Volume 1 Zhangqiao Iron Coffin Chapter 17 Why is it locked?
In early winter, the water volume drops sharply, and there are only a few trickles under the bridge, flowing down the mountain.
Due to years of disrepair, Zhang Bridge has long been dilapidated, overgrown with weeds, and almost all of the stone railings are missing. There is even a small tree more than one meter tall growing in the cracks on the bridge deck.
At this moment, there was a pitch-black coffin lying across the bridge. Even in broad daylight, it was really scary.
"County Magistrate Qiu!" Xu Zun saw Qiu Yongnian and immediately came up to greet him, asking, "What's the situation now?"
"I don't know either!" Qiu Yongnian's face was full of anxiety. "I came here after receiving the report. I didn't expect there really was a coffin. Sigh!"
From his sigh, it can be seen that Qiu Yongnian is deeply uneasy about the appearance of this iron coffin, fearing that his future will be affected by this thing.
"Yes, yes, yes, yes..." Zhao Yu looked at the coffin from a distance and said with fear on his face, "This is it! It's exactly the same as the one from two years ago!
"But why are there no dead bodies?" Zhao Yu looked under the bridge. "Back then, more than 30 people died!"
"Captain Zhao!" County Magistrate Qiu asked hurriedly, "Tell us what happened back then. What was the origin of this iron coffin? What did you find out back then?"
Zhao Yu did not dare to delay and immediately told everything he knew two years ago.
Unfortunately, Zhao Yu was just a small constable at the time. After the incident, he only saw the iron coffin and the corpses from a distance. As for the details of the case, he did not know much.
Zhao Yu said that the task he was responsible for at that time was mainly to visit and investigate. He visited almost all the surrounding counties, but did not find out any information about the Iron Coffin Case.
Finally, the case came to nothing as the county magistrate and county lieutenant were dismissed from their posts...
Hearing this, County Magistrate Qiu became even more anxious and asked, "Captain Zhao, there are so many people in our county office, don't they all know the details?"
"Sir," Zhao Yu replied, "The detectives back then were basically like me, they only had a limited understanding.
"I think that if we want to know the details of the Iron Coffin Case, there are probably only two people who know more clearly. One is our county magistrate, Lord Luo, and the other is the chief clerk, Liu Zhang. Both of them have experienced the last Iron Coffin Incident and should know more than us!"
The county magistrate is equivalent to the deputy county magistrate and is the second in command of the entire Xinye County.
Like Liu Zhang, County Magistrate Luo Baiwan had been in power in Xinye County for decades and naturally had come across the Iron Coffin Case.
"What a coincidence," Qiu Yongnian said, "Mr. Luo has just returned to his hometown to worship his ancestors. For now, we can only call Mr. Liu to ask him about it!"
"I'll send someone to invite them right away!" Zhao Yu agreed and immediately arranged for personnel.
"Sir," Xu Zun suggested, "Should we open this iron coffin and see what's inside?"
"This... this is already being done!" Qiu Yongnian was so flustered that he stuttered. He pointed at the yamen runners on the bridge and said, "The iron coffin is locked, and the yamen runners are trying to pry it open!"
Looking up, I saw that there were indeed yamen runners with axes and crowbars on the bridge, tinkering with the iron coffin.
However, due to fear in their hearts, the yamen runners moved nervously and the progress was extremely slow.
Xu Zun was very curious, so he walked straight onto the stone bridge and came to the iron coffin.
But the iron coffin was as black as ink and looked extremely heavy.
He touched it gently and found the iron coffin was cold. It was indeed made of pure iron.
As we all know, iron will rust, and no one in the world would use iron to make a coffin.
Therefore, Xu Zun wondered if this thing was not a coffin, but just looked a bit like one?
However, this thing is big at one end and small at the other. Whether it is the delicate coffin rim or the curved coffin lid, it is undoubtedly a coffin!
Xu Zun reached out and touched it. The iron coffin was extremely cold and felt heavy.
Then he knocked on the coffin lid and then pushed it hard.
However, such a heavy coffin did not move at all.
strangeness!
How weird!
Why did such a strange coffin appear out of nowhere?
bite!
bite!
At this time, the yamen runners were still using hammers to chisel the big lock on the iron coffin.
Because they were afraid, they couldn't use their brute force correctly, and several of their hammers missed the target!
Only then did Xu Zun discover that there were three large locks on the iron coffin, each of which looked extremely exaggerated.
What is going on?
This is...are they afraid that the things in will run out?
He quickly searched his mind, thinking that this was some strange custom in this world. But after searching through all the related memories in his mind, he found no relevant information at all.
It's an iron coffin, and it's locked. What the hell is going on?
What's in here?
Suddenly, a scene from an American TV series flashed through Xu Zun's mind. He wondered if there was a zombie locked inside the coffin? Would the zombie come out and bite people as soon as the coffin lid was opened?
The key point is, this thing is so heavy, how was it transported to the bridge?
Thinking of this, Xu Zun looked at the ground nearby.
He thought that such a heavy object would be difficult to reach with human power alone, so it must have been carried here by large means of transportation such as a horse-drawn carriage, right?
Apart from the stone bridge, the paths on both sides are muddy dirt roads. Such a heavy carriage passing by would inevitably leave deep ruts.
So Xu Zun went down the bridge to check.
When he lowered his head and looked carefully, he found that although there were many traces of traffic on the ground, there was no particularly deep or obvious rut.
No way?
Is this a ghost?
Xu Zun looked up at the mountains, then at the sky, and began to wonder if the coffin had fallen from the sky?
"Master Xu..." Zhao Yu came up to him and asked, "What are you doing? Are you wondering where this coffin came from?"
Xu Zun nodded.
"That's right!" Zhao Yu murmured, "If such a large coffin were carried here on a carriage, wouldn't it be too conspicuous? How could no one notice it?
"Besides," he pointed to the distance and said, "this road is the only way to the mountain pass. There are many people on the road, so it's impossible that no one saw it!"
There was deep fear in Zhao Yu's eyes. It was obvious that in their opinion, this coffin was not made by human power but must have been caused by a demon.
"Captain Zhao," Xu Zun asked, "I'm just wondering, if County Magistrate Luo and Chief Clerk Liu know about this case, why have I never heard them talk about it?"
"Well, let alone the two of them, even the people of Xinye County don't dare to speak carelessly!" Zhao Yu explained, "Just think about it, a strange iron coffin plus 37 lives, in the end the case was not solved, the county magistrate was dismissed, and the county lieutenant was exiled, who would dare to talk nonsense?"
"Oh..." Xu Zun understood. No wonder he had never heard of it before.
"Everyone knows it tacitly and keeps it a secret," Zhao Yu continued, "Firstly, they are afraid that there really are ghosts and gods causing trouble, and secondly, they are also afraid that the higher-ups will hear some rumors and fear that they will be implicated!"
"Oh..." Xu Zun pondered for a moment and said, "You said 37 people died last time. Who were they?"
"I don't know, but they are not from Xinye County!" Zhao Yu replied, "Besides, they are all young and middle-aged people, with no elderly or..."
As a result, before Zhao Yu could finish his words, he heard a loud clattering sound of metal falling to the ground.
Turning around, he saw that the three big locks had been smashed open by the yamen runners.
However, seeing the big lock being smashed open, the yamen runners were not happy but sad, because they were about to face a more difficult and more terrifying task - opening the coffin!!!
