All the way, the city gate of Husu County is close at hand, Cui Yu poked out a little big head from Zhou Hongxian's neckline, looked at the tall city gate, she lamented: "It's over, sister, the city gate is blocked, I can't go back!" ”

"Don't be afraid, the gates are closed, and we can fly over the walls!"

When the bright moon is in the sky, the not too big Husu City is illuminated like a silver sand table, a strange red shadow passes under the moon, and a girl's excited cry is faintly heard in the air: "Wow, sister, I saw the whole Husu City!" ”

The next day, as soon as the sky was bright, the big drum in front of the yamen of Husu County was beaten again, and another murder in the city before dawn alarmed Cui Shen and Xie Qiao again.

The drumming people claimed to be Tao Wu, the guy of Xu's bun shop in the north of the city, and usually lived in the home of the owner Xu Cai because of his food and housing. Today, as usual, he got up early before dawn to prepare the steamed buns to be sold, but as soon as he finished lighting the fire in the kitchen, he heard a scream from Xu Cai's room, and he went to check it out in wonder, but saw the most unforgettable horror scene in his life.

Tao Wu finally described with tears in his eyes: "The monster's eyes are as big as fists, green like poisonous snakes, and it is more than a foot tall when it stands up, and when I arrived, it was pressing our host to the ground with its huge claws, and then scaled him up and swallowed him alive. ”

After listening to Tao Wu's description, Cui Shen and Xie Qiao looked at each other, and when they got out of the court, Cui Shen said, "Ziping, what do you think about this case?" ”

Xie Qiao smiled bitterly: "Dong Weng, although this case should be investigated, but yesterday I examined the bodies of Wen Dalang and his wife and He An, and then went to see the ancient tomb of the Northern Wei Dynasty with the He family, to be honest, I already believe that this case is not done by people!" ”

Cui Shen's expression was solemn: "I'd rather believe that the murderer is a human being, at least there is still a possibility of being caught, but if the murderer is really a ghost, how should I deal with ordinary people like me?" ”

"Dong Weng, the world is so big, maybe there are masters who can deal with this, but the difficulty is that I have never heard of such a master in this county!"

Cui Shen's mind moved: "Isn't there a Cong'an Temple in the west of the city, I heard that the monk Huiwen there has a profound Dharma, maybe he can see something about it." That's it, Ziping, I'll let the officials investigate Xu's case, I'll go home first and change into regular clothes, and you will accompany me to visit Monk Huiwen later! ”

Xie Qiao nodded to receive the order, but at this moment, a maid in Cui's mansion behind the county government suddenly came to summon Cui Shen, saying that Cui Yu, who had been in a coma for many days, had woken up by herself.

Hearing the good news, Cui Shen immediately rushed home, and when he arrived at the door of his daughter's boudoir, he saw that his daughter was already sitting at the head of the bed, and his wife Lu Shi was holding hands with her, her eyes were red, and it was obvious that the mother and daughter had just cried.

If you want to say that Cui Yu is still sharp-eyed, she saw her father at a glance, and a crisp "Aya" made this dignified Husu county magistrate almost cry.

Cui Shen saw that his daughter's face had recovered from the pale face when he was in a coma to the moisture of the past, and he was at a loss for a few days by his daughter's illness and the bizarre murder, and his mood finally became a little cloudy. After that, he found a doctor to recheck his daughter's pulse, and his daughter's illness came and went without a trace, and only after the doctor repeatedly confirmed that her body was fine, he was willing to let go of his heart.

It's just that Cui Shen still has something to worry about, and after sending the doctor away, he said to Cui Yu: "Siniang, you are really sick this time for no reason." I heard your aunt say that you once brought back a lady surnamed Zhou to your home, but just when you fell ill, the lady disappeared without a trace, and I suspect that she has a great relationship with your condition. Fourth, let me ask you, do you know anything about that week's lady? ”

After Cui Yu heard this, her face changed greatly: "Aya, you can't doubt Sister Zhou!" ”

Cui Shen shook his head: "Siniang, how can this not be suspicious, this matter is too much of a coincidence!" You must know that Aya and I have been an official for many years, and I have offended a lot of people in order to sort out the people's customs. ”

Cui Yu's face was slightly unhappy, but she was moved after hearing this, but she smiled slightly and said, "Aya, then are you suspecting that Sister Zhou was sent by bad people to harm me?" ”

Cui Shen's face was serious: "It's not impossible!" ”

Cui Yu smiled even more happily: "Aya, I know everything about Sister Zhou, but I have made an agreement with her not to reveal her secrets." So don't you wonder if she's good? ”

"Did you two make an agreement? What do you mean by that? ”

"Aya, this is a secret, a secret between my daughter's family, do you understand? I can tell Aya with certainty that my illness has nothing to do with Sister Zhou, and as for you saying that she disappeared, it was actually pure coincidence. Sister Zhou left because of something, and she also told her daughter in advance, but because she was in too much of a hurry and didn't have time to say hello to other people in the house, it caused such a misunderstanding. ”

"But no one saw her leave the house that day, why did she suddenly disappear?"

"Aya, don't you believe your daughter's words, you are suspicious of Sister Zhou for no reason like this, I will ignore you in the future!"

Seeing that Cui Yu had begun to be coquettish to himself, Cui Shen shook his head helplessly, but the doubts in his heart were still unabated, he didn't believe in his daughter, but felt that his daughter was young and ignorant, and it was very likely that she would be deceived.

Because he made an appointment with Xie Qiao to visit Monk Huiwen, Cui Shen did not entangle Cui Yu more on this matter, and soon he changed into his regular clothes and went to Cong'an Temple with Xie Qiao.

At this time, the sun is rising, there are more and more pedestrians on the streets of Husu County, everything looks so bright and peaceful, no one can imagine that at night, such a bizarre and terrifying murder will happen in this city.

West of the city, Cong'an Temple.

Speaking of Cong'an Temple, it is actually not famous, Husu County is only a hundred years old, and it is not a famous county in Datang, so it is difficult to have any famous temples with a long history. There are only 23 monks in Cong'an Monastery, and in addition to eating fasting and reciting sutras every day, that is, accepting pilgrims, they do some duty to maintain incense for the Bodhisattva. The presiding monk of Cong'an Temple, Minzhi, is even more wide-hearted and fat, with a shiny face, not so much a high-ranking monk, but more like a rich man.

Of course, although Cong'an Temple is small, it cannot be said that there are no high monks, at least the uncle of the monk Minzhi, Monk Huiwen, is one.

Monk Huiwen was born in the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui, the specific date of birth is unknown, from its appearance, white beard, kind demeanor, the age should be around sixty years old.

He grew up in Cong'an Temple, all his life love Buddhism, I heard that a year ago, that is, Zhenguan 19 years, Xuanzang monk from Tianzhu to learn the scriptures and return to the east, brought back the Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures innumerable, Huiwen monk heard it, the heart is very yearning, so regardless of his advanced age and the monks obstructed, insisted on going to Chang'an, just to see Xuanzang and see the mystery of Mahayana Buddhism. Later, when he returned from Chang'an, he also brought back a lot of scriptures, and since then he has become such a state that he cannot leave his hand.

Facing the arrival of Cui Shen and Xie Qiao, Monk Huiwen looked calm, but always returned to the scriptures in front of him from time to time. Surprisingly, while he was meditating at this time, there was a black cat squatting on his lap, the black cat's fur was black and shiny, as smooth as silk, and its attention was also on the scriptures. As Monk Huiwen accidentally flipped through the scriptures, the black cat's head also moved, as if he was reading the scriptures and could really read them.

"Who are the two benefactors?" Monk Huiwen took the moment to look up and smiled slightly.

"Master, I am Cui Shen, the commander of Husu County."

"I'm Xie Qiao, the county commander."

"Oh, it turned out to be Xie Xianling and Mr. Cui, please sit down!"

Cui Shen and Xie Qiao glanced at each other: "... ”

"I wonder what the two donors are looking for?" After another long time, Monk Huiwen looked up again and asked.

Faced with Monk Huiwen, who was so absent-minded in talking to people, Cui Shen and Xie Qiao had no choice but to abandon red tape and make a long story short directly, explaining their intentions.

After hearing this, Monk Huiwen finally raised his head again, with a slight surprise on his face: "Evil ghosts harm people? ”

Cui Shen nodded immediately: "Yes, there have been many murders in the city recently, and the survivors have all pointed the finger at the evil ghost, and according to their description, we speculate that it is very likely that the same evil ghost did it." I came here today to ask the master for advice on how to deal with evil spirits, so that the people can get rid of the evil! ”

"Oh, I see, Xie County's order is precious for the people!" Monk Huiwen couldn't help but smile at Cui Shen with a friendly smile, but the next sentence immediately made Cui Shen extremely depressed: "However, the old man only knows how to chant scriptures, and he doesn't know how to catch ghosts!" ”

Cui Shen and Xie Qiao couldn't help but be a little disappointed.

"Xie Xianling, what does that evil ghost look like?" Monk Huiwen seemed quite interested at this time.

Cui Shen felt helpless, but patiently explained the survivors' descriptions of evil ghosts to Monk Huiwen carefully.

"Oh, black body, red hair, green eyes, giant hands, sharp claws, hey, isn't that a rakshasa?"