Dongdu Pavilion Case Record

Tang Wuyi handed the transcript to Wen Tao and said, "According to Master Mingli, the last time he saw Xuan Ding was during the evening class, and Xuan Ding disappeared the next morning. So my main question is about late The whereabouts of everyone during the period from Xu time when the class ended to Zi time when the gate of the temple was closed."

"The first to rule out the suspicion is the abbot. He was in poor health for a few days, and he was surrounded by disciples." Tang Wuyi said.

Wen Tao nodded: "Then let's start with a few elders." He took out the records of the Great Elder Master Mingkong, who claimed that he had been alone in the room to manage the accounts that night.He manages the general affairs of the temple, especially the income and expenditure of silver, and the rent collection of the temple fields.It is spring plowing at this time, and it is common sense to have more accounts.

"By the way, Master Ming Kong's missing disciple, that is, Xuan Jing who disappeared ten days ago, what did he say?" Wen Tao said.

"Here, here." Tang Wuyi pulled out another note and said, "Master Ming Kong has many disciples, and Xuan Jing is one of his more capable assistants. He will help him manage some accounts. According to him, Xuan Jing In those few days, because he was busy sorting out the accounts, he didn't go to evening class, but he would report the accounts to Master Mingkong before going to bed every day. After he reported the accounts at Master Mingkong at [-]:[-] that day, he had morning class the next day disappeared."

Wen Tao nodded: "It's similar to the situation of Xuan Ding's disappearance, almost from Xu time to Zi time." He put down this record and continued to look at the whereabouts of other elders on the night Xuan Ding disappeared.The second elder, Master Mingxin, and the eighteen arhats under his seat did not have morning and evening classes with the monks, but practiced martial arts in their own martial arts hall, supervised and guided by Master Mingxin every day.

Wen Tao flipped through the pages and said, "Although Master Mingxin looks unkempt, he is under strict control. Eighteen arhats live and board in one place, and they practice martial arts together every day. There was nothing unusual on the night of their disappearance." Only those few transcripts were seen. It is written: From the second quarter of the unitary hour to the hour of Hai, practice martial arts in the martial arts hall; at the hour of Hai, go to bed.

"Hey, I met a few monks just now. They said that after practicing martial arts, they usually take a bath first and then go to bed. Why is there no time for bathing here?" Wen Tao asked.

Tang Wuyi said: "It's strange to say, probably the Wutang is far away from the bell tower, and it was raining that day, they heard the bath drum as the second watch drum, missed the bathing time, and wiped their bodies in the rain. But they all said that because of their full concentration when practicing martial arts, they sometimes missed the bath drum and even practiced until the third watch. I originally thought that they were suspected of throwing corpses based on their martial arts, but it is difficult to break through today's questioning."

Wen Tao also frowned, and continued, "Where was Master Mingshan, the third elder?"

Tang Wuyi pointed to a transcript and said: "Elder Mingshan can basically rule out the suspicion. He is in the Sutra Pavilion every night from Xushi to Zishi, ringing the bell and drums every other hour. Other monks testified that night, Tibetan The Sutra Pavilion is lit all night, Master Mingshan should be inside all night."

"Where is the fourth elder, Master Mingli?" Wen Tao asked.

"His situation is similar to that of the Great Elder. There is no one to testify, and he is in the room by himself. But I think he talked about Xuanding's situation that day, and he had high hopes for this disciple. As the weina of the temple, he found someone who could inherit the mantle. It's not easy at all. If you want to kill someone, there must be something hidden." Tang Wuyi said.

Wen Tao looked back and forth at these transcripts and said: "So, among the elders, the less suspicious ones are Master Mingxin who was with the Eighteen Arhats, and Master Mingxin who was in the Buddhist scriptures Pavilion all night and had to beat the drum every hour. Master Mingshan, Master Mingkong and Master Mingli have no witnesses. By the way, have you asked Mr. Cui He and Prince Jin? Although they are guests, they were all in the temple when several cases were committed."

Tang Wuyi smiled and said: "Of course I asked. They are distinguished guests, so they shouldn't do this. Cui He went to talk to King Jin at [-]:[-] that night. King Jin was tired at the time, so he didn't come out to see him."

"Oh? That means there is no witness to Prince Jin's whereabouts?" Wen Tao asked.

Tang Wuyi shook his head: "Cui He saw Prince Jin outside the door. He has a noble status, and he has always been the only one living in his room. It was already the second quarter of the day, and there should be no time to kill people and hide corpses."

Wen Tao sighed and said: "The most urgent task at present is to find the place where the murderer hides the corpse. Especially the place where the corpse is hidden. This place should not be far from the temple, otherwise the murderer will not have time to carry the corpse back and forth in more than an hour. In addition, In terms of motivation, Tang Yue, what have you discovered?"

Tang Yue said with piercing eyes: "The Great Elder is greedy for money. Wen Tao, do your math, let's find an opportunity to take a good look at his accounts. If the accounts are short, his own disciples must be clear about it, and there may be murderous intentions." .The Fourth Elder is in charge of punishment, if he is caught by his senior disciples, it is not impossible to silence him."

"It's reasonable to say so. As for the first Xuanyi to die, he may have broken something unintentionally. But, how do you know that he is greedy for money?"

Tang Wuyi chuckled: "The most common motivation is love, such as the case of Guiyun Villa, and wealth. As the saying goes, 'man dies for wealth, and bird dies for food'. Shaolin Temple is such a big sect with monastery farms. There are so many children from aristocratic families who come to practice the gold, silver and treasures involved. The Great Elder is a fat job. I pretended to chat and asked him how the temple’s income and expenses were last year, but he told me that Shaolin is so big. The population is so large that it is not easy to raise them. I asked him again if he could take a look at the account books in the temple. He said yes with a haha, but excused that the accounts were complicated and he had to search for them before giving them to me. Obviously, his There are ghosts in the account books. Although most of the account books are not clean, I don’t know if Shaolin’s book is serious enough to kill people.”

Upon hearing the account book, Wen Tao was eager to try: "Leave this to me. My master once taught me a simple accounting method, which can quickly calculate the real income and expenditure. No matter how I do it, I can't avoid it."

Tang Wuyi smiled and said: "I never imagined that Immortal Ziwei would have such a way of doing accounts without any sense of immortality."

Wen Tao said: "That's because Master dislikes Kunlun's long-winded account books, and created a new accounting method in only one month, which is easy to learn and convenient."

Tang Wuyi said again: "There is one more thing, it's really awkward."

"Motive?" Wen Tao asked.

"Uh, it's not really a motive. It's Prince Kim of Silla."

"Oh?"

Tang Wuyi shook his head and said, "Probably I'm thinking too much."

"Tell me what you think. You said it yourself. If there is something awkward, it may be where the real motive is hidden or distorted." Wen Tao said.

Tang Wuyi said: "He obviously doesn't respect Buddha, but he has been practicing here. He is obviously arrogant and indifferent, but he seems to be very attached to Cui He."

"Probably because Mr. Cui has a deep connection with Buddhism and takes good care of Prince Jin." Wen Tao said seriously.

"Little friend Taotao, you don't understand this." Tang Wuyi raised his eyebrows and whispered to Wentao, "I think Prince Jin has that kind of affection for Cui He."

"Which kind?" Wen Tao looked innocent.

"Dividing the peaches, the love of breaking the sleeves." Tang Wuyi said.

"Ah..." Wen Tao seemed shocked.