Yamen prisons are the most depressing places. If an ordinary person is locked up in such a place for only a few days, his mind will become abnormal.
There was no light at all in the dark and humid environment, and it meant nothing to the prisoners whether day or night.
Every time the gate would be opened once at noon for the delivery of food, and it would also be opened at other times, but either new prisoners would be admitted, or prisoners would be escorted to the market entrance for questioning.
Most of the prisoners in the prison have serious crimes and are waiting to be punished in time. If they only commit petty theft, they will usually be punished with a cane or serve three years of hard labor.
Compared with the silence before, after the beheading case, there were more low-pitched murmurs in the prison.
These murderers behaved strangely. They didn't sleep or eat. They just looked around with extremely horrifying eyes.
In the darkness, those pale eyes were very obvious and creepy.
The other prisoners hunched their bodies and leaned in the corner. Even the yamen servants were affected and did not dare to stay too long every time they delivered food.
The prison door opened with a creaking sound. This time it was slightly different. From the footsteps, it was clear that there were many people coming.
Qin Bai came in with a few government servants. They carried lanterns in their hands, which gave off a little light and illuminated the surroundings.
The few vents inside can only ensure enough air for people to survive, so the smell is extremely pungent.
Various odors were mixed together, and even Qin Bai couldn't help but cover his mouth and nose with his hands. After he got used to it a little, he walked inside.
He did not rush to the prison where the beheading case was being held, but took turns looking from cell to cell.
Qin Bai always felt that the prisoners in the beheading case would come to the Yamen with their heads in hand, and there must be something hidden in them. He searched all other places with paper figures, but he had not been to this prison yet.
Most of the prisoners in the cell were unconscious in such an environment. When they saw someone coming, they thought they were bringing food and came to the iron bars one after another.
Qin Bai suddenly stopped. He moved the lantern closer and the light shone in.
There was an old man with disheveled hair in the cell who was stimulated by the bright light and quickly covered his eyes with his hands. He was breathing heavily and looked like he was about to die at any time.
He looked carefully and saw that the old man's cell was the neatest, and there seemed to be something faintly carved on the wall.
"Does anyone know who this person is?"
The yamen officials looked at each other, obviously not recognizing the identity of the old prisoner, until an older yamen servant said hesitantly.
"Uh... this person's surname should be Zhuge. He has been in prison for decades. The original reason has been forgotten."
Qin Bai nodded slightly, and he put the lantern directly into the cell. Old Zhuge was so frightened that he covered himself with straw, as if he was extremely afraid of the light.
And because of the lantern, the densely packed text on the wall was also revealed, but it was all extremely distorted and the meaning was not clear at all.
Qin Bai didn't notice anything strange for the time being. He turned to the government servants beside him and ordered: "Take all the prisoners in the beheading case outside and lock them in a larger closed room. We can interrogate them later."
The officials hesitated. It was a serious crime to take prisoners out of prison. Without the approval of the county magistrate, how could they dare to take on this responsibility?
Seeing them like this, Qin Bai suddenly felt a headache. He originally planned to use magic, but the environment in the prison was too bad. Even in the daytime, the yin energy seemed a bit heavy, so he couldn't use it at all.
At this moment, County Magistrate Xu hurried over. His face recovered a lot, and he calmed down after talking to Wei Lianzhang for a while.
They, ordinary people, would definitely not be able to solve such a situation, but Qin Bai was a Taoist with advanced cultivation, and he was born in Juren, so he could delegate power to the other party based on emotion and reason.
County Magistrate Xu also heard the previous conversation between Qin Bai and the government officials. He hurriedly scolded the government officials: "Don't worry about Qin Juren's orders and just follow them."
"Yes, sir."
The yamen officials took action, and the cells were opened one after another, and the prisoners in the beheading case were taken out. The whole prison suddenly became much quieter, except for old man Zhuge who kept banging his head against the wall.
Qin Bai pointed inside and said: "Open the cell door, control the old man, and then move all the debris around the wall."
The government officials followed suit one after another. In order to prevent Zhuge from harming himself, he was quickly tied up, and the writing on the wall was revealed because there was no obstruction.
County Magistrate Xu couldn't help but break into a cold sweat when he looked at the dense red writing around him. Generally speaking, the county government was really neglecting the management of the prisons.
"Qin Juren, this..."
"Nothing, Mr. Xu will wait until he finds the old man's guilt file."
"Okay." Magistrate Xu didn't want to wait for a minute in this environment, and he quickly walked out of the prison.
Qin Bai looked around. He didn't even miss every corner, and soon discovered something strange.
The words on the wall were recorded decades ago. They were probably written on the broken stones after they were ground into powder and then dipped into their fingers.
Those with older handwriting are relatively normal, indicating that Old Man Zhuge was not crazy when he first entered the prison.
Qin Bai barely recognized it. The words told a story over and over again, but each time the ending was a little different.
At first, it was said that a monk accidentally entered a cave and lost his way because the cave was connected in all directions. He did not eat or drink for several days.
When the monk thought he was going to die in the cave, a Buddha appeared in his dream.
The Buddha took his monks to the Western Paradise, where they were freed from suffering.
The story continues at the end, with the monk getting lost in the cave again, but the ending is slightly different.
Although he still dreamed of the Buddha, this time the Buddha just guided the monk to find the path out of the cave and left.
On the third time, the monk died here in the cave. Before his death, he dreamed of the Buddha. The result was that a Bodhi tree grew from his body.
The handwriting that followed became increasingly obscure and difficult to understand, and Qin Bai could barely read it without even guessing.
In the fourth story, the monk transformed into a demon after seeing the Buddha, and then swallowed the Buddha in one gulp.
Qin Bai looked deeply at the old man Zhuge, and did not come back to his senses until the yamen servant reminded him that the prisoners had been escorted to an empty room in the county yamen.
He did not ask the yamen to loosen the bonds of old man Zhuge, but left the prison directly and walked towards the room where the prisoners involved in the beheading case were temporarily held.
Several government officials were left to guard the prison, and Qin Bai also released the bloody paper figures and hid them in the straw.
He already had a rough guess as to the cause and effect of the incident, but there were too many mysteries in it, and it could never happen by chance.
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