The city of Luoyang is very quiet.

The city was lively during the day, and the people stopped going out after nightfall, and the shops that did business closed early in the morning, and the whole street seemed empty.

Except somewhere.

There was a small shop in the depths of the alley, the door was ajar, and a bright white lantern hung on each side, and each lantern had a word written on it, which together was "Fierce". The shop has a one-stop business, from coffin wreaths to paper money boys.

The living people feel that it is too unlucky to buy such items during the day, and they will only come out to buy them at night, so they are open all night and close as soon as the sun comes out

Business has been particularly good in the last two months.

"Okay, everything has been wrapped for you, a total of 400 wen."

Yuan Jiyue walked in. The house was very lively, the counter was facing the door, and the boss was standing in the back, smiling and smiling to settle the bills for a room of people.

"These are a couple of dollars."

"Hello go!" The boss turned his face and asked Yuan Jiyue, "What does this girl buy?" ”

A few men made a noise and left, and the store suddenly fell silent.

"A soul-sending lamp, six dozen yellow coins."

"You're going to the White Tiger Hall!" The boss bent down and took out a paper soul-sending lamp. Legend has it that on the seventh day after death, the soul will walk the path it has walked before death, light the lamp next to the coffin, and burn it again before dawn to illuminate them.

This is a local custom.

The second master of the White Tiger Hall was killed by a monster who didn't know which way, and his surname was Chen. This matter is in an uproar, and today happens to be his first seven. The boss doesn't have to think about it to know who she bought the lights for.

"The lamp is seventy wen, and a total of one hundred wen with a basket is enough." Seeing that she was empty-handed, the boss took a basket out and packed the things she wanted, "Although the dead are important, you should also find someone to accompany you, a girl's house at night, if you say something unpleasant, you are not afraid that you will be next?" ”

"The boss is kind."

But would she be afraid of this?

The candle light on the counter was not yet bright outside the door, and Yuan Jiyue didn't see what the boss looked like, but he saw her smile a little.

"In this experience, I'm really afraid that I won't be able to touch any demons and monsters, and I won't be able to see any ghosts."

She is not afraid of walking at night, and she doesn't know any Master Chen of the White Tiger Hall at all. This trip is completely because Master Chen died strangely, she went to investigate, but when she went to someone's mourning hall, she couldn't be empty-handed.

The dead are the most important.

The White Tiger Hall opened in the south of the city, is a place to teach people to practice martial arts, Master Chen has taught for more than 20 years, very popular with the disciples, this time they received more than 100 disciples, the funeral was a sensation. There was no one to guard in front of the door, the disciples they had taught before, and the relatives of the disciples would come to worship, but there were too many people to recognize it, so they simply opened the door and did not refuse to come.

A group of disciples knelt on the ground.

The white-haired master Fu Lao stood next to the coffin with tears in his eyes.

"The old man, please mourn."

Yuan Jiyue walked all the way unimpeded, walking through the crowd to the master. He nodded politely before handing over the basket in his hand.

The master subconsciously took it. wiped away her tears, and just wanted to say a few polite words, but she didn't recognize who she was after looking at her for a long time: "Dare to ask the girl's name?" I'm so old that I don't recognize me for a while. ”

"No wonder the old man can't recognize it, I'm not a disciple taught by the White Tiger Hall, and we've never seen it." Yuan Jiyue explained to him and reported to his family, "The next surname is Yuan, and the two characters Jiyue are disciples of Wangshuzong." ”

"It turned out to be the immortal master of Wangshu Sect!" The master tried to blink a few times, and saw that she was dressed in a smoke-blue outfit, her long black hair was half pulled up with a white hosta, and her body was contaminated with the smell of mortal dust and fireworks, which was not vulgar, it was indeed the dress of a monk. He bowed slightly, "The immortal master's all-round style is something I didn't recognize." ”

He respected Yuan Jiyue as a monk of the Gao Sect, and Yuan Jiyue also respected him for being old and having just died of his relatives.

She stretched out her hand to support him, and with a flip of her other hand, the golden light flashed, and the soul-sending lamp that had reached the master's hand lit up by itself, and she said, "I take the liberty to visit, and please don't blame the old man." We'll send the dead first, so you don't have to be polite to me here. ”

The master replied in a good voice.

Master Chen's coffin was placed in the center of the mourning hall, and the surrounding area was already covered with layers of lotus-like soul-sending lamps, arranged according to the size of the lamp senders, each one was placed by his own hands, and every time his hands were shaking, this time was no exception.

The lamp fell gently in the middle.

Yuan Jiyue quietly watched his movements, and finally set her eyes on the second master.

This is definitely not what a normal death looks like.

If you don't say it, no one will recognize that it is a person lying inside, more like an old humanoid piece of wood. The skin wrapped around the bones was dry and wrinkled, without blood or moisture, and he couldn't bat his eyes, but when he got closer, he could see a deep circle of teeth marks on his neck. After death, if buried in the soil for ten years, a person will become a dry corpse, and after a few years, he will turn into white bones, and after a hundred years, the dust will return to dust. But as soon as the man died, he became a dry corpse.

He was the seventh person to die in this way in recent times.

After conducting an autopsy, it was concluded that the whole body was drained of blood and died.

It is said that there are monsters that harm people. What is the specific monster, no one knows, some say it is a fox monster, some say it is a bloodthirsty demon, and some say that it is a spirit that specializes in eating human blood, and the more it spreads, the more mysterious it becomes. The palace sent the high priest to investigate early, and half a month passed, and in the end the monster was not found, and the high priest was finished, and died in this White Tiger Hall.

"I never thought that my second brother would become the seventh!" The master didn't stand firm for a moment when he straightened up, and he shook twice and barely stood up. Even if his second brother was lying motionless not far away now, he couldn't accept this fact. He exhaled and asked his own question, "There is an immortal master to add a lamp, but our White Tiger Hall and Wangshu Sect have never intersected, and we have never heard my second brother say that he knows any immortal master, I don't know why the immortal master is here?" ”

Yuan Jiyue said: "To tell you the truth, the reason why I came here is because of the high priest. ”

The master was stunned, and in a trance he remembered that he had heard someone talk about the deeds of the high priest, patted his head, and suddenly said: "I have forgotten, the high priest originally practiced in Wangshu Sect, and the two of you must know each other!" ”

"Exactly, the high priest's surname is Chen, who left the division thirty years ago and entered the palace to become a priest." Yuan Jiyue took out the letter that had been opened from his arms, handed it to him and said, "This time there was a monster in the city that hurt people, and the palace sent him to investigate, but I didn't expect that in the end, he stayed in the backyard of the White Tiger Hall with Master Chen... His wife sent a letter to Shimen, explaining the ins and outs of the matter. ”

Frankly speaking, even though Priest Chen has studied in Shimen for decades, they have never met a few times, and they have not been in touch since he came down the mountain, and they do not have much friendship, but in the end, they are the same family.

Priest Chen and Master Chen are destined, with the same surname, and they died in the same place, and they can't tell which of them is the seventh and who is the eighth.

She couldn't leave it alone.

She sighed: "Mrs. Chen has already entered the palace to make it clear, please ask me to continue the investigation, firstly, to prevent other people from being killed again, and secondly, to replace Priest Chen... Take revenge on you. ”

The master let go of the trembling hand holding the coffin, and took the letter written by Mrs. Chen with both hands. He was so excited that his hands trembled even more: "I don't know how many people are here this time?" ”

"I'm the only one."

The master exclaimed.

He knows the deeds of Priest Chen clearly, he has practiced for more than 50 years, and he has just taken office to remove a major disaster for the people, and has been in the position of high priest for seven or eight years, during which no demons and monsters dare to harm people, but this time Priest Chen has planted it, even Priest Chen has planted it, not to mention a young girl!

He was shocked and suspicious: "I still look at the immortal master, be cautious!" ”

"Old man, the depth of the monk's mana can't just look at the skin." Yuan Jiyue's expression was free, she was not annoyed, she looked at the dry corpse again, she knew what had happened, but the rest of the victims had already been buried, Priest Chen was placed in the palace, and it was the first time she had seen the bodies of these eight people, "According to the seniority, Priest Chen still has to call me Uncle Shengtai." ”

"So, I'm obsessed." There are several generations in between. The master repeated her title and smiled bitterly, "I really don't understand these things as an ordinary person, and if I talk nonsense, it's good that the immortal master himself is measured." ”

Yuan Jiyue reassured him: "I came this time to ask something important. ”

The master Fu stabilized his mind and said, "Immortal Master, please ask, the old man must know everything!" I won't read this letter, what the immortal master said is naturally not a lie. ”

Mrs. Chen wrote in the letter that the reason why Priest Chen would come to the White Tiger Hall on the evening of the 16th, that day he ran out of the study in a panic and bumped into Mrs. Chen. What is the specific clue, I also went to the house to ask, Mrs. Chen does not know. I came this time to ask this disciple for clarification. Yuan Jiyue tilted her head and smiled gently, "If you want to find a disciple of the White Tiger Hall, I should have come to ask the old man!" ”

If she wants to find other people's disciples, she always has to ask other people's masters.

"No wonder, no wonder Priest Chen is here!" The master thought for a while, "The disciple surnamed Dong, we really have one here, and there is only one. ”

Yuan Jiyue subconsciously looked at the dolls on the ground.

"The funeral will be held in just over an hour, and the younger disciples have all been driven back to their rooms." He followed and looked over, paused in his speech, and added in a low voice, "He lives in the T-shaped room No. 6 in the backyard, and I'll take the immortal master there." The children are still young, and it is not convenient to be here. ”

Yuan Jiyue nodded knowingly and made a gesture of please.

"Immortal Master, wait a minute."

The master took the ladder that was leaning against the corner, one end was horizontal on the ground, and the other end was on the coffin, and he climbed up the ladder, not stepping on a single lamp. He closed his eyes fiercely and made up his mind, folded his hands and bowed three times to Master Chen, and grabbed his hand.

He had already discovered that his second brother's left hand was clenched into a fist, and a golden object could be seen between his fingers, which he held tightly in his hand.

He didn't let go until he died.

Most likely, he was dragged from the monster that killed him.

Originally, he wanted to wait until Master Chen went out to the funeral to take it out and hand it over to the government, but now that Yuan Jiyue came to the door, he decided to do it.

The dry fingers are very fragile, even if the master is old, it is not difficult to break it.

Yuan Jiyue clearly heard the sound of "click", and she didn't know what the master was going to do, but she knew that it was the sound of broken bones.

The bones, which are already very fragile, will be shattered if they are broken again.

"I hope to make good use of it."

The master put his hands on and climbed back from the ladder.

This is a small hairpin, the thing is not very good, it is not exquisite, but the carved pattern is very peculiar, without any gemstone embellishment, Yuan Jiyue took it and checked the weight, it is pure gold.

The two went to the backyard, and Yuan Jiyue was half a step behind him.

Before leaving, the master's footsteps were very heavy, Yuan Jiyue was silent for a while, put away the hairpin, and patted him on the shoulder with comfort: "Master Chen has a good character, even if he is in danger, he does not forget to pave the way for our descendants, his reincarnation is not difficult to walk." ”