Kyoto in June is peaceful, the sky is blue, and the white clouds are codging in one after another.

The sky is slightly bright, the people in Yongle Fang get up early, the bun shop next to the avenue is overcrowded, two copper coins a big white steamed bun is the staple food of the poor people in the workshop, the bustling street, interspersed with a few words from time to time, "Buns, steamed buns, porridge!" ”

The people in the workshop lined up in an orderly manner, and exchanged words with each other: "Have you heard, a family surnamed Tang in Kangding Fang was eaten by a monster yesterday"

"And this? Don't talk nonsense, you haven't heard of it. The man behind him questioned with a horrified expression.

"Shh......h Be quiet, this matter is true, a certain aunt and sister-in-law live next door to that family, and I heard that dozens of officials came, and even Lord Yin came in person. Seeing that he didn't believe it, the people in the front row hurriedly told the people behind him what his sister-in-law said yesterday.

"In this way, it is indeed a thing, but what kind of monster is it, specializing in eating human flesh!"

"I don't know this, I heard that there are babies under the age of one, alas! Now in this world, the foot of the imperial city is restless......"

The person behind him hurriedly stretched out his hand, covered his mouth and nose, blushed, and whispered, "Silence, don't die, if such remarks are heard by those who have a heart, you will be denounced......"

The person who was covered hurriedly shook his head, "Uh-huh" hummed and chirped in his mouth, stretched out his hands, signaling that he already knew, and the person behind him let go of his hand, "Thank you, I was careless for a while, and I ...... carelessness for a while."

"Well, don't talk about this, don't cause trouble and affect the people of Yongle Fang!"

Suddenly, in the direction of the imperial city, more than a dozen people rode horses and galloped, because the Vermilion Bird Avenue is very spacious, three or five horses go hand in hand and do not appear crowded, and after turning into Yongle Fang, the road suddenly narrows, it is the two horses on the side have to step on the roadside stalls, for a while, chickens and dogs jump, people turn over on their backs, so it is not lively.

"Excuse the way, get out of the way, and the yamen will do ......"

Fortunately, it was still early this day, there were not many pedestrians on the street, and the horses only collided with some hawker stalls on the side of the road.

At the door of the bun shop, the two people in line, you look at me, I look at you, there is only one voice in my heart, "It's really an accident in Yongle Fang......"

At the door of the old Yang Tou's house, dozens of mounts stopped, each turned over and dismounted, the leader was Shangguan Ling, one of the four famous arrests of the Criminal Investigation Department, last night at the time of the fifth watch, Kyoto Prefecture Yin received a report from Zhou Boxing, the Yongle Fang murder case again, a few days in a row, in Kyoto City, in addition to yesterday's Kangding Fang Tang family extermination case, before in a place of deception in the suburbs of Kyoto, there was also a homeless man who was eaten and killed, but the people of Kyoto did not know about it, and it was because the entire Kyoto Prefecture was panicked in the past few days, lest there be another murder.

The homeless man on the outskirts of Kyoto died in a small alley where few people rarely lived, and several children accidentally discovered that the muscles of his whole body were basically eaten by unknown creatures, leaving only the hard parts such as the head and skeleton to be preserved. Later, the tragedy of Kangdingfang made everyone in the yamen frightened.

Tang Chengbin, an ordinary family in Kangding Fang, Kyoto, the night before yesterday, a family of five were brutally killed by inexplicable creatures, including a baby under the age of one, if it was killed by an ordinary sword, it is not surprising, the strange thing is that according to the inspection of the Criminal Prosecution Department, none of the five mutilated corpses were killed by swords, and the cause of death was that they were all bitten alive by unknown creatures, and there was basically no intact skin all over the body, and there were traces of bites everywhere.

Zhou Boxing pointed to the house at the moment and said, "My lord, it's in the house, I found it last night." ”

Shangguan Ling pushed open the courtyard door, led everyone to walk in, pushed open the dilapidated wooden door, a smell of blood came to the nose, everyone hurriedly raised their hands to cover their mouths and noses, and then fanned the air in front of them, as if they felt that this might be able to fan away the smell of blood.

Looking up, a small side room, on the left is a wooden bed, I can't see what kind of wood it is, because it has collapsed, there is a long case on the right, on which is placed this big wooden basin, the whole room is covered with blood stains, the corpse is in the center of the room, except for the head, other parts are only seen skeletons, no flesh and blood, there are still a lot of scratches on the surrounding walls, everything is so weird, as if a beast enters the house, bites the people in the house to death, and then eats it all.

Shangguan Ling waved his hand, and everyone acted in an orderly manner, some went to visit and investigate, some went to inquire about what Zhou Boxing found in the case, and there were any clues inside and outside the investigation institute, Shangguan Ling tiptoed to the corpse, carefully examined the bite marks on the corpse, and asked him, "How?" ”

Zhou Buyi stretched out his hand, turned over the mutilated corpse on the ground, and replied unhurriedly, "Just like yesterday, I was bitten to death by an unknown creature, and the time of death will not be known until I bring it back for an autopsy." ”

Shangguan Ling looked at the bite marks all over the corpse, "What kind of creature has sharp claws and two long, sharp fangs." ”

Zhou Buyi carefully measured the size, width and depth of the bite marks on the mutilated corpse, and compared them in an ancient book from time to time, "My lord, wait a moment, I haven't found a matching record yet." ”

Shangguan Ling couldn't ask why when he saw this, so he didn't say anything more, quietly not knowing what to think again.

The criminal prosecutor's surname is Zhou, the name is not easy, more than 40 years old, when he was young, his father was the imperial court three-grade official, during his tenure, there were often corruption and bribery, Zhou Buyi several times persuasion failed, so he went to the Kyoto government to report, which caused a great sensation at the time. Later, his father was investigated by the Criminal Prosecutor's Department and was convicted of raiding his home, and after being a criminal, because of the restrictions of his identity, Zhou Buyi could not gain fame, and because of his meritorious report and seeing the criminal prosecutor's case-handling methods, he volunteered to join the Criminal Prosecutor's Department to serve as the spurned servant of this 10,000 people.

The people in the yamen investigated the scene and did not find any useful clues, Shangguan Ling waved his hand and summoned several officials in the department to bring the corpse back.

At night, Li Jingrui's mansion was brightly lit and noisy.

Today, Li Jingrui set up wine in the house to welcome guests, everyone is congratulating Li Jingrui on the position of the head of the household, everyone is smiling, after the wine and food are full, everyone talks about the various tributes paid by various countries on the birthday of the Queen Mother, every time they say the same, everyone is surprised, only one person, sitting alone in a corner, sullen, full of sadness.

Li Jingrui, as the host, naturally couldn't snub the visiting guests, so he walked over with tea and said from afar:

"Master Ge, why are you here alone, sullen?"