"Kong the Scholar is missing?"
Wang Dao Xuan heard this and frowned. "But Kong family is here?"
Although Kong Shangzhao is well-read and has a strong memory, he is a rare talent, but he is only a branch of Kong family. His father Kong Zhenshan is just a businessman who works for Kong family, and his status in Lineage is not high.
What's even more troublesome is that this kid is deviant but has a righteous heart, so he offended Kong family's grandson.
I came to the capital here to seek refuge.
The only enemy of this nerd is the grandson of Kong family. His mysterious disappearance is probably related to him.
Who knows, Li Yan shook his head and said, "It shouldn't be Kong family."
After saying that, he whispered, "The ones who disappeared together are Kuai Dayou and Fatty Lin."
Wang Dao Xuan was suddenly stunned, "How did the three of them get together?"
"Not sure."
Li Yan shook his head helplessly, "Recently, there have been frequent murders in the capital, all caused by those lurking Japanese monsters. But they come and go without a trace, and they can avoid City God Temple's search. It's probably Zhao Qingxu who is up to something."
"Luo MingZi were searching everywhere and had no time to find these three guys, so they asked us to take action. Jiangzhe Merchant Guild was also impatient and paid a large sum of money, fearing that something might happen to Fatty Lin."
Wang Dao Xuan stroked his beard and said with a smile, "We are all acquaintances, so of course I will help if I can."
"That's the problem."
Li Yan secretly held Dragon Snake Plate, shielded the surrounding exploration, and whispered, "I accepted the mission from the Heavenly Official and must stay in the academy. Old Sha has suffered internal injuries and needs someone to take care of him..."
"It doesn't matter."
Wang Dao Xuan shook his head and said, "I just want to find someone, I will bring Wu Ba and Lu San with me, that's enough."
Li Yan thought for a moment, "That's fine, Daoist priest, please pay attention to safety."
When they were in Shuzhong, they were already used to dividing their troops for operations.
Now all Human Path lines have improved. Wang Dao Xuan has learned <Five Chapters Divine Secret>, Wu Ba has inherited Hua Guang Sect's martial arts, and Lu San's strength has also improved. Besides, he is still in the capital, so there is not a big problem.
As for Long Yan'er, he has to stay and take care of Sha LiFei.
After deciding on the plan, the three people immediately picked up the guys and set off.
As dusk approached, we came to "West Jiangmi Alley" on the southwest side of Chengtian Gate.
"Three gentlemen, please come here."
A clerk from Commandery Commandant Office led the way and said as he walked, "There were people coming and going in the yamen and it was quite noisy, so I found a courtyard here for Mr. Kong. It is only one street away from Commandery Commandant Office. Five Armies Commandery and Ministry of Justice, the Duchayuan and Dali Temple are all nearby. Who would have thought that something happened."
Soon, a small green brick courtyard appeared in front of everyone's eyes.
The area is not large, but it is very clean and tidy, and there is a huge jujube tree in the yard.
Although it is just an ordinary residence, the location alone is already worth thousands of dollars.
The people living around are also Three Ministries and Six Departments officials and minor officials.
An old man was waiting at the door with a face full of anxiety. When he saw everyone arriving, he quickly stepped forward and said, "Daoist Wang, you are here, please help my young master."
As he spoke, he knelt down on the ground.
Wang Dao Xuan stepped forward to support him, "Uncle Lin, don't be anxious, speak slowly."
This old man is Kong Shangzhao's domestic servant. He met them in Tongzhou and is familiar with them.
Before he finished speaking, two more people walked out of the yard.
A short and fat man, covered in silk and satin, with fair skin and a Eight Characters beard, kept wiping the sweat on his forehead with a towel. Judging from his facial features, he should be somewhat similar to Fatty Lin.
The other one was a skinny young man wearing coarse cloth.
Lin Bo quickly introduced, "This is the clan uncle of Young Master Lin, and this is Brother Kuai's subordinate. They are both anxious and waiting here."
"Have you seen Daoist Wang and Young Hero Li not here?"
"Daoist Priest, please save my brother!"
The two of them didn't care about politeness and asked anxiously.
"Stop!"
Wang Dao Xuan felt a headache and waved his hands quickly. "Don't worry, you have to have clues to find someone. Let's talk about it after we get in."
A group of people entered the small courtyard and it suddenly seemed a little crowded.
"Tell me everything."
Wang Dao Xuan sat down and looked at a few people, "Did they do anything strange before they disappeared?"
The young man in rough clothes was the most anxious and spoke first, "Brother Dayou often ran to Mr. Kong some time ago. The day before yesterday, he said he was going out to do some errands. He was so mysterious that he didn't even bring everything with him. He only took a small cloth bag and left. I still haven't heard from him yet!"
Uncle Fatty Lin also hurriedly responded, his voice filled with anxiety. "Daoist Priest, my nephew has also been missing for more than a day!"
"Yesterday I was supposed to go to the Chamber of Commerce to order some beef, but no one was there. The guy said that he had a drink with Mr. Xiao Kong and Carpenter Kuai at a restaurant the night before, and then... Alas! I asked them where they usually go, but they all said they had never seen it before!"
"A secret move?"
Wang Dao Xuan thought thoughtfully, "It seems they are planning something. Uncle Lin, did Mr. Kong do anything strange before he left? Or did he leave a few words?"
Lin Bo wiped away tears. "Young master only said that he was going to 'check the ancient books'. He walked in a hurry and didn't let me follow..."
"By the way, I've taken away some of the treasures at home."
"What baby?" Wang Dao Xuan asked quickly.
At this moment, Commandery Commandant Office, the scribe who had been waiting beside him, said, "It's not really a treasure. To protect Mr. Kong's safety, Daoist Luo got some self-defense weapons from the Enforcement Hall and put them in the house to prevent anyone from using magic to harm him."
"We have checked, they are all jade pendants that protect Divine Soul, Auspicious Coin and so on."
"The strange thing is that Mr. Kong took them all away. The place he went to must be very dangerous."
"Oh..."
Wang Dao Xuan frowned when he heard this.
These clues are completely useless. At most, they indicate that the three of them are planning something in private.
Being so sneaky, you must be trying to deceive others.
The time of disappearance happened to be the day of the academy's opening ceremony.
Maybe it's still illegal and undisciplined...
They deliberately concealed it, no wonder Commandery Commandant Office couldn't find anyone.
At this pass, the city is very dangerous because of the evil presence of Japanese monsters.
None of the three are fools. What could make them willing to take risks?
If Wang Dao Xuan initially accepted the mission, it was just because of friendship and boredom, and now he has developed a strong curiosity.
He glanced around and suddenly noticed something strange.
Uncle Lin Lineage and the young man under Kuai Dayou both had anxious faces.
But Lin Bo's expression was a bit strange.
In anxiety, with a hint of uneasiness, his eyes flickered.
Wang Dao Xuan has an insight into people's hearts, and combined with what happened just now, he already had some concerns in his mind, and said in a deep voice, "Uncle Lin, are you hiding something from us?"
Lin Bo's face turned pale, "No, no..."
Wang Dao Xuan laughed dumbly, "Are you afraid that your young master will do something illegal?"
"Don't worry, with his current position in Commandery Commandant Office, as long as he doesn't kill people and get goods, he will be punished with a small punishment at most. But if something happens and he gets stuck somewhere, it will be too late to save him!"
"This... this..."
When Uncle Lin heard this, he became even more panicked. He knelt on the ground again, with snot and tears streaming down his face, "Daoist Wang, it's all my fault. You have to save my young master. I'm afraid something big has happened to them!"
Wang Dao Xuan helped Lin Bo up and said in a deep voice, "Don't panic, please speak carefully."
"Uncle Lin, how did your young master Kong Shangzhao get acquainted with Lin Yu and Kuai Dayou? Why did he act secretly and lose his trace? Let me tell you everything you know, no matter how big or small!"
Lin Bo wiped away tears and said with fear in his voice:
"Reporting to Daoist Wang, this matter... This matter started when Master Lin Yu came to our door."
"About ten days ago, at noon that day, my young master was still copying an old yamen file in the room, and Master Lin suddenly burst in. He... he was carrying a cloth baggage. He was mysterious and did not shy away from small things. He directly said to my young master, 'Stupid Kong, don't copy these useless files! I found something weird!"
"They entered the room to talk, and the little old man vaguely heard something like 'Returning Yang One'..."
"What?!"
Wang Dao Xuan's eyes narrowed. "Fatty Lin, can you tell me what exactly it is?"
Lin Bo tried his best to recall, "Young Master Lin didn't specify what kind of treasure it was, but when the little old man came in to pour tea, he saw him taking out an object from the bag! That thing..."
As he spoke, there was an expression of surprise and fear on his face, "... It's a broken stone sculpture, like some kind of evil beast, but the beast's face is extremely weird, with a grinning mouth, and the eye sockets are frighteningly deep, especially between the eyebrows, it actually... seems to have a third vertical eye!"
"After just one glance, the little old man felt his heart go crazy, so he quickly left and went to cook."
"Then when the food was being served, I vaguely heard Master Lin talking in a low voice about 'ghost market', 'news reported by Gray Thread', 'Auspicious Coin matched', '80% of it is an evil thing that came out of some ancient tomb'... He also said that he alone and his 'eyesight' couldn't figure it out. It had to be helped by a talented man like the young master who has a family background and is well-read in the classics to help him look up the classics."
"What happens next?" Wang Dao Xuan asked, secretly thinking something was wrong.
The gray line is the spy Golden Swallow Gate. It seems that Fatty Lin got some information from the black market.
Three-eyed stone animal face...
I don't know what it is, and how did it get linked to "Returning Yang One"?
"After?"
Lin Bo sighed, "You know that my young master can't stand strange stories, especially those involving ancient objects and evil spirits. How could he still sit still when Master Lin said this? He went out with Master Lin that afternoon."
"The younger one didn't follow. Later I heard from the young master that they ran to Commandery Commandant Office Yamen!"
Wang Dao Xuan raised an eyebrow. "Commandery Commandant Office? Not a library?"
Commandery Commandant Office Although there are archive documents, they involve confidential documents and cannot be freely consulted by scholars.
After saying that, he turned to look at the Commandery Commandant Office scribe.
The clerk hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice and said, "It's Young Master Lin... He, he didn't know what kind of connections he had! Didn't he join Mr. Yan at that time and work at the Qiankun Academy's 'Bówùzhāi'?"
"It seems that in the name of the academy collecting and sorting out historical materials and anecdotes from various places, Lin Family spent a lot of money to open up joints, and roped in the Zhao the Donkey couple who are responsible for the feng shui surveying and mapping of the capital as guarantees, and actually allowed the young master and Master Lin to enter Commandery Commandant Office The place where and Enforcement Hall store old files and miscellaneous books and secret books... Master Kuai also joined in later. He is skilled in craftsmanship and can help repair and identify the damaged patterns on those worn-out ancient books. The Yamen side just turns a blind eye..."
"Hmm."
Wang Dao Xuan nodded and looked at Uncle Lin again, "Then your young master started to read the classics?"
"Yeah!"
Lin Bo nodded repeatedly, with a hint of helplessness and distress on his face, "From that day on, my young master seemed to have changed! He... He seemed to be possessed! He spent time with Commandery Commandant Office and Enforcement Hall every day. In an old library, he would go out before dawn and come back in the middle of the night. He would bring back stacks of ancient scrolls, manuscripts, and maps that were taller than others. Some of the books were rotten and moldy, but he didn't care at all. He ate the food carelessly for two people, and his eyes were red from the heat, just because he was struggling with the pile of books!"
"What specific book did you check? Did he mention it?"
Wang Dao Xuan knows that the key clues are in these books.
Lin Bo's face turned bitter, "I don't know, little old man."
"I'll remember something."
The scribe cupped his hands and said, "I help Mr. Kong on weekdays. I have heard him reciting the titles of books several times."
"It seems to be... "A Study of Demons and Strange Stories from the Land of the Two Song Dynasties", "A Collection of Evil Sacrifice and Temples Along the Cao River"... and what else... "Stories of Demons and Strange Stories from the Capital City of the Jin Dynasty"? By the way, there is also a particularly thick book with loose threads. It is called "Miscellaneous Stories about the Roots of the Imperial City".
Wang Dao Xuan frowned slightly, "I've never heard of it, can I borrow it for a look?"
The scribe looked troubled. "Some classics are very old, are isolated copies, fragments, or contain secret files..."
Seeing everyone's expressions looking bad, he quickly changed his words and said, "Go down and beg Daoist Luo, it should be fine."
After saying that, he turned around and ran away.
The waiting time was extremely long.
Before I knew it, it was already night, the evening wind blew the lanterns, and the firelight swayed.
There was silence in the courtyard, with only the jujube leaves rustling in the evening breeze, adding to the anxiety.
After about half an hour, the clerk finally rushed back out of breath.
Behind him were two handymen, carrying two heavy wooden boxes and placing them in the courtyard.
The lid of the box was opened, and inside were thick stacks of ancient manuscripts or copies of maps. The papers were either new or old, exuding the smell of aged ink and a faint smell of mold.
"Daoist Priest, they are all here. All the copies that Mr. Kong has looked through and can find are here." The scribe bowed and said.
Wang Dao Xuan nodded. "Thank you."
Then he said to Uncle Lin and Human Path: "You retreat for now, Wu Ba, Lu San, follow me to check!"
The oil lamp was lit, Wang Dao Xuan took a deep breath, got rid of distracting thoughts, and began to read them one by one.
He is not a knowledgeable person like Kong Shangzhao, but he has wider experience.
And the goal is clear - to find information related to the three-eyed beast-faced Nuo face.
The records in "An Examination of Strange Stories about Demons and Evil Sacrifice in the Lands of the Two Song Dynasties" are mostly about sporadic evil sacrifices scattered in various places. The text is complicated and it is difficult to find the key points. Turning to the page about the strange news about the capital in the late years of Former Dynasty Da Xing, there are clues.
It was a group of people wearing ferocious animal-shaped masks, with crazy shapes, as if they were performing some kind of exorcism ceremony.
"Uncle Lin, come and take a look."
"Yes, that's it!"
However, Wang Dao Xuan shook his head helplessly.
There is an address on it, but it is a temple that was destroyed in Bianjing in the Northern Song Dynasty.
The origin of Nuo noodles was not mentioned.
"A Collection of Evil Sacrifice and Ghost Temples Along the Cao River" contains mixed content, most of which are secular temples of fishermen and Cao workers Attendant along the canal.
Wang Dao Xuan Flip quickly, ten lines at a glance.
Suddenly, a page of text describing an abandoned ancestral hall near the Tonghui River made his movements stop.
"...Tonghui River About three miles north of the ancient ferry, there is a deserted temple with no owner of a statue, only a stone foundation. According to local legend, Jin Ji once set up 'Nuo God Temple', Attendant'Heavenly God', which holds the eye of the netherworld and communicates yin and yang..."
"Every year in late winter, there is an 'eye-opening' sacrifice, and blood rushes into the sky. Later, the temple is destroyed by the gods..."
"Today the foundation site still exists, but the evil spirits have accumulated, and humans and animals are avoiding it..."