Volume 1 Zhangqiao Iron Coffin Chapter 24 The Taoist's Identity
"Ah?" Xu Zun was surprised and asked hurriedly, "Do you know him?"
"I don't know him!" Huo Anu shook his head seriously, and then explained seriously, "Quanxinye County only has a small Taoist temple in Qijiawu in the back mountain. I have seen a Taoist priest there. I guess he must be him, right?"
Qijiawu?
Xu Zun recalled his memories and found that Qijiawu was an abandoned town in the back mountain.
The town was originally close to a reservoir and had shipping facilities, but later the reservoir dried up and the town was abandoned. It has been deserted for twenty or thirty years.
I didn’t expect that there was a Taoist temple there?
"Yes, the more I look at it, the more it resembles him!" Huo Anu pointed at the corpse and said, "I was on a business trip to another county, and I took a shortcut through Qijiawu, and I happened to see this Taoist priest!"
"Oh? When?" Xu Zun asked.
"About half a year ago? Seven months ago to be exact," Huo Anu recalled, "Changsheng Temple sounds nice, but it's actually just a few earthen houses halfway up the mountain, and several of them have collapsed!
“Although that man was wearing a Taoist robe, it was very tattered and looked no different from beggars. I felt pity for him when I saw him living alone in the Taoist temple, so I gave him a few coins!
"That man took the money but didn't say thank you or say anything. Does he seem to have some mental problems?"
"Oh?" Xu Zun asked again, "Are you sure it's this person?"
"I told you I wasn't sure!" Huo Anu said impatiently, "It was so dark and he had a big beard, why did I look so carefully?
"However, apart from the Changsheng Temple in Qijiawu, there is no other Taoist temple in the entire Xinye County. Who else could it be if not him?"
“Tsk tsk…”
Xu Zun smacked his lips and sighed. Through the autopsy, he learned that the Taoist priest was indeed skinny and poorly dressed, which was exactly the same as Huo Anu's description.
He couldn't help but frown, feeling that the case was becoming more and more confusing. If the person who died in the iron coffin was really the Taoist priest in Changsheng Temple, then this case would be even more bizarre!
Murderer, what was your intention in killing a Taoist priest who lived alone in a Taoist temple and was no different from a beggar?
Was it just a random selection, or... was the identity of this Taoist priest not simple?
"Xu Tan... um... Young Master, oh... Sir," Huo Anu changed the address several times, and finally changed it to Sir, saying, "Is it the person I mentioned? Let's go over and take a look, won't we know? Although it's not close, it will take two hours to get there!"
Xu Zun calculated the time. Two hours later, it was already midnight! Wouldn't he have to stay up all night when he came back?
Besides, the mountain road is difficult to travel on. It doesn’t seem very safe in the middle of the night, right?
However, if it is really that Taoist priest, this trip seems worthwhile. There might be important clues to the iron coffin case in the Changsheng Temple.
Of course, it is also more ...
Having made up his mind, Xu Zun was not in a hurry to set off because the body had not yet been examined.
Unexpectedly, when he took off the Taoist's clothes, he and Huo Anu were both surprised!
But seeing that the Taoist priest's body was covered with scars was really shocking, including cuts, burns, and many penetrating wounds!
Among them, two toes showed signs of being sewn together, as if they were mostly cut off and then sewn together again!
Moreover, all these scars were old injuries, caused by the Taoist during his lifetime.
"No way?" Huo Anu frowned, "Is this guy a masochist?"
"It's possible, but..." Xu Zun pointed at the deep marks on the wrists of the corpse and said, "In my opinion, this person may have been tortured before!"
"Oh? You mean, it was done by someone else?" Huo Anu pouted, "How miserable! Was it a prisoner?"
"Whether he is a prisoner or not," Xu Zun said meaningfully, "this person's identity must be something special!"
Huo Anu also nodded in agreement, and also felt that this case was too unusual.
At this moment, she could no longer care about anything else. She immediately pinched the neck of the deceased and said to Xu Zun:
"I see that this person's neck is intact. He must have died of poisoning, right?"
"Yes," Xu Zun agreed, "these two people were poisoned by the same poison, but their causes of death were different. One was poisoned, and the other had his neck broken."
"This old man..." Huo Anu said as he looked at Liu Zhang's body, "It seems he has a secret too!"
After examining the two bodies, the two men re-examined the bodies of You Dalang and Chun Niang.
The cause of Chunniang's death is relatively clear. It is obvious that she died at the hands of You Dalang, so there is no need for further verification.
However, the cause of You Dalang's death remains to be discussed.
“Yo…” Looking at the tragic corpse of Youdalang, Huo Anu couldn’t help but say, “Atunakobbi, Salilaichika!”
"..." Xu Zun wiped his sweat and asked, "Can you speak Mandarin, sister?"
"Is You Dalang really dead?" Huo Anu sighed, "So tragic? If it weren't for this head, I would have almost not recognized him."
"What?" Xu Zun glared, "Do you think I lied to you?"
Looking at Huo Anu with a look of surprise, and then at You Dalang's body, Xu Zun suddenly had an idea in his mind.
"Come, come," he stood in front of a pillar in the hall, turned his back to Huo Anu and said, "If you are the murderer, can you let me die like You Dalang?"
"Well... it's easy! Of course I can do it!" Huo Anu looked at the scene, immediately grabbed Xu Zun's neck with one hand, and actually slammed his head against the pillar!
"Wipe it, slowly, slowly..." Xu Zun waved his arms and struggled, but he felt his feet were already off the air. He was so scared that he screamed and quickly covered his face with his hands.
call……
The wind was howling, and just when his forehead was about to touch the pillar, Huo Anu finally stopped!
Whoosh… Whoosh…
Xu Zun was breathing heavily and his face turned green!
"Biao... Biao?" Xu Zun complained, "I just asked you to pretend!"
"No... No way..." Unexpectedly, Huo Anu shook his head in confusion and said, "Your arm is in the way! I have to hold your arm , and I have to catch you by surprise!"
"Okay, let's go for it!" Xu Zun straightened his clothes and said, "Do it again, this time first tie my hands behind my back, then hit me!"
"Okay!" Huo Anu reached out to grab Xu Zun's arm without hesitation.
"Stop! Wait a minute! S top!!!"
At the critical moment, Xu Zun suddenly remembered the tragic scene of You Dalang's broken arms, and said to himself, this Hu Niu is too ruthless. If she breaks my arms again, it will be a big trouble. So he quickly stopped her.
"Tsk, so boring!" Huo Anu pouted angrily.
However, after all this trouble, Xu Zun suddenly discovered an important detail.
He felt a burning pain on the back of his neck, obviously from being grabbed by Huo Anu just now.
In other words, no matter how the murderer tries to make You Dalang hit a wall, he must grab his neck!
Neck...
He quickly ran to You Dalang's body and turned it over.
Wow!?
But there was actually an obvious scratch on You Dalang's neck!
Before, as early as when You Dalang died, Xu Zun had already checked this place, but the person had just died at that time, so no traces were visible.
Now that time has passed, the scratches have also appeared.
So...
Xu Zun felt his heartbeat quicken and his blood get hot. He was now finally certain that You Dalang had died of - homicide!!!
Why?
Unexpectedly, after Huo Anu's "neck massage", Xu Zun was surprised to find that his lost memory was miraculously restored!
He finally remembered what happened in You Dalang's house before Chunniang died...
