"This man is called Blind Bai."
Staring at the corpse on the ground, Thousand Households Wu Degui wiped the cold sweat with a handkerchief, "He was originally a Duan Gong in Xiangyang City, fond of deceiving and swindling, notorious for his bad reputation. Later, he made a fortune and beca a wealthy rchant."
"Even after becoming rich, he did no good deeds, helping Yangtze River pirates fence stolen goods, and secretly harming people by practicing Evil Technique."
"A few months ago, Young Hero Li, when you broke the Ghost Sect in Dangyang County, you found a list that included this man. We cooperated with the Law Enforcent Hall to capture him, but unfortunately, he had already disappeared, and to think he has appeared here again..."
So that was how it was.
Li Yan, upon hearing this, suddenly understood.
No wonder this man was so familiar to him.
The Tongtian San in the Earth Immortal Cave, who was initially the leader of the Ezhou Ghost Sect, had been slain by them, and they had obtained a list that recorded the nas of many rchants and officials, causing heavy losses to the Ghost Sect.
This Ghost Sect probably was unlucky to have crossed paths with him; since entering Hubei, they had encountered each other several tis, from Zigui to Wuchang, where all their plans were disrupted, attracting Zhao Changsheng’s attention.
Therefore, he was targeted for assassination upon entering the city.
Realizing this, Li Yan didn’t mind it much.
Although he and Zhao Changsheng had never t, they had been entangled in a karmic enmity since his birth in this lifeti and were bound to settle it.
He had exposed the other party’s whereabouts, leading the court to exert all efforts against them. Zhao Changsheng issuing a wanted notice from the shadows was not surprising.
Not only the Ghost Sect, but he guessed that forces like the Heavenly Saint Sect and so scoundrels from the Green Forest Road would all eye him like a tiger watching its prey.
Outside the dilapidated temple, the continual sounds of screams and groans echoed.
Most of the people at the Captain Bureau used ordinary muskets, limited in power, hence fewer deaths and more injuries among the Heavenly Saint Sect mbers outside.
This was indeed a significant achievent!
From these people, they would definitely obtain ample intelligence about the Heavenly Saint Sect, which might lead them to catch more traitors.
Not to ntion the mbers of the Captain Bureau, even Thousand Households Wu Degui’s face was flushed with excitent, "Young Hero Li, how do you think these people should be handled?"
Li Yan pondered for a mont, "First, take them out for interrogation on the spot. There are still insiders in Xiangyang City, and this isn’t their only stronghold. Act imdiately after finding the intelligence."
"Young Hero Li speaks wisely!"
Wu Degui also nodded in agreent.
Li Yan looked around and said in a deep voice, "Keep your distance when interrogating them; there’s sothing wrong with this place, it might be related to the source of the epidemic. Let investigate further."
"Alright."
Wu Degui did not ask further, instructing his n to carry all the wounded and the corpses further away for interrogation in batches.
For these interrogation experts, not only could they thoroughly expose the opponents’ backgrounds, but they could also deduce more intelligence from the details of each person’s statents...
After the crowd left, the temple quieted down again.
"There is indeed a problem here."
Lv San, with a solemn expression, said, "There are no snakes, insects, rats, or ants, and the small animals outside instinctively avoid this place."
"Hmm."
Li Yan looked towards the ruined temple hall, thoughtfully saying, "That old ghost earlier said that even finding this place wouldn’t reveal it, probably referring to sothing inside..."
Saying this, he strode towards the hall.
As he walked, he spoke, "According to Wu Degui, this temple was originally nad ’Zhaode Temple,’ built in mory of his mother by the Prince of Xiang during the previous dynasty. The layout should be similar to the present."
"I’ve seen this type of temple; the front hall usually worships Ksitigarbha, the middle hall worships Buddha or Guanyin, and the back hall worships Maitreya. The front hall is destroyed, so it’s probably Guanyin inside..."
While speaking, the two entered the hall.
Indeed, inside the dilapidated hall stood a towering statue of Guanyin, surrounded by dust and ashes, with charred charcoal and carbonized human heads scattered on the ground.
Like the temple’s Buddha statues, there are many types of Guanyin statues, each representing different anings.
Such as Yang Liu Guanyin, holding a clean bottle, also known as Holy Guanyin, symbolizing favorable weather and abundant crops, commonly worshiped when the common people build temples...
There’s the Holding Scripture Guanyin, also called Hearing Guanyin, usually depicted as Bodhisattva sitting on a rock, right hand holding a scripture roll, left hand resting on the knee, symbolizing embracing the world and fulfilling thoughts, worshiped in thatched cottages or on rocks...
There’s also the White-clothed Guanyin, who, during the civil unrest in the Central Plains, showed herself in white robes on Ghost Festival, liberating souls, hence representing rebirth into the western paradise...
The one before them was the White-clothed Guanyin.
But the divine statue was already damaged, the colored plaster mottled revealing the clay beneath, and even its head had fallen off, rolling to one side, and there was no scent of incense.
Seeing this, Li Yan’s brow furrowed deep.
This temple was eerie; the dead monks turned into yin souls chanting sutras, unwilling to leave, and even the door panels, fras, and stone carvings had turned into hair spirits with an incense scent.
It was definitely related to sothing.
Inside the hall, apart from this ruined Guanyin statue, there was nothing else to be seen.
He took out a compass to check, but the needle was extrely chaotic...
Using his sll superpower, he couldn’t detect any strange odor...
After sending Rat One and Rat Two to investigate, they only felt that the place was terrifying...
Li Yan pondered for a mont, then suddenly rembered that when he had just entered the temple, the hair spirits and monk ghosts were making a racket, but now it was unusually quiet, with no scent detectable at all.
"Quick, help fetch a basin of water."
Li Yan called out and took a lamp from the offering table. After Lv San fetched the water, he lit the lamp, held the Hook Paper, and activated the spell, taking a step forward.
This was a thod of communication with God, developed by Liu Gang and his colleagues.
Whoosh~
In an instant, the surrounding scene drastically changed.
The previously ruined hall now appeared even more eerie, covered in dense moss, but devoid of any vitality, looking more like decay and mold.
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