Chapter 43 Chapter Twenty

As soon as Qiaolou started to change, the five of Di Gong had already dressed up and sneaked out of the corner gate of the yamen and went onto the street.Wearing stars and wearing moons, he hurried towards Shengmingguan. Outside Shengming's view, the wind is gloomy and pitch black.The surroundings were empty and silent, and there was no one there. ——Sure enough, the inspector had driven Shen Ba and his gang away. Di Gong ordered Tao Gan to unlock the big lock on the right ear door of Shengming Temple and tear off the cover so that everyone can enter. Tao Gan lit the lantern with a man-turning stone, touched the white stone steps, carefully looked at the big lock on the ear door, took off his key called "Pepsi Harmony" from his waist, and inserted it into the keyhole a few times to the left and right. After the next twist, there was a "click", and the big iron lock that was almost rusted was indeed opened.Pushing hard again, the ear door "squeaked" a few times, and then opened wide.

Complacent, Tao Gan called softly, "Master, please come in." In Puci Temple, he failed to find out the secret door of Xiangge, and he always cited it as a shame for himself, and now he finally made up for his mistake. Di Gong, Hong Liang, Qiao Tai, and Ma Rong quickly crept into the ear door, and Ma Rong closed the ear door again. Tao Gan led the way with a lantern in front, and a flat bluestone road in the mountain gate led directly to the Sanqing Temple in the center.Weeds were luxuriant on both sides, there were broken bricks and tiles, and Xiao Ai, a foot or two high, grew from the cracks between the stone slabs.

The shrine of the Sanqing Temple is covered with dust, and the traces of rats can still be seen on the confession case and the ground.Going out of the Sanqing Temple, you can see a tall temple on the right side. In the temple, there is a nine-star thunder altar. Around the thunder altar, there are some gods and generals: glaring and cracked teeth, with a terrifying image; on the left is the Ten Hall of Yama.In the hall, the ten hells of the underworld were built in imitation of the eighteen hells of Shimen. Sawing the body and plowing tongues, cooking with oil and cutting with knives, all kinds of cruel tortures, all of which are so lifelike, it makes people feel hairy and shuddering.

At the end of Qingshiban Road is the Great Bell Hall, which is magnificently carved inside and out.In the middle of the hall is a square stone platform, on which there is a big bronze bell more than ten feet high.Although the Panlong top button of the big bronze bell is not hooked to the giant beam, the four vermilion lacquered pillars on the four sides are slightly tilted towards the center. ——Before the closure of Shengming Temple, this big bronze bell was originally hanging in the air. Now it has been abandoned for a long time, and someone has put it down and put it on a stone platform.The big bronze bell is turquoise, and the outside is engraved with antique Taotie and Kui patterns, as well as groups of yin and yang and gossip patterns.

Behind the big bell hall is a barren garden, which is full of bat droppings and spider webs.There are wild beehives, and there are fox footprints.On both sides of the garden are the clean rooms of the Taoists in the past, and there is a kitchen in the corner, which is now dilapidated, with thorns and weeds growing inside and outside the door.In the end, the front of the garden is a high wall. It seems that this high wall is the final boundary of Shengming. Di Gong walked into that kitchen, and suddenly saw another door in the corner of the back wall, thinking that this must be the back door of Shengming Temple, and he didn't know where to go outside this door.Tao Gan pushed the door hard, and there was another big courtyard outside the door!The bluestone path in the middle of the courtyard is very neat, and there is not a single weed growing in the gaps.There is a completely renovated pavilion on each side.At this moment, this place is like a cemetery, and there is no one walking around in the pavilion.But apparently someone lived there not too long ago and groomed it from time to time.

Hong Canjun was deeply surprised, and couldn't help muttering: "It's strange, it's strange, what is the purpose of the Taoist priests in this courtyard? I don't know who lived here not long ago?" At this time, a black cloud was covering the moon, and the inside and outside of the courtyard were suddenly as black as paint.Tao Gan bent down and was about to light the lantern when he heard a "bang" as if someone closed a door behind the bushes in the corner of the courtyard. Di Gong was alert, grabbed the lantern in Tao Gan's hand and ran forward quickly, and saw a wooden door in the corner.There was no lock on the wooden door. When Di Gong opened the wooden door, he saw a dark corridor.While hesitating, he suddenly heard clear footsteps, followed by another "bang". —someone slammed a door shut again.Di Gong quickly walked through the corridor, and was blocked by a heavy and thick iron gate.

Tao Gan stepped forward, stroked the iron door and pondered for a while, then shook his head dejectedly: "Master, this iron door has no keyhole, no padlock, not even a crack." Ma Rong said anxiously: "If the iron gate cannot be opened, that bastard who is watching us will slip out." Di Gong slowly stroked his beard and said, "Let's go back to the pavilion to have a look, it seems that the iron gate will not be opened for a while." They had no choice but to go back to the corridor, stand in the courtyard and look up at the pavilions on both sides. Di Gongdao: "This pavilion is undoubtedly the place where the Taoist in the temple keeps scriptures. We might as well go upstairs to see what scriptures are hidden there."

They circled the attic stairs to get upstairs, only to find that the attic was empty, without scripture cabinets and bookcases.There is a thick layer of reed mats on the ground, which looks like a warehouse. Ma Rong was surprised: "Could it be that the Taoist priests are also practicing swords and guns and wrestling on this reed mat. You see, there are iron hooks for hanging swords and guns on the wall." Qiao Tai said: "There is a gang of thugs and bandits lurking here, who specialize in making a living without capital." Di Gong said with a gloomy face: "That's true. I saw that the pavilion was swept very clean, and there was not even a speck of dust on the reed mat. These gangsters clearly fled here in the past few days. Yes, they are still here There are at least one person left behind, the one who watched us just now and escaped into the iron gate. Unfortunately, we don’t know what is outside the iron gate. We might as well go back tonight, and come back here tomorrow with our equipment. Search outside, up and down. Tao Gan, before you leave, stick a cover on the iron gate, and when you come tomorrow, you will know whether the iron gate has been opened."

Tao Gan nodded, then took out two white paper covers from his sleeves and sewed them on the upper and lower sides of the iron door.Everyone returned to the courtyard with light steps.When he turned to the entrance of the Great Bell Hall, Duke Di suddenly remembered that the big bronze bell was supposed to hang in the air on weekdays, but why it was put down on the stone platform tonight, could it be—could there be some mechanism hidden under the bronze bell.He stopped, hesitated for a moment, nodded to Hong Canjun and turned into the Great Bell Hall. Hong Canjun was startled suddenly, and asked, "Why did the master go to see that bronze bell again?"

Di Gongdao: "I suspect there is some kind of mechanism under the copper bell. You see, the top button on the copper bell should be hung on the beam. Hurry up, Ma Rong, Qiao Tai, you two, hurry up and find some iron rods." , Pry up the bronze bell and have a look." Ma Rong and Qiao Tai went for half a day, each holding an iron rod, and hurried back to the hall.Impatient, Ma Rong first inserted the iron rod from the edge of the slightly protruding lotus-leaf-like copper bell, put one end on his broad shoulders, and lifted it up an inch high.Qiao Tai immediately inserted an iron rod to meet Ma Rong, and the two of them lifted it up vigorously, and the bronze bell was lifted about half a foot from the ground.Ma Rong yelled angrily, "Put the rock on!"

There were no stones in the hall, so the two were discouraged and had to put them down again.Tao Gan and Hong Canjun rushed out of the palace gate to bring a stone drum to the edge of the Nine Star Thunder Altar.Ma Rong and Qiao Tai pried up the iron bar again to lift the bronze bell, while Di Gong and Tao Gan stepped forward to help put it on their shoulders.The four of them forcefully lifted the bronze bell to a height of about one foot, and Hong Canjun used all his strength to place the stone drum under the edge of the bronze bell. Hong Canjun quickly took out another flint to light a candle, and moved closer to the bronze bell to take a look, he couldn't help but took two steps back in fright. Di Gong opened his eyes and took a look, and couldn't help but gasped. ——Under the bronze bell lay a neat skeleton! He took off his robe and took the candle from Hong Canjun, fell down on the ground and crawled under the bronze bell.Hong Canjun, Qiao Tai, and Ma Rong also climbed in. When Tao Gan was about to climb in with a lantern in his hand, Duke Di turned his face and said: "The inside is already full, you should wait outside the clock, and you can answer if you have something to do." There was dust under the copper bell, the snow-white bones made people feel horrified, and the iron chains on the hands and feet were full of rust spots. Di Gong has been investigating criminal cases all year round, and he is quite proficient in the way of autopsy.He inspected each bone carefully, and found that they were all intact, except that the scapular bone of the left arm was broken when it was fused together, and it was slightly misplaced.He stroked his beard and sighed: "This poor young man starved to death in the bronze bell." Hong Liang suddenly picked up a gleaming golden lock from the dust under the bones. "Master, look at this golden lock!" Duke Di took the golden lock and moved closer to the candlelight to observe it carefully.On the front of the golden lock is engraved with four seal characters of "Longevity for a Hundred Years", but the word "Lin" is engraved on the back. Hong Canjun said to himself: "This dead man is clearly sent by Liang Ke. But why is the word 'Lin' engraved on the golden lock?" Ma Rong said: "What's so difficult about this? When Lin Fan pushed Liang Kefa under the bronze bell, even though Liang Kefa was bound by the iron chain, he still had to struggle desperately. So he tore off the lock hanging around Lin Fan's neck for a while. film, but Lin Fan didn't realize it. Tao Gan heard outside the bronze bell that Lin Fan's golden lock had been picked up inside. Curious in his heart, he couldn't help but got down and got into the bronze bell. Di Gongdao: "If the bones are found by Liang Ke, Lin Fan's charges can be established. I just remembered now that there is probably a wall between Lin Fan's mansion and this Shengming temple. —— Behind the big iron gate is Lin Fan. House!" Tao Gan interjected: "The pavilion where the scriptures are stored is like the place where Lin Fan and his gang accumulated private salt. After the Taoists in the Shengming Temple were withdrawn, Lin Fan privately connected his house with the Shengming Temple. It’s just going in and out of the front mountain gate.” Di Gong nodded and said, "Tao Gan's judgment is very reasonable. Tomorrow morning, Lin Fan will be sent for interrogation. It depends on how he denies the crime of murder..." Suddenly, the stone drum under the bronze bell rolled out, and with a loud "peng", the big bronze bell fell, covering Di Gong and five people under it.