Volume 1 Zhangqiao Iron Coffin Chapter 31: Concealing the Truth
What?
Luo Baiwan's words surprised everyone.
"That is to say..." Zhao Yu was the first to speculate, "The person in the iron coffin was not a dead person, but a living person? It's impossible for a dead person to urinate and defecate, right?"
"Of course," Luo Baiwan said, "If there was a dead person inside, why would the murderer come to rob it?"
"That's right..." Zhao Yu scratched his head, "Killing 37 people just to grab a corpse is really unacceptable!"
"A living person... is lying in an iron coffin?" County Magistrate Qiu's eyes lit up and he guessed, "Could it be... that this iron coffin is not a coffin, but... a prisoner's car!?"
"Yes," Zhao Yu agreed immediately, "This way, everything makes sense! The murderer killed people in order to get the prisoner back in the iron coffin, but...but..."
After saying just two sentences, Zhao Yu couldn't continue!
At the same time, other people's discussions also came to an abrupt halt.
Because everyone thought of an important question:
[What kind of person would use an iron coffin as a prison vehicle? ]
First of all, the prison car has a fixed scope of use and only government officials will use it!
However, the government had special prison vehicles to transport prisoners, and they were escorted by soldiers.
If this coffin was really used to transport prisoners, then there is only one possibility - to conceal it from the public!
Or, the prisoners being escorted are not allowed to be seen in public and are not convenient for outsiders to know about.
Or, the people escorting the prisoners are afraid of being discovered by the government!
But this will lead to a more important problem. Even if the iron coffin is really a prison car, wouldn't it be more convenient to use an ordinary coffin? Why use an extremely heavy iron coffin?
Therefore, the theory that the iron coffin is a prison car is completely untenable.
"In my opinion..." At this time, Master Yao Jin, who had been silent, said, "The 37 dead people were all young and strong, and there was a secret hidden in the iron coffin. This situation is very much like a secret escort!"
"Why?"
Yao Jin's guess finally brought everyone back on track.
This time, Zhao Yu didn't dare to express his opinions and quickly shut his mouth.
"Hmm... that makes some sense!" Luo Baiwan nodded, "At the beginning, Liu Zhubu and I also had such a guess.
“Could it be that the iron coffin contains rare treasures, and those dead people in mourning are all escorts?
"Unfortunately, this batch of treasures was robbed. The feces in the iron coffin might have been left there by the robbers on purpose to humiliate the escort?"
"Hmm..." Qiu Yongnian nodded, "That does make more sense! Or maybe they were transporting some special items that needed to be protected by metal, so they specially built an iron coffin!"
"Oh, now that you mention it," Zhao Yu said innocently, "it's possible that what's inside is some kind of ferocious animal! Those feces and urine can't necessarily be human, right?"
Zhao Yu's words immediately attracted everyone's surprised gazes.
Feeling that he was being a little outrageous, Zhao Yu's face suddenly turned red with shame.
"Actually, what Captain Zhao said... may not be wrong," said Magistrate Qiu. "Don't forget that there is a partition in the iron coffin. Even the partition is made of iron, so it is not unreasonable to put a big snake, a python, or a ferocious beast that can gnaw wood in it, right?"
"That's right, that's right, that's what I meant!" Zhao Yu's face turned even redder. He knew that Qiu Yongnian was just trying to help him out and that his idea was too fantastic.
"Hey? Jiying?" At this moment, Qiu Yongnian finally noticed Xu Zun and asked immediately, "We have been talking for a long time, why don't you express your opinion?"
"Me?" Xu Zun straightened up hastily and said, "I see you guys are having a good discussion, but I can't get a word in!"
This time, he learned from his experience and pretended to be confused and bewildered, not daring to be too smart again.
Seeing Xu Zun's performance, County Magistrate Naluo frowned slightly, revealing a look of contempt.
He usually looked down on Xu Zun, a confused young man, but because of Shen Tiande's power, he had to agree.
Now seeing that Xu Zun was as confused as ever, he naturally did not take him seriously.
"Hmm..." Qiu Yongnian didn't bother with Xu Zun anymore and immediately asked everyone, "Now that we already know a little bit about what happened back then, what is the purpose of the iron coffin reappearing this time?"
"Yes, this is the crux of the matter!" Luo Baiwan nodded, "If the murderer had succeeded last time, why did he put the iron coffin in Zhangqiao the second time?
"Moreover..." Thinking of this, his expression darkened again, "He also killed Liu Zhubu and put him in a coffin..."
"Is it..." the lawyer Yao Jin interrupted, "What does Liu Zhubu have to do with the last case?"
"Nonsense!" County Magistrate Luo got angry and scolded, "I know Liu Zhubu best. He is an upright and meticulous person. How could he have anything to do with those thieves?"
"Yes, yes, yes..." Yao Jin realized that he had said something wrong and apologized quickly.
"Oh, there is a Taoist priest in the coffin!" Xu Zun finally spoke and asked Zhao Yu, "Captain Zhao, you said yesterday that the Taoist priest was from Qijiawu, how is the investigation going?"
"Oh!" Zhao Yu hurriedly stood up and reported the situation of Changsheng Temple to everyone.
When everyone learned that the Changsheng Temple had been burned down by fire, they were all very surprised and felt that the case became even more confusing.
"Oh, right," Zhao Yu took out a yellowed jade pendant from his arms, handed it to Xu Zun, and said, " Sir, please take a look. This jade pendant was picked up from the ruins of the Taoist temple. I wonder if it has anything to do with the identity of that Taoist?"
Xu Zun took the jade pendant and found that there were indeed signs of fire on it, and the hollow part of the upper part was broken.
There was no text on the front of the jade pendant, only a very strange symbol engraved on it, which looked like a ferocious evil ghost!
Looking at the back, there are some cloud patterns, but the workmanship is very fine.
Xu Zun searched his memory but found nothing. It was obvious that he had never seen anything like it before.
"let me see!"
At this time, County Magistrate Luo asked for the jade pendant impatiently.
Xu Zun handed it to him. At the same time, County Magistrate Qiu, Yao Jin and others also came forward and examined it carefully together.
"This..." County Magistrate Luo seemed to be quite knowledgeable about jade. After carefully examining the jade pendant, he said, "This should be an ancient jade. It is definitely worth a lot! But... I have never seen the pattern on it before!"
"It seems..." Qiu Yongnian also frowned and said, "This is not something from Taoism, right?"
"Yes," said County Magistrate Luo, "This kind of talisman painting is a bit like the style of the Japanese in the East China Sea, but I'm not sure. I need to find an expert to take a look. You can ask Old Li at the pawnshop!"
Japanese?
The first thing Xu Zun thought of was a certain island country. Could it be that there was a similar country in this world?
"Master Qiu," County Magistrate Luo said to Qiu Yongnian at this time, "We don't have much time left. We must find out the truth before the higher-ups arrive, even if it's just some important clues!
"Otherwise, we will all be in trouble!" He glanced at Xu Zun and emphasized, "Especially... the county lieutenant!"
There was clearly some gloating in County Magistrate Luo's words.
Since the county lieutenant was mainly responsible for criminal cases in the county, Xu Zun was the first to bear the brunt of the consequences. If he failed to solve the case, he would definitely be punished.
"Um……"
Qiu Yongnian was about to say a few words on behalf of Xu Zun, but unexpectedly Xu Zun stood up from his chair and said:
"Master Luo, don't worry! I already know how to investigate this case!"
