Luo Weishu said, got up and walked towards the back hall.

Zhao Shun looked puzzled, but he didn't dare to ask the reason, so he could only follow behind in ignorance.

The back hall of the North Temple was originally the residence of the novice and the vegetarian dining hall, and to put it bluntly, it was the place where the miscellaneous servants lived.

However, because there were only Master Huiyuan and Master Jueming in the North Temple, the back hall has been deserted.

As soon as the two of them walked out of the guest room, they met Jueming.

"My lord, this is ......"

"Shh......h

Luo Weishu raised his right index finger on his lips, leaned close to Jueming's ear and whispered: "Little master, let's call me donor, I'm a little tired today, let's go to the back hall to take a bath, and then go to bed......"

Unexpectedly, Jueming shook his head and said, "Big ...... Oh, the donor is it mistaken, how can you take a bath in the back hall?"

Luo Weishu smiled secretly: "Of course it's okay, it's still mugwort bathing." ”

Jue Ming was suddenly confused: "How is it possible to take a bath in Ai Tang? Although the back hall is a place for miscellaneous servants, after all, it is also in front of the Buddha, how can you take off your clothes and expose the dirt under the nose of the Bodhisattva." Jueming wants to take a bath, and he also goes to the mountain spring in the back mountain to shower. ”

Seeing the sincerity of what Jueming said, Luo Weishu is no longer a seller.

asked directly: "Who lives in the back hall, doesn't the little master know?"

Jue Ming shook his head, then nodded again, and said with sincere fear: "Donor...... No, no, no, don't tell my master, ...... in the back hall The people who live there are all laymen. ”

Layman?

Luo Weishu closed his eyes, and the wings of his nose squirmed rapidly.

Zhao Shun saw that the adults didn't speak, and couldn't help but ask Jueming: "The mage is not here, how can you accommodate the laymen to stay in the temple?

Jueming panicked and hurriedly said, "The two adults don't know, just because the master is not there, Jueming left these laymen to help in the temple." By the way, they are all Buddha-posted, not bad people! Besides, the back hall is just their residence, so why is it a miasma?"

Buddha stickers refer to the documents exchanged between temples, that is, the identity certificates of monks and laymen.

Monks or laymen, with a Buddhist sticker, will be warmly welcomed wherever they go to that temple, just like the exchanges between relatives of ordinary people.

Zhao Shun suddenly realized that the case of the girl's disappearance might be related to the layman hiding in the back hall on all sides, and immediately changed his face: "Can there be a Buddha post to prove that they are good people? Do you know that there are already twenty girls ......?"

"Ahem!"

Luo Weishu suddenly opened his eyes and glared at Zhao Shun fiercely: "How do you talk to the little master? You are so fierce and vicious, you will scare the little master." ”

Jueming was indeed stupefied.

Because Zhao Shun's face just now was too fierce, like the Four Heavenly Kings enshrined in the side hall.

Luo Weishu looked at the trembling Jueming, took him to the pavilion next to him and sat down, and said comfortingly: "Don't be afraid, little master, you tell this mansion that these twenty-eight laymen all live in the back hall?"

Jue Ming stabilized his mind and said, "Lord Hui, they all live in the back hall. ”

Luo Weishuyin said with a smile: "Twenty-eight people, a lot." ”

Jue Ming didn't know what was hidden in Luo Weishu's smile, so he could only answer according to his own understanding: "It's a lot, but it's ...... Since the elimination of the plague, the North Temple enshrined the golden body of the Buddha and Bodhisattva, there will be more than 1,000 or 2,000 people to worship every day, and at the beginning of the period, the highest peak came 5,000 people a day. Just now, the adults also saw it, and the master was not there, and Jue Ming was really too busy to be alone. It just so happened that after these laymen came, they helped Jueming take care of the daily affairs of the temple. ”

Luo Weishu nodded: "You are indeed too busy, so you have to thank these laymen." ”

When Jue Ming heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he said hurriedly: "Don't say it, my lord, the North Temple can have such a vigorous incense today, and it is indeed inseparable from their love and dedication!"

His face changed, and he said with a look of grievance: "My lord also saw it just now, there are so many pilgrims, some want to ask for a red cloth in the temple, some need to open the light and chant the scriptures, and some want to divinate the future blessings and misfortunes." It is precisely because of these projects that there will be so much incense money. And at night, they have to collect the incense money from each temple......"

Speaking of this, he paused, and suddenly there was more horror in his eyes.

He was even more frightened than when he saw Zhao Shun's fierce face before.

This subtle expression did not hide Luo Weishu's eyes: "What's wrong with the little master, don't you pick up those incense money, will someone come to steal it?"

Jueming seemed to have met a confidant, nodded without dropping, and his voice was suppressed, unable to hide his horror: "Uh-huh, my lord...... Don't hide it, but in the incense money, a lot of gold will indeed disappear for no reason......"

How can we explain the fact that the gold has disappeared for no apparent reason?

Zhao Shun's occupational disease has been committed again, and he doesn't dare to give up a clue: "Is only gold disappearing? How do you know that gold will disappear?"

Jueming couldn't help but tremble: "Of course Jueming knows, and this is one of the reasons why Jueming let these laymen live in the back hall. My lord, Zhao Zhutou, the residents think those Buddha statues are a bit strange......"

Luo Weishu looked at Jue Ming trembling, after all, he was only a fifteen-year-old boy, so he couldn't bear it, so he reached out and patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Don't worry, you say slowly, how did the gold disappear?

Jueming clasped his hands in front of his chest, desperately trying to calm himself, his arms still couldn't help but tremble slightly, and they all said, "...... that night"

Since the thirteen golden bodies of the Buddha and Bodhisattva were invited to the North Temple, the incense of the North Temple has been unprecedentedly vigorous. But every night at the checkout, Jueming never saw a tael of gold.

During the day in the temple, he saw many pilgrims who donated gold to make incense money, not to mention the most, but as far as he himself witnessed, there were thirty taels.

But when I cleaned up the incense money at night, I couldn't see a single grain of sand.

However, every night, he went to collect the incense money with the bookkeeper, and he was the only one who had the key to each merit box.

Moreover, there are no traces of prying open and damaged in the merit box, which excludes the suspicion that someone has stolen it.

For this reason, Jueming felt very puzzled, and also asked the account office and other older laymen, but all he got was a smile that was secretive.

One night half a month ago, about five o'clock in the morning, the laymen forgot about the back hall.

After Jue Ming and the account office settled the incense money for the day, they suddenly found that it was less than 400 taels of silver compared to the previous day.

That's not a small amount.

After thinking about it carefully, it turned out that there were still three merit boxes in the Daxiong Treasure Hall that I forgot to open to collect money.

The three merit boxes are in front of the Buddha Nyorai, Maitreya and Amitabha in the middle of the main hall.

Jueming was going to call the account office together, but he thought it was too late, and he could take the four hundred taels of silver by himself.

At night, in addition to the lanterns at the entrance of each hall and the passage of the pavilion and corridor, the fire candles in the main hall are extinguished to prevent fire hazards.

Jue Ming carried the money bag in one hand, the lantern in the other, and the key to the merit box to the Daxiong Treasure Hall.

But as soon as he withdrew from the temple door, he saw a frightened scene.