Volume 2: Female Corpse in Monk's Clothes Chapter 134: Is it important?
On the official road, flags were flying and a large group of people continued to advance towards Wude City.
In Xu Zun's carriage, Timur Ani seemed a little restless. She first looked out the window, then looked at Ku Niang who was silent in the carriage, and Xiwa who was sleeping in Ku Niang's arms.
Finally, he couldn't help it, so he opened the curtain and asked the coachman Liu Dong: "Brother Liu, why haven't I seen Lord Xu and the other three for a long time?"
"Oh..." Liu Dong looked back at Ani and said, "It seems that they went to the front to discuss something with the governor. It is said that they will stay at Chongtian Temple for one night to investigate something..."
"Really?" Ani asked doubtfully, "I seemed to have seen the governor and his men just now, but Lord Xu wasn't with him?"
"Don't worry," Liu Dong said with a smile, "Maybe he went to Chongtian Temple in advance? Lord Xu has always been elusive, so don't worry, you can see him at night..."
"Oh..." Ani responded, but her face was still full of doubts, as if she was uneasy...
At the same time, in the northeast of Shangyuan City, there was a small town called Lidian.
Xu Zun, Zhao Yu and Huo Anu were asking questions at a house.
An old man said helplessly: "Sir, it has been three years and the government has not paid any attention to our case. There is no news from my daughter. You must make a decision for us old couple!"
"Of course, otherwise we wouldn't be questioning you today," Xu Zun asked, "Tell us, how did Chen Jiao get lost?"
"What do you mean lost? She must have been kidnapped!" the old man said with a sad face. "She was sleeping at home at night, and when I woke up in the morning, the child was gone. How could she be lost?"
"Yes, yes," the old lady next to me said with tears in her eyes, "She was in the same bed with me. She was fine at night, but disappeared at dawn. No matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find her!
"My poor child, I don't know how she is doing now... wuwu..."
Um……
Xu Zun pondered for a while, as if he had thought of something, and then asked: "Let me ask you something, is your Chen Jiao very beautiful?"
"Yes, yes!" The old man nodded, "I'm not bragging. Although she is only 10 years old, there is no other girl prettier than her in this area."
"The key point is," the old lady agreed, "my Jiaojiao is not only beautiful, but also smart. She can memorize such a thick book after reading it a few times..."
After questioning the old man, Xu Zun and the other two said goodbye and walked out, chatting as they walked.
"Sir, from this point of view, Chen Jiao from Lidian, Damei from Chengdong, Xiaohuabian from Guancun, and other missing girls are all beautiful girls!" Zhao Yu said.
"Not only are they beautiful," Huo Anu agreed, "but they are all smart and clever. They are all 18-year-old girls. I can't imagine what those who kidnapped them will do to them."
"Oh, right, that girl from Yuanzhou, Ani, and Lu Xiaofeng," Zhao Yu seemed to have thought of something important, and his voice was extremely excited, "They both seem to meet these conditions, right? Could it be that... they were all sold to perverts at high prices like them and became their slaves..."
Listening to the two people's discussion, Xu Zun fell into deep thought.
"What you said does make sense," Huo Anu continued to comment, "It seems that we really need to investigate that Ani!
"Maybe the people who kidnapped her are the same group that kidnapped the missing girl from Shangyuan City!"
"Yes, Lord Xu," Zhao Yu asked, "What should we do next? I'm afraid the large group of troops has already arrived at Ligu Town?"
"It's really too difficult," Huo Anu said with deep regret, "We are involved in the case. I'm afraid it will be difficult to find out the truth about the girl's disappearance, right?"
At this moment, the three of them had already strolled onto the official road. If they faced north, they could catch up with the large group of people; if they faced south, they could return to Shangyuan City.
Standing at the intersection, Xu Zun first looked around, then took out a booklet from his sleeve and handed it to Zhao Yu and Huo Anu.
"This..." The two of them opened it and looked through it. Zhao Yu asked , "Is this a city defense map? Sir, what do you mean by this?"
"This thing..." Huo Anu asked, "Did that Ran Lin give it to you?"
"Yes," Xu Zun nodded, "This is what I asked Ran Lin to investigate. It is because of it that I now know where those missing girls are!"
"ah!!?"
Zhao Yu looked through the atlas again, but saw only maps and some drawings on it, and he couldn't understand what they meant at all.
"Sir?" Huo Anu asked anxiously, "Please don't keep me in suspense. Where is it?"
"In general," Xu Zun said, "this matter is all thanks to my godsister Lu Mingyue!
"In order to find Lu Xiaofeng, Lu Mingyue was willing to suffer and staged a good show of her own disappearance.
"Next, in order to find her, the Marquis, together with the government and the military camp, launched a carpet search inside and outside Shangyuan City, searching almost every corner inside and outside the city.
"This booklet records the search marking map at that time," Xu Zun pointed at the booklet and said, "You can see that every household, residential store, and even the barracks are included, but there are only three places that are not marked.
"This means that in the entire Shangyuan City, only these three places escaped the search."
"Three places..." Zhao Yu searched quickly, but Xu Zun had already given the answer.
"Marquis Changping's Mansion, Shangyuan County Government Office, and——Qinglan Temple!!!"
"Ah?" After the three answers came out, Zhao Yu and Huo Anu were inexplicably shocked and realized that the situation was not good.
"Lu Mingyue hid in the Changping Marquis Mansion, so she avoided the search." Xu Zun said, "Shangyuan County Office can naturally be ruled out, so... obviously we only have one answer left!"
"Wait!" Zhao Yu raised his hand and asked, "Sir, the county magistrate Taimin looked strange and his eyes were evasive. How could you know that there was no problem with the Shangyuan County Government?"
"This is easy," Xu Zun said, "because I've already checked it!"
" Yes." Huo Anu nodded in agreement.
"Oh..." Seeing Huo Anu nodded, Zhao Yu stopped talking, already understanding what it meant.
Xu Zun must have sent Huo Anu to monitor Taimin, or secretly searched the county government.
"Qinglan Temple," Xu Zun said, "I think we need to check this place out!"
“Sir,” Zhao Yu shuddered, “You should know that this place was opened by the Marquis’ mother, and the Queen Mother personally appointed the Qinglan Temple Master, and no man has entered since its establishment.
"How do you think we should investigate?"
"That's easy," Xu Zun said, "Why don't we just pretend to be women?"
"..." Zhao Yu's face turned eggplant color.
"Sir," Huo Anu said, "you have to think clearly, the Marquis of Changping is behind Qinglan Temple!"
"Yes, in order to find a dozen missing girls," Zhao Yu grinned, "Is it worth it?"
"I have thought about this question many times!" Xu Zun stood tall, looking into the distance, and said sternly, "If the missing girl is really related to Qinglan Temple, then Chongtian Temple must also be related to Qinglan Temple!
"It's possible that Chongtian Temple was just a discarded pawn, abandoned so that we would not continue to pursue the missing girl!" Xu Zun looked at the two of them, "Then think about it, Chongtian Temple is such a big Taoist temple that is like a cash cow, they would rather abandon it to keep the secret of the missing girl.
"What do you think, is the secret of this missing girl important?"
…
…