Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang and Lin Yehuo returned to Kaifeng Mansion.

In the yard in front of the house, Lin Xiao was sitting there drinking wine, holding his chin with one hand.

Long Qiaoguang and Zou Liang were also sitting at the table. The right general was eating peanuts. There was a recipe book on the table, which Zou Liang was reading.

Several bamboo beds in the widow's workshop were filled with corpses and skeletons. Gongsun and several seniors from the Demon Palace were busy, and Zhao Pu was also helping Gongsun.

Lin Yehuo dodged, came to Zou Liang's side, and took a look at the menu.

Zou Liang asked him if he wanted to eat fish maw stewed pig's trotters, Lin Yehuo smiled and nodded - yes!

Zhan Zhao went into the widow's room. Bai Yutang walked to the table and sat down, asking Lin Xiao, "Didn't you go to class today?"

Lin Xiao nodded with a sad face, saying that he had no time to think about it, and asked Mrs. Lin for three days' leave to help take care of his godmother.

"How is Mrs. Shen?"

"Alas..." Lin Xiao sighed and shook his head, "I've been sad all night."

"Do you know the origins of Big Changsu and Little Changsu?" Bai Yutang asked.

Lin Xiao thought for a while and said, "The people on my godmother's boat are all similar to me. I was taken in by my godmother when I was homeless. Little Chang Su and Su Yun were adopted two years before me, and big Chang Su Sue might be earlier."

"Then have you ever heard any of them talk about the Wuzi Cult?"

Lin Xiao recalled it and shook his head.

Bai Yutang casually asked, no one knew whether this matter had anything to do with the Wuzi Sect.

"Where's the paper man?" Lin Yehuo also came to join in the fun.

Lin Xiao thought for a while and said, "As for the paper man...don't tell me, little Changsu and the others may believe in some religion."

"How to say?"

Zhan Zhao came out of the widow's room and heard the case being discussed here, so he ran over.

"During the Hungry Ghost Festival, aren't there many places where river lanterns are put out?" Lin Xiao said, "I remember when I was a child, Da Chang Su and Xiao Chang Su would also put them out, but the river lanterns they put out were very strange. Usually river lanterns are not perfect. Or round paper lanterns, some made into paper boats or lotus shapes."

Everyone nodded.

"But Da Changsu and the others would put some paper figures into the river. Most of those paper figures were made quite similar, some were big and some were small. These paper figures were all lying flat, with their hands clasped in front of their chests. They were holding candles in their hands... When they were putting them out, the river was filled with human-shaped paper lanterns. At first glance, it looked like there were many floating corpses floating there, which was very strange."

"I have also seen the custom of putting paper figures into the river."

On the side, Zou Liang interrupted, and the right general also nodded.

"This is called the technique of comforting spirits. It is commonly used in the Western Regions. There are usually two methods: placing river lanterns or setting up sky lanterns. The lanterns are made into the shape of paper figures."

"What's the purpose?" Zhan Zhao was puzzled.

"There is a saying that if a person dies violently and dies on the ground, then the spirit will float in the sky. If a person dies in the water, then the spirit will float in the water. The purpose of sending paper people is to let those spirits possess them. It will be attached to the paper figurine.”

After listening to Zou Liang's explanation, everyone was curious, "Could it be some kind of soul-calling technique?"

"What kind of spirits are you summoning? Don't forget that these paper figures are all lit with wax and will eventually be burned." Long Qiaoguang waved his hand, "Once those undead spirits attach themselves to the paper figures, they will die as the paper figures burn. Spirits will also die. To put it bluntly, the person who puts out the lantern may have done something bad and killed others, and is afraid that the resentful spirits will seek revenge on him, so he uses this method to get rid of the resentful spirits."

Zou Liang also nodded, "It's rare now. During the most chaotic period in the northwest, you could often see this kind of burning paper figures flying all over the sky."

After Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang listened, they both went to take a look at Lin Xiao, who was sitting there in a daze - Da Changsu, Xiao Changsu and the others, were they trying to get rid of some evil spirits?

Lin Xiao held his chin and frowned, feeling that things were not simple.

…

Everyone in the yard chatted for a long time. Gongsun finished his work and strolled out. Zhao Pu also came over and poured a cup of tea for Gongsun who had finished washing his hands.

Everyone looked at it with raised eyebrows.

Gongsun drank a glass of water, and Zhan Zhao asked about the results of the autopsy.

Mr. Gongsun shook his head, "It's quite strange!"

"The skeleton on the roof of Xiangzhuang is divided into two parts. One part of the broken bones is very new and can be assembled into a complete skeleton. The man must be in his 60s or 70s. He should have been dead for less than ten days. The body

They were all eaten by crows. The others were all broken bones. They were of different ages. They must have been exposed to wind and sun for a long time and it was impossible to piece together a complete skeleton. Both Xiao Changsu and Su Yun were poisoned by chronic poison. Xiao Changsu was poisoned.

Su Yun died of blood loss after he fell into coma and was wiped on the neck with a sharp knife. Both Xiang Lian and Da Changsu were cut into pieces. The body parts were all in the rice warehouse. After putting them together, it was found that both of them had been stabbed.

Dead. And the most subtle thing is that both of them had blood on their hands, and when they died, both of them were holding knives in their right hands." Gongsun said, while reaching out and making a gesture of holding a knife.

Pointing to his thumb and the back of his hand, "There are traces of blood flowing down here, and there are drops of blood spattered on the chest,"

"What do you mean?" Lin Yehuo wondered, "Did he hold a knife before he died?"

"Xiang Lian was stabbed in the abdomen, and Da Changsu was stabbed in the chest." Gongsun pointed to the location where the two were stabbed, "Based on the condition of the bodies, I think they stabbed each other with knives.

.”

Everyone was surprised.

"Stab each other?"

"Do Xiang Lian and Da Changsu mean to kill each other?" Zhan Zhao asked,

"The wounds look very similar, but the dismemberment of the body was definitely not done by themselves. There should be someone else." Gongsun gestured, "The knife that cut the body was quite fast. Da Changsu and Xiang Lian may have been poisoned as well.

, several of my masters and the King of Medicine are studying this medicine. The King of Medicine just said that this medicine should contain a large amount of rice bag flowers, coupled with the poisonous mushrooms used to create illusions, it can cause severe hallucinations in people."

No matter what Zhan Zhao and the others heard, they felt that this case was related to the Five Sons Cult and the house relocation in the evil alley that the White Dragon King just mentioned.

"What about the female corpse that was mistaken for Da Changsu?" Bai Yutang asked.

"There were no fatal injuries on the body. Shen Yuelian did buy a very good coffin. The body was not badly decomposed. After checking, there were no signs of poisoning...so I suspect that the fatal injury was on the head."

"But the head is missing."

Gongsun nodded, "Yeah!"

Everyone was sitting and chatting, and Long Qiaoguang, who was opposite him, shook his head and said, "Hey, dear, why is the city so bloody when we get married?"

Zou Liang patted him on the shoulder, that means - you marry your wife, why do you care about this?

It was almost noon when Bao Yan and Pang Yu came back. This time they didn't come back by themselves. They also brought Xie Yan and Wang Lin with them.

When everyone entered, they first expressed their condolences to Lin Xiao.

Pang Yu entered the room and asked Zhan Zhao Bai Yutang about Wu Shanchuan's situation, which made the two of them a little confused.

"Wu Shanchuan just sent someone to deliver a letter to Taixue, saying that he wanted to treat us to dinner and apologize to Xie Yan." Pang Yu said.

"Wu Shanchuan is inviting us to dinner?" Zhan Zhao became more energetic and was about to check the background of Wulong Village when the opportunity came.

Zhan Zhao asked Xie Yan, "Wu Shanchuan said he wanted to get close to you because your father has a few docks that he likes, but your father is a scholar and doesn't pay much attention to martial arts people."

After hearing this, Xie Yan shook his head and said, "There is no reason. My father has never cared about this kind of business. Others are responsible for it. Besides, he is such a powerful person in Wulong Village. Whether he buys land or a boat, it is of course easy to negotiate.

We are just ordinary businessmen, how could we ignore such a big water village like his?"

Everyone also felt that Wu Shanchuan's rhetoric was a bit far-fetched.

"Then what do you want from Wu Shanchuan? You are so persistent in trying to get close to her." Lin Yehuo wondered, "Maybe he is still thinking about letting his son marry the princess."

Xie Yan shook his head, "The princess and I are classmates. The princess just likes my poems. I bought the boat to facilitate friends' gatherings. If you want to make your friends happy, you don't necessarily have to talk about marriage. This matter is related to the princess' reputation.

, you can’t spread it randomly.”

Pang Yu also nodded, "That girl is very strange. After dinner yesterday, the emperor tried to ask her if she wanted to recruit Xie Yan as his consort. What do you think she said?"

Everyone is looking at Pang Yu, doesn't the princess want to?

"She said people like Xie Yan have to appreciate it from a distance, and it won't be fun if they actually get married! No, no, no!"

Xie Yan blinked, "It's fun..."

"What do you mean?" Bao Yan didn't understand.

Pang Yu taught everyone how Zhao Lan replied to Zhao Zhen, "The girl asked, is Bai Yutang good-looking? Is Zhan Zhao good-looking?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other - they look good! What's wrong?

"Is Tianzun good-looking? Is Yin Hou good-looking?"

Everyone squinted—what did that girl want to express?

"Is the Demon King good-looking..."

Lin Yehuo slapped the table and said, "I've been talking for a long time, why does it look good without me?"

Zou Liang held up his forehead.

"So what if it looks good?" Gongsun also wondered.

"She said, I also love to see Yin Hou and Tianzun, do I need to marry them?" Pang Yu continued, "I just love to see Brother Zhan and Brother Bai flirting with each other, so do I need to marry them?"

Everyone raised their chins and pondered these words.

"You don't have to get married if you like it! You don't have to get married if you like it! What if I see him picking his teeth and farting!" Pang Yu spread his hands, "She said they were gossiping about Lin Xiaohe recently.

Xie Yan, as for Xie Yan, thinks he is quite interesting so we are not allowed to cause trouble..."

Lin Xiao and Xie Yan asked in confusion, "What are we gossiping about?"

Pang Yu lowered his voice, "Do you know that there is a matching list for the girls of Lanhui Academy? Little Mantou and I are both ranked!"
To be continued...