Chapter 16 poisoned

White, vast white.He was in that white world again. Between the sky and the earth, there are large pieces of white feathers floating down.And the harsh, monotonous noise echoed in my ears one after another. Yun Jisang stepped forward with stiff steps, following the rhythm of the voice.Until he saw the vague-faced man in white again. The man in white was still sitting on the chair, with the brocade puppet lying beside him.The puppet's hair hangs over its face, leaving only one eye exposed.Its eyeballs were rolling, and finally settled down, looking straight at Yun Jisang. Yun Jisang was startled and stopped in her tracks.

The puppet suddenly moved, and then the joints all over the body rattled, toes, ankles, tibias, knees, femurs...Like a chain, it slowly stood up stiffly and weirdly, and stood still with its head bowed. The vague-faced man in white leaned close to the puppet's ear, said something in a low voice, and pointed at him again. The puppet flicked its feet and staggered towards him.Every time it takes a step, its loose hair flicks violently, and its posture is so weird that it is outrageous. Yun Jisang was terrified, and instinctively wanted to retreat, but her body seemed to be rusted, and she couldn't move.

The puppet walked up to him step by step like that, slowly raised its wood-grained hands, and strangled his throat. In an instant, the strong wind blew past, and the long hair covering the face was blown away by the wind, revealing the puppet's face.That was his own face! Finally, he cried out hysterically. "Junior Brother, wake up! Wake up!" someone called anxiously in his ear. Yun Jisang opened his eyes, and in front of him was Zhuo Anjie's worried eyes.He let out a long sigh and found that his whole body was soaked. "Are you having nightmares again?" Zhuo Anjie took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the cold sweat off his forehead.

"Ah, a weird dream." Yun Jisang sat up, took the teacup handed by her senior sister, and drank heavily. "Did you dream that someone was killed?" "No, why do you ask that?" Yun Jisang put down the cup and asked casually. "Because someone was really killed." Zhuo Anjie said every word. Yun Jisang was shocked: "Who? Who was killed?" "Linghu Tiangong..." Zhuo Anjie sighed with sadness on her face, "Once this guy dies, your prosthetic limb will not be ready until after." The one who came to report was naturally Luo Zhukong.The elder brother of the puppet sect had red eyes and a sad face, as if he had just cried.According to him, the body was just discovered this morning, and now everyone has arrived, and they are waiting for Yun Jisang to investigate the scene.

Yun Jisang didn't dare to delay, and hurried to the quenching garden.When he got to the door, he frowned. There are too many people at the door.Cao Zhong, Hong Kuoji, Cao Bian, Gu Yinglan, and even Mrs. Wang Biyan also came.Although Cao Zhong's face was pale, he was calm as usual.Hong Kuoji and Cao Bian locked their eyes tightly, appearing preoccupied.Gu Yinglan cried into tears, but fortunately Wang Biyan was by her side, comforting her in a low voice. "Young Xia Yun, you are finally here." Cao Zhong stepped forward to welcome him. "Yun is late, and I ask the sect master to forgive me."

"Oh, Linghu died so badly!" Cao Zhong lamented. If so many people had visited the house one by one, the scene would have been completely destroyed.Shaking his head, Yun Jisang stepped into the house. The furnishings in the house are very neat, and there is no sign of struggle or struggle.Beside a mahogany tea table, Linghu Tiangong's body was lying prone in a pool of blood, but the wound could not be seen for a moment. Yun Jisang squatted down and carefully looked at the second disciple of the puppet sect.This was the first time Yun Jisang saw his face clearly.Linghu Tiangong is about thirty years old, and looks quite handsome, but at the moment his face is purple, his mouth is wide open, and his face is full of disbelief.

"This morning, the priest and I came to look for Mr. Linghu, but no one answered when we knocked on the door. We smelled a strong smell of blood. We rushed to open the door, only to find that he was dead." It was Li Zhongxiu who spoke.At this moment, he was supporting the pale-faced Father Peter.The old priest's body was shaking like a sieve, his right hand was trembling and he kept crossing himself on his chest, and he was also muttering something, apparently quite frightened.Compared with him, Li Zhongxiu seemed much calmer, but his brows were tightly frowned, and that warm smile was nowhere to be seen on his face.

"Do you and the priest come to look for Brother Linghu every day?" Yun Jisang asked lightly. "Yes, the priest has always felt that Mr. Linghu is unparalleled, and wanted to ask him to make something, so he came to visit." "Has anyone moved anything since the body was found?" Li Zhongxiu shook his head: "I have been watching here, and no one has moved anything." "Are you watching alone?" Li Zhongxiu smiled slightly: "The priest went to call Master Cao and the others, and I had to guard the corpse alone." Yun Jisang nodded and didn't ask any more questions.He rolled over the corpse's eyelids, opened his jaw and looked, and murmured: "The lips are bruised, the tongue is swollen, the eyes are protruding, and there is black blood on the nose and mouth. This is the poison of the ghost tree."

"Sure enough, it's the same murderer committing crimes again!" Cao Zhong said in a deep voice. Yun Jisang shook his head and said: "Not necessarily. Although the poison of the ghost tree is extremely poisonous, it is by no means uncommon, and it cannot be confirmed that it was done by one person." "Since the second senior brother died of poisoning, why is there so much blood?" Cao Bian asked while holding his nose. Yun Jisang didn't answer, but gently turned over Linghu Tiangong's body.Almost the moment the corpse turned over, he couldn't help closing his eyes.

"God! It's too miserable!" "Second brother!" "Sure enough! It's the goddamn one!" Amidst the exclamation, Yun Jisang regained his composure and slowly opened his eyes. Linghu Tiangong's abdomen was cut open, and the knife edge went upward along the right rib, making a big oblique incision on his corpse, exposing the internal organs on the entire right half, forming a huge black cavity.His liver was removed. The last time it was a kidney, but this time it was a liver. What exactly did the murderer want to do? Yun Jisang suppressed his nausea, asked for a pair of chopsticks, and poked them into the wound.Sure enough, a yellow ball of paper rolled out.

He unfolded it, and sure enough it was that gloomy puppet curse again. One by one, "The old root of the rotten tree returns to dryness and becomes a spirit. Eliminate all my sins and make me live forever." He sighed and handed the note to Cao Zhong. Cao Zhong glanced at it, and held the note tightly in his palm, as if he wanted to crush it into pieces: "First it was Ah Huang, and now it is Linghu. Does this murderer want to kill my puppet family?" "Master Cao, if there is something to hide, there is still time to say it." Yun Jisang said softly. Cao Zhong's expression changed slightly, and he said angrily, "Young Master Yun, what is the meaning of this, has Mr. Cao done something shameful?" After speaking, he used his sleeves and went away angrily. "Brother Yun, don't worry, Master is also impatient." Luo Jiankong said courteously, the sadness on his face disappeared naturally after Cao Zhong left.Maybe, he is secretly happy in his heart at the moment. Yun Jisang smiled slightly: "I don't know what Brother Luo thinks about this matter? I mean, why did the murderer kill Brother Linghu after Zhang Chun?" Luo Jiankong was slightly taken aback: "How do I know this? Maybe Linghu and the murderer have a grudge?" "Is it?" Seeing Yun Jisang's strange smile, Luo Jiankong remembered that if he had a grudge with Linghu Tiangong, he might be the first one, so he couldn't help but change his face and said: "Linghu's death has nothing to do with me. Brother Yun , you must not think about it..." "How could it be? It's just that it's Brother Linghu this time, but I don't know whose turn it will be next time... Brother Luo also needs to be careful." Yun Jisang patted him on the shoulder, no matter how ugly Luo Jiankong's face was, Came to Gu Yinglan's side, squatted down, and said softly, "Yesterday Miss Gu said she was going to see Brother Linghu, did you see someone else?" Gu Yinglan wiped away her tears and nodded silently. "Then Brother Linghu is alone in the room?" "I don't know, he didn't let me in, so we talked a few words at the door." "You were not allowed to go in?" Yun Jisang's heart skipped a beat.If what Gu Yinglan said is true, then there must be something shady in this room. "What did you say?" "This..." Gu Yinglan showed embarrassment, "I didn't say anything, just gossip." Seeing her like this, Yun Jisang didn't ask any more questions, got up and went back to the house, and began to investigate carefully. The first thing that attracted him was the wine utensils on the table.He first picked up the tea cover on Linghu Tiangong's side and smelled it, there was still a faint fishy smell on the tea cover, obviously, the poison was put in this tea cup.He examined the jug and another teacup, but found nothing. The murderer and Linghu Tiangong are drinking tea in the room, which shows that they are familiar with each other, so it can be seen that the murderer must be a member of the Puppet Sect.How did the murderer poison the teacup?Was it an idea to distract Linghu Tiangong's attention and take the opportunity to poison him?Zhang Huang was killed just now, Linghu Tiangong should be vigilant... "Junior brother, come and see..." Zhuo Anjie greeted. Yun Jisang walked over and found her staring at the alcove.A huge bronze mirror was hung on the alcove, and in front of the bronze mirror was a row of extremely delicately carved puppets. At a glance, Yun Jisang recognized three of them—the clown, the fat Maitreya, and the double-faced demon.In addition to these three puppets, the other puppets also represent the members of the puppet sect.The one in the patched clothes must be Cao Zhong, the one in the black robe is Mei Zhaoxue, the girl in tight clothes is Gu Yinglan, the boy in Tsing Yi is Sha Quan, the one on crutches is naturally Ouyang Talun, and the two in the robes are Father Peter. and Li Zhongxiu, and the one with a fox tail is probably Wang Biyan. Yun Jisang even found a one-armed puppet representing him.It's just that for some reason, the heads of all the puppets were crushed by someone, as if that person had some deep hatred with these puppets.What is even more surprising is that there are tiny silver beads rolling among these broken puppets. "Mercury..." Yun Jisang stretched out his fingers and twitched lightly, his brows were furrowed. "What's going on?" Zhuo Anjie asked. "I don't know, but the murderer must have a deep meaning." Yun Jisang said in a deep voice. "Huh? Here's another complete one." Zhuo Anjie stretched out her hand and took out a puppet from the corner of the alcove. This puppet is dressed in a black robe, with a hair crown on its head, and its posture is very chic, but for some reason, this puppet has no face. "Faceless puppet!" Zhuo Anjie said in surprise, looking up at Yun Jisang, both of them thought of the assassin Zhuo Anjie met in the forest at the same time.The image revealed by the other party in that glimpse is exactly a faceless puppet!Could it be that Linghu Tiangong knew the identity of the assassin?Or is it just a coincidence? "What faceless puppet?" Luo Jiankong poked his head over from the side, and when he saw the puppet, he immediately called out, "It's Junior Brother Li!" "Li Wuxin?" Yun Jisang hurriedly asked, "This is Li Wuxin? How did Brother Luo know?" "The black robe and bun are unique to Junior Brother Li, and..." Luo Yankong hesitated. "what?" "Brother Li has always been accompanied by a faceless puppet in brocade robes." The faceless puppet in brocade robes... Sure enough, it was exactly the same as the assassin in the forest.Is the murderer really a puppet?No, how is this possible?The murderer just borrowed the name of the faceless puppet.In other words, he crushed the heads of other puppets, leaving only Li Wuxin's puppet, in order to show his identity and his intention to kill everyone in the puppet sect.But, why didn't Linghu Tiangong carve a face for Li Wuxin?Is it hatred?Or, he couldn't see Li Wuxin's true colors at all? Linghu Tiangong, what exactly do you want to express through this puppet? Yun Jisang carefully put away the puppets with broken heads, put them in a box, and handed them to Zhuo Anjie, then squatted down in front of Linghu Tiangong's corpse, and carefully inspected them inch by inch.When he found those slender "magic hands", he was taken aback suddenly, grabbed Linghu Tiangong's right hand, and held it up in the sunlight.It seemed that he instinctively covered his mouth and nose before he died, and Linghu Tiangong's fingers were covered in blood.Yun Jisang resisted the smell of blood and examined it carefully. Sure enough, a faint brown powder remained in the nail of the little finger of the corpse's right hand. Yun Jisang smelled it, his face changed, and he whispered: "The poison of the ghost tree!" Zhuo Anjie had been paying attention to his movements, and said, "Did Linghu Tiangong inject the poison himself? So he committed suicide?" "Or, he wanted to poison others, but the other party preempted him." Yun Jisang murmured. Zhuo Anjie frowned and said: "The murderer actually used the poison of the ghost tree, the two of them have a good understanding." "Not necessarily. Yun Jisang pointed to the poisonous teacup. There was only a little poisonous powder left in Linghu Tiangong's nails, indicating that the poison had been cast. But except for his own teacup, the teacup in the pot and the opposite cup Even the tea is not poisonous. Sister, think about it, what does this mean?" Zhuo Anjie thought for a moment, then said in surprise, "Did the poison get into his own teacup?" Yun Jisang nodded: "This matter is very strange. Linghu Tiangong clearly wanted to kill the other party with poison, but was stolen by the opponent and changed the cup." "Maybe the murderer lured Junior Brother Linghu away, and then replaced him when he wasn't paying attention?" Luo Jiankong interjected. "If you want to poison the other party, will you look away casually after poisoning?" Luo Jiankong was suffocated and could only shake his head. Zhuo Anjie suddenly gasped: "Junior brother, look at his right foot, there seems to be something on the sole of the shoe." Yun Jisang grabbed the corpse's right foot and found that there were indeed two bloodstains on the sole.Among them, the one on the left side is relatively short, and the longer bloodstain runs obliquely across the sole of the foot, and ends after a sudden turn at the heel. "What is this?" Luo Jiankong also squatted down, surprised. "It's hard to say..." Yun Jisang traced it with his finger, "The blood is so unnatural, it doesn't seem like it was rubbed on, maybe someone left it on purpose." "Who? The murderer?" "Maybe, but it's more likely that it's Linghu Tiangong himself." Yun Jisang grabbed Linghu Tiangong's bloody right hand and shook it at him. "That is to say, before his death, Junior Brother Linghu secretly stained his finger with blood and wanted to write who the murderer was on the sole of his shoe, but he couldn't finish it." "Probably." Yun Jisang patted the dust off his body and stood up. "Just two inexplicable strokes, who can guess the identity of the murderer?" Zhuo Anjie frowned. "It looks a bit like the word 'two'..." Luo Yankong thought about it. "Two? Among the disciples of the puppet sect, only Linghu Tiangong is ranked second. Could it be that he still committed suicide?" Zhuo Anjie sneered. "Hmm..." Yun Jisang stared at Linghu Tiangong's right foot thoughtfully. What do the two strokes on the bottom of the feet mean?Is it really "two"?Or is it the beginning of another word?But no one in the Puppet Gate started their names like this?Why did Linghu Tiangong draw calligraphy on the soles of his shoes?Want to hide from the murderer's eyes? Linghu Tiangong, what exactly do you want to say? What is the relationship between the murderer and you?Since you have the courage to kill him, why don't you reveal his identity?What are you... so worried about?