy old lady with no virtue."
"She likes to gossip and talk about others. Even just by hearsay, she can be spread throughout the city."
"So many people hate her so much."
Shao Anjing thought for a moment and said: "Five years ago, there was a beautiful girl who took poison and committed suicide because of her tarnished reputation."
He Ping'an regained his energy, and his intuition told him that the girl who committed suicide was probably related to this matter, and asked: "Master Shao, can you elaborate on this matter?"
Shao Anjing thought for a moment and then said: "I don't know the specific process very clearly."
"I just heard that there was a family named Ding in Lu County. When they were young, because they could not afford to raise a child, they entrusted Grandma Sun to sell a girl..."
