Chapter 55: The Saint is Here
February 15th
The situation was deadlocked for a long time. Jin'er beside them didn't know what to say. The three of them stood there in silence in the flickering candlelight.
Shen Kuo was just feeling speechless when he felt something moving in his chest. The damn kitten started to move again. He then unbuttoned his clothes. The kitten was almost suffocated to death and meowed when it saw the light.
"What's the noise?" Xiao Ping turned around and saw Shen Kuo taking out a kitten from his arms: "Is it a civet cat?"
She rushed to the front and took it.
"You went to the countryside to handle a case, and you brought this poor little thing with you?"
" It's not with me, it's..." He was about to tell the truth, this damn cat moved at an inappropriate time and almost killed him. However, in a flash of lightning, a flash of inspiration came to him, and he realized that people don't necessarily need to tell the truth all the time.
"Big sister, listen to me... Last night, you mentioned that you wanted Jin'er to go out of town to buy a kitten. I kept it in mind and was planning to buy one for you today while I was out of town on business. However, I couldn't find a cat market, so I asked for one from a hunter. I wanted to apologize to you, big sister. However, by fate, we met here unexpectedly, and it was such a coincidence that I gave it to you. I wonder if you can forgive me?"
Xiaoping looked up at Shen Kuo, and tears flashed in her eyes after a moment.
Jin'er took the kitten and said, "Tomorrow we will go to the village to get some goat milk to feed it. You said this little thing is silly, but sometimes it is also very smart and can make people pity it."
Jin'er left, and the two of them sat in front of the window, facing each other in silence.
February 15th
Xiaoping went out to the yard and listened carefully to the sounds outside the wall. After making sure that everyone in the village was asleep, she returned.
After she came back, she fiddled with the oil lamp and sighed, "I know you have an old foot injury, and now you have fallen and need to recuperate, but I can't keep you here any longer. This is a rural village, and it is after the Spring Festival, so everyone gets up early. The owner here is sinister and tyrannical, and he hates outsiders to spy on his private residence the most. Anyone who accidentally breaks in will be beaten and killed as a thief. When there are farmhands walking around at the mountain pass, you won't be able to get away. Your badge from the palace is useless here. I'm not trying to scare you, the old owner of the farm was also a former official in the court. "The officials were corrupt and committed many wrongful murders. Whenever a young man caught a bandit robbing people nearby, he would not report to the officials in Zhongmu County. Instead, he would break his legs and leave him to starve to death at the edge of the village before burying him. If you don't believe me, go to the edge of the village and you will see blood-stained wooden stakes and iron chains used to tie people up. If they see that you are still carrying the imperial badge, they will be even more afraid that you are sent by your enemies in the court to investigate secretly, and they will definitely be more ruthless. It is better to leave early, walk a few miles, and sit down at a shop selling tea or cakes on the main road. There are always carriages going to Bianjing passing by the shops."
"Thank you, elder sister." Shen Kuo stood up and bowed deeply. What Xiao Ping said was probably correct. Just now, under the window of the mansion, he heard that the old master wanted to break his hands and feet.
"No need to thank me, I will be at peace as long as you are well."
He stood up to go out, then thought of something: "Sister, when will you return to the capital?"
"The truth is I came here because I was scared of the demons in the city and because I got the news that the Baifan Tower was going to be closed down by the government. I couldn't stay here even if I had the guts. It just so happened that the master of this farm had some old friendship with me and asked me to hide here and sing a song. I just did this to show my favor. The houses in this farm are all his property. You also know that I'm tired of farm life. I want to live out my life in Baifan Tower when I return to Tokyo. If it weren't for the demons flying all over the sky outside Baifan Tower, I would never leave that prosperous place even if I die."
" Those puppets..."
Shen Kuo hesitated to speak because a rooster was crowing outside.
"Listen! It's getting late, let's go."
"If the Baifan Building is no longer closed, will you return to Tokyo?"
"Ah, I've only been in this village for half a day and I'm already missing the Alum Tower on Imperial Street. I'll just have to wait until the seal on the Alum Tower is removed."
Jin'er took out a walking stick.
"I asked for this from a white-haired messenger the day before yesterday when I left. Sigh... I don't know why, but every time we meet, I am either lame or you are limp. It must be the karma from the previous life. You can use this cane to pay back the old man for me."
"Yeah, what a coincidence."
Shen Kuo couldn't help laughing.
"Maybe you and I are destined to clash. For our own good... maybe we should never meet again."
Xiao Ping's words were like cold water pouring down on Shen Kuo. He walked out of the courtyard in silence on his crutches. Jin'er and Xiao Ping sent him to the mountain pass, where they didn't see any stakes or chains for tying people. Xiao Ping must have just arrived and didn't know who in the villa had spread the rumor. The two watched Shen Kuo limp away.
Shen Kuo walked out of the ravine, and it was just daybreak when he found a tea stand on the dirt road. He thought that the carts going to Tokyo must pass by here, so he sat down and asked the tea master. The tea master told him that there were indeed carts going to the capital, but they were not specifically for merchants, but just for farmers to bring fruits, pigs and sheep into the city, and also for people along the way.
When the driver passed by the teahouse, he would just shout outside, and those who wanted to take the bus would get on. If you only wanted to go to Bianzhou or Zhongmu County, it would only cost 15 wen, and if you wanted to go to Tokyo, it would cost 30 wen. The bus would come at any time, but there was no fixed schedule. There were usually 7 or 8 trips in the morning, but recently people in Tokyo were in a panic. Instead, more people were leaving the capital, and fewer were entering. Vegetables could not be sold at a good price in Tokyo, so there were fewer buses entering the city, so you might have to wait a little longer.
Shen Kuo also inquired about the villa where he escaped.
Dr. Tea said that he didn't know the details. The place was originally remote and had a name called Liushugang. In the early years of the Later Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms, it was the ancient battlefield of the Battle of Guandu. Because many people died that year, it was said to be an unlucky place. There were only mountains and fields nearby and no arable land, so no one lived there.
However, thirty years ago, a wealthy family suddenly bought land there and built a manor. The strange thing is that there are usually no people there, only seven or eight farmhands to guard it. In the past, only in midsummer, some people would come to this mountain manor to escape the heat. At that time, you could see the rich young men in the manor going out hunting, all dressed in fine clothes and riding horses, driving hawks and running dogs, but rarely talking to people nearby. Even if they did, they would not mention their family names. The nearby villagers were all guessing who the owner of the manor was, but they still didn't know after thirty years of guessing.
It was just that at the end of last year, the villa was lit up at night, and it seemed that many people came here. The nearby villagers were only used to people coming here every summer to escape the heat, and they didn't know that there were visitors in the middle of winter. It was indeed a bit abnormal. Since the day before yesterday, dozens of carriages came from the east road, carrying nearly a hundred people. This was not too strange. Maybe there was a monster in the city, and these officials and merchants took refuge here.
After drinking a few cups of tea and chatting for a while, they saw a mule-drawn cart approaching in the distance. As expected, the driver shouted before he even reached the tea stall, calling for those going to Tokyo for only 20 wen. Shen Kuo agreed, put on his crutches and went forward to sit on the edge of the cart.
February 15th, noon
After three hours of bumpy ride, Shen Kuo finally returned to Tokyo, and his foot was actually healed.
He hurried to the new base in Laoya Lane, and as soon as he entered the door, he saw a circle of people standing in the yard. Bao Da and Wen Yanbo were there, looking at the five dead bodies on the ground. Xu Chong was at a loss, and when he saw Shen Kuo coming back, he turned his worry into joy.
"Look, gentlemen, Master Shen is back."
Lao Bao turned around and saw that Shen Kuo's clothes were torn, his face was dirty, and he had a walking stick under his armpit. He knew that he was going to suffer again.
"Cunzhong, we are all worried about your safety. We are afraid that you have been poisoned. What did we find out by following those two thieves?"
"My lord, it's hard to explain. I didn't follow the thieves to their lair. But I encountered some things... I don't know how to start."
"What is it?"
"Last night, under the moonlight, I followed the two thieves to a deep mountain in Zhongmou County. It seemed that the two thieves were going to the villa to steal."
"What kind of villa?" Lao Bao looked confused.
"I only know that it is in a place called Guliugang, surrounded by hills, like a paradise."
"And then?"
"I followed the two thieves into the manor's home. Later...the two thieves were caught stealing in the library and fled, leaving me trapped in the yard. Then I eavesdropped on the conversation between the owner and his son under the window. The owner seemed to know what the two thieves stole from the library. He said it was some letter paper with some heavenly script written by the emperor's attendants. However, he said the text on it could not be deciphered."
"What does the master look like?" Wen Yanbo suddenly asked.
"I didn't see his face, only his profile. He must be in his seventies, but his son is not that old. I heard him say that he once served as an official in the court."
"Oh!" Wen Yanbo twirled his beard as if thinking, "There are many retired officials of this age, I can't remember who it is."
"Among the stolen items, there was a poem written by the old man. He said he wrote it when he was welcoming the heavenly book. He was deeply ashamed of it, so he kept it with him as a warning, but it was stolen by two thieves. He recited it at the time, and I hid in the dark and wrote it down."
"Read it to me." Bao Zheng said.
"Three hundred and sixty sentences on the first day, the four seasons are auspicious and peaceful. The colorful clothes and red festivals are the talismans for cultivating the truth, following the auspicious clouds and worshipping the nine heavens."
Lao Bao and Wen Yanbo both frowned, as if they couldn't remember anything.
"Back then, when the Immortal Emperor welcomed the Heavenly Book, all the court submitted congratulatory speeches and poems like this. It has been a long time, and although it sounds a bit like my second uncle, I really can't remember anything." Wen Yanbo said.
"Gentlemen, just send someone to investigate and we'll know the answer," said Xu Chong.
"Let Xu Chong select someone to handle this matter. Yesterday you told Xu Chong that there is a mystery behind the five bodies of passers-by struck by lightning. I specially asked Lord Wen to come here and wait for you to explain. We have been waiting here for about two hours this morning. We and the coroner have checked again, but there . Finally you are here. I see that you are exhausted, so I won't let you take a shower or change clothes. Come on, go get some tea first."
"No need. I ate two radishes from the driver on the way, so I don't need to drink water. Let's talk about important things first." He walked straight to the corpse, found the female corpse, hesitated for a moment, and finally made up his mind to speak out his guess.
"Sir, the following is my conjecture, so there may be mistakes. Please forgive me first."
"It's not like we're wrongly convicted of a crime. How can we go wrong? It's okay to make a mistake."
"In that case, I will boldly say that in my opinion, these five dead were not passers-by , but members of the Maitreya sect."
Shen Kuo's words caused an uproar. The spies, messengers He Laobao and Xu Chong present were all stunned with astonishment.
"Especially this person!" He pointed at the female corpse, "I guess she holds a high position in the sect. She is most likely the Saint Lady of the Maitreya Sect who has been on the run for a long time and has not been brought to justice."
The yard suddenly became quiet again.
"Saint?" Wen Yanbo was the first to respond. "I once saw the Saint performing rituals on the top of Beizhou City from a distance. I would recognize her even if she was burned to ashes..."
The old man hurriedly took two steps forward and looked at it carefully for a while: "However, it has been burned to this state. Although it has not yet turned into ashes, it is unrecognizable. But looking at the age estimated by the coroner on the body list, it is similar, about 37 or 38 years old."
"Cunzhong, tell me your inference." said Lao Bao.
"These five people are the ones who manipulated the puppets to fly in the air that night. They were also killed by the spring thunder."
"How do you prove it?"
"The cause of death is evident."
Wen Yanbo and Xu Chong stepped forward, and Bao Zheng looked through the coroner's list of corpses again.
"In the middle of the funeral, the coroner wrote on the body report: Death seems to be caused by lightning and fire. The death is strange. It is ambiguous but inconclusive."
"It is indeed strange, and it is impossible to come to a definitive conclusion. I asked the coroner that day, and he mentioned that the last time he saw two people die in this way, one was an oil seller, and the other was a wine seller. The common point was that they were contaminated with something that could start a fire, so they were struck by lightning first and then burned by fire."
Everyone was speechless, waiting for him to continue.
"So I think they have something to kindle the flames."
"What is it?"
"They were the two bundles of thin ropes that Yu Lao Si wanted to take with him when he fled in a hurry that day."
"Oh?" Lao Bao nodded in agreement, but he actually looked confused.
The five of them died in the same way, not by chance, because it was a windy day. They all said that the ropes were wrapped around their arms and waists, and after the lightning struck, the ropes burned, so their deaths were different. These are all my speculations, but they can be proven. After the thin ropes were burned, there must be traces left, which should still be on the wounds.
"Coroner! Check the wound again." Bao Zheng shouted.
"yes!"
The old coroner did not dare to delay and quickly squatted down with his apprentices to check. Everyone was waiting with puzzled faces.
After a moment, the coroner stood up and said, "Your Excellency, we found a small piece of burnt hemp thread embedded in the charred flesh."
"Why didn't you find it that day? Was it because you were lazy?" Lao Bao asked angrily.
"I dare not."
"Sir," Shen Kuo interrupted, "this matter is strange and unusual. Don't blame the coroner. I am just making a reverse guess. The coroner performed the autopsy according to common sense and there is nothing wrong with it."
"Well, you should be lenient. Okay, I won't pursue the matter for now. Although I have done nothing wrong, I have not done anything meritorious either. I will halve the reward."
Shen Kuo walked forward and handed the walking stick Xiao Ping had given him to the coroner: "She asked me to thank you."
"I dare not, I dare not. Thank you very much, sir."
Shen Kuo returned to the corpse. Just now he had only 50% confidence, but now he had 80%.
"Master Bao, Master Wen, yesterday I followed the thieves with Xu Jieji, and from what they said, I learned that the Saint Aunt who was in charge after Wang Ze was executed had been missing for two days. In addition, I asked the coroner to draw the tattoo of the Mother of No Life on the back of the female corpse, so I dared to guess that she was the Saint Aunt."
"The Saint Lady was actually struck to death by lightning?" Wen Yanbo said in silence, as if he had heard a huge joke but couldn't laugh.
