Chapter 113: The Hat Monster Appears
June 19th
Xu Chong led the monk in. Inside, Lao Bao was pacing behind his desk with a worried look on his face. When he saw the monk from afar, he couldn't help but exclaimed, "Ah!" and sat down, then stood up and rushed over from behind the desk. Without waiting for Xu Chong to inform him, he hugged the monk.
"Oh, Master, I miss you so much. Where have you been?"
"Amitabha, I went back to my hometown. I stayed at Tianning Temple for a few days to visit my relatives."
Both sides pretended to be ignorant. Since Lao Bao wanted to let the monk go, he could only pretend that he didn't know that the monk was involved in the case, and the monk was sensible enough not to mention it.
Xu Chong had no choice but to withdraw first. Huailiang would tell him what happened next. It was nothing more than a courtesy between the two sides, and Lao Bao was just anxious to ask him for help. Xu Chong quickly found a few plainclothes brothers to go to Tianshui Lane. He was really worried that Jin'er would get into trouble. If something happened to Boss Pei, where would she go? Could it be that Shen Kuo had no experience and didn't find the body?
He was lost in thought and went to Tianshui Lane with a few capable servants.
When they got there, they found that the door was locked. Shen Kuo hurried to pick up Hu Yong'er. He didn't explain the situation clearly, but only said that Boss Pei was dead. However, seeing the calm expressions of the neighbors, it was obvious that he had died inside but had not yet made it public. Then he didn't want to make it public. He took people to the back door and found that the back door was also locked. He roughly realized what Shen Kuo meant by asking him to set an ambush. Obviously, he wanted to keep it as it was and not alert the person behind the scenes. He didn't need to unlock the door. He told a few brothers to drink tea and wait outside, and he climbed over the wall to wait.
He walked into the house alone and searched around with trepidation. He found no body on the first floor. So he went up to the second floor and found Boss Pei's body lying on the ground. The noose on the beam was still there, which showed that it was lowered by Shen Kuo and the monk. It was already dark at this time. He found a lamp in the store and lit it. He looked carefully at Boss Pei's body and found white foam at the corners of his mouth. He was poisoned first. Then he was hung up again.
In other words, the murderer's purpose was to create the illusion of suicide, but the front and back doors were locked, which doesn't make sense. It can be seen that he (she) only temporarily set up the scene, and will come back once, and when he leaves again, he will open the door to let the people who come in see the scene. This reasoning is the only reasonable one.
He tore open Boss Pei's clothes again and found a wolf head tattoo.
"You, you, have you come to this day?" He walked to the second-floor window and carefully opened it a crack. He saw that it was already dark, but there were people coming and going on the street. "I don't know how Jin'er is doing? Will she be implicated?" He searched everywhere, but didn't find the body, so he secretly felt lucky. To some extent, Jin'er is now free again. Although she is a widow, it doesn't really matter.
He returned to the corpse, pulled the table over, then picked up Boss Pei's body, climbed up, and hung the dead man up.
Fortunately, it was him who came. Shen Kuo and the monk would have a hard time reconstructing the scene. Boss Pei was too fat and didn't have the strength to hang on. Then he returned to the table and extinguished the oil lamp. He found a bench in the shadow behind the antique shelf and sat there waiting. This place was very hidden. If someone came in from outside, they wouldn't be able to see him. However, the moonlight outside could shine through the crack of the window he opened and hit the door. He could see the other person from behind the vase. He was actually a little impressed with his own wisdom. It was probably not much worse than Shen Kuo and the monk.
Inside the morgue of the military chiefs, Lao Bao and the monk faced the female corpse together.
This was something Shen Kuo had communicated outside the gate. He was busy leaving the city and had no time to report it, so Xu Chong and Huai Liang didn't understand what was going on. But Huai Liang actually understood some of it. Since Shen Kuo had said it, he just passed on the message and waited to see what would happen.
The coroner had just finished dinner when he was summoned from home by the police. He was somewhat unhappy. It wasn't that he had an extra business trip, but he signed his own name on the autopsy form, saying that he was poisoned, but didn't say that he swallowed a foreign object. Why is there another change?
Eight candles were lit on all sides. The autopsy could only be performed at night. Even though the body had only been dead for a few days, it was midsummer in June and the body was already somewhat rotten. Lao Bao and the monk stood a little further away and watched. The coroner worked while cursing in his heart.
Since he only wanted to look inside the stomach, he naturally took the easy way out and cut through the abdomen, bypassing the hassle of sawing through the ribs. Of course, he had to reach in and take out the stomach.
The first one who couldn't stand it was the monk. He hid in a corner and vomited. Bao Zheng was knowledgeable and had no problem with that. He just covered his mouth and nose with the sleeves of his robe. The stench of the corpse was okay, but the sour smell in his stomach was really unbearable.
After a while, the coroner took something out of the stomach, put it in a copper basin and washed it with clean water.
"My husband, there really is something?"
"What do you want to see?"
The coroner put the small thing in a white handkerchief and put it on the table. Old Bao looked at it carefully with a candle, but couldn't see it clearly. But the monk who was vomiting and looking pale could see it clearly.
"From what I saw, it was exactly the same thing that Company Shen gave to Xu Jieji just now."
"The same thing? What about that thing?"
"Master Shen gave it to Xu Jieji and asked him to take it to the Jicui Painting Pavilion, saying that it would be useful if the hat monster reappeared. Master Shen also said that although this thing is a whistle, it is silent when blown."
"Silent whistle?" Bao Zheng asked doubtfully. His curiosity almost prompted him to put the bloody whistle into his mouth to try it out, but reason eventually overcame curiosity.
"Sir, you don't have to try it yourself. I heard Master Shen say in a few words just now that this is the thing that summons the hat monster?"
"Silently summoning the Hat Monster?"
"Master Shen said that he knew of a flute that could summon dogs, and it was also silent."
"No sound, how can a dog hear it?" Lao Bao thought for a moment, "I often hear people say that black dogs can hear ghosts and that young children can see spirits. Is that true?"
"Sir, it's not like that. It's just that dogs have very sensitive ears and can hear sounds that we can't hear. When I play the zither, I often see the strings vibrating without making any sound, but they can scare away the birds flying outside the window."
"Oh?" Bao Zheng nodded thoughtfully.
"In fact, I have seen Yu Jing doing things on top of the Kaibao Temple pagoda at night before. I also often saw black clouds covering the top of the pagoda, so I guessed that he was practicing the technique of summoning the hat demon."
"The Hat Demon Technique?"
"Master Shen and I have tried to deduce what the hat monster is several times. How it walks on clouds, how it disperses fog, how it rises into the air, how it flies horizontally, all of these seem to be understandable, but how it turns is really hard to figure out, and we have no idea."
"Uh-huh."
"Mr. Shen also studied the records of the hat monster case thirty years ago in Yang Wei De's family. It is known that the hat monster at that time actually just walked straight and did not turn in the air. So it is speculated that it was controlled by a string at that time."
"Yes, I have also discovered this sign. However, the hat monster that has appeared in the capital since the first month of the year is not like this."
"Obviously, it has changed once in the past thirty years. The key may be in this whistle."
"Yeah, that makes sense. I finally figured out another thing." Lao Bao nodded.
"What kind of thing?"
"Haha, how could Yu Jing become the leader of Maitreya Sect so quickly?"
"I also think that it was his ancestors who made the hat monster technique more treacherous, but that skill was only left to him."
As the two were talking, a messenger came in to report that Mr. Wen would arrive later because he had another man to invite. But he didn't say who he was going to invite.
"If Mr. Wen comes, I will take my leave first."
"No need, Master, you can hide behind the screen and listen to my confrontation with Minister Wen."
"I'm afraid this is inappropriate?"
"Haha, nothing wrong with that. Today I want to have a debate with Minister Wen about what a gentleman should do and what he should not do."
Outside the city, in the small courtyard outside Qianming Nunnery, Shen Kuo hurried to Yong'er's residence. Yong'er was sitting on the roof, hugging her knees, staring at the guest star that appeared and disappeared in the distance in a daze.
"Sister, how did you climb up there?" Shen Kuo panted, "There is something urgent right now, come down quickly and follow me."
"It matters to you, but it doesn't matter to me." Yong'er said coldly.
"It doesn't matter, I just want you to confront him."
"Confrontation?"
"Yes, it was the man who sent your sister into the fire pit."
"Mr. Yan or Mr. Wen?"
"I guess both of them will come to debate with Bao Longtu tonight."
Yong'er continued to hug her knees and seemed unwilling to get down.
"How could you know that Mr. Yan is so kind to us sisters?"
"You think that's a favor? There's no one in the world more cold-hearted than Yan Tongshu. He treats others as pawns to achieve his own goals. He even treats his own son as a pawn."
"If we sisters don't serve as his banners, we will also be destined to be prostitutes in brothels. What's the difference between that and being chess pieces? Who in this world is truly loyal to us sisters?"
"How do you know there isn't one?"
"If so, which one is it? Tell me."
"Come down quickly. The city gates will be closed soon. It will be too late if you are late."
"I'm not coming down."
"What do you need to do to get me down?"
"My sister told me that she would let you take care of me for the rest of my life. But you refused and sent me to the lower courtyard of this nunnery. You don't even come to take care of me. I'm afraid you'll want me to be ordained as a nun someday."
"What are you talking about? Why would I think that? I promised you, sister, that I will take care of you for the rest of your life."
Yong'er said nothing and continued to look at the guest star in the sky, as if she was thinking about something.
"Why is this evil star getting dimmer? This deceitful guest is probably about to leave. I said, it is not anxious even if you are anxious. It will not leave even if you chase it away. But if it wants to leave, you can't stop it." Yong'er said leisurely.
Xu Chong was almost dozing off in the shadows of the Jicui Painting Pavilion in Tianshui Lane when he heard a noise in the backyard. Someone was unlocking the door. He had very good hearing, especially at this moment when the crowds in the front street were dwindling and it was not too noisy.
The person walked very quietly, as if deliberately hiding the sound of his footsteps, so it was impossible to tell whether he was a man or a woman.
He (she) pushed open the back door and walked in, without stopping at the first floor, and went straight up the stairs. The stairs were a bit dilapidated, and when Xu Chong walked up just now, they creaked, but this person walked without making any noise, and did not turn on the lights, as if he was floating up.
Xu Chong held the hilt of the knife in his hand, and he felt his palms sweating. This was the feeling he had long ago, before he killed someone for the first time.
A dark figure walked in, and a ray of moonlight shone through the cracks in the window and fell on his (her) lower body. The light that should have shone on the face was blocked by the slightly shaking body of Boss Pei. Xu Chong really wanted to slap his thigh and scold himself. He thought he had designed this ingenious plan, and then hung the body back to its original place. Everything seemed to happen as expected, except that the man's face was blocked.
The man walked to the body of Boss Pei and pushed his feet. The body began to sway. For some reason, he (she) stood there and watched for a while, and then walked to the cabinet in front after the body stopped moving again. There was nothing in the cabinet. Xu Chong had already checked it, but the man stepped straight in and disappeared.
"Is there another compartment in the cabinet?"
Xu Chong pondered in his heart.
He waited for a while, but the man didn't come out. So he carefully came out from behind the antique shelf. When he walked to the cabinet and was about to open the door, he heard movement inside. So he quickly stepped back, but accidentally hit the door behind him, which made a creaking sound.
In a flash, the cabinet door was kicked open, and a dark figure rushed out, with two cold lights in his hands flying towards Xu Chong's face . Xu Chong quickly lowered his head to dodge. Two flying knives flew over his scalp.
"Thieves, get out of here," he shouted, as if to his companions who were lying in ambush, asking them to quickly guard the front and back doors. He stood up and blocked the way out.
However, the shadow did not run away, but jumped onto the windowsill with a whoosh. Xu Chong rushed forward, but the shadow suddenly turned around and stabbed him. The dead body of Boss Pei fell down and landed right in front of Xu Chong. The body was straight and fell towards Xu Chong, but Xu Chong dodged it. He stretched his head to look down at the windowsill, but there was no one below. He only saw a few of his companions rushing over.
His companion yelled to him, "It's on you."
Xu Chong felt a chill on the back of his neck and quickly lowered his head. A flying hammer connected to an iron chain flashed before his eyes, and he was pulled up with a whoosh. If it hit him, his brain would burst.
The man above no longer hid his whereabouts and began to run on the roof. Xu Chong could hear the sound of footsteps on tiles.
He jumped to the window sill and threw out the Western Qiang claw. After Wang Sheng died, this claw with a missing finger returned to him. The claw hook grabbed the ridge and he jumped to the roof. He saw the black shadow running away in front of him.
"I want to see if you can get away."
The shadow had its back to him, so he couldn't see its face for the time being, only its body was short. Xu Chong didn't dare to chase too fast, because he was afraid that his heavy body would collapse the roof.
The shadow ran out for a while and then leaped onto the roof of the opposite house. Xu Chong chased him but didn't dare to jump because he thought he was too heavy to jump over.
The shadow did not even look back, but waved his hand. Then he saw a dark cloud rising from the roof in the distance and moving quickly towards him (her).
"Another move?"
Xu Chong was most afraid of the hat monster, so he could not help but retreat. But suddenly he remembered the method Shen Kuo had taught him, so he took out the bamboo flute from his arms and put it in his mouth.
The cloud shaped like a Fanyang hat flew towards the black shadow, and a series of ladders fell from the mist. It seemed to be the same magic that had taken Xiaoping away when they were surrounded by enemies?
Xu Chong blew the whistle hard. He felt his saliva spraying out, but he didn't hear any movement.
Seeing that the dark cloud was approaching the mysterious person, he (she) reached out to grab the ladder. But something strange happened. The evil cloud suddenly turned and came towards Xu Chong. The back figure was a little surprised. He turned around and looked at Xu Chong unexpectedly. It was Jin'er.
He was so shocked that he stood there in a daze. Jin'er on the opposite side showed no mercy and threw a short knife at him. Xu Chong was standing on the rooftop, so cramped that he could only roll on the ground to avoid the third knife Jin'er threw at him today. In his haste, the whistle fell from his mouth. The hat monster came straight at him, but he couldn't stop rolling on the rooftop. Just as he was about to roll off the eaves, he saw a ladder in the mist flying quickly over his head.
He knew that if he fell from here, he would either die or be crippled, so he couldn't help but reach out to grab the ladder. The butcher who had a stroke the next day because he threw a butcher knife at the hat monster flashed through his mind, but now he was determined to die after he saw that the person behind the scenes was Jin'er.
Xu Chong grabbed the ladder, but the strange ladder didn't hold him up and he continued to fall straight down. His back hit the donkey cart loaded with grain downstairs. If this cart hadn't happened to be there, he would have been seriously injured today.
He stood up from the flour bag. Jin'er had long disappeared from the roof opposite . He looked at his hand again and saw a fake paper ladder.
