Volume 1 Zhangqiao Iron Coffin Chapter 27 An Unusual Discovery
Snap...
After the fire was lit, Xu Zun lit a torch, entered the ruins first and began to survey the scene.
The Taoist temple was already in a state of disrepair, and most of the rooms had already collapsed, so it seemed that there was no need for fire at all.
Xu Zun saw that even a big tree in the yard was burned to charcoal.
There are only tiled houses here. For the fire to be so big, it must have been arson!
He looked carefully and found that there was only one house that could be lived in before the fire, so he went straight into the house through the burnt door.
The house was burned thoroughly, and there was almost nothing left except a few piles of ashes.
Xu Zun smelled a strong smell of tar, which made him more certain that it was caused by human beings.
"It's so dirty," Huo Anu stood at the door and didn't want to come in, "My new clothes are dirty and I can't wash them out!"
"Okay, then don't come in ," Xu Zun instructed, "Keep watch outside. Tell me if the detectives come."
"Okay!" Huo Anu wanted more than anything else.
Xu Zun used the branches he had prepared in advance to look through the wreckage and found that what was burnt were probably some daily necessities.
The house is not big and can be seen almost at a glance.
Xu Zun soon noticed that there was an extremely narrow doorway at the deepest part of the house, leading to another room inside.
What was strange was that there was a pile of ashes in front of the doorway, as if something there had been burned by a fire.
At first, he thought there had been a door on the doorway and the ashes were left by the door, but after observing the shape again and again, he felt that it was more like a piece of furniture such as a cabinet.
strangeness!
If this was a doorway, then what was the purpose of blocking it with a cabinet before?
Thinking of this, Xu Zun quickly entered the doorway. When the firelight shone on him, his face suddenly tightened.
But the walls here were empty, the whole house was charred, but there was no burnt ash or debris on the ground.
Why?
There's nothing in this room, why use fire?
This was an extremely small and dark hut. One could touch the roof with one's arms outstretched. There were no windows around it, and it looked more like a cave.
It’s unbelievable. What did the murderer want to do?
Xu Zun walked around the house several times, thinking there might be a secret passage or mechanism, but he found nothing after searching for a long time.
No, no…
Xu Zun thought that the murderer went to great lengths to burn down the Taoist temple, he must be trying to cover up something!
Um……
Why?
Suddenly, Xu Zun had an idea.
He ignored the charred ashes and wiped the wall with his sleeves.
After wiping it, something suddenly appeared on the wall. It was actually a word -!
No, not one word, but many words!
Moreover, there were messy scratches on the words.
oh……
There are words on the wall!
Did the murderer set fire to cover up the writing?
"Hey, Xu Xiaotan, come out quickly!" Unexpectedly, at this critical moment, Huo Anu's call suddenly came from outside, "They are coming!"
well!
What a bad time!
In desperation, Xu Zun could only leave the room and put out the torch.
Looking out into the dark night, you can see a faint movement of fire in the distance.
Upon seeing this, the two men immediately left the Taoist temple and found a place that was more easily observed and hidden.
After a while, Zhao Yu and several detectives came closer.
"It's over, it's over, it's over..." Upon seeing the tragic situation in the Taoist temple, Zhao Yu was the first to shout "It's over" several times!
"What's going on?" The detectives were also shocked and disappointed. "Why was it burned by fire?"
However, after some discussion, Zhao Yu, who was more experienced, immediately said the same thing as Xu Zun:
"Because of the fire , it is more confirmed that the Taoist priest in Changsheng Temple is the one lying in the coffin! Come on, guys," he ordered, "Let's go in and look for anything else. What if there are other bodies?"
The detectives didn't say much. They immediately organized their torches and entered the Taoist temple one by one to search.
After searching around, like Xu Zun, they all agreed that only that small house could be lived in, so they began to search it intensively...
"Hey," Huo Anu poked Xu Zun and muttered in a low voice, "Isn't this all normal? Where are the spies?"
Xu Zun ignored her and stared at the hut, wanting to know whether the detectives could find the words on the wall.
After waiting for about a minute or two, excited shouts were heard in the cabin.
oh?
Xu Zun's mind moved. It seemed that they must have discovered the text.
However, something unexpected happened to Xu Zun. He heard a constable in the house shouting, "Captain Zhao, come and take a look. This should be a piece of jade, right?!"
What!?
Hearing this, Xu Zun was the first to lean forward, feeling incredible.
"What are you talking about? With such a big fire, the jade must have melted long ago, right?" Zhao Yu's voice came from inside the house, "Let me see!"
As he was speaking, Zhao Yu walked out of the house holding something, with a constable beside him holding a torch for him.
Zhao Yu rubbed the thing in his hand vigorously and said in surprise: "Niangniang Xiong, this is really weird, huh? It's really a piece of jade!"
"Be careful, be careful," the constable holding the torch warned, "The jade has been burned off. It's... It's a jade pendant, right?"
Listening to the other party's discussions, Xu Zun felt his heart beating faster and his blood boiling.
He had clearly searched the ruins just now. If there really was a jade pendant, how could he not have found it?
Also, with such a big fire, is it true that the jade pendant cannot be burned?
He reviewed his chemistry knowledge and vaguely remembered that the melting point of jade was around 2000 degrees.
However, he didn't know whether the fire in the Taoist temple could reach over 2,000 degrees?
"Xu Zun," Huo Anu changed his address again this time and said to Xu Zun, "If there is no problem, let's go over and take a look. They are all your men anyway, and that thing might be very important!"
Xu Zun immediately waved his hand, meaning that they had already lied, and it would be difficult to explain if they went out now, and it would arouse the suspicion of the traitor.
Next, the detectives discussed the jade pendant again. Zhao Yu said that they could not identify it and they would find someone who knew about it to take a look tomorrow.
"Captain Zhao," one of the detectives said, "With this jade pendant, we can report to our county lieutenant tomorrow. Let's pack up now? We can still get some sleep when we get home!"
"Yes, this place is so small, why bother searching?" said another, "If our foolish county lieutenant doesn't want to, why not let him come and check it himself?"
After hearing the term "confused county lieutenant", Huo Anu couldn't help but laugh.
"No," Zhao Yu said seriously, "Haven't you noticed that our foolish county lieutenant seems to have become a little smarter recently?
"Besides, we are not all here for him. This case is so serious that we must not be careless. Search the house inside and out again! Be careful!"
The detectives had no choice but to disperse again and conduct a second search of the Changsheng Temple.
Seeing Zhao Yu enter the room, the two young detectives outside started talking again.
This one said, "Humph, you've become smarter! Even if our foolish master found a hundred clues, he couldn't solve such a big case!"
"Yes," another echoed, "The iron coffin has reappeared. I think his career as an official has come to an end..."
