Zhu Xiucai knew that Qin Shaoyou was very concerned about this matter, so he did not sell it out and quickly told the results of the investigation:
"The guilty sign was originally a wooden board on the execution platform. It was used for a long time and was exposed to wind and sun, causing cracks and decay on the board. It was no longer suitable for use, so it was removed by the yamen and replaced. A new piece of wood was added..."
When Qin Shaoyou heard this, although he didn't say anything, he couldn't help but think in his heart: "The guilty card is actually made of a wooden board on the execution platform? No wonder it is so good at hiding itself. After all, no one cares about an inconspicuous wooden board under their feet. . It’s just that the wooden planks of the execution platform were changed into crime signs. It shouldn’t be in compliance with the rules, right?”
Although he had questions, he did not speak in a hurry and listened patiently to Zhu Xiucai's explanation.
Zhu Xiucai did not disappoint him. As expected, he talked about this matter: "According to the rules of the yamen, the wooden board that was replaced from the execution platform must either be thrown away or burned. It can be said that by coincidence, the wooden board that was replaced by the execution platform was On that day, there happened to be a death row prisoner who was about to beheaded. An old official saw that the wooden board that had been replaced was just the right size, so he changed it into a prison card without authorization. At that time, a government official saw it and gave some advice. , but the old official said that the waste should be reused, and that it would only be used once and there would be no big problems, so the yamen officials did not give any more advice."
Qin Shaoyou interrupted and asked, "Where is that old official?"
Zhu Xiucai replied: "He is already dead."
Qin Shaoyou raised his eyebrows and asked again: "How did you die?"
Zhu Xiucai said: "He died of illness. I asked the old official why and when he fell ill. According to the informed officer, the time when the old official fell ill happened to be not long after he transformed the wooden planks of the execution platform into guilty cards. "
Qin Shaoyou asked: "No one thinks that there is something strange about the old official getting sick and dying?"
Zhu Xiucai shook his head: "No. Because the old official was caught in a heavy rain before he fell ill. He was already old, but he became seriously ill after being exposed to the rain. No one thought it was wrong. Even when he died of illness, it was considered normal. After all, He is old and frail, and he will fall ill if he does not fall ill. Once he does fall ill, he will fall like a mountain."
Qin Shaoyou nodded slightly.
It is understandable that those government officials would have such thoughts.
After all, in this world, the medical conditions available to ordinary people are very limited. Many people even have no money to seek medical treatment after falling ill, so they can only fight hard.
If your physical condition is good enough, you can barely carry it.
And if you are physically weak, you can only resign yourself to fate.
However, Qin Shaoyou still has some doubts about the cause of the old official's death.
He turned to Cui Yougui and asked, "From your professional point of view, did the old official die of illness?"
"Probably not."
Cui Youwei shook his head and gave his professional opinion: "Nine times out of ten, he died because he made evil things and the evil energy backfired, destroying the righteousness in his body."
Qin Shaoyou nodded, he agreed with this guess, and asked: "Do you think the old official deliberately used the wooden boards of the execution platform to make a crime sign, or was it an unintentional move as the scholar investigated?"
"I think it was neither intentional nor unintentional. It was probably influenced by the wooden board and used by it."
Cui Youyou touched his chin and began to analyze.
"The wooden boards on the execution platform will also be stained with human blood and resentment. As time goes by, some supernatural powers will inevitably be born. When the wooden boards were removed, even if they did not become demons, they would probably have some supernatural powers. With this, The old official was bewitched and confused, and he made the wooden board into a fault card at the cost of his own life."
Qin Shaoyou pondered for a moment, agreed with Cui Youguo's judgment, and asked Zhu Xiucai: "According to regulations, after the guilty card is used, it is either inserted into the grave of the death row prisoner or burned. Why does this guilty card have the effect of being burned?" Is it used repeatedly?"
People in the yamen are supposed to be the most particular about these things, so they should never make such a mistake.
Could it be that he was like the old official again and was influenced by the Guiyou Pai?
Qin Shaoyou really guessed it right.
Zhu Xiucai said: "According to the officials I asked, this crime card was disposed of according to regulations after they used it. But the strange thing is that whenever a death row prisoner is to be executed, a new one needs to be used. It will appear when there is a fault card, and it will also make people think that it is a new board, and they will choose to use it involuntarily.”
Qin Shaoyou said with emotion: "It seems that this guilty card is quite capable of deceiving people. Fortunately, it was destroyed. Otherwise, when it grows up, it can really confuse many believers and become an evil god."
Zhu Xiucai, Cui Yougui, Ma Monk and others all nodded in agreement.
At the same time, a night watchman asked in confusion: "No, since these government officials have been bewitched and influenced by the guilty card, how do they know that the same guilty card is used by the condemned prisoners every time? And why? Didn’t you come to our Demon Suppression Department to report the case?”
Zhu Xiucai asked the government officials about this issue and immediately told the whole story:
"According to the government officials, they seemed to be blinded by something before, and they didn't think there was anything wrong with these things. It wasn't until today when we asked them and raised these questions that they seemed like It was like waking up from a big dream and realizing that something was wrong."
Needless to say, these government officials must have been deceived by criminal cards before.
Most of the government officials are ordinary people, so it is not surprising that they cannot resist the temptation of Guiyou Pai.
It's just that Qin Shaoyou can't figure out another thing.
“The prefect, tongzhi and other officials in the yamen failed to discover in time that there was something strange about the Guiyou Pai. This can be explained by the fact that they had so many things to do and had no time to pay attention to such trivial matters as the Guiyou Pai.
However, in the magistrate's yamen, there are also statues of gods such as Kong Sheng and Emperor Wenchang, which are as miraculous as the statue of Jiutiandang Demon Patriarch enshrined in our Demon Suppression Department.
Why didn't these statues notice the weirdness of Guiyou Pai? "
This thing was indeed a bit strange, and everyone showed suspicious expressions.
"Forget it, our magistrate thinks that the Guiyoupai is used by prisoners, which is too unlucky, and for fear of disturbing his moral integrity, he has long left the production and use of Guiyoupai outside the Yamen. Proceed. There are indeed statues of Confucius and Emperor Wenchang enshrined in the yamen, but although they can detect the aura of demons and ghosts in the yamen, they cannot detect things outside the yamen."
When Zhu Xiucai said this, his tone was full of sarcasm.
"So that's the case, then it makes sense." Qin Shaoyou nodded.
In his heart, he was speechless at what the prefect did.
At the same time, he also had a suspicion: Did the prefect really think that Gui Youpai was unlucky when he did this? Did he really unintentionally give Guilin the opportunity to become a monster? Or... did he do it on purpose?
When Qin Shaoyou thought of this, a glint flashed in his eyes.
If it’s the latter, then you have to be on guard!
