The three of them changed rooms and sat down. That's when we got started.

"That's the way it is. …… The date of counting should start on the day of the vernal equinox. On February 18, early in the morning, we had a lawsuit. There is a young girl floating corpse by the Chunqu River. At that time, we didn't take it seriously, just an ordinary case of a girl falling into the water. After finding the body and collecting the body, the case was hastily closed. Since then, there have been endless cases of missing girls and bodies found by the river. Pay attention to the above, let's solve the case as soon as possible. We didn't know what to do, so we asked the coffin to be reopened for an autopsy. I didn't expect ...... The moment I opened the coffin of the first female corpse, several of my men were terrified. ”

Ji Cunyan was eating the exquisite snacks sent by the boatman on the table, and at the same time listened to Jin Zhutou talk about the case with great interest. "What's wrong with the body?" she asked. ”

Jin Zhutou said: "The corpse has only been buried for less than five days, and its whole body is black, shriveled like firewood, there is no moisture on the whole body, and the eyeballs are thin into two layers of dry skin. It's terrifying. ”

Ji Cunyan pondered for a moment and then said, "If the essence is absorbed by the monster, the corpse will shrink rapidly within a few days, just like the dry branches of a dead tree. ”

Jin Zhutou said again: "That's true. Lao Jin, I have been doing this business for more than ten years, and I have read countless corpses, but I have never seen a corpse that can become a dry corpse in a few days. I thought to myself that it must be a demon at work. This kind of thing, ordinary officials can't do anything, so I listened to the advice of my subordinates, and went to Qingfeng Temple, the best Taoist temple in Suzhou City, to find a profound and experienced heavenly master to kill demons. ”

Zhang Ji, who was still bleeding from his nose on one side, still holding his head high, and two small white silks stuffed in his nostrils, heard this, and suddenly sat up straight, lowered his head and looked straight ahead.

As soon as he lowered his head, nosebleeds gushed out again, flowing down the white silk.

Ji Cunyan looked at his appearance and sneered

Jin Zhutou reluctantly pulled Zhang Ji's head back.

Ji Cunyan said: "Jin Zhutou, you said to find an experienced and powerful Heavenly Master to help, what do these eight words have to do with this stinky little ghost?" ”

Zhang Ji glanced at Ji Cunyan and said, "You take a look at yourself first!" A yellow-haired girl, is she weaned? ”

"Constant milk can also beat your nosebleed, haven't you already tried your aunt's awesomeness?"

Jin Zhutou reluctantly drank all the tea in the cup, thinking that it might be unfavorable for the passing year, and originally wanted to find someone to help, but these two milk dolls were afraid that they were not here to add more trouble.

"I went to Qingfeng Temple, and I met Xiao Zhang Tianshi, who was placing an order here. The abbot of Qingfeng Temple, the Taoist Master of the Tide, said to me that this little Zhang Tianshi is a descendant of the Heavenly Master Zhang Daoling [Note 1], and his mana is quite strong, and if he is willing to help, he will definitely be able to catch the harmful monster and keep one side safe. ”

Ji Cunyan propped his head and looked at Zhang Ji in front of him, pouting and said, "Jin Zhutou, I'm afraid this little Taoist priest is not a god stick who cheats on eating and drinking in Qingfeng Guan, right?" ”

Zhang Ji pulled out the fine silk that stuffed his nostrils and said to Ji Cunyan: "Phew! ”

Ji Cunyan saw the embarrassed look on his face, but he was not angry, and grinned.

Jin Zhutou said: "The head of the tide viewing road is highly respected and has a good reputation in the local area. Naturally, the people he introduced could not be wrong. Xiao Zhang Tianshi went to Yizhuang with us, and saw the three corpses that had been dug up by us and the two floating corpses that had time to be buried in the future, so he only used a small means to bring the cause of their death to the surface, and told us that the one who did the evil should be a snake demon. ”

Ji Cunyan is most afraid of snakes in his life. Hearing Jin Zhutou's words, the two arms that were originally supporting the table immediately retracted, and the person sat up a lot straighter, and wrinkled his little nose with a very disgusted look.

Jin Zhutou said: "Xiao Zhang Tianshi asked us to wrap the female corpse we found first in a white cloth and place it on the bamboo bed. He cut down a peach tree [Note 2] and smoked the corpse on the bamboo bed with a slight fire. ”

At this time, there were four butterflies on the table in front of Ji Cunyan, two sweet and two salty, one of which was a piece of rose smoked duck. She was originally interested in this cold dish, but when she heard the story, she put down her chopsticks and couldn't eat any more.

"After the peach wood smoked for six hours, Xiao Zhang Tianshi instructed us to take the white cloth, which was already completely black, to wash it in clean water, and then wrap the corpse as it was. Sure enough, on the white cloth we found several waist-thick black marks wrapped around the corpse like ropes. As soon as I saw those black marks, I thought it looked like something. ”

"What's that?" Ji Cunyan asked.

"Like a giant python, when killing its prey, it wraps its body around its prey, breaks its muscles and bones, squeezes its internal organs, and strangles its prey to death.

"Jin Zhutou, why don't you tell the story? I find it scary to hear the stories you tell. Ji Cun said.

"And that's not all. Then, Xiao Zhang ordered us to soak the corpse in glutinous rice [Note 3] water for a day and a night, and when we fished it out again, the corpse was already swollen. On the neck of the deceased, we found two finger-thick tooth marks, which pierced into the neck of the deceased in a hook-like shape, and the skin next to the tooth marks was black and rotten, but it was not the poisonous fangs of snakes. From this point of view, there is no doubt that the perpetrator is a snake demon. ”

Ji Cunyan looked at Zhang Ji, who was sitting next to him, his nose had stopped bleeding, and asked, "These methods are really your idea?" ”

"Huh? Otherwise, you go back and look through your family classics to see if there is any other way to verify it? Zhang Ji said.

"It's not that I don't have these books at home, it's just that I'm too lazy to read them...... Ah, and, what's the matter with that vixen? Ji Cunyan asked from Zhang Ji.

"What else do you say? My family's fox was scared into the water by you. I have to ask you for a few dozen taels of silver for this account. ”

"In broad daylight, your fox demon actually dares to come out and make waves, let me catch her again, I will definitely peel her skin and hang it on the tower of Suzhou City to show the public! Oh no, it's Shemon! ”

"At a young age, so vicious, be careful that you can't get married!"

"Phew! At a young age, learn to breed Gu to raise demons, be careful to fight back, and be swallowed by monsters in your stomach! ”

"Humph!"

"Humph!"

Jin Zhutou was too lazy to come out to make peace, so he only continued to talk about the case.

"Although we know that the snake demon is responsible, we still don't know how this snake demon committed the crime and why these girls were chosen. We can only start with the identity of the victim girl. This check really found a problem. Those girls who were killed by the snake demon, before they disappeared, were either by themselves or with their families and friends, taking a painting boat to cruise the river, eating a boat feast, and enjoying the spring scenery. Alas...... Who would have thought about it, but in the end, he couldn't even go to the shore. I discussed with Xiao Zhang Tianshi, and he said that this snake has high mana, and it may not be able to catch it with ordinary methods, so he can only rely on bait to lure the enemy. But how dare we put an ordinary girl in danger? Even if it's an ordinary female catcher, we can't let her take such a risk. Little Zhang invited Fluttershy to the girl, oh, it's the fox fairy. Let her pretend to be a girl who went to the boat banquet, hoping to catch the snake demon. ”

"Your little Fluttershy, so I can smell the demonic aura in my nose, and you expect her to help you fish?" Ji Cunyan said to Zhang Ji.

"Suzhou is a rich and prosperous place, full of people. Where to find a profound fox demon? It's good that I can find Fluttershy, and it's even harder for someone to help. It's all about you who broke me. Also, I warn you. It doesn't matter if you bleed my nose, and if you dare to touch Fluttershy, I won't give up with you. ”

Ji Cunyan pouted and said: "The hair on the mouth has not grown, so do you want to learn from others to pity the jade?" ”

Zhang Ji sighed: "Why don't you Xuanjing Hall understand any rules of the rivers and lakes? The fox demon is a family immortal accepted by my Zhang family [Note 4], and there was a contract in ancient times. The fox demon can be driven by me, but I, the Heavenly Master of the Zhang family, must also be protected for eternity. ”

Ji Cunyan asked rhetorically: "Then if you meet a bad fox demon, you don't care about it?" ”

Zhang Ji said: "Aren't all the heavenly masters in the world surnamed Zhang? I don't care, someone else is in charge. As long as it's not in my face. ”

Ji Cunyan frowned and said, "There are still such statements? ”

Zhang Ji said: "You are full of monster blood, have you just killed monsters?" ”

Ji Cunyan was very proud.

Zhang Ji said, "With the smell of you, Fluttershy won't dare to go out to the mountains to help anymore." How are we going to weave a web to catch that snake now? ”

Ji Cunyan was tasting the walnut cake, and suddenly felt that Jin Zhutou's eyes were a little strange when he looked at him. She opened her eyes wide and pointed at herself.

Jin Zhutou nodded.

[Note 1] The four great masters of Taoism are Zhang Daoling, Ge Xuan, Sa Shoujian, and Xu Jingyang

[Note 2] Ancient peach wood to ward off evil spirits

[Note 3] Glutinous rice is also the most commonly used to ward off evil spirits

[Note 4] The Heavenly Master of the Zhang family has some relationship with the fox immortals. Legend has it that a little fox fairy once took advantage of Zhang Tianshi's absence to sneak into the angel's mansion, but he was sealed and caught. Zhang Tianshi couldn't bear to kill it, and he couldn't let it go out to make waves, so he kept it by his side and cultivated his character. Yes, there has always been a subordinate relationship between the Zhang family Heavenly Master and the fox immortal!