Pawn Crossing the River

Zhang Yuelu took a file from He Nian and opened it casually.

The name of the deceased was Jiao Dayan, a well-known local gentry. Because he was dead, his family did not conceal his birth date. This person was actually destined to commit the crime of Tiansha and Lone Star. He punished his wife and punished his son. Destroying daughters, punishing relatives and depriving friends, leaving six relatives unconnected, brothers lacking strength, marriage difficult, old age miserable and lonely. In the early years, the family will be rich. The middle-aged man will sell his land and be punished for his life. He will lose his son and his wife but still have to live with his father. He will have no one to help him with his time and will end up alone.

But I didn't expect that before the middle owner could be punished for selling his land, Jiao Dayan would be beheaded first.

Naturally, this kind of destiny has little merit, but for many ancient immortal believers, the souls of people with this kind of destiny are of great use and can please the ancient immortals. This also indirectly confirms Zhang Yuelu's speculation that Jiao Dayan's death is indeed related to the secret association.

According to the records, Jiao Dayan had just married his seventh concubine last month. However, less than half a month after the concubine entered the house, Jiao Dayan died tragically and had his head cut off.

The day after Jiao Dayan's death, the concubine disappeared, and Jiao Dayan spent the night in this concubine's room when he died. Therefore, Qingluan Wei suspected that this was a typical internal and external collaboration, and that the concubine was the accomplice.

Next is the relevant information about the concubine. This woman's surname is Hu, she is not a local, and she also has a husband. The reason why she married Jiao Dayan was because the couple happened to meet Jiao Dayan who was traveling when they passed by here. After Jiao Dayan saw the woman, he was so shocked that he suddenly had a strange idea and sent someone to stop the couple. Then there was coercion and inducement, forcing Hu's husband to sign a divorce letter, and naturally took Hu as a concubine.

Because of these causes and consequences, Qingluan Guard could not tell for a while whether the Hu family deliberately set up a trap and sneaked into the Jiao family, or whether the Hu family deliberately colluded with the bandits to kill Jiao Dayan for revenge.

Zhang Yuelu said thoughtfully: "This seems to be Ziguang Society's method."

Luo Xiao had left because he had other things to deal with, so only He Nian was following Zhang Yuelu at this time. After hearing Zhang Yuelu's words, He Nian asked: "The master means that this matter is related to the secret society. ?”

Zhang Yuelu nodded and closed the file in his hand.

Now, Jiao Dayan's death is of no importance. The key is to find out the group of ancient immortal believers hiding in secret and prevent them from causing greater harm.

Zhang Yuelu asked: "Have similar cases happened recently?"

He Nian thought for a moment and said: "There should be no similar cases in recent years."

Zhang Yuelu turned to look at He Nian: "Why did Baihu remember correctly?"

"I have been responsible for the documents of Baihu Office for more than ten years, and there has never been any mistakes. If there is a similar case, then I will not be unimpressed." He Nian replied very firmly.

Zhang Yuelu did not continue to ask, but instead asked: "Where are the people from Luo Baihu? Has such a case been reported to the Qianhu Office?"

He Niandao: "The adults of the Hundred Households should be signing the pledge house. To be honest with the Master, a governor recently was ordered to come down for inspection. The adults of the Hundred Households should make preparations in advance to avoid any mistakes. As for the Qianhu Office , We naturally reported it, but Master Qianhu also has to focus on this superior. When he can withdraw, it is not for us subordinates to comment. I hope the Master can understand. "

"Understood." Zhang Yuelu nodded and handed the file in his hand to He Nian's hand. "However, the matter is very important. I still want to see Luo Baihu. I also hope He Shibaihu can understand."

He Nian smiled bitterly and said: "Master..."

Zhang Yuelu walked straight out.

Only He Nian was left standing in the morgue holding the file.

Zhang Yuelu walked through the corridor and passed the hall. Among the hundreds of households, there were many Qingluan guardsmen who came and went. They were intimidated by her momentum. Although she looked unfamiliar, no one dared to stop her.

Zhang Yuelu came outside Luo Xiao's detention room and knocked on the door instead of barging in rudely.

After a while, the door of the custody room opened, and several captains left in a hurry, leaving only Luo Xiao.

Luo Xiao invited Zhang Yuelu who was outside the door into the custody room and asked, "I wonder if Master Zhang has any other advice?"

"Don't take it seriously." Zhang Yuelu said straight to the point, "I just want to ask a few questions."

Luo Xiao said: "Master Zhang, it's okay to ask. I will tell you everything I know."

Zhang Yuelu asked casually: "About how long has Luo Baihu been in charge of this place?"

Luo Xiao was startled and didn't quite understand why Zhang Yuelu asked this, but he still answered truthfully: "In less than a year. My predecessor is now Mr. Qianhu."

"I see." Zhang Yuelu asked again, "So only Qianhu and Shibaihu knew about many major and important cases in the past? 0"

Luo Xiao nodded and said: "That's right. He Shibaihu is the old man in the institute. He is responsible for taking charge of various files in the institute. If the mage wants to inquire about any case, just ask He Shibaihu."

Zhang Yuelu already understood in his heart.

If similar cases have occurred in recent years, the only insiders are the local Qingluan Guards Qianhu and He Nian of the Trial Hundreds. The two of them are fully capable of suppressing all such cases. As a newcomer, Luo Xiao has thousands of households, so he will only be manipulated by others.

If her guess is true, then He Nian is very suspicious.

However, Zhang Yuelu did not tell Luo Xiao about this speculation. On one side were his superiors and deputies, and on the other were the Taoist people he had just met. No one would rashly believe the latter and doubt the former. It might even be counterproductive and make Luo Xiao doubt him.

Zhang Yuelu then asked a few more irrelevant questions, all of which seemed to be related to secret societies, but in fact they were used to conceal his true intentions.

After half an hour, Zhang Yuelu said goodbye and left the holding room, looking up at the sky.

Before I knew it, dark clouds were already gathering.

At this moment, He Nian walked over unhurriedly. There was no file in his hand. Instead, he carried a jar of wine in his net bag and said to Luo Xiao who was in the custody room: "Master Baihu, Master Qianhu is here. , waiting for you in the front hall."

"Master Qianhu is here?" Luo Xiao was surprised and pushed the door open.

He Nian raised the wine in his hand and said, "It's a coincidence. Lord Qianhu just arrived. He saw me as soon as he entered Baihu House and asked me to prepare a jar of wine. He said it would be for later. I want to have a good drink with Lord Baihu.”

Luo Xiao didn't care about anything else, he apologized to Zhang Yuelu and hurried to the front hall.

Only Zhang Yuelu and He Nian were left here.

He Nian stood with the backlight, and although there was a smile on his face, it was a little dark.

Zhang Yuelu stood with her hands behind her hands, her expression indifferent, and she was not very afraid of the old man in front of her. What really worried her was Qi Xuansu who was going to Qingbai Temple alone.

…

Qi Xuansu didn't expect that he would be involved in such a bizarre and weird thing.

After he showed Bai Yongguan Zhang Yuelu's waist card, Bai Yongguan's attitude changed greatly and he agreed immediately, but he insisted on keeping Qi Xuansu in the temple to eat. He said that there happened to be an old fat pig in the temple and the meat was of high quality. , most suitable for entertaining guests.

After all, it was an invitation from a Taoist Priest of the Fourth Grade Wine Festival. Qi Xuansu couldn't refuse it, so he had no choice but to accept it.

At this moment, Bai Yongguan said that pig killing was a technical job and he wanted to supervise it personally, and asked Qi Xuansu to wait in front.

After that, Bai Yongguan ordered Bai Yue to prepare a banquet and went to the backyard of the Taoist temple himself.

Just when Qi Xuansu was suspicious, the host's wife Li Zhen'er appeared. She looked panicked and pale, as if she had been greatly frightened. She told Qi Xuansu a shocking secret. The "fat pig" Bai Yongguan talked about was actually It's not a pig, but Bai Yongguan's disciple Lu Yu.

The reason why Bai Yongguan wanted to turn his disciple Lu Yu into a fat pig and slaughter it for cooking was because Lu Yu had an affair with her, a master's wife.

After Qi Xuansu heard about this, you can imagine the shock in his heart. He didn't care how Bai Yongguan dealt with the adulterer. The key thing was what did you mean by killing the adulterer and using it to entertain guests? Did I provoke you?

Then, after the initial irritation, Qi Xuansu immediately smelled danger.

Putting aside many situations that cannot be put on the surface, the moral standards of Taoism on the surface are extremely high, such as abolishing the system of slaves and human trafficking, abolishing the system of polygamy and concubines, abolishing torture such as Lingchi Lianzuo, and not allowing the establishment of Courtyards and other romantic places, etc., strive to maximize the morality within the allowed range, making people in the Taoist sect proud of the Jade Capital and despise the Imperial Capital. They privately call the latter a barbaric place, and even think that many dignitaries in the Imperial Capital are uncivilized. man of.

In this context, some things cannot be weighed on the scale, and they are not as heavy as four or two. But if they are weighed on the scale, they are extremely important.

When it was exposed that a third-grade Youyi Taoist priest abused his servants, he was immediately ordered to resign from all positions and was demoted to a fourth-grade Taoist priest.

When Bai Yongguan cooked and killed his disciples, the cruelty of his methods and the bad impact far exceeded the killing itself. Even if the disciples were at fault, this was a serious crime that the Taoist sect could not tolerate. In other words, if Bai Yongguan only committed murder, the Taoist sect could still conclude that it was an extreme act caused by temporary anger. According to secular law, catching rape and killing is not guilty, and there is still room for change. But if it was a massacre, there is no other way to explain it.

Once word spreads, Bai Yongguan will probably have no chance to turn around, and may even face being arrested and interrogated by Beichen Hall.

Then Qi Xuansu's situation as an insider is very dangerous.

Qi Xuansu couldn't help but said: "Fellow Daoist Li, why are you telling me this?"

Li Zhener seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw: "Fellow Daoist Qi, you are from the ancestral court. He does not dare to do anything to you. Please take me away from here, otherwise he will definitely kill me."

Qi Xuansu smiled bitterly and said nothing.

If he didn't know anything, then Bai Yongguan really didn't dare to do anything to him. But if he knew the inside story, it would be completely different. Bai Yongguan would probably take risks and choose to kill people to silence him.

Qi Xuansu's mind raced and he tried hard to think of how to leave this place without leaving a trace.

At this moment, Bai Yongguan came back quietly, with a few unnoticeable blood stains on his Taoist robe.

Qi Xuansu's heart sank suddenly.

Bai Yongguan glanced at the pale Li Zhen'er and said softly: "Aren't you feeling uncomfortable? Why don't you go rest?"

Li Zhener was trembling and speechless.

Bai Yongguan looked at Qi Xuansu again with a smile on his face: "Keep Deacon Qi waiting, the pork has been cooked and will be ready to eat soon."

Qi Xuansu felt a chill rising behind him.