Holy Bone

Chapter 1538: Seven Star Coffin Locking Dragon Well Corpse Cave Former Dynasty Ruins Second Floor

They had not gone far when they came upon a locked, rusty iron fence.

"Could this be an iron fence set up by the imperial court? Should we report it to the imperial court first to see if anyone has taken over this place..."

Before he could finish his words, Jin An's energetic energy was released, shattering the iron fence.

Uh.

Fatty Li followed Jin An closely and continued to go deeper into the secret passage.

Fatty Li has been in the capital for too long. The power dynamics in the capital are complex, with various departments, provinces, and ministries intertwined. A wrong step could easily lead to unexpected disasters, not to mention that it involves forbidden areas such as the ruins of the previous dynasty. Therefore, Fatty Li's ideas on handling cases sometimes easily fall into a dead end.

Jin'an doesn't care about these things. Whoever blocks his way and prevents him from handling the case today will be arrested and put into the water dungeon of the Criminal Investigation Department.

The secret passage is very long and has experienced road collapse.

  Forked Road,

The new culvert overlaps with the old culvert.

And one locked iron fence after another.

…These details seem to have been deliberately modified by humans.

The purpose is to create an underground maze so that people cannot easily find the truth inside.

If it weren't for Li Yan, an experienced person who was responsible for leading the way, it would take outsiders several days to find the right way out here, and there must be enough manpower in those few days.

If I were to explore alone, I would have no idea how long it would take.

"Why do I feel like it's getting darker and darker around me, and the range of the torch light is getting smaller and smaller. But the torch flames are still burning, they haven't gotten smaller, and the air hasn't gotten thinner." Fatty Li kept talking all the way, trying to pass the boring time of rushing in the claustrophobic environment.

Jin An seemed to be very observant and had seen through the truth in advance. He raised his hand and wiped off a layer of black powder from the cracks in the stone slabs beside him, and explained: "It should be from these powders."

Hearing this, the old Taoist priest and Fatty Li, the pair of curious about everything, followed suit and scraped off a large piece of powder from the rock wall.

Fatty Li: "I rubbed it with my fingertips. The texture is very delicate, as smooth as wheat flour. It doesn't look like sand or gravel weathered from stone..."

The old Taoist tasted it with the tip of his tongue, and then quickly spat it out: "The taste is sour, bitter, and spicy, a bit like the smell of those spice residues outside, but not as pungent as those waste residues outside... According to my guess, it should be a kind of light-absorbing pigment that was accidentally refined when refining some kind of spice, and then applied here..."

Fatty Li slapped his thigh and said, "Look, look, what did I say? This thing is obviously not a local thing, it must be an alien thing."

Jin'an, the old Taoist priest, and the old dog all rolled their eyes at Fatty Li's hindsight. The other members of the Criminal Investigation Department who followed him lowered their heads in embarrassment, ashamed to be colleagues with Fatty Li.

Fatty Li kept talking all the way: "It's an unreported ruins from the previous dynasty, and they were painted with special pigments. They went to so much trouble, could it really be just to make it easier to kill people and dispose of bodies without exposing their whereabouts?"

"But when I think about it carefully, I feel that the logic doesn't make sense..."

"And we still don't know why the other party committed murders in the spice shop one after another..."

Jin An followed Li Yan and walked in front, saying coldly: "Have you heard of aromatherapy and perfume made from corpse oil and bone oil?"

  Ugh?

Fatty Li and other brothers from the Criminal Investigation Department were all shocked.

Jin An: "Yin is born from the extreme yin, and yang is born from the extreme yang. Everything has its yin and its yang. For example, ambergris, which was presented as a tribute to the royal family, was regarded as a gift from the sea dragon. One ounce of ambergris was worth one ounce of gold, but no one dared to say that ambergris was the excrement of the great whales in the sea."

"The other party has been killing people in the spice shop. I guess that they are most likely using human formulas to refine valuable and expensive aromatherapy rouge. But there is one thing I haven't figured out. If they really used corpse oil and bone oil to refine aromatherapy rouge, and the person was burned to ashes, why can they still keep the body intact and come here to dump it in a long circle?"

Jin An's eyes were cold: "It seems that all these answers are related to the secret that Li Yan and the other four saw six days ago."

The old Taoist priest also said, "Li Yanyun's last coffin was six days ago. After midnight today, it will be the seventh night for the deceased in the coffin to return to his soul."

Using corpse oil and bone oil to make aromatherapy rouge was horrifying and unheard of. It was also the seventh night of the return of the soul. The brothers from the Criminal Investigation Department who followed felt a sudden chill on the back of their necks and their steps became heavy, as if there was someone on their backs exhaling cold air.

People should not let their imagination run wild. Once they let their imagination run wild, they will start to be suspicious. They will look back from time to time, and look up from time to time. Goose bumps will appear on their arms. Even the surrounding environment will feel cold and damp.

"Commander, is it true that someone would use corpse oil to make scented rouge? Rotting corpses have a terrible stench, but I can still figure it out. The stench of corpses is fragrant... I can't think of what kind of horrible scene that is. Doesn't it mean that the scented rouge used by women all over the city is smearing corpse oil on their faces?"

"Damn it, stop talking. My spendthrift wife loves to put all kinds of rouge on her face. The drawers of her dressing table are filled with all kinds of rouge! Commander-in-chief...you said that Xiaohongchun rouge is made with corpse oil or bones, or some kind of bone oil. I smell it. Every time my spendthrift wife puts it on, I get like a fly smelling the stench of a corpse. I'm so greedy..."

"Hiss! Zhang Dagui, your wife is an evil spirit!"

"Could it be that my wife is really an evil spirit?" The criminal investigation officer named Zhang Dagui began to become suspicious due to the confined environment.

Fatty Li was so angry when he saw how scared these people were. He turned around and kicked each of them: "What a bunch of cowards. You're scared to death before you even see a ghost."

Everyone was kicked and dodged, complaining: "Captain, you like to be evil, but you can't force us to like it too!"

"That's right, that's evil! We are not like the commander-in-chief, a martial arts immortal who is not afraid of even the thousand-year-old corpse king!"

Jin An looked at the fighting and quarreling in the back, but did not stop them harshly. Instead, he explained, "Don't worry. It's troublesome to refine corpse oil and bone oil, and it's even more troublesome to kill people and dump corpses. This kind of raw material is expensive and rare. Only the women of the nobles can afford it. Ordinary people don't need to panic."

"Luckily we are ordinary people."

"Zhang Dagui, is that Little Red Spring Rouge really that magical?"

The team was still moving forward, and everyone in the Criminal Investigation Department started to discuss in low voices, "How can a man choose the right rouge?" and "How attractive is a good rouge to a man?". The depressing atmosphere in the dark and claustrophobic passage was much reduced.

Li Yan, who was under the control of the animal-making technique, was like a tireless ox or horse, leading the way diligently in front. Five forks appeared in front of them, and each fork was locked with a rusty iron chain.

The iron fence this time is a little different and looks very new.

This detail caught everyone's attention.

Jin An took the torch handed over by Fatty Li and stretched it into each secret passage. The flames flickered slightly. There was a breeze in each secret passage, connecting it to the outside world.

"It seems that there are more secret passages in the spice shop that lead to the ruins of the previous dynasty than the one we came here." Jin An snorted coldly and returned the torch to Fatty Li.

He was not in a hurry to investigate them one by one, but followed Li Yan to go deeper into the secret passage, solving them one by one according to their urgency. "Sometimes I wonder if Li Yan is really stupid or just pretending to be stupid. He has only been here once, but his ability to recognize the road is better than that of ordinary people." Fatty Li kept talking along the way.

The old Taoist priest twirled his beard and said, "The deeper the obsession, the deeper the memory. Fear is also a kind of obsession. When people encounter horrific events, they will recall them over and over again. The longest-lasting ones will never forget them for the rest of their lives."

Fatty Li nodded and said, "This time, I am applying what I have learned from my old ways."

The people who were praising Li Yan as a good ox and horse, who was tireless and had been leading the way in front, suddenly stopped at this moment. The people who walked around Li Yan saw a coffin appear in front.

The coffin had been opened at this time, and the body inside had long disappeared, leaving only an embroidered shoe worn by a woman.

Jin An bent down and took out the embroidered shoes from the coffin. He gestured with the soles with his palm and said, "The foot is six inches and nine inches long. The soles are not worn out much and the wear marks are even. This person should be a young woman with a slim figure who has never done heavy physical work. The uppers of the shoes are clean and she likes to keep them clean."

"The embroidered shoes were finely crafted and came from a wealthy family. The embroidered stamens showed signs of thread being torn, and the toe of the shoes should have been inlaid with pearls, jade, or stone beads. The woman loved beauty, and the man was from a wealthy family, so he was more concerned about beauty and would not go out wearing torn shoes. They should have been torn apart during the violent struggle before she was killed."

Jin An handed the embroidered shoes to Fatty Li and asked him to protect the evidence. After he finished dealing with the matters in the ruins of the previous dynasty, he would use the Luogeng Jade Plate to look for the lost beads.

The place where the beads fell was the first crime scene.

Finding the first crime scene means finding the culprit behind the scene.

As the saying goes, the truth is clear to all. If you don't want others to know, then don't do it.

Jin An continued to observe the coffin: "There are no signs of struggle or scratching inside the coffin. It can be confirmed that the person was killed when the coffin was put into place."

Next to the coffin is a huge bronze coffin with hornless dragons carved on its surface and more than a dozen iron chains hanging above its head.

Following the direction of the chain, I found several winches in the corner.

“Hey, little brother, come and look. On this coffin are engraved the Big Dipper: Tianshu, Tianxuan, Tianji, Tianquan, Yuheng, Kaiyang and Yaoguang. The handle of the Big Dipper points to the north, and the whole world is in winter. This is a giant coffin with seven stars…” The old Taoist originally wanted to continue speaking, but when he saw there were so many people here, he stopped talking.

Because the appearance of the Seven-Star Coffin here has extraordinary significance. If the news leaks out, many people will be implicated.

Led by Fatty Li, the inspectors dispersed to turn the capstan.

slam-la-

  The iron chain vibrated, and as the capstan kept turning, the lid of the giant seven-star coffin was lifted up, moo!

A roar like that of a cow but not a cow, and like that of a dragon but not a dragon came from the coffin, and a group of cold and gloomy air rushed out.

Jin An is a martial arts immortal. He doesn't need to make any movement. A burst of bloody red light bursts out of his body, which completely disperses all the ghosts and monsters in the underground passage.

Then he walked to the Seven Star Coffin and looked inside. When others were about to come closer to take a look, he stood in front of them and said, "I heard some noise at the entrance. It might be that the brothers outside saw that we have been inside for too long without any noise, and they are worried about our safety and want to come in."

"The terrain here is complicated, with forks everywhere. You go guard the entrance. Don't let anyone in without my order. I have marked the way along the way. You can get out by following the marks."

The Yin energy here is very cold and heavy, which has exceeded the limit of the Yang fire of ordinary people. For safety reasons, Jin'an asked all the people in the Criminal Investigation Department to retreat and also took the foal that Li Yan had transformed into away and returned it to Li Dajin.

After the others left, only Jin'an, the old Taoist priest, Fatty Li, and the old dog were left here.

Seeing Jin'an become so serious, several people and the dog curiously lay down beside the giant seven-star coffin, and looked inside. They saw that there was a well in the coffin. There were many stone-carved dragon heads inlaid on the wall of the well. The torches could not reach the end, and there were at least dozens of dragon heads.

The head of each dragon head is pierced by chains and connected to the winch outside. A cold wind keeps blowing out of the Dragon Locking Well. The road below the Dragon Locking Well is not a dead end, there is another world underneath.

The sound that sounded like a cow or a dragon just now came from this Dragon-Locking Well.

As the coffin lid opened, the airflow inside and outside changed, causing all kinds of strange phenomena.

The old Taoist priest looked solemn: "It's just as I guessed, this is the dragon-locking pattern!"

"Here is the Seven Star Coffin, the Dragon Locking Well, and the ruins of the previous dynasty. Could it be that all of this is a Feng Shui arrangement?"

"Could it be that what is locked under this Dragon Locking Well is the remains of the dragon vein of the previous royal family?"

"Stepping on the seven stars, commanding all the soldiers in the world, born to be an emperor, someone stepped on the dragon veins of the previous dynasty, and rose to prominence by stepping on the dragon veins of the previous dynasty!"

If this truth is true, it is too shocking, so the old Taoist priest hesitated to speak. If this kind of words were to spread a little, it would implicate many people. The Wuzang Taoist Temple might not be afraid of these troubles, but the brothers of the Criminal Investigation Department all have elderly parents and young children to take care of, and they often have no choice.

Fatty Li raised his hand and pointed above his head: "Master Chen, are you referring to the capital city that was rebuilt on the ruins of the previous dynasty?"

Unexpectedly, the old Taoist shook his head with a serious look and said, "The previous dynasty has been destroyed, and the dragon vein has been cut off. It is a dead dragon. Therefore, the dragon-locking well is carved with a flooded dragon instead of a real dragon. This is the difference."

"With the fate of a country weighing on it, this dead dragon is like carrying the weight of a country's mountains and rivers, and will never be able to turn over. Therefore, after Kangding replaced the previous dynasty, there was no need to build a dragon-locking well."

Fatty Li was a little confused: "Master Chen, what do you mean..."

The old Taoist priest looked around at the dark environment, as if he was afraid that there were ears on the other side of the wall. He lowered his voice and said, "Someone wants to step on the Seven Stars and rise to prominence by riding on the remains of the dragon veins of the previous dynasty, and become the king of all people in the world! Wherever the army points, everyone will surrender!"

Hiss!

Fatty Li was so shocked that he was stunned on the spot.

Who has such great means to plan such a large-scale operation under the nose of the emperor and deceive the eyes and ears of everyone in the capital?

"Master Jin'an, what do you think?"

After Fatty Li came to his senses, he looked at Jin An nervously, "Did Li Yan and the other four get killed because they saw this?"

Jin An was not moved at all, and said calmly: "When I was in the underworld, I saw the capital city in the underworld, which was a scene of hundreds of buildings stacked on top of each other. There are gusts of cold wind under this Dragon Locking Well. I suspect that this ruins of the previous dynasty has more than one layer, and there are also second and third layers..."

"That's why I asked my brothers to leave first. The yin energy down there is too strong. When I go down to explore, ordinary martial arts masters will surely die if they follow me."

"As for Li Yan and the others..."

"This is not the first time they have come here to dump bodies. Perhaps there are other reasons for the murders."

As he spoke, Jin An threw a torch into the Dragon Locking Well to see how deep it was. The Yin Qi on the second floor of the ruins of the former dynasty was so heavy, and the seal of the Four Symbols Bureau of Breaking the Sky and the Earth was broken, so there might be a big demon hiding underneath...