Liaozhai: A scholar should draw a sword

Chapter 156 Everyone is a sensible person, why pretend to be confused

But after a cup of tea, the battle is over.

Looking at the corpses of the four spider spirits in front of him, Chen Butou's blood surged like never before.

Of course, he also has self-knowledge. If the adults hadn't woken him up twice, he might have become a delicacy for spider spirits by now.

Immediately, he said with a lot of emotion: "Before I was humbled, I heard that the Marquis of Jing'an is full of righteousness and can use poetry to destroy demons.

At first I thought it was just a legend, but today I saw the adults make a move with my own eyes, so I know that the humble job is short-sighted. "

Fang Ping smiled: "I can't blame you, after all, every line is like a mountain. Besides, it's not entirely correct to say that poetry destroys demons. To be precise, it is a kind of righteousness."

"Hao Ran upright?"

"Yes, there is righteousness in the world, as long as you have righteousness in your heart, even if you are not a scholar, you can restrain evil spirits with a fearless belief.

The reason why people talk about the appearance of ghosts and demons is more because of the fear in their hearts.

In many cases, people's hearts are already scattered before the demons and ghosts appear on the scene. "

"That's what my lord taught me."

Chen Butou responded sincerely, and then said: "By the way, my lord, could those missing people be killed here?"

"We can't come to a conclusion yet, let's rest first, and let's take a look around when it dawns."

"it is good!"

After that, it was all right.

After dawn, the two took out some dry food to wrap their stomachs, and then carefully inspected the abandoned courtyard.

In the end, more than a dozen corpses were found one after another, and two of them were children.

Now, Catcher Chen even confirmed that those missing persons were entering this hospital by mistake and being killed by spider spirits.

In the end, Fang Ping shook his head: "I always feel that it's not that simple."

Chen Butou scratched his head: "My lord, haven't we all experienced it ourselves? And we also found so many bones."

"That's right, but have you ever thought about it, the location of this yard is not on the side of the road, but in a ravine.

Under normal circumstances, if there is no one to guide the way, I am afraid that the two of us will not find this hospital even if we pass by, right? "

"That's...that's right."

"So, entering this courtyard was just a coincidence. These bones were either intruded unintentionally, or they were nearby villagers."

"Then what does your lord mean to say that this hospital is not the source of the disappearance?"

"Let's take it as a source for now. Since we have come out, we have to get to the bottom of the matter, and we can't just rely on speculation."

"Yes, yes, your lord is right."

"This yard can't be kept anymore, maybe it will be occupied by some demons and goblins again to harm people, so let's burn it."

"exactly!"

Chen Butou was almost killed, so he naturally had no objection.

When the fire broke out, Fang Ping and the two turned around and left, continuing to drive in the direction of Yushan Township.

At daybreak, the two came to a village next to the mountain road.

This village looks a bit like a small market, there are stalls along the roadside, and there are people who collect mountain products.

Fang Ping waved his hand: "Come on, go in and look around, and ask for news by the way."

"Second officers, are you here to receive the goods?"

A middle-aged man took the initiative to ask.

"Hehe, yes, let's take a look."

"What are you going to collect? Mountain mushrooms? Game? Medicinal ingredients?"

"It doesn't matter, what is suitable to collect, by the way, old man, has a person named Daniu come to collect medicinal materials recently?"

The other party shook his head: "Daniu? I haven't heard of it."

"Oh, let's go around first."

"Okay, then don't bother the two of you."

When he turned to the end of the village, Fang Ping saw a monk in his twenties coming out of a small courtyard.

Seeing Fang Ping's gaze, the monk hurriedly lowered his head, subconsciously straightened his robes, and then left in a hurry.

"My lord, what did you find?"

Seeing Fang Ping's pensive look, Catcher Chen couldn't help asking.

"Chen Butou, look at that monk."

Fang Ping pointed to the back of the monk just now.

Chen Butou took a closer look, and then asked in confusion: "What's wrong with the monk? Is there something wrong?"

"Did you not notice that he was hurrying?"

"This...maybe you are in a hurry to go back to the temple?"

"No!" Fang Ping shook his head: "I always feel that something is wrong with this monk. Just now, he walked out of this small courtyard."

Chen Butou subconsciously glanced at the small courtyard, and asked again: "I don't understand what you mean, sir, please explain clearly."

Fang Ping said patiently: "Let's talk about the surface first. One, if he is here for alms, why is he empty-handed? Generally, monks will carry a bowl when they go out for alms."

"Oh, that's right, that's indeed a suspicious point." Catcher Chen nodded.

"Secondly, even if he is here for alms, ordinary monks will not take the initiative to enter other people's homes for alms, either on the side of the road or at the door of the house..."

"Then what if someone else invited him in?"

Fang Ping smiled: "Well, then I'll analyze the dark one for you. When the monk came out, he saw that I was looking at him, and he obviously looked guilty. He hung his head and hurried away.

There are two other details that are doubtful, one, his face looks extraordinarily rosy, and two, he subconsciously straightened his monk's robes when he walked out of the courtyard.

These alone may be nothing, but taken together, it is unavoidable to make people a little suspicious. "

"This..." Chen Butou still seemed a little confused.

"Let's go, let's go and see what's going on with that family."

"it is good!"

So, the two walked to the gate of the courtyard.

The door was open, but there was no one in the yard, only a few chickens foraging on the ground.

Fang Ping stepped in and called out, "Is there anyone? Is there anyone?"

"Who is it?"

A woman's voice came from the far right room.

"Oh, sister-in-law, can I ask for a bowl of water?"

The room was silent for a while, and then the woman's voice sounded again: "Wait a minute."

After a while, a woman in her thirties came out, glanced at the two of them, and then walked towards the kitchen.

At this time, Chen Butou suddenly understood what the lord had said before.

Because he found that the woman's hair was a little messy, and she forgot to button a button on her skirt.

The important thing is that he is someone who has experienced it, and he can tell at a glance that there is still some blush on this woman's face that has not faded.

And Fang Ping told him before that the monk's face was extremely rosy. At that time, he thought it meant that his face was full of red, but after contacting him before and after, he guessed the result.

"Ah, my lord, humble job..."

"Shh, be quiet."

"Yes, yes, shopkeeper."

At this time, the woman came out with two bowls of water: "Here!"

"Thank you, sister-in-law."

After drinking the water, the two thanked again and left the courtyard.

After going out, Fang Ping said a few words to Chen Butou.

"Ah, no, no!" Chen Butou blushed, and quickly waved his hands.

Fang Ping's face darkened: "This is an order from the official, can you resist it?"

Chen Butou cupped his hands with a bitter face: "My lord, please spare the humble position, this... this... if there is trouble..."

"What are you afraid of? How dare she make a fuss? Besides, even if you really do make a fuss, it's a big deal to report to the police. Are you afraid that she will report to the police and arrest you?"

"This...well, then you have to make the decision for the little one, my lord."

"Don't worry, I'm the county magistrate, what are you afraid of?"

At this moment, Butou Chen couldn't help asking: "By the way, sir, didn't we come down to investigate the disappearance case? Why are you suddenly concerned about this matter again?"

Fang Ping replied: "When handling a case, sometimes you can't just focus on the case itself, some seemingly insignificant things may lead to clues.

Besides, we don't have any clues now, and we should pay attention to anything that is contrary to common sense. "

"I see!"

Chen Butou nodded, and then walked into the courtyard again.

"Sister-in-law, sister-in-law..."

"what happened again?"

The woman came out with an unhappy expression on her face.

Chen Butou went forward mysteriously, and whispered: "Are you alone in your family? Is your man not here?"

"Hey, what do you want to do?"

The woman was startled and took a few steps back hastily.

"I……"

Chen catches his head and steps forward.

"Stop, if you take another step forward, I'm going to call for someone."

"Sister-in-law, listen to me first. I'm not a bad person, I'm my shopkeeper... To tell you the truth, my shopkeeper has been out for several months. As you know, the shopkeeper is still young and full of vigor..."

Upon hearing this, the woman blushed with anger: "Shut up, what happens to your shopkeeper is none of my business? I kindly gave you water to drink, but you actually repay your kindness with revenge."

"That's not what it means, sister-in-law, my shopkeeper will not treat you badly..."

"Get out, who do you think I am? If you don't get out, I will really call someone."

At this time, Chen Butou said slowly: "Sister-in-law, everyone is a sensible person, why pretend to be confused?
Before, we saw with our own eyes a young monk walking out of your yard..."

Sure enough, when this matter was mentioned, the woman's face changed in surprise, and she denied it flatly, "What monk? You're talking nonsense."

"Well, since you don't admit it, sister-in-law, let's go to the village to find out who the monk is and whether he came to your house for alms or for other things."

After finishing speaking, Chen Bu turned around and walked out of the courtyard.

"stop!"

The woman shouted hastily and chased after her.

"Sister-in-law, you will let me go, and you will stop me, what do you want to do?"

"You..." The woman blushed, "What exactly do you want?"

"Didn't I understand what I said just now? My shopkeeper...he has a widow's illness. Don't worry, we are all foreigners, and we will go our own way in the future, and we won't talk about anything."

"Shameless!"

The woman gritted her teeth and cursed angrily.

"In that case, I will take my leave."

"Come back..." The woman's complexion changed a bit and she said: "Let your shopkeeper come in, just once, if you still dare to pester me in the future, I... I will fight you all hard."

Hearing this, Butou Chen couldn't help feeling secretly: Your Excellency is really clever.

After a while, Catcher Chen accompanied Fang Ping into the courtyard.

When the woman saw that the two of them had entered, she couldn't help but look angry: "You guys are going too far, it's your shopkeeper who agreed, why don't you just say what you say?"

Fang Ping smiled: "Sister-in-law, don't be ashamed, let's talk about it first."

"Don't go!"

"Then we can only go out and publicize it."

"You..." The woman's eyes were red, and in desperation, she could only walk into the room with a grievance on her face.

Forget it, just treat it as being bitten by a dog.

As a result, things didn't turn out the way she had imagined.

After entering the house, she was about to take off her clothes, thinking of sending these two plague gods away as soon as possible.

"Sister-in-law, you misunderstood us, we just want to ask something."

"what?"

The woman thought she had heard wrong.

For a long time, these two just wanted to ask her something?Then why humiliate her again and again?

"Sister-in-law, this is the end of the matter, so I'll get straight to the point. Which temple did the monk belong to?"

The woman frowned: "Why are you asking about this again?"

At this time, Chen Butou took out the token and said, "To tell you the truth, we are official servants."

The woman was startled, and quickly knelt down on the ground: "You two officials, the woman was wronged, the woman didn't do anything bad..."

"Then just tell the truth, and answer truthfully what you are asked."

"Yes, yes, the woman must answer truthfully."

"Answer the previous question first, which temple did the previous monk belong to?"

"He..." The woman hesitated for a while, and finally said: "He is a monk from Qinggang Temple, and his Dharma name is Zhizhi."

"Qinggang Temple?"

The woman replied: "Yes, it's not far from here, about four or five miles away."

"Does he come to see you often?"

"This..." The woman hesitated for a while, and finally said: "It's not too often, about once a month or so."

"Then how did you know each other? How did you get together?"

"Two years ago, my husband passed away, and Zhizhi and his master came to recite the scriptures before the burial.

Not long after that, he came to my house again and said that he would recite the sutras again for three days.

At that time, I was quite grateful to him and made a special trip to make a vegetarian meal for him.As a result, he gave me some money and asked me to buy wine and meat, saying that he did not abstain from alcohol and meat, and that the Dharma was at ease in his heart.

After reading the scriptures for a day, he said that I have a catastrophe, and if I don't resolve it, there will be a catastrophe.

I was very scared in my heart, so I asked him to help me resolve it. He said that to resolve my catastrophe, I must practice some kind of Zen...

Later, he came here often, and every time he came, he would bring me something..."

"Well, how many monks are there in Qinggang Temple?"

"Not many, maybe a dozen."

After inquiring about Qinggang Temple, Fang Ping suddenly asked again: "By the way, have you ever heard of a medicine merchant named Daniu?"

"Daniu? I don't remember. Although there are merchants here to collect the goods, there are not many, and they usually go to Yushan Township to collect the goods."

"Okay, got it."

After Fang Ping and the two left, the woman let out a long sigh of relief.

"My lord, are we going to visit Qinggang Temple?"

After leaving the village, Butou Chen couldn't help asking.

"That's right, it's on the way anyway, so it doesn't hurt to go and have a look."

So, the two continued to walk in the direction of Yushan Township.

After walking for a few miles, sure enough, a temple could be seen standing on the side of the road, and a long bell could be heard from time to time.

Climbing up the steps, the two walked all the way to the gate of the temple.

At this time, a middle-aged monk came out, looked at the two of them, and subconsciously glanced at the knife on Chen Butou's waist.

Chen Butou took the initiative to explain: "Going out, this is for self-defense."

"I don't know if the two benefactors are here to offer incense, or what?"

Fang Ping smiled and said: "Passing by your temple, it is natural to worship Buddha and burn incense sticks. Also, seeing that it is getting dark soon, the two of us want to stay overnight at your temple?"

"Please, two benefactors."

The middle-aged monk raised his hand as an invitation gesture.

"Please!"

Fang Ping also raised his hand, and followed the monk into the temple.

(End of this chapter)