Jing Wan'er suddenly spoke up and said: "If you don't take us there, we'll directly ask to see the Abbot of Xuanlian."

  Xuan Tai, who was about to leave, suddenly stopped and turned around, staring at Jing Yuane.

  Jing Wan'er looked at him fearlessly.

  Xuan Tai coldly said: "If it's really you who disturbed Hui Gen's peace, Master will not forgive you."

  But it was just a hard mouth, Xuanlian personally promised them freedom of action, and Xuantai did not dare to disobey the master's order. Jing Wanyi took a look at Pei Tan, and the two immediately got up and followed Xuantai.

  A group of people rushed to the courtyard of that attic and saw that the door lock was intact, with no signs of being moved.

  Xuan Tai's face turned cold as he looked back at the little monk, "Who has the key?"

  Jing Wan'er's head throbbed again because she vaguely remembered that the lock was open when she came last night.

  But then these little monks looked even more strange, lowering their heads: "Senior brother, this door was locked by you personally, the key has been handed over to Master."

  Xuan Tai's face fell, his door was locked, and he didn't want to go find Xuan Lian for the key just because of this.

  Jing Wan's heart skipped a beat, could it be... wasn't she just seeing things last night in the dim light?

  Following Xuan Tai's little monk subconsciously said: "Master has been in poor spirits for the past few days and has been resting in the abbot's quarters."

  Xuan Tai looked at these monks: "Break the lock on the door, I want to see what's inside."

  The monks looked at each other in dismay, and even Pui To said: "Master Hsuan-tai, isn't this bad?"

  Jing Wan'er glanced over and was still thinking about last night's events. She didn't expect Xuan Tai to be so barbaric.

  Xuan Tai saw that no one dared to come forward, so he let out a hum from his nose and scanned the door lock with his eyes. Suddenly, he shouted lightly and grasped the long lock with his hand, pulling it open with all his might. The lock fell to the ground as if it had been brutally pulled open by him.

  Before others could react in shock, Xuan Tai immediately pushed open the door and stepped inside.

  Jing Wan'er and Pei Tan also paused for a moment before following closely behind.

  Inside it's still as empty as before, at a glance there's nothing unusual, only one staircase leading straight to the attic on the third floor.

  。

  Xuan Tai looked towards the attic.

  The little monk's voice trembled slightly: "Big brother, it's...it's right here."

  Where is the place of discovery of the clever spirit?

  Xuan Tai gave them a cold glance and said, "Follow me upstairs to take a look."

  As expected, the door lock upstairs was also locked. Xuan Tai raised his hand and shook it a few times, and the lock seemed to be quite sturdy.

  Arrived here, both doors were locked so tightly that there was no sign of being pried open. It's impossible for a mortal to enter, only ghosts are left?

  Xiao Sheng's voice trembled as he explained: "Since the incident two days ago, to ensure that no one else breaks in, all the locks on the attic have been replaced with new ones, and only Master has kept the keys." Upon hearing this, it became clear why the Wu Seng Temple had only sent one monk to guard this place - under these circumstances, it was impossible for anyone to sneak in.

  Jing Wan'er was just thinking whether to break this door open as well, when she saw him grasp the lock with one hand and, with a sudden burst of force, twist it open like a spring from the middle.

  Jing Wan'er took a deep breath. Even if she had planned it out beforehand, it wouldn't have been this smooth.

  Xuan Tai stared at the door and immediately reached out to push it open.

  Although he said he would no longer disturb Hui Gen's soul at rest, it is indeed true that the world is full of unexpected events.

  The familiar scene was once again revealed in front of Jing Wanyi and Pei Tan. The difference was that on the bed opposite, there was no longer the corpse that had shocked them for the first time, only a dark red bloodstain could be seen on the bedding.

  Nothing in the house has been moved, and everything is still in its original place.

  "If there really is someone here, then he can't get out." Xuan Tai said coldly.

  This room has windows, but they are welded shut. Inside the house, there is a lingering sweet and bloody smell due to poor air circulation.

  However, it was discovered that Huigen's door and window were tightly locked when he died. This suggests that the killer who killed Huigen escaped from here.

  Wan'er didn't want to tear down the platform, but it was clear that this so-called secret room wasn't as thorough as expected.

  Xuan Tai's face turned cold, his eyes gazed at the windowsill, and he slowly walked over.

  "Was it here yesterday?"

  The little monk immediately led the way with a tremble: "Yes, yes."

  Xuan Tai turned back from the window after a moment, staring at the little monk: "What time did you see it yesterday?"

  The little monk immediately said: "Ugly, ugly hour."

  Xuan Tai paused for a moment before suddenly narrowing his eyes and staring at him: "Remember so clearly?"

  Can you still be conscious in a situation where visibility is poor at night and you are panicked and frightened?

  The little monk nodded like a garlic press: "Because at that time the bell in the temple rang."

  It's like the watchman on Chang'an Street, every time it strikes o'clock at Qinglong Temple, a monk on night duty will strike the bell. When the bell has struck five times, it means it's time to get up and practice.

  Xuān Tà didn't say another word.

  Pei Tan felt his sleeve being tugged and looked down to see Jing Yuanyu's eyes gleaming with a faint light.

  Pei Tan walked to the other side of the bed, where a small incense table was set up, with an incense burner, Buddhist beads and a wooden fish on it. This should be what Li Xiuzhi used for his spiritual practice, especially since there were also offerings of sacred fruit.

  Pei Tan stretched out his hand and wiped the incense table once.

  Then he looked at his own palm.

  Jing Wan'er bit her lip at this time, and her face was a little pale.

  Pei Tan put his hand back into his sleeve and continued to circle around the room.

  They were all entangled in whether there was a ghost, but Pei Tan and Jing Wanyu wanted to find evidence. The little monk said he heard the bell ringing at midnight, but at that time, Jing Wanyu had already returned to the yard, and when she lay down and was about to fall asleep, she vaguely heard the sound of the bell ringing.

  So-called ghost must not be Jing Yuanyuan. Even after Jing Yuanyuan had left, it appeared.

  "The Master has already performed a super-degree ceremony for Brother Hui Gen, and yet Brother is still lingering in this place, it must be that his grievances are deep."

  Even Xuantai's complexion was slightly unstable: "Today is already the third day of fasting, after noon, Huigen will be cremated and buried under the treasure pagoda at the back mountain of our temple."

  Qinglong Temple was built on a land of spiritual energy, and the area under the pagoda is even more concentrated with the essence of heaven and earth. After all, it's not good to spread rumors that the temple is haunted by evil spirits. It seems that they want to suppress the soul of Hui Gen so quickly, and it appears that these monks don't have much affection in their hearts either.

  Jing Wan'er looked at them: "But once the body is destroyed, you will never be able to find the murderer again."

  A monk immediately said: "If we let Hui Gen Shixiong's soul linger here, it will spread out and violate the reputation of our temple."

  Jing Yuanyuan unexpectedly lost to these monks in terms of preserving her life and safety.

  "It's still unclear whether it's a ghost or not, and making such a hasty judgment is rather rash."

  This Xuan Tai seems to be impatient every time, although he is a martial monk and an out-of-home person, how can he be so unstable.

  Xuan Tai looked at Pei Tan: "The time for the Three-Day Purification Ceremony was set by Master himself. If you don't enter the burial after the ceremony, you will let Hui Gen wander forever in this world and not enter reincarnation."

  Ordinary people wouldn't dare abandon a corpse in the wilderness, let alone a cultivated monk.

  Xuan Tai coldly said to the monks who followed him: "All of you stay here and keep watch, until Hui Gen's ceremony is over."

  Pei Tan didn't say anything else. Jing Yuanyu's expression at this time was clearly unwilling to stay any longer, so they followed Xuan Tai and left the place of right and wrong.

  ——

  If it were only one monk who had been lying from start to finish, he would have always revealed his flaws. However, she deliberately divided them over several days and randomly tested these monks, but none of them fell into her trap. The entire Qinglong Temple has hundreds of monks with different identities and responsibilities, and Jing Yuanyu felt chills all over her body - could it be that the entire Qinglong Temple was telling a huge lie?

  There were footsteps behind her, causing Jing Wanyan to suddenly turn around!

  Her terrified gaze collided with Pei Tan's.

  Pei Tandun stopped in his tracks.

  He stared at the girl's pale face, as if she had been frightened since yesterday. "What's wrong with you?"

  Jing Wan's face still had a look of shock, but it seemed to have slightly receded, yet she didn't know what to say.

  Pei Tan looked at her, since coming to Qinglong Temple, Jing Wanyu's emotions had been more volatile than usual, what exactly had triggered her just now.

  "What did you find in that courtyard last night?" Pei Tan asked.

  If Pei Tan had asked this question before returning to the attic just now, Jing Wanyu would have naturally replied that she hadn't found anything, and last night she hadn't even been able to enter that room, being blocked.

  But now, Jing Wanyu felt caught up in a strange feeling.

  Yesterday, I met a monk outside the attic. He was too far away, and all I could see clearly was his clothes. Because he wore monk's robes, I assumed he was a monk at first glance.

  In other words, who are those wearing monk robes in Qinglong Temple if they are not monks?

  Pei Tan stared at Jing Wanyu's expression and couldn't help but furrow his brow. "What's wrong?"

  "Sir, the murder weapon has been in front of us all along." Jing Wanyi finally spoke out.

  She believes Pei Tan also knew, her hint just now was very clear and Pei Tan had already understood.

  When they saw that attic again, the small incense table placed on the other side of the bed, and what was on it, they finally understood what it meant to be blinded by a single leaf.

  The injury to the back of Hui Gen's head was caused by being struck with something as hard as a stone, in the temple where even a single piece of broken tile had been swept away spotlessly. What could have killed someone without drawing any attention and deceived both Jing Yuane and the Chief of Dalisi Temple?

  "It's wooden fish." Jing Yuanyu said word by word.

  The wooden fish used by monks, reciting scriptures and striking every day, is the most ordinary thing in temples, so ordinary and ubiquitous that no one will take a second look.

  Pei Tan looked at the girl's expression, "I just saw that incense case and the wooden fish, they were not in their original place." The wooden fish had been moved because he saw a very clean spot on the incense case, which was exactly the outline of a wooden fish.

  The wooden fish was placed there before and had been there for a long time.

  "Do you still remember what was on the incense table the day we found Hui Gen's body?" Jing Wanyi suddenly asked.

  Pei Tan understood her meaning and said with a dim gaze: "The placement of the wooden fish that day was nothing out of the ordinary."

  So whatever ghosts and spirits there are, they are clearly man-made.