Late at night, at the northern foot of Xiaodong Mountain, the night wind blew the sound of waves of pine trees, which made one's heart tremble.
Walking in Yingdu, Xue Zhong was carefully examining the traces under an old pine tree. The ground was covered with dead leaves and mulch. On the tree trunk half a foot high above his head, there was a bloody palm print.
Within a radius of thirty feet, several other monks from Yingdu Academy were doing the same thing, looking for possible remaining clues.
After Wu Sheng, Zhong Liying, and Sophora Flower Sword arrived, Xue Zhong patted Wu Sheng on the shoulder to show his gratitude: "Thank you so much, Brother Sun... I will edit the book and leave it to Qing Shu later, and tell him that I I'll lend you temporarily."
This was for Wu Sheng's consideration, so as not to blame Wu Sheng for acting without permission when Qing Shu came back. Wu Sheng smiled bitterly: "What do you mean by thanking me? Is the criminal... called Hongyi? Since Hongyi has come to Yangzhou, Yangzhou School has the responsibility. Assistance in walking, everything is as it should be.”
Xue Zhongdao: "Red is the name given by Sun Jiezi, the master of Yingdu, to this demon cultivator. He was the first to survive fighting against the demon cultivator. Shen Zhuliang continued to use this name and wrote it into the archives. His real name was Shang. No one knows."
Wu Sheng nodded and looked at the tree trunk. Against the background of the torch, the black and red palm prints looked extremely scary.
"Is this what the demon cultivator left behind?" Wu Sheng asked.
Xue Zhongdao: "I just discovered it. The blood stains haven't dried yet. It won't last more than half an hour."
Huaihua Sword stood by and said in surprise: "Another one was killed? Who is it?"
Xue Zhongdao: "I don't know yet, I'm looking for it, but it's strange. We have been searching for a long time, but we haven't found any blood on the ground, not a drop of blood, not even a drop of blood on the ground, not even a drop of human head, limbs, bones, including the internal organs, and not a single bit of broken flesh or bones." ."
Just now, Wu Sheng had heard from Zhong Liying that this demonic cultivator liked to dismember corpses. Now that he had arrived at the crime scene and thought about it along with Xue Zhong's story, he couldn't help but feel sick.
Huaihua Jian couldn't help but almost vomited, and he retched next to him.
Zhong Liying asked: "Xue Zhongxing, what does the bloody palm print mean?"
Xue Zhongdao: "Every time Hong Yi kills a person, he will leave a palm print. We don't know what it means. Maybe he just wants to establish his authority?"
Wu Sheng asked: "How did you find this bloody palm print?"
Xue Zhong pointed to a figure in the distance: "Remember Xin Xitang? Now he has joined my family. He is extremely capable of tracking and very talented. It would be a pity if he was executed just for theft! So I returned to Linzi, He met with Master Pan and explained the pros and cons, and Master Pan promised not to pursue the case any further. Xin Xitang had a good attitude of pleading guilty and repenting, and was willing to give up his merits..."
Wu Sheng thought of Xin Xitang's betrayal of Jin Wuhuan for the bounty, and wanted to remind Xue Zhong, but after thinking about it, he decided to forget it. Everyone is not the same, maybe they have really changed their past? Who should I use? No matter who uses it, how to use it, this is Xue Zhong's business, there is no need to meddle in his own business.
After many years, it is impossible for Xin Xitang to recognize himself now. The only problem is that he cannot meet Jin Wuhuan, so he needs to be more careful in this regard.
Zhong Liying and Huai Huajian also joined the team searching for clues, but in vain. After Xin Xitang came over to see Wu Sheng, he reported to Xue Zhong: "There is no trace of the red demon, it is still the same as before, it seems to have disappeared out of thin air. Generally, the search scope needs to be expanded.”
Wu Sheng observed Xin Xitang's every move and felt that he did not recognize him, so he asked: "Brother Xin, how did you find this palm print?"
Xin Xitang pointed to his nose: "Xitang has a family secret technique for distinguishing smells."
Xue Zhong laughed and said: "He only relies on a dog's nose, haha." After laughing, he ordered: "Expand to a hundred feet!"
With the Blood Palm as the center and searching hundreds of feet away, the range was still quite large, but Xin Xitang immediately showed his superiority. In a moment, he found a palm almost eighty-five feet away, and the palm was covered with blood. The black and red blood spots were compared with the blood marks on the tree trunk.
Is it the establishment of prestige that Xue Zhong mentioned? Or is it some kind of demonic ritual? Or is it just some kind of insane obsession and delusion?
Wu Sheng asked: "Xue Zhongxing, this time you discovered the red demon in Jishan? How did you discover it? Why did he suddenly appear after five years?"
Xue Zhongdao: "I don't know why it appeared. After I walked to Yingdu, I started to solve the backlog and set the reward again. Many monks in Yingdu were running for the bounty. The red clothes of this demonic monastery are eye-catching and easy to identify. , someone discovered it as soon as it appeared. My subordinate Fei Bai rushed to the east entrance of Jishan Mountain after receiving the report, and died on the spot. According to the informant, the female devil in red at that time..."
"female?"
"The female devil, she stands at the east entrance of Jishan Mountain, staring at the cliff in a daze, motionless."
Wu Sheng blinked: "What's on the cliff? Like spiritual grass and spiritual flowers?"
Xue Zhong praised: "Brother Sun is keen... On the cliff at the east entrance of Jishan Mountain, a strange thing happened five years ago. Someone transplanted flowers and plants on the wall, and strange patterns were formed overnight. After that, the academy set fire to the cliff. , burned the treacherous pattern, and when I went to see it a few days ago, the flowers and plants were reborn, and three-thirds of the remnants were faintly restored."
Wu Sheng coughed dryly: "She is looking at that... sly pattern? Who painted it?"
Xue Zhongdao: "The person who painted the pattern has been taken away by the academy..." Seeing no one around, he whispered: "Brother Sun, do you know who he is? Donglizi, the junior disciple of the great alchemist Sang Tianwu."
Wu Sheng hurriedly asked: "Isn't the Great Alchemist respected and worshiped by the academy? Why do you want to arrest his junior brother?"
Xue Zhongdao: "The two brothers have always been at odds with each other, and their behaviors are completely different. Sang Fengcheng studied the forbidden literature privately, while Donglizi studied forbidden literature privately. What he painted on the cliff of Jishan is the pattern forbidden by the academy. This is The text of the Heavenly Book! For this reason, Academician Huqiu personally took action to arrest him, and he is now detained in the dungeon of Xiandu. For the sake of Sang Fengsheng, he did not deliberately make things difficult for him."
Wu Sheng sighed: "Is Donglizi's cultivation level so high? He actually wants to take action in conjunction with the Tao."
Xue Zhongdao: "It's incredible. He entered the void from the text in the heavenly book. It is said that within a few days of entering the void, he fought with Chang Hong and Gongye without losing... Tsk, tsk, tsk, the text in the heavenly book is amazing!"
Wu Sheng also clicked his tongue a few times and said with envy: "The characters in the Heavenly Book are so powerful, I wonder when we and other people in the academy will be able to study them in detail?"
Xue Zhongdao: "The words in the heavenly book coincide with the way of heaven, and they have their own destiny. How can we mess up the study? If it is spread out, the secret of heaven will be revealed, and the way of heaven will be chaotic."
Wu Sheng asked: "That means you can't learn it?"
Xue Zhong patted him on the shoulder: "You will have the opportunity only if you join the practice. Brother Sun, you and I will work hard together!"
While they were talking, the others had already finished the investigation and found no other clues. Xue Zhong asked Wu Sheng what direction he had to solve the case. Wu Sheng didn't come up with a better way and just said: "Let's see if we can find the owner of the palm first. "
Zhong Liying said: "Brother Sun, let's go back and ask Captain Tian Si to take action?"
Xue Zhong said hurriedly: "Don't make a big show of it!"
Wu Sheng nodded and said, "Don't worry, I'll just ask Captain Tian Si to investigate closely."
Thanks to Leisure Traveler, Ascetic Zhufeng, Xin Xitang, Shu Chi Bu Yan, and Li Zhengxi sissi for their rewards. Thank you fellow Taoists for your monthly tickets and recommended tickets.