Chapter 26 - The Real Demonic Creature!
Time passed silently.
The bustling courtyard, usually filled with worshippers, was now eerily quiet under the Night Patrol's lockdown.
Beneath the ancient Bodhi tree, everyone craned their necks, trying to find the prayer tubes hung by Lin Jiao Yue and her friends among the thousands, or even tens of thousands, of bamboo tubes.
Li Nan Ke sat quietly by the door, his mind constantly sorting through the clues.
The reason he was so insistent on finding the prayer tubes that Lin Jiao Yue and her friends had placed on the Bodhi tree stemmed from his initial questioning of the monks on duty that day.
According to the monks, after the three girls finished praying, Wan Ying Ying stayed behind for a while.
Then, she inexplicably threw a tantrum.
After her outburst, she suggested going to Cuihong Mountain.
Therefore, the prayer tubes hanging on the tree must contain some clues that triggered the subsequent incidents.
"Found them!"
Before long, Leng Xinnan returned with the prayer tubes she had retrieved from the Bodhi tree and hurried over to Li Nan Ke.
He opened them one by one.
Wan Ying Ying's prayer tube contained a love poem and a few sentences about her feelings, expressing her desire to develop a romantic relationship with He Qing Yu.
It seemed that the girl was indeed deeply infatuated with him.
Lin Jiao Yue's prayer wished for her friends to live happily ever after.
But when Li Nan Ke opened Wen Jin Er's prayer tube, he found it empty—or rather, the prayer paper inside was gone!
"Tell me, did they hang these prayer tubes themselves, or did you help them?" Li Nan Ke asked Chang Yu.
Chang Yu shook his head.
"We didn't help them. After they finished writing their prayers in the scripture hall, Miss Lin took them all to hang them up."
As expected!
Li Nan Ke had an answer in his mind.
"Tell me again what happened afterward."
Chang Yu wiped the sweat from his plump face and recounted the events of that day.
"After hanging the prayer tubes, the three of them knelt and prayed under the Bodhi tree. Later, Miss Lin said she needed to use the restroom and asked Wen Jin Er to accompany her to the backyard."
"So only Wan Ying Ying stayed under the Bodhi tree?"
"Yes."
"Did you see Wan Ying Ying touch the prayer tubes?"
"It seems like she did," Chang Yu said, frowning as he tried to recall.
"I was attending to other worshippers at that time and didn't pay close attention. But afterward, I heard Miss Wan cursing and throwing a tantrum.”
“When Miss Lin and Miss Wen returned, I vaguely heard Miss Wan say something about going to Cuihong Mountain."
Li Nan Ke's eyes sharpened.
"Let me ask you again, did Miss Lin and the others exhibit any unusual behavior before this? I'm not just talking about the fourth of eighth, but even earlier."
This troubled Chang Yu.
So many worshippers came and went every day; how could he possibly remember them all?
"Half a month ago..."
Chang Ming, who was usually timid, suddenly spoke up.
"Miss Lin seemed to be in low spirits."
"Tell us more," Li Nan Ke said, his eyes lighting up.
Chang Ming seemed a bit uncomfortable being watched by so many people. A slight blush appeared on his dark cheeks, and he said timidly,
"Half a month ago, Landlord Lin brought his wife and Miss to the Dustless Temple to offer incense. Miss Wan and Miss Wen were with them.”
“Miss Lin was normal at first, but then something happened, and she seemed distraught and looked unwell. Miss Wan and Miss Wen kept comforting her. Oh, that's right!"
Chang Ming suddenly remembered something and pointed to the Vajra Bodhisattva Hall.
"In the afternoon, I saw the three of them kneeling there, as if making some kind of vow.”
“I only heard Miss Wan say, 'We must keep this secret for Jiao Yue. No one can tell.'"
Li Nan Ke looked at the thin young monk, a knowing smile curving his lips.
The information he provided was too detailed, too much.
This was clearly not normal.
After all, so many worshippers came to the temple every day. It was impressive enough to have a general impression of something that happened half a month ago, let alone remember it so clearly.
There was only one explanation—
This monk named Chang Ming secretly admired Lin Jiao Yue.
Only when you liked someone would you pay such close attention to them.
But Li Nan Ke didn't care who he had a crush on. The clues Chang Ming provided were too useful.
It made the truth, which was already surfacing, even clearer.
But with a rigorous attitude, Li Nan Ke decided to investigate the events of that day in detail.
"Tell me about what happened when Miss Lin and the others came to the temple. Where did they go? What did they do?"
Chang Ming hesitated for a moment and then led them to a quiet courtyard.
There were several meditation rooms with Buddha statues and lamps, and a large incense burner in the center.
"This is where people light lamps and pray for peace. There are dedicated monks who chant scriptures for blessings. I happened to be with my master at that time, so I remember it clearly," Chang Ming said, opening the door to a meditation room.
"At first, Landlord Lin and his family entered this room to light lamps and pray. But Miss Wan and the others were a bit noisy, and Landlord Lin was displeased, so he asked them to go to the next room.”
“Later, after the monk finished chanting the scriptures, Landlord Lin accompanied him to the main hall to listen to the teachings, leaving only Madam Lin here to pray..."
"Wait!"
Li Nan Ke suddenly grasped a key piece of information and stared at Chang Ming.
"So, Madam Lin, Mei Xing Er, was alone in this meditation room at that time. And Lin Jiao Yue and the others were next door?"
"Yes," Chang Ming nodded.
Li Nan Ke looked around the meditation room and asked, "How is the sound insulation here? If there was an argument, could people next door hear it?"
Chang Ming frowned.
"They probably could."
To verify his conjecture, Li Nan Ke asked Iron Ox and Guo Gang to go to the next room and talk, starting with a normal conversation and then escalating to a loud argument.
The experiment proved that as long as the voices weren't too low, they could be heard.
"And then?" Li Nan Ke continued to ask.
Chang Ming said, "Later, when I returned with my master and Landlord Lin, I saw that both Madam Lin and Miss Lin looked unwell."
"Did you see anyone else enter Madam Lin's meditation room at that time?"
"I'm not sure about that," Chang Ming shook his head.
Li Nan Ke asked the last key question, "You should also know He Qing Yu. That day... did he come to the Dustless Temple to offer incense?"
"Yes!"
This time it was Chang Yu who answered.
He stepped forward and said, "I remember this because someone kicked over a small incense burner outside the temple that day. It was Mr. He. He seemed very angry, probably after having an argument with someone."
Hearing Chang Ming's answer, Li Nan Ke closed his eyes slightly and murmured.
“The whole truth is clear now."
Although he had already deduced the final truth, he still hoped that he was wrong.
This wasn't the truth he wanted.
Because it was too cruel.
Leng Xinnan wasn't stupid. From Li Nan Ke's series of questions, she gradually understood and said with a grave expression.
"So, Madam Lin had an argument with someone in the room, and Lin Jiao Yue and the others happened to overhear it next door."
"By the way, Lord Leng, when you rushed to the Lin residence, was it because you heard that Miss Lin had fallen into a Red Rain dream?"
Li Nan Ke asked, turning to look at the woman's beautiful face.
Leng Xinnan shook her head.
"No, we had just arrived from Yun City and happened to see the maid from the Lin residence looking anxious in front of the county yamen. I asked her and learned that Miss Lin was having nightmares and couldn't wake up. I sensed something was wrong and rushed over."
Li Nan Ke murmured, "I see."
So, even without him, Lin Jiao Yue would have been saved.
"To He Qing Yu's house!" Li Nan Ke said in a deep voice, letting out a long sigh.
…
This was the second time Li Nan Ke had entered He Qing Yu's house.
Although the body had been removed, the eerie, lingering aura of death still permeated the room.
Li Nan Ke searched the house but couldn't find what he was looking for.
"Mrs. Zhang said that He Qing Yu used to draw pictures of women alone. He never let anyone see these pictures, so he must have hidden them. There must be a hidden compartment in this house. Let's search carefully."
Although he had already identified He Qing Yu's former lover, Li Nan Ke still wanted to find evidence.
This was the rigorous attitude he had inherited from his previous life.
"Hidden compartment?"
Leng Xinnan looked at the bookshelves, tables, and chairs in the room and frowned.
"Should we call Mrs. Zhang over? Maybe she knows where the mechanism is."
"Oh, why bother with that?"
Before anyone could react, Meng Xiao Tu suddenly swung her arm, and a flash of light streaked across the room. With a loud crash, the tables and chairs in front of them shattered into pieces.
Then, the bookshelves, wooden chests, and other furniture suffered the same fate.
Finally, a corner of the wall inside the bookshelf was smashed open, and scrolls of paintings mixed with scraps of paper flew out.
The hidden compartment was there.
"Here you go."
Meng Xiao Tu handed the painting of a woman to Li Nan Ke.
Li Nan Ke stared at the room, which had been demolished in an instant, speechless. He gave her a thumbs-up.
"You're even more of a husky than a husky. I'm impressed."
"What's a husky?"
The young woman looked confused.
Although the process was violent, finding the hidden compartment so quickly saved them time.
However, Li Nan Ke's attention was drawn to Meng Xiao Tu's weapon.
It was a pair of meteor hammers.
The hammers were the size of the girl's fists, engraved with intricate runes and made of a special metal.
The golden chain connecting them was also covered in runes.
They were clearly not ordinary items.
Li Nan Ke thought to himself, 'This little girl, so young, and she likes to play with balls.’
The woman in the paintings had a graceful figure and a seductive charm. Many of the portraits were of her scantily clad, the lines skillfully drawn, stimulating the imagination, as if the artist had personally experienced the scenes.
But none of the paintings showed the woman's face.
"Heh, he's quite cautious."
Li Nan Ke chuckled.
Although the woman's face wasn't drawn, a small crescent moon birthmark on her waist was preserved.
This was enough evidence.
"What's this?"
Leng Xinnan suddenly exclaimed, taking out an object from the hidden compartment.
When she opened it, it turned out to be an animal hide.
The hide was covered in thick fur, large enough to wrap around an adult man.
Li Nan Ke took the animal hide, his eyes flickering. He looked at Leng Xinnan.
"Do you have the record of Lin Jiao Yue's statement?"
"Yes."
Guo Gang retrieved it.
Li Nan Ke opened the record and read it carefully. Soon, he sighed and pointed to a particular line, showing it to Leng Xinnan.
"When Lin Jiao Yue was injured, the yamen and the Night Patrol questioned her. She answered everything in detail, except for this."
"She didn't describe the Demonic Creature's appearance?" Leng Xinnan's pupils constricted slightly.
Guo Gang said, "I asked the officer who took her statement, and he said that Lin Jiao Yue was too scared and couldn't remember clearly."
"Scared?" Li Nan Ke sneered.
"But when we encountered the Demonic Creature in the backyard of the Lin residence, she recognized it immediately."
Leng Xinnan abruptly looked up.
"Lin Jiao Yue and the others never encountered a Demonic Creature on Cuihong Mountain!"
"No, they did," Li Nan Ke said, holding up the animal hide.
"This Demonic Creature is He Qing Yu!"