Su Fei turned directly onto the horse with neat movements.
"Let's go."
"Emerald Screen Mountain is not far from the imperial city. Try to get there before noon."
The two of them galloped out of the west gate of the imperial city and headed towards Emerald Screen Mountain in the western suburbs.
The trees on both sides of the official road receded quickly, and the morning wind brought a bit of coolness.
About an hour and a half later, the outline of Emerald Screen Mountain appeared in front of us.
Emerald Screen Mountain is not too steep, but the trees are lush and the mountains are shrouded in clouds and mist. It can be considered a blessed place.
Vajra Temple is located halfway up the mountain Emerald Screen Mountain.
It's just that today's temple is no longer as popular as it used to be. Looking from a distance, the vermilion temple door is tightly closed, and the courtyard wall is covered with weeds. Apparently no one has been taking care of it since it went out of business.
There was a sense of desolation.
The two reined in their horses and did not choose to go directly to the temple.
Su Fei wants to find a nearby villager. Let's ask about the situation first.
Zhang Lie found a villager's house in a familiar place and showed his Imperial Guard token.
"Old man, we are here to investigate the murder case of Vajra Temple. We would like to ask you a few questions."
The villager was about sixty years old. When he heard the three words "Vajra Temple", his face suddenly turned pale and he said in a trembling voice.
"My lord, I know this case. It's so evil. During the daytime the day before the crime happened, we heard the bells in the temple ringing as usual."
Su Fei asked.
"Did you hear any strange sounds on the night of the crime? Such as fighting or screaming?"
The old man thought carefully for a moment and shook his head.
"No, there was no sound at all. It was so quiet that night, there wasn't even a dog barking."
Su Fei knew clearly that the murderer obviously used special means, either extremely fast to control the whole place instantly, or there was a way to block the sound.
This is completely consistent with what Zhang Lie said before, "There is no trace of resistance."
The two thanked the villagers and returned to Vajra Temple.
The closer we get to Vajra Temple, the stronger the smell of blood becomes in the air. Even though more than ten days have passed, the pungent smell has not dissipated.
When you open the temple door, the sight in front of you is shocking.
Although the body had long been taken away for burial, large black stains of blood still remained on the bluestone floor in the courtyard.
The door of the main hall was open, the Buddha statue inside fell to the ground, the altar table was broken, the incense burner was overturned, and it was a mess.
These were later overturned by Imperial Guard in order to search and find clues.
Su Fei walked into the courtyard, God-tier Insight Technique started running instantly, and his eyes scanned every corner.
He noticed that although the blood stains on the ground were messy, there were no traces of dragging. All the blood stains were concentrated on the position where the body fell to the ground, which was obviously done deliberately by the murderer.
"Officer Zhang, you said before that some corpses and Buddha treasures are missing?"
"Yes."
"Near the Sutra Pavilion in the backyard, Gilded Sarira is enshrined there. There were originally many monks guarding it, but there were only large blood stains on the scene and not a single monk's body could be seen."
"By the way, Zhen Ding, the direct disciple of Vajra Temple, is responsible for guarding the library. His body has also disappeared."
Then Zhang Lie hesitated for a moment and continued.
"By the way, Lord Su, many people are secretly saying that this case was committed by Bore Temple. They were interested in the Buddha treasure in order to steal the Buddha treasure in Vajra Temple, Bore Temple is much stronger than Vajra Temple, and there are Grandmaster level warriors at his command, so Bore Temple is fully capable of doing this."
"Bore Temple has a normal relationship with our Great Xuan Dynasty court."
Su Fei felt something in his heart.
Bore Temple? The Buddhist temple where Shadow Kill Tower killer Xuan Zhen is located is much more powerful than Vajra Temple. It is not impossible for the Buddhist sect, one of the best in southern Buddhism, to have this possibility.
Su Fei took Zhang Lie to the Sutra Pavilion in the backyard.
The door of the Sutra Pavilion was intact and showed no signs of being pried. When he pushed the door open, the bookshelf inside collapsed and the scriptures were scattered on the floor.
There is an altar at the very end, but it is empty. This should be the place where Gilded Sarira is placed.
Su Fei looked through the scriptures on the ground and found that there were no martial arts secrets, they were all Buddhist scriptures.
He squatted down and observed the blood on the ground, and God-tier Insight Technique caught a very faint strange smell.
It was a strange smell mixed with sandalwood. It was neither like the aroma of Buddhism nor the stench left by corpses.
Su Fei frowned slightly, he had never smelled such an aura among any warriors or sects.
This was the first time he smelled this smell.
"Officer Zhang, did you smell anything unusual?"
Zhang Lie came closer and smelled it, then shook his head.
"No, Lord Su."
Su Fei firmly remembers this taste.
Others can't smell it.
It seems that if it were not for the effect of God-tier Insight Technique, Su Fei would not be able to smell it.
He stood up, ran God-tier Insight Technique and looked around, his eyes falling on the upper beams of the Sutra Pavilion.
At the corner of a pillar, he found a very shallow mark.
It was a crescent-shaped notch with smooth edges. It didn't look like it was formed naturally, but it looked like it had been scratched by some kind of weapon.
If it weren't for God-tier Insight Technique, ordinary warriors would never have discovered this trace.
Who left this crescent-shaped mark, and what does it mean?
Su Fei thought thoughtfully. He had never seen such a mark when looking through the files.
He carefully explored the courtyard for another half an hour, but found no other clues except the strange smell and the crescent moon mark.
But these two points gave him a preliminary judgment.
The murderer is extremely powerful and has special concealment methods that allow him to kill the family without alerting anyone.
As for the missing corpse and Buddhist treasure, it was most likely taken away by the murderer, and the purpose is still unknown.
"Thousand Households Commander Su, do you want to go to the nearby Emerald Screen Mountain forest and take a look?"
Su Fei shook his head.
"No, since the murderer can leave no traces, he will naturally not leave any clues nearby. Let's go back to the imperial city first and check if any strange forces or warriors have entered the capital recently. Maybe it was them."
The two walked out Vajra Temple, Su Fei turned on his horse, and looked back at Vajra Temple.
"This case is more difficult than I thought."
The sound of horse hooves sounded again, heading back towards the imperial city.
Su Fei knows that if we want to investigate this murder case and recover the Buddha treasure, we may have to start with the mysterious crescent mark.
Su Fei and Zhang Lie at least return to the Southern Commandery Investigation Department, just arriving at the gate.
Then I saw Lei Chongxiao going out wearing Flying Bear Official Robe, followed by two attendants.
Zhang Lie Seeing this, he quickly got off his horse and saluted with his hands in hand.
"See Lord Governor."
Su Fei also landed and came forward to greet him.
Lei Chongxiao glanced at the two of them, and seeing that they were all dressed in dust, he knew that they had just come back from outside, which was a little strange.
"Su Fei Didn't you just join Southern Commandery Investigation Department? You didn't familiarize yourself with the business in the company today. Where did you go with Zhang Lie?"
Zhang Lie replied quickly.
"Back to my lord, my subordinate and Vice Thousand Households Commander Su have just returned from Emerald Screen Mountain in the western suburbs. Lord Su took his subordinate to investigate the murder case of Vajra Temple."