The group entered Yinhua Mountain and climbed up along a stone path. The stone trails are winding and steep in some sections. Pilgrims and tourists entering the mountain can be seen from time to time along the way. The scenery on both sides of the trail is beautiful, and from time to time you can see temples and nunnery hidden in the mountains and forests, and the sound of wooden fish and chanting can be faintly heard......

They climbed for more than half an hour, and finally came to the top of a mountain. The terrain here is open, only to see the back against a cliff, there is a magnificent temple, the door plaque of the temple reads: "Longxing Temple" three golden characters.

Master Hong took a breath and said, "King Chu, this is Yuntai." This Longxing Temple is the largest temple on Yinhua Mountain......"

In front of Longxing Temple, there is a large open space, and in the middle are placed three huge bronze incense burners, which are filled with burning incense candles. On the entire cloud platform, the Sanskrit sound of Buddha is full of smoke. At the gate of the temple, pilgrims and tourists come and go from time to time.

"Let's go in and see." Li Zhiyun said and led the way towards the temple gate. The crowd crossed the temple and entered the Buddha hall. The area of the Buddha hall is very large, the front is a huge statue of Sakyamuni, there are many shrines arranged on both sides, the Buddha statues in the shrines have different expressions, some have kind faces, some are angry and round, and some are open and clawed......

Li Zhiyun didn't know what kind of gods these were, but walked past them with interest. Master Hong followed behind him and said, "The presiding officer of this Longxing Temple is called Shi Lian, and the common name is Gao Tansheng. In fact, he is also the head of Buddhist affairs on the entire Yinhua Mountain......"

Li Zhiyun turned his head and glanced at Master Hong, and said, "Can you please come and see me?" ”

"I'm afraid others can't, but of course King Chu can."

As he was talking, a monk happened to pass by, and Master Hong called out to him, clasped his hands together and said, "Master Fukong, where is the abbot?" ”

"Back to the donor, the abbot is worshipping the Buddha in the backyard."

"I beg you to tell the abbot that there is a distinguished guest who wants to see him." After speaking, he pointed at Li Zhiyun with his hand.

Everyone in the world judges people by their appearance, and monks are of course no exception, the monk glanced at Li Zhiyun, nodded, turned around and walked away.

Li Zhiyun waited in the Buddha hall. After about a cup of tea, Fuku led a monk and turned out from behind the statue of Shakyamuni. When Li Zhiyun saw that person, his first impression was: this person may have been born as a warrior monk. I saw that he was about forty years old, round head and big face, medium height, thick and strong, hand twisted a string of Buddhist beads, wearing a red and yellow robe, the style is seven strips of clothing, made of seven strips of cloth sewn, the patch is two long and one short, this kind of robe is worn by monks when chanting scriptures, sitting and worshipping Buddha every day.

At this moment, there is still a distance of four or five zhang between the two sides. Fukong pointed at Li Zhiyun with his hand and said, "Master, it's he who wants to see you." Gao Tansheng looked at it, the young man was slender, his face was like a dough, and his sparse eyebrows revealed a heroic spirit. Not only was he dressed beautifully and finely, but he was also followed by several powerful and fierce guards, who were not expected to be ordinary people.

In order to maintain his steady, Gao Tansheng came to him and clasped his palms together with one hand: "Amitabha, where did the donor come from?" Where are we going? ”

Li Zhiyun clasped his hands together: "Master is polite." I have come from where I have come and I have gone wherever I have been. ”

"Amitabha. Under the same Buddhist association, they are all destined people. Presumably, the donor is also a believer in Buddhism, and has no concern for mundane affairs. ”

"What Master said is very true. The body is a Bodhi tree, the heart is like a mirror platform, always wipe diligently, don't make dust. ”

"Good, good," Gao Tansheng smiled slightly, "Bodhi has no tree, the mirror is not a platform, there is nothing originally, where is the dust?" ”

Li Zhiyun was stunned for a moment, thinking that he was reading a poem about Shenxiu's arrival more than a hundred years later, and this guy could even answer correctly. Could it be that he is Huineng who has crossed over? Or does he bring his own wisdom? He didn't know much for a while, so he had to say, "Master, don't forget today's place, don't disturb this quiet place of Buddhism." ”

"The donor is too worried. Poor monks should follow the teachings of the Buddha, devote themselves to practice, and promote the Dharma......"

After walking out of the Buddha hall, Zhang Zheng leaned over to Li Zhiyun's side and said in a low voice: "King Chu, what you said just now is secretly sharp, do you have any doubts about that Gao Tansheng?" Li Zhiyun whispered: "Those three cases are all related to the temple on the mountain, of course I have doubts about the monks in the temple." But suspicion is suspicion, no evidence can be found, everything is in vain. Zhang Zheng listened and nodded.

After leaving Longxing Temple, the group climbed more than a dozen steps along the stone path to the highest point of this peak. The view here is wide, and you can see the stone path under your feet stretching along the mountain to the bottom of the valley, and then spiraling up to the opposite peak.

Master Hong pointed to the mountain opposite and said, "That is Tiantai, the highest peak of Yinhua Mountain. After the rooftop, there is the back mountain, and there are some temples in the back mountain. ”

Li Zhiyun saw that Aunt Ying's face was crimson and out of breath, so he asked with a smile, "Aunt Ying, are you still going to the rooftop?" Yinggu said: "If you go, I will go." Li Zhiyun saw that the stone path in front of him had branched out, and at the end of the fork was a temple, so he pointed with his hand and said, "Forget it, we won't go to the rooftop, let's go over there and have a look." Everyone walked forward along the fork road, and after a while, they came to the front of the temple, only to see the door plaque that read: Lotus Temple. It turned out to be a nunnery.

There are fewer pilgrims and tourists, and it is very quiet. Li Zhiyun stepped into the temple gate, only to see that the light in the temple was dim, and there was a Buddhist shrine facing the gate, and I don't know what kind of Buddha statue was offered in the Buddhist shrine. On the wooden table in front of the Buddhist shrine, dozens of ever-bright lamps are burned.

He walked around the temple hall and found a merit box on the south wall, and a wooden table next to it, on which many souvenirs were piled up, probably for the donors to take at will. Among them, there is a wood carving that is exactly the same as the one in Zhou Shen's pocket. Obviously, Zhou Shen's wood carving was taken here.

At this time, a nun came out from behind the shrine and added oil to the lantern. Master Hong walked over and shouted, "Master Jingyi." The nun put down the oil pot in her hand, turned around, folded her hands, bowed her head slightly, and said, "Lord Hong." ”

Li Zhiyun looked sideways, this nun was wearing dark gray sea green, wearing a monk's hat, looking about twenty years old, with fair skin, melon seed face, smoked eyebrows, and apricot-like eyes sparkling, quite a bit of enchanting. Master Hong folded his hands and said: "Master Jingyi, I was in too much of a hurry to go up the mountain this time, and I forgot to bring the sesame oil money, and I will definitely make up for it next time." I hope you will take care of the two everlasting lamps I offer. ”

"Lord Hong, the poor nun knows." The nun said that, she turned around and continued to refuel......

Walking out of the Lotus Temple, Li Zhiyun smiled and said, "Master Hong, you are quite familiar with the monks and nuns on this mountain. ”

"Don't hide it from the King of Chu, the villain is a local, who has lived in Xia County for generations. Many of the temples on this Yinhua Mountain have been around for hundreds of years, and many monks and nuns have also come here to practice since childhood. The villain often goes up the mountain to worship the Buddha and incense, and the monks in the temple inevitably go down the mountain to buy some goods, and they are naturally familiar with each other when they have more contact with each other. Master Hong explained in detail, as if he was afraid that Li Zhiyun would have some misunderstanding.

Li Zhiyun just said it casually, and didn't mean anything else, so he put aside the topic and said, "Master Hong, since you are a local, this king wants to ask you, is this Yinhua Mountain related to Yinlihua?" ”

"Back to the King of Chu, the villain has really done some research. Yin Lihua's birthplace is only 100 miles away from here, this mountain was originally called Boyao Mountain, and it was renamed Yinhua Mountain during the Yongping period of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the villain thinks that there should be something related to it. ”

At this time, Scarface interjected, "Who is Yin Lihua?" Li Zhiyun smiled and said, "A beautiful and virtuous woman." Before Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty became emperor, he said, 'To be an official is to be a ruling Jinwu, and to marry a wife, you must marry Yin Lihua.' When he became the emperor, he really married Yin Lihua as the queen. After a pause, he turned his head and asked Yinggu: "How is it, do you feel tired from climbing the mountain today?" Yinggu shook her head and said, "I'm not tired." Li Zhiyun smiled: "You're not tired, I still feel a little tired, okay, let's go down the mountain......

There were only a thousand soldiers in the barracks in Xia County. Li Zhiyun and Yu Wenxin spent half a day inspecting the barracks and warehouses. But he didn't want to leave yet, those cases had not yet been settled, and he didn't feel comfortable leaving. Although he is not a local official, and the investigation of cases is not under his control, since he has met, he can't be indifferent, right? Moreover, this is wartime after all, and any unstable factors may be exploited by hostile forces. He plans to stay in Xia County for a few more days to see if he can find some clues to solve the case. He told Yu Wenxin and several of his entourage about his idea, and they all agreed.

In the evening, Li Zhiyun called Yu Wenxin, Zhang Zheng and Cai Hu to his guest room and chatted with them about the case while drinking tea. Yu Wenxin is a military attache from the third rank, Zhang is from the fourth grade, and Cai Hu is from the fifth grade. The three of them are not very old, the eldest Yu Wenxin is only twenty-eight years old, and the youngest Cai Hu is only twenty years old. became high-ranking officials at such a young age, it can be seen that they are all young talents. Li Zhiyun believes that with their assistance, he will definitely be able to find out the details of those cases.

"King Chu, do you have any clues about the murder of Zhou Shen?" Zhang Zheng asked.

"Not yet. However, Zhou Shen was an official of the county government, and he was killed, and everyone in the county government was suspected. Therefore, if we find any clues here, don't tell the county government for the time being. ”

Yu Wenxin said: "The case of Zhou Shen's murder is confusing, and I can't find anything for the time being, so it's better to start with the two missing cases." I think there should be some kind of connection between these cases. ”

"What General Yuwen said is extremely true," Li Zhiyun turned to Cai Hu and said, "You set off tomorrow and go to several counties in the lower reaches of the Lingzhang River to ask the county officials if two female corpses have been found from the eighteenth day of the lunar month last year to the present." It stands to reason that if there is a nameless female corpse floating on the river, the government should have recorded it. Cai Hu nodded and said yes.

Then, he said to Zhang Zheng: "You go to Wang Xingben tomorrow and take back the file of the disappearance of Mrs. Xu and the scholar's lady to read it......

The next day, Zhang Zheng went to the county government to get the file back. Li Zhiyun sat in front of the desk and carefully checked it. He discovered that the eyewitness to the two disappearances turned out to be the same person, a man named Niu Da, who lived in Daqi Village outside the city.

The two missing women and the maid, after entering the incense and going down the mountain, were all seen by the same man, and Li Zhiyun felt a little strange. He pondered for a moment and said to Zhang Zheng: "You go and tell Wang Xingben and ask him to accompany us to Daqi Village to find Niu Da in the afternoon." ”