Xu Chong was already the general judgment of Shuntianfu that year, and he was famous in the capital because of his repeated strange cases. When the first emperor heard of his great name, he summoned him to the palace many times and appreciated him very much.

Therefore, this matter, the first emperor can only hand it over to Xu Chong, and he can only rest assured that it will be handed over to Xu Chong.

After Xu Chong arrived at Tianning Temple, he first inspected the temple, and then went to the officers and soldiers guarding the temple and asked them if anyone had entered or left the temple on the day of the crime.

"It's because no one has come in or out that we suspect that the old abbot ran away with the Buddha statue," the officers and soldiers had just been reprimanded by the first emperor, and they were a little unfair, "Otherwise, how could this person and a Buddha disappear inexplicably?" Could it really be as those monks said, that the abbot was inspired by the Buddha and could not be photomatized? Actinization is actinization, what do you do with our emperor's Buddha statue? ”

"I have just seen it, behind the temple is a rugged mountain cliff, extremely steep, and the old abbot is already too old, how can he escape with a heavy Buddha statue on his back, even if there are accomplices, it is impossible to climb down the cliff." Xu Chong categorically denied the speculation of the chief of officers and soldiers.

"There are no external thieves, and there are no internal thieves, isn't this a strange news in the world?" The leaders of the officers and soldiers were still not angry.

Xu Chong sneered, "It's not strange or weird, this can only show one point: people and Buddha statues are still in the temple." If you send someone to search Tianning Temple, I don't believe that I can't dig three feet into the ground, and I can't dig anything. ”

So the leader of the officers and soldiers led his men to search the whole temple upside down, and did not dare to let go of any corner, but after two whole days of searching, the old abbot and the Buddha statue were still not found.

The case reached an impasse, and the matter reached the ears of the first emperor, and for a while rumors flew inside and outside the palace, and there were a few people talking about the case, and most of them were talking about Xu Chong, and basically all the discussions were ill-intentioned, because those who were jealous and hateful wanted to see him fall from the altar. They said that it seemed that Xu Chong had been worshipped at the shrine for so long that he had forgotten that he was nothing more than a mud fetus.

Three more days passed like this, I don't know what Xu Chong was thinking in his heart during these three days, but I knew that if I were him, I would definitely be overwhelmed by this huge pressure, maybe I would think of jumping down from the high cliff behind the temple and leaving all the troubles in the world behind.

But Xu Chong is not an ordinary person after all, on the fifth day of entering Tianning Temple, he found it, and found the abbot and the Buddha statue made of purple copper and gold.

Early that morning, Xu Chong sat alone in the abbot's meditation room, he didn't light the lamp, but his eyes lit up like cold stars in the sky.

The sound of the bell sounded in his ears, "Bell...... Clang...... The bell ......." is deep and profound, as if soothing his anxious heart. Because of the disappearance of the abbot in the temple, the bell has not been struck for many days, and today, the bell that is called "waking up the world's fame and fortune, and recalling the charm of the dream of the bitter sea" has finally sounded again.

Suddenly, Xu Chong rushed out of the door and ran towards the cliff behind the temple.

On the high rock, the bronze bell that is said to have been cast in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty is so big that it looks like a small mountain bag, and the monk who rings the bell is pushing the bell pestle and smashing it hard against the blue and black Fanzhong bell.

"The ancestor is here, why don't you bow down, like the sea?" Xu Chong walked over, and he saw that the monk's action of hitting the bell came to an abrupt end, and cold sweat rolled down the top of his bare head.

***

"Monk Ruhai killed the old abbot, stole the Buddha statues, and hid them all under the Brahma bell?" Mu crippled his neck and grabbed the back of his neck, "But why did Xu Chong know where the corpse and the Buddha statue were hidden when he heard the bell?" And how do you know that the monk who struck the bell killed the person? ”

Zhao Zimai smiled slightly, "Because of the bell, the bell has to hit one hundred and eight times, the rhythm is neat, and the sound is steady, but that morning, the bell that Xu Chong heard was quick and slow, heavy and light, which shows that the person who hit the bell is hiding a very heavy heart." ”

"The master dares to kill, the emperor's Buddha statue dares to steal, why are you afraid of hitting a bell?" Sang sneered.

Zhao Zimai nodded, "You're right, although this Ruhai has been in Tianning Temple for many years, he is by no means a pure-hearted person, but a treacherous and ruthless person. But, that morning, he was really scared, and he was terribly scared, and guess why? ”

Sang shrugged his shoulders, "Could it be that he saw the soul of the old abbot?" ”

"Not a ghost, but a real person."

Sang and Mu Cripple were taken aback at the same time, "Isn't the old abbot already dead?" Where did the real people come from? ”

Zhao Zimai let out a sigh, "Ruhai strangled the abbot from behind with a rope when he was unprepared, but because he was too flustered, he didn't completely strangle the abbot to death, but strangled him unconscious." A few days later, when the bell rang, the old abbot woke up from his coma, so he picked the bell with his fingers, and the movement was heard by Ruhai, which frightened the madman so much that he could not strike the bell with peace of mind. ”

"So the old abbot died of the bell?" Sang said in a low voice.

"Yes, such as the sea is as strong as an ox, this bell can only be moved by him, when the bell was moved, everyone saw the Buddha statue and the body of the old abbot who had been looking for a few days, he was covered in bruises, even his eyeballs were cracked, and he died very miserably."

Hearing this, Mu Cripple snorted, "Such a virtuous and respected abbot was actually killed by a traitor, and if it weren't for Lord Xu to discover the truth, maybe the abbot would have to bear the notoriety of stealing, which is really hateful and lamentable." ”

Sang was not as angry as Mu Cripple, he only played with his hair, and said quietly, "Then Ruhai's fate should be miserable, right?" ”

"Scraping, being scraped thousands of times, and dying after four days," the light in Zhao Zimai's eyes dimmed a little, "It's cruel, isn't it?" ”

Sang Chao blew a breath upward, and the hair that had always refused to admit defeat was blown up by it, like a whisker, weird and cute.

"Cruel, being scraped for four days and four nights, that feeling should not only be painful, but more humiliating and desperate. However, this is like a sea of people who pay the price for their own crimes, but some people suffer punishments that should not belong to them. ”

"Who are you talking about?" Zhao Zimai frowned and asked, but Sang didn't answer, and pouted and blew the strand of hair on the top of his head, as if this was the most fun thing in the world.

Zhao Zimai just wanted to ask again, but Mu Cripple suddenly interjected and came in, "Zhao Gongzi, I don't understand something, since this Xu Chong is so powerful and so valued by the emperor, then why did he leave the capital and come to Maocheng?" He shouldn't be very old, so he won't want to return to his hometown, right? ”

"Because...... He was afraid," Zhao Zimai looked at the sky and raised his hand to the full moon, "because the moonlight is too strong, it will obscure the light of the stars." ”