Volume 2: Female Corpse in Monk's Clothes Chapter 79: The Monk-robed Killer (Part 2)
Just as Xu Zun and the other man finished listening to Ju Ran's story and began to analyze the case, the officials, constables, and coroners at the gate of Shangyuan City Yamen had already entered the scene.
Everyone was shocked when they saw the female corpse in monk's clothes reappear in Shangyuan City.
Ju Ran had no choice but to start directing the work in front of Xu Zun and the others. He first asked the detectives to survey the scene and look for suspicious traces, and then arranged for the coroner to handle and transport the body.
The detectives searched the surroundings for a long time but found no suspicious traces.
There is no way, the body has been dead for a long time and there was a heavy snow during that time.
Now, with the snow melting, the road has become muddy, and coupled with the fact that a large group of people had come in and trampled on it before, the scene has been severely damaged.
At this moment, watching the coroners carefully handling the corpse, Xu Zun and others continued the previous topic.
"My Lord must be worried that Miss Lu was also kidnapped by this monk-robed killer," Zhao Yu said first. "If it was really this cold-blooded killer, it would be worse than being kidnapped. It's too scary!"
"It shouldn't be..." Ju Ran frowned and gave his analysis, "As far as I know, the targets of the monk killer are all prostitutes around 20 years old!
“And Miss Lu from the Marquis’s family doesn’t fit the profile at all.
"In addition," Ju Ran continued, "according to the last case of the female corpse in monk's clothing, the murderer always killed the people he captured on the spot, instead of first capturing all the people he wanted to kill and then killing them one by one.
"Also, Miss Lu has been missing for five days. Based on my understanding of the monk killer, he will not wait for five days."
"That being said..." Zhao Yu was worried, "But things have changed, and who can guarantee that the murderer will still kill according to the standards of ten years ago?
"Who knows if Miss Lu has been killed and her body has not been found yet? This is really worrying!"
"Indeed," Ju Ran said, "I guess the Marquis didn't show excessive worry in public just now, probably because he wanted to save face for Lord Taimin.
"It's impossible for him not to know about the case of the female corpse in monk's clothing, and it's impossible for him not to worry about Miss Lu..."
"So," Xu Zun pointed to the female corpse that had been carried on a stretcher in the distance, "the identity of this female victim is particularly important!"
"Yes!" Ju Ran understood what Xu Zun meant, " As long as we can find out the identity of the deceased and prove that she is a prostitute, the probability of Miss Lu being captured by the monk killer will be greatly reduced.
"Please rest assured, sir," he assured Xu Zun, "As soon as the body is transported back to the charity cemetery, I will immediately send people to draw a shadow map, post notices, compare the missing persons, and find the identity of the deceased.
"As long as the deceased is a resident of Shangyuan City, we can definitely find out!"
"Yes," Zhao Yu suggested, "You can also call all the prostitutes in Shangyuan City to identify the person. Maybe it will be more efficient!"
"Yes, but..." Ju Ran clasped his fists to Xu Zun again, "Sir Xu, the case of the female corpse in monk's clothing has a great impact. If people knew that the case of the female corpse in monk's clothing reappeared in Shangyuan City, it would probably cause panic! So..."
"I understand," Xu Zun nodded, "Especially when the young lady of the Marquis' Mansion is missing, we can't make it too public. How about this, whether it's posting notices or identifying the body, we have to keep it secret!"
"Your Excellency is wise," Ju Ran bowed, "I will also instruct the government officials to keep the secret strictly."
"Captain Ju," Xu Zun said with a bitter smile, "You should know very well that keeping a secret is just like covering one's ears and stealing a bell. The people in the Marquis' Mansion and the army have seen the body just now. It is impossible to keep this secret!"
"This..." Ju Ran looked worried.
“So,” Xu Zun said, “the right thing for us to do is to find the murderer as soon as possible.
“According to your description, the murderer killed four women in just two months. At this rate , it won’t be long before the next victim appears!
"So, we'd better catch him before he strikes again, then we can figure out everything!"
"This..." Ju Ran said in embarrassment, "Sir, you can see that this Huguo Temple is quite remote. If we hadn't found an eyewitness ten years ago, it would have been difficult to solve the case!
"Besides, we might have arrested the wrong person..." He blamed himself with regret, "It's really ironic that I got the name of the detective because of this case."
"Captain Ju, don't blame yourself so much," Xu Zun said, "Let me ask you, do you still have the case files from that year?"
"Yes!" Ju Ran answered, and then added, "However, you might as well ask me instead of looking at the files. I've said before that no one knows this case better than me!"
"Okay," Xu Zun said, "Then I will ask you a few questions. First, according to the confession of the monk Liankong, did he mention why he killed so many people?"
"Of course," Ju Ran replied, "They said that according to the verses in the Magnetic Compassion Sutra, they wanted to help those women to attain rebirth!"
"Oh? So evil!" Xu Zun frowned deeply, "Why did you cut open their stomachs?"
"He said that he wanted to cleanse his internal organs in order to wash away his sins and help him pass away!" Ju Ran replied, "For this purpose, he also said a lot of incomprehensible Sanskrit, which cannot be recorded in the book."
this……
Xu Zun cursed in his heart, isn't this a typical case of mental illness?
"You said he could translate Buddhist scriptures," Xu Zun thought for a moment and asked, "So he is not from the Central Plains?"
"No, " Ju Ran replied, "I have checked Liankong's background. He grew up in Huguo Temple and has no relatives.
"The reason why he was able to translate Buddhist scriptures was because in the past there were often eminent monks from the Western Regions who would preach in the temple. He was intelligent and studious, and was good at languages. He not only learned Sanskrit, but also learned several special Sanskrit languages.
“Because of this, he had a very high status in the temple, had his own separate residence, and was even selected as a candidate for abbot several times.
"Back then, I read the Buddhist scriptures he translated. The text there is indeed an extremely rare scripture, not the Sanskrit that we often see."
"This monk..." Xu Zun thought, "He is really not a simple person! He has such profound knowledge, but he chose to commit such a heinous crime. It is really hard to understand."
"Yes," Ju Ran said, "According to the monks in the temple, Lian Kong is usually taciturn and gentle, and has never quarreled with anyone. No one dared to believe that he would be the monk killer!"
"Then...what about women?" Zhao Yu interjected.
"No, he has never shown any abnormality towards women," Ju Ran replied, "So, I also thought at the time, maybe we arrested the wrong person?
"For this reason, I really checked it again, but there is no doubt in his description of the crime, and..." Ju Ran recalled, and said, "This monk Liankong did have contact with the four dead people!"
"oh?"
Xu Zun opened his eyes wide, then he remembered that he had not had time to ask in detail about the circumstances of the deceased.
"The four dead were all prostitutes from the city's major brothels," Ju Ran said, "Although they were all prostitutes, they had one thing in common, which was that they often came to the Huguo Temple to burn incense and pray for blessings.
"According to Lian Kong himself, he targeted these women when they were burning incense!
"He said that he could see the sins of these women's reincarnation in the next life, and in order to save them from the suffering of reincarnation, he wanted to liberate them in advance..."